DETAILED ACTION
The following Office Action is in response to the Response to Restriction filed on January 27, 2026. Claims 2-18 are currently pending.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on January 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 1 was cancelled without prejudice. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 27, 2026.
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Concerning claim 1, line 1 of the claim recites the limitation of “the suture anchor system”. There is a lack of antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. However, this appears to merely be a typographical error and does not rise to the level or a rejection.
Concerning claim 18, lines 1-2 of the claim recite the phrase “comprise a same number of segments than the one or more second segment strands”, wherein the word “than” appears to be mistakenly used in place of the word “as”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 2-18 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.
Concerning claim 2, the claims appear to be drawn to a method of making a suture anchor system that corresponds to the embodiments of Figures 11A-E and 21, 12A-G and 22, and 13A-C and 23, wherein the second strand and the third strand as described in the Specification have been renamed the first stand and the second strand in the claims, respectively. However, the Specification states that the third strand and the first strand are encircled around the outer surface of the anchor, while the claim recites the first strand, which corresponds to the second strand of the Specification is encircled around the outer surface of the anchor. There is no teaching or disclosure within the Specification or the Drawings that shows a first strand that is weaved into and out of at least a portion of a sidewall of the anchor through one or more first locations along the longitudinal axis of the anchor in a first weave pattern to create one or more external strand segments, the first one or more first external segments extend from an outer surface of the anchor, the one or more first external segments having one or more first segment openings, wherein said first strand is also encircled around the outer surface of the anchor in at least 0.5 rotation and at least a portion of the first strand extending through at least one of the one or more first segment openings while the second strand creates one or more intersecting points, therein failing to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was filed.
Concerning claim 4, the claim recites the limitation of “wherein each of the first strand pattern, the second strand pattern, and the third strand patter comprises different patterns”. However, the Specification is silent as to first, second, and third strand patterns that may be different from one another. Specification only teaches “weave patterns”, wherein the reference teaches that the second and third weave patterns may match or substantially match, while the first weave pattern may be different, but does not discuss a strand pattern, therein failing to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was filed.
Claims 3-18 are further rejected for depending on a claim that introduces new matter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Son et al. reference (US 2021/0219971) teaches a method of making a suture anchor system including an anchor having first and second strands weaving through the anchor; the Lund reference (US 2023/0338017) teaches an anchor system including first and second strands with a variety of different weave patterns with respect to the anchor and the strands; and the Callison reference (Figure 2024/0206867) teaches a tubular anchor having a lumen, first, second, and third strands, wherein the first and second strands are woven through the tubular anchor, and the third strand is encircled by the first and second strands.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARTIN TRUYEN TON whose telephone number is (571)270-5122. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday; EST 10:00 AM - 6:30 PM.
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/MARTIN T TON/Examiner, Art Unit 3771 6/22/2026
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