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 .
Claims 3-4, 5-7, 14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 1/20/26.
Applicant's election with traverse of figures 11-13 in the reply filed on 1/20/26 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there would not be a serious burden to examine all the claims. This is not found persuasive because the different species all recite mutually exclusive characteristics regarding the shape of the cells and channels. These species are not obvious variants of each other. Thus, the search for each species may overlap but the search would be extensive due to the number of species in the application.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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, 5, 8-10 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Unitary catheter capable of repeated on-demand removal of infectious biofilms via active deformation by Levering (Biomaterials, Vol. 77, 2016) (here on out referred to as Levering).
Levering teaches a pressure source (abstract); a flow selector in fluid communication with the pressure source (2.5; actuation testing); a controller coupled to the pressure source and the flow selector (3.1; shaft design); and a defouling device (inflation lumens) fixedly installed along an inner luminal surface of a pipe, the defouling device having a plurality of expandable cells (see figure 1) placed selectively in fluid communication with the pressure source by the flow selector so as to receive an inflation medium from the pressure source (2.1; Finite element modeling), each of the plurality of expandable cells having a circumferential extent and a longitudinal extent along the inner luminal surface of the pipe, and an expandable inner wall (outer surface of lumens) with a varying wall property (elastomer; 2.1; Finite element modeling) that varies in a predefined pattern along the longitudinal extent of the expandable cell so as to cause differential inflation along the longitudinal extent of the expandable cell.
With regards to claim 5, the plurality of expandable cells comprises: a base having a plurality of channels therein; a plurality of ribs dividing the channels; and an expandable member attached to the plurality of ribs to define the expandable inner walls of the plurality of expandable cells; wherein the plurality of channels is connected to the flow selector.
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With regards to claim 8, the varying wall property comprises a shape of the expandable inner wall (see bottom figure above).
With regards to claim 9, the varying wall property comprises an inflated shape of the expandable inner wall (see bottom figure above).
With regards to claim 10, the defouling apparatus is actuatable such that the differential inflation causes peristaltic pumping (2.4; Biofilm growth in catheter prototypes).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 11-13 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 includes the limitation that the wall property of the expandable inner wall comprises a thickness that varies along the longitudinal extent of the expandable cell. None of the prior art teach a wall thickness that varies. Thus, it is free from the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAY LYNN KARLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1268. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (6am-5pm).
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/SHAY KARLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723