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 .
Status of the Claims
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed October 28, 2025. As directed by the amendment: Claims 3, 5, 8-10, 13, 14, and 16-20 have been amended. Claims 21 and 22 have been cancelled. Claims 23 and 24 are newly added. Claims 1-20, 23, and 24 are presently pending in this application.
Drawings
The drawings were received on October 28, 2025. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: In ll. 6, the phrase “in a direction in a direction” should be re-written as --in a direction--. Appropriate correction is required.
Examiner’s Note
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pflueger (US 2005/0209530), herein referred to as Pflueger.
Regarding claim 1, Pflueger discloses a surgical device (10) (figures 1-4), comprising a cannula (30), having an inner diameter (figure 3), an outer diameter (figure 3), a first opening (42) disposed on a first end (figure 3), and a second opening (76) disposed on a second end (figure 2), an auger (e.g. elements 16, 50, 56) (figures 1-3), disposed within the cannula (30) (figure 3), including a flighting (56) arranged around an auger shaft (50), wherein the auger shaft (50) is aligned concentrically to the cannula (30) (figure 3), and a material holding area (70) (¶54 and figure 1) in communication with the first opening (42) (figure 3).
Regarding claim 2, Pflueger discloses wherein the first opening (42) is arranged in a first plane (figure 3) perpendicular to a rotational axis (e.g. longitudinal axis) of the auger (e.g. elements 16, 50, 56) and the second opening (76) is arranged in a second plane (figures 2 and 3) parallel to the first plane (figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 3, Pflueger discloses wherein the first opening (42) is defined in a first plane (considered as the x-axis, figure 3) defined circumferentially to a rotational axis (e.g. longitudinal axis) of the auger (e.g. elements 16, 50, 56) and the second opening (76) is arranged in a second plane (e.g. considered as the y-axis, figure 3) perpendicular to the rotational axis (e.g. longitudinal axis) of the auger (e.g. elements 16, 50, 56).
Regarding claim 4, Pflueger discloses wherein the auger shaft (50) is connected to a rotational mechanism (34) (¶44).
Regarding claim 7, Pflueger discloses further comprising a handle (14) in which a portion of the first end of the cannula (30) is secured (figures 1, 2, 4), wherein the handle (14) includes the material holding area (70) (figures 1, 2, 4).
Regarding claim 12, Pflueger discloses wherein the outer diameter is less than or equal to 9 millimeters (¶21).
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.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pflueger (US 2005/0209530) in view of Cronin et al. (US 2011/0282381), herein referred to as Cronin.
Regarding claim 5, Pflueger’s surgical device discloses all the features/elements as claimed including wherein the auger (e.g. elements 16, 50, 56) is disposed between the second opening (76) and the first opening (figure 3) but lacks further comprising a cutting tip mounted to the auger shaft and in communication with the second opening.
However, Cronin teaches a cutting tip (882) (¶253 and figure 52) mounted to an auger shaft (830) and in communication with a second opening (¶253 and figure 52).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pflueger’s surgical device with a cutting tip mounted to the auger shaft and in communication with the second opening as taught by Cronin, since such a modification would provide an attachable tissue cutting section on a distal end of the cannula (¶253).
Regarding claim 6, the modified Pflueger’s surgical device has wherein the cutting tip (882 of Cronin) is selectively attachable (¶253 of Cronin) to the auger shaft (50 of Pflueger).
Regarding claim 10, Pflueger’s surgical device discloses all the features/elements as claimed but lacks wherein the material holding area includes an access panel that is selectively openable to allow removal or addition of material to the material holding area.
However, Cronin teaches wherein a material holding area (838) includes an access panel (considered as the connection between elements 838, 920, 924, 930, 932) that is selectively openable (¶258) to allow removal or addition of material to the material holding area (838) (¶258 and figure 54).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pflueger’s surgical device having a material holding area with an access panel that is selectively openable to allow removal or addition of material to the material holding area as taught by Cronin, so the device may be cleaned (¶258).
Regarding claim 11, Pflueger’s surgical device discloses all the features/elements as claimed but lacks further comprising a material magazine that is selectively removable from the material holding area.
However, Cronin teaches a material magazine (922) that is selectively removable (¶258) from a material holding area (920) (figure 54).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pflueger’s surgical device with a material magazine that is selectively removable from the material holding area as taught by Cronin, since such a modification would provide a saline solution or a medical fluid component to the surgical site (¶260).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pflueger (US 2005/0209530).
Regarding claim 13, Pflueger’s surgical device discloses all the features/elements as claimed but lacks a detailed description on wherein a capacity of the material holding area is greater than volume of the cannula.
However, it is known that discovering an optimum value/size involves routine skill in the art.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pflueger’s surgical device with wherein a capacity of the material holding area is greater than volume of the cannula, since it is known that discovering an optimum value/size involves routine skill in the art and such a modification would be advantageous in order to collect/store the desired amount of material.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 14, and 15 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.
Claims 16-20, 23, and 24 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: After further search and consideration it is determined that the prior art of record neither anticipated nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination, in particular, the prior art of record does not teach, the following limitation(s) in combination with the remaining claimed limitation such as but not limited to “A method, comprising: conveying the bone tissue from the bone target to a holding area via an auger disposed in a cannula, wherein the auger is co-rotated with the cutting tip, removing the cutting tip from the cannula; feeding material in the holding area to the auger in a direction substantially perpendicular to an axis of rotation of the auger”.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed October 28, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments on pages 11-13, under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C 103, of the Remarks are directed to claim 1 and the reference Pflueger. Applicant argues that “Applicant notes however that elements identifies in the office action with the claimed auger clearly extend beyond the element identified with the canula, and therefore do not describe an auger, disposed within the cannula, as is claimed and Pflueger therefore does not anticipate claim 1 or the dependent claims thereof.” However, the Examiner respectfully disagrees because as generally claimed, Pflueger discloses an auger (e.g. at least a portion of elements 16, 50, 56) (figures 1-3), disposed within the cannula (30) (figure 3).
Conclusion
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.
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/SI MING KU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3775
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