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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US 2020/0078010) in view of Norton (US 2013/0190819) further evidenced by Denham (US20120053630).
Anderson discloses: A self-cinching suture apparatus (see Fig. 2), comprising: a suture body including a fixed loop (42) and an adjustable loop (38) opposite the fixed loop; a self-cinching section (40) defined in the suture body wherein a portion of the suture body passes axially through the suture body, forming a tag end (36) extending from the self-cinching section in a direction away from the fixed loop;
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Anderson does not disclose a transverse pass between the self-cinching section and the fixed loop, wherein a portion of the suture body passes transversely through the suture body at the transverse pass.
However Norton in the same field of endeavor discloses a self cinching suture body that includes a transverse pass (62) between a self-cinching section (64 [0061]) and a fixed loop (50 [0061] where loop 50 can be fixed or adjustable), wherein a portion of the suture body passes transversely through the suture body at the transverse pass (see Fig. 1b). Note that using a transverse passage to form fixed portions is further evidenced by Denham (118, Fig. 1 [0035]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date to substitute the fixed loop of Anderson with the fixed loop of Norton formed by a transverse pass since the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results, namely a way of forming a fixed loop. KSR, 550 U.S. at, 82 USPQ2d at 1396.
Anderson further discloses:
Claim 2: comprising a free loop disposed on the adjustable loop (22, 220).
Claim 3: further comprising a first anchor disposed on the free loop (221, Fig4c-4l).
Claim 4: wherein the first anchor comprises a soft anchor (For example Fig. 13b-13d, [0084-0086]).
Claim 5: further comprising a first shuttling suture (12) disposed on the free loop (Fig. 2).
Claim 6: further comprising a second shuttling suture (360) disposed on the fixed loop (fig. 10)
Claim 7: further comprising a second anchor disposed on the fixed loop ([0048]).
Claim 8. wherein the second anchor comprises a soft anchor (For example Fig. 13b-13d, [0084-0086])
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH HOUSTON whose telephone number is (571)272-7134. The examiner can normally be reached generally M-F 8:00-4:30.
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/ELIZABETH HOUSTON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3771
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