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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 3-12, and 15-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites “one or more fluid supply passageways extending within the elongated probe from the handle, wherein the one or more fluid supply passageways comprises an exhaust passageway and an inlet passageway; an inlet connector at a distal end of the inlet passageway and an exhaust connector at a distal end of the exhaust passageway “in lines 8-11, which is not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 12 recites “pressurizing one or more fluid supply passageways extending within the elongated probe from the handle, wherein the one or more fluid supply passageways comprises an exhaust passageway comprising an exhaust connector at a distal end thereof and an inlet passageway comprising an inlet connector at a distal end thereof” in lines 5-8.
The independent claims require that the exhaust and inlet passageways are within the elongated probe. Paragraph 0040 of specification teaches that “[t]he inlet connector 118 and the exhaust connector 110 can connect to respective female connectors in the receptacle 138 to connect their respective hoses to lumens within the receptacle 138 and subsequently, lumens within the probe end effector 14 for introduction or exhaustion of cryofluid” (emphasis added). The specification teaches that the inlet and exhaust connectors are connected to the distal end of the inlet and exhaust hoses, not the inlet and exhaust passageways that are within the elongated probe body. Therefore, the specification as originally filed fails to provide support for these recitations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and arguments, see pages 6-8, filed July 14, 2026, with respect to the pending claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of May 18, 2026 has been withdrawn. However, in light of the amendments to claims 1, 3-12 and 14-22 new grounds of rejection have been made.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMANTHA M GOOD whose telephone number is (571)270-7480. The examiner can normally be reached Mon to Wed, 7am to 3pm.
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/SAMANTHA M GOOD/Examiner, Art Unit 3794
/MICHAEL F PEFFLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
