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
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2020/0170776 to Folan.
In the specification and figures, Folan discloses the apparatus as claimed by Applicant. With regard to claims 1-5, 12, Folan discloses a self-radially-expanding wire-braided stent with a radial outward surface 319, a radial inward surface (inside of tubular body 310), first end region 312, second end region 314 with a lumen a first flange 320 positioned at first end region, and second flange 322 positioned at second end region, with each end region comprising a second flange 340, 345 (see FIGS 7A, 7B, ¶0043, 0067, 0069). The flanges atraumatically engage vessel walls 18 (see FIG 7A).
With regard to claims 6 and 7, Folan discloses that the saddle regions between the flanges may be between 5mm and 20 mm, within the range claimed by Applicant (see ¶0049).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 9-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0170776 to Folan in view of 2022/0087852 to Gilmartin et al.
In the specification and figures, Folan discloses the apparatus substantially as claimed by Applicant (see rejections above). With regard to claims 9-11, 14, 15, Folan does not disclose flanges with different outer diameters. However, Gilmartin discloses a radially expanding stent with a braided filament structure with multiple flanges 320, 380, 340 of different diameters to provide varying retention forces, wherein the flanges all have diameters greater than the medial region (see FIGS 4A, 4B, ¶0039-0040, 0042).
With regard to claims 13 and 16, Gilmartin further discloses that the holding force of the flanges may be manipulated by not only flange diameter, but also wire thickness and braid angle, suggesting that some flanges may comprise braid angles that are different from one another in order to achieve a desired retention force (see ¶0042).
With regard to claims 17 and 18, Folan discloses that the saddle regions between the flanges may be between 5mm and 20 mm, within the range claimed by Applicant (see ¶0049).
With regard to claim 19, Gilmartin discloses a stent with a medial region and a first flange 340 with a first outer diameter at a first end region, a second flange 380 with a second outer diameter at a second end region, and a third flange 320 with a third outer diameter at a first end region, wherein the first flange 340 curves toward the third flange 320.
With regard to claim 20 and the the diameter of the flanges, Applicant has not demonstrated criticality of the relative diameters to one another.It has been held that where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. See MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to use flanges with different diameters or braid angles, as taught by Gilmartin, in the expandable stent disclosed by Folan, in order to vary the retention force of the flanges, as taught by Gilmartin.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE R DEAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
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/LESLIE R DEAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799 3 December 2025