CTFR 18/317,929 CTFR 87133 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. DETAILED ACTION Specification Applicant amended the title and the previous objection is withdrawn. Claim Objections Applicant’s remarks are persuasive and the previous objection to Claim 3 is withdrawn. Response to Arguments Examiner acknowledges the receipt of the Applicant’s Amendment dated March 3rd, 2026. Applicant amended claim 1. Claims 1-10 are pending. Applicant's arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered and are persuasive. Upon further search and consideration, the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as discussed below in view of the new grounds of rejection over Nielsen (U.S. Publication 2024/0122445, now U.S. Issued Patent 12,635,849) as necessitated by the amendment. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) 07-103 AIA The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. 07-34-01 AIA Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. 07-34-05 AIA Claim 10 recites the limitation " the operating part " in Line 4 . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-103 AIA The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. The previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) are withdrawn. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-103 AIA The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-6, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida et al. (U.S. Publication 2007/0055101, hereinafter “Yoshida”) and in further views of Nielsen (U.S. Publication 2024/0122445, now U.S. Issued Patent 12,635,849) . As to Claim 1 , Yoshida discloses an endoscope device (2) in [0038] and Fig. 2 comprising: a balloon (9) in [0038] and Fig. 2 ; a balloon controller (7) in [0038] and Fig. 2 that controls inflation and deflation of the balloon; a remote controller (8) in [0038] and Fig. 2 that is connected to the balloon controller and operates the balloon controller, the remote controller being capable of inputting a plurality of types of balloon operations including an inflation operation and a deflation operation of the balloon in [0054] ; a controller operation switch (18a, 18b, 19a, 19b) in [0054] and (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b) in [0055]-[0058] in Fig. 3A for operating the balloon controller, the controller operation switch being provided in an endoscope and capable of inputting a plurality of types of the balloon operations that are common to the remote controller in [0054]-[0057] and Fig. 3A ; and a processor (5) in Fig. 14 , wherein the processor is configured to: cause a monitor in [0123] to display an endoscope image (6C) in [0131] and Fig. 15 captured by the endoscope and a remote controller image which is an image of the remote controller; and in a case in which the balloon operation is input to the controller operation switch, reflect a type of the balloon operation input to the controller operation switch on the remote controller image displayed on the monitor in [0132] . However Yoshida does not specifically disclose that the remote controller image includes images of the plurality of controller operation switches in the remote controller. Nielsen teaches in the analogous field of endoscopy in [0080] wherein a control button can be provided as both a physical button as well as a soft button on a display in [0087] . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the endoscope device of Yoshida to display soft buttons as taught by Nielsen as physical buttons and soft buttons are equivalent structures that fulfill the same function with predictable results. As to Claim 2 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 1, wherein the remote controller includes a plurality of types of individual operation switches corresponding to the plurality of types of balloon operations as described in [0056]-[0059] and Figs. 3A-3B , the remote controller image includes images of the plurality of types of individual operation switches, and the processor is configured to, in a case in which the balloon operation is input to the controller operation switch, change a display mode of an image of the individual operation switch corresponding to the type of the balloon operation as shown in Figs. 15-26 . As to Claim 3 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 1, wherein the balloon is provided at at least one of a distal end portion of an insertion part of the endoscope or a distal end portion of an overtube (3) in [0038] and Fig. 2 through which the insertion part is inserted. As to Claim 4 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 3, wherein the balloon is provided at the distal end portion of the insertion part and the distal end portion of the overtube, the balloon controller controls inflation and deflation of the balloon for each of the balloons, the remote controller is capable of inputting the balloon operation for each of the balloons, and the processor is configured to reflect the type of the balloon operation input to the controller operation switch on the remote controller image, for each of the balloons as described in [0056]-[0059] and Figs. 3A-3B . As to Claim 5 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 1, further comprising: an emergency stop switch (23) in [0056] for bringing the balloon controller to an emergency stop, wherein the processor is configured to, in a case in which the emergency stop switch is operated, cause the monitor to display information indicating that the balloon controller has been brought to an emergency stop in [0123] and Fig. 26 . As to Claim 6 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 5, wherein the emergency stop switch is a foot switch “foot switch” in [0121] connected to the balloon controller. As to Claim 9 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 1, wherein the controller operation switch is provided in an operating part provided on a base end side of an insertion part of the endoscope as shown in Figs. 1-3A . As to Claim 10 , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 9, wherein the remote controller includes a plurality of types of individual operation switches corresponding to the plurality of types of balloon operations as shown in Figs. 3A-3B , the operating part is provided with a plurality of multifunctional switches to which a plurality of types of operations are capable of being selectively assigned, and the controller operation switch is the plurality of multifunctional switches to which functions of the plurality of types of individual operation switches are individually assigned . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida and Nielsen in further views of Sekiguchi et al. (U.S. Publication 2006/0116586, hereinafter “Sekiguchi”) . As to Claim 7 in particular , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 1, further comprising: a pressure detection sensor (34a, 34b) in [0074]-[0075] that repeatedly detects a pressure inside the balloon. As to Claim 8 in particular , Yoshida discloses the endoscope device according to claim 7, wherein the balloon is provided at a distal end portion of an insertion part of the endoscope and a distal end portion of an overtube (3) in [0038] and Fig. 2 through which the insertion part is inserted, the pressure detection sensor repeatedly detects the pressure for each of the balloons. As to Claims 7 and 8 , Yoshida does not specifically disclose displaying pressure information. Sekiguchi teaches in the analogous field of endoscopy wherein pressure of a balloon is displayed in [0132] and Figs. 12A-13B . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the endoscope device of Yoshida to display pressure as taught by Yoshida in order to provide additional feedback for the user when an error occurs (Sekiguchi, [0130]-[0132]) . Conclusion 07-40 AIA 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM B CHOU whose telephone number is (571) 270-3367. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 am - 6 pm. 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, Michael Carey can be reached on (571) 270-7235. 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. /WILLIAM CHOU/ Examiner, Art Unit 3795 /MICHAEL J CAREY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 2 Art Unit: 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 3 Art Unit: 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 4 Art Unit: 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 5 Art Unit: 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 6 Art Unit: 3795 Application/Control Number: 18/317,929 Page 7 Art Unit: 3795
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