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 19-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 19, line 3 should read “linear movement of the actuator rod…”
Claim 20, should read “the end effector comprises a cutting edge.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 16, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bromfield (US 2009/0236938 A1)
Regarding claim 16, Bromfield discloses a medical device (see Fig. 14B), comprising: an elongate sheath (while not shown in Fig. 14B, Bromfield discloses that the transducer system can have a housing, see [0045] and [0067]); an end effector (needle 1406) distal of a distal portion of the elongate sheath (needle 1406 would be distal of the sheath because Bromfield teaches the transducer within the housing); a transducer (1403, 1404, see [0059]) housed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath and proximal to the end effector (at least a portion of the transducer would be within the distal portion of the elongate sheath since as shown in Fig. 17B the proximal portion of the horn forms a seal with the housing, see [0067] and [0069]); and wherein linear actuation of the transducer initiates rotational movement of the end effector (resonator 1403 converts longitudinal motion to torsional motion within the needle, see [0059]).
Regarding claim 17, Bromfield discloses the medical device of claim 16, further comprising: a tubular end effector disposed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath and coupled with the end effector (the proximal portion of the horn 1405 that would form a seal with the distal portion of the housing as indicated at element 1705 in Fig. 17B is tubular and coupled to the end effector formed by needle 1406, see also [0067] and [0069]).
Regarding claim 20, Bromfield discloses the medical device of claim 16, wherein the end effector comprises a cutting edge (the needle 1406 at the distal end is comprises a cutting edge since it is capable of cutting).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowed.
Claims 18 and 19 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Bromfield teaches a medical device (see Fig. 14B), comprising: an elongate sheath (while not shown in Fig. 14B, Bromfield discloses that the transducer system can have a housing, see [0045] and [0067]); a tubular end effector disposed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath (the proximal portion of the horn 1405 that would form a seal with the distal portion of the housing as indicated at element 1705 in Fig. 17B is tubular, see also [0067] and [0069]); a transducer (1403, 1404, see [0059]) housed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath and proximal to the end effector (at least a portion of the transducer would be within the distal portion of the elongate sheath since as shown in Fig. 17B the proximal portion of the horn forms a seal with the housing, see [0067] and [0069]); and an end effector (needle 1406) at a distal end of the tubular end effector (needle 1406 is connected to the distal of the horn 1405, see Fig. 14B).
Bromfield fails to teach the elongate sheath is flexible and a compression spring and actuator rod as claimed.
Although flexible sheaths, compression springs and actuator rods are known in the art, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to arrive at the technical solutions of claims 1 and 10 according to any of the prior art documents of record or any combinations thereof.
Regarding claims 2-9 and 11-15, the closest prior art documents of record fail to teach the medical device of claims 1 and 10, respectively.
Regarding claim 18, the closest prior art document of record, Bromfield, teaches the medical device of claim 17, but fails to teach an actuator rod disposed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath and between the tubular end effector and the transducer, wherein a distal end of the actuator rod is configured to move along a curved slot formed within the tubular end effector.
It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Bromfield to arrive at the technical solutions of claim 18 according to any of the prior art documents of record or any combinations thereof.
Regarding claim 19, the closest prior art document of record, Bromfield, teaches the medical device of claim 16, but fails to teach an actuator rod disposed within the distal portion of the elongate sheath, wherein linear movement of the actuator rod results in rotational movement of the end effector.
It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Bromfield to arrive at the technical solutions of claim 19 according to any of the prior art documents of record or any combinations thereof.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. All of the documents cited in the attached PTO-892 teach related medical devices. Particular attention is directed to the following references:
Gavala et al. (US 2014/0336665 A1) teaches a medical device (10, see Fig. 1A) having a compression spring (42) disposed between a wall within an elongate sheath (12) and a transducer (14).
Hall et al. (US 2011/0282337 A1) teaches a medical device comprising a flexible elongate sheath (80), a tubular end effector disposed in a distal portion of the elongate sheath (see Fig. 3) and an actuator that can comprise a piezoelectric transducer that mechanically communicates with an actuator rod to translate longitudinal and/or rotational motion to the end effector (see [0053] and [0054]).
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/SERENITY A MILLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3771
/ELIZABETH HOUSTON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3771
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