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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-12 and 14-21 are pending, claims 12, 16, and 18-20 have been withdrawn from consideration, and claims 1-11, 14-15, 17,and 21 are currently under consideration for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104. Response to arguments found below.
Foreign Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copies have been received.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11, 14, 15, 17 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa (U.S. 2015/0265142) in view of Imai (U.S. 2016/0363757).
With respect to claim 1, Ogawa teaches an insertion portion of an endoscope comprising:
a distal end portion extending in a longitudinal axis direction and configured to be inserted into a subject in the longituidnal axis direction, the distal end portion (FIG. 2) comprising:
an exterior surface (FIG. 8),
a first channel (45) including a first opening on the exterior surface, the first channel extending in a first direction that intersects the longitudinal axis direction (FIG. 2).
an elongated object (9) inserted into the first channel;
a rigid portion (46) provided at a distal end of the first elongated object, the rigid portion including:
an outer peripheral surface (FIG. 8), and
a first surface (49) recessed from the outer peripheral surface of the rigid portion (FIG. 8)
However, Ogawa does not teach a second channel or second and third openings.
With respect to claim 1, Imai teaches an insertion portion of an endoscope comprising:
a distal end portion (21) comprising:
an exterior surface (FIG. 6),
a first channel (22) including a first opening on the exterior surface (22a), and
a second channel (23) including a second opening (24a) on the exterior surface and a third opening on the first channel (FIG. 6),
an elongated object (30) inserted into the first channel;
a rigid portion (33) provided at a distal end of the first elongated object, the rigid portion including:
an outer peripheral surface (33d), and
a first surface (39a) recessed from the outer peripheral surface of the rigid portion,
wherein both of the outer peripheral surface and the first surface are exposed within the third opening (FIG. 10, 21 for example).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to modify the means of attaching holding frame 46 of Ogawa to the distal end portion of Ogawa, to instead utilize the pin configuration as taught by Imai so that the holding frame can be reversably fixed to the endoscope for easier repairs (para [0011] of Imai). Such a modification would necessarily result in the second channel intersecting the first direction and the second channel being inclined and non-perpendicular relative to the longitudinal axis direction because Imai teaches the second channel is perpendicular to the distal end of the first channel and Ogawa teaches the first channel is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope.
With respect to claim 2, Imai teaches the rigid portion comprising a second surface recessed from the outer peripheral surface (39a, FIG. 20).
With respect to claim 3, Imai teaches the first surface and the second surface are separated from each other in a circumferential direction (FIG. 20).
With respect to claim 4, Imai does not explicitly teach a relationship of W>d+r. However, it is obvious that the Imai device satisfies this condition at least based on 24a in FIG. 6 and 39a,33d as compared to pin 50 in FIG. 21.
With respect to claim 5, Imai does not explicitly teach the first surface includes a side surface and a bottom surface, the side surface and the bottom surface form an angle of 90 to 135 degrees relative to each other. However, it is obvious based on FIG. 21 that the shape of the recess-shaped groove portions meets this limitation.
With respect to claim 6, Imai teaches a fixing portion (50) inserted into the second channel (FIG. 6, 10), the fixing portion contacting the outer peripheral surface so as to hold the rigid portion (FIG. 21).
With respect to claim 7, Imai teaches the fixing portion is configured to press the outer peripheral surface of the rigid portion (para [0111]).
With respect to claim 8, Imai teaches the fixing portion includes a distal end having a size greater than a size of an opening of the recessed surface on the outer peripheral surface (FIG. 21).
With respect to claim 9, Ogawa teaches the first elongated object includes a distal portion at a distal-end side that is bent relative to a proximal portion of the first elongated object and the rigid portion is provided on the distal portion (FIG. 6,7).
With respect to claim 10, Ogawa teaches the first elongated object is an illumination unit configured to emit light for illuminating a subject (para [0043] for example).
With respect to claim 11, Ogawa teaches the illumination unit is a light guide (22) that is pre-formed to maintain a predetermined shape in which a middle portion is bent (FIG. 7).
With respect to claim 14, Imai teaches the second channel extends linearly (FIG. 6).
With respect to claim 15, Imai teaches the lens frame 31 including body portion 33 is made of stainless steel (para [0052]). Further, FIG. 2 of Imai shows image pickup cable 37 is part of the elongated object. It is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the stainless steel rigid portion has higher rigidity than the image pickup cable.
With respect to claim 17, Imai teaches an endoscope comprising the insertion portion according to claim 1 (FIG. 1).
With respect to claim 21, Ogawa teaches the elongated object having a columnar shape; and the rigid portion further having an inner peripheral shape for accommodating the elongated object therein (FIG. 7).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Specifically, Applicant has presented no specific arguments with respect to the obviousness rejection of claim 1.
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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/ALEXANDRA L NEWTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799