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 .
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments field 9/29/2025 with respect to the rejections of claims 1-5 and 7-32 using Hinchliffe as a secondary reference have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of the below-cited Schultz reference (which was cited on the 9/29/2025 IDS).
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.
Claims 1-21, 23, 24, and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garrison (PG PUB 2013/0281788) in view of Schultz (PG PUB 2011/0092910).
Re claim 1, Garrison discloses a method of performing a medical procedure in a cerebral vessel of a patient (Para 48), the method comprising: advancing, while assembled, a catheter system 2030+2652 (Fig 8), as a single unit over a guidewire 2515 (Fig 8) distal to a petrous portion of an internal carotid artery to a cerebral vessel (Para 126 discloses that the sheath 2010 has its distal end positioned in “the proximal or distal cervical, petrous, or cavernous portion of the internal carotid artery”, since the system 2030+2652 extends distally from the distal end of the sheath 2010 (Para 48), the system 2030+2652 is advanced to a cerebral vessel distal to the petrous portion), the catheter system comprising: a catheter 2030 (Fig 1,8) comprising a proximal end (to the bottom of Fig 1), a distal end (to the top of Fig 1 and the right in Fig 8), and a lumen (within which element 2652 resides in Fig 8) extending between the proximal end and the distal end (as seen in Fig 1, wherein device 4100 extends proximally from the proximal end of catheter 2030 and distally from the distal end of catheter 2030); and a catheter advancement element 2652 (Fig 8; referred to as both an “inner member” and a “dilator” throughout the specification) comprising a proximal end region (not shown, but inherently to the left in Fig 8), a distal tip (to the right in Fig 8) having a taper (as seen in Fig 8, Para 76), a lumen (within which guidewire 2515 resides in Fig 8) that communicates with a distal opening (through which guidewire 2515 exits the element 2652 in Fig 8) in fluid communication with the blood vessel (inherent since the removal of guidewire 2515 from the opening would leave the opening unobstructed), wherein the proximal end region extends proximally outside of the body of the patient (since Para 76 discloses that the element 2652 is inserted through the catheter 2030 and Fig 1 shows the proximal end of catheter 2030 outside the body of the patient), wherein, when assembled, at least a portion of the catheter advancement element is located within the lumen of the catheter (as seen in Fig 8), at least a portion of the distal tip is located distal to the distal end of the catheter (as seen in Fig 8), wherein the distal tip of the catheter advancement element is more flexible than the distal end of the catheter to form a smooth transition in flexibility between a flexibility of the distal end of the catheter and a flexibility of the guidewire extending outside the distal opening (Para 78); reaching a target site within the cerebral vessel with the distal end of the catheter (Para 48); withdrawing the catheter advancement element from the lumen of the catheter (Para 48); and removing occlusive material while applying a negative pressure to the lumen of the catheter to capture the occlusive material at, within, or through the distal end of the catheter (Para 48). Garrison does not disclose that a proximal end of the catheter advancement element is locked with the proximal end of the catheter by a mechanical locking element when “assembled” and that the catheter advancement element gets unlocked from the proximal end of the catheter prior to the catheter advancement element being withdrawn from the lumen of the catheter.
Schultz, however, teaches an assembly (Fig 1,2; it is noted that all reference characters cited below refer to Fig 1,2 unless otherwise noted) comprising an inner member 22 (comparable to inner catheter advancement element 2652 of Garrison), an outer catheter 12 (comparable to outer catheter 2030 of Garrison), and a mechanical locking element 30 (Para 22) that locks a proximal end of the inner member with a proximal end of an outer catheter when the assembly is assembled (“when the knob 36 is rotated in one direction”, Para 23), wherein the inner element is unlocked from the proximal end of the outer element prior to the inner element moving relative to the lumen of the outer element (“when the knob 36 is rotated in the other direction”, Para 23) for the purpose of aiding maneuverability of the inner member via manipulation and deflection of the outer catheter (Para 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison to include a mechanical locking element that locks the proximal end of the catheter advancement element with the proximal end of the catheter when “assembled” and unlocks to allow the catheter advancement element to move relative to the catheter, as taught by Schultz, for the purpose of aiding maneuverability of the inner catheter via manipulation and deflection of the outer catheter (Para 3). Since Garrison discloses withdrawing the catheter advancement element from the catheter for removal and Schultz teaches unlocking the catheter advancement element and the catheter so that they can move relative to each other (Para 23), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that, when modified to include the locking mechanism of Schultz, this locking mechanism would have to be unlocked in order for the inner member to be removed from the aspiration catheter as disclosed by Garrison.
Re claim 2, Garrison discloses that an outer diameter of the catheter advancement element is about 0.070” (Para 67 discloses that the inner diameter of catheter 2030 have be 0.070” and Para 76 discloses that the element 2652 “creates a smooth transition between the distal-most tip of the larger distal catheter 2030 and the outer diameter of a guide wire 2515”; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that, in order to create a “smooth transition” as described, element 2652 would have to have an outer diameter substantially similar to the inner diameter of the catheter 2030; therefore, the outer diameter of the element 2652 would be about 0.070” (since applicant has not defined the range of the term “about”)).
Re claim 3, Garrison discloses that an inner diameter of the catheter is about 0.072” (0.070”, Para 67; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that 0.070” is about 0.072” inches since Application has not defined the range of the term “about”).
Re claim 4, Garrison discloses that the catheter advancement element has an inner diameter of between 0.020” and about 0.024” and is sized to receive the guidewire, wherein the guidewire has an outer diameter of between 0.014” and about 0.018” (Para 76).
Re claim 5, Garrison and Schultz are silent as to the dimensions of the taper of the distal tip; accordingly, Garrison as modified by Schultz does not disclose that the taper is between 1.5 cm and 3 cm. However, since Applicant discloses that the size of the taper is a result effective variable as it affects the smoothness of the transition between the catheter and the guidewire (Para 92, for example), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison to include the taper so that it is between 1.5 cm and 3 cm since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Re claims 7 and 8, Garrison as modified by Schultz in the rejection of claim 1 above with Schultz teaching that the mechanical locking element is configured to be placed in a locked configuration to maintain a fixed position between the catheter and catheter advancement element (“when the knob 36 is rotated in one direction”, Para 23) and in an unlocked configuration to allow for withdrawing the catheter advancement element from the lumen of the catheter (“when the knob 36 is rotated in the other direction”, Para 23) (as required by claim 7). Since Garrison discloses withdrawing the catheter advancement element from the catheter for removal once the catheter reaches the target site (Para 48) and Schultz teaches unlocking the catheter and the catheter advancement element so that they can move relative to each other (Para 23), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that, when modified to include the locking mechanism of Schultz, this locking mechanism would have to be placed in an unlocked configuration in order to withdraw the catheter advancement element from the lumen of the catheter (as required by claim 8).
Re claim 9, Garrison discloses that the cerebral vessel is an intracranial vessel and wherein the target site is an occlusion or a region near a face of an occlusion within the intracranial vessel (Para 45, 48,49).
Re claim 10, Garrison discloses a step of: inserting a guide sheath 2010 (Fig 1,2) into a blood vessel (Para 46), the guide sheath comprising a lumen (“internal lumen”, Para 45) of the guide sheath extending between a proximal end region (toward the bottom of Fig 2) of the guide sheath and a distal end region (toward the top of Fig 2) of the guide sheath (as evidenced by the placement of catheter 2030 in Fig 1), the distal end region of the guide sheath having at least one opening (through which the catheter 2030 extends distally out of the sheath 2010, as described in Para 48 and seen in Fig 1) in communication with the lumen of the guide sheath (Para 48, as seen in Fig 1); advancing the guide sheath toward the target site (Para 46); and inserting the catheter system while assembled through the guide sheath and advancing the catheter system while assembled so that at least a portion of the catheter extends out of the at least one opening of the guide sheath and the distal end of the catheter reaches the target site (Para 48).
Re claim 11, Garrison discloses that advancing the guide sheath toward the target site comprises advancing the guide sheath to a common carotid artery (Para 45,46).
Re claim 12, Garrison discloses inserting a guide sheath 2010 (Fig 1,2) into a blood vessel (Para 46), the guide sheath comprising a lumen (“internal lumen”, Para 45) of the guide sheath extending between a proximal end region (toward the bottom in Fig 2) of the guide sheath and a distal end region (toward the top of Fig 2) of the guide sheath (as evidenced by the placement of catheter 2030 in Fig 1), the distal end region of the guide sheath having at least one opening (through which the catheter 2030 extends distally out of the sheath 210, as described in Para 48 and seen in Fig 1) in communication with the lumen of the guide sheath (Para 48, as seen in Fig 1); assembling the guidewire through the catheter advancement element forming a coaxial system of devices including the catheter, the catheter advancement element, and the guidewire (as seen in Fig 8, Para 76); inserting the coaxial system of devices into the lumen of the guide sheath (Para 48); and advancing the coaxial system of devices through the guide sheath until at least a portion of the catheter extends out of the at least one opening of the guide sheath and the distal end of the catheter reaches the target site (Para 48).
Re claim 13, Garrison discloses that the step of removing occlusive material further comprises: inserting a retrievable stent device 4100 (Fig 1) through the catheter (Para 50,77); capturing the occlusive material with the retrievable stent device (Para 50); and removing the occlusive material and the retrievable stent device from the target site (Para 50).
Re claim 14, Garrison discloses using an aspiration pump (Para 67,88) to apply the negative pressure to the lumen of the catheter (Para 67,88).
Re claim 15, Garrison discloses that the lumen of the catheter advancement element is the only lumen in the catheter advancement element (Garrison is silent as to any other lumen in element 2652), and wherein the distal opening is at a distal-most end of the catheter advancement element (as seen in Fig 8).
Re claim 16, Garrison discloses a method of performing a medical procedure at a treatment site in a cerebral vessel of a patient (Para 48), the method comprising: advancing an assembled system of devices 2030+2652 (Fig 8) distal to a petrous portion of an internal carotid artery (Para 126 discloses that the sheath 2010 has its distal end positioned in “the proximal or distal cervical, petrous, or cavernous portion of the internal carotid artery”, since the system 2030+2652 extends distally from the distal end of the sheath 2010 (Para 48), the system 2030+2652 is advanced distal to the petrous portion), the assembled system of devices comprising: an aspiration catheter 2030 (Fig 1,8) having a flexible tubular portion (the entirety of catheter 2030) defining a single catheter lumen (within which element 2652 resides in Fig 8; no other lumen within catheter 2030 is mentioned); and an inner member 2652 (Fig 8) comprising a proximal portion (not shown to the left in Fig 8) having sufficient rigidity to push the assembled system of devices distally towards the treatment site (Para 76) and a distal end (seen in Fig 8) having a taper (as seen in Fig 8), wherein, when assembled, the inner member extends through the single catheter lumen and the distal end of the inner member extends distal to a distal end of the aspiration catheter (as seen in Fig 8); removing the inner member from the single catheter lumen (Para 48); and removing occlusive material while applying a negative pressure to the single catheter lumen to capture occlusive material at, within, or through the distal end of the aspiration catheter (Para 48). Garrison does not disclose that, when assembled, a proximal end of the inner member is locked with a proximal end of the aspiration catheter by a mechanical locking element such that the aspiration catheter and the inner member are locked in a fixed position relative to one another.
Schultz, however, teaches an assembly (Fig 1,2; it is noted that all reference characters cited below refer to Fig 1,2 unless otherwise noted) comprising an inner member 22 (comparable to inner member 2652 of Garrison), an outer catheter 12 (comparable to aspiration catheter 2030 of Garrison), and a mechanical locking element 30 (Para 22) that locks a proximal end of the inner member with a proximal end of an outer catheter when the assembly is assembled (“when the knob 36 is rotated in one direction”, Para 23), wherein the inner element is unlocked from the proximal end of the outer element prior to the inner element moving relative to the lumen of the outer element (“when the knob 36 is rotated in the other direction”, Para 23) for the purpose of aiding maneuverability of the inner member via manipulation and deflection of the outer catheter (Para 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison to include a mechanical locking element that locks the proximal end of the catheter advancement element with the proximal end of the catheter when “assembled” and unlocks to allow the catheter advancement element to move relative to the catheter, as taught by Schultz, for the purpose of aiding maneuverability of the inner member via manipulation and deflection of the aspiration catheter (Para 3). Since Garrison discloses withdrawing the inner member from the aspiration catheter for removal and Schultz teaches unlocking the inner member and the aspiration catheter so that they can move relative to each other (Para 23), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that, when modified to include the locking element of Schultz, this locking element would have to be unlocked in order for the inner member to be removed from the aspiration catheter as disclosed by Garrison.
Re claim 17, as set forth in the rejection of claim 16, Garrison discloses withdrawing the inner member from the aspiration catheter for removal and Schultz teaches locking the aspiration catheter and the inner member together when assembled; Schultz further teaches unlocking the aspiration catheter and the inner member so that they can move relative to each other (“when the knob 36 is rotated in the other direction”, Para 23). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that, when modified to include the locking mechanism of Schultz, this locking mechanism would have to be unlocked in order for the inner member to be removed from the aspiration catheter as disclosed by Garrison.
Re claim 18, Garrison discloses that the cerebral vessel is an intracranial vessel and wherein the treatment site is an occlusion or a region near a face of an occlusion within the intracranial vessel (Para 45,48,49).
Re claim 19, Garrison discloses that the taper of the distal end of the inner member tapers distally from a first outer diameter (at the proximal-most end of the taper, to the left in Fig 8) to a second outer diameter (at the distal-most end of the taper, to the right in Fig 8) that is smaller than the first outer diameter (as seen in Fig 8).
Re claim 20, Garrison and Schultz are silent as to the dimensions of the taper of the distal tip; accordingly, Garrison as modified by Schultz does not disclose that the taper tapers over a length between 1.5 cm and 3 cm. However, since Applicant discloses that the size of the taper is a result effective variable as it affects the smoothness of the transition between the catheter and the guidewire (Para 92, for example), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison to include the taper so that it tapers over a length between 1.5 cm and 3 cm since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Re claim 21, Garrison discloses that the proximal portion extends proximally to outside the body of the patient (since the proximal end of the catheter 2030 extends outside the body, as seen in Fig 1, and the inner member 2652 extends through the catheter 2030).
Re claim 23, Garrison discloses that the first outer diameter is between about 0.003″ about 0.010″ smaller than an inner diameter of the catheter lumen, but does not explicitly disclose by how much; Schultz is also silent as to this feature. Therefore, Garrison as modified by Schultz does not explicitly disclose that the first outer diameter is about 0.003” to about 0.010” smaller than the inner diameter of the catheter lumen. However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to provide the taper of the inner member with a diameter that is about 0.003” to about 0.010” smaller than the inner diameter of the catheter lumen since Applicant has not disclosed that this size different solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose. Because no criticality has been given to this size difference, such a modification would have involved a mere change in the form or shape of a component. A change in form or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Re claim 24, Garrison discloses that the inner diameter of the catheter lumen is between about 0.040″ to about 0.088″ (0.070”, Para 67).
Re claim 26, Garrison discloses that the inner member further includes a single lumen (the lumen through which guidewire 2515 extends in Fig 8 is the only lumen within the inner member 2652 that Garrison discloses).
Re claim 27, Garrison discloses inserting a guide sheath 2010 (Fig 1,2) into a blood vessel (Para 46), the guide sheath comprising a lumen (“internal lumen”, Para 45) of the guide sheath extending between a proximal end region toward the bottom of Fig 2) of the guide sheath and a distal end region (toward the top of Fig 2) of the guide sheath (as evidenced by the placement of catheter 2030 in Fig 1), the distal end region of the guide sheath having at least one opening (through which the catheter 2030 extends distally out of the sheath 2010, as described in Para 48 and seen in Fig 1) in communication with the lumen of the guide sheath (Para 48, as seen in Fig 1); advancing the guide sheath toward the treatment site to a common carotid artery (Para 45,46); and inserting the assembled system of devices through the guide sheath and advancing the assembled system of devices so that at least a portion of the aspiration catheter extends out of the at least one opening of the guide sheath and the distal end of the aspiration catheter reaches the target site (Para 48).
Re claim 28, Garrison discloses inserting a guide sheath 2010 (Fig 1,2) into a blood vessel (Para 46), the guide sheath comprising a lumen (“internal lumen”, Para 45) of the guide sheath extending between a proximal end region (toward the bottom in Fig 2) of the guide sheath and a distal end region (toward the top of Fig 2) of the guide sheath (as evidenced by the placement of catheter 2030 in Fig 1), the distal end region of the guide sheath having at least one opening (through which the catheter 2030 extends distally out of the sheath 210, as described in Para 48 and seen in Fig 1) in communication with the lumen of the guide sheath (Para 48, as seen in Fig 1); assembling a guidewire 2515 (Fig 8) through a single lumen (through which the guidewire is seen extending in Fig 8) of the inner member forming a coaxial system of devices including the aspiration catheter, the inner member, and the guidewire (as seen in Fig 8, Para 76); inserting the coaxial system of devices into the lumen of the guide sheath ((Para 48)); and advancing the coaxial system of devices through the guide sheath until at least a portion of the aspiration catheter extends out of the at least one opening of the guide sheath and the distal end of the aspiration catheter reaches the treatment site (Para 48).
Re claim 29, Garrison discloses that the step of removing occlusive material further comprises: inserting a retrievable stent device 4100 (Fig 1) through the aspiration catheter (Para 50,77); capturing the occlusive material with the retrievable stent device (Para 50); and removing the occlusive material and the retrievable stent device from the target site (Para 50).
Re claim 30, Garrison discloses using an aspiration pump (Para 67,88) to apply negative pressure through the aspiration catheter (Para 67,88).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garrison (PG PUB 2013/0281788)/Schultz (PG PUB 2011/0092910) in view of Bose (PG PUB 2009/0030400).
Re claim 20, Garrison/Schultz fail to explicitly disclose that the distal end of the tapered inner member tapers over a length between 1.5 cm and 3 cm. Bose et al., however, teaches a medical device 12 (Fig 1,2A) for insertion into the intra-cranial vasculature (Para 2) having a distal end 30b-30i (Fig 2a) with a taper that tapers over a length between 1.5 cm and 3 cm (Para 23 sets forth that the length of the taper 30b-30i is between 18 and 24 cm – with each of segments 30b-30g having a length of 2 cm and segments 30h and 30i having a combined length of 6-12 cm; it is noted that the language of the claim does not limit the total length of the taper to be between 1.5 and 3 cm) for the purpose of providing stable supportive, distal flexibility and kink resistance (Para 21,24). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison/Schultz to include distal end of the tapered inner member with a taper over a length between 1.5 cm and 3 cm, as taught by Bose, for the purpose of providing stable support, distal flexibility and kink resistance (Para 21,24).
Claims 22 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garrison (PG PUB 2013/0281788)/Hinchliffe et al. (PG PUB 2010/0305475) in view of Kawai (PG PUB 2009/0264865).
Re claim 22, Garrison/Schultz disclose all the claimed features except that the proximal portion is a stiff wire or a hypotube. Kawai, however, teaches a substantially similar assembled system of devices 61 (Fig 2B,6) comprising a catheter 31 (Fig 2B,6; comparable to the aspiration catheter 2030 of Garrison) and an inner member 1 (Fig 1A, 2B,6) wherein the inner member has a proximal portion 4 (Fig 1A,2B) and a distal portion 2 (Fig 1A,2B), wherein the proximal portion is a hypotube (Para 36). Kawai teaches that providing the proximal portion as a hypotube (instead of as an extension of the distal portion, as in Garrison) eases and smooths movement of the inner member through the catheter due to the reduced contact on the inner wall of the catheter (Para 7,54,66). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison/Schultz to include the proximal portion as a hypotube, as taught by Kawai, for the purpose of easing and smoothing movement of the inner member through the catheter (Para 7,54,66).
Re claim 25, Garrison/Schultz disclose all the claimed features except that the proximal portion of the inner member has a third outer diameter that is smaller than the first outer diameter of the inner member. Kawai, however, teaches a substantially similar assembled system of devices 61 (Fig 2B,6) comprising a catheter 31 (Fig 2B,6; comparable to the aspiration catheter 2030 of Garrison) and an inner member 1 (Fig 1A, 2B,6) wherein the inner member has a first outer diameter (at the proximal most end of taper 12, seen in to the right in Fig 2A) and the proximal portion has an outer diameter that is smaller than the first outer diameter (as seen in Fig 2A). Kawai teaches that providing the proximal portion with a smaller diameter than the first outer diameter of the inner member eases and smooths movement of the inner member through the catheter due to the reduced contact on the inner wall of the catheter (Para 7,54,66). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison/Schultz to include the proximal portion with a smaller outer diameter than the first out diameter of the inner member, as taught by Kawai, for the purpose of easing and smoothing movement of the inner member through the catheter (Para 7,54,66).
Claims 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garrison (PG PUB 2013/0281788)/Schultz (PG PUB 2011/0092910) in view of Itou (US Pat 7,736,355).
Re claim 23, Garrison/Schultz discloses all the claimed features except that the first outer diameter is between about 0.003″ and about 0.010″ smaller than an inner diameter of the catheter lumen. Itou, however, teaches a system of devices (Fig 5) comprising an inner member 2 (Fig 5; comparable to the inner member 2652 of Garrison) and a catheter 1 (Fig 5; comparable to the aspiration catheter 2030 of Garrison) wherein an outer diameter of the inner member is between about 0.003" - about 0.010" smaller than an inner diameter of the lumen of the catheter (0.15 mm (= 0.006”), Col 6, Lines 47-55) for the purpose of ensuring that the sliding performance between the inner member and the catheter is high and the convenience of use is good (Col 6, Lines 55-58). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison/Schultz to include the first outer diameter such it is about 0.003" – about 0.010” smaller than an inner diameter of the catheter lumen, as taught by Itou, for the purpose of ensuring that the sliding performance between the inner member and the catheter is high and the convenience of use is good (Col 6, Lines 55-58).
Re claim 24, Garrison discloses that the inner diameter of the catheter lumen is between about 0.040″ to about 0.088″ (0.070”, Para 67).
Claims 31 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garrison (PG PUB 2013/0281788)/Schultz (PG PUB 2011/0092910) in view of Ressemann et al. (PG PUB 2003/0050600)
Re claims 31 and 32, Garrison as modified by Schultz in the rejections of claims 1 and 16 above disclose that when the proximal end of the catheter advancement element/inner member is locked with the proximal end of the catheter/aspiration catheter by the mechanical locking element, a proximal end of the taper is positioned distal the distal end of the catheter/aspiration catheter (as seen in Fig 8), but does not disclose that this proximal end of the taper is positioned adjacent the distal end of the catheter/aspiration catheter. Ressemann, however, teaches an assembly (Fig 11G) comprising an outer member 100 (Fig 11E) and an inner member 900 (Fig 11E) with a tapered tip 920 (Fig 11G) that extends distally past a distal end of the outer member when assembled such that the proximal end of the taper is positioned adjacent the distal end of the catheter (as seen in Fig 11G) for the purpose of providing a gradual diameter and stiffness transition to the outer member that may allow the operator to traverse the tortuous vasculature more easily (Para 208). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Garrison/Schultz to include the catheter advancement element/inner member and the catheter/aspiration catheter of corresponding lengths that result in the proximal end of the taper being positioned adjacent the distal end of the catheter, as taught by Ressemann, for the purpose of providing a gradual diameter and stiffness transition to the outer member that may allow the operator to traverse the tortuous vasculature more easily (Para 208).
Conclusion
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/KAMI A BOSWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783