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
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 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 2020/0246112).
Lee shows a tapered-thickness single strip interproximal tool having a thickness that progressively decreases in thickness from a first end to a second end (best seen in Fig. 5).
Lee also shows with respect to claim 8, a method of fabricating an interproximal tool comprising the steps of fabricating a single strip of flexible material having first end of a first thickness and second end of a second thickness (as addressed above and seen in Fig. 5), with the first thickness being larger than the second thickness (differing end thicknesses); and coating the strip of flexible material with a diamond-coat, sandpaper-like material ([0036]); wherein an overall thickness of the single strip of flexible material progressively decreases in thickness from the first end to the second end (Fig. 5).
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.
Claims 2-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee.
Lee discloses the device as previously described above, but fails to show the first end is approximately 0.5 mm thick. However, Lee does establish the thickness as a results effective variable in paragraph [0042] to the width between a patient’s teeth and engaging therewith. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee to have a width at a first end of 0.5 mm since the discovery of an optimum value of a variable in a known process is obvious, in this case for fitting in an interproximal space between a patient’s teeth.
With respect to claim 3, wherein the second end is approximately at least approximately 0.05 mm thick ([0041]). With respect to claim 4, wherein the tapered-thickness single strip proximal tool has a length in a range from approximately 1 inch to approximately 6 inches (since the strip must extend completely through the teeth and be engaged on either end, it would be within this approximate range as a result of the natural dimensions of teeth). With respect to claim 5, wherein the tapered-thickness single strip proximal tool comprises a strip of flexible metal ([0036]). With respect to claim 6, wherein the flexible metal comprises stainless steel ([0036]). With respect to claim 7, wherein the strip of flexible metal is coated with a diamond-coat, sandpaper-like material ([0036]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW NELSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5898. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm EDT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Eric Rosen, at (571) 270-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MATTHEW M NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772