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 .
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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the cervical collar must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
(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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2002/0052569 A1 to Horning (Horning).
Regarding claim 1, Horning teaches a cold pack pouch (7, Fig. 3) for treating a spinal injury (A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.) comprising a pouch (7) comprising a front portion joined with a back portion (Fig. 3) and having an opening (Fig. 3 and [0031]) at one end to accept a cold pack, the front portion and the back portion of the pouch comprising one or more tabs (flap that covers the opening and allows for the pack to be closed in Fig. 3) to aid in placing the cold pack within the opening of the pouch, said pouch further comprising inner hook and loop fasteners (18 located at the pouch opening in Fig. 3 and [0031]) to releasably close the opening in order to maintain the cold pack within the opening, said pouch further comprising outer hook and loop fasteners (18 located on pouch 7 that allows in to connected to central web 4 as in Fig. 3) on the front portion of the pouch to engage a corresponding hook and loop fastener on an injury stabilization device (central web 4 and [0030]) in order to maintain the cold pack pouch in an appropriate portion to treat a spinal injury (A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0125615 A1 to Maher (Maher).
Maher teaches a method of treating spinal injury ([0058-0061]) of a victim with a cold pack pouch (cooling pack 200), said method comprising activating ([0058] which states in part “The cooling pack 200 can be any type of cooling pack, such as but not limited to chemical pack…For example, the granule-activation packets use ammonium nitrate and water. When a suer strikes the cooling pack 200 with the palm of a hand, a prescribed amount of water will mix with the ammonium nitrate thereby creating a cold compress…”) a cold pack (cooling pack 200), placing the cold pack within an opening of a cold pack pouch ([0059]), closing the pouch to maintain the cold pack within the pouch (as broadly as claimed after the cooling pack has been placed in a retaining device such as a pocket or pouch (see [0059]) the pocket or pouch is considered to have been closed as the pack has been securely placed inside), placing a cervical collar (100) on the victim (Fig. 4) with the cold pack in the pouch and positioned at the rear of the collar ([0058] which states in part “The cooling device in this embodiment is a cooling pack 200 that can be either integrated into the cervical collar 100 or can be inserted into a retaining device described below. The cooling pack 200 can be strategically disposed at essential locations on the cervical collar 100 to target the areas of the neck described above. For example, one or more cooling packs 200 can be located on the front portion 102 to target the carotid arteries. In addition, one or more cooling packs 200 can be located on the back portion 106 to target the spinal cord area.”), and transporting the victim with the cold pack pouch in place to treat the spinal injury ([0060] which states “the cervical collar 100 can be packaged and transported in a flat condition to save space in transport vehicles such as emergency medical vehicles.”). However, while Maher discusses activating the cold pack as set forth above, Maher is silent with respect to activating the cold pack before placing the cold pack in the cold pack pouch. It is asserted that it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Maher to activate the cold pack before positioning in the cold pack pouch and on the cervical collar as Applicant has not disclosed that such an order of activation provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Maher’s order of activation and Applicant’s order of activation to perform equally well because both activation orders would perform the same function of cooling the spinal injury. Therefore, it would have been prima facia obvious to modify Maher to obtain the invention as claimed, since such a modification would have been considered a mere design choice which fails to patentably distinguish over the prior art of Maher.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Nangle (US 4,586,506) teaches an elastic wrap (10) with an attaching pad (12) on which can be mounted container (14). Container (14) includes an attaching pad (18) constructed to be similar to attaching pad (12) to form a secure connection to attaching pad (12) thereby fixing the container (14) to the wrap (10). A hot or cold pack (22) is located within an interior chamber (20) of the container (14) and secured within the interior chamber (20) by a flap (28).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITLYN E SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-5845. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Linda Dvorak can be reached at (571)272-4764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KAITLYN E SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794