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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/6/24;8/20/24;1/9/25;7/16/25;4/17/26 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b). Accordingly, the IDSs are being considered by the Examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bacich et al. (US 2020/0023162) (“Bacich”).
Bacich discloses: A catheter comprising: a first tubular body 18, a second tubular body 30 and a third tubular body 25, the third tubular body axially and slidably extending within the first tubular body (Figs. 1D-F), and the second tubular body axially and slidably extending within the third tubular body (Figs. 1E-F), the third tubular body comprising a proximal end, a distal end and a deflecting element (rounded end, Fig. 1D) at the distal end.
further comprising a cervical anchor 19 connected to an outer surface of the first tubular body.
the second tubular body 30 is comprised of a polyether block amide; PEBAX®. [0071] (inherent property of PEBAX is a hardness between 30 (Shore D) and 60 (Shore D))
second tubular body having an outer diameter between 1 mm and 3 mm, and an inner diameter between 0.2 mm and 1.5 mm. [0071]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEANNA K HALL whose telephone number is (571)272-2819. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am- 4:30pm EST.
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/DEANNA K HALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
