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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-2, 4-12, 14-16, 18-21, 23-24, 25, are pending. Claims 3, 13, 17, 22 are cancelled. Claims 16, 18-21, 23-24 are withdrawn.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-8, 10-12, 14-15, 19-21, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steiner (US 20200337525) in view of Bruemmer (US 20130094181).
Regarding claim 1, Steiner discloses a system (FIGS. 1, 4 annotated below) configured for illuminating an object to be observed during a medical intervention with non-visible illumination light in a first wavelength range (near-infrared light for fluorescent generation), the system comprising:
a converter (fluorescent indicator 102) which converts at least some of the non-visible illumination light into an optical indication signal in the form of visible indication light that is perceivable by humans (Fluorescent indicator 102 is back-lit by the excitation light 12a, from, for example, a fiber optic channel, when the user enters the fluorescence imaging mode of the system; Para [0020]; The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green; para [0003]); and
an endoscope (FIG. 1; an endoscope for imaging a fluorescent agent in a patient; para [0003]), wherein the non-visible illumination light is emitted from a distal end region (near-infrared light for fluorescent generation; FIG. 1) of the endoscope and the indication signal is emitted:
through a window (Fluorescent indicator 102 is positioned at the proximal side and is inside a window 102; FIGS. 2A-2D; The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green; para [0003]; FIG. 2B annotated below.) in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the non-visible illumination light is emitted from the distal end region (The direction of travel of the non-visible illumination light is not defined. The non-visible illumination light that comes out in the distal end in a radial direction can be referenced as the direction of the non-visible illumination light and the signal from window 102 can be perpendicular to that non-visible illumination light.);
wherein the converter comprises a conversion material (The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green; para [0003]), and wherein at least one of:
the visible indication light is observable through the window from outside the sealed interior space (FIGS. 2A-2D).
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Steiner is silent regarding wherein the window is sealed into a housing of the system so as to form a sealed interior space the converter is arranged in the sealed interior space.
Bruemmer is directed to a phosphor device (abstract) and teaches wherein the window is sealed into a housing of the system so as to form a sealed interior space; and the converter is arranged in the sealed interior space (Phosphor is safe from corrosive environments or humidity if sealed in a proper manner. FIG. 3; carrier member 1 made of aluminum seals phosphor layer 3; Para [0019], [0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Steiner to include a sealed housing in accordance with the teaching of Bruemmer so that the converter remains sealed in the housing and remains safe from the environment (Para [0019] of Bruemmer).
Regarding claim 2, Steiner discloses wherein the converter outputs the indication signal only if the non-visible illumination light is present (The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green and the first light source may have an excitation wavelength in the near infrared. Para [0003]).
Regarding claim 4, Steiner discloses wherein the converter is configured to convert the at least some of the illumination light into the visible indication light based on a photoactive substance (The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green; para [0003]) which enables optical wavelength conversion of the illumination light into the indication light without an external energy supply.
Regarding claim 5, Steiner discloses wherein the converter comprises a photoactive conversion material (The fluorescent indicator may be indocyanine green which requires a photoactive conversion material; para [0003), and the conversion material is applied as a conversion layer on a carrier body (FIGS. 1, 2A-2D).
Regarding claim 6, Steiner discloses wherein the conversion material contains a photoactive substance applied on a ceramic as the carrier body (Note the carrier body in FIG. 1; Also see, FIGS. 2A-2D).
Regarding claim 7, Steiner discloses wherein the illumination light is at least one of reflected or transmitted by the converter (The illumination light is transmitted via the indicator 102; FIGS. 1, 2A-2D).
Regarding claim 8, Steiner discloses wherein the converter, upon the conversion of the non-visible illumination light into the visible indication light, is configured to effect conversion from longer wavelengths to shorter wavelengths (Infrared light is transformed to indocyanine green. Para [0003]).
Regarding claim 10, Steiner as modified, discloses wherein: the converter is arranged in the sealed interior space (Bruemmer: Phosphor layer 3 is sealed in member 1 made of aluminum; para [0019], [0029]) and the visible indication light is observable through the window from outside the sealed interior space (Steiner: FIGS. 2A-2D).
Regarding claim 11, Steiner discloses wherein the converter is arranged in a housing (FIG. 1) that surrounds a light guide (Note the light guide in FIG. 1), which propagates the invisible illumination light to an illumination optical unit.
Regarding claim 12, Steiner discloses wherein the converter is arranged such that the converter is located extracorporeally (FIG. 1) when the visualization and/or illumination system is used.
Regarding claim 14, Steiner discloses an internal light guide (FIG. 1) forming a branch which branches off some of the illumination light from an optical main path used for the illumination and the branch guides some of the illumination light to the converter (Light guide is branched off; FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Steiner discloses wherein the system comprises an endoscope (FIG.1), an exoscope, a microscope or an illumination optical unit.
Regarding claim 19, Steiner discloses a light source configured to emit the illumination light (Visible light source 13) and arranged in an interior space (FIG. 1), and a light guide arranged in the interior space (FIG.1) and configured to guide the illumination light to the converter (Indicator 102; FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 20, Steiner discloses wherein the light source is arranged in a distal end region of the endoscope (Visible light source 13 is propagated to the distal end and exit out of the distal end.) and the light guide propagates the illumination light in a direction towards the proximal end of the endoscope (The illumination light such as near infrared is propagated towards the proximal end for fluorescence mode. FIGS. 1, 2A-2C).
Regarding claim 21, Steiner discloses wherein the non-visible illumination light is emitted from the endoscope is an excitation light (The first light source may have an excitation wavelength in the near infrared. Para [0016]) being used for optical excitation of a fluorophore for the purpose of fluorescence imaging (Fluorescent indicator 102 is back-lit by the excitation light 12a, from, for example, a fiber optic channel, when the user enters the fluorescence imaging mode of the system; Para [0020]).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steiner (US 20200337525) in view of Bruemmer (US 20130094181) and Mizuyoshi (US 20090306478).
Regarding claim 9, Steiner does not expressly disclose wherein the converter, upon the conversion of the non-visible illumination light into the visible indication light, is configured to effect conversion from shorter wavelengths to longer wavelengths.
Mizuyoshi is directed to illumination device for use in an endoscope (abstract) and teaches wherein the converter, upon the conversion of the non-visible illumination light into the visible indication light, is configured to effect conversion from shorter wavelengths to longer wavelengths (Near ultraviolet light is irradiated; Para [0154]; The second wavelength conversion member which also constitutes the wavelength conversion member 145 made of a down-conversion material which absorbs the laser beam from the near-ultraviolet laser light source 135 and is excited to emit green light. Para [0152]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Steiner to have conversion from a shorter wavelength to a longer wavelength so that higher energy light such as ultraviolet light could be used for illumination and treatment during surgery.
Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steiner (US 20200337525) in view of Bruemmer (US 20130094181) and further in view of Yoshida (US 20110237895).
Regarding claim 25, Steiner does not expressly disclose wherein a filter layer is arranged on the window, wherein the filter layer does not transmit the non- visible illumination light and allows the visible indication light to pass through, and wherein the converter is arranged such that the non-visible illumination light is incident first on the conversion material of the converter and only afterwards on the filter layer.
Yoshida is directed to an image capturing apparatus (abstract) and teaches wherein a filter layer (cut filter 22) is arranged on a window, wherein the filter layer does not transmit the non- visible illumination light and allows the visible indication light to pass through (Infrared light cut filter 83 is formed of a notch interference filter and has a filter characteristic of cutting off near infrared light and transmitting visible light and ICG fluorescence. Para [0145]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Steiner to have a filter layer (cut filter 22) with the converter of Steiner to ensure filtering (cutting) of non-visible light through the converter.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments submitted on 05/20/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection dated 03/26/2026 have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new rejection has been made in view of amendment.
See rejection set forth above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANKAR R GHIMIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-0515. The examiner can normally be reached 8 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHANKAR RAJ GHIMIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 3795
/ANH TUAN T NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
6/6/26
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