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 .
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Examiner decided to withdraw 101 rejections because applicant’s amendment to the claims overcome the rejections.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bell WO2020257444A1 (hereinafter “Bell”) in view of Moctezuma De la Barrera USPGPUB 20180333207 A1 (hereinafter “Moctezuma De la Barrera”).
As to claim 1, Bell teaches a system comprising: a processor (paragraph 0186 “processor”); one or more machine learning models (paragraph 0166 “machine learning model”); and memory storing software that, when executed by the processor, causes the system to: receive, as input to the one or more machine learning models, information about an arthroplasty procedure to be performed (paragraph 0106, 0159-0160); generate, via the one or more machine learning models, configuration and default settings for the robotic arthroplasty system; and send the configuration and default settings to the robotic arthroplasty system (paragraph 0169-0171), wherein the configuration and default settings configure the robotic arthroplasty system for performing an arthroplasty procedure on a patient (paragraph 0076-0080 “surgeon can use to perform activities such as implant alignment”).
Bell does not explicitly teach wherein the configuration includes a modified graphical user interface (GUI) of the robotic arthroplasty system in which one or more elements of the GUI are hidden from an initial view.
However, Moctezuma De la Barrera teaches wherein the configuration includes a modified graphical user interface (GUI) of the robotic arthroplasty system in which one or more elements of the GUI are hidden from an initial view (paragraph 0045 “manage views of the visualization, shown with an object manager function selected and listing objects arranged within the virtual reference frame with some of the objects hidden in the visualization”).
Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to surgical system.
Therefore at the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above surgical system, as taught by Bell, and incorporating GUI are hidden from an initial view, as taught by Moctezuma De la Barrera.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to improve significant amount of resources and time from the surgeon, and others. For these reasons, many surgeons maintain a manual approach to surgery that does not involve the complexity of computer-aided preoperative planning, as suggested by Moctezuma De la Barrera (paragraph 0012).
As to claim 2, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the one or more machine learning models are trained to generate the configuration and default settings of the robotic arthroplasty system based on historical usage of one or more users of the robotic arthroplasty system (paragraph 0166-0170).
As to claim 3, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein a training dataset for the one or more machine learning models includes particular bone types, bone features, bone dimensions or other anatomical features and structures from a plurality of arthroplasty procedures (paragraph 0166-0167).
As to claim 4, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the one or more machine learning models take as input one or more of an identification of the user, a type of procedure being performed and patient demographics (paragraph 0165-0166).
As to claim 5, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the configuration and default settings of the robotic arthroplasty system include one or more of implant position, a selection of views depicted in a graphical user interface of the system and an order in which the selection of views is displayed (paragraph 0160).
As to claim 6, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the one or more machine learning models are trained to discriminate at least on a user-by-user basis, such that an input of different users results in generation of different configuration and default settings (paragraph 0166-0167).
As to claim 7, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the one or more machine learning models are updated on a per-procedure basis based on inputs received from a user during each procedure (paragraph 0165-0166).
As to claim 8, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the software further causes the system to: receive, from the arthroplasty system, an indication of a value of at least one setting for a plurality of arthroplasty procedures, the plurality of arthroplasty procedures associated with a specific user of the robotic arthroplasty system; and wherein the one or more machine learning models are trained based on the values of the at least one setting, to infer a default value of the at least one setting for a subsequent arthroplasty procedure associated with the specific user (paragraph 0169-0170).
As to claim 9, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the generated configuration and default settings comprise a user-specific configuration for the robotic arthroplasty system, the user-specific configuration including indications of a default value for at least one setting; and wherein the software further causes the system to update a default configuration of the robotic arthroplasty system based on the user-specific configuration (paragraph 0170-0172).
As to claim 15, Bell and Moctezuma De la Barrera teach all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Bell further teaches wherein the system and the robotic arthroplasty system are integral (paragraph 0170).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
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.
Wada et al. USPGPUB 20090269528 A1 a multilayered stretched hollow material having excellent transparency and gas barrier properties. The multilayered stretched hollow material of the present invention is characterized in that it includes surface layers and an intermediate layer wherein the surface layers each contain a propylene polymer composition containing a propylene polymer (the weight thereof being A) and a modified propylene polymer grafted with an unsaturated carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof (the weight thereof being B) in a weight ratio of B/(A+B).gtoreq.0.15 and wherein the intermediate layer contains a modified ethylene/vinyl compound copolymer that has a melt flow rate (ASTM D 1238, 210.degree. C., 2.16 kg load) of not less than 8 g/10 min and a crystallization temperature (Tc) of not less than 138.degree. C. and further wherein the multilayered stretched hollow material satisfies C/(A+B+C).gtoreq.0.05 wherein C is the weight of the ethylene/vinyl compound copolymer.
Kang et al. USPGPUB 20130096574 A1 teaches a robotic surgery system comprises a handheld manipulator configured to be manually moved in a global coordinate system relative to the bone, the handheld manipulator comprising a bone cutting tool comprising an end effector portion, a frame assembly, and a motion compensation assembly movably coupled to the frame assembly and bone cutting tool. A controller may be operatively coupled to the manipulator and configured to operate one or more actuators within the frame assembly to cause the motion compensation assembly to automatically move relative to the frame assembly to defeat aberrant movement of the bone cutting tool that would place the end effector portion of the tool out of a desired bone cutting envelope that is based at least in part upon one or more images of the bone, while allowing the bone cutting tool to continue cutting one or more portions of the bone.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIAUL KARIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3279. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8:00-4:00 PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on 571 272 4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZIAUL KARIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119
Prosecution Insights