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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). 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.
Claim 1 is 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the buccal cusp of the lower jaw", “the pit of the upper jaw”, “buccal cusps of the upper and lower jaws” and “the pits of the upper and lower jaws” (emphasis added) in the body of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. While buccal cusps and pits are claimed as parts of the artificial teeth, they are not previously claimed as parts of the upper and lower jaws.
Regarding claim 1, it is unclear if “buccal and lingual internal cusp slopes” in line 15 is referring to previously claimed cusps or not. It is further unclear if “premolars and molars” are referring to ones of the previously set forth teeth or not.
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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gysi (US 1281352 A) in view of Lang et al. (US 4445863 A) and further in view of Andreiko et al. (US 5395238 A).
Gysi discloses a group of artificial teeth (Figs. 1 and 2), the group comprising plural artificial teeth (Figs. 1 and 2), wherein a lingual cusp (8, 9, 10 and 11 Fig. 1), a buccal cusp (12 and 13 Fig. 1), and a pit (16 Fig. 1) between the lingual cusp and the buccal cusp (Col.3 lines 30 – 35) are formed on an occlusal surface (see attached Fig. 1) of each of artificial teeth among the plural artificial teeth (Figs. 1 and 2), the artificial teeth belonging to posterior teeth parts (Figs. 1 and 2; Col. 3 lines 30 – 51), occlusal facets (see attached Fig. 1) are provided on a slope between the lingual cusp and the pit, and on a slope between the buccal cusp and the pit (see attached Fig. 1), respectively, in a lateral occlusal position of the upper and lower jaws (Fig. 6), on a working side (see attached Fig. 6), the buccal cusps of the upper and lower jaws come into contact with each other (see attached Fig. 6), and the lingual cusps of the upper and lower jaws come into contact with each other (see attached Fig. 6), to form a space between the pits of the upper and
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lower jaws (see attached Fig. 6).
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Gysi is silent regarding a group of artificial teeth wherein in a centric occlusal position of upper and lower jaws, the buccal cusp of the lower jaw is arranged in the pit of the upper jaw, so that the occlusal facets come into contact with each other and an angle between buccal and lingual internal cusp slopes is different between premolars and molars.
In the same field of endeavor, Lang et al. teaches an artificial posterior denture wherein in a centric occlusal position of the upper (14 Fig. 1) and lower jaws (18 Fig. 1) (Figs. 1 and 3; Col. 3 lines 16 – 26), the buccal cusp of the lower jaw is arranged in the pit of the upper jaw, so that the occlusal facets come into contact with each other (see annotated Fig. 3).
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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 artificial teeth disclosed by Gysi be configured in a centric occlusal position wherein the buccal cusp of the lower jaw is arranged in the pit of the upper jaw, so that the occlusal facets come into contact with each other as taught by Lang et al. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to inhibit deflective occlusal contacts and promote continuously balanced occlusion as suggested by Lang et al.
In the same field of endeavor, Andreiko et al. teaches a set of posterior teeth (Figs. 4 – 7) wherein an angle between buccal and lingual internal cusp slopes is different between premolars and molars (see attached Figs. 4b and 6b; the distance between the slopes of the buccal and lingual internal cusp at the distal ends is qualitatively different between the upper molar and the upper bicuspid. An alternative angular measurements (maxillary (degrees) shows differing
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angular measurements between the molar and the bicuspid (Col. 11 line 65 – Col. 12 line 5).
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 artificial teeth disclosed by Gysi be configured with the angle between the buccal and lingual internal cusp slopes of the premolars be different from the angle between the buccal and lingual internal cusp slopes of the molars. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order create posterior artificial teeth with distinct occlusal surfaces across the premolars and molars as characterized by the respective steepness of the slopes between the buccal and lingual internal cusp and their corresponding angles.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIEMERIE C AZUBUOGU whose telephone number is (571)272-0664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:00 AM - 6:00PM.
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/C.A./ Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3772 /ERIC J ROSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3772