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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-5, 10, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoddard (US PGPub 2019/0029712) in view of Kitatsuji (US PGPub 2021/0330409)
Regarding Claim 1, Stoddard teaches a medical instrument (100; Figure 3) for a surgical robot (10; Figure 1), wherein the surgical robot (10)includes a robotic arm (12; Figure 2; Paragraph 0030), a transducer (130; Figure 4; Paragraph 0037), and an energy generator (270; Figure 7; Paragraph 0048), the medical instrument (100) is configured to be mounted on the robotic arm (12; see Figure 2) and to be connected to the transducer (130) that is electrically connected to the energy generator (270; Paragraph 0048-0049), and the medical instrument (100) comprises:
a housing (110; Figure 3; Paragraph 0035);
Stoddard fails to teach:
an activation device, disposed in the housing and configured to be triggered to generate an induction signal and to transmit the induction signal to the energy generator, the energy generator being configured to generate energy in response to receiving the induction signal.
Kitatsuji teaches a medical instrument (4 and 80; Figure 4) that is configured to be mounted onto a robotic arm (61; Figure 3) comprising a housing (80) and an activation device (81; Figure 4; Paragraphs 0050-0051), disposed in the housing (80) and configured to be triggered to generate an induction signal and to transmit the induction signal to the energy generator (Paragraph 0050 states that 81 is an enable switch and generates a signal to the energy generator to allow the energy generator to generate energy and the energy generator is not active when the enable switch is not pressed), the energy generator being configured to generate energy in response to receiving the induction signal (Paragraph 0050-0052).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device of Stoddard, to include an activation device to provide a signal to allow the energy generator to generate energy, as taught by Kitatsuji for the advantage of giving the operator the ability to control the medical device from the operating table rather from operating the device from a remote console.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of references disclosed above teaches the medical instrument according to claim 1, wherein Kitatsuji teaches the activation device (81) is configured as a physical trigger device (Paragraph 0049)including:
an induction signal generator, disposed in the housing (Paragraph 0049); and
an operating member (81), disposed on the housing and configured not to protrude from an outer surface of the housing (possibly when depressed)
wherein the operating member (81) is configured to trigger, in response to being operated, the induction signal generator to generate the induction signal, and the induction signal generator is configured to transmit the induction signal to the energy generator (Paragraph 0049-0051).
Kitatsuji fails to explicitly teach that the operating member does not protrude from the housing however there are other buttons like 85/86/84 which are recessed in Figure 4.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the operating member on the housing flush for the advantage of not catching on moving parts of the robotic instrument.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of references disclosed above teaches the medical instrument according to claim 2, wherein Kitatsuji teaches the housing (80) is configured to be partially recessed inwardly to form an operating area, and the operating member (as seen in buttons 84/85) is disposed in the operating area of the housing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the operating member on the housing flush for the advantage of not catching on moving parts of the robotic instrument.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of references disclosed above teaches the medical instrument according to claim 2, but fails to disclose wherein the operating member is located on a side of the housing facing the robotic arm.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to move the location of the operating member along the housing, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of references disclosed above teaches the medical instrument according to claim 2, wherein Kitatsuji teaches the operating member (81) is movably disposed on the housing between a first position where the induction signal generator is not triggered and a second position where the induction signal generator is triggered (Paragraph 0049 discloses a push button).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of references disclosed above teaches the medical instrument according to claim 1, wherein Kitatsuji teaches the activation device is configured to be electrically connected to the energy generator through a wired or wireless connection (Figure 3, where the connection has to be either wired or wireless).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of re teaches the medical instrument according to claim 1, further Stoddard teaches comprising an ultrasonic scalpel assembly or a vessel sealer. (Paragraph 0036)
Regarding Claim 14, Stoddard teaches a surgical robot, comprising a robotic arm (12; Figure 2; Paragraph 0030), a transducer (130; Figure 4; Paragraph 0037), and an energy generator (270; Figure 7; Paragraph 0048), and the medical instrument according to claim 1 (see the 103 rejection above), wherein the medical instrument is operably mounted on the robotic arm, the transducer is electrically connected to the energy generator, the transducer is operably connected to the medical instrument, and the energy generator is configured to receive the induction signal and generate energy based on the induction signal (see the rejections above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9, 11, and 12 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 prior art of record fails to disclose
Clam 6: the medical instrument according to claim 5, wherein the operating member includes an elastic connecting portion and a protruding portion, and is connected to the housing through the elastic connecting portion; and wherein in response to the operating member being operated, the elastic connecting portion is deformed to move the protruding portion from the first position to the second position.
Claims 7-9 are objected to for incorporating subject matter from claim 6
Claim 11: the medical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the activation device is connected to the transducer to transmit the induction signal to the energy generator through the transducer.
Claim 12 is allowable for incorporating subject matter from Claim 11.
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
Regarding Claim 15, the prior art fails to disclose:
wherein the activation device is configured to be triggered to generate an induction signal, and in response to the activation device being operated, a main control unit of the energy generator performs operations of: acquiring an induction signal and determining whether a self-test operation of the medical instrument has been completed; triggering a vibration frequency signal in response to the self-test operation having been completed; and starting a self-test in response to the self-test operation having not been completed.
Claims 16-20 are allowed for depending on claim 15.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED GAMIL GABR whose telephone number is (571)272-0569. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jackie Ho can be reached at (571) 270-5953. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMED G GABR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771
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