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 Statements
The information disclosure statements filed July 29, 2024 and March 11, 2024 have been entered and the references cited therein have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: at lease one controller in claim 1.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 6-8 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.
Claims 6 and 7 recite the limitation "the pressure setting" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 8 recites “a user profile of with a medical profession” which is confusing.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fouts et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0265121).
In regard to claims 1-10 and 13-25, Fouts et al. teach an endoscopy system 100 comprised of an endoscope 102 that extends from an endoscopic camera head 108 and includes one or more imaging sensors 110 (see Fig. 1 and para. 0185). Light reflected and/or emitted from the tissue 106 is received by the distal end 114 of the endoscope 102 and is propagated via one or more optical components to the camera head 108 where it is directed onto the one or more imaging sensors 110 (see para. 0185). The one or more imaging sensors 110 generate pixel data that can be transmitted to a camera control unit 112 that generates a video feed from the pixel data that shows the tissue being viewed by the camera (see Fig. 1 and para. 0186). The video feed can be transmitted to an image processing unit 116 for further image processing, storage, display and/or routing to an external device (see para. 0186). The image processing unit 116 can be communicatively coupled to an endoscope surgical pump 120 configured to control the inflow and outflow of fluid in an internal portion of a patient (see Fig. 1 and para. 0187). The imaging processing unit 116 can use the video data it processes to determine an adjusted pressure setting for the surgical pump 120 and can include an inflow portion 122 configured to deliver a clear fluid such as saline into the surgical cavity 104 (see para. 0187). The surgical pump 120 is configured to regulate the internal pressure of the surgical cavity by either increasing or decreasing the rate at which the inflow portion 122 pumps fluid into the surgical cavity 104 (see para. 0187). Fouts et al. teach a process 800 for detecting blood in an image where an HSV converted image frame 706 is received at step 802 and at step 806, one or more bleeding regions are segmented within the image (see Fig. 8 and paras. 0228-0229). A bleeding or bleed region can be identified based on pixels that are within a certain range of HSV values (validity classification) (see para. 0228). One the bleeding regions have been segmented at step 806, at step 808 wherein a ratio of the area covered by bleeding regions over the total area shown in the image is calculated and this ratio represents how much blood is contained in a given image as a function of percentage of space of the total image area occupied by bleeding regions (blood presence classification)(see para. 0229). Then, at step 810, the calculated ratio is transmitted to the pump or a controller communicatively coupled to the pump that can adjust the flow settings of the pumps based on the determined ratio (see para. 0230). A predetermined threshold can be empirically determined or alternatively, or in addition, the predetermined threshold can be set based on the surgeon’s preferences (see para. 0230). The surgical pump can increase the pressure settings if the calculated ratio is greater than a pre-determined threshold or take no action if the ratio is below the pre-determined threshold (see para. 0230). With further respect to claim 10, Fouts et al. teach default pressure settings (see paras. 0213-0215). In regard to claims 11 and 12, see para. 0220. With further respect to claim 25, Fouts et al. teach a tool 128 that is communicatively coupled to the surgical pump 120 (see Fig. 1 and para. 0188).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BEVERLY MEINDL FLANAGAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4766. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30AM to 5:00PM.
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/BEVERLY M FLANAGAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794