DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to the Response to Restriction Requirement of March 12, 2026. Claims 1-22 are pending.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention I, claims 1-13, in the reply filed on March 12, 2026, is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 14-22 are hereby withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 March 12, 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the non-planar surface of claim 9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stearns (US 288,676).
Regarding claim 1, Stearns teaches a cutting accessory as at fig. 1 capable of use with an inferred surgical cutting tool, the cutting accessory comprising:
a tool shaft C comprising an axis and being rotatable about the axis;
a distal portion coupled to the tool shaft C and having a cutting tip D; and
a proximal portion A/B/E coupled to the tool shaft C and configured to engage an inferred driver of the inferred surgical cutting tool, the proximal portion A/B/E comprising:
a drive section A (capable of being driven) having one or more flats (A is described as a square) configured to engage inferred drive surfaces of the inferred driver to receive torque from the driver, and
an alignment section E distinct from and proximal to the drive section A, the alignment section E capable of being used to orient the drive section A to the inferred drive surfaces of the inferred driver, and the alignment section E comprising,
a proximal end (top most fig. 1) comprising at least one edge, and
an alignment surface (thread formed on E) extending distally from the at least one edge of the proximal end of E toward the drive section A, and wherein the alignment surface (thread) is twisted relative to the axis between the at least one edge of the proximal end and the drive section A.
Regarding claim 2, the alignment surface (thread) is helically twisted between the at least one edge of the proximal end of E and the drive section A.
Regarding claim 3, the alignment surface (thread) extends to an edge of the drive section A.
Regarding claim 8, as can be seen in fig. 1, the proximal end is planar and perpendicular to the axis.
Regarding claim 10, the drive section A comprises a first flat and a second flat being opposite and parallel to the first flat (two sides of the square).
Claim(s) 1-8, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by David et al. (US 2018/0009043 A1).
Regarding claim 1, David teaches a cutting accessory 1 capable of being used with an inferred surgical cutting tool, the cutting accessory comprising:
a tool shaft comprising an axis A and being rotatable about the axis (abstract);
a distal portion 3 coupled to the tool shaft and having a cutting tip 4; and
a proximal portion (including 6 and 7) coupled to the tool shaft and configured to engage an inferred driver of the inferred surgical cutting tool, the proximal portion comprising:
a drive section (portion including surfaces 7) having one or more flats 7 configured to engage drive surfaces of the driver to receive torque from the driver, and
an alignment section 6 distinct from and proximal to the drive section, the alignment section configured to orient the drive section at 7 to the drive surfaces of the driver, and the alignment section comprising,
a proximal end comprising at least one edge (at the run out of 6 before the narrowed nose), and
an alignment surface (surface of the thread) extending distally from the at least one edge of the proximal end toward the drive section at 7, and wherein the alignment surface is twisted relative to the axis A between the at least one edge of the proximal end and the drive section at 7.
Regarding claim 2, the alignment surface of 6 is helically twisted between the at least one edge of the proximal end and the drive section at 7.
Regarding claim 3, the alignment surface of 6 extends to an edge of the drive section at 7.
Regarding claim 4, a cross-sectional area of the alignment section 6 is configured to increase along the axis A from the proximal end to an edge of the drive section at 7.
Regarding claim 5, the alignment surface of 6 is configured to ramp upward from the proximal end to an edge of the drive section at 7 as can be seen clearly in fig. 3.
Regarding claim 6, the at least one edge is coincident to a reference edge plane that extends parallel to the axis A; and the alignment surface of 6 is twisted such that the alignment surface deviates from the reference edge plane (due to the taper of 6).
Regarding claim 7, the proximal end at the start of 6 comprises a circular cross-section, and at least a portion of a circumferential edge of the circular cross-section forms the at least one edge. (only a single alternative is required to be shown in the art for this claim to be met)
Regarding claim 8, the proximal end is planar and perpendicular to A.
Regarding claim 10, the drive section at 7 includes two flats opposed and parallel to one another.
Regarding claim 11, the alignment surface of 6 is further defined as a first alignment surface (on a first face of the thread), and wherein the alignment section 6 comprises: a second alignment surface (opposite face of the thread) symmetrical to the first alignment surface about a first reference plane that bisects the axis.
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/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stearns.
Regarding claim 9, Stearns teaches the limitations of claim 1 as above but fails to teach the proximal end is non-planar.
The proximal end being planar does not appear to affect function of the device in any way, and other designs which are a matter of a designer or builders discretion would appear to be functionally equivalent. For instance, addition of a domed end; an end with a tapered tip; etc. One would have made the modification as a matter of forming the device to self-center during insertion into a chuck.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 13 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.
Conclusion
A piece of art is made of record and is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 12,408,931 B2 to Rocci et al. is not prior art due to the instant application’s reliance upon a provisional application 63/542370 dated October 4, 2023. This reference is quite similar to what is presently claimed. See fig. 2A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Bates whose telephone number is (571)270-7034. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 10AM-6PM
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Truong, at (571)272-4705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID W BATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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