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 Amendment
The Amendment filed July 21st, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 4-5 have been amended. Claims 1-6 are presently pending in the application. The previous 35 USC 112(b) rejections of claim 5 is withdrawn in light of Applicant's amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to arguments that Fukushima et al. (US 20150148598 A1) in view of Morimoto (US 20160089004 A1) does not disclose “wherein the rotational movement member and the coupling part of the elevator operation lever are disposed between the body part of the operating part and the lock lever” the examiner respectfully disagrees. As detailed below, Fukushima provides a structure without any reference marker that is well known in the art as being the structure of a common lock lever, this is made even more clear by Morimoto which depicts a substantially similar structure being considered the right-and-left lock lever (76). Furthermore, the examiner describes below how a modified version of Fukushima with the lock lever of Morimoto would likely provide the lock lever as that same structure above the control knobs, and the examiner has provided a marked-up version of FIG. 1 below to more clearly depict the interpretation of what a modified version of Fukushima would look like.
Moreover, in response to arguments that Fukushima et al. (US 20150148598 A1) in view of Morimoto (US 20160089004 A1) does not disclose “an engaging member is provided in any one of the rotational movement member or the coupling part” the examiner respectfully disagrees. As detailed below, it is clear in FIGS. 4 and 5 of Fukushima that at least a portion of the screws (52) are inserted/ provided in both the coupling part (20) coupled to a rotational movement member (41).
Therefore, the examiner is maintaining the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 with Fukushima et al. (US 20150148598 A1, hereinafter Fukushima) in view of Morimoto (US 20160089004 A1).
Examiner Comment’s
The present rejection(s) reference specific passages from cited prior art. However, Applicant is advised that the rejections are based on the entirety of each cited prior art. That is, each cited prior art reference “must be considered in its entirety”. (See MPEP 2141.02(VI)) Therefore, Applicant is advised to review all portions of the cited prior art if traversing a rejection based on the cited prior art.
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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukushima et al. (US 20150148598 A1, hereinafter Fukushima) in view of Morimoto (US 20160089004 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Fukushima discloses
An endoscope (electronic endoscope 10, FIG. 1) comprising:
a plurality of angle knobs (steering wheels 19, FIG. 1) that are operated to perform a bending operation of an insertion part (elongated tube 14, FIG. 1; par. 40 discloses rotation of steering wheels causes bending operation of elongated tube);
a body part of an operating part (grip handle 15, FIG. 1); and
an elevator operation lever (input lever 20, FIG. 1) that is operated to displace an elevation angle of a treatment tool elevator (guide device 30, FIG. 3) for elevating a treatment tool (biopsy device 13, FIG. 3) provided in a distal end (tip device 14a, FIG. 1) of the insertion part (depicted in FIGS. 1-3; par. 60 discloses rotation of input lever causes guide device to swing, i.e. elevate),
wherein the elevator operation lever includes a coupling part (body of input lever 20, depicted in FIG. 5) coupled to a rotational movement member (rotatable wheel 41, FIG. 5) that moves rotationally about a rotational movement shaft (rotational shaft sleeve 51, FIG. 5) common to the angle knob (par. 51 discloses rotatable wheel rotatable around shaft sleeve; par. 52 discloses shaft of steering wheels is received in and attached to shaft sleeve, i.e. steering wheels and input lever attached to the same shaft), and
an engaging member (Screws 52, FIG. 5) is provided in any one of the rotational movement member or the coupling part (depicted in FIGS. 4-5), and
protrudes from a surface of the any one of the rotational movement member or the coupling part (depicted in FIG. 4),
wherein the elevator operation lever is coupled to the rotational movement member by an engagement between the engaging member and an engaging hole provided in the other one of the rotational movement member or the coupling part (par. 52-53 disclose screws attach input lever to rotatable wheel via screw/ engaging holes, depicted in FIG. 5).
However, Fukushima does not disclose a lock lever that is operated to lock or unlock rotational movement of the angle knob disposed on a body part of an operating part among the plurality of angle knobs; wherein the rotational movement member and the coupling part of the elevator operation lever are disposed between the body part of the operating part and the lock lever.
Morimoto discloses an analogous endoscope (1, FIG. 1) comprising a casing (13, i.e. body part, FIG. 3) including a plurality of angle knobs (70+72, FIG. 3), an erecting operation lever (74, FIG. 3, i.e. elevator operation lever), and a lock lever (up-and-down lock lever 78/ right-and-left lock knob 76, FIG. 3) that locks the rotational position of the angle knobs [0078]. All of these being common to a cylindrical fixing shaft (152, i.e. rotational movement shaft) [FIG. 3, 0078]. Moreover, the elevator operation lever (74) includes an arm part (156b, i.e. coupling part, FIG. 5) coupled to a cylindrical rotating drum (154, i.e. rotational movement member, FIG. 5), wherein the rotational movement member and the coupling part are disposed between the body part (13) and either of the lock levers (78/76) [FIGS. 3, 5, 0100].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of
the invention to provide the endoscope of Fukushima with the lock lever of Morimoto in
order to provide an endoscope where the operation and/ or the rotational positions of the bending/ angle knobs can be locked during use of the endoscope which can be beneficial during bending operations [Morimoto - 0078].
Additionally, Fukushima discloses a similar structure to the operation part of Morimoto, as depicted in the respective figures below, implying the capability of Fukushima to include a lock lever since it already has the structure for one. Moreover, since the structure described in Morimoto as a lock lever (76) is also present in Fukushima, depicted below, and it is well known in the art that these kinds of structures are commonly lock levers, it would be obvious that upon combination of these references, this structure would be capable of acting as the lock lever in the modified version of Fukushima. Therefore, the rotational movement member (41) and coupling part (20) would be provided between the body part (15) and lock lever of modified Fukushima.
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Fukushima FIG. 1 (US 20150148598 A1) Morimoto FIG. 1 (US 20160089004 A1)
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Modified Fukushima FIG. 1 (US 20150148598 A1)
Regarding Claim 2, Fukushima, as previously modified by Morimoto, discloses all of the elements of the current invention disclosed in claim 1, Morimoto further teaches
wherein the elevator operation lever is held between the lock lever and the rotational movement member (rotating drum 154, FIG. 4) in a state where the lock lever is attached (depicted in FIGS. 4-5),
Fukushima further discloses
wherein the elevator operation lever is attachable and detachable by taking off the lock lever (FIGS. 4-5 depict input lever detached from shaft after everything else has been taken off, i.e. steering wheels and potential lock lever depicted in FIG. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Fukushima, as previously modified by Morimoto, discloses all of the elements of the current invention disclosed in claim 1, Fukushima further discloses
wherein the engaging member is provided in the rotational movement member (FIG. 4, par. 52 disclose screws fixed to rotatable wheel), and
the engaging hole is provided in the coupling part (depicted in FIG. 5).
Regarding Claim 4, Fukushima, as previously modified by Morimoto, discloses all of the elements of the current invention disclosed in claim 1, Morimoto further teaches
The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the lock lever is disposed on the body part of the operating part at a position closer to the body part with respect to the plurality of angle knobs (depicted in FIG. 4).
Regarding Claim 5, Fukushima, as previously modified by Morimoto, discloses all of the elements of the current invention disclosed in claim 1, Fukushima further discloses
wherein the plurality of angle knobs are an up-down angle knob that is operated to bend the insertion part in an up-down direction and a right-left angle knob that is operated to bend the insertion part in a right-left direction (par. 40 discloses rotation of steering wheels causes movement of elongated tube in right-left and up-down directions, i.e. respective knob for both),
the up-down angle knob is disposed on the body part of the operating part at a position that is closer to the body part with respect to the right-left angle knob (depicted in FIG. 1), and
Morimoto further teaches
the lock lever is an up-down lock lever that is operated to lock or unlock rotational movement of the up-down angle knob (par. 78 discloses upon rotation of the up-down lock lever, the rotational position of the angle knobs are locked).
Regarding Claim 6, Fukushima, as previously modified by Morimoto, discloses all of the elements of the current invention disclosed in claim 5, Fukushima further discloses
wherein the up-down angle knob, the right-left angle knob, and the up-down lock lever are detachably attached to the operating part (FIG. 4-5, par. 52 disclose the steering wheels, i.e. as well as the potential lock lever depicted in FIG. 1 and as modified by the teaching of Morimoto, are attached to the steering shaft, i.e. detachably attached as is depicted in FIG. 4-5).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDUL HADI ABBASI whose telephone number is (571)272-4076. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at (571) 272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDUL HADI ABBASI/Examiner, Art Unit 3795
/RYAN N HENDERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3795
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