DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the filing of the application on 4/21/2023. Since the initial filing, no claims have been amended, added, or cancelled. Thus, claims 1-7 are pending in the application.
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Fig. 4 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(b)(1) and (b)(2) where photographs are not ordinarily permitted unless it is the only practicable medium for illustrating the claimed invention.
Figs. 5 and 8 fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.83(a) whereby all representations need to be labeled. Hence, the unlabeled boxes of Figs. 5 and 8 (e.g. 14 in Fig. 5) need to be labeled in order to convey a proper understanding on the invention at a glance.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites the language “for arranging relative to a limb of a patient” in line 2. Examiner suggests changing to read --for being arranged relative to a limb of a patient-- in order to improve the readability and clarity of the claim language.
Claim 7 is objected to as it lacks a period at the end of the sentence.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US Pub. 2022/0047447).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a system for thermal compression therapy (see the recovery system 100 in Fig. 4), which comprises: at least one thermal compression device (see Fig. 4, where recovery system 100 includes a heating element assembly 134, and a pneumatic assembly 140) for arranging relative to a limb of a patient (see Figs. 1-2 where the recovery system 100 is worn on a user’s limb), the at least one thermal compression device including: one or more compression bladders (see Figs. 3-4 and [0046] where there can be a plurality of pneumatics bladders, such as 146 (mislabeled 156)/148/152 in Fig. 3, or 146 in Fig. 4), the one of more compression bladders configured to be selectively expandable in response to introduction of fluids therein (see [0047] and Fig. 5 where pump 160 fills the bladders with fluid); and a thermal conductive member disposed about the one or more compression bladders (see Fig. 4 where heating element assembly, made of heating-element insert 132, is placed next to the pneumatic assembly 140 and its bladders), the thermal conductive member including a thermal conductive layer configured to distribute heat uniformly across an area of the limb of the patient (see Fig. 4 and [0045] where heating-element insert 132 is a layer, having heating element 128 to distribute heat across the insert and to the limb. It is noted that the style and type of heating element assembly 134 is interchangeable between Fig. 4 and Figs. 6-7).
Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses wherein the thermal conductive layer comprises a conductive carbon (see [0069] and [0071], as well as Figs. 6-7, where the heat can come from a conductive sheet, and that sheet can be made of graphite, which is carbon).
Regarding claim 3, Wang discloses one or more pressure sensors (see [0052] where a pressure sensor can be included to monitor pressure of the bladders and send data to the controller) and one or more temperature sensors (see [0057]-[0059] where one or more temperature transducers/ sensors can be used to monitor the temperature of the skin and send the data to the controller).
Regarding claim 4, Wang discloses a controller in communication with the one or more pressure sensors and the one or more temperature sensors (see [0052] and [0057] where the pressure and temperature sensors are in communication with control unit 164).
Regarding claim 5, Wang discloses wherein: the controller is configured to control flow of fluids into the one or more compression bladders in response to signals received from the one or more pressure sensors (see [0047], [0052], and [0081] where the pressure sensor is connected to the control unit and pump in order to control the pressure in the bladders, based on sensed pressure readings); and the controller is configured to control temperature of the thermal conductive member in response to signals received from the one or more temperature sensors (see [0057], [0081] and [0087] where the temperature sensors are connected to the controller, and the controller uses the sensed temperature data to control the outputted temperature of the heating elements).
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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Lowe (US Pub. 2013/0006335).
Regarding claim 6, Wang discloses a thermal compression device configured for arrangement around an extremity of the patient.
Wang lacks a detailed description of a plurality of thermal compression devices.
However, Lowe teaches a thermal compression device, having a plurality of compression garments which are connected to the user on various limbs, and connected to the same control unit (see [0037]-[0040] and Fig. 1).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thermal compression device of Wang to be a plurality of devices connected to different limbs as taught by Lowe, as it would allow for the thermal compression benefit to be delivered to a wider range of limbs simultaneously, for more targeted therapeutic benefit (Lowe; see [0049]).
Regarding claim 7, the modified Wang device has wherein the controller is configured to control operation of multiple thermal compression devices (Lowe; see [0037]-[0040] where the modified Wang device has a plurality of thermal compression devices, which are connected to a single control unit as taught by Lowe).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Lowe et al. (US Pub. 2015/0150717), Wyatt et al. (US Pub. 2014/0081187), Rizzo et al. (US Pub. 2019/0274372), and Diller et al. (US Pub. 2014/0228718) are cited to show similar compression/ thermal devices, and means for controlling them.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW D ZIEGLER whose telephone number is (571)272-3349. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 9:00-6:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Justine Yu can be reached at (571)272-4835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW D ZIEGLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/JUSTINE R YU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785