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 .
This action is in response to the Election/Restriction response filed on 12/17/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 11-20 are withdrawn. Claims 1 and 11 are independent.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention I (Claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 12/17/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/17/2025.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Currently, none of the claim limitations are interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ward et al. (US Pat. No.: 8,784,439).
Regarding claims 1-10, Ward discloses [claim 1] a locking ferrule (95, Figs. 58 and 59 and Col. 11, lines 3-30. The T-bar anchor mechanism 95 is fully capable to be used for performing a cardiac valve procedure) fully capable for performing a cardiac valve procedure, comprising: a body (body of 95, Figs. 58 and 59) extending along a longitudinal centerline axis between a proximal end (round end, see Figure below) and a slanted distal end (slanted end, see Figure below); the body including an outer diameter wall (outer diameter wall of 95, Figs. 58 and 59), an inner diameter wall (inner diameter wall of 95, Figs. 58 and 59), and a cannulation (central lumen of 95, Figs. 58 and 59) that is circumscribed by the inner diameter wall; and a plurality of locking barbs (99, Fig. 59) extending into the cannulation and configured to establish a one-way locking mechanism for locking a suture relative to the body (Col. 11, lines 12-14; also see Col 10, lines 51-59);
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[claim 2] wherein the plurality of locking barbs are integral features of the body (Fig. 59);
[claim 3] wherein each of the plurality of locking barbs includes a pointed tip (Fig. 59);
[claim 4] each of the plurality of locking barbs is angled in a direction toward the proximal end (Fig. 59, each of the plurality of locking barbs is angled in a direction toward the proximal end from the free end of the barbs to the attached end of the barbs);
[claim 5] wherein the plurality of locking barbs each protrude inwardly from the inner diameter wall (Fig. 59);
[claim 6] wherein the plurality of locking barbs are arranged in at least a first row and a second row (Fig. 59, the plurality of locking barbs are arranged in at least a first row and a second row with each row comprising a top and bottom barbs shown in Fig. 59);
[claim 7] wherein a first portion of the plurality of locking barbs of the first row are staggered relative to a second portion of the plurality of locking barbs of the second row (Fig. 59, a first portion of the plurality of locking barbs of the first row are staggered relative to a second portion of the plurality of locking barbs of the second row along the longitudinal direction because the plurality of locking barbs of the first row are staggered relative to the plurality of locking barbs of the second row along the longitudinal direction);
[claim 8] wherein the slanted distal end extends along an axis that is transverse to the longitudinal centerline axis (Figs. 58 and 59);
[claim 9] wherein the slanted distal end includes a slanted edge (the slanted edge of the slanted distal end, Fig. 58. The slanted edge of the slanted distal end is fully capable of directionally leaning the body away from a structure associated with a heart valve being repaired during the cardiac valve procedure depending on the method used) fully capable of directionally leaning the body away from a structure associated with a heart valve being repaired during the cardiac valve procedure; and
[claim 10] wherein the slanted edge includes a curved lip (the end curved portion/lip around 97f of the slanted edge, Fig. 58).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20160242761 A1 LORE; Avraham Rami et al. discloses a suture anchor with slanted ends.
US 20180132843 A1 Chalekson; Charles P. discloses a suture anchor with barbs inside the suture anchor.
US 4455717 A Gray; Robert C. discloses a clamping device having barbs formed in the center.
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/JING RUI OU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771