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 . Claim 1 is pending and examined below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
-Paragraph [0029] nine lines from the bottom appears to have a sentence with two periods.
-Paragraph [0053] lines 10-12 recites “The right and left leg sub-assembly of all the components is connected using the back box which is illustrated in Fig. 3 and 9.” These figures do not show the right and left leg sub-assembly.
-Paragraph [0188] recites “the example inner link shown in Figure 24 includes two opposite extending connector tongue each with a respective hole to receive link connecter pins…” Figure 24 does not show this inner link.
-Paragraph [0199] refers to a semi-rigid knee chain in Fig. 1. There is no knee chain present in Fig. 1.
-Paragraph [0204] first sentence is unclear. It appears the first sentence is a phrase and is unclear what is being conveyed.
-Paragraph [0205] appears to be blank.
-Paragraph [0369] nine lines from the bottom appears to have a sentence with two periods.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
Color photographs and color drawings are not accepted in utility applications unless a petition filed under 37 CFR 1.84(a)(2) is granted. Any such petition must be accompanied by the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h), one set of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or three sets of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if not submitted via the via USPTO patent electronic filing system, and, unless already present, an amendment to include the following language as the first paragraph of the brief description of the drawings section of the specification:
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied. See 37 CFR 1.84(b)(2).
The drawings are objected to because multiple figures are hard to read (i.e. figures 9-15, 18-19, 44-46, 54, 59, etc.) and Fig. 41 has some words cut off on the figure. 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the human anatomy" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The language is a also confusing because while the phrase “a human’s anatomy” refers to a particular human’s body, the phrase “the human anatomy” is a conceptual construct encompassing the collective anatomy of all humans.
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)(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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lerner et al. (US 20220000703 A1) hereinafter, Lerner.
Regarding claim 1, Lerner teaches
a human-wearable exoskeleton (10, Fig. 1) comprising:
a base (34, Fig. 1);
an articulable mechanical member (14, Fig. 1) configured to be secured to a portion of the human anatomy having a joint (secured to leg at 56, Fig. 1, ¶0055);
a pulley motor (42, Fig. 2) secured to the base (34 via 32, Fig. 2);
a Bowden cable (46, Fig. 2) secured to the pulley motor (42, Fig. 2) and the articulable mechanical member (14, Fig. 2); and wherein
the mechanical member is configured to articulate in response to the pulley motor imparting force to the Bowden cable (actuator pulleys 42 may be any suitable device for transferring force from the one or more actuators 30 to a transmission assembly 14, ¶0051).
The phrase “…configured to articulate in response to the pulley motor imparting force to the Bowden cable” is a functional recitation that is not given full patentable weight. The implant is not positively recited here, but is instead merely recited as part of the intended use of the device. Therefore, the prior art is not required to explicitly disclose the particular features of the implant, but merely have the capability of being used to delivery such an implant in order to meet the claim requirements.
In this case, the Lerner device discloses all the claimed structural features and is considered to be capable of articulating in response to the pulley motor imparting force to the Bowden cable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIA XIONG WHITE whose telephone number is (703)756-4773. The examiner can normally be reached 0830-1630 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerrah Edwards can be reached at (408) 918-7557. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.X.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3774
/JERRAH EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3774
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