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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-8 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.
1)Amend the claims 1-8 as mentioned below to fix 112, 2nd problem.
Claim 1. A dental morphology selection system and method, [[DENTAL MORPHOLOGY SELECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD,]] characterized by consisting of a cell phone or camera [(1)] that captures a photo of the patient's smile [(2)], and communicates with a computer [(4)] over an internet network [(3)]; The computer [(4)] allows the visualization of the photo [(2)] and executes the program with a dental selection method [(5)] that, through the photo [(2)] of the patient's smile, provides alternatives for modifications and generates a final smile [(6)]; The dental morphology selection method [(5)] uses the photo ([2)] as the initial smile and consists of changing three smile parameters, namely: size [(5-A)], shape ([5-B)] and exposure [(5-C)], modifying them as desired, generating a final virtual smile image [(6)] that will be sent through an internet network [(3)] to the cell phone [(1)] or to the computer of the dental professional who will perform the modifications in the patient's dental morphology so that it is as close to the image of the final virtual smile [(6)].
Claim 2. The dental morphology selection method, [[The METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY,] ] implemented by the dental morphology selection system defined in claim 1, characterized by performing the steps automatically or manually by the user, comprising the following steps:
A) Acquisition of facial photograph;
B) The initial condition of the smile is diagnosed by drawing a horizontal line on the cervical of each tooth, a horizontal line on the incisal of each tooth, a vertical line on the proximal side of each tooth, one on the mesial surface and another on the distal surface in order to obtain a quadrilateral in each tooth element;
C) From the initial diagnosis, these quadrilaterals are aligned in an aesthetically harmonic manner established by the patient or by the system (logarithm) in order to enable the selection of tooth parameters;
D) In these quadrilaterals, images of teeth in their respective positions are added: central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, 1st Premolar, 2nd Premolar, 1st Molar and 2nd Molar, previously established according to a standard smile;
E) It is chosen which of the three parameter options you would like to change, between size, shape or exposure of the teeth;
F) At least three images of the variations of the selected parameter are displayed on the initial photograph and the original teeth, positioning them side by side and selecting the desired option by the user;
G) The desired option is saved and you are asked if you want to change another parameter, if so, the smile with the change in step F) returns to step E); if not, it goes to stage H);
H) After the desired parameters have been changed, it is selected whether to customize the smile through individual action on each dental element; and
I) With the changes in the selected parameters, the image of the final smile is obtained according to the chosen parameters.
Claim 3. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized by being possible to use facial markers and/or dental markers to guide the positioning of each tooth and the amount of dental exposure.
Claim 4. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF TOOTH MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized in that the user can select one, two or three parameters to obtain the final smile.
Claim 5. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized in that the user preferably follows the following order of parameters for selecting dental morphology: it starts by selecting the size of the teeth, followed by the selection of the shape, and then determines the amount of dental exposure.
Claim 6. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized in that in step B) the patient or professional directly plans the dental morphology from the quadrilaterals automatically created by the system, without the need to draw line by line.
Claim 7. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized by the possibility of the tooth selection process occurring directly with the dental masks if the operator feels more able to manipulate the positioning of the teeth on the facial photograph [[photo]] instead of the quadrilaterals.
Claim 8. The dental morphology selection method [[METHOD OF SELECTION OF DENTAL MORPHOLOGY]] according to claim 2, characterized by the possibility of the tooth selection process occurring before the smile design stage or parallel to the smile design stage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-8 are would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIJAY SHANKAR whose telephone number is (571)272-7682. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am- 6 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Eason can be reached at 571-270-7230. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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VIJAY SHANKAR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2624
/VIJAY SHANKAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624