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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for domestic benefit under 35 U.S.C. 365(c) with PCT/US21/59003 which turn claims benefit from application 63/116021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 23, 2023 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 4-9, 11-16, 20-25, 27-32 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 28, 2026.
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.
Claims 10, 26 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.
The term “about a same pulse energy and about a same pulse width” in claims 10 and 26 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “about a same pulse energy and about a same pulse width ” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For purposes of compact prosecution Examiner has interpreted the phrase “about a same pulse energy and about a same pulse width” to be “a same pulse energy and a same pulse width”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 10, 17-19, 26 are rejected as being unpatentable over 35 U.S.C. 103 over Yarborough et al. WO 9321843 in view of Ortiz US 20140241387.
Regarding Claim 1, Yarborough teaches A laser module for a medical system (Fig. 10), comprising:
a plurality of independently drivable laser-producing assemblies (122, 142), each laser- producing assembly thereof including:
an optical resonator (Fig. 10, 148, 144, 146, 128, 124, 126) including a gain medium (Fig. 10, 144, 124) set among resonator optics (Fig. 10, 148, 146, 128, 126) configured to direct light through the gain medium for amplification of the light by stimulated emission (Page 17 Lines 8-13 “More particularly, laser system 120 includes a first laser 122 having a Nd.YAG rod 124 located between the mirrors 126, 128 of a resonant cavity. The mirrors are provided with suitable dielectric coatings to favor an output of about 1.32 microns through coupler 128.”); and
a pump (Fig. 10, 150, 154) configured to pump energy into the gain medium to excite ions, atoms, or molecules of the gain medium for the stimulated emission ( Page 17 Lines 32-33 “Each of the rods is excited by an associated flashlamp assembly 150, 152 and 154.”);
laser optics (Fig. 174, 170) configured to independently combine two or more input laser beams (The two or more laser beams come from gain 144 and 124 produced by the plurality of laser-producing assemblies into an output laser beam and direct at least a portion of the output laser beam through an outlet of the laser module (Page 18 Lines 3-17“The subject system further includes a means for optically combining the beams so that they may be delivered to the tissue along a single path. There are a variety of approaches which can be used to achieve this goal. In the illustrated embodiment, the beams are combined using appropriate dichroic filters. More specifically, the output beam from the Er:YAG laser 142 is aligned with the main output path and passes through dichroic mirror 170. The beam from the Ho:YAG 132 laser is reflected upwardly by dichroic mirror 172 and redirected along the output path by mirror 170. The beam from the Nd:YAG laser 122 is reflected upwardly by mirror 174 and passes through mirror 172 to be reflected along the common path by mirror 170.”), the output laser beam having a pulse energy, a pulse width, or a pulse repetition frequency resulting from a combination of the two-or-more input laser beams; (Page 18 Lines 18-33 “In this embodiment, the output from each of the lasers is pulsed. The controller 162 will typically be programmed with a desired repetition rate, for example, 30 Hz. In this example, the power supply will generate 30 sequential energy pulses per second so that thirty laser pulses will be generated in that time frame. In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected. The mix of pulses will be chosen based on the desired tissue effect to be achieved.”) and
a circuit assembly (Fig. 10, 160, 162) including a driver (Fig. 162) configured for independently driving each laser-producing assembly of the plurality of laser-producing assemblies with respect to at least a pulse energy, a pulse width, or a pulse repetition frequency of its input laser beam. (Page 18 Lines 18-33 “In this embodiment, the output from each of the lasers is pulsed. The controller 162 will typically be programmed with a desired repetition rate, for example, 30 Hz. In this example, the power supply will generate 30 sequential energy pulses per second so that thirty laser pulses will be generated in that time frame. In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected. The mix of pulses will be chosen based on the desired tissue effect to be achieved.”)
Yarborough does not teach the circuit assembly is a printed circuit board assembly.
However,
Ortiz teaches the circuit assembly is a printed circuit board assembly (Paragraph 0166 “Laser diode driver systems 900 illustrated in FIGS. 23-41 can include a module 901, which can be, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB), or any kind of module on or in which electronic circuitry can be mounted.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the circuit assembly as taught by Yarborough by having it be a printed circuit board assembly as disclosed by Ortiz. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to orderly mount the electronic circuity. (Ortiz Paragraph 0166)
Regarding Claim 2, Yarborough teaches the pulse repetition frequency of pulses of the output laser beam is double that of either of two input laser beams of the two-or-more input laser beams. (Fig. 11 shows 2 pulses that are produced by gain 124 and 2 pulses that are produced by 144. The combined output laser beam of those two input laser beams is 4 pulses which is double the two input beams.)
Regarding Claim 3, Yarborough in combination with Ortiz does not teach the pulses of a first input laser beam and pulses of a second input laser beam of the two input laser beams have a same pulse repetition interval, the pulses of the second input laser beam delayed with respect to the pulses of the first input laser beam by half the pulse repetition interval.
However,
Yarborough teaches the number of pulses and timing can be varied by the controller (Col. 18 Lines 25-33 “In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pulse frequency of the first and second input laser beams as taught by Yarborough by changing the pulse repetition interval to be the same but the second input laser is delayed by half the pulse repetition interval from the first input laser beam. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification due to the fact changing the mix of the laser light and frequency is recognized in the prior art as a result-effective variable (see MPEP 2144.05 II) Changing the input laser frequency allows the desired tissue effect to be achieved when cutting. (Yarborough Col. 18 Lines 31-33)
Regarding Claim 10, Yarborough teaches each input laser beam of the two-or-more input laser beams has about a same pulse width. (Fig. 11 shows that the input laser beams has about the same pulse width.)
Yarborough does not explicitly teach each input laser beam of the two-or-more laser beams has about a same energy.
However,
Yarborough teaches the energy of the pulses can be varied by the controller (Col. 20 Lines 1-5 “In addition to changing the number of pulses, the ratio of energies from the lasers can also be a varied by varying the energy per pulse. The energy per pulse can be varied by varying the height or width of the pulse.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the energies of the first and second input laser beams as taught by Yarborough by changing the energies to be the same. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification due to the fact changing the mix of the energies of the laser light is recognized in the prior art as a result-effective variable (see MPEP 2144.05 II) Changing the input laser energies allows the desired tissue effect to be achieved when cutting. (Yarborough Col. 20 Lines 7-9)
Regarding Claim 17, Yarborough teaches A method of a laser module for a medical system, comprising:
independently driving with a driver of a circuit board assembly each laser-producing assembly of a plurality of laser-producing assemblies with respect to at least a pulse energy, a pulse width, or a pulse repetition frequency of its input laser beam, the driving including pumping energy into a gain medium with a pump to excite ions, atoms, or molecules of the gain medium for amplification of light by stimulated emission; (Page 18 Lines 18-33 “In this embodiment, the output from each of the lasers is pulsed. The controller 162 will typically be programmed with a desired repetition rate, for example, 30 Hz. In this example, the power supply will generate 30 sequential energy pulses per second so that thirty laser pulses will be generated in that time frame. In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected. The mix of pulses will be chosen based on the desired tissue effect to be achieved.”)
independently combining with laser optics two or more input laser beams produced by the plurality of laser-producing assemblies into an output laser beam having a pulse energy, a pulse width, or a pulse repetition frequency resulting from a combination of the two-or-more input laser beams; (Page 18 Lines 3-17“The subject system further includes a means for optically combining the beams so that they may be delivered to the tissue along a single path. There are a variety of approaches which can be used to achieve this goal. In the illustrated embodiment, the beams are combined using appropriate dichroic filters. More specifically, the output beam from the Er:YAG laser 142 is aligned with the main output path and passes through dichroic mirror 170. The beam from the Ho:YAG 132 laser is reflected upwardly by dichroic mirror 172 and redirected along the output path by mirror 170. The beam from the Nd:YAG laser 122 is reflected upwardly by mirror 174 and passes through mirror 172 to be reflected along the common path by mirror 170.”) and
directing at least a portion of the output laser beam through an outlet of the laser module. (Page 18 Lines 3-17“The subject system further includes a means for optically combining the beams so that they may be delivered to the tissue along a single path. There are a variety of approaches which can be used to achieve this goal. In the illustrated embodiment, the beams are combined using appropriate dichroic filters. More specifically, the output beam from the Er:YAG laser 142 is aligned with the main output path and passes through dichroic mirror 170. The beam from the Ho:YAG 132 laser is reflected upwardly by dichroic mirror 172 and redirected along the output path by mirror 170. The beam from the Nd:YAG laser 122 is reflected upwardly by mirror 174 and passes through mirror 172 to be reflected along the common path by mirror 170.”)
Yarborough does not teach the circuit board assembly is a printed circuit board assembly.
However,
Ortiz teaches the circuit assembly is a printed circuit board assembly (Paragraph 0166 “Laser diode driver systems 900 illustrated in FIGS. 23-41 can include a module 901, which can be, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB), or any kind of module on or in which electronic circuitry can be mounted.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the circuit assembly as taught by Yarborough by having it be a printed circuit board assembly as disclosed by Ortiz. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to orderly mount the electronic circuity. (Ortiz Paragraph 0166)
Regarding Claim 18, Yarborough teaches the pulse repetition frequency of pulses of the output laser beam is double that of either of two input laser beams of the two-or- more input laser beams after combining the two input laser beams with the laser optics. (Fig. 11 shows 2 pulses that are produced by gain 124 and 2 pulses that are produced by 144. The combined output laser beam of those two input laser beams is 4 pulses which is double the two input beams.)
Yarborough in combination with Ortiz does not teach pulses of each input laser beam of the two input laser beams having a same pulse repetition interval.
However,
Yarborough teaches the number of pulses and timing can be varied by the controller (Col. 18 Lines 25-33 “In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pulse frequency of the first and second input laser beams as taught by Yarborough by changing the pulse repetition interval to be the same. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification due to the fact changing the mix of the laser light and frequency is recognized in the prior art as a result-effective variable (see MPEP 2144.05 II) Changing the input laser frequency allows the desired tissue effect to be achieved when cutting. (Yarborough Col. 18 Lines 31-33)
Regarding Claim 19, Yarborough with Ortiz does not teach the driving of each laser-producing assembly of the plurality of laser-producing assemblies includes delaying pulses of a second input laser beam of the two input laser beams with respect to pulses of a first input laser beam of the two input laser beams by half the pulse repetition interval shared by the two input laser beams.
However,
Yarborough teaches the number of pulses and timing can be varied by the controller (Col. 18 Lines 25-33 “In accordance with the subject invention, the controller 162 can be used to select the number of pulses which will be generated from each laser in a given time frame. The range of selection can vary from having all the pulses emanate from one laser, to an equal number of pulses from all lasers. Various intermediate combinations can also be selected.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pulse frequency of the first and second input laser beams as taught by Yarborough by changing the pulse repetition interval to be the same but the second input laser is delayed by half the pulse repetition interval from the first input laser beam. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification due to the fact changing the mix of the laser light and frequency is recognized in the prior art as a result-effective variable (see MPEP 2144.05 II) Changing the input laser frequency allows the desired tissue effect to be achieved when cutting. (Yarborough Col. 18 Lines 31-33)
Regarding Claim 26, Yarborough the driving of each laser-producing assembly of the plurality of laser-producing assemblies includes generating each input laser beam of the two-or-more input laser beams with about a same pulse width. (Fig. 11 shows that the input laser beams has about the same pulse width.)
Yarborough does not explicitly teach each input laser beam of the two-or-more laser beams has about a same energy.
However,
Yarborough teaches the energy of the pulses can be varied by the controller (Col. 20 Lines 1-5 “In addition to changing the number of pulses, the ratio of energies from the lasers can also be a varied by varying the energy per pulse. The energy per pulse can be varied by varying the height or width of the pulse.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the energies of the first and second input laser beams as taught by Yarborough by changing the energies to be the same. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification due to the fact changing the mix of the energies of the laser light is recognized in the prior art as a result-effective variable (see MPEP 2144.05 II) Changing the input laser energies allows the desired tissue effect to be achieved when cutting. (Yarborough Col. 20 Lines 7-9)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Comley et al. US 20070272669 teaches many features found in Claim 1.
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/STEPHEN SUTTON KOTTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2828
/MINSUN O HARVEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2828