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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/26/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-4, 6-21 and 41-46 are pending in this application. Claims 41-46 remain withdrawn, and Claims 1-4, 6-21 have been examined on the merits.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 6, 9-11, 13-16, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US20220175269A1) in view of Verad (EP1504713B1, as disclosed in Applicant’s IDS).
Regarding Claim 1, Lu teaches a medical system, comprising: an elongate landmarking device configured for placement across an exterior of the patient, wherein the landmarking device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0101], where there is a elongate device for landmarking/positioning purposes “The first flexible elongate instrument includes a plurality of imaging markers”) comprises:
an elongate member (corresponding disclosure in at least [0197], where the device is a flexible elongate instrument “flexible elongate instrument 440 that includes both a diagnostic sensor 420 and radiopaque markers 430”),
and plurality of landmarking elements extending along a length of the landmarking device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0101] and Figure 1, where there are a plurality of markers along the device “The first flexible elongate instrument includes a plurality of imaging markers”);
PNG
media_image1.png
267
182
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Figure 1 of Lu
and a system module comprising a console operably coupled with the landmarking device, the console having a number of processors and memory including a non-transitory computer-readable medium (corresponding disclosure in at least [0364], where there is a processor for executing the operations and a memory for storage “The equations and methods described herein can be performed on a computer processor… A processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. A computer comprises a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data”), having logic stored thereon that,
when executed by the processors, performs operations, including: receiving, by the system module, landmarking signals originating from the plurality of landmarking elements (corresponding disclosure in at least [0102], where a signal can be received by the guidewire (the landmarking device), which has the plurality of markers “The processor 105 can optionally receive at least one medical image that includes the first flexible elongate instrument 110 disposed in a body lumen. In addition, or alternatively, the medical image can be received by a separate system processor and independently displayed. The processor is configured to establish a reference coordinate system based on the plurality of imaging markers ”);
and defining one or more digital landmarks of the landmarking device based on the received landmarking signals (corresponding disclosure in at least Figure 25 and [0108], where there is an image display of the position of the markers), wherein:
PNG
media_image2.png
253
690
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Figure 25 of Lu
the plurality of landmarking elements are arranged along the landmarking device to define the one or more digital landmarks (corresponding disclosure in at least [0108] and Figure 25, where the markers generate a signal which can be digitized “As the therapeutic and/or diagnostic device travels parallel to the guidewire (3580), a signal modulated by linear displacement encoding markers (e.g., markers 2250, 2340, 2470) can be generated by the sensor (e.g., sensors 2290, 2308, 2480) and the signal communicated (3540). The signal can be sampled and modulated (3550), and then the conditioned and digitalized signal can be decoded”),
and the digital landmarks are configured to indicate a desired insertion pathway for an elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0214], where the first instrument (guidewire) with the digital landmarks are placed to determine where the medical device can be inserted “The insertion and placement of the diagnostic device (2640) is performed using real-time X-ray guidance. Once the diagnostic device is positioned in a desired vessel location, a vessel lumen diagnostic scan can be performed (2650) and a vessel location for treatment can be measured. The diagnostic device is then removed from the vessel so that a treatment device can be inserted on the guidewire”).
Lu does not teach an elongate member manipulated by a clinician to define a shape consistent with a vascular pathway of the patient, the elongate member being plastically shapable so that the elongate member maintains the defined shape after manipulation.
Verad, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a similar concept (surgical tracking instrument) of an elongate member manipulated by a clinician to define a shape consistent with a vascular pathway of the patient, the elongate member being plastically shapable so that the elongate member maintains the defined shape after manipulation (corresponding disclosure in at least [0087], where the clinician, or the user, manipulates the elongate member, or the catheter tip along the vascular pathway, or the heart “The user or physician would then manually manipulate or steer the catheter tip 120 to the identified location” and further in [0090] “The physician is given full control over this process. If necessary, the physician can manually set any of the heart model reference points. This is accomplished by manually placing the catheter 52 at the desired reference position and selecting the appropriate model reference point”, and further in Figure 14B, where the elongate member is seen maintaining its shape in the vascular pathway
PNG
media_image3.png
198
187
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Figure 14B of Verad
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have incorporated an elongate member that is manipulated by the clinician to define a shape consistent with a vascular pathway as taught by Verad. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate this because maintaining the shape of the structure the device was inserted into provides further location and structure information.
Regarding claim 2, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein the operations further include defining a landmarking pathway based on the one or more digital landmarks (corresponding disclosure in at least [0475], where the markers on the landmarking device are digitized (displayed markers) “display the locations of the therapeutic and/or diagnostic device relative to the linear position of the plurality of radiopaque imaging markers as obtained in the X-ray angiogram image on a simulated line”).
Regarding claim 3, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 2, and Lu further teaches wherein the operations further include storing the landmarking pathway in memory (corresponding disclosure in at least [0478], where there is a medium for storing the instructions of the landmarking “A system comprising at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a programmable processor, cause the programmable processor to perform operations comprising the methods of any of B42-B46”).
Regarding Claim 4, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein: the landmarking elements include landmarking magnetic elements, and the received landmarking signals include magnetic signals emanating from the landmarking magnetic elements (corresponding disclosure in at least [0195], where the markers (elements) include ones that are based on magnetic properties, which would emanate magnetic signals “The displacement encoding markers and encoding sensor can be based on optical, capacitive, inductive, resistive, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, or magnetic properties”).
Regarding Claim 6, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 4, and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking magnetic elements are disposed along the shapable elongate member (corresponding disclosure in at least [0130] and [0195], where there are markers along the instrument, the markers being ones that include being based on magnetic properties “flexible elongate instrument 440 that includes both a diagnostic sensor 420 and radiopaque markers 430”).
Regarding Claim 9, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches an elongate medical device configured for insertion within a patient (corresponding disclosure in at least [0101], where there is a second flexible elongate instrument, which is the medical device “a second flexible elongate instrument 112 configured for parallel, relative movement with respect to the first flexible elongate instrument”), wherein the elongate medical device:
is operably coupled with the console, and includes a number of device tracking elements disposed along the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0101], where there is a tracking element in the device “a location information sensor 122 can be disposed at the second flexible elongate instrument. As illustrated, the location information sensor 122 of the second flexible elongate instrument is disposed at a distal portion of the instrument”).
Regarding Claim 10, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein the operations further include :receiving, by the system module, device tracking signals originating from the device tracking elements disposed along the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0102], where there is a processor receiving the signals from the marker “The processor is configured to establish a reference coordinate system based on the plurality of imaging markers 130 a-d, which are visible in the medical image, and receive diagnostic scan or therapeutic delivery information at a plurality of locations of the body lumen from the first or second flexible elongate instrument”);
and determining an actual pathway of the elongate medical device inserted into the patient, the actual pathway based on the received device tracking signals (corresponding disclosure in at least [0102], where the processor determines the location information of the instrument based on the markers “The processor is further configured to correlate the diagnostic scan or therapeutic delivery information with the imaging markers for the plurality of locations based on the reference coordinate system and location information as sensed by the location information sensor”).
Regarding Claim 11, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 10, and Lu further teaches the console is coupled with a display, and the operations further include depicting an image of the landmarking pathway in combination with an image of the actual pathway on the display (Corresponding disclosure in at least [0102], where there is a display showing the flexible instrument “The system further includes a processor 105 and a display 107. The processor 105 can optionally receive at least one medical image that includes the first flexible elongate instrument 110 disposed in a body lumen. In addition, or alternatively, the medical image can be received by a separate system processor and independently displayed. The processor is configured to establish a reference coordinate system based on the plurality of imaging markers 130 a-d, which are visible in the medical image”).
Regarding Claim 13, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 9, and Lu further teaches wherein: the device tracking elements include tracking magnetic elements disposed along the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0354], where the tracking elements include magnetic elements along the device “A diagnostic device (e.g., flexible elongate instrument having a diagnostic device) can comprise a displacement sensor, displacement encoding markers, or both....
The displacement sensor can detect a relative movement of one or a plurality of encoding markers relative to the sensor or a distance the sensor has traversed along a flexible elongate instrument relative to a reference position such that displacement can be measured. The sensor can be an optical sensor, an electrical sensor, an electromagnetic senor, a mechanical sensor, a pressure sensor, a chemically-selective sensor, and/or a sonographic sensor”),
and the received device tracking signals include magnetic signals emanating from the tracking magnetic elements (corresponding disclosure in at least [0354], where the elements transmit signals “The sensor can be, for example, a transducer selected to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic (e.g., inductance, resistance, voltage), light, ultrasound, or pressure signals”).
Regarding Claim 14, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 13, and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device and the elongate medical device are simultaneously coupled with the console (corresponding disclosure in at least [0427], where the landmark device (first flexible elongate instrument) is coupled to the medical device (second flexible instrument) “the second flexible elongate instrument that comprises the body lumen detector is signally coupled to the signal transducer on the first flexible elongate instrument”).
Regarding Claim 15, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 13, and Lu further teaches wherein: at least one of the landmarking device or the elongate medical device is optically coupled with the console, and at least the other one of the landmarking device or the elongate medical device is magnetically coupled with the console (corresponding disclosure in at least [0364], where the devices are optically and magnetically coupled (magneto-optical), which is used for receiving both the magnetic (sensors) and optical (optical fiber) signals ““the computer will also comprise, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks”).
Regarding Claim 16, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 13, and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device and the elongate medical device are simultaneously magnetically coupled with the console (corresponding disclosure in at least [0364], where the device is coupled with the console (computer) to receive magnetic data “the computer will also comprise, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks”).
Regarding Claim 20, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device includes a catheter (corresponding disclosure in at least [0181], where the landmarking device (first instrument) is used with a catheter “a first flexible elongate instrument 2110 can be a guidewire (guidewire imaging markers not shown in FIG. 12 for clarity) with an optical encoding sensor 2120 mounted at the distal portion of the flexible elongate instrument. The guidewire is used in conjunction with a second flexible elongate instrument 2130 which, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, is a phased array IVUS catheter that can generate body lumen morphology information when inserted in a body lumen. However, any catheter can be configured to be used with such a guidewire such that a displacement of the catheter relative to the guidewire can be measured and output to a processor/computer”).
Regarding Claim 21, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device is configured for insertion into a lumen of a vascular catheter (corresponding disclosure in at least [0145], where the device is inserted into a lumen “The diagnostic catheter 640 can be, for example, a rotational IVUS catheter or an OCT catheter that has been inserted over the guidewire and permitted to move along the guidewire when advancing or retracting within a vessel. An over-the-wire sliding rail portion 650 of the catheter, often referred to as a catheter guidewire lumen, is situated at a distal tip of the diagnostic catheter 640. A guidewire lumen allows a catheter to be loaded onto a guidewire and follow the guidewire on insertion into a vessel”).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US20220175269A1) and Verad (US 20220175468 A1) as applied in Claim 6, and in further view of Breisacher (US20160178357A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Lu and Verad teaches all of the limitations of Claim 6.
Lu does not teach wherein the landmarking magnetic elements are positionable along the shapable elongate member.
Breisacher, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a similar concept (tracking of surgical tools) wherein the landmarking magnetic elements are positionable along the shapable elongate member (corresponding disclosure in at least [0054], where the markers are capable of being moved to different positions on a shapable member “The visual markers are attached to positions along the length of the optical fiber 12 which correspond to positions of the bending sensor units 50 (as explained with regard to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2) or to different positions”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated the positionable landmarking magnetic elements into the teachings of Lu. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate this because doing so would allow the tracking elements to be positioned based on the bending of the flexible instrument (i.e. placing tracking elements onto where the instrument curves) and give rise to more accurate measurements.
Claims 8 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US20220175269A1) and Verad (EP1504713B1) as applied in Claim 1 and 9, and in further view of Sowards (US20210268229A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Lu and Verad teaches all of the limitations of Claim 1, and Lu further teaches wherein: the landmarking elements include a landmarking optical fiber extending along the shapable elongate member (corresponding disclosure in at least [0156], where the fiber extends along the guidewire (landmarking member) “An optical light emitter/receiver 720 can include a small conical mirror 730 for reflecting light exiting from an optical fiber 735 disposed within the guidewire and can receive light and direct it into the optical fiber”) and the landmarking optical fiber is optically coupled with the console, and the received landmarking signals include the reflected optical signals propagated proximally along the landmarking optical fiber (corresponding disclosure in at least [0262], where there is a component for receiving the signals, “The received signal can be transmitted to a signal processing component at a proximal end of the guidewire (e.g., Hub 3109) via optical fibers running through an inside the guidewire. The optical signal can be converted to an electrical signal at the Hub 3109.”).
Lu does not teach the landmarking optical fiber includes multiple optical fiber cores having a number of optical fiber gratings disposed along the multiple optical fiber cores, and the number of optical fiber gratings define reflected optical signals based on a shape of the shapable elongate member.
Sowards, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches the landmarking optical fiber includes multiple optical fiber cores having a number of optical fiber gratings disposed along the multiple optical fiber cores (corresponding disclosure in at least [0034], where there are multiple optical fiber cores with gratings “received from optical fiber-based reflective gratings (sensors) fabricated within each of the core fibers 137 deployed within the catheter 120”),
the number of optical fiber gratings define reflected optical signals based on a shape of the shapable elongate member (corresponding disclosure in at least [0009], where the gratings along the fiber are used for the measurement (shape) “These distributed sensors may be deployed as an array of reflective gratings and positioned at a different region of the core fiber to enable distributed measurements throughout the entire length or a selected portion of the integrated tubing”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated the optical fiber to include multiple cores and the optical fiber gratings defining the reflected optical signal into the teachings of Lu. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate this because the multiple fiber cores increase the bandwidth and speed of the fiber transmission of the multiple magnetic elements along the device.
Regarding Claim 17, Lu and Verad teaches all of the limitations of Claim 9, and Lu further teaches the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0101], where there is a second flexible elongate instrument, which is the medical device “a second flexible elongate instrument 112 configured for parallel, relative movement with respect to the first flexible elongate instrument”), the device optical fiber is optically coupled with the console, and the received device tracking signals include the reflected device optical signals propagated proximally along the device optical fiber (corresponding disclosure in at least [0262], where there is a component for receiving the signals, “The received signal can be transmitted to a signal processing component at a proximal end of the guidewire (e.g., Hub 3109) via optical fibers running through an inside the guidewire. The optical signal can be converted to an electrical signal at the Hub 3109.”).
Lu does not teach a device optical fiber extending along the elongate medical device, the device optical fiber includes multiple device optical fiber cores having a number of device optical fiber gratings disposed along the multiple device optical fiber cores, the number of device optical fiber gratings define reflected device optical signals based on a shape of the elongate medical device.
Sowards, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a similar concept (medical instrument positioning) where a device optical fiber extends along the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0030], where the fiber extends along the catheter “optical fibers 147 (hereinafter, “optical fiber(s)”) included as part of the interconnect 145 and core fibers 137 deployed within the catheter”), the device optical fiber includes multiple device optical fiber cores having a number of device optical fiber gratings disposed along the multiple device optical fiber cores (corresponding disclosure in at least [0034], where there are multiple optical fiber cores with gratings “received from optical fiber-based reflective gratings (sensors) fabricated within each of the core fibers 137 deployed within the catheter 120”), the number of device optical fiber gratings define reflected device optical signals based on a shape of the elongate medical device (corresponding disclosure in at least [0009], where the gratings along the fiber are used for the measurement (shape) “These distributed sensors may be deployed as an array of reflective gratings and positioned at a different region of the core fiber to enable distributed measurements throughout the entire length or a selected portion of the integrated tubing”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate an optical fiber extending along the elongate medical device with multiple fiber optic cores and fiber gratings into the teachings of Lu. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate this because having multiple cores increase the bandwidth and speed of the fiber transmission of the multiple magnetic elements along the device, while the gratings act as a sensor to select the wavelengths that are pertinent to the signals that the user intends to view.
Regarding Claim 18, the combination noted above teaches all of the limitations of Claim 17 and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device and the elongate medical device are simultaneously optically coupled with the console (corresponding disclosure in at least [0034], where the devices are optically coupled with the console (processor) “the optical detector can be detachably coupled to an endoluminal medical instrument and/or detachably coupled to a unit comprising the processor”).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination noted above teaches all of the limitations of Claim 17 and Lu further teaches wherein the landmarking device and the elongate medical device are simultaneously optically and magnetically coupled with the console (corresponding disclosure in at least [0364], where the devices are optically and magnetically coupled (magneto-optical), which is used for receiving both the magnetic (sensors) and optical (optical fiber) signals ““the computer will also comprise, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks”).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US20220175269A1) and Verad (EP1504713B1) as applied in claim 10 and in further view of Strommer (US20060058647A1).
Regarding Claim 12, Lu and Verad teach the limitations of Claim 10, and Lu further teaches wherein the operations further include: comparing the landmarking pathway with the actual pathway (corresponding disclosure in at least [0220], where the location of the flexible instrument is determined and a calculation unit can compare the expected signal to the one from the markers on the instrument “Co-location information can be obtained with respect to the position of a second flexible elongate instrument (e.g., a therapeutic and/or diagnostic device) in relation to a first flexible elongate instrument (e.g., a guidewire) through the following method… the calculation unit compares the signal sent from the transducer to expected signal information for a pre-selected position of the therapeutic and/or diagnostic device in relation to at least one of the radiopaque markers on the first flexible elongate instrument).
Lu does not teach providing an alert in response to the comparison when the actual pathway deviates from the landmarking pathway beyond a defined deviation limit.
Strommer, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a similar concept (detection of a flexible medical instrument) of providing an alert in response to the comparison when the actual pathway deviates from the landmarking pathway beyond a defined deviation limit (corresponding disclosure in at least [0108], where a notification is presented when there is a match of the position of the medical device to the position “The processor produces a notification output, when the processor determines that the current position of the medical device substantially matches the selected position (procedure 174)”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated an alert in response to the comparison when there is a deviation into the teachings of Lu. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate this because an alert notifies the user to reposition or change the trajectory of the instrument to be within the correct path to properly reach the designated target.
Strommer discloses the claimed invention, including the alert, but does not specifically describe it being for deviation from the pathway. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was effectively filed to also include an alert when the medical instrument is deviating from the selected path alongside when the correct position is assumed, since Strommer infers the importance of an alert based on the expected pathway, and since it was known in the art that the instrument can also veer off trajectory rather than being in the correct pathway, thus an alert would help the user avoid adverse effects (See MPEP 2144.01).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments regarding the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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 KAITLYN KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-1821. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6-2 PST.
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, Anne Kozak can be reached at (571) 270-0552. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/K.E.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3797
/JOSEPH M SANTOS RODRIGUEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
Prosecution Insights