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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 12/08/2025 has been entered. Claims 33 and 50 have been amended. Claims 33-62 remain pending.
The previously raised objection for Claim 50 is withdrawn because the issue has been properly corrected.
Response to Arguments
In Remarks, Pages 7 and 8, Applicant argues that, as amended, Claims 33 and 50 recite "filling and containing a liquid metal entirely within the bronchial airway", but in Panescu, the infused conductive fluid does not remain within bronchial airway. To support the argument, Applicant states that a) Fig. 4 of Panescu shows a large ablation region 244, and b) based on disclosure in Para 0065 of Panescu, Panescu teaches continued dispersion of saline, as disclosed in Para 0118.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with the above argument. In response to the above evidence a), as Applicant stated, the region of 244 in Fig. 4 of Panescu is “the extend of an ablation” (Para 0076), which is not equivalent to the dispersion region of conductive fluid. In the same Fig. 4 (cited below), conductive fluid 216 (highlighted as red box) is confined in target airway (by a balloon 231) and does not spread into either the lung tumor or the ablation region 244. In response to the above evidence b), in Para 0065, Panescu discloses that “A larger portion of lung that is occluded may accept a larger amount of infused hypertonic saline, which may result in a larger lesion”. This disclosure does NOT indicate that the infused conductive fluid spreads beyond the airway. The “larger amount of infused hypertonic saline” is caused by “a larger portion of lung that is occluded” by balloon (for example, 231 in Fig. 4). The disclosed infusion (at a rate of about 5 mL/min) is optional, Para 0118: “Optionally, infusion may continue (e.g., at a rate of about 5 mL/min) …”. Furthermore, Panescu does NOT disclose anywhere that the conductive fluid infused into lung airway would diffuse or spread into compartments of lung tissue such as vascular or interstitial spaces.
Fig. 4 of Panescu
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In Remarks, Page 8, Applicant argues that Panescu's hypertonic saline is not a liquid metal as claimed by the application. In response to this argument, Panescu uses saline but not liquid metal as conductive fluid. Instead, the reference Sun, which is from the same field of RF ablation of tumors, teaches the use of liquid metal.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 33-43, 46-56, and 59-62 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panescu et al (US 20190343581 A1; hereafter Panescu), in view of Sun et al (Liquid metal bath as conformable soft electrodes for target tissue ablation in radio-frequency ablation therapy. Minimally invasive therapy & allied technologies. 27(4); 233-241; 2018; hereafter Sun).
With regard to Claim 33, Panescu discloses a method of treating a lung tumor in a patient (Panescu, Para 0008; “This disclosure is related to methods, devices, and systems for transbronchial ablation of a lung tumor.”), comprising:
obstructing a bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0042; “… occluding an airway feeding the portion (e.g., using at least an occluding balloon on the catheter) …”);
filling and containing a conductive fluid entirely within said bronchial airway (Panescu, Fig. 6A shows that conductive fluid 216 is entirely contained in selected airway 151, occluded by obturators 431 and 481); and
applying an RF energy to the conductive fluid in said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0055; “…conducting the delivered ablation energy (e.g., RF or microwave) to more tissue than the surface of the electrode contacts …”).
Panescu does not explicitly disclose the conductive fluid being a liquid metal.
Sun in the same field of endeavor discloses the conductive fluid being a liquid metal (Sun, Introduction; “Here we propose for the first time an innovative method of conformable tumor hyperthermia therapy with liquid metal bath-electrodes … This new conceptual liquid metal bath-electrode can simply be used by immersing the object or the tumor tissue of any shapes directly in the container of liquid metal.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu, as suggested by Sun, in order to use liquid metal as conductive fluid for RF ablation. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of applying RF energy with high efficiency and flexibility (Sun, Introduction; “This material possesses particular characteristics, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, excellent fluidity and an alterable melting point. … liquid metal could be adopted as electrodes with high flexibility … and has very good biocompatibility”).
With regard to Claim 34, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses aspirating said liquid metal out of said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0054; “… optionally removing fluid remaining in the lung portion through the catheter …”) (Panescu, Para 0080; “… if the electrode is irrigated by injecting fluid through ports 235 the fluid may be retracted by applying suction to the guidewire lumen 236 …”).
With regard to Claim 35, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein said bronchial airway is segmental bronchi (Panescu, Para 0039; “The present disclosure is directed generally to devices and methods … through the patient's airway. … The term airway refers to any of the anatomical lumens of the respiratory system through which air passes including the trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles”).
With regard to Claim 36, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein said bronchial airway is subsegmental bronchi (Panescu, Para 0039; “The present disclosure is directed generally to devices and methods … through the patient's airway. … The term airway refers to any of the anatomical lumens of the respiratory system through which air passes including the trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles”).
With regard to Claim 37, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein said bronchial airway is bronchioles and terminal bronchioles (Panescu, Para 0039; “The present disclosure is directed generally to devices and methods … through the patient's airway. … The term airway refers to any of the anatomical lumens of the respiratory system through which air passes including the trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles”).
With regard to Claim 38, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein the step of instilling comprises instilling said liquid metal into branches of said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0055; “The volume infused may be sufficient to infuse beyond the targeted airway …”).
With regard to Claim 39, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein alveoli of the bronchial airway are not filled with said liquid metal (Panescu, Para 0098; “The one or both balloons occlude the natural airway form a portion of the airway in which the HTS solution is injected and suppress flow of the liquid outside of that portion of the airway.”).
With regard to Claim 40, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses comprising:
inserting an ablation catheter into said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0042; “… an extended working channel is advanced through the airway into the lung and along the pathway to the point of interest.”); and
advancing said ablation catheter to said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0042; “A catheter may be advanced though the extended working channel to the targeted region of the lung.”).
With regard to Claim 41, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 40. Panescu further discloses comprising:
having a flexible bronchoscope that comprises an instrument channel (Panescu, Para 0043; “An extended working channel may be positioned within a patient, optionally through a bronchoscope or as part of a bronchoscope”; Para 0109; “… a flexible bronchoscope 221 …”);
inserting said ablation catheter through said instrument channel of said bronchoscope (Panescu, Para 0054; “placing the occlusion-ablation catheter through the bronchoscope working channel;”);
advancing said bronchoscope to said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0042; “an extended working channel is advanced through the airway into the lung and along the pathway to the point of interest.”. Para 0043; “An extended working channel may be … part of a bronchoscope.…”);
advancing said ablation catheter out of said instrument channel of said bronchoscope and into said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0042; “A catheter may be advanced though the extended working channel to the targeted region of the lung.”).
With regard to Claim 42, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 41. Panescu further discloses comprising aspirating said liquid metal out of said bronchial airway by suction through said bronchoscope (Panescu, Para 0054; “… optionally removing fluid remaining in the lung portion through the catheter …”) (Panescu, Para 0080; “… if the electrode is irrigated by injecting fluid through ports 235 the fluid may be retracted by applying suction to the guidewire lumen 236 …”).
With regard to Claim 43, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 40. Panescu further discloses comprising visualizing said ablation catheter by x-ray fluoroscopy while advancing said ablation catheter to said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0020; “… Once in position, fluoroscopy may be used to visualize the ablation catheter as it is further maneuvered towards the nodule or point of interest.”).
With regard to Claim 46, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33 as discussed above, but do not disclose wherein said liquid metal comprises gallium.
Sun further discloses wherein said liquid metal comprises gallium (Sun, Preparation of materials; “room temperature liquid metal EGaIn24.5 alloy with a melting point of 15.5 ⁰C, composed of Ga and In with purity of 99.99% …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as further suggested by Sun, in order to use liquid metal comprising gallium. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of good biocompatibility to living tissues of such liquid metal (Sun, Discussion, Para 3; “Liquid metal composed of gallium and indium or gallium alone has been proven to possess good biocompatibility to living tissues”).
With regard to Claim 47, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33 as discussed above, but do not disclose wherein said liquid metal is E-GaIn.
Sun further discloses wherein said liquid metal is E-GaIn (Sun, Preparation of materials; “room temperature liquid metal EGaIn24.5 alloy with a melting point of 15.5 ⁰C, composed of Ga and In with purity of 99.99% …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as further suggested by Sun, in order to use E-GaIn as the liquid metal. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of good biocompatibility to living tissues of such liquid metal (Sun, Discussion, Para 3; “Liquid metal composed of gallium and indium or gallium alone has been proven to possess good biocompatibility to living tissues”).
With regard to Claim 48, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein said liquid metal is instilled only into bronchial airways having a diameter of less than 5 mm (Panescu, Para 0081; “The obturator 431 or 481 may be a balloon (e.g., compliant balloon) sized to occlude the airway or a range of airway diameters (e.g., diameters in a range of 3 mm to 10 mm).”. Fig. 6 shows that the airway diameter can be controlled by using 2 obturators (431 and 481).).
With regard to Claim 49, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33. Panescu further discloses wherein said liquid metal is instilled only into bronchial airways having a length of less than 6 cm (Panescu, Para 0081; “The distance between the distal obturator and the proximal obturator is prefixed in this embodiment. For example, the distance between the balloons may be in a range of 20 mm to 40 mm.”) (Panescu, Para 0090; “… the adjustable distance between the proximal obturator and the distal obturator allows a more specific segment of an airway to be isolated …”).
With regard to Claim 50, Panescu discloses a method of treating a tumor in a patient (Panescu, Para 0008; “This disclosure is related to methods, devices, and systems for transbronchial ablation of a lung tumor.”), comprising:
having a radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter (Panescu, Abstract; “An ablation catheter configured to ablate tissue … to deliver radiofrequency (RF) electrical current to the tissue …”) comprising
(i) a flexible shaft having a fluid channel configured to instill a conductive fluid (Panescu, Para 0067; “The shaft may be a flexible shaft capable of turning …”; Para 0070; “ the air removal port 235, that pulls air from the lung portion … the air removal port 235 is the same port through which a conductive fluid (e.g., hypertonic saline) may be delivered.”);
(ii) an inflatable balloon mounted on said flexible shaft (Panescu, Para 0067; “The obturator 231 may be a balloon (e.g., compliant balloon) sized to occlude the airway or a range of airway diameters …”); and
(iii) an RF connector configured for connecting RF energy (Panescu, Abstract; “an ablation electrode attached to a distal portion of the flexible shaft and to deliver radiofrequency (RF) electrical current to the tissue …”);
inserting said ablation catheter into a passageway (Panescu, Para 0042; “… an extended working channel is advanced through the airway into the lung and along the pathway to the point of interest.”);
advancing said ablation catheter to said passageway (Panescu, Para 0042; “A catheter may be advanced though the extended working channel to the targeted region of the lung.”);
inflating said balloon to obstruct said passageway (Panescu, Para 0042; “… occluding an airway feeding the portion (e.g., using at least an occluding balloon on the catheter) …”);
filling and containing said conductive fluid entirely within said passageway (Panescu, Fig. 6A shows that conductive fluid 216 is entirely contained in selected airway 151, occluded by obturators 431 and 481); and
applying said RF energy to said conductive fluid in said passageway (Panescu, Para 0055; “…conducting the delivered ablation energy (e.g., RF or microwave) to more tissue than the surface of the electrode contacts …”).
Panescu does not explicitly disclose the conductive fluid being a liquid metal.
Sun in the same field of endeavor discloses the conductive fluid being a liquid metal (Sun, Introduction; “Here we propose for the first time an innovative method of conformable tumor hyperthermia therapy with liquid metal bath-electrodes … This new conceptual liquid metal bath-electrode can simply be used by immersing the object or the tumor tissue of any shapes directly in the container of liquid metal.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu, as suggested by Sun, in order to use liquid metal as conductive fluid for RF ablation. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of applying RF energy with high efficiency and flexibility (Sun, Introduction; “This material possesses particular characteristics, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, excellent fluidity and an alterable melting point. … liquid metal could be adopted as electrodes with high flexibility … and has very good biocompatibility”).
With regard to Claim 51, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50. Panescu further discloses wherein said passageway is a bronchial airway of the lung (Panescu, Para 0039; “The present disclosure is directed generally to devices and methods … through the patient's airway. … The term airway refers to any of the anatomical lumens of the respiratory system through which air passes including the trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles”).
With regard to Claim 52, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 51. Panescu further discloses wherein said step of instilling comprises instilling said liquid metal into at least two branches of said bronchial airway (Panescu, Para 0109; “FIG. 9 shows two catheters 100 and 101 with energy delivery electrodes 102 and 103 as an example that can be introduced separately using a flexible bronchoscope 221 and positioned with the electrodes terminating in two separate airways on two sides of the targeted tumor 80.”).
With regard to Claim 53, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 51. Panescu further discloses wherein alveoli of the bronchial airway are not filled with said liquid metal (Panescu, Para 0098; “The one or both balloons occlude the natural airway form a portion of the airway in which the HTS solution is injected and suppress flow of the liquid outside of that portion of the airway.”).
With regard to Claim 54, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50. Panescu further discloses comprising:
having a flexible bronchoscope that comprises an instrument channel (Panescu, Para 0043; “An extended working channel may be positioned within a patient, optionally through a bronchoscope or as part of a bronchoscope”; Para 0109; “… a flexible bronchoscope 221 …”);
inserting said ablation catheter through said instrument channel of said bronchoscope (Panescu, Para 0054; “placing the occlusion-ablation catheter through the bronchoscope working channel;”);
advancing said bronchoscope to said passageway (Panescu, Para 0042; “an extended working channel is advanced through the airway into the lung and along the pathway to the point of interest.”. Para 0043; “An extended working channel may be … part of a bronchoscope.…”);
advancing said ablation catheter out of said instrument channel of said bronchoscope and into said passageway (Panescu, Para 0042; “A catheter may be advanced though the extended working channel to the targeted region of the lung.”),
wherein said passageway is a bronchial airway of the lung (Panescu, Abstract; “a flexible shaft that advances endobronchially into an airway of the lung”).
With regard to Claim 55, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 54. Panescu further discloses comprising aspirating said liquid metal out of said passageway by suction through said bronchoscope (Panescu, Para 0054; “… optionally removing fluid remaining in the lung portion through the catheter …”) (Panescu, Para 0080; “… if the electrode is irrigated by injecting fluid through ports 235 the fluid may be retracted by applying suction to the guidewire lumen 236 …”).
With regard to Claim 56, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50. Panescu further discloses comprising visualizing said ablation catheter by x-ray fluoroscopy while advancing said ablation catheter to said passageway (Panescu, Para 0020; “… Once in position, fluoroscopy may be used to visualize the ablation catheter as it is further maneuvered towards the nodule or point of interest.”).
With regard to Claim 59, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50 as discussed above, but do not disclose wherein said liquid metal comprises gallium.
Sun further discloses wherein said liquid metal comprises gallium (Sun, Preparation of materials; “room temperature liquid metal EGaIn24.5 alloy with a melting point of 15.5 ⁰C, composed of Ga and In with purity of 99.99% …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as further suggested by Sun, in order to use liquid metal comprising gallium. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of good biocompatibility to living tissues of such liquid metal (Sun, Discussion, Para 3; “Liquid metal composed of gallium and indium or gallium alone has been proven to possess good biocompatibility to living tissues”).
With regard to Claim 60, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50 as discussed above, but do not disclose wherein said liquid metal is E-Galn.
Sun further discloses wherein said liquid metal is E-GaIn (Sun, Preparation of materials; “room temperature liquid metal EGaIn24.5 alloy with a melting point of 15.5 ⁰C, composed of Ga and In with purity of 99.99% …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as further suggested by Sun, in order to use E-GaIn as the liquid metal. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of good biocompatibility to living tissues of such liquid metal (Sun, Discussion, Para 3; “Liquid metal composed of gallium and indium or gallium alone has been proven to possess good biocompatibility to living tissues”).
With regard to Claim 61, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 51. Panescu further discloses wherein said liquid metal is instilled only into bronchial airways having a diameter of less than 5 mm (Panescu, Para 0081; “The obturator 431 or 481 may be a balloon (e.g., compliant balloon) sized to occlude the airway or a range of airway diameters (e.g., diameters in a range of 3 mm to 10 mm).”. Fig. 6 shows that the airway diameter can be controlled by using 2 obturators (431 and 481).).
With regard to Claim 62, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 51. Panescu further discloses wherein said liquid metal is instilled only into bronchial airways having a length of less than 10 cm (Panescu, Para 0081; “The distance between the distal obturator and the proximal obturator is prefixed in this embodiment. For example, the distance between the balloons may be in a range of 20 mm to 40 mm.”) (Panescu, Para 0090; “… the adjustable distance between the proximal obturator and the distal obturator allows a more specific segment of an airway to be isolated …”).
Claims 44-45 and 57-58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panescu and Sun, further in view of Swanson (US 20030216722 A1; hereafter Swanson).
With regard to Claim 44, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 40, but do not disclose comprising visualizing said conductive fluid by x-ray fluoroscopy while instilling said conductive fluid into said bronchial airway.
Swanson in an analogous field of endeavor discloses comprising visualizing said conductive fluid by x-ray fluoroscopy while instilling said conductive fluid into said bronchial airway (Swanson, Para 0042; “…a biocompatible dye 7 (shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)) can be added to the conductive fluid 6 to provide a means for tracking the location of the injection pattern.”) (Swanson, Para 0042; “In situations where fluoroscopy is available, it may be desirable to document the pattern of the applied lesion using radiographic images.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as suggested by Swanson, in order to visualize the instilling of the conductive fluid using x-ray fluoroscopy. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of ensuring the target region to be properly filled with conductive fluid (Swanson, Para 0042; “If the physician performing the ablation procedure notices a gap in the injection pattern, the gap can be filled in with additional injections. The dye 7 can also be used to determine if the injectate volume is properly distributed in the tissue.”).
With regard to Claim 45, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 33, but do not disclose wherein the volume of said conductive fluid instilled is less than 1.0 ml.
Swanson in an analogous field of endeavor discloses wherein the volume of said conductive fluid instilled is less than 1.0 ml (Swanson; Para 0037; “… the total volume injected can be quite small, less than a milliliter …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as suggested by Swanson, in order to instill the conductive fluid of a volume of less than 1 ml. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of limiting the applied conductive fluid to a safe amount (Swanson; Para 0037; “With such small volumes of injectate required, KCl in a concentration of 2 mEq/ml could safely be used as the conductive fluid 6 instead of 10 percent saline.”).
With regard to Claim 57, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50, but do not disclose comprising visualizing said conductive fluid by x-ray fluoroscopy while instilling said conductive fluid into said bronchial airway.
Swanson in an analogous field of endeavor discloses comprising visualizing said conductive fluid by x-ray fluoroscopy while instilling said conductive fluid into said bronchial airway (Swanson, Para 0042; “…a biocompatible dye 7 (shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)) can be added to the conductive fluid 6 to provide a means for tracking the location of the injection pattern.”) (Swanson, Para 0042; “In situations where fluoroscopy is available, it may be desirable to document the pattern of the applied lesion using radiographic images.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as suggested by Swanson, in order to visualize the instilling of the conductive fluid using x-ray fluoroscopy. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of ensuring the target region to be properly filled with conductive fluid (Swanson, Para 0042; “If the physician performing the ablation procedure notices a gap in the injection pattern, the gap can be filled in with additional injections. The dye 7 can also be used to determine if the injectate volume is properly distributed in the tissue.”).
With regard to Claim 58, Panescu and Sun disclose the method of Claim 50, but do not disclose wherein the volume of said conductive fluid instilled is less than 1.0 ml.
Swanson in an analogous field of endeavor discloses wherein the volume of said conductive fluid instilled is less than 1.0 ml (Swanson; Para 0037; “… the total volume injected can be quite small, less than a milliliter …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Panescu and Sun, as suggested by Swanson, in order to instill the conductive fluid of a volume of less than 1 ml. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of limiting the applied conductive fluid to a safe amount (Swanson; Para 0037; “With such small volumes of injectate required, KCl in a concentration of 2 mEq/ml could safely be used as the conductive fluid 6 instead of 10 percent saline.”).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/L.Z./ Examiner, Art Unit 3798
/PASCAL M BUI PHO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3798
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