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 application is responsive to the set of claims received on 01 November 2024. Claims 1-34 are currently pending.
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 13 January 2025 are accepted by the examiner.
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.
Claims 3, 14 and 23-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in line 2. Claim 1 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in lines 4 and 7. Since claim 3 is dependent upon claim 1, it is unclear as to if claim 3 is reciting/requiring additional portions or referring to the portions recited in/required by claim 1.
Note: It appears that amending lines 1-3 of claim 3 to read “wherein the elongate member includes a first bend and a second bend” (i.e. to remove “a first portion, a second portion”) would overcome this rejection. For examination purposes, claim 3 will be treated as such.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “a first portion” in line 2. Claim 13 recites the limitation “a first portion” in line 3. Since claim 14 is dependent upon claim 13, it is unclear as to if claim 14 is reciting/requiring an additional portion or referring to the portion recited in/required by claim 13.
Note: It appears that amending lines 1-3 of claim 14 to read “wherein the elongate member includes a second portion, a first bend and a second bend” (i.e. to remove “a first portion”) would overcome this rejection. For examination purposes, claim 14 will be treated as such.
Claim 23 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in lines 5-6 and 10. Claim 23 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in lines 4 and 6. It is unclear as to if claim 23 is reciting/requiring additional portions or referring to the portions previously recited/required in the claim. Since claims 24-33 are dependent upon claim 23, they contain the same issue.
Note: It appears that amending lines 5-6 of claim 23 to read “wherein the elongate member includes a second portion, a first bend and a second bend” (i.e. to remove “a first portion”) and line 10 to read “the second portion” would overcome this rejection. For examination purposes, claim 23 will be treated as such.
Claim 26 recites the limitations “first and second bends” in line 2. Claim 23 recites the limitations “a first bend and a second bend” in line 6. Since claim 26 is dependent upon claim 23, it is unclear as to if claim 26 is reciting/requiring additional bends or referring to the bends recited in/required by claim 23.
Note: It appears that canceling claim 26 would overcome this rejection.
Claim 28 recites the limitation "the converging angle" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Note: It appears that amending line 1 of claim 28 to read “instrument of claim 24” would overcome this rejection (see lines 2-3 of claim 24 for antecedent basis). For examination purposes, claim 28 will be treated as such.
Claim 34 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in lines 15-16. Claim 34 recites the limitations “a first portion” and “a second portion” in lines 4 and 7. It is unclear as to if claim 34 is reciting/requiring additional portions or referring to the portions previously recited/required in the claim.
Note: It appears that amending lines 15-16 of claim 34 to read “wherein the elongate member includes “a first bend and a second bend” (i.e. to remove “a first portion, a second portion”) would overcome this rejection. For examination purposes, claim 34 will be treated as such.
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 1-5, 8-16, 19-27 and 30-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arambula et al. (U.S. Patent 8,343,163).
Regarding claims 1-5 and 8-11, Arambula et al. disclose (as to claim 1) a surgical instrument (10) comprising a handle (12); an elongate member (i.e. member defined by 14, 16 and 50) extending from the handle, the handle coupled to the elongate member at a first portion (50) of the elongate member; a tip (i.e. tip defined by 32 and 36) extending from the elongate member, the tip coupled to a second portion (i.e. portion defined by 30) of the elongate member (see Figure 4); wherein the tip includes a top surface (i.e. top-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) and a bottom surface (i.e. bottom-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) extending from a terminating end (i.e. free end of 32 as best seen in Figure 4) of the tip, wherein the top surface and the bottom surface form a converging angle (i.e. due to tapered shape, see Figure 7); and wherein the tip also includes an abutment (36) that is adjacent to the bottom surface, wherein (as to claim 2) the abutment is substantially perpendicular (i.e. not exactly, but for the most part perpendicularly) to the bottom surface (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 3) the elongate member includes a first bend (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and a second bend (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), wherein the first bend and the second bend are located between the first portion and the second portion (see Figure 4), wherein (as to claim 4) the elongate member includes first (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and second (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) bends, wherein (as to claim 5) the abutment and the bottom surface of the tip form an interior corner (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 8) the handle and the elongate member are formed as a single unitary piece (i.e. when fully connected to one another as best seen in Figure 2, see Note below regarding the term “unitary”), wherein (as to claim 9) the elongate member includes a plurality of tips (i.e. two tips defined by two instances of 32 and 36, see Figure 4), wherein (as to claim 10) the elongate member includes four bends (i.e. left-most bend along 14, left-most bend along 16, right-most bend along 14, and right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), and wherein (as to claim 11) the elongate member is an arm (see Figure 4) (see Figures 1-13, and column 6, line 40 – column 11, line 36).
Regarding claims 12-16 and 19-22, Arambula et al. disclose (as to claim 12) a surgical instrument (10) comprising a handle (12); a tip (i.e. tip defined by 32 and 36) connected to (i.e. via the member defined by 14, 16 and 50) the handle; wherein the tip includes a top surface (i.e. top-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) and a bottom surface (i.e. bottom-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) extending from a terminating end (i.e. free end of 32 as best seen in Figure 4) of the tip, wherein the top surface and the bottom surface form a converging angle (i.e. due to tapered shape, see Figure 7); and wherein the tip also includes an abutment (36) that is substantially perpendicular (i.e. not exactly, but for the most part perpendicularly) to the bottom surface (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 13) the surgical instrument further comprises an elongate member (i.e. member defined by 14, 16 and 50) extending from the handle, the handle coupled to the elongate member at a first portion (50) of the elongate member, wherein (as to claim 14) the elongate member includes a second portion (i.e. portion defined by 30) of the elongate member (see Figure 4), a first bend (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and a second bend (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), wherein the first bend and the second bend are located between the first portion and the second portion (see Figure 4), wherein (as to claim 15) the elongate member includes first (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and second (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) bends, wherein (as to claim 16) the abutment and the bottom surface of the tip form an interior corner (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 19) the handle and the elongate member are formed as a single unitary piece (i.e. when fully connected to one another as best seen in Figure 2, see Note below regarding the term “unitary”), wherein (as to claim 20) the elongate member includes a plurality of tips (i.e. two tips defined by two instances of 32 and 36, see Figure 4), wherein (as to claim 21) the elongate member includes four bends (i.e. left-most bend along 14, left-most bend along 16, right-most bend along 14, and right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), and wherein (as to claim 22) the elongate member is an arm (see Figure 4) (see Figures 1-13, and column 6, line 40 – column 11, line 36).
Regarding claims 23-27 and 30-33, Arambula et al. disclose (as to claim 23) a surgical instrument (10) comprising a handle (12); an elongate member (i.e. member defined by 14, 16 and 50) extending from the handle, the handle coupled to the elongate member at a first portion (50) of the elongate member, wherein the elongate member includes a second portion (i.e. portion defined by 30), a first bend (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and a second bend (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), wherein the first bend and the second bend are located between the first portion and the second portion (see Figure 4); a tip (i.e. tip defined by 32 and 36) extending from the elongate member, the tip coupled to the second portion of the elongate member (see Figure 4); wherein the tip includes a top surface (i.e. top-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) and a bottom surface (i.e. bottom-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) extending from a terminating end (i.e. free end of 32 as best seen in Figure 4) of the tip; and wherein the tip also includes an abutment (36) that is adjacent to the bottom surface, wherein (as to claim 24) the top surface and the bottom surface form a converging angle (i.e. due to tapered shape, see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 25) the abutment is substantially perpendicular (i.e. not exactly, but for the most part perpendicularly) to the bottom surface (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 26) the elongate member includes first (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and second (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) bends, wherein (as to claim 27) the abutment and the bottom surface of the tip form an interior corner (see Figure 7), wherein (as to claim 30) the handle and the elongate member are formed as a single unitary piece (i.e. when fully connected to one another as best seen in Figure 2, see Note below regarding the term “unitary”), wherein (as to claim 31) the elongate member includes a plurality of tips (i.e. two tips defined by two instances of 32 and 36, see Figure 4), wherein (as to claim 32) the elongate member includes four bends (i.e. left-most bend along 14, left-most bend along 16, right-most bend along 14, and right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), and wherein (as to claim 33) the elongate member is an arm (see Figure 4) (see Figures 1-13, and column 6, line 40 – column 11, line 36).
Note: For examination purposes and in light of the broadest reasonable interpretation, the term “unitary” is being interpreted as based on or characterized by one or more units (definition retrieved from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unitary).
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.
Claims 6, 17 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arambula et al. (U.S. Patent 8,343,163), as applied to claims 1, 12 and 24 above respectively.
Arambula et al. disclose wherein the converging angle is less than 45 degrees (see Figure 7); however, fail to explicitly disclose wherein the converging angle formed by the top surface and the bottom surface is between 10-45 degrees.
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 Arambula et al. with wherein the converging angle formed by the top surface and the bottom surface is between 10-45 degrees in order to provide a desired instrument dimension given the operative environment, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size (i.e. an angle size) of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art (In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955)).
Claims 7, 18 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arambula et al. (U.S. Patent 8,343,163), as applied to claims 1, 12 and 23 above respectively.
Arambula et al. disclose the claimed invention except for wherein the bottom surface of the tip has a length of 10-20mm.
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 Arambula et al. wherein the bottom surface of the tip has a length of 10-20mm in order to provide a desired instrument dimension given the operative environment, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size (i.e. a length) of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art (In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955)).
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arambula et al. (U.S. Patent 8,343,163).
Arambula et al. disclose (as to part of claim 34) a surgical instrument (10) comprising a handle (12); an elongate member (i.e. member defined by 14, 16 and 50) extending from the handle, the handle coupled to the elongate member at a first portion (50) of the elongate member, a tip (i.e. tip defined by 32 and 36) extending from the elongate member, the tip coupled to a second portion (i.e. portion defined by 30) of the elongate member (see Figure 4); wherein the tip includes a top surface (i.e. top-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) and a bottom surface (i.e. bottom-most surface of 16 defined by 32 as best seen in Figure 4) extending from a terminating end (i.e. free end of 32 as best seen in Figure 4) of the tip, wherein the top surface and the bottom surface form a converging angle (i.e. due to tapered shape, see Figure 7); wherein the tip also includes an abutment (36) that is adjacent to the bottom surface, wherein the abutment is substantially perpendicular (i.e. not exactly, but for the most part perpendicularly) to the bottom surface (see Figure 7), wherein the elongate member includes a first bend (i.e. left-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4) and a second bend (i.e. right-most bend along 16 as best seen in Figure 4), wherein the first bend and the second bend are located between the first portion and the second portion (see Figure 4); wherein the abutment and the bottom surface of the tip form an interior corner (see Figure 7), and wherein the handle and the elongate member are formed as a single unitary piece (i.e. when fully connected to one another as best seen in Figure 2, see Note below regarding the term “unitary”) (see Figures 1-13, and column 6, line 40 – column 11, line 36).
Arambula et al. disclose wherein the converging angle is less than 45 degrees (see Figure 7); however, fail to explicitly disclose wherein (as to part of claim 34) the converging angle formed by the top surface and the bottom surface is between 10-45 degrees.
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 Arambula et al. with wherein the converging angle formed by the top surface and the bottom surface is between 10-45 degrees in order to provide a desired instrument dimension given the operative environment, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size (i.e. an angle size) of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art (In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955)).
Arambula et al. disclose the claimed invention except for wherein (as to the remainder of claim 34) the bottom surface of the tip has a length of 10-20mm.
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 Arambula et al. wherein the bottom surface of the tip has a length of 10-20mm in order to provide a desired instrument dimension given the operative environment, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size (i.e. a length) of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art (In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sweitzer (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0093465) discloses a surgical instrument comprising a handle; an elongate member; and a tip including an abutment.
Flickinger et al. (U.S. Patent 9,622,733) disclose a surgical instrument comprising a handle; an elongate member; and a tip including an abutment.
Pothier et al. (U.S. Patent 5,702,463) disclose a surgical instrument comprising a handle; an elongate member; and a tip including an abutment.
Zucherman et al. (U.S. Patent 7,497,859) disclose a surgical instrument comprising a handle; an elongate member; and a tip including an abutment.
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).
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/LARRY E WAGGLE, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3775