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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/11/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments regarding the pulls of Milam are not persuasive as the pulls of Milam are cited as a means of improving grasping which when combined with the teachings a of Burnett result in an element to render the medical device destroyed as is the case of the Burnett elements so as to allow removal of the device to ensure sanitary medical devices. Applicant’s argument regard the combination of the device of Burnert with the stethoscope cover of Milam are not persuasive, Milam and Burnet are both concerned with a disposable cover of a medical device so as to ensure sanitary contact.
Applicants argument regarding the location of the loops and rip cord are further not persuasive as the combination of elements of Milam and Burnet would result in the placement of the elements in locations where they could be utilized by the user, this would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill so as to allow the device to function.
Applicant’s argument regarding the destruction of the function of Burnet is further not persuasive. The components of Burnet are being applied to the device of Milam. The device of Milam is not placed within a user body and as such the placement on the exterior of the Milam cover would not damage delicate tissues of the patient. As such the argument that doing so would harm the patient is not relevant.
The argument that the device of Milam and Burnet are not analogous art is not persuasive as the art is that of medical devices and covers therefor.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Milam (US6186957) in view of Burnett (US20060089627).
With respect to claim 1 Milam discloses a stethoscope cover comprising:
An elongated neck portion (12), said elongated neck portion comprising an opening at a proximal end thereof;
A head (20)
Said head disposed at a terminal end portion of said elongated neck portion;
said head configured to accommodate a chest piece (26) of the stethoscope;
said stethoscope cover comprising an interior and an exterior (the stethoscope being received in the interior cavity, the exterior for contacting the patient as can be seen in the figures);
And a cord including a tab (loops 52) disposed within or positioned inside of the elongated neck portion, said cord being positioned such that the tabs are positioned outside said exterior of said stethoscope cover (see figures loops extend away from the exterior, it is understood that the loops are on the exterior as to be outside of the exterior could be interpreted to mean outside of the whole of the system and not connected to the structure).
Milam does not disclose a rip cord per se, or that said rip cord is configured to tear or cut through at least a portion of said stethoscope cover when pulled.
Burnett discloses the use of a rip cord in a disposable sanitary cover of a medical device (para 10).
It would have been obvious to combine the use of a rip cord to destroy the device in the removing with the pull cords of Milam to remove the cover from the stethoscope to insure the used and thus dirty cover is never reused, thus preventing contamination.
With respect to claim 5 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said rip cord extends from
said opening to said head (as is seen in Milam the cord starts at the opening, and given the description of Burnett one would have found it obvious to continue the rip cord per se to the head so as to allow for full removal of the device by means of the ripcord. This would allow the removal without leaving a section intact.
With respect to claim 6 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said rip cord extends at least from said opening (see position of loops 52), regarding the termination at the head such a location would allow for full removal and would be only a selection of the length of the cord.
With respect to claim 7 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said rip cord comprises a pull tab (that is to say the loops 52) extending beyond said opening of said elongated neck portion.
With respect to claims 8 and 9, as it regards embedding or adhering to the structure, as the device of Milam as modified (see again para 10 of Burnett) is structure for the rip cord to cut the material the use of any attachment means including embedding or adhesives to provide for the necessary connection would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The use of adhesives allows for the use of less of the plastic material, while the use of embedding requires the use of only the plastic material and no other materials. Such would be understood by one of skill in the art and obvious means of accomplishing the connection to allow the function of the rip cord.
With respect to claim 10 as it regards the placement of the pull tab extending from said head of said stethoscope, this would have been an obvious matter of rearranging the parts of the device, the function would remain unchanged and as such would have been an obvious variation.
It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
With respect to claim 11 Milam as modified further discloses (see figures of Milam) wherein said head comprises a flat portion that is positioned to accommodate a diaphragm of a chest piece of a stethoscope when a stethoscope is disposed within said stethoscope cover and wherein said head comprises dimensions that accommodate a chest piece of the stethoscope.
With respect to claim 12 as it regards the specified position of the rip cord, this would have been an obvious matter of rearrangement of the parts to select and area of easy access to the user. Further it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
With respect to claim 13 Milam as modified further discloses (see thickened portion of the cover as taught by Burnett) a lip formed around said opening.
With respect to claim 14 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said proximate end of said elongated neck portion is flared such that said opening comprises a diameter that is larger than a diameter of the rest of the elongated neck portion (see Milam figure 2).
With respect to claim 15 Milam as modified further discloses a method of preserving sterility of a stethoscope, the method comprising: Disposing a stethoscope at least partially within a cover such that a chest piece of the stethoscope is positioned within a head of the cover and such that at least a portion of tubing of the stethoscope if disposed within a neck portion of the cover (see Milam), wheein the cover comprises an interior and an exterior;
Pressing the head of the cover, having the chest piece disposed therein, against a patient to perform an auscultation (conventional use of the stethoscope see also Milam);
After the auscultation pulling a tab on a rip cord (see Milam for pulling a cord for removal of the cover, see Burnett para 10 regarding a ripcord per se) such that the rip cord tears or otherwise cuts through at least a portion of the cover (Burnett) to facilitate removal of the at least a portion of the stethoscope from the cover, wherein the tap is positioned outside the exterior of the cover; and Removing the cover from the stethoscope (see again Milam).
With respect to claim 16 Milam as modified further discloses a user grasping the pull tab and pulling the pull tab to pull the rip cord (see loops 52 of Milam regarding the grasping, see para 10 of Burnett regarding the rip cord cutting action).
With respect to claim 17 Milam as modified further discloses the step of disposing of the cover after the removing step (Milam column 4 lines 40-45).
With respect to claim 18 Milam as modified discloses (see column 4) the steps of covering the stethoscope and disposing of the cover after use, there is implicitly the teachings of covering the stethoscope again for the next use thereof. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found this teachings to be implicit and such a step obvious based upon the skill in the art of medical examination which has such precautions for gloves and other protective devices.
With respect to claims 19 and 20 Milam as modified further discloses the use of the rip cord and the pulling thereof in the direction which allows for the rip cord to cut, the chosen directions of toward the top or away from the top would have been obvious variations based upon the placement of the loops for grasping which would be obvious variations of one another. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
2. Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Milam (US6186957) in view of Burnett (US20060089627) as applied to claim 1 above and in further view of Earnest (US5623131).
With respect to claim 2 Milam as modified by Burnett discloses the invention as claimed except expressly the use of a tensioning band defining a proximate end of said head.
Earnest (embodiment of figure 5) discloses the use of a tensioning band (22) to define the head of a cover for a stethoscope.
It would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Earnest to use a tensioning band to secure the cover to the stethoscope and define the head portion of the cover with the device of Milam as modified so as to provide a stable and secure connection thus allowing better control of the stethoscope.
With respect to claim 3 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said tension band delineates a transition between said head and said elongated neck portion (see again embodiment of figure 5 of Earnest).
With respect to claim 4 Milam as modified further discloses wherein said tension band comprises a thickness that is greater than a thickness of said head (that is to say as can be seen from the figures of Earnest that the over which includes the elastic band is thicker overall than the other portions of the cover).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
