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 December 5, 2025 is acknowledged. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 17, 2026.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2, “the thermocouple lead is electrically couples” should read “the thermocouple lead electrically couples”. Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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) 1-3, 6, 10, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being taught by US 20110208180 A1 (Brannan et al.).
Regarding Claim 1, Brannan teaches a microwave ablation probe needle (see para. 0009) comprising:
a shell [112] (including interior wall [152]) extending in an axial direction and defining an inner cavity (see Fig. 2A);
a tip [114] positioned on a distal end of the shell (see Fig. 2A);
and a plurality of thermocouples [136] (see para. 0025, “Thermal sensors 136 may be any suitable thermal sensors 136 including but not limited to thermistors, thermocouples, fiber optic sensors, or other device suitable for the intended purpose for monitoring temperature”) integrated into the shell (e.g., by virtue of being coupled to interior circumferential wall [152] of the shell) (see Fig. 2A).
Regarding Claim 2, Brannan teaches a plurality of thermocouples are positioned in an array on the shell (see Fig. 2A, see also para. 0025, “thermal sensors 136 are positioned along the shaft 110 in a linear manner forming a generally linear array along circumferential wall 152 of the shaft”).
Regarding Claim 3, Brannan teaches each thermocouple (e.g., 136a-f) of the plurality of thermocouples is spaced apart from each other (see Fig. 2A)
Regarding Claim 6, Brannan teaches each of the plurality of thermocouples comprise a thermocouple junction and a thermocouple lead (see para. 0025, “the thermal sensors 136 couple to the generator 200 and/or controller 300 via one or more leads).
Regarding Claim 10, Brannan teaches the thermocouple lead is formed into an interior layer [152] of the shell (see Fig. 2A; see also para. 0025).
Regarding Claim 12, Brannan teaches the thermocouple lead electrically couples the thermocouple to the handle (see para. 0025).
Regarding Claim 13, Brannan teaches a microwave ablation apparatus comprising:
an ablation console comprising a microwave generator [200] (see Fig. 1a; see also para. 0022);
and an ablation probe [116] coupled to the ablation console, the ablation probe including a probe needle [112] comprising (see Fig. 1a; see also para. 0022):
a shell [152] extending in an axial direction and defining an inner cavity (see Fig. 2a);
a tip [114] positioned at a distal end of the shell (see Fig. 2A);
and a plurality of thermocouples [136] (see para. 0025, “Thermal sensors 136 may be any suitable thermal sensors 136 including but not limited to thermistors, thermocouples, fiber optic sensors, or other device suitable for the intended purpose for monitoring temperature”) integrated into the shell (e.g., by virtue of being coupled to interior circumferential wall [152] of the shell) (see Fig. 2A).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20110208180 A1 (Brannan et al.) in view of by US 20200367966 A1 (Pfannenstiel et al.).
Regarding Claim 9, Brannan does not explicitly disclose a thermocouple junction is formed into specifically an outer layer of the shell. However, Pfannenstiel suggests a microwave ablation probe needle with a shell [12], wherein a thermocouple junction [53] is formed into an outer layer of the shell (see Fig. 6a; see also para. 0064, “When adhered to the shielded exterior surface of elongate body 12, this temperature sensor 53, or an additional sensor, can be used as a real-time safety system to alert the user to unintended heating in an undesired sector of tissue”).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brannan to further include thermocouple junctions formed into an outer layer of the shell. Doing so would allow for monitoring tissue temperature around the device, as recognized by Pfannenstiel.
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20110208180 A1 (Brannan et al.) in view of by US 20200367966 A1 (Pfannenstiel et al.) and further in view of US 20180185082 A1 (Fischer et al.).
Regarding Claim 11, Brannan does not explicitly disclose the shell comprises a plurality of non-longitudinally wrapped layers of fiberglass and a plurality of longitudinally wrapped layers of fiberglass, and the thermocouple lead comprises metallic fibers in at least one of the plurality of longitudinally wrapped layers.
Pfannenstiel suggests a shell [12] that comprises a plurality of layers of fiberglass (see para. 0053, “elongate body 12 may be formed from conjoined sections of plastic, fiberglass, metal or other materials to achieve the desired durability or rigidity), but also does not explicitly disclose the direction of the fibers or that the thermocouple lead comprises metallic fibers in at least one of the plurality of longitudinally wrapped layers.
Fischer discloses the advantages of aligning glass fibers parallel to a longitudinal axis of a tubular body (see e.g., para. 0032-0034). More particularly, Fischer teaches both that electrical current can be transported more efficiently when the directions of the current and fibers are aligned (see para. 0034) and that glass fibers will result in a relatively stiff compound material particularly along fiber direction (see para. 0134).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Brannan, Pfannenstiel, and Fischer to provide for a plurality of non-longitudinally wrapped layers of fiberglass and a plurality of longitudinally wrapped layers of fiberglass, with metallic fibers in at least one of the plurality of longitudinally wrapped layers. The differing orientations of the stacked fiberglass layers would increase rigidity along more directions, and having metallic fibers (which are known for their conductivity and strength) as leads that also follow the direction of the fiberglass would allow for efficient current transport, as suggested by Fischer.
Claim(s) 4-5 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20110208180 A1 (Brannan et al.) in view of US 20180153454 A1 (Hayter et al.).
Regarding Claims 4, 7, and 8 Brannan teaches thermocouples comprising junctions and leads secured to the shell but does not explicitly teach that the plurality of thermocouple junctions and leads comprise metallic inks printed on the shell. Hayter teaches the use of two different metallic inks (see para. 0169, “The thermocouple temperature sensors are included of dissimilar metals—e.g., metal-inks”) to form thermocouples (see also para. 0168-0172 and 0187-0189). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brannan such that the junctions and the leads of the plurality of thermocouples comprise a metallic ink printed on the shell. Doing so would be a way to embed the thermocouple junctions and leads to the shell that could additionally have benefits associated with cost, accuracy, and speed, as recognized by Hayter (see para. 0172).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Brannan and Hayter as per Claim 4 above would have the thermocouples integrally formed into at least one layer of the shell by virtue of being printed on it.
Conclusion
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/C.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3794
/JOSEPH A STOKLOSA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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