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 .
This Office Action has been issued in response to Applicant’s Communication of application S/N 18/265,051 filed on June 2, 2023. Claims 1-14 are currently pending with the application.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2020-0169028, filed on December 4, 2020.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a reception unit configured to” in claim 13.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 12 also does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because they are directed to “A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions…” however, the “computer-readable storage medium” includes signals.
Claim 12 recites “A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method…”. The broadest reasonable interpretation of claimed “A computer-readable recording medium” covers a form of transitory signals per se. Signals are non-statutory subject matter. As such, claim 12 is not directed to one of the statutory categories of invention, because it is directed to signals and as such fails to fall into a statutory category of invention as per the definition of the medium in the specification which could includes signals.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 2, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stratton (U.S. Publication No.: US 20150320524 A1) hereinafter Stratton, in view of Choi et al. (U.S. Publication No.: US 20220331076 A1) hereinafter Choi.
As to claim 1:
Stratton discloses:
A method of designing, selecting, delivering, or implanting a customized ready-made abutment from a plurality of customized ready-made abutment sets designed or manufactured [Paragraph 0023 teaches end-to-end component design system that is highly automated using, e.g., computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs to create three-dimensional models that can in turn be used to generate commands to control the machine tools of the CNC machine. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program.], , the method comprising: preparing for a plurality of customized ready-made abutment sets on the basis of a patient data [Paragraph 0024 teaches a second interface for cooperation with the anatomy of the patient (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, jaw bone, etc.). Paragraph 0039 teaches such that the dental implant can be aligned and configured in the proper, intended manner within a patient's dentition. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program.]; picking up oral data of a patient [Paragraph 0024 teaches a second interface for cooperation with the anatomy of the patient (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, jaw bone, etc.). Paragraph 0039 teaches such that the dental implant can be aligned and configured in the proper, intended manner within a patient's dentition. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program.];
Stratton discloses most of the limitations as set forth in claim 1 but does not appear to expressly disclose customized ready-made abutment sets designed or manufactured based on a patient database and patient database, selecting an appropriate abutment from among the plurality of customized ready-made abutment sets using software on the basis of the picked-up oral data of the patient; and delivering or implanting the selected customized ready-made abutment.
Choi discloses:
customized ready-made abutment sets designed or manufactured based on a patient database and patient database [Paragraph 0061 teaches at this time, the 3D abutment 20 models loaded from the library may be products that are supplied to dentists, dental technical laboratories, etc. in the form of ready-made products, or customized abutments that are pre-processed according to the user's judgment. Paragraph 0065 teaches at this time, oral model data (i.e., a 3D oral model having a 3D shape) may be obtained by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are implanted, or by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are not implanted so that the positions of the abutments to be implanted are empty. Note: A customized 3D abutment that is a ready-made product designed based on 3D oral data from scanning of a patients mouth and stored for retrieval reads on the claims.]
selecting an appropriate abutment from among the plurality of customized ready-made abutment sets using software on the basis of the picked-up oral data of the patient; and delivering or implanting the selected customized ready-made abutment [Paragraph 0061 teaches on the other hand, when the abutment 20 model database is loaded, the user may select a 3D abutment 20 model to be applied to a patient's oral cavity from the abutment list section U20 (model selection step, S3). Paragraph 0083 teaches the user may select a 3D abutment model to be applied to a specific target position from the 3D abutment model database displayed on the library user interface. Paragraph 0089 teaches at this time, when the user sets a target position on the library user interface or when a 3D abutment model applied only to a specific target position is selected, the 3D abutment model may be loaded at the target position of a 3D oral model displayed on the scan user interface. Note: Selecting an abutment based on a 3D oral model of the patient (picked-up oral data of the patient) and providing (delivering) the abutment to the user, wherein the selection is made from a plurality of 3D abutment models reads on the claims.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton, by incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment (see Stratton Paragraph 0061, 0065, 0083, and 0089), because the two applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment provides presents numerous advantages provides the advantage in that the user can quickly retrieve and select the required 3D abutment 20 model without checking all the 3D abutment 20 model data loaded in a library. (see Choi Paragraph 0060).
Claim 14 is similarly rejected because it is similar in scope.
As to claim 2:
Stratton discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein a number of the plurality of customized ready- made abutment sets prepared for based on the patient data is 400 or more [Paragraph 0040 teaches a CNC fixture will now be discussed. FIGS. 4-6 show an example of a CNC fixture that can hold up to six blank stocks at one time. One skilled in the art will recognize that the CNC fixture shown in the figures is provided by way of example only, and that the devices, systems, methods, and techniques described herein may be used with other CNC fixtures. For example, CNC fixtures having different shapes and sizes, or CNC fixtures holding more or less blank stocks may be used. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program. Note: A CNC that is capable of producing a plurality of abutments, wherein the examiner interprets the lack of a limits placed on the CNC ability to produce any number of abutments reads on the claims (ready-made abutments of up to 400).]
Stratton and Choi discloses all of the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and some of claim 2 but does not appear to expressly disclose based on the patient database.
Choi also discloses:
patient database [Paragraph 0061 teaches at this time, the 3D abutment 20 models loaded from the library may be products that are supplied to dentists, dental technical laboratories, etc. in the form of ready-made products, or customized abutments that are pre-processed according to the user's judgment. Paragraph 0065 teaches at this time, oral model data (i.e., a 3D oral model having a 3D shape) may be obtained by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are implanted, or by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are not implanted so that the positions of the abutments to be implanted are empty. Note: A customized 3D abutment that is a ready-made product designed based on 3D oral data from scanning of a patients mouth and stored for retrieval reads on the claims.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton, by incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment (see Stratton Paragraph 0061, 0065, 0083, and 0089), because the two applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment provides presents numerous advantages provides the advantage in that the user can quickly retrieve and select the required 3D abutment 20 model without checking all the 3D abutment 20 model data loaded in a library (see Choi Paragraph 0060).
Claim(s) 3, 6, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stratton (U.S. Publication No.: US 20150320524 A1) hereinafter Stratton, in view of Choi et al. (U.S. Publication No.: US 20220331076 A1) hereinafter Choi, and further in view of Lee Jinho et al. (WIPO Publication No.: WO-2021046147-A1) hereinafter Lee Jinho.
As to claim 3:
Stratton discloses:
The method of claim 1, the preparing of the plurality of customized ready-made abutment sets on the basis of a patient database includes: preparing for 400 or more customized ready-made abutment sets [Paragraph 0040 teaches a CNC fixture will now be discussed. FIGS. 4-6 show an example of a CNC fixture that can hold up to six blank stocks at one time. One skilled in the art will recognize that the CNC fixture shown in the figures is provided by way of example only, and that the devices, systems, methods, and techniques described herein may be used with other CNC fixtures. For example, CNC fixtures having different shapes and sizes, or CNC fixtures holding more or less blank stocks may be used. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program. Note: A CNC that is capable of producing a plurality of abutments, wherein the examiner interprets the lack of a limits placed on the CNC ability to produce any number of abutments reads on the claims (ready-made abutments of up to 400).] preparing for the 400 or more customized ready-made abutment sets [Paragraph 0040 teaches a CNC fixture will now be discussed. FIGS. 4-6 show an example of a CNC fixture that can hold up to six blank stocks at one time. One skilled in the art will recognize that the CNC fixture shown in the figures is provided by way of example only, and that the devices, systems, methods, and techniques described herein may be used with other CNC fixtures. For example, CNC fixtures having different shapes and sizes, or CNC fixtures holding more or less blank stocks may be used. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program. Note: A CNC that is capable of producing a plurality of abutments, wherein the examiner interprets the lack of a limits placed on the CNC ability to produce any number of abutments reads on the claims (ready-made abutments of up to 400).]
Stratton and Choi discloses all of the limitations as set forth in claim 1, 2, and some of claim 3 but does not appear to expressly disclose dividing a statistical distribution range of patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions on the basis of a unit length and preparing for the 400 or more customized ready-made abutment sets on the basis of the plurality of region division results.
Lee Jinho discloses:
dividing a statistical distribution range of patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions on the basis of a unit length [Page 36 Lines 8-13 teaches the parametric model is an ASM, the representative training set of objects can be the training set used to generate said ASM. The parameter values to be determined are the weighting factors for each of the eigenvectors. The linear combination of which determines the shape of the dental object. To determine the parameter values, an iterative search algorithm can be used to fit the statistical component model (ASM) to the dental object in the training set. Page 43 Lines 15-16 teach Figure 11 shows accuracy results with some selected abutment parameters with 0.5 mm and 1.0mm range from corresponding parameter values of human designs. Page 43 Lines 21-24 teach Figure 11 shows measuring accuracies of selected abutment shape parameters within 0.5 mm (first column) and 1.0 mm (second column) respectively. Note: Abutments based on parametric model that is determined based statistical component model of the dental object reads on the claims.]; and preparing customized ready-made abutment sets on the basis of the plurality of region division results [Page 29 Line 26-29 after the model server 13 has prepared the restorative design based on these images, the Webserver 12 can be adapted to send the complete restoration design to the dental technician or the dentist, e.g. who can access network device 18. The complete restoration design can be in the form of parameter values. Page 34 Line 23-29 teaches the rest of design parameters (of either abutment or crown) except the five global angle and position parameters described above are mostly governing the local size or shape of the restoration part. Some examples of such abutment design parameters include facial cusp height, mesio-distal width of margin, shoulder width, facial margin height, and many more depending on the specific underlying model. Expert designed Abutment models can have more than 50 such parameters that would define a unique shape of an abutment in wide range of geometrical variation. Note: Preparing abutments based on a plurality of abutment models that includes a wide range of geometrical variations (plurality of region division results) reads on the claims.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton and Choi, by incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations (see Lee Jinho Page 29 Line 26-29, Page 34 Line 23-29, Page 36 Lines 8-13, Page 43 Lines 15-16, Page 43 Lines 21-24), because the three applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations provides improvement over conventional methods (see Lee Jinho Page 4 Line 9).
As to claim 6:
Stratton discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein, in the selecting of the appropriate abutment, the appropriate abutment is determined from among the plurality of customized ready- made abutment sets on the basis of size information about an implantation space of a target tooth [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]
As to claim 10:
Stratton discloses:
The method of claim 9, wherein a number of the plurality of customized ready- made abutment sets prepared for based on the patient database is 400 or more [Paragraph 0040 teaches a CNC fixture will now be discussed. FIGS. 4-6 show an example of a CNC fixture that can hold up to six blank stocks at one time. One skilled in the art will recognize that the CNC fixture shown in the figures is provided by way of example only, and that the devices, systems, methods, and techniques described herein may be used with other CNC fixtures. For example, CNC fixtures having different shapes and sizes, or CNC fixtures holding more or less blank stocks may be used. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program. Note: A CNC that is capable of producing a plurality of abutments, wherein the examiner interprets the lack of a limits placed on the CNC ability to produce any number of abutments reads on the claims (ready-made abutments of up to 400).]
Stratton and Lee Jinho discloses all of the limitations as set forth in claim 9 but does not appear to expressly disclose based on the patient database.
Choi discloses:
patient database [Paragraph 0061 teaches at this time, the 3D abutment 20 models loaded from the library may be products that are supplied to dentists, dental technical laboratories, etc. in the form of ready-made products, or customized abutments that are pre-processed according to the user's judgment. Paragraph 0065 teaches at this time, oral model data (i.e., a 3D oral model having a 3D shape) may be obtained by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are implanted, or by scanning the inside of the patient's oral cavity in which the real abutments are not implanted so that the positions of the abutments to be implanted are empty. Note: A customized 3D abutment that is a ready-made product designed based on 3D oral data from scanning of a patients mouth and stored for retrieval reads on the claims.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton and Lee Jinho, by incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment (see Choi Paragraph 0061, 0065, 0083, and 0089), because the three applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating storing scanned oral data of a patient, selecting an abutment based on the scanned data, and providing the ready-made abutment provides presents numerous advantages provides the advantage in that the user can quickly retrieve and select the required 3D abutment 20 model without checking all the 3D abutment 20 model data loaded in a library (see Choi Paragraph 0060).
Claim(s) 9 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stratton (U.S. Publication No.: US 20150320524 A1) hereinafter Stratton, in view of Lee Jinho et al. (WIPO Publication No.: WO-2021046147-A1) hereinafter Lee Jinho.
As to claim 9:
Stratton discloses:
A method of providing information related to a customized ready-made abutment, the method comprising:
obtaining oral data of a patient including size information about an implantation space of a target tooth [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]; determining an appropriate abutment from among the plurality of customized ready-made abutment on the basis of the size information about the implantation space of the target tooth [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]; and providing information about the appropriate abutment [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]
Stratton and Choi discloses all of the limitations as set forth in claim 1, 2, and some of claim 3 but does not appear to expressly disclose dividing a statistical distribution range of patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions on the basis of a unit length and preparing for the 400 or more customized ready-made abutment sets on the basis of the plurality of region division results.
Lee Jinho discloses:
determining a number of a plurality of customized ready-made abutments on the basis of a number of regions obtained as results obtained by dividing a statistical distribution range of the patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions [Page 34 Line 23-29 teaches the rest of design parameters (of either abutment or crown) except the five global angle and position parameters described above are mostly governing the local size or shape of the restoration part. Some examples of such abutment design parameters include facial cusp height, mesio-distal width of margin, shoulder width, facial margin height, and many more depending on the specific underlying model. Expert designed Abutment models can have more than 50 such parameters that would define a unique shape of an abutment in wide range of geometrical variation. Page 36 Lines 8-13 teaches the parametric model is an ASM, the representative training set of objects can be the training set used to generate said ASM. The parameter values to be determined are the weighting factors for each of the eigenvectors. The linear combination of which determines the shape of the dental object. To determine the parameter values, an iterative search algorithm can be used to fit the statistical component model (ASM) to the dental object in the training set. Page 43 Lines 15-16 teach Figure 11 shows accuracy results with some selected abutment parameters with 0.5 mm and 1.0mm range from corresponding parameter values of human designs. Page 43 Lines 21-24 teach Figure 11 shows measuring accuracies of selected abutment shape parameters within 0.5 mm (first column) and 1.0 mm (second column) respectively. Note: Abutments based on parametric model that is determined based statistical component model of the dental object, wherein variation in geometric models separates abutment designs by the variations (abutments into a plurality of regions) reads on the claims.];
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton, by incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations (see Lee Jinho Page 29 Line 26-29, Page 34 Line 23-29, Page 36 Lines 8-13, Page 43 Lines 15-16, Page 43 Lines 21-24), because both applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations provides improvement over conventional methods (see Lee Jinho Page 4 Line 9).
As to claim 13:
Stratton discloses
A device for providing information related to a customized ready-made abutment, the device comprising: a reception unit configured to acquire oral data of a patient including size information about an implantation space of a target tooth [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]; and a processor configured to determine a number of the plurality of customized ready-made abutments to be 400 or more [Paragraph 0040 teaches a CNC fixture will now be discussed. FIGS. 4-6 show an example of a CNC fixture that can hold up to six blank stocks at one time. One skilled in the art will recognize that the CNC fixture shown in the figures is provided by way of example only, and that the devices, systems, methods, and techniques described herein may be used with other CNC fixtures. For example, CNC fixtures having different shapes and sizes, or CNC fixtures holding more or less blank stocks may be used. Paragraph 0052 teaches the design of the implant abutment may be created by a dentist, a medical doctor, or the like. The design may be received by a system to calibrate a CNC machine, a CAD or CAM program, or similar… the design may be created using any known techniques, including, without limitation, through three-dimensional scanning and using three-dimensional digital data with a CAD program. Note: A CNC that is capable of producing a plurality of abutments, wherein the examiner interprets the lack of a limits placed on the CNC ability to produce any number of abutments reads on the claims (ready-made abutments of up to 400).]
determine an appropriate abutment from among the plurality of customized ready-made abutments on the basis of a type of the target tooth and the size information about the implantation space of the target tooth, and provide information about the appropriate abutment [Paragraph 0050 teaches the abutment geometry may be sized and shaped to engage with a patient's anatomy (e.g., a patient's gum tissue, bone, etc.) as well as with a dental implant, e.g., a bridge or crown.]
Stratton discloses some of the limitations as set forth in claim 13 but does not appear to expressly disclose determine abutments on the basis of a number of groups obtained as results obtained by dividing a statistical distribution range of the patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions.
Lee Jinho discloses:
determine abutments on the basis of a number of groups obtained as results obtained by dividing a statistical distribution range of the patient-customized abutments into a plurality of regions [Page 34 Line 23-29 teaches the rest of design parameters (of either abutment or crown) except the five global angle and position parameters described above are mostly governing the local size or shape of the restoration part. Some examples of such abutment design parameters include facial cusp height, mesio-distal width of margin, shoulder width, facial margin height, and many more depending on the specific underlying model. Expert designed Abutment models can have more than 50 such parameters that would define a unique shape of an abutment in wide range of geometrical variation. Page 36 Lines 8-13 teaches the parametric model is an ASM, the representative training set of objects can be the training set used to generate said ASM. The parameter values to be determined are the weighting factors for each of the eigenvectors. The linear combination of which determines the shape of the dental object. To determine the parameter values, an iterative search algorithm can be used to fit the statistical component model (ASM) to the dental object in the training set. Page 43 Lines 15-16 teach Figure 11 shows accuracy results with some selected abutment parameters with 0.5 mm and 1.0mm range from corresponding parameter values of human designs. Page 43 Lines 21-24 teach Figure 11 shows measuring accuracies of selected abutment shape parameters within 0.5 mm (first column) and 1.0 mm (second column) respectively. Note: Abutments based on parametric model that is determined based on statistical component model of the dental object wherein variation in geometric models separates abutment designs by the variations (abutments into a plurality of regions) reads on the claims.],
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton, by incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations (see Lee Jinho Page 29 Line 26-29, Page 34 Line 23-29, Page 36 Lines 8-13, Page 43 Lines 15-16, Page 43 Lines 21-24), because both applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating preparing abutments based on a statistical model wherein models for abutments have wide range of variations provides improvement over conventional methods (see Lee Jinho Page 4 Line 9).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stratton (U.S. Publication No.: US 20150320524 A1) hereinafter Stratton, in view of Lee Jinho et al. (WIPO Publication No.: WO-2021046147-A1) hereinafter Lee Jinho, and further in view of Marlin (U.S. Publication No.: US 20140205969 A1) hereinafter Marlin.
As to claim 11:
Stratton and Lee Jinho discloses all of the limitations as set forth in claim 9 but does not appear to expressly disclose wherein a type of the target tooth includes a maxillary anterior tooth, a mandibular anterior tooth, a canine tooth, a premolar tooth, and a molar tooth and a selection of the tooth type is automatically recommended using software.
Marlin discloses:
The method of claim 9, wherein a type of the target tooth includes a maxillary anterior tooth, a mandibular anterior tooth, a canine tooth, a premolar tooth, and a molar tooth [Paragraph 0151 teaches the abutment has standardized preformed anterior and posterior tooth abutment preparations over custom contour gingival bases. Ideally, the abutment can also have preformed tooth abutment preparations of maxillary or mandibular incisors, canines, premolars, or molars over custom contour gingival bases.], and a selection of the tooth type is automatically recommended using software [Paragraph 0417 teaches the automated and/or interactive clinical and/or digital protocol includes selecting the appropriate vertical angle correcting abutment]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Stratton and Lee Jinho, by incorporating selecting abutment for various types of teeth in an automated fashion (see Marlin Paragraph 0151 and 0417), because the three applications are directed to dental abutments; incorporating selecting abutment for various types of teeth in an automated fashion provides significant improvements over conventional approaches (see Marlin Paragraph 0005).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4, 5, 7, 8, and 12 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EARL LEVI ELIAS whose telephone number is (571)272-9762. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (IFP).
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, Sherief Badawi can be reached at 571-272-9782. 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.
/EARL LEVI ELIAS/Examiner, Art Unit 2169
/SHERIEF BADAWI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2169
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