Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/778,259

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING MULTIPLE ROBOTIC-ASSISTED SURGERY SYSTEMS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 19, 2024
Priority
Nov 15, 2023 — provisional 63/599,285 +2 more
Examiner
TRAN, DALENA
Art Unit
3657
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Sovato Health Inc.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
953 granted / 1086 resolved
+35.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1103
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.7%
-34.3% vs TC avg
§103
58.3%
+18.3% vs TC avg
§102
20.8%
-19.2% vs TC avg
§112
7.3%
-32.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1086 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . This Office action is responsive to the amendment filed on 3/17/26. As per requested, claims 22-42 have been amended. Claims 22-42 are pending. The Terminal disclaimer filed on 3/26/26 has been approved. The prior art submitted on 3/18/26 has been considered. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 22-42, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Scholan et al. (US 2023/0390009 A1). As per claim 22, Scholan et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: verify that a first physician-side console of a plurality of robotic procedure physician-side consoles and a first patient-side robotic system of a plurality of patient-side robotic systems are both of a first type, the first physician-side console being located remotely from the first patient-side robotic system; and verify that a second physician-side console of the plurality of physician-side consoles and a second patient-side robotic system of the plurality of patient-side robotic systems are both of a second type, the second physician-side console being located remotely from the second patient-side robotic system (see at least [0002-0006] disclose the surgical robot 102 is controlled remotely by an operator (e.g. surgeon) via an operator console 120 that may be located in the same room as the surgical robot 102 or remotely from it; and para. [0046-0049] disclose in fig.3, the control system 306 may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also be referred to as a core safety monitor (CSM). The safety monitor 316 is configured to independently verify the operation of the main controller 312, an/or one or more other components and devices in the system, by monitoring the communications to and from the main controller 312; and para. [0112-0113] disclose determine whether the version software that the surgical robot arm is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running); responsive to verifying that the first physical-side console and the first patient-side robotic system are both of the first type, establish a first communication session between the first physician-side console and the first patient-side robotic system to allow the first physician- side console to remotely control at least one instrument or at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system; and responsive to verifying that the second physician-side console and the second patient-side robotic system are both of the second type, establish a second communication session to allow the second physician-side console to remotely control the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the second patient-side robotic system (see at least [0046-0049] disclose the communications links 308, 310 between the control system 306 and the other components (e.g. operator console 304 and surgical robot 302) may be any suitable communication links that enables data communications between the control system 306 and the component. The communications links 308, 310 may all be of the same type, or at least two of the communications links 308, 310 may be different types; also para. [0002-0006] disclose a plurality of robot surgical system). As per claim 23, Scholan et al. disclose responsive to not verifying that the second physician-side console and the second patient-side robotic system are both of the second type, block establishment of the second communication session to prevent the second physician-side console from remotely controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the second patient-side robotic system (see at least [0092-0096] disclose selectively filtering communications to and/or from the main controller 312). As per claim 24, Scholan et al. disclose responsive to not verifying that the first physician-side console and the first patient-side robotic system are both of the first type, block establishment of the first communication session to prevent the first physician-side console from remotely controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system (see at least [0092-0096] disclose selectively filtering communications to and/ be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state or from the main controller 312; and [0159-0161] disclose if it is determined that the software versions are not compatible the safety monitor 316 may be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state). As per claim 25, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the first type is indicative of at least one of a first manufacturer, first model, or first program instructions of the first patient-side robotic system and the second type is indicative of at least one of a second manufacturer, second model, or second program instructions of the second patient- side robotic system (see at least [0160] disclose determine whether the version of software that the input device is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running; also para. [0112-0114]). As per claim 26, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the first communication session comprises transmission of: one or more control commands for controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system; status information of the first patient-side robotic system; and image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system (see at least [0002-0006], and [0042-0043], all para. disclose control command for controlling the at least one instrument of the robotic system). As per claim 27, Scholan et al. disclose transmit, from the first patient-side robotic system to the first physician-side console, image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system prior to establishment of the first communication session (see at least [0068-0069] disclose the safety device 314 may receive communications from, and transmit communications to other devices or components in the system via a first communication interface 512; and may receive communications from, and transmit communications to the main controller 312, via a second communication interface 514). As per claim 28, Scholan et al. disclose the instructions further cause the one or more processors to transmit an internet protocol (IP) address of a first patient-side adapter integrated with the first patient-side robotic system to a first physician-side adapter integrated with the first physician-side console to cause the first patient-side adapter and the first physician-side adapter to establish a peer-to-peer connection using the IP address (see at least [0057-0060]). As per claim 29, Scholan et al. disclose establish the first communication session responsive to 1) verifying that the first physician-side console and the first patient-side robotic system are both of the first type and 2) verifying that coordination between a first physician collocated with the first physician-side console and a first medical provider collocated with the first patient-side robotic system has been completed; and establish the second communication session responsive to 1) verifying that the second physician-side console and the second patient-side robotic system are both of the second type and 2) verifying that coordination between a second physician collocated with the second physician-side console and second medical provider collocated with the second patient-side robotic system has been completed (see at least [0002-0006] disclose the surgical robot 102 is controlled remotely by an operator (e.g. surgeon) via an operator console 120 that may be located in the same room as the surgical robot 102 or remotely from it; and para. [0046-0049] disclose in fig.3, the control system 306 may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also be referred to as a core safety monitor (CSM). The safety monitor 316 is configured to independently verify the operation of the main controller 312, an/or one or more other components and devices in the system, by monitoring the communications to and from the main controller 312; and para. [0112-0113] disclose determine whether the version software that the surgical robot arm is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running). As per claim 30, Scholan et al. disclose prior to establishment of the first communication session, establish an audio-visual connection that provides 1) audio communication between a physician operating the first physician-side console and one or more medical providers collocated with the first patient-side robotic system and 2) at least video data of a location where the first patient-side robotic system is positioned (see at least [0002], and [0039-0041], all para. disclose audio-visual connection that provide communication between a physician operating and one or more medical providers collocated with the patient-side robotic system). As per claim 31, Scholan et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: verify that a physician-side console and a first patient-side robotic system of a plurality of patient-side robotic systems are both of a first type, the physician-side console located remotely from the first patient side robotic system, and the plurality of patient-side robotic systems including at least the first patient-side robotic system of the first type and a second patient-side robotic system of a second type different from the first type (see at least [0002-0006] disclose the surgical robot 102 is controlled remotely by an operator (e.g. surgeon) via an operator console 120 that may be located in the same room as the surgical robot 102 or remotely from it; and para. [0046-0049] disclose in fig.3, the control system 306 may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also be referred to as a core safety monitor (CSM). The safety monitor 316 is configured to independently verify the operation of the main controller 312, an/or one or more other components and devices in the system, by monitoring the communications to and from the main controller 312; and para. [0112-0113] disclose determine whether the version software that the surgical robot arm is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running); responsive to verifying that the physician-side console and the first patient-side robotic system are both of the first type, establish a first communication session between the physician-side console and the first patient-side robotic system to allow the physician-side console to remotely control at least one instrument or at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system (see at least [0046-0049] disclose the communications links 308, 310 between the control system 306 and the other components (e.g. operator console 304 and surgical robot 302) may be any suitable communication links that enables data communications between the control system 306 and the component. The communications links 308, 310 may all be of the same type, or at least two of the communications links 308, 310 may be different types; also para. [0002-0006] disclose a plurality of robot surgical system); verify that the second patient-side robotic system and the physician- side console are not of the same type; and responsive to verifying that the second patient-side robotic system and the physician-side console are not of the same type, block establishment of a second communication session between the physician-side console the second patient-side robotic system to prevent the physician-side console from remotely controlling at least one instrument or at least one imaging system of the second patient-side robotic system (see at least [0092-0096] disclose selectively filtering communications to and/ be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state or from the main controller 312; and [0159-0161] disclose if it is determined that the software versions are not compatible the safety monitor 316 may be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state). As per claim 32, Scholan et al. disclose verify that a third patient-side robotic system is of the first type; and responsive to verifying that the third patient-side robotic system is of the first type, establish a third communication session to allow the physician-side console to remotely control at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the third patient-side robotic system (see at least [0046-0049] disclose the communications links 308, 310 between the control system 306 and the other components (e.g. operator console 304 and surgical robot 302) may be any suitable communication links that enables data communications between the control system 306 and the component. The communications links 308, 310 may all be of the same type, or at least two of the communications links 308, 310 may be different types; also para. [0002-0006] disclose a plurality of robot surgical system). As per claim 33, Scholan et al. disclose the first type is indicative of at least one of a first manufacturer, first model, or first program instructions of the first patient-side robotic system and the second type is indicative of at least one of a second manufacturer, second model, or second program instructions of the second patient- side robotic system (see at least [0160] disclose determine whether the version of software that the input device is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running; also para. [0112-0114]). As per claim 34, Scholan et al. disclose the first communication session comprises transmission of: one or more control commands for controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system; status information of the first patient-side robotic system; and image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system (see at least [0002-0006], and [0042-0043], all para. disclose control command for controlling the at least one instrument of the robotic system). As per claim 35, Scholan et al. disclose to transmit, from the first patient-side robotic system to the physician-side console, image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the first patient-side robotic system prior to establishment of the first communication session (see at least [0068-0069] disclose the safety device 314 may receive communications from, and transmit communications to other devices or components in the system via a first communication interface 512; and may receive communications from, and transmit communications to the main controller 312, via a second communication interface 514). As per claim 36, Scholan et al. disclose the instructions further cause the one or more processors to transmit an internet protocol (IP) address of a first patient-side adapter configured to be integrated with the first patient-side robotic system to a physician-side adapter configured to be integrated with the physician-side console to cause the first patient-side adapter and the physician-side adapter establish a peer-to-peer connection using the IP address session (see at least [0057-0060]). As per claim 37, Scholan et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: verify that a first physician-side console of a plurality of physician-side consoles and a patient-side robotic system are both of a first type, the first physician-side console located remotely from the patient-side robotic system, and the plurality of physician-side consoles comprising at least the first physician-side console of the first type and a second physician-side console of a second type different from the first type (see at least [0002-0006] disclose the surgical robot 102 is controlled remotely by an operator (e.g. surgeon) via an operator console 120 that may be located in the same room as the surgical robot 102 or remotely from it; and para. [0046-0049] disclose in fig.3, the control system 306 may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also comprise a safety monitor 316, which may also be referred to as a core safety monitor (CSM). The safety monitor 316 is configured to independently verify the operation of the main controller 312, an/or one or more other components and devices in the system, by monitoring the communications to and from the main controller 312; and para. [0112-0113] disclose determine whether the version software that the surgical robot arm is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running); responsive to verifying that the first physician-side console and the patient-side robotic system are both of the first type, establish a first communication session between the first physician-side console and the patient-side robotic system to allow the first physician-side console to remotely control at least one instrument or at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system (see at least [0046-0049] disclose the communications links 308, 310 between the control system 306 and the other components (e.g. operator console 304 and surgical robot 302) may be any suitable communication links that enables data communications between the control system 306 and the component. The communications links 308, 310 may all be of the same type, or at least two of the communications links 308, 310 may be different types; also para. [0002-0006] disclose a plurality of robot surgical system); verify that the second physician- side console and the patient-side robotic system are not of the same type; and responsive to verifying that the second physician-side console and the patient-side robotic system are not of the same type, block establishment of a second communication session between the second physician-side console and the patient-side robotic system to prevent the second physician-side console from remotely controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system (see at least [0092-0096] disclose selectively filtering communications to and/ be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state or from the main controller 312; and [0159-0161] disclose if it is determined that the software versions are not compatible the safety monitor 316 may be configured to determine that the surgical robot system 300 is in a fault state). As per claim 38, Scholan et al. disclose verify that a third physician-side console is of the first type; and subsequent to verifying that the third physician-side console is of the first type, establish a third communication session to allow the third physician-side console to remotely control the at least one instrument or at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system (see at least [0046-0049] disclose the communications links 308, 310 between the control system 306 and the other components (e.g. operator console 304 and surgical robot 302) may be any suitable communication links that enables data communications between the control system 306 and the component. The communications links 308, 310 may all be of the same type, or at least two of the communications links 308, 310 may be different types; also para. [0002-0006] disclose a plurality of robot surgical system). As per claim 39, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the first type is indicative of at least one of a first manufacturer, first model, or first program instructions of the patient-side robotic system and the second type is indicative of at least one of a second manufacturer, second model, or second program instructions of at least one another patient- side robotic system of the second type (see at least [0160] disclose determine whether the version of software that the input device is running is compatible with the version of software that the main controller is running; also para. [0112-0114]). As per claim 40, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the first communication session comprises transmission of: one or more control commands for controlling the at least one instrument or the at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system; status information of the patient-side robotic system; and image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system (see at least [0002-0006], and [0042-0043], all para. disclose control command for controlling the at least one instrument of the robotic system). As per claim 41, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to transmit, from the patient-side robotic procedure system to the first physician-side console, image data obtained by the at least one imaging system of the patient-side robotic system prior to establishment of the first communication session (see at least [0068-0069] disclose the safety device 314 may receive communications from, and transmit communications to other devices or components in the system via a first communication interface 512; and may receive communications from, and transmit communications to the main controller 312, via a second communication interface 514). As per claim 42, Scholan et al. disclose wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to transmit an internet protocol (IP) address of a patient-side adapter configured to be integrated with the patient-side robotic system to a first physician-side adapter configured to be integrated with the first physician-side console to cause the patient-side adapter and the first physician-side adapter to establish a peer-to-peer connection using the IP address (see at least [0057-0060]). Remarks Applicant’s response amendment filed on 3/17/26 has been fully considered. Upon updated search, the new ground of rejection as above. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DALENA TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-6968. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7AM-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, ADAM MOTT can be reached at 571-270-5376. 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. /DALENA TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 19, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 17, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Feb 26, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 13, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 13, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 17, 2026
Response Filed
Jun 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+9.6%)
2y 8m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1086 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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