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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the at least two layers of the flexible substrate" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7, 11, 13-16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 9,585,998 to Gage et al in view of US 9,873,000 to Moss et al.
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In the specification and figures, Gage discloses the method substantially as claimed by Applicant. With regard to claims 1-3, 5, 7, 11, 13-16, and 18, Gage discloses a vascular access device deployed in a u-shape curve wherein the device has an arterial end 14 surgically connected to artery 16, and a venous end 24 surgically connected to vein 26, wherein flow runs through the cavity in the tube with cannulation ports 36 and 46 therein.
Gage does not disclose a magnet within the cavity. However, Moss discloses a vascular graft 801 that is implanted within a patient, wherein the graft is wrapped with electromagnetic coils 815, 817 or simply a magnetic material or collar 903 that imparts magnetic energy to the blood flowing therein (see Moss FIGS 8, 9, column 5, lines 7-31). Taken together, the references reasonably suggest th
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e inclusion of a magnetic graft collar (coils 815, 817) as disclosed by Moss within a vascular graft as disclosed by Gage, wherein the device is implanted within a patient
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 8-11, 17, and 19-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to disclose or suggest the combination of elements as claimed by Applicant. With regard to claims 4, 6, 11, the prior art does not disclose or suggest the implantation of the claimed shunt with the arrangement of a spiral configuration with the claimed dimensions. With regard to claims 8-10, 17, 19-20, the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the combination of a magnetized vascular graft in combination with a magnetized vascular graft collar with layers of mesh and silver, copper, or magnetic crystals.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE R DEAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4943. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
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/LESLIE R DEAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3781 16 October 2025