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 .
Priority
This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/528,856 filed November 17, 2021, now U.S. Patent No. 12,059,164 issued August 13, 2024, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/385,718, filed April 16, 2019, now U.S. Patent No. 11,259,824 issued March 1, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 14/930,167, filed November 3, 2015 now U.S. Patent No. 10,299,811 issued May 28, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 13/823,060, filed March 13, 2013, now U.S. Patent No. 9,301,769 issued April 5, 2016, which is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/IE2012/000011 filed March 9, 2012, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/450,810, filed March 9, 2011 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/552,130, filed October 27, 2011.
Information Disclosure Statement
Information Disclosure Statements filed on October 16, 2024, February 12, 2025, March 17, 2025, April 18, 2025, August 18, 2025 and December 30, 2025 have been entered into the record. It is impractical for the examiner to review the references thoroughly with a large number of references cited in the Information Disclosure Statements (PTO-1449 form). By initializing each of the cited references on the accompanying 1449 forms, the examiner is merely acknowledging the submission of the cited references and indicating that only a cursory review has been made of the cited references.
Claim Objections
Claim 18, which is dependent on claim 9, is objected to because of the following informalities: “the shaft further comprises a step configured to interact with the partial proximal collar of the inner expandable member.” (emphasis added). Examiner notes that claim 10 recites the inner expandable member includes a proximal partial collar. Examiner’s position is claim 18 dependent on claim 10. Examiner also suggests that the limitation of “the partial proximal collar” of claim 18 should be amended to read “the proximal partial collar.” Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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) 1-2, 4-6, and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huffmaster (US 2005/0038447, which is cited in the Information Disclosure Statement filed October 16, 2024, hereinafter “Huffmaster”) in view of Rapaport et al. (US 2010/0318178, which is cited in the Information Disclosure Statement filed October 16, 2024, hereinafter “Rapaport”).
Referring to claim 1, Huffmaster discloses a clot retrieval device (Figs. 3-6. Fig. 5, which is reproduced and annotated below) comprising a collapsed configuration (Fig. 2; ¶ [0014]) and an expanded configuration (Figs. 3, 5 and 6) and being configured to remove a clot from a blood vessel (¶ [0001]), the device comprising:
an outer expandable member (see annotated figure below) comprising a second framework of struts that form closed cells, wherein the outer expandable member comprises a first body segment and a second body segment connected by two connecting arms, and
wherein the first body segment is positioned in a proximal direction in relation the second body segment.
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Huffmaster discloses the invention substantially as claimed except for disclosing an inner expandable member comprising a first framework of struts that form closed cells and the closed cells of the outer expandable member are larger than the closed cells of the inner expandable member and that at least partially radially surround the inner expandable member.
However, in the same field of endeavor, which is a clot retrieval device, Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device includes an inner elongate body 420 located inside an outer elongate body 20 (FIG. 8, which is reproduced below). Rapaport discloses the configuration is designed to maintain oxygenation and relieve ischemia in tissue distal to the occlusion (¶¶ [0095]-[0099]). In light of Rapaport’s teaching, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention, to have provided an inner elongate body as suggested by Rapaport to the clot retrieval device of Huffmaster to act as a perfusion conduit to supply oxygenated blood to relieve ischemia in tissue distal to the occlusion.
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Referring to claim 2, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein the outer expandable member comprises two inlet mouths in the second framework (Fig. 5, which is reproduced and annotated above), each of the two inlet mouths comprising a respective opening bounded by the first body segment, the second body segment, and the two connecting arms.
Referring to claim 4, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein the two connecting arms extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the device (Fig. 5, which is reproduced and annotated above).
Referring to claim 5, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein the two connecting arms are positioned approximately 180 degrees from each other about a circumference of the outer expandable member (Fig. 5, which is reproduced and annotated above).
Referring to claim 6, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein the first body segment and the second body segment are connected to each other solely via the two connecting arms (Fig. 5, which is reproduced and annotated above).
Referring to claim 8, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein the outer expandable member further comprises at least one additional body segment in addition to the first body segment and the second body segment, the at least one additional body segment shaped substantially similarly to the first body segment and the second body segment, and wherein the outer expandable member comprises pairs of tapered connecting arms (in a telephonic interview with applicant’s representative on December 29, 2025, the limitation of connecting arm has a tapered shape in claim 1, last paragraph, was discussed. Examiner and applicant’s representative agreed that parent cases fail to provide support for the connecting arm has a tapered shape. Therefore, in a supplemental amendment filed on December 30, 2025, the last paragraph in claim 1 has been deleted. In view of the telephonic interview on December 29, 2025, the limitation of “tapered connecting arms” has been interpreted as “connecting arms”) such that each respective pair of tapered connecting arms joins longitudinally adjacent body segments of the at least one additional body segment (in paragraph [0019] Huffmaster discloses “The number, arrangement, and configuration of loops 24 may vary. For example, basket region 16 may include two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, and so forth sets of loops 24.” Thus, adding two more loops to the basket length of the embodiments as shown in Fig. 5 would have a third body segment).
Referring to claim 9, Huffmaster as modified by Rapaport discloses the clot retrieval device of claim 1, wherein a shaft is connected to a proximal end of the inner expandable member (Fig. 5 shows a proximal end of the outer expandable member is connected to shaft 118. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that a proximal end of the inner expandable member as suggested by Rapaport must attached to the shaft 118).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7 and 10-20 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 TUAN V NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5962. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jackie Ho can be reached at 571-272-4696. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TUAN V NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771