DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-13, in the reply filed on 7/9/2026 is acknowledged.
The restriction requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 14-29 drawn to a nonelected invention are withdrawn.
Claims 1-13 are included in the prosecution.
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimko (US20210022867A1).
Regarding claims 1-13, Shimko is drawn to an implantable composition (abstract and claims 1-20).
Shimko discloses bone graft refers to any implant and therefore may include expressions such as bone material and bone membrane. The implant can include ceramic scaffolding. Ceramic scaffolding, as used herein, refers to implant scaffolding that comprises ceramic materials such as calcium phosphate ceramics or silicon ceramic, calcium-silicate-based bioglass, silicon calcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and other ceramic or synthetic ceramic material described hereinafter [0060-0061]. Shimko discloses collagen lattice [0194]. Shimko discloses an implantable composition comprising 3-D printed fibers to the intended bone defect, wherein the fibers are mechanically binded without an additional binding agent. in other implementations, the method of treatment comprises administering an implantable composition to the intended bone defect, wherein the 3-D printed fibers comprise a biodegradable polymer, a bone material and a bioactive agent [0197]. Shimko discloses the cross-link density of a polymer may be manipulated during polymerization by adding a cross-linking agent or promoter [0183]. Shimko discloses The terms “three-dimensional printing system,” “three-dimensional printer,” “printing,” describe various solid freeform manufacturing techniques for making three-dimensional articles or objects by selective deposition, jetting, fused deposition modeling, multijet modeling, and other additive manufacturing techniques now known in the art or that may be known in the future that use a build material or ink to fabricate three-dimensional objects [0075]. Shimko discloses 3-D printing devices and methods of use for creating, in some embodiments, a fiber of the implantable composition [0119]. Shimko discloses the fibers have a thickness or a diameter of about 0.01 mm to about 2.0 mm [0114]. Shimko discloses the pore size between fibers may be about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm [0118]. Shimko discloses the carrier material used to make the fiber may be supplemented with other microparticles and/or nanoparticles which can be incorporated before or during 3-D printing in order to impart certain desirable mechanical, magnetic, piezoelectric properties and/or stimulate cellular functions upon implantation under a variety of in vivo or in vitro conditions to the implantable composition [0231].
Shimko does not explicitly disclose each of the components of the composition in a single embodiment.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Shimko, to arrive at the instant invention.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because Shimko is drawn to bone graft implants [0060-0061] that are 3D-printed [0197] in order to impart certain desirable mechanical, magnetic, piezoelectric properties and/or stimulate cellular functions upon implantation under a variety of in vivo or in vitro conditions to the implantable composition [0231]. Further, one having ordinary still in the art would reasonably expect success in combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, see MPEP 2141.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANGLONG N TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0719. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 am-5:00 pm.
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/QUANGLONG N TRUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1615
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