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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 30-39, 47, and 51 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 30, line 2, “a” should be inserted before “distal face”.
Claim 47, line 2, “includes” should be inserted before “advancing”.
Claim 51, line 2, “includes” should be inserted before “advancing”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 60 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 60 recites the limitation "the capture member" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 40-46, 48-50, 52-59, and 61 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art fails to disclose, in combination with other limitations of the claims, a method of performing a thrombectomy including:
applying a shear force between the clot and the distal face to separate fibrin from red blood cells within the clot and reduce cot size, wherein the clot is driven against the distal face by the application of suction while rotating the spinner tip, as recited in claim 30;
rotating the spinner tip to apply a shear force between the clot and the distal face to separate components of the clot from residual material comprising fibrin within the clot and densify the fibrin toe reduce clot volume, as recited in claim 40; and
rotating the spinner tip to apply a shear force between the clot and the distal face to separate components of the clot from residual material comprising fibrin within the clot and densify the fibrin toe reduce clot volume and removing the residual material from the body lumen after separating the components of the clot, as recited in claim 50.
The reasons for allowance of the claims is clear from the written record of prosecution. Attention is specifically drawn to US 11,793,542 (Pons) which teaches a related method including rotating a spinner tip (801) with a hollow body forming a cavity having a distal opening (820), one or more projections (810, 812) extending from a lateral side of the hollow body, and one or more openings (822) into the cavity along the lateral side of the hollow body (FIG. 8). However, Pons does not disclose applying a shear force to separate fibrin from red blood cells within the clot and reduce clot size or to separate components of the clot from residual material comprising fibrin within the clot and densify the fibrin to reduce clot volume.
As discussed above, Pons does not anticipate applicant’s claimed invention. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a reason, absent hindsight, to modify Pons, alone or in combination, to teach the claimed method. Therefore, the cited references taken singly or in combination do not anticipate or make obvious applicant’s claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TODD J SCHERBEL whose telephone number is (571)270-7085. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00-6:00.
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TJ SCHERBEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3771
/TODD J SCHERBEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771
Prosecution Insights