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 .
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.
Claims 14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Carmeli et al. (9,014,786).
Regarding claim 14, Carmeli et al. disclose a guidewire insertion device (see at least figure 2A and associated specification column 16, lines 3-24), comprising: a guidewire (the combination of elements 202 and 204) including a ferromagnetic element (203) disposed on or in a tip (see figure 2A) of the guidewire and an electromagnet (215) disposed on or in the tip of the guidewire; and a controller (213) configured to modulate electric power applied to the electromagnet to produce reciprocating movement of the tip of the guidewire driven by magnetic interaction between the electromagnet and the ferromagnetic element (see at least column 16, lines 3-24).
Regarding claim 15, at least the tip of the guidewire includes a sheath (204), and one of ferromagnetic element or the electromagnet (215) is secured to the sheath (see at least column 16, lines 3-24), and the other of the ferromagnetic element (203) or the electromagnet is not secured to the sheath (because it is secured to wire 202; see at least column 16, lines 3-24).
Regarding claim 16, the ferromagnetic element (203) is a permanent magnet (see at least column 16, lines 3-24).
Regarding claim 17, at least the tip of the guidewire is hollow (the tip of 204 is hollow as shown in at least figure 2A).
Regarding claim 20, Carmeli et al. disclose a guidewire insertion device (see at least figure 2B and associated specification column 16, lines 25-59), comprising: a sleeve (226); a plurality of electromagnets (227, 228, 229, and 224) mounted on the sleeve (see at least column 16, lines 25-59); a guidewire (230) having a ferromagnetic tip (231, 232, and 233); and a controller (219) configured to modulate a force of the electromagnets to control movement of the ferromagnetic tip (see at least column 16, lines 25-59).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
Claims 18 and 19 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:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the claimed guidewire insertion device having first and second guidewires where the first guidewire has an electromagnetic tip and the second guidewire has a magnetic tip in combination with a controller that modulates a force of the electromagnetic tip of the first guidewire to control movement of the magnetic tip of the second guidewire.
Claims 2-13 are also allowed by virtue of their dependency from claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the guidewire insertion device as outlined in claims 14 and 17 (from which claim 18 depends) further comprising a nonmagnetic shaft disposed inside the hollow tip of the guidewire where the ferromagnetic element includes first and second permanent magnets disposed at opposite ends of the nonmagnetic shaft.
Claim 19 is also objected to as being allowable by virtue of its dependency from claim 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the attached PTO-892 for a general showing of the state of the art of magnetic guidewires and catheters similarly structured to the claimed magnetic guidewires.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN J SEVERSON whose telephone number is (571)272-3142. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:00-2:00 central.
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, Jackie Ho can be reached at (571) 272-4696. 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.
/Ryan J. Severson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771