DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant's election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 25 November 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 7-20 have been withdrawn. Claims 2-6 have been amended. Claims 1-6 are currently pending and under examination.
This Application is a continuation of International Application PCT/US2021/049671, filed September 9, 2021, which claims benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/077029, filed September 11, 2020.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wikipedia (File:Feet in socks.jpg, 27 August 2006, Available online at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File: Feet_in_socks.jpg).
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With regard to claim 1, referring to the reproduced picture, Wikipedia teaches a sock, which is a skin substitute comprising an outer-facing portion (outside of the sock) and an inner-facing portion (inside of the sock), the skin substitute configured to conform to the shape and dimension of the desired body part of the subject, here, the foot, ankle, and lower calf, wherein the skin substitute circles back on itself to enclose the foot, ankle, and lower calf (see picture).
With regard to claim 2, referring to the reproduced picture, Wikipedia teaches a skin substitute having an outer-facing portion, which is an epidermal portion, and an inner-facing portion, which is a dermal portion.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Atala et al. (IDS; US 2017/0354763, Published 2017).
With regard to claim 1, Atala et al. teach a skin substitute, including a biomask, comprising an outer-facing portion (outer side) and an inner-facing portion (inner side), the skin substitute configured to conform to the shape and dimension of the desired body part of the subject, here, a portion of the face including the nose, lips, chin, and cheeks (Abs.; Fig. 6). The skin substitute biomask circles back on itself to enclose the nose, lips, chin, and cheeks (see Fig. 6).
With regard to claim 2, Atala et al. teach that the skin substitute has an epidermis-like layer, which is an outer-facing portion and epidermal portion; and a dermis-like layer, which is an inner portion and dermal portion (Abs.).
With regard to claims 3-6, Atala et al. teach that the epidermal portion includes epidermal cells, including keratinocytes and melanocytes; and the dermal portion includes dermal cells, including fibroblasts and dermal papilla cells (Abs.).
Conclusion
No claims are allowable.
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/JENNIFER M.H. TICHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1653