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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group I and species i in the reply filed on 10/28/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Applicant asserts this reads on claims 1-5, 7, and 9.
Claim 3 recites inter alia, “the processor is configured to derive both the grasp assistance information and the traction assistance information.” Grasp assistance information is not found in the elected embodiment of species i but at least in non-elected embodiment species x. Therefore claim 3 is withdrawn from consideration.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending, claims 3, 6, 8, and 10-20 are withdrawn from consideration, and claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 are currently under consideration for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104.
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/07/2023, 01/08/2024, 01/29/2024, 09/23/2025, 10/08/2025 and 01/09/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1,2 , 4, 7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Overmyer et al. (U.S. 2020/0188046).
With respect to claim 1, Overmyer et al. teaches an endoscope system comprising:
an endoscope (310) that images living tissue to be treated by at least one instrument; and
a control device (102a) that includes a processor (para [0037]) configured to derive at least one of the following information: grasp assistance information on a grasping operation to grasp the living tissue by the at least one instrument, and traction assistance information on a traction operation for traction of the living tissue by the at least one instrument, based on an endoscopic image acquired by the endoscope (FIG. 7, para [0066], see also FIG. 11).
With respect to claim 2, Overmyer et al. teaches a display device (206) that displays at least one of the following information: the grasp assistance information and the traction assistance information derived by the control device, in association with the endoscopic image (FIG. 7).
With respect to claim 4, Overmyer et al. teaches the processor is configured to set an evaluation region in the endoscopic image of the traction operation being performed, evaluate the traction operation in the evaluation region, and output an evaluation result as the traction assistance information (wherein the entire image area is the evaluation region, FIG. 7).
With respect to claim 7, Overmyer et al. teaches wherein the processor is configured to output the evaluation result as a score (FIG. 7).
With respect to claim 9, Overmyer et al. teaches the processor is configured to set, as the evaluation region, a region including a fixed line where a position of the living tissue recognized from the endoscopic image remains unchanged and a position of the living tissue grasped by the at least one instrument (wherein the entire image area is the evaluation region, FIG. 7)
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Overmyer et al. (U.S. 2020/0188046) in view of Leiderman et al. (U.S. 2022/0104884).
Overmyer et al. teaches an endoscope system as set forth above. However, Overmyer et al. does not teach the processor is configured to evaluate the traction operation from changes in feature values of the living tissue in the evaluation region.
With respect to claim 5, Leiderman et al. teaches an endoscope system wherein a processor is configured to evaluate the traction operation from changes in feature values of the living tissue in the evaluation region (para [0058]).
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 Overmyer et al. to include iOCT means of detecting deformation of tissue in order to prevent damage to delicate structures (para [0058] of Leiderman et al.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alexandra Newton Surgan whose telephone number is (571)270-1618. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Carey can be reached at (571) 270-7235. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDRA L NEWTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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