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 § 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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishida (US 5,879,369).
Regarding claim 1, Ishida teaches a catheter (figure 1) comprising:
a shaft 35;
a balloon 2 that is inflatable and attached to a distal end side (end of element 35 where element 1 is attached) of the shaft; and
a covering member 3 configured to cover an outer periphery of the balloon 2 and to be elastically deformable in conformity with deflation of the balloon (column 3, lines 51-60).
Regarding claim 2, Ishida teaches wherein an elastic modulus (column 3, lines 51-57, element 3 is made of higher flexibility compared to element 2 thereby having elastic modulus lower than element 2) of the covering member 3 is smaller than an elastic modulus of the balloon 2.
Regarding claim 3, Ishida teaches wherein only both end portions (see figure 2 where only ends of element 3 are fixed in are represented by elements 7a and 7b) of the covering member 3 are fixed to a portion other than a main portion of the balloon or to the shaft.
Regarding claim 4, Ishida teaches wherein the covering member 3 covers the outer periphery of the balloon 2 in an unused state (column 3, lines 58-60).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Osborn (US 5,409,495).
Regarding claim 5, Osborn teaches a method (column 1, lines 13-39) of actuating a balloon 22 (figure 1), the method comprising:
inflating (column 1, lines 27-33, column 5, lines 64-66) the balloon 22 together with a covering member 24 configured to cover an outer periphery of the balloon by supplying a fluid to an inside of the balloon; and
deflating (column 1, lines 33-36) the balloon together with the covering member by discharging the fluid to an outside of the balloon.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NILAY J SHAH whose telephone number is (571)272-9689. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM EST.
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, CHELSEA STINSON can be reached at 571-270-1744. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NILAY J SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783