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. Specification The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. 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. (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. Claim s 1-2, 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 a1, a2 as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2019/0184135 to Shimizu (Shimizu). Regarding claim 1, Shimizu teaches a catheter (1) comprising: a catheter shaft (60) including a distal end portion and a proximal end portion (0029) ; and a distal tip (70) connected to the distal end portion of the catheter shaft (0029, 0036) , wherein: a recess (see ex. fig 1) is formed in the distal end portion of the catheter shaft (0037-0038) , and the distal tip includes a proximal end portion that is inserted into the recess (0037-0038, 0047-0049) . Regarding claim 2, Shimizu further teaches further comprising a reinforcing body (20/22) embedded in the catheter shaft and formed of a coil or braiding (0037, 0040) . Regarding claim 4, Shimizu further teaches wherein at least a portion of the proximal end portion of the distal tip extends in a direction that is: substantially orthogonal to a center axis of the catheter so that at least the portion of the proximal end portion extends inwardly from an outer peripheral side of the catheter towards the center axis, or inclined with respect to the center axis of the catheter so that at least the portion of the proximal end portion extends inwardly from the outer peripheral side towards the center axis and is inclined in a direction extending from a proximal end side towards a distal end side of the catheter (see fig. 5-7) . Regarding claim 5, Shimizu teaches the distal tip is made of a resin material ( 0036- Polyurethane elastomer) having a lower hardness than a hardness of a resin material forming the catheter shaft (0031- PTFE—Examiner notes that the materials to create the distal tip and catheter shaft of Shimizu are the same materials disclosed in the instant specification, and thus would have the same hardness and properties as required by the claim limitation set forth by applicant). Regarding claim 6, Shimizu teaches the distal tip is made of a resin material (0036- Polyurethane elastomer) having a lower melt viscosity than a melt viscosity of the resin material forming the catheter shaft ( 0031- PTFE—Examiner notes that the materials to create the distal tip and catheter shaft of Shimizu are the same materials disclosed in the instant specification, and thus would have the same hardness and properties as required by the claim limitation set forth by applicant). Regarding claim 7, Shimizu further teaches according to wherein the recess opens in a distal end of the catheter shaft (see ex. fig. 1). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,762,637 to Berg et al. (Berg). Regarding claim 3, Shimizu teaches the claim limitations of claim 2, but fails to explicitly teaches a distal end of the reinforcing body is spaced from the recess in a proximal direction towards a proximal end side of the catheter shaft. Berg teaches a distal end of the reinforcing body is spaced from the recess in a proximal direction towards a proximal end side of the catheter shaf t (Col. 6 ln. 10-22, 31-36). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have included the distal end of the reinforcing body is spaced from the recess in order to allow for more precise torque and kink to assist with positioning while allowing the tip to be soft and flexible. Claim (s) 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu in view of U.S. Publication No. 2012/0271232 to Katsurada et al. ( Katsurada ). Regarding claim 8, Shimizu teaches the claim limitations of claim 1, but fails to explicitly teach further comprising a balloon including a distal end side fixation portion that is connected to at least one of the distal tip and the catheter shaft. Katsurada teaches a balloon (20) including a distal end side fixation portion (22) that is connected to at least one of the distal tip and the catheter shaft (0033, 0034). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have included the balloon of Katsurada in order to allow the user to clear stenosis during use. Regarding claim 9, where Shimizu and Katsurada teach the claim limitations of claim 8, where Shimizu teaches further comprising a reinforcing body (20/22) embedded in the catheter shaft and made of a coil or braiding (0037, 0040) , and Katsurada teaches wherein a distal end of the reinforcing body is located at a position overlapping the distal end side fixation portion of the balloon in a radial direction of the catheter (see fig. 7) . Regarding claim 10 , where Shimizu and Katsurada teach the claim limitations of claim 8, where Katsurada teaches wherein a portion of the distal end side fixation portion of the balloon is fixed to at least one of the distal tip and the catheter shaft at a position overlapping the proximal end portion of the distal tip in a radial direction of the catheter (0033; see fig. 7, 8) . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT REBECCA E EISENBERG whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-5879 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8-5 . 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 . 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. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT REBECCA E. EISENBERG Supervisory Patent Examiner Art Unit 3781 /REBECCA E EISENBERG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3781