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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/02/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Preliminary Amendment
The preliminary amendment filed 05/02/2024 has been entered.
Claims 3 and 5-9 have been amended.
Claims 1-11 are pending.
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 (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.
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)(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.
Claims 1-2, 6 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Marshall et al (“Marshall” hereinafter, U.S. Publication No. 2020/0146790 A1).
As per claim 1, Marshall discloses an apparatus for acquiring a dental impression by means of intraoral digital scanning, where said apparatus is configured to produce a set of data representing a three- dimensional image of at least one portion of the dental arch (abstract and figures 1-4, 15 and 21-22, paragraph [0059]), said apparatus comprising:- a control unit (figure 21: computing device 950); - an intraoral scanner (paragraph [0059]: “intraoral scanner”) connected to the control unit; and - a reference device (figure 8) to be fixed to the dental arch; wherein said reference device comprises: - a support element (paragraph [0104]: clutch 462 and reference structure 464) which includes at least one curved portion adapted to be placed inside or outside the dental arch or on the arch itself; - three-dimensional reference elements (figure 8, paragraph [0105]-[0106]: fiducial markers 466 and 468) fixed to the support element and projecting in the same direction from a support surface of the support element lying on a common plane (figure 8); and wherein said control unit is configured to receive the set of data acquired by the scanner representing a three-dimensional image of at least one portion of the dental arch and of the reference device applied thereto (figure 16, numerals 860-862; figure 17, numeral 902; figure 27, numeral 1702), and to process the acquired data set as a function of a set of predetermined geometric reference data for the reference device provided as input data for the control unit (figure 17, numerals 906-916; figure 27, numerals 1706-1712).
As per claim 2, Marshall discloses wherein the support element comprises a first outer portion to be positioned outside the dental arch, i.e. in the vestibular area, and a second inner portion, to be positioned inside the dental arch, i.e. in the buccal cavity, said first and second portions having a substantially arched shape and being joined together forming a single element with a closed profile which can surround the entire dental arch (figure 8).
As per claim 6, Marshall discloses wherein said support element comprises a curved bar with a cross-section having an area of between 5mm and 40mm (as shown in figure 8, the cross-section can reasonably assumed to be an area of between 5mm to 40mm).
As per claim 10, see explanation in claim 1 and figures 16-17.
As per claim 11, Marshall discloses wherein the set of data acquired with the intraoral scanner comprises a plurality of points associated with coordinates with respect to the origin of a reference system integral with the reference device and wherein the position of each point of the set of acquired data is corrected as a function of a parameter calculated based on the difference between the position of at least one identification point of each reference element in the set of geometric reference data and the position of said identification point in the set of acquired data (figure 17).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of Porter et al (“Porter” hereinafter, U.S.P.N. 6,558,162 B1).
As per claim 3, Marshall teaches a dental implement assembly as shown in figure 8 with support elements of 462, 464 and reference elements 466, 468. However, Marshall does not explicitly teach the reference elements, which are fiducial markers, are information markers with design pattern information, ie. “axial symmetrical shape with a reference axis and are arranged on the support element in such a way that the respective reference axes are all parallel to one another”.
Porter teaches a healing abutment for attachment to a dental implant with information markers. The healing element comprises information markers for determining the orientation of said hexagonal boss, the diameter of said healing element, the height of said healing element, and the size of said implant as shown in figures 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b and 6b. The shapes are axial symmetrical with a reference axis, and the healing elements may be arranged by design so the reference axes are parallel to one another.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary in the art to modify Marshall in light of Porter’s teaching to incorporate his healing elements in a dental implant assembly because the information markers on the healing elements would help to “identify, … , the height of the healing abutment and/or the orientation of the hex” and other information (column 4, lines 45-47).
As per claim 4, see figures 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b and 6b in Porter.
As per claim 5, see figures 1-6 in Porter.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOM Y LU whose telephone number is (571)272-7393. 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, Matthew Bella can be reached at (571) 272 - 7778. 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.
/TOM Y LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2667