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 without traverse of claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 1/25/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim 7 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/25/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgement is made of receipt of Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO-1449) filed 11/25/2025. An initialed copy is attached to this Office Action.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is in response to the communication filed 11/25/2025.
The Amendments to Claim 3, filed 11/25/2025, are acknowledged and accepted.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 6 discloses a period instead of a comma or a semi colon. Appropriate correction is required.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (2021/0059756), hereinafter Kim in view of Hoffman et al. (2002/0072796), hereinafter Hoffman.
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a method of predicting the anterior chamber angle of the eye of a surgical candidate for lens implantation (paragraph 0042), the method comprising: obtaining input data including a lens size (paragraphs 0041, 0043-0044, and 0048); and obtaining a predicted postoperative anterior chamber angle based on a learning model using the input data (paragraphs 0041 discloses the lens determination model (learning model) uses examination data to determine size of the lens size to be inserted during lens implant surgery and 0047 discloses the examination data includes the anterior chamber angle; Examiner notes that this done after the surgery); wherein the learning model is based on the data the lens size of a plurality of patients who have undergone the lens implantation in the past (paragraphs 0047, 0054, and 0071-0073).
Although Kim discloses the use of the lens size and the anterior chamber angle for the examination data (paragraphs 0041 and 0047). Kim does not specifically disclose the learning model is based on the lens size and the measured postoperative anterior chamber angle.
Kim and Hoffman are related as lens implant surgery.
Hoffman discloses the learning model is based on the lens size and the measured postoperative anterior chamber angle (paragraph 0034).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Kim with the learning model based on lens size and ACA of Hoffman for the purpose of preventing damage to delicate eye tissues.
Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses the method further comprising outputting the obtained lens size (paragraphs 0070, 0081, and 0098).
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses wherein the obtained lens size is determined based on a vaulting value (paragraphs 0055-0057).
Regarding claim 4, Kim discloses wherein the input data further comprises examination data of the surgical candidate (paragraphs 0041-0043).
Regarding claim 5, Kim discloses wherein the examination data comprises at least one of pupil size (paragraph 0133), anterior chamber depth (ACD) (paragraphs 0047 and 0133), anterior chamber width (ACW), crystalline lens rise (CLR) (paragraphs 0047 and 0133), or preoperative anterior chamber angle (paragraphs 0047 and 0133).
Regarding claim 6, Hoffman discloses wherein the anterior chamber angle is defined as a trabecular iris angle (TIA) or a scleral spur angle (SSA) (paragraph 0034 discloses trabecular meshwork 17).
Conclusion
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/BRANDI N THOMAS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872