Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/519,825

LOOPED WIRE FOR ADVANCED STENT GRAFTS AND METHODS OF USING SAME

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Nov 27, 2023
Examiner
LABRANCHE, BROOKE N
Art Unit
3771
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allow Rate
326 granted / 448 resolved
+2.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
72 currently pending
Career history
520
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
45.2%
+5.2% vs TC avg
§102
29.5%
-10.5% vs TC avg
§112
20.7%
-19.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 448 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETIALED 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. 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) 1-7 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Saeed (US 2008/0255656). Regarding claim 1, Saeed discloses a method of treatment (Abstract, [0026]) comprising: positioning a primary endoprosthesis (12, [0079], FIG 1, 7-13, and 16-18) at a desired deployment location in a target blood vessel (Aorta 16, [0079], FIG 4-10) using a deployment catheter (38, FIG 16 and 18) , the primary endoprosthesis including a pre-cannulation wire (36/59, [0104-0113]) anchored to an anchor strand associated with the deployment catheter (where 35 is the anchor strand associated with 38, FIG 18, and 59 is anchored to 35 via loop 61, FIG 16, [0105]) , the pre-cannulation wire extending along the deployment catheter (As shown in FIG 16 and 18) and through a fenestration and/or a branch of the primary endoprosthesis (36 extends into the fenestration of branch 22/24, [0083, 0087], FIG 16 and 18) ; advancing a sheath (40) over the pre-cannulation wire ([0108-0111]) ; extending a guidewire (54) from the sheath through the fenestration and/or branch (54 is snared by 46 of 36 and pulled through the fenestration as shown in FIG 18, [0108 and 0110]) ; delivering a secondary endoprosthesis (28) over the guidewire through the fenestration and/or branch ([0097]) ; and releasing the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand ([0091] discloses “ the snare 46 may be released and the second guide wire 36 and the escort catheter 40 removed ”. It is understood that this step removed the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand in order to achieve removal from the branch 22) . Regarding claim 2, Saeed discloses releasing the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand includes sliding the anchor strand from a loop at a leading end of the pre-cannulation wire (FIGs 16, 19, 20 show the loop 61 is sized to be slidably received over anchor strand 35 and therefore withdrawal of 36/59 includes sliding the loop off the distal end of 35) . Regarding claim 3, Saeed discloses releasing a plurality of pre-cannulation wires from the anchor strand (In the embodiments of FIG 14-15b, [0099-0103], where snare 46 is separate from 36, the wire of 46 forms at least a second pre-cannulation wire which is released from the anchor strand, upon release of loop 61 from anchor strand 35) . Regarding claim 4, Saeed discloses the pre-cannulation wire is anchored to the deployment catheter at a location distal to the primary endoprosthesis (FIG 16 and 18 show the anchoring point is distal to 12) . Regarding claim 5, Sae ed discloses t he primary endoprosthesis positioned at the desired deployment location is an aortic arch endograft (Examiner notes the claim is directed towards the structure of the endograft, not specifying a step of positioning the endograft at the aortic arch. Although disclosed as being positioned at the bifurcation of the aorta at the second iliac artery, it is understood that the endograft being used is equally as capable of being used at an aortic arch and therefore is interpreted as meeting the limitations of being an aortic arch endoprosthesis) . Regarding claim 6, Saeed discloses the secondary endoprosthesis delivered over the guidewire through the fenestration and/or branch is a bridging stent (Second leg 28 is interpreted as a bridging stent because is spans the gap from the main body prosthesis to the second iliac artery) . Regarding claim 7, Saeed discloses retracting the pre-cannulation wire from the fenestration and/or branch ([0091] discloses “ the snare 46 may be released and the second guide wire 36 and the escort catheter 40 removed ”. It is understood that this step removed the pre-cannulation wire from the branch 22) . Regarding claim 14, Saeed discloses a method of treatment (Abstract, [0026]) comprising: positioning a primary endoprosthesis (12, [0079], FIG 1, 7-13, and 16-18) in a blood vessel (Aorta 16, [0079], FIG 4-10), where a pre-cannulation wire (36/59, [0104-0113]) is anchored to an anchor strand (where 35 is the anchor strand associated with 38, FIG 18, and 59 is anchored to 35 via loop 61, FIG 16, [0105]) , the pre-cannulation wire extending along a deployment catheter (38, FIG 16 and 18) on which the primary endoprosthesis is mounted (As shown in FIG 16 and 18) and through a fenestration or branch of the primary endoprosthesis (36 extends into the fenestration of branch 22/24, [0083, 0087], FIG 16 and 18) ; advancing a sheath (40) over the pre-cannulation wire ([0108-0111]) ; extending a guidewire (54) from the sheath through the fenestration or branch (54 is snared by 46 of 36 and pulled through the fenestration as shown in FIG 18, [0108 and 0110]) ; delivering a secondary endoprosthesis (28) over the guidewire through the fenestration or branch ([0097]) ; and releasing the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand ([0091] discloses “ the snare 46 may be released and the second guide wire 36 and the escort catheter 40 removed ”. It is understood that this step removed the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand in order to achieve removal from the branch 22) . Regarding claim 15 , Saeed discloses releasing the pre-cannulation wire from the anchor strand includes sliding the anchor strand from a loop at a leading end of the pre-cannulation wire (FIGs 16, 19, 20 show the loop 61 is sized to be slidably received over anchor strand 35 and therefore withdrawal of 36/59 includes sliding the loop off the distal end of 35) . Regarding claim 16, Saeed discloses the pre-cannulation wire is anchored to the deployment catheter at a location distal to the primary endoprosthesis (FIG 16 and 18 show the anchoring point is distal to 12) . Regarding claim 17, Sae ed discloses t he primary endoprosthesis positioned at the desired deployment location is an aortic arch endograft (Examiner notes the claim is directed towards the structure of the endograft, not specifying a step of positioning the endograft at the aortic arch. Although disclosed as being positioned at the bifurcation of the aorta at the second iliac artery, it is understood that the endograft being used is equally as capable of being used at an aortic arch and therefore is interpreted as meeting the limitations of being an aortic arch endoprosthesis) . Regarding claim 18 , Saeed discloses the secondary endoprosthesis delivered over the guidewire through the fenestration and/or branch is a bridging stent (Second leg 28 is interpreted as a bridging stent because is spans the gap from the main body prosthesis to the second iliac artery) . Regarding claim 19 , Saeed discloses retracting the pre-cannulation wire from the fenestration or branch ([0091] discloses “ the snare 46 may be released and the second guide wire 36 and the escort catheter 40 removed ”. It is understood that this step removed the pre-cannulation wire from the branch 22) . Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8-13 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Regarding claim 8, the prior art of record fails to teach or render obvious a method comprising a plurality of pre-cannulation wires extending along a deployment catheter and anchored to an anchor strand; advancing one or more sheaths over a corresponding one of the plurality of canulation wires; and extending one or more guidewires from the one or more sheaths. Specifically, the prior art fails to discloses separate pre-cannulated wires placed though a corresponding fenestration and anchored to an anchor strand, in combination with a sheath having an additional guidewire. Saeed (US 2008/0255656) discloses a single pre-cannulation wire anchored to an anchor strand and the guidewire extending from a sheath as claimed, but fails to teach or render obvious the use of a plurality of pre-cannulation wires each extending through a corresponding fenestration. Roeder et al. (US 2013/0123907) teaches in FIG 11 a pre-cannulation wire (31) received in two separate fenestration (27A, 27B, FIG 8) and teaches advancing two sheaths (54 A,B and 96A, B) and delivering two guidewires (94A, 94B). However, the pre-cannulation wire is formed as a single wire which loops at the distal end, and therefore fails to teach a plurality of pre-canulation wires anchored to an anchor strand. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT BROOKE N LABRANCHE whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-9775 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8-5 . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Elizabeth Houston can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712727134 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BROOKE LABRANCHE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 27, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
73%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+14.6%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 448 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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