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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed on 04/06/2026 have been entered. Claims 1, 4-12, and 14-16 remain pending. The amendments to the drawings overcome the objections set forth in the previous office action dated 01/05/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 04/06/2026 with respect to claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 1 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 12 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Meade et al. (US 5,746,759).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 4-11 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record fails to teach or render obvious a clamping system comprising “a removable retention clip that passes over part of said housing and engages said hinge pins of said linkage when said hinge pins are in said slots of said housing, therein preventing said hinge pins from exiting said slots” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 15 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meade et al. (US 5,746,759).
Regarding claim 12, Meade et al. discloses a clamp head (FIGs 17-20) for forceps (for use with the instrument of FIG 11), comprising: a housing (318) having slots formed therein (234, 235, FIG 18); a stationary jaw (70) extending from said housing (FIG 20); an articulating jaw (72) connected to said housing (FIG 20) with a hinged connection (Via pin 68), wherein said hinged connection has hinge pins (FIG 15 best shows two pins forming 68) that are selectively received by said slots in said housing (col 12 line 50-col 14 line 34 discloses the process by which pins of 68 are selectively received within 234, 235), therein enabling said articulating jaw to be connected to and detached from said housing (col 13 line 35-col 14 line 34 disclose connecting and detaching the jaws from the housing via the engagement between the pins and slots); a shaft (16) that extends into said housing (FIG 15-16 shows 104 of the shaft 16 extends into the housing) and moves said articulating jaw about said hinged connection as said shaft is rotated within said housing (col 6 lines 14-65); and a retention clip (300, FIGs 17-20) that engages said hinge pin (pin 68 is received within slot 306, col 13 lines 22-30) and selectively maintains said hinged connection (When force is applied to 300 in the direction of the arrow 231, the state of FIG 19 is achieved where the hinge pins cannot disconnect from 234, 234 until 300 is released therefrom), wherein said articulating jaw is detachable from said housing when said retention clip is removed(col 14 lines 20-34 disclose removing the jaw assembly from the housing using 300. 300 must be detached form 318 in order to allow for the jaws to come apart from the housing).
Regarding claim 14, Meade et al. discloses at least one tab (such as 302) extends from said retention clip to provide an accessible point for engaging said retention clip with a secondary surgical instrument (This element configured to grasped by a user to apply the force of attaching or detaching the jaws, but is also at least sized and shaped to be configured to engage with a secondary surgical instrument).
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 BROOKE N LABRANCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-9775. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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, Elizabeth Houston can be reached at 5712727134. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BROOKE LABRANCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771
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