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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08 June 2026 has been entered.
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, computing a time interval based on a first intersection point between a first pressure line and a pressure value and a second intersection point between a second pressure line and the pressure value must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from claim 23. No new matter should be entered. Figure 4, which attempts to show the claimed subject matter, does not show P1a as being a time interval between a first intersection point between a first pressure line (415a) and a pressure value (430) and a second intersection point between a second pressure line (415b) and the pressure value (430), nor does it show P2a as being a time interval between a first intersection point between a first pressure line (425a) and a pressure value (430) and a second intersection point between a second pressure line (425b) and the pressure value (430).
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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 15, 16, 18, 21, and 23-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 18, the specification fails to provide support for adjusting a target pressure of an inflatable member in response to the detection of an atrophy condition.
Regarding claim 23, the specification fails to provide support for determining a pressure value based on an initial plateau region of pressure data; the specification fails to provide any description of how the pressure value of claim 23 is determined.
Examiner’s Note
The following is a reason for the lack of prior art rejections:
Regarding claim 1, none of the prior art discloses or suggests, either alone or in combination, an inflatable medical device comprising a controller configured to: compute a time interval of an initial plateau region of pressure data during an inflation cycle, and detect an atrophy condition in response to the time interval achieving a threshold condition, in combination with the other claimed elements.
Regarding claim 18, none of the prior art discloses or suggests, either alone or in combination, a method comprising: computing a time interval of an initial plateau region of pressure data during an inflation cycle, and detecting an atrophy condition in response to the time interval achieving a threshold condition, in combination with the other claimed steps.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08 June 2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding the objection to the drawings, the amendments to claim 23 do not remove the claimed subject matter which is not depicted by the drawings. As such, the objection to the drawings has been maintained.
Regarding the previous rejections of claims under 35 U.S.C. 112(a), the amendments to the claims have overcome some of the rejections. However, as noted in paragraph 5 above, the amendments have warranted a new rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Regarding the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 101, the amendments to claims 1 and 18 have overcome the rejection by reciting a change that is effected based on the detection of an atrophy condition. However, as noted in paragraph 5 above, the subject matter regarding this effected change is not supported by the originally filed specification.
The Examiner would also like to note that if the currently rejected claims were amended to overcome the rejections set forth in this Office action, the withdrawn claims would need to be cancelled in order for the claims to proceed to allowance. Issues under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 35 U.S.C. 112(b) would be present in the currently withdrawn claims if considered in combination with claims 1 and 18.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ETSUB D BERHANU whose telephone number is (571)270-5410. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:30pm EST.
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/ETSUB D BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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