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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 1st, 2026, has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The claims filed on June 26th, 2026, have been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the Application. Claims 11-19 were previously withdrawn by the Applicant.
Response to Arguments
The rejection of claim 10 under 102(a)(2) over Wenchell, JR. et al. (Pub. No. 2025/2017/0127581) has been withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendment made June 26th, 2026; specifically, Wenchell, JR. et al. does not disclose the drive plate is supported on the body.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed June 26th, 2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 10 under 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 102(a)(2) rejection of claim 10 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed June 26th, 2026, with regards to the 102(a)(2) rejection of claims 1-9 and 20 over Nelson et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,064,999) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Nelson et al. does not disclose a manual firing actuator. Examiner respectfully disagrees. A manual firing actuator is merely a firing actuator which actuates manually instead of automatically, and the drive member disclosed by Nelson et al. in C7:L9-15 is manually actuated by the force conveyed by the firing trigger 44.
Claim Objections
Claims 4-5 are objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2 of claim 4 and line 2 of claim 5, “the firing actuator” should read “the manual firing actuator” for consistency with the amendment to claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nelson et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,064,999).
Regarding claim 1, Nelson et al. discloses an auxiliary device (C6:L19-20; FIGs. 1-12) for a surgical stapler, the auxiliary device comprising:
a body (40);
a mounting bracket (46) supported on the body (FIG. 1) and configured to releasably couple the body to the surgical stapler (C10:L28-31: a distal end of the actuation shaft 120 is freely rotatably coupled to an actuation adapter 124 that extends into 46; FIG. 1), the surgical stapler comprising an end effector (30) and a manual firing actuator (C7:L9-15: drive member) configured to fire the end effector upon a manual pushing force (C7:L15-20: the drive member is translated along L in response to a force, which causes the second jaw 34 to close upon the first jaw 32 to fire 30);
a drive plate (124) supported on the body (FIG. 3: 124 is supported by the body 40) configured to couple to the manual firing actuator of the surgical stapler (C10:L32-37: 124 connects to a drive member in shaft 20 as part of the end effector stapler at the distal end of the system);
a rack (120) supported on the body (FIG. 3: 120 is supported by the body 40) and mechanically coupled to the drive plate (C10:L28-31: 120 is coupled to 124); and
a firing lever (44) supported on the body (FIG. 2: 42 is supported by the body 40) and mechanically coupled to the rack (C7:L41-45: 44 is connected to the actuation shaft 120) and pivotable to move the drive plate relative to the surgical stapler for actuating the manual firing actuator and firing the surgical stapler (C7:L31-45: 44 is pivoted to advance 120, which causes 120 to drive 124 relative to the stapler to cause the stapler to fire).
Regarding claim 2, Nelson et al. further discloses the mounting bracket is rotatably coupled to the body (C10:L28-31: 46 rotates with 124 to articulate the stapler).
Regarding claim 3, Nelson et al. further discloses the body defines a longitudinal axis (FIG. 1: longitudinal axis L), and wherein the mounting bracket is positioned to rotate in a clockwise direction up to about 90 degrees about the longitudinal axis (C13:L48-53: the articulation mechanism allows for a range of -45 degrees to +45 degrees; since the claim does not set out a starting position, if the mounting bracket is at the most counterclockwise position and is rotated to the most clockwise position, the mounting bracket will have rotated clockwise 90 degrees about L), and wherein the mounting bracket is positioned to rotate in a counterclockwise direction up to about 90 degrees about the longitudinal axis (C13:L48-53: the articulation mechanism allows for a range of -45 degrees to +45 degrees; since the claim does not set out a starting position, if the mounting bracket is at the most clockwise position and is rotated to the most counterclockwise position, the mounting bracket will have rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees about L).
Regarding claim 4, Nelson et al. further discloses the drive plate defines a slot (FIG. 5: 124 defines a distal slot) configured to receive the manual firing actuator (C10:L32-34: 124 receives the drive member from shaft 20 in the distal slot).
Regarding claim 5, Nelson et al. further discloses the slot is configured to slidably support the manual firing actuator as the surgical stapler is rotated about the auxiliary device (C10:L32-34: the drive member slides into 124 and is supported as the stapler is rotated about L).
Regarding claim 6, Nelson et al. further discloses the drive plate is movable relative to the body (C10:L32-39: 124 moves within 40 to drive the drive member).
Regarding claim 7, Nelson et al. further discloses a stationary handle (42), the firing lever movable relative to the stationary handle (C7:L34-37: 44 pivots relative to 42).
Regarding claim 8, Nelson et al. further discloses a pawl (116), and wherein the rack includes a plurality of teeth (122), the pawl configured to mechanically engage with the plurality of teeth to move the rack relative to the body as the firing lever moves relative to the stationary handle (C10:L39-43: a user pulling 44 will cause movement of 116 to pull 122 and thereby move 124 relative to 40 to actuate the stapler).
Regarding claim 9, Nelson et al. further discloses the drive plate includes a retracting handle (180; FIGs. 26-27) which when pulled draws the drive plate toward an unfired position (C17:L25-35: 180 can be pulled to return 120 to the original proximal position within 40).
Regarding claim 20, Nelson et al. discloses an auxiliary device (C6:L19-20; FIGs. 1-12) for a surgical stapler, the auxiliary device comprising:
a body (40);
a mounting bracket (46) supported on the body (FIG. 1) and configured to releasably couple the body to the surgical stapler (C10:L28-31: a distal end of the actuation shaft 120 is freely rotatably coupled to an actuation adapter 124 that extends into 46; FIG. 1), the surgical stapler comprising an end effector (30) and a manual firing actuator (C7:L9-15: drive member) configured to fire the end effector upon a pushing force (C7:L15-20: the drive member is translated along L in response to a force, which causes the second jaw 34 to close upon the first jaw 32 to fire 30);
a drive plate (124) supported on the body (FIG. 3: 124 is supported by the body 40) and configured to releasably couple to the manual firing actuator of the surgical stapler (C10:L32-37: 124 connects to a drive member in shaft 20 as part of the end effector stapler at the distal end of the system);
a firing lever (44) supported on the body (FIG. 2: 44 is on 40) and pivotable to move the drive plate relative to the surgical stapler for actuating the manual firing actuator and firing the surgical stapler when the surgical stapler is releasably coupled to the auxiliary device (C7:L31-45: 44 is pivoted to advance 120, which causes 120 to drive 124 relative to the stapler to cause the stapler to fire).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is 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:
The prior art does not disclose, in combination with the remaining claim limitations, that the drive plate is supported on the body, the drive plate has an arcuate shape configured to enable the surgical stapler to rotate about the drive plate, and the firing lever moves the drive plate relative to the surgical stapler to fire the surgical stapler.
One close prior art reference, Wenchell, JR. et al. (Pub. No. 2025/0127581), does not disclose, alone or in combination, that the drive plate are supported on the body. Instead, the drive plate 42 is not supported by the body 4, and is part of a separate releasable structure shown in FIG. 6D.
Another close prior art reference, Nelson et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,064,999), does not disclose, alone or in combination, that the drive plate has an arcuate shape configured to enable the surgical stapler to rotate about the drive plate. Instead, the drive plate 124 (which also does not have the arcuate shape) does not allow for rotation of the surgical stapler 30 about 124, as the rotation of 124 causes the rotation of 30.
A third close prior art reference, Shan et al. (Pub. No. 2022/0031330), does not disclose, alone or in combination, the firing lever moves the drive plate relative to the surgical stapler to fire the surgical stapler. Instead, as described in [0064] and FIGs. 21-22, the driving component 4 is driven forward by actuation of the firing handle 3, which drives an actuating rod towards the distal end of the stapler to cause the stapler to be fired.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES RYAN MCGINNITY whose telephone number is (571)272-0573. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8 am-5:30 pm.
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, Elizabeth Houston can be reached at 571-272-7134. 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.
/JAMES R MCGINNITY/Examiner, Art Unit 3771
Prosecution Insights