DETAILED ACTION
The Examiner acknowledges the amendments received 22 June 2026. Claims 11-20 are withdrawn; claims 1-10 are pending.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 22 June 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Throughout the Applicant’s arguments, the Applicant refers to citations that were not provided in the previous response. For example, (page 7, “Remarks”), the Applicant refers to par. 0050 and 0054 of Vij, which depicts a different embodiment from that relied upon by the Examiner (par. 0070); and to Fig. 2F and par. 0115 of Andreason, when the Examiner cited par. 0231 and 0239-0241. Please see below rejections, and the previous Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 4-6 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vij et al (U.S. 2014/0024909). Vij discloses (par. 0070) a coaxial wire (“coaxial cable”) wound around a longitudinal axis to form a sensor for a medical probe (par. 0061, especially “The illustrated catheter distal end portion 106 includes a pair of EGM (electrogram) sensing electrodes 82 positioned between the first and second tracking coils 112, 114, and a sensing electrode 82 positioned between the tracking coil 114 and the tracking coil 122.”), the coaxial wire comprising: a core conductive member surrounded by a portion of the coaxial wire (par. 0070, “conductive center conductor”) ;an inner insulation (par. 0070, “dielectric layer”) over the core conductive member and electrically insulating the core conductive member from an external environment to the sensor (par. 0070, “The center conductor of a respective coaxial cable C.sub.2 is isolated from outside effects”); an outer conductive member (par. 0070, “conductive shield”; also 500 in par. 0073-0081) extending over the inner insulation and electrically insulated from the core conductive member by the inner insulation; and an outer insulation (par. 0070, “insulating jacket”; also disclosed as 600 in par. 0073-0081) over a portion of the outer conductive member such that uninsulated portions of the outer conductive member are exposed to the external environment to the sensor at two or more windings of the coaxial wire forming the sensor (par. 0073, “At one end 500b of the RF shield 500, the inner and outer conductors 502, 504 are shorted (i.e., electrically connected). At the other end 500a, the inner and outer conductors 502, 504 are not connected (i.e., the inner and outer conductors 502, 504 are open circuited).”).
Regarding claim 4, Vij discloses (par. 0069) the uninsulated portions being configured to contact tissue and output electrocardiogram (ECG) signals through the tissue (“EGM signals are detected by the sensing electrodes 82 that are in close proximity to cardiac tissue.”).
Regarding claim 5, Vij discloses (par. 0066) the outer conductive member being configured to vary in impedance in response to changes in conductivity of the external environment to which the uninsulated portions are exposed (the CSM senses the MRI field, and controls the magnitude of the impedance to perform heat management in the presence of the MRI field).
Regarding claim 6, Vij discloses (par. 0049) the outer conductive member being configured to provide output signals indicative of changes in conductivity of the external environment to which the uninsulated portions are exposed (displaying the changes in position that are related to detected changes in the electric fields).
Regarding claim 9, Vij discloses (Figures 11A-C) the core conductive member, inner insulation, and outer conductive member being coaxial to each other and wound about the longitudinal axis.
Regarding claim 10, Vij discloses (Figure 12) adjacent windings with uninsulated portions of the outer conductive member such that the uninsulated portions are separated by a gap when the sensor is aligned with a straight longitudinal axis, and bending the sensor causes the gap to collapse to electrically short the uninsulated portions of the adjacent windings to thereby provide an indication of degree of curvature of the sensor (par. 0081, where spaced apart RF shields are provided to “allow articulation of the sheath 600 and without any stiff points”.).
Claims 1-3 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Andreason et al (U.S. 2019/0025040). Andreason discloses (par. 0231) a coaxial wire wound around a longitudinal axis to form a sensor for a medical probe, the coaxial wire comprising: a core conductive member surrounded by a portion of the coaxial wire; an inner insulation over the core conductive member and electrically insulating the core conductive member from an external environment to the sensor; an outer conductive member (par. 0238-0241) extending over the inner insulation and electrically insulated from the core conductive member by the inner insulation; and an outer insulation over a portion of the outer conductive member such that uninsulated portions of the outer conductive member are exposed to the external environment to the sensor at two or more windings of the coaxial wire forming the sensor (“the first inductor coil includes a wire coated in a first insulator and wound about the first core. In some of these cases, the wire includes a first terminal and a second terminal. In some of these cases, the control circuit is configured to apply the excitation signal between the first and second terminals.”).
Regarding claim 2, Andreason discloses (par. 0165) the core conductive member being configured to measure one or more referential magnetic fields to provide signals indicative of a position of the sensor within a body.
Regarding claim 3, Andreason discloses (par. 0123) the core conductive member being configured output signals based on a change in magnetic flux through the sensor.
Regarding claim 7, Andreason discloses (par. 0165) the outer conductive member being configured to measure one or more referential magnetic fields to provide signals indicative of a position of the sensor within a body.
Regarding claim 8, Andreason discloses (par. 0123) the outer conductive member being configured output signals based on a change in magnetic flux through the sensor.
Regarding claim 9, Andreason discloses (Figures 12A-12G) the core conductive member, inner insulation, and outer conductive member being coaxial to each other and wound about the longitudinal axis.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEBORAH L MALAMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-2106. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 1:00-9:30 Eastern.
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/DEBORAH L MALAMUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792
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