DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/7/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/7/2026 follows the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 30 recites the limitation "pre-operative motion". This limitation was previously recited in parent claim 25 thus should have a “the” preceding it.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8, 13, 14, 16, and 24-29, and 31-37 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 is allowed because the closest prior art Amanatullah teaches a method for registering features of a patient in a surgical field.
However, Amanatullah either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, a system comprising: processing circuity configured to: receive patient specific data indicative of pre-operative motion associated with an ankle of a patient; determine, based on the patient specific data, a current kinematic axis of the pre-operative motion associated with the ankle; determine a target kinematic axis of target motion for the ankle, the target kinematic axis being different than the current kinematic axis; generate a transform function between the current kinematic axis and the target kinematic axis; and generate, based on the transform function, a recommended surgical intervention that adjusts tissue associated with the ankle to achieve the target kinematic axis of motion; as defined in the specification, in combination with all other limitations in the claim as defined by applicant.
Claims 25 and 37 recite similar limitations as claim 1 thus, are allowed for the same reasons as above.
Claims 2-8, 13, 14, 16, 24, 26-29, and 31-36 depend on claims 1 and 25 thus, are allowed for the same reasons as above.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lang (US 2021/0192759) teaches systems and methods for performing surgical step or surgical procedure with visual guidance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENT YIP whose telephone number is (571)270-5244. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 PM PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi M. Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270-3438. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENT YIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
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