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 .
Response to Arguments
This Office action is in response to the applicant’s communication filed on 7/21/2026. Each argument and/or amendment directed towards a maintained rejection is addressed below. Rejections/objections not repeated herein have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, with respect to Applicant’s arguments made in view of the previous objections to the drawings have been fully considered and are persuasive. While arguments regarding Figs. 1-2 for support are not on-point (i.e., the release portion does not comprise a through bore as now required in current claim 1), the arguments citing the embodiments of at least Figs. 43a-45c are found persuasive. The previous objections to the drawings have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 10, with respect to Applicant’s arguments made in view of the previous 112 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The arguments citing the embodiments of at least Figs. 43a-45c are found persuasive as supporting the claimed functionality at issue. The previous 112 rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 11-12, with respect to the deficiencies of Gayzik in view of present amendments to independent claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the prior art rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new ground(s) of rejection are made under Cohen et al. (US 2008/0306491), as set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claim(s) 1-3, 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cohen et al. (US 2008/0306491).
Cohen discloses (see Figs. 15-16C) a medical clip system comprising the following claim limitations:
(claim 1) An endoscopic device comprising: a clip assembly (202, Figs. 15-16C) comprising: a first jaw (i.e., upper arm 204 in Fig. 16A); a second jaw (i.e., lower arm 204 in Fig. 16A); and a release portion (at 206, Figs. 15-16C) connecting a proximal portion of the first jaw (204) and a proximal portion of the second jaw (204) (as shown in Figs. 15-16C), the release portion (206) including an opening extending through a proximal end of the release portion (206) (i.e., opening shown with control wire 220 disposed through the opening in Figs. 16A-16C); and a driving assembly (220/222, Figs. 15-16C) operably interfacing with the clip assembly (202) (as shown in Figs. 15-16C), the driving assembly comprising a sheath (i.e., sheath shown disposed about control wire 220 in Fig. 15); and a driver (220, Figs. 15-16C) movably disposed within the sheath (as shown in Figs. 15-16C; [0071]-[0073]; retraction of control wire 220 into sheath 40 expressly disclosed), a distal portion (222, Figs. 16A-16C) of the driver (220) operably extending through the opening of the release portion (206) (as shown in Figs. 16A-16C), wherein the driver (220) comprises a solid cable (as shown in Figs. 15-16C; [0071]-[0073]); wherein the opening is a through bore extending from a proximal side of the release portion (206) to a distal side of the release portion (206) (as shown in Figs. 16A-16C; control wire 220 expressly shown extending entirely through the through bore from a proximal side to a distal side); wherein at least one jaw (204) is movable between an open position (as shown in Fig. 15-16C) and a closed position via movement of the driver (220) relative to the sheath ([0071]-[0073]; clip 202 expressly disclosed to close the same way as the embodiment of Figs. 1-2 with the difference being the bent distal end 222 of the control wire comprising the structure to retract the clip arms 204 into the capsule 210); and wherein the distal portion (222) of the driver (220) is configured to (i.e., capable of) operatively couple the driving assembly with the clip assembly (202) when the distal portion (222) of the driver (220) is disposed distally from the opening of the release portion (206) (as expressly shown in Figs. 16A-16C) such that the clip assembly (202) moves distally with distal movement of the distal portion (222) of the driver (220) (as shown in Figs. 16A-16C; [0071]-[0073]; plunger 226 of the control wire 220 expressly pushes clip 202 forward with forward motion of the control wire 220) and the distal portion (222) of the driver is configured to be (i.e., capable of) proximally retracted through the opening of the release portion (206) via a predetermined proximal pull force to decouple the driving assembly (220/200) from the clip assembly (202) (as shown in Figs. 16A-16C; [0071]-[0073]; bent distal end 222 expressly straightens and retracts through the opening of the release portion via a predetermined proximal pull force to decouple the driving assembly);
(claim 2) wherein the distal portion (222) of the driver (220) includes a tag with a leg (at bent distal end 222) extending radially outwardly configured to (i.e., capable of) operably retain the driver (220) in the release portion (206) (as expressly shown in Figs. 16A-16C; [0071]-[0073]);
(claim 3) wherein the leg (at bent distal end 222) of the driver (220) is configured to (i.e., capable of) move radially inward via the predetermined proximal pull force such that the distal portion (222) of the driver is retractable through the opening of the release portion (206) (as shown in Figs. 16A-16C; [0071]-[0073]; bent distal end 222 expressly straightens and moves inward as the end 222 retracts through the opening of the release portion via a predetermined proximal pull force to decouple the driving assembly);
(claim 6) wherein a laterally outer portion of at least one jaw (204) includes a retention fin (as shown in annotated Fig. 1A below) configured to (i.e., capable of) prevent a collar (110, shown in Figs. 1 and 15) (i.e., it is noted that a collar is not affirmatively being claimed in claim 6, just the functionality of the retention fin) from sliding away from a distal end of the at least one jaw (204) (as shown in annotated Fig. 1A below; [0064]; distal portions 105 of the clip arms 204 are expressly wider than the more proximal portions of the clip arms 204 and prevent collar 110 from sliding off the distal end of the clip arms 204); and
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(claim 8) wherein the predetermined pull force is greater than a force which moves the at least one jaw (204) from the open position (as shown in Figs. 15-16C) to the closed position ([0071]-[0073]; a first lower level of force expressly retracts/closes the clip arms 204, wherein a subsequent second higher level of force expressly deforms and detached the distal end 222 of the control wire/driver 220 from the clip assembly 202).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, see:
Kobayashi et al. (US 8,900,254) at least Figs. 16A-16B;
Muramatsu et al. (US 2002/0133178) at least Figs. 19A-19C; and
Hayashi et al. (US 2018/0333156) at least Figs. 1-10.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Lynch whose telephone number is (571)270-3952. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:00AM-6:00PM, with alternate Fridays off).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Elizabeth Houston, at (571) 272-7134. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT A LYNCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771
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