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 § 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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because claim 1 positively claims a human organism in defining the structure of the apparatus.
Section 33(a) of the America Invents Act reads as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no patent may issue on a claim directed to or encompassing a human organism.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 and section 33(a) of the America Invents Act as being directed to or encompassing a human organism. See also Animals - Patentability, 1077 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 24 (April 21, 1987) (indicating that human organisms are excluded from the scope of patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101). Claim 1 includes the limitation, “a rehabilitation apparatus frame having a height corresponding to a length of each of legs of a patient sitting on the wheelchair”. In this limitation, the length of the legs of the patient are used to define the height of the structure of the apparatus through direct correlation. An example of a correct means of conveying the intended structure to patient correlation without positively claiming and requiring the human organism is: “a rehabilitation apparatus frame capable of accomodating a length of each of legs of a patient sitting on the wheelchair”. This is by no means exclusive and should Applicant wish to discuss a different change to the language to avoid a 101 rejection, Examiner is available.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marti et al US 9,669,249). Marti discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A knee joint rehabilitation apparatus for a wheelchair, the apparatus comprising:
a rehabilitation apparatus frame 102 having a height corresponding to a length of each of legs of a patient sitting on the wheelchair 168 (see Fig. 5);
an upper leg support 104 disposed at an upper end of the rehabilitation apparatus frame 102 and supporting upper legs 124 of the patient thereon while the patient is sitting on the wheelchair 168;
a lower leg support 106 pivotably connected to the upper leg support 128, wherein the lower legs 126 of the patient are seated and supported on the lower leg support 106; and
an exercise control unit 108 disposed on the rehabilitation apparatus frame 102 and configured to allow the lower leg support 106 to pivot around a connection portion 140 between the lower leg support 106 and the upper leg support 104 such that the patient performs rehabilitation exercise of the knee joint thereof while sitting on the wheelchair 168.
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.
Claim(s) 2-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marti in view of Dorsay (US 8,852,062). Marti discloses “an end range of motion improving device 500 may include means to attach a wheelchair 168 to frame 502”. However, Marti fails to explicitly disclose wherein the apparatus further comprises a wheelchair fixing unit disposed on each of both opposing sides of a lower end of the rehabilitation apparatus frame and configured to fix the wheel of the wheelchair to prevent unintentional movement of the wheelchair when the wheelchair has been moved to a set position for the rehabilitation exercise of the knee joint. Dorsay teaches a rehabilitation apparatus for a wheelchair comprising a rehabilitation apparatus frame 10 having a height corresponding to a patient sitting on the wheelchair, wherein the apparatus further comprises a wheelchair fixing unit 210 disposed on each of both opposing sides of a lower end of the rehabilitation apparatus frame 10 and configured to fix the wheel of the wheelchair to prevent unintentional movement of the wheelchair when the wheelchair has been moved to a set position for the rehabilitation exercise.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Marti with the teaching of Dorsay such that the apparatus comprises a wheelchair fixing unit disposed on each of both opposing sides of a lower end of the rehabilitation apparatus frame and configured to fix the wheel of the wheelchair to prevent unintentional movement of the wheelchair when the wheelchair has been moved to a set position for the rehabilitation exercise, with a reasonable expectation of success, to ensure the wheelchair does not move during exercise.
With regard to claim 3, Marti discloses wherein the wheel of the wheelchair includes a main wheel provided on each of both opposing sides of the wheelchair; and an auxiliary wheel provided on each of both opposing sides of a front portion of the wheelchair to assist the movement of the main wheel. However, Marti fails to explicitly disclose wherein when the wheelchair has been positioned at the set position, the auxiliary wheel is stopped and fixed by the wheelchair fixing unit. Dorsay teaches wherein the wheel of the wheelchair includes a main wheel provided on each of both opposing sides of the wheelchair, and an auxiliary wheel provided on each of both opposing sides of a front portion of the wheelchair to assist the movement of the main wheel, wherein when the wheelchair has been positioned at the set position, the auxiliary wheel is stopped and fixed by the wheelchair fixing unit 220 (see Fig. 2A).
With regard to claim 4, Dorsay teaches wherein the wheelchair fixing unit includes:
a wheel support plate 220 formed in a shape of a plate and mounted on the lower end of the frame body 10 so that the wheel of the wheelchair gets on the wheel support plate as the wheelchair is moving to the set position (Fig. 2A); and
a wheel fixing portion 222 formed on a top of the wheel support plate 220 so as to fix the wheel of the wheelchair having got on the top of the wheel support plate (“Means for securing apparatus 210 may include, for example, ramps 220 and or clamps 222. Connector 224, or other attachment means, may be provided in association with connecting brace 204 or base support 200, to additionally secure an apparatus 210, associated ramp 220, or clamp 222, in a desired location relative to device 10.” – Column 9, lines 18-23).
With regard to claim 5, Dorsay teaches wherein the wheel fixing portion 222 includes a wheel receiving groove defined in an upper portion of the wheel support plate 220 and extending along a direction in which the wheel of the wheelchair moves so that a lower portion of the wheel of the wheelchair having got on the wheel support plate 220 is inserted into the wheel receiving groove (see marked up figure below).
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With regard to claim 6, Dorsay teaches wherein the wheel fixing portion 222 further includes a wheel stopper disposed on a bottom surface defining the wheel receiving groove and having a structure constructed to stop the lower portion of the wheel of the wheelchair to fix the wheel of the wheelchair inserted into the wheel receiving groove, wherein the wheel stopper is embodied as a stopping protrusion protruding from the bottom surface defining the wheel receiving groove at a wheel inlet position thereof, or a stopping hole formed in a center of the bottom surface defining the wheel receiving groove (See marked up figure above; the fixing portion (clamps 222) protrudes upward from the bottom surface of the plate (ramps 220)).
With regard to claim 7, Dorsay teaches wherein the wheelchair fixing unit 210 is installed on each of both opposing sides of a lower end of the rehabilitation apparatus frame 10, wherein the wheelchair fixing unit 210 is able to be displaced in an anteroposterior direction in a corresponding manner to positions in the anteroposterior direction of the legs of the patient sitting on the wheelchair (see the shape of supporting portions 220).
With regard to claim 8, Marti fails to explicitly disclose wherein a height of the rehabilitation apparatus frame is adjusted so as to adjust vertical levels of the lower leg support and the upper leg support in a corresponding manner to vertical levels of the legs of the patient sitting on the wheelchair. Dorsay teaches, “As shown in FIG. 5, base support 200 may be provided with a height adjustment mechanism, such as adjustment slot 630, to change a height of pivot frame 600 to suit users of different heights” (column 9, lines 54-57). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Marti with the teaching of Dorsay such that a height of the rehabilitation apparatus frame is adjustable to accommodate different sized patients.
With regard to claim 9, Dorsay teaches wherein the rehabilitation apparatus frame includes:
a frame body 10 fixedly mounted on a ground;
a mount frame 202, 204 on which the exercise unit are installed; and
a vertical level adjustment unit 630 connected to and disposed between the mount frame 202, 204 and the frame body 600 and configured to adjust a vertical level of the mount frame 202.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614 December 9, 2025