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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/9/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mullaney (US Pub 2020/0253640) in view of Funk et al. (US Patent 7,406,775).
With respect to claim 1, Mullaney discloses an external fixation frame (see figure 2 below) comprising; first (fig 2, 20) and second support rings (fig 2, 30); one or more wires or bone pins (fig 2, 14) coupled to any of the first and second support rings; one or more struts (fig 2, 11) extending between the first and second support rings, and a reference body (fig 2, 24, the reference body directly contacting any of the one or more wires, bone pins and struts (fig 2, contacts the end of the struts),
With respect to claim 2, Mullaney discloses wherein the orientation of the external fixation frame is configured to be with respect to an adjacent bone (paragraph 50).
With respect to claim 3, Mullaney discloses wherein the external fixation frame is configured to be coupled to the bone (fig 2, 26).
With respect to claim 17, Mullaney discloses wherein the reference body includes an alignment opening (see fig 2 below) configure to align the external fixation frame with reference to an imaging device.
PNG
media_image1.png
722
520
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With respect to claim 1, Mullaney discloses the claimed invention with the reference bodies having various shapes and compositions but does not discloses the bodies including a plurality of markers, wherein the plurality of markers are arranged in a pattern to identify an orientation of the external fixation frame, a first set of the plurality of markers extending from a first side of the reference body such that a face of each of the first set of plurality of makers defines a first pattern along the first side, a second set of the plurality of markers extending from a second side of the reference body such that a face of each of the second set of the plurality of the markers defines a second pattern along the second side.
Funk discloses a body (fig 15, 900) having a plurality of markers (fig 15, 920, 935, 940, 945), wherein the plurality of markers are arranged in a pattern to identify an orientation of a device (col. 18, ll. 43), a first set of the plurality of markers (fig 15, 920s) extending from a first side of the reference body such that a face (fig 15) of each of the first set of plurality of makers defines a first pattern (fig 15) along the first side, a second set of the plurality of markers (fig 15, 935, 940, 945) extending from a second side (fig 15) of the reference body such that a face of each of the second set of the plurality of the markers defines a second pattern along the second side (fig 15) to effectively determine the orientation of the body with respect to the bone in a 2D image (col. 18, ll. 39-67).
With respect to claim 4, Funk discloses wherein the plurality of markers are radiopaque (col. 18, ll. 36).
With respect to claim 10, Funk discloses wherein the reference body defines a cuboid (fig 15).
With respect to claim 12, Funk discloses wherein the plurality of markers are cylindrical bodies (fig 15).
With respect to claim 14, Funk discloses wherein the first set of cylindrical bodies extend from a first face of the cuboid and the second set of cylindrical bodies extend from a second face of the cuboid (fig 15).
PNG
media_image2.png
332
556
media_image2.png
Greyscale
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 Mullaney to include the bodies including a plurality of markers, wherein the plurality of markers are arranged in a pattern to identify an orientation of the external fixation frame, a first set of the plurality of markers extending from a first side of the reference body such that a face of each of the first set of plurality of makers defines a first pattern along the first side, a second set of the plurality of markers extending from a second side of the reference body such that a face of each of the second set of the plurality of the markers defines a second pattern along the second side in view of Funk in order to effectively determine the orientation of the body with respect to the bone in a 2D image.
With respect to claim 5, Mullaney in view of Funk discloses wherein an orientation of the external fixation frame with reference to the bone in an image is determined from the pattern (Funk (col. 18, ll. 39-67) discloses the position and scale of the device in the images)).
With respect to claim 9, Mullaney in view of Funk discloses wherein a scale of the external fixation frame with reference to the bone in an image is determined from the pattern (Mullaney (paragraph 50) and Funk (col. 18, ll. 39-67) discloses the position and scale of the device in the images).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mullaney in view of Funk as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Messerli et al. (US Patent RE46,647).
With respect to claim 13, Mullaney in view of Funk discloses the claimed invention with the markers being a cylindrical body to be identified in an X-ray (Col. 18, II. 38-40 of Funk) and does not disclose that cylindrical body including threads.
Messerli discloses both cylindrical bodies (pins) and cylindrical bodies with threads (screws) (col. 3, II. 13) being used to be identified in an x-ray (Col. 3, II. 15).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the cylindrical bodies (a pin) of Mullaney in view of Funk with the cylindrical bodies with threads (a screw) in view of Messerli because a cylindrical body and the a cylindrical body with threads are mere functional equivalents, and because such a substitution of one for the other would have achieved the same predicable result of being used to be identified in an x-ray.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 9, 10, 12-14 and 17 have been 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN J COTRONEO whose telephone number is (571)270-7388. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
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.
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.
/S.J.C/Examiner, Art Unit 3773
/JULIANNA N HARVEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3773
Prosecution Insights