CTFR 18/216,207 CTFR 98753 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Response to Amendment The amendment filed 04/16/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-3 and 6 remain pending in the application, with claims 7-13 newly added. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the objections previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 02/19/2026. Response to Arguments The arguments presented in “Remarks” dated 04/16/2026 have been carefully considered, but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. As a result of the change in scope of the claims requiring search and consideration, a new rejection has been applied below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (CN 114795834 A), hereafter Chen, in view of Shimada et al. (US 2018/0280178 A1), hereafter Shimada, further in view of Gigstad (US 2023/0320919 A1), hereafter Gigstad. A machine translation of Chen is relied upon to address claims . Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses a walking assistance device (fig. 2, “Technical Field” page 1) comprising: a waist attachment portion configured to attach to a waist (fig. 2, waist strap 101, page 4 “The power assist” para.); a knee attachment portion configured to attach to a knee (fig. 2, first strap 102, page 4 “The power assist” para.); and a stretchable wire that connects the waist attachment portion and the knee attachment portion and that is configured to extend along a front surface of a thigh (fig.2, Bowden lines 2013, page 4 “The active power line” para.), wherein the walking assistance device is configured to assist a motion of swinging the thigh forward by an elastic restoring force of the wire (page 4, “The power assist unit” para.), and wherein the wire extends from the knee attachment portion toward the waist attachment portion (this configuration is shown in fig. 2), and is selectively anchored to one anchoring portion among at least two or more anchoring portions separated from each other in a longitudinal direction (fig. 4, 307 and fig. 2, 305, page 5 “The initial end of the third Bowden” para.), wherein an anchor thicker than the wire is attached to the wire (fig. 2, fixing member 305 and 307 (labeled in fig. 4) are shown as thicker than the wires 2013, page 5 “The initial end of the third Bowden” para.) , and wherein the wire is anchored to one of the at least two or more anchoring portions via the anchor (fig. 2, two anchoring portions are shown). Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein the waist attachment portion includes a wire guide is configured to extend along an outer periphery of the waist (see annotated fig. 1, the wire is arranged around the waist, but not by a specific structure) or whether the wire is guided by the wire guide and extends along the wire guide. Shimada teaches the use of a wire guide extending along an outer periphery of a waist portion of a walking assistance device (fig. 1, outer tube 32 enclosing wire 31 [0114]). The wire is guided by the wire guide and extends along the wire guide (fig. 1 [0115]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a wire guide on Chen’s waist attachment portion extending along an outer periphery of the waist to guide the wire, as taught by Shimada, in order to provide a means of fixing the wire around the waist to the waist attachment portion (Shimada [0115]). The now modified device is silent on wherein the wire guide includes a guide surface front portion and a groove along the longitudinal direction of the wire guide, the groove being part of the front surface portion, and wherein at least part of the anchor is accommodated in the groove when the anchor is anchored to the one of the at least two or more anchoring portions . Gigstad teaches an assistive wearable device for the lower limbs (fig. 1, abstract) which includes a wire guide includes a guide surface front portion (fig. 1, 122 [0080]) and a groove along the longitudinal direction of the wire guide (fig. 1, tubing component 122 has a longitudinal groove inside the tube) , the groove being part of the front surface portion (fig. 1, the groove inside the tube is part of the tubing, being the front surface portion). 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 wire guide of the modified Chen to extend around the front of the user to form a guide surface front portion as taught by Gigstad, such that Chen’s anchors are accommodated in the groove when the anchor is anchored to the one of the at least two anchoring portions to adhere the front guide surface portion to the belt. The front guide portion taught by Gigstad reduces friction and drag for smooth, reciprocating movement of the cords (Gigstad [0063]). Regarding Claim 2, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the at least two or more anchoring portions are configured to be arranged on a front surface side of the waist (fig. 4, 307 and fig. 2, 305 are shown on the front surface of the waist in fig. 2) . Regarding Claim 3, Chen as modified discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion configured to be arranged on a back surface side of the waist (as modified by Shimada fig. 1, 32 extends around the back of the waist), and wherein the wire extends through the guide back surface portion to reach the at least two or more anchoring portions (Shimada [0116] the wire is inserted through the length of the tube 32). Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Chen, Shimada, and Gigstad, further in view of Sankai (WO 2010/035706 A1), hereafter Sankai. A machine translation is relied upon to address claims. Regarding Claim 6, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion configured to be arranged on a back surface side of the waist (as modified by Shimada fig. 1, 32 extends around the back of the waist), and the guide front surface portion comprises a pair of guide front surface portions configured to be arranged on a front surface side of the waist and adjacent to each other along the longitudinal direction of the waist attachment portion (as modified by Gigstad fig. 2, there are two guide front surface portions 122, and there are positioned adjacent to each other on the waist), but the modified device is silent on wherein the guide front surface portions are swingably attached to the guide back surface portion, and wherein the guide front surface portions are detachable from each other . Sankai discloses a walking assistance device (fig. 3, page 2, first full para.) which has a waist attachment portion (fig. 2, hip fastening member 30, page 3 “Battery 32” para.) and also has a pair of guide front surface portions (fig. 3, 120, 130, page 5 “The waist fastening” para.) that are swingably attached to a guide back surface portion (fig. 3, fitting portion 31, page 5 “The waist fastening” para.), and wherein the guide front surface portions are detachable from each other (fig. 3, locking metal fitting 142 “The waist fastening” para.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen’s guide front surface portions to include the configuration taught by Sankai in order to provide an adjustable fit in close contact around the waist of the user (Sankai page 5, last para.) Regarding Claim 7, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the stretchable wire comprises a right leg wire (Chen fig. 2, the right leg wire 2013) that is slidable with respect to a right bending guide that guides the right leg wire along a curve between the groove and the knee attachment portion (as modified by Gigstad, the distal ends of the tubing 122 is curved as seen in Gigstad fig. 1), the groove is included in one of the guide front surface portions (as taught in claim 1, the center hollow of tubing 122 is the groove in the front surface portion) and the right leg wire is slidable with respect to the groove of the one of the guide front surface portions (as taught by Gigstad [0063] the wire glides through the curved portion of the tubing 122), and the right leg wire is slidable in a guide hole that passes through the guide back surface portion (as taught by Shimada fig. 1, guide back surface portion 32 is a tube having a hole through the center, Shimada [0114]). Regarding Claim 8, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the stretchable wire comprises a left leg wire (Chen fig. 2, the left leg wire 2013) that is slidable with respect to a left bending guide that guides the left leg wire along a curve between the groove and the knee attachment portion (as modified by Gigstad, the distal ends of tubing 122 is curved as seen in Gigstad fig. 1), the groove is included in one of the guide front surface portions (as taught in claim 1, the center hollow of tubing 122 is the groove in the front surface portion) and the left leg wire is slidable with respect to the groove of the one of the guide front surface portions (as taught by Gigstad [0063] the wire glides through the curved portion of the tubing 122), and the left leg wire is slidable in a guide hole that passes through the guide back surface portion (as taught by Shimada fig. 1, guide back surface portion 32 is a tube having a hole through the center, Shimada [0114]). Regarding Claim 9, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the knee attachment portion comprises a right knee attachment portion (Chen fig. 1, 102) and a left knee attachment portion (Chen fig. 1, 1031, page 4, fourth full para.), and the stretchable wire comprises: a right leg wire (Chen fig. 1, right side wire 2013) that is slidable with respect to a right bending guide (as modified by Gigstad, the distal ends of tubing 122 is shown as curving) that guides the right leg wire along a curve between the groove and the right knee attachment portion (as modified by Gigstad fig. 1 shows the curve of 122 directing the wire to the knee), the groove being included in one of the guide front surface portions (as taught in claim 1 by Gigstad fig. 1, 122 is a tube having a hollow groove inside of it) and the right leg wire is slidable with respect to the groove of the one of the guide front surface portions (as taught by Gigstad [0063] the wire glides through the curved portion of the tubing 122), and the right leg wire being slidable in a guide hole that passes through the guide back surface portion (as taught by Shimada fig. 1, guide back surface portion 32 is a tube having a hole through the center, Shimada [0114]); and a left leg wire (Chen fig. 1, left leg 2013) that is slidable with respect to a left bending guide (as modified by Gigstad, the distal ends of tubing 122 is shown as curving) that guides the left leg wire along a curve between the groove and the left knee attachment portion (as modified by Gigstad fig. 1 shows the curve of 122 directing the wire to the knee), the groove is included in one of the guide front surface portions (as taught in claim 1 by Gigstad fig. 1, 122 is a tube having a hollow groove inside of it) and the left leg wire is slidable with respect to the groove of the one of the guide front surface portions ( as taught by Gigstad [0063] the wire glides through the curved portion of the tubing 122), and the left leg wire is slidable in the guide hole that passes through the guide back surface portion (as taught by Shimada fig. 1, guide back surface portion 32 is a tube having a hole through the center, Shimada [0114]). Regarding Claim 10, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 9, wherein the right leg wire and the left leg wire overlap with each other in the guide hole (Chen fig. 6 shows this configuration; as modified by Shimada, the wires would take the same arrangement within the guide hole of the guide back surface portion) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 11-13 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. 13-03-01 The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Regarding Claim 11, the modified Chen disclose a walking assistance device according to claim 1, but is silent on wherein the wire starts at the waist attachment portion, goes around waist attachment portion and to the knee attachment portion, without going to a second knee attachment portion . While the prior art of record indicates that multiple single limb walking assistance devices are disclosed (see for example US 2004/0024350 fig. 1, US 2012/0271207 A1 fig. 1, US 2013/0006159 A1 fig. 1, US 2015/0335514 A1, US 2016/0107309 A1 fig. 1), there does not appear to be prior art of record which discloses all of the elements of claim 1 as well as wherein the wire starts at the waist attachment portion, goes around waist attachment portion and to the knee attachment portion, without going to a second knee attachment portion. Thus, claim 11 would be allowed over the prior art if rewritten into independent form including all of the elements of the base claim. Regarding Claim 12, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, but is silent on wherein the anchor is attached to an end of the wire . There does not appear to be prior art of record which includes all of the elements of claim 1 which also includes the anchor of claim 1 also being attached to an end of a wire. Nothing in Chen, Shimada, or Gigstad would indicate to a person of ordinary skill in the art to attach an end of the wire, which is shown in all three references to extend at least from one knee, around a user’s waist, to the opposite knee, to modify the disclosed devices to affix an anchor of claim 1, which is affixed to the waist attachment portion, to an end of a wire. This would significantly alter the operation of the devices. As discussed in claim 11 above, there are single leg devices, but there does not appear to be prior art of record which indicates all of the elements of claim 1 as well as an anchor at a waist portion attaching to an end of a wire. Thus, claim 12 would be allowed over the prior art if rewritten in independent form, including all of the elements of the base claim. Regarding Claim 13, the modified Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the least two or more anchoring portions are aligned with each other in the longitudinal direction (Chen fig. 1, anchors 307, which are labeled in fig. 4, are shown as approximately aligned in the longitudinal direction of the waist attachment portion), but is silent on each of the anchoring portions being configured for releasable attachment with the anchor, and wherein when the anchor is attached to one of the anchoring portions at a first position near a longitudinal center of the guide front surface portion, a tension of the wire is higher than when the anchor is attached to another of the anchoring portions at a second position that is spaced farther from the longitudinal center of the guide front surface portion than the first position is spaced from the longitudinal center of the guide front surface portion . While other prior art of record discloses adjusting the horizontal anchoring attachment points at the waist to assist the knee in walking (see in particular Murikami et al. (US 2019/0110943 A1) figs. 18-23B and [0148] and [0155]), there does not appear to be prior art of record which includes all of the elements of parent claim 1 as well as the elements of claim 13. Due to the dissimilarity in the configuration and operation of the modified Chen’s device and Murikami’s device, it would be improper hindsight to combine the two inventions to modify Chen to include releasably attached anchors on the guide front surface portion to adjust the tension of the wires. Thus, claim 13 would be allowed over the prior art if rewritten in independent form, including all of the elements of the base claim. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Co-pending application 18/216303 has been reviewed for potential double patenting. While the claims include similar subject matter, the subject matter appears to recite patentably distinct features at this time . US 2012/0172770 A1 shows a hip frame with grooves (fig. 18 [0148]) but the disclosure does not discuss the grooves, nor does a wire extend along the grooves. The examiner notes that there does not appear to be prior art of record which uses a groove open to the front surface of the waist attachment portion. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL . See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARA K. TOICH whose telephone number is (703)756-1450. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30 am - 4:30 pm, every other F 7:30-3:30 ET. 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, Brandy S. Lee can be reached at (571) 270-7410. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SARA K TOICH/ Examiner, Art Unit 3785 /BRANDY S LEE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 2 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 3 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 4 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 5 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 6 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 7 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 8 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 9 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 10 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 11 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 12 Art Unit: 3785 Application/Control Number: 18/216,207 Page 13 Art Unit: 3785
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