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 Species 1a (455, figures 3A-3B) in the reply filed on 7/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-12 have been withdrawn directed to non-elected species 1b.
Claims 16-20 have been withdrawn directed to non-elected species 1d.
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 1-2, 5-7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Haarer et al (11,090,153).
Referring to at least figures 8A-8D, Haarer et al et al teaches a prosthetic heart valve system, comprising:
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an outer stent 1100;
an inner stent 1200 coupled to the outer stent, the inner stent supporting a valve assembly including a cuff (see at least 11:60-12:3, not shown) and a plurality of leaflets 1210;
and at least one linking member 1700 coupling the outer stent to the inner stent, the at least one linking member being transitionable between a collapsed condition and a relaxed condition, the inner stent 820 being axially spaced away from the outer stent when the at least one linking member is in the collapsed condition (see at least figures 8A and 8C), and the inner stent being at least partially nested within the outer stent when the at least one linking member is in the relaxed condition (see at least figures 8B and 5E).
Claim 2, wherein at least one linking member includes multiple linking members 1700.
Claim 5, “wherein each of the at least one linking member is C-shaped in the relaxed condition” is believed to be shown in applicant’s figure 3D (455a). Referring to said figure, the C-shape appears to be portion of a continuous scallop shape or wave. The examiner depicts a “C-shape” as follow:
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Claim 6, wherein each of the at least one linking member extends past a remainder of the outer stent in the collapsed condition; see at least figures 8A and 8C.
Claim 7, it is the examiner’s position that figures 8A and 8C shown the inner stent is fully nested within the outer stent when the at least one linking member is in the relaxed condition. Additionally, see the teaching in figure 6, wherein the inner stent 1200 is fully nested in the outer stent 1100.
Claim 15, at least figures 8A and 8C teach the inner stent has no axial overlap with the outer stent when the at least one linking member is in the collapsed condition.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 13-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The closes prior art of record is Haarer et al (11,090,153) as explained above. Haarer et al falls short of teaching the combination of claims 1-2 and 3, wherein the inner stent includes a plurality of commissure nodes, each of the plurality of commissure nodes being coupled to a corresponding one of the multiple linking members.
Additionally, Haarer et al fails to teach the combination of claim 1 and claim 13, wherein the inner stent includes a plurality of commissure nodes, each of the plurality of commissure nodes being coupled to two linking members.
The examiner further notes Burkart et al (2020/0276014), figure 7D3, teaching a outer frame 1100 and an inner frame 1200 coupled by at least one linking member 1400.
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The inner stent comprising peaks and valley wherein some peaks are connected to two linking members 1400.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRUCE EDWARD SNOW whose telephone number is (571)272-4759. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday.
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, Melanie Tyson can be reached at 5712729062. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRUCE E SNOW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3774
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