DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This action is responsive to the Response to Election / Restriction received on 24 June 2026. Claims 11-16 are currently pending.
Election/Restrictions
The applicant's election with traverse of Group II, claims 11-16 in the reply filed on 24 June 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that a search and examination of the entire application could be accomplished without a serious search burden to the examiner. This is not found persuasive because the current application is a national stage application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371. Search burden is not a consideration for national stage applications filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371. The requirement is based upon unity of invention. As stated in the Requirement for Restriction / Election mailed on 29 December 2025, the identified Groups lack unity of invention. No arguments/remarks were received regarding this finding by the examiner. Furthermore, the claims directed toward Groups I and III were canceled.
Therefore, the requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings received on 23 September 2024 are accepted by the examiner.
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.
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Thabet, II et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0022814).
In a first interpretation, Thabet, II et al. disclose (as to claim 11) a system (see Figures 5 and 17) capable of creating a union of two sections (11 and 12) of a bone (1), the system comprising an at least partially synthetic implant (100, see paragraphs 0065-0067) including an elongated body (i.e. body defined by 102, 103 and 103); a first bone anchor (300) extending from a first side (e.g. left-most side of 100 as best seen in Figure 17) of the elongated body as a first geometric protrusion (geometry as best seen in Figure 17); and a second bone anchor (300) extending from a second side (e.g. right-most side of 100 as best seen in Figure 17) of the elongated body as a second geometric protrusion (geometry as best seen in Figure 17); and a bone clamp (4) capable of compressing the at least partially synthetic implant between the two sections of bone (see paragraphs 0080-0082), wherein (as to claim 12) the first geometric protrusion is shaped to press into first cancellous tissue of a first section (11) of the two sections of the bone (see paragraphs 0104-0122), and the second geometric protrusion is shaped to press into second cancellous tissue of a second section (12) of the two sections of bone (see paragraphs 0104-0122) (see Figures 4-18, and paragraphs 0065-0067 and 0080-0124).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thabet, II et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0022814) in view of Li et al. (CN 210749457), using a machine translation from the EPO website.
In a second interpretation, Thabet, II et al. disclose (as to part of claim 11) a system (see Figures 5 and 17) capable of creating a union of two sections (11 and 12) of a bone (1), the system comprising an at least partially synthetic implant (100, see paragraphs 0065-0067) including an elongated body (i.e. body defined by 102, 103 and 103); a first bone anchor (300) extending from a first side (e.g. left-most side of 100 as best seen in Figure 17) of the elongated body as a first geometric protrusion (geometry as best seen in Figure 17); and a second bone anchor (300) extending from a second side (e.g. right-most side of 100 as best seen in Figure 17) of the elongated body as a second geometric protrusion (geometry as best seen in Figure 17), wherein (as to claim 12) the first geometric protrusion is shaped to press into first cancellous tissue of a first section (11) of the two sections of the bone (see paragraphs 0104-0122), and the second geometric protrusion is shaped to press into second cancellous tissue of a second section (12) of the two sections of bone (see paragraphs 0104-0122) (see Figures 4-18, and paragraphs 0065-0067 and 0080-0124).
Thabet, II et al. disclose the claimed invention except for wherein (as to the remainder of claim 11) the system comprises a bone clamp capable of compressing the at least partially synthetic implant between the two sections of bone, wherein (as to claim 13) the bone clamp has a single-handed handle arrangement including a shaft with a spring-loaded slider slidably coupled to the shaft, a first handle extending from the shaft, and a second handle extending from the spring-loaded slider.
Li et al. teach the use of a bone clamp (see paragraph 0023 of the machine translation) capable of compressing two sections of a bone (i.e. to achieve bone fracture fixation, see paragraph 0030 of the machine translation), wherein the bone clamp has a single-handed handle arrangement (see Figure 1, and paragraph 0024 of the machine translation referring to single hand use) including a shaft (1) with a spring-loaded slider (13) slidably coupled to the shaft, a first handle (3) extending from the shaft, and a second handle (5) extending from the spring-loaded slider (see Figures 1-4, and paragraphs 0023-0030 of the machine translation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to construct the invention of Thabet, II et al. with wherein the system comprises a bone clamp capable of compressing the at least partially synthetic implant between the two sections of bone, and wherein the bone clamp has a single-handed handle arrangement including a shaft with a spring-loaded slider slidably coupled to the shaft, a first handle extending from the shaft, and a second handle extending from the spring-loaded slider in view of Li et al. in order to provide a well-known, obvious and simple means for effectively facilitating fixation of bone sections to yield predictable results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Claims 14-16 in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof, could be found which disclose, or suggest, in combination with the limitations required by claim 11, wherein, the at least partially synthetic implant is formed of a porous and/or fibrous material operable to receive a carrier component, and the at least partially synthetic implant has a port to receive the carrier component, the port being disposed on a front surface of the elongated body between the first side and the second side.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shikinami (U.S. Patent 8,119,152) disclose a system capable of creating a union of two sections of a bone comprising an implant including an elongated body, and first and second bone anchors; and a bone clamp.
Shipley (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0142576) discloses a system capable of creating a union of two sections of a bone comprising an implant including a body, and first and second bone anchors; and a bone clamp.
McDaniel et al. (U.S. Patent 9,173,693) disclose a system capable of creating a union of two sections of a bone comprising an implant including an elongated body, and first and second bone anchors.
Deslauriers et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0065641) disclose a system capable of creating a union of two sections of a bone comprising an implant including an elongated body; and a bone clamp.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARRY E WAGGLE, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-7110. The examiner can normally be reached TEAP: Monday - Friday (7:45am - 3:45pm).
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, Kevin Truong can be reached at 571-272-4705. 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.
/LARRY E WAGGLE, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3775
Prosecution Insights