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. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 11 and 13-16 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: The prior art fails to teach or disclose wherein the tibia component is made of a first material at least in a region of the form-fitting section, the meniscus component, at least in a region of the complementary form-fitting section, is made of a second material that is less mechanically stressable than the first material, and the at least one cylindrical reinforcement pin is made of a third material that is more mechanically stressable than the first material and/or the second material. The prior art fails to teach or disclose wherein the form-fitting section has a receiving pocket that is sunk into an upper face of the tibia component and bordered in a circumferential direction at least in sections by a boundary wall, the complementary form-fitting section has a receiving foot forming the lower face of the meniscus component, the boundary wall has an inner contour, and the receiving foot has an outer contour complementary to the inner contour, and the form-fitting connection has a plurality of snap-fit connections formed between the inner contour and the outer contour. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness . Claims 1 0, 12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2014/0256229 to Zhang et al . in view of U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2014/0067076 to Collazo . As to Claim 10 , Zhang discloses a knee-joint endoprosthesis (including 10 and 30, [0009]). The endoprosthesis compris es a tibia component (30, [0026]) , which is configured for proximal fixation to a tibia and which has a form- fitting section (provided by 31-34. [0026]) arranged on an upper face (seen in Fig. 9), a meniscus component (10, [0022]) , which is configured to articulate with a femoral joint component (at 11) and which has a complementary form-fitting section (including 13) arranged on a lower face (seen in Figs. 1, 3, [0024]), and at least one reinforcement element (12, [0024]) , the tibia component and the meniscus component being joined together by a form-fitting connection formed between the form-fitting section and the complementary form-fitting section [0029-0030] , the at least one reinforcement element (12) being inserted into the meniscus component (10) and configured to mechanically reinforce the form-fitting connection [0030] , the at least one reinforcement element (12) being arranged in a region of the complementary form-fitting section (Figs. 3, 4, and 10, [0024, 0030, 0031]). As to Claim 10 , Zhang discloses a knee-joint endoprosthesis wherein the reinforcement pin (12) is made from an X-ray opaque material [0009]. As to Claims 10, 12, and 17, Z hang discloses the claimed invention except for a wherein the at least one reinforcement element is a cylindrical reinforcement pin that is inserted into a receiving bore of the meniscus component , and wherein the cylindrical reinforcement pin has a head section protruding axially out of the receiving bore, with a bevelled sliding surface arranged at a front end and a peripheral lateral surface. Collazo discloses a knee-joint endoprosthesis (Fig. 5, [0004]) including wherein at least one reinforcement element is a cylindrical reinforcement pin (36) that is inserted into a receiving bore (16) of a meniscus component (10, Figs. 1-4, [0024]). T he cylindrical reinforcement pin (36) has a head section (38) protruding axially out of the receiving bore, with a bevelled sliding surface (of 38) arranged at a front end and a peripheral lateral surface (seen in Fig. 2, described in [0024]) in order to prevent disassociation of the assembly after implantation [0004] while allowing for the easy removal of the insert from the baseplate without incurring damage to the insert and/or locking mechanism during the removal process [0006]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the knee-joint endoprosthesis of Zhang with the reinforcement pin modification of Collazo in order to prevent disassociation of the assembly after implantation while allowing for the easy removal of the insert from the baseplate without incurring damage to the insert and/or locking mechanism during the removal process . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT CHRISTOPHER J BECCIA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-7391 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Mon - Fri 8:30-5:00 . 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 Kevin Truong can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-4705 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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