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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/21/2026 has been entered.
Allowable Subject Matter
The indicated allowability of claim(s) 33, 35, 47, 51, 53-55, 57 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Altarac et al. (U.S. Patent 7,163,538 B2) and Gournay et al. (U.S. Patent 6,709,434 B1). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
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.
(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) 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Altarac et al. (U.S. Patent 7,163,538 B2).
Altarac discloses, regarding claim 33, a connector assembly (see Fig. 2), comprising: a connector (40) that includes an opening that defines a spherical interior surface (see annotated Fig. 2 below) that extends from a proximal-facing surface to a distal-facing surface (see annotated Fig. 4 below), and a rod-receiving recess laterally offset from the opening and configured to receive an elongate spinal rod (see annotated Fig. 2 below); a threaded fastener (see annotated Fig. 2 below); and a locking nut (see annotated Fig. 2 below) received within the opening of the connector (see Fig. 4), the locking nut having a spherical exterior surface (see annotated Fig. 2 below) and a threaded throughbore (e.g. internal threads that mate with threaded portion 57, see lines 14-15 of column 4) in which a proximal end of the fastener is received (see annotated Fig. 2 below); wherein the assembly has an unlocked configuration in which the connector is polyaxially movable relative to the fastener (see lines 14-20 of column 4) and a locked configuration in which an orientation of the connector relative to the fastener is fixed (see lines 20-27 of column 4), the locking nut being radially expanded in the locked configuration as compared to the unlocked configuration (see lines 1-5 of column 4), and wherein a proximal-facing surface of the rod-receiving recess is disposed distal to the distal-facing surface of the opening (see annotated Fig. 4 below).
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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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altarac, as applied to claim 33 above, and in view of Biester et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0014858 A1, hereinafter “Biester”).
Altarac discloses all of the features of the claimed invention, as previously set forth above, except regarding claim 35, wherein the locking nut has a castle drive feature with curved abutment surfaces.
Biester discloses a drive feature for a bone screw (see Figs. 4J-K), wherein the drive feature is a castle drive feature (see Figs. 4J-K, see para. [0141]) with curved abutment surfaces (426 and 428) in order to enable the bone screw to be engaged with a countertorque sleeve and provide bidirectional countertorque engagement (see para. [0141]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the locking nut in Altarac to have a castle drive feature with curved abutment surfaces in order to enable the bone screw to be engaged with a countertorque sleeve and provide bidirectional countertorque engagement.
Claim(s) 47, 51, 53-55, 57 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gournay et al. (U.S. Patent 6,709,434 B2) in view of Farris et al. (U.S. Patent 6,485,491 B1, hereinafter “Farris”).
Gournay discloses, regarding claim 47, a connector assembly (see Fig. 1), comprising: a connector (see annotated Fig. 1 below) having a first portion and a second portion (see annotated Fig. 1 below), wherein: the first portion extends between a proximal-facing surface and a distal-facing surface (see annotated Fig. 1 below) and defines an opening therebetween (see annotated Fig. 1 below), the first portion being configured to mate with a bone anchor assembly (see annotated Fig. 1 below) with the distal-facing surface being configured to abut the bone anchor assembly when mated thereto (see annotated Fig. 1 below); the second portion has a proximal-facing rod-receiving recess (see annotated Fig. 1 below); the first portion forms a cantilevered lateral extension (see annotated Fig. 1 below) from an arm of the second portion (see annotated Fig. 1 below); and a proximal-most end (see annotated Fig. 1 below) of the arm is distal to the proximal-facing surface of the first portion (see annotated Fig. 1 below).
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Regarding claim 51, further comprising a second set screw (16) configured to be received in the rod-receiving recess to secure the fixation element therein (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 53, wherein a distal-facing surface of the second portion is distal to the distal-facing surface of the first portion (see annotated Fig. 1 above).
Regarding claim 54, wherein the connector is unitary (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 55, wherein a proximal-facing surface of the rod-receiving recess is distal to the distal-facing surface of the first portion (see annotated Fig. 1 above).
Regarding claim 57, wherein the fixation element (1) contacts the proximal-facing rod-receiving recess (see Fig. 1).
Gournay fails to disclose, regarding claim 47, the proximal-facing rod-receiving recess in the second portion is defined by a pair of opposed arms that is configured to receive a fixation element therein.
Farris discloses an connector (176, see Fig. 28a), that includes a rod-receiving recess (34C) defined by a pair of opposed arms that is configured to receive a spinal rod / fixation element (36) in order to provide the connector with a pair of upright arms (32C) that define a rod-receiving channel (34C) to receive a top-loading rod and secure the rod therein via a set screw (30, see lines 5-23 of column 9).
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It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the rod-receiving recess in Sweeney to includes a rod-receiving recess configured to receive a spinal rod along an axis that is parallel to a central longitudinal axis of the opening in view of Farris in order to provide the connector with a pair of upright arms that define a rod-receiving channel to receive a top-loading rod and secure the rod therein via a set screw.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 34 and 36, 48-50, 52, 56 is/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.
Claim(s) 58-62 is/are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claims in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof could be found which disclose, or suggest: a connector assembly comprising: a connector that includes an opening that defines a spherical interior surface and a rod-receiving recess laterally offset from the opening; and a locking nut received within the opening of the connector having a spherical exterior surface and a threaded throughbore; wherein the connector is polyaxially movable relative to the fastener in an unlocked configuration and the locking nut being radially expanded in a locked configuration as compared to the unlocked configuration; and as per claim 34, wherein the threads of the fastener or the threads of the locking nut are tapered such that rotation of the locking nut relative to the fastener is effective to radially expand the locking nut; and as per claim 36, wherein a distal surface of the connector includes a first planar portion and a second planar portion oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the first planar portion to constrain movement of the connector relative to a receiver member in which a set screw is disposed.
A connector assembly, comprising: a connector having a first portion and a second portion, wherein: the first portion defines an opening configured to mate with a bone anchor assembly with a distal-facing surface being configured to abut the bone anchor assembly when mated thereto; and the second portion has a proximal-facing rod-receiving recess defined by a pair of opposed arms that is configured to receive a fixation element therein; the first portion forms a cantilevered lateral extension from an arm of the pair of opposed arms of the second portion; and a proximal-most end of at least a first arm of the pair of opposed arms is distal to the proximal-facing surface of the first portion; and as per claim 48, further comprising a first set screw and a nut, the first set screw extending through the opening in the first portion such that the first opening is received between the first set screw and the nut to mate the first portion with the bone anchor assembly; and as per claim 52, wherein the rod-receiving recess comprises a distal rod seat for receiving the fixation element therein, the distal rod seat being positioned distal to a rod seat of a bone anchor assembly mated to the first portion; and as per claim 56, wherein at least one of the pair of opposed arms is configured to contact a receiver member of a bone anchor assembly mated to the connector and a fixation element received within the rod-receiving recess.
A surgical method, comprising: coupling a connector having a first portion and a second portion to a bone anchor assembly, wherein: the first portion defines an opening and with a distal-facing surface abutting the bone anchor assembly; and the second portion has a proximal-facing rod-receiving recess defined by a pair of opposed arms; the first portion forms a cantilevered lateral extension from an arm of the pair of opposed arms of the second portion; and a proximal-most end of at least a first arm of the pair of opposed arms is distal to the proximal-facing surface of the first portion; and as per claim 58, coupling a first set screw to the first portion, the set screw having a distal portion received in the bone anchor and a proximal portion that extends through the opening in the first portion; tightening the nut around the proximal portion to lock the first portion to the set screw, the nut abutting the proximal-facing surface of the first portion when locked thereto; and
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 33, 35, 47, 51, 53-55, 57 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
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/M.C.G/ Examiner, Art Unit 3773
/JAN CHRISTOPHER L MERENE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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