The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8 is objected to because it lacks a period at the end of the sentence.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Second Paragraph
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is rejected because “said pair of distal revolute joints” in lines 15-16 should state “said pair of second distal revolute joints”. Dependent claims 2-10 are also rejected for the same reasons provided for independent claim 1 above.
Claim 8 is rejected because “the first one of said pair of distal revolute joints” lacks antecedent basis. Claim 1 recites “a first distal revolute joint” and “a pair of second distal revolute joints”. Therefore, its not clear what is meant by “the first one of said pair of distal revolute joints”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Diolaiti et al. (WO 2018/013214).
Diolaiti discloses a prior art, shown in Fig. 1, to which is also discussed with relevance to Figures 4 (see paragraph 79). The system relates to the currently claimed invention as follows:
A proximal assembly comprising a vertical column (see element 401 and 402 in Figure 4B) and a horizontal boom (see elements 404 and 406 in Figure 4B), the proximal assembly including:
A first prismatic joint (“A prismatic setup joint (not shown) between setup link 104 of setup arm assembly 120 and base 101 may be used for vertical adjustments 112” – see paragraph 10; also see paragraph 78 with respect to elements from Fig. 4B) operable to extend and retract the vertical column to move the boom along a first vertical axis between first and second positions;
a proximal revolute joint between the vertical column and the horizontal boom (see element 403 in Fig. 4B, also see element 103 in prior art Fig. 1), the proximal revolute joint operable to rotate the horizontal boom relative to the vertical column about the first vertical axis;
a second prismatic joint operable to extend and retract the horizontal boom along a horizontal axis (“A second prismatic joint (not visible) moves setup link 406 into and out of setup link 404, i.e., moves setup link in third and fourth directions, to adjust the horizontal position of entry guide manipulator 430” – see paragraph 78);
a distal assembly disposed at a distal end of the horizontal boom (see labeled section 430 in Figure 4B, see labeled section 130 in Figure 1), the distal assembly comprising:
a first link (see element 115 in Fig. 1 of Diolaiti);
a first distal revolute joint between the horizontal boom and the first link (see link 111 which rotates as shown by labeled arrows 123 in Fig. 1 of Diolaiti);
a pair of second distal revolute joints, a first one of said pair of distal revolute joints disposed at a proximal end of the first link (see joint 117 in Fig. 1, also see paragraph 14 for stating “A distal end of first manipulator link 113 is coupled to a proximal end of a second manipulator link 115 by a first actively controlled rotational joint 114“) and having a first rotational axis (see axis 114 in Fig. 1), and a second one of said pair of distal revolute joints disposed at a distal end of the first link (see “A distal end of second manipulator link 115 is coupled to a proximal end of a third manipulator link 117 by a second actively controlled rotational joint 116” – see paragraph 14; see unlabeled curved arrows directly adjacent number 118 in the Fig. 1, which should be indicative of the motion of unlabeled joint 116), the first rotational axis and the second rotational axes being coplanar axes (it is noted that these two axes are shown in Fig. 1 as being coplanar);
a second link coupled to the second one of the pair of distal revolute joints (see link 117 in Fig. 1); and
an instrument receiver (see elements 146, 119_P, 119, 132) on the second link (see the identified “instrument receiver” attached to second link 117 via revolute joint 118 in Fig. 1), the instrument receiver configured to receive and support a surgical instrument such that a longitudinal axis of the surgical instrument lies within a vertical plane (i.e., Fig. 1 illustrates the instrument within a 2D plane of the paper on which it is printed);
wherein the first distal revolute joint is operable to rotate the first link about a second vertical axis (see rotatable axis at the center of curved arrows 123 in Fig. 1), causing rotation of the vertical plane containing the second vertical axis (this is met since all joints and rotational axes are met by the prior art); and
wherein the second distal revolute joints are operable to rotate the instrument receiver such that the longitudinal axis moves within the vertical plane (this is met since all joints and rotational axes are met by the prior art).
Regarding claim 2, Diolaiti illustrates joint 118 in Fig. 1, which reads on claim 2.
Regarding claim 3, it can be seen in Fig. 1 that the third distal revolute joint 118 is on the bottom portion (i.e., in Fig. 1) of the equivalent of the claimed “second link”, number 117 in Fig. 1 of Diolaiti.
Regarding claim 4, Diolaiti discusses the “entry guide manipulator assembly platform 132” in paragraphs 16-20. “The motion around the manipulator assembly pitch axis is represented by arrow 121” (see paragraph 16), which teaches that the instrument receiver and distal tip of an associated surgical instrument is articulatable in at least two degrees of freedom.
Regarding claim 5, Diolaiti illustrates joint 118 in Fig. 1, which reads on claim 5.
Regarding claim 6, Diolaiti teaches that “it can be seen that the rotational axes of joints 114, 116, and 118 are parallel. When these axes are perpendicular to rotational axis 123 of yaw joint 111, links 115, 117, and 119 move with reference to link 113 in a motion that may be arbitrarily defined as "pitch" around a manipulator assembly pitch axis” (see paragraph 15), and “The manipulator pitch axis extends into and out of the page in Fig. 1 at remote center of motion 146, in this aspect. The motion around the manipulator assembly pitch axis is represented by arrow 121” (see paragraph 16).
Regarding claim 7, Diolaiti teaches that “Yaw joint 111 allows first manipulator link 113 to move with reference to setup link 106 in a motion that may be arbitrarily defined as "yaw" around a manipulator assembly yaw axis 123” (see paragraph 11).
Regarding claim 8, it is noted that operation of the rotational joint 114 in Fig. 1 of Diolaiti will cause rotation of link 115 about the axis associated with that joint.
Regarding claim 9, it is noted that operation of the unlabeled rotational joint 116 in Fig. 1 of Diolaiti (i.e., immediately adjacent to the marker 118) will cause rotation of link 117 about the axis associated with the unlabeled joint 116.
Regarding claim 10, it is noted that this claim presents a manner of use and/or capability of the system. The system of Diolaiti includes all aspects claimed in claim 1, and therefore the system of Diolaiti is capable of operating in the manner recited in claim 10. Also see paragraph 15 for discussion of “parallel motion linkages when input and output link motions are kept parallel to each other.”
Conclusion
The following prior art is herein made of record as being considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, but not relied upon:
Intuitive Surgical Operations (WO 2019/191561), see Figure 2.
Ruiz Morales (EP 1815949), see Figures 3-5.
Cooper (US Patent Pub. No. 2007/0156122), see all Figures 2.
Chen et al. (CN 113100950), see Fig. 1
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/JAMES KISH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792