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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/30/2026 has been entered.
Allowable Subject Matter
The indicated allowability of claim 9 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Makwana (WO 2021/195107 A1). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
Claims 4 – 6, and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 14 – 19 are allowed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore,
the first set of cavities aligned with the first reservoir and a second set of cavities aligned with the second reservoir of claim 11 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s).
No new matter should be entered.
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 8 and 10 - 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Makwana (WO 2021/195107 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Makwana discloses a prosthetic spinal implant (Abstract), comprising:
a first endplate component (ref. 1) and a second endplate component (ref. 2) operably connected to form an articulating joint (Fig. 5, Abstract), wherein the first endplate component and the second endplate component each comprise an inner surface (ref. 21) with one or more cavities extending into the inner surface (see remarked Fig. 5 below) and an interlocking component extending from the inner surface (ref. 4, Fig. 5) and an exterior surface adapted to engage with bone (the implant is configured to engage vertebral bodies); and
a flexible core (ref. 3) between the first endplate component and the second endplate component (Fig. 5), wherein the flexible core extends through the one or more cavities and into one or more internal reservoirs formed within at least one of the first endplate component and the second endplate component (see remarked Fig. 5 below).
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Regarding claim 2, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant of claim 1, wherein the flexible core is configured to limit movement of the first endplate component relative to the second endplate component (the core is sandwiched between the endplates and connected via the interlocking components, thus movement of the endplates is limited to the extent that the core extrudes).
Regarding claim 7, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant of claim 1, wherein the interlocking component of the first endplate component and the interlocking component of the second endplate component interlock to prevent over-rotation of the first endplate component and the second endplate component (because of the connection, the three components are limited in relative rotational movement).
Regarding claim 8, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant (Abstract), comprising:
a first endplate component and a second endplate component each comprising an exterior surface adapted to engage with bone, an inner surface formed with one or more cavities, and one or more internal reservoirs (see remarked Fig. 5 below), wherein each of the one or more internal reservoirs extends from at least one of the one or more cavities (Fig. 5); and
a flexible core (refs. 3 and 4) bonding the first endplate component to the second endplate component (Fig. 5), wherein the flexible core includes one or more vertical structures that correspond to the one or more cavities and one or more horizontal structures that correspond to the one or more internal reservoirs (the dovetail-like connections as shown in Fig. 5 have both vertical and horizontal structures that engage with the cavities and reservoirs) wherein a portion of the flexible core fills the one or more internal reservoirs of the first endplate component and the one or more internal reservoirs of the second endplate component (Fig. 5).
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Regarding claim 10, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant of claim 8, wherein the one or more internal reservoirs include a first reservoir and a second reservoir (Fig. 5 shows several reservoirs).
Regarding claim 11, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant of claim 10, wherein the one or more cavities include a first set of cavities aligned with the first reservoir and a second set of cavities aligned with the second reservoir (Fig. 5 shows cavities and reservoirs on both endplates, thus a first set and second set).
Regarding claim 12, Makwana discloses the prosthetic spinal implant of claim 11, wherein the first reservoir and the first set of cavities are formed in a first lateral side of each of the first endplate component and the second endplate component and the second reservoir and the second set of cavities are formed in a second lateral side of each of the first endplate component and the second endplate component (Fig. 5 shows the cavities and reservoirs on a lateral side of the core and endplates).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TESSA M MATTHEWS whose telephone number is (571)272-8817. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8am - 1pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Robert can be reached at (571) 272-4719. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TESSA M MATTHEWS/Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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