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 .
Status of Claims and Application
This non-final action on the merits is in response to the application for patent received by the office on 06 December 2023. Claims 1-8 are pending.
Drawings
Figures 1 and 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0277793 to Marczyk et al (‘793 hereafter) in view of KR 102530397 B (‘397 hereafter) to Kim Jung-min and of record per applicant disclosure.
Regarding claim 1, ‘793 teaches a manufacturing device for forming barbs on a suture, the manufacturing device comprising: a first mold part positioned between the suture supply and the distal end mover and having a first barb formation groove for forming a barb, a suture accommodation groove for accommodating the suture, and a presser passage hole configured to press the suture which are each formed in a symmetric shape in first molds at both sides (Fig 11 items 110, 120, 156, 111, 113); a presser coupled to the presser passage hole of the first mold part to press the suture toward the first barb formation groove (Fig 11, item 156). Other than teaching that the described apparatus is suitable to use with twisted filaments (paragraph 0043), ‘793 is silent with respect to particular twisting, cutting to length and transporting mechanisms.
In the same field of endeavor, barbed suture manufacture, ‘397 teaches a suture supply configured to supply a suture (Fig 1, item 10); a distal end mover configured to grip a distal end of the supplied suture and move the suture (Fig 1 item 70); a cutter configured to cut a tip of the suture on which formation of the barb is completed (paragraph 0036); and a suture collector configured to collect the cut suture (Fig 1 item 200) for the benefit of automatically preparing lengths of barbed sutures. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘793 with those of ‘397 for the benefit of automatically preparing lengths of sutures with molded barbs.
Regarding claim 2, ‘793 does not teach a rotator. In the same field of endeavor, ‘397 teaches the manufacturing device comprising a rotator positioned between the suture supply and the first mold part and configured to cause the suture to be twisted (Fig 1 items 20, 22 and 23) for the benefit of twisting the filament so it is barbed on all sides. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘793 with those of ‘397 for the benefit of automatically forming sutures with barbs distributed around the circumference.
Regarding claim 3, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device comprising: a second mold part positioned between the suture supply and the distal end mover and having a second barb formation groove for forming a barb in a direction different from a direction that a sharp end of the first barb formation groove faces, a suture accommodation groove for accommodating the suture, and a presser passage hole configured to press the suture which are each formed in a symmetric shape in second molds at both sides (Fig 3 items 113); and a presser coupled to the presser passage hole of the second mold part to press the suture toward the second barb formation groove Fig 7 item 150.
Regarding claim 4, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device wherein the first mold part and the presser coupled thereto are provided as a plurality of first mold parts and a plurality of pressers (Fig 7 items 150, 156, Fig 9 items 110, 120).
Regarding claim 5, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device wherein, in a case in which the first mold part is provided as the plurality of first mold parts, with respect to a longitudinal direction of the suture as an axis, directions that distal ends of barbs face are formed to be different from each other in each mold part constituting the first mold parts (Fig 9 items 110, 120, 112 and 113).
Regarding claim 6, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device wherein a device configured to heat each mold part is further provided in the first mold part (paragraph 0053).
Regarding claim 7, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device wherein the first mold part or the second mold part, and the presser coupled thereto are provided as a plurality of first mold parts or a plurality of second mold parts, and a plurality of pressers (paragraph 0013).
Regarding claim 8, ‘793 teaches the manufacturing device wherein a device configured to heat each mold part is further provided in the first mold part or the second mold part (paragraph 0013).
Conclusion
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/JPR/Examiner, Art Unit 1743
/GALEN H HAUTH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1743