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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “body” (see claim 4) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “59” has been used to designate both “sleeve lumen” and “a valve”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 14, 16, 19, 33, 55, 56, 57, 59. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
GROUND 1: Claims 1-4 are 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “a sleeve alternatively surrounding both the endoscope and the vacuum tube” (emphasis added) which leads to confusion if the sleeve is surrounding the endoscope and vacuum tube separately, or at the same time, due to the word “both”. In view of the drawings and speciction, it appears the Applicant is attempting to claim “a sleeve configured to alternatively surround either the endoscope or the vacuum tube”, and the claims will be examined as such. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Additionally, Claim 1 recites “a switching block with a pass through first passageway; an upper end of the first passageway receiving the endoscope and a second passageway joining with the first passageway at a junction whereby the endoscope is selective placeable in and withdrawable from both the sleeve in a patient’s stomach and the vacuum tube is interchangeably positionable in the sleeve and stomach when the endoscope is withdrawn sufficiently so as to clear the junction” (emphasis added) which leads to confusion. First, the claim recites “a pass through first passageway” which is unclear if two lumens are provided within the switching block or one. It appears only a single lumen/passageway is provided for insertion of the endoscope, and thus the current claim lanague is redundant and confusing. Second, the endoscope is claimed to be “selective placeable in and withdrawable from both the sleeve” and a second unclaimed component, which is not defined within the claim. It appears from the drawings and specification that the endoscope is either inserted within sleeve 10, or withdrawn therefrom, thus it is unclear what is meant by the current claim lanague. Furthermore, the phrase “endoscope is selective placeable in and withdrawable” is grammatically incorrect. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claims 2-3 are rejected as being necessarily dependent upon claim 1.
Claim 4 recites “and joining at a junction” which is extremely broad and unclear as to what the Applicant intends to be joined at a junction. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
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.
GROUND 2: Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0023729 to Vazales et al.
In regard to claims 1 and 4, Vazales et al. disclose an apparatus for performing medical procedures in a patient comprising: a) an elongate endoscope 120 having an optical viewing system (see para 0250-0251); an elongate vacuum tube 1500, the vacuum tube having a lower opening to allow debris to be drawn into the tube when under vacuum, and a vacuum system joined to the vacuum tube for drawing a vacuum therein (see Figs. 14-21 and para 0112, 0176-0182, 0409-0411); a sleeve 101 alternatively surrounding both the endoscope and the vacuum tube; and a switching block 2410 with a pass through first passageway; an upper end of the first passageway 2415A receiving the endoscope and a second passageway 2415B joining with the first passageway at a junction whereby the endoscope is selective placeable in and withdrawable from both the sleeve in a patient’s stomach and the vacuum tube is interchangeably positionable in the sleeve and stomach when the endoscope is withdrawn sufficiently so as to clear the junction (See Figs. 24a-b and paras 0212-0216).
In regard to claim 2, Vazales et al. disclose an apparatus for performing medical procedures in a patient, wherein the sleeve is cross-sectionally sized such that both the vacuum tube and endoscope cannot be simultaneously received in the sleeve to allow maximization of the cross-sectional size of the vacuum tube (see paras 0008, 0013, 0033, 0095, 0146 and 0190).
In regard to claim 3, Vazales et al. disclose an apparatus for performing medical procedures in a patient, wherein: the first and second passageways each include upper portions above the juncture such that the endoscope and suction tube can both remain at least partially in the respective passageways thereof when the opposite of the endoscope and vacuum tube are received in the sleeve (See Figs. 24a-b and paras 0212-0216).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are nearly structurally identical with respect to the positively claimed features (i.e. a branched switch block) of the instant invention:
US 2009/0318798. See Figs. 15-19 and 25.
US 2014/0318582. See Fig. 2
US 2017/0340191. See Fig. 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J KASZTEJNA whose telephone number is (571)272-6086. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7AM--3PM.
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/MATTHEW J KASZTEJNA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993