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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 04/07/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 7-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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) 1-2, 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa et al. (5,310,343) in view of Estrabillo (2021/0228321).
Hasegawa discloses a surface processing method for a dental implant including a surface with a macro surface including one or more first grooves (e.g. 5) is formed at the surface of the implant, a micro surface including one or more second grooves (e.g. where grooves/notches 7 located) is formed at the surface of the implant, an outer circumferential surface of the implant includes a top portion and a bottom portion (figures 1-4B), and at least one of an average width and an average depth of the first grooves is formed to be greater at the top portion of the outer circumferential surface of the implant than at the bottom portion of the outer circumferential surface of the implant, the bottom portion including first and second bottom portions (fig. 3), but fail to teach the steps of laser-processing a surface of an implant, etching the laser-processed surface of the implant; and washing the etched implant; however, Estrabillo teaches forming roughness/grooves on the dental implant by acid etching and laser etching ([0020]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Hasegawa by providing laser and chemical etching the implant surface to from roughness/micro-texturing as taught by Estrabillo because these processes including washing after the texturing are common for forming surface roughness for improving biological and mechanical performance of the implant. Furthermore, acid etching allows finer roughness and laser allows more controlled grooving on the implant.
Regarding claim 2, Hasegawa shows the one or more second grooves are formed inside the first grooves (fig. 3)
Claim(s) 3, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa et al. in view of Estrabillo and further in view of Bergman (4,723,913). Hasegawa/Estrabillo discloses the invention substantially as claimed except for specific width and depth of the grooves; however, Bergman teaches dental implant with grooves depth in the range of 10-100 microns and width in the range of 10-120 microns.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify the implant of Hasegawa/Estrabillo by providing grooves with specific width and depth as taught by Bergman in order to enhance osteointegration of the implant by allowing ingrowth of tissues within the grooves.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Patel Yogesh whose telephone number is (571) 270-3646. The examiner can normally be reached between 9 AM – 5:30 PM on Monday, Thursday and Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, SPE Bosques Edelmira, at (571) 270-5614.
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/YOGESH P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772
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