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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group I and species a in the reply filed on 01/05/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Applicant asserts this reads on 1, 6, 8-11, and 17-21.
Claim 9 recites, “the actuation member is powered by a local power source at the distal arm-location.” This is found in the non-elected embodiment of Fig. 10. Therefore claim 9 is withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 10 recites, “the actuation member is powered by a remote power source.” This is found in the non-elected embodiment of FIG. 9a,b. Therefore claim 10 is withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 11 recites, “the actuation member includes a micro-electromechanical system.” This is found in the non-elected embodiment of FIG.10. Therefore claim 11 is withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 18 recites, “the camera is pivotable about multiple pivot axes.” This is found in the non-elected embodiment of FIG. 7a-e. Therefore claim 18 and all dependent claims thereof are withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 20 recites, “the pivot member is part of a 3-axis gimbal arrangement disposed at the distal-arm location.” This is found in the non-elected embodiment of FIG. 7a-e. Therefore claim 20 is withdrawn from consideration.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 6, 8-11, 17-23, 30, 33, 37-40 and 44 are pending, claims 9-11, 18-20, 22, 23, 30, 33, 37-40 and 44 are withdrawn from consideration, and claims 1, 6, 8, 17 and 21 are currently under consideration for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104
Foreign Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copies have been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/04/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 8, 17, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piech et al. (U.S. 2012/0209070) in view of Hoefig et al. (U.S. 2007/0055103).
With respect to claim 1, Piech et al. teaches an imaging device for capturing an image within a human body, the imaging device comprising:
a. an elongate mechanical arm (50); and
b. an imaging assembly (30) coupled to the arm at a distal arm-location, the imaging assembly comprising:
i. a camera (32),
ii. a pivot member (38) defining a pivot axis orthogonal to a longitudinal centerline of the elongate arm at the distal arm- location, the pivot member engaged with the camera such that the camera is pivotable about the pivot axis throughout a pivot range (para [0025]), and
iii. an actuation member (96) configured to pivot the camera in response to a remote user input (para [0025], [0032]),
However, Piech et al. is silent with respect to the pivot range of the camera.
With respect to claim 1, Hoefig et al. teaches an imaging device for capturing an image within a human body, wherein the pivot range includes an orientation at which the camera is rotated at least 90° from the longitudinal centerline of the elongate arm at the distal arm-location (para [0089]).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to modify Piech et al. such that the camera can pivot at least 90 degrees in the manner taught by Hoefig et al. so that the range of possible angles of view is enlarged without increasing the space needed in the observation area for the increased range of directions of view (para [0017] of Hoefig et al. ).
With respect to claim 6, Hoefig et al. teaches the pivot range includes at least a range of 90° at least in a plane parallel to a longitudinal centerline of the elongate arm at the distal arm-location (para [0089]).
With respect to claim 8, Hoefig et al. teaches the pivot range is independent of a distal-arm-location orientation (para [0105]).
With respect to claim 17, Hoefig et al. teaches the pivot range includes at least a range of 135° in at least the plane parallel to the longitudinal centerline of the elongate arm at the distal arm-location (para [0089]).
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDRA L NEWTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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