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 action is responsive to the preliminary amendments received on 24 March 2025. Claims 21-42 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 27 March 2024 are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 25 is objected to because of the following informality:
It appears that a period should be added at the end of the claim.
Claim 32 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 25. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim (see MPEP § 608.01(m)).
Claim 41 is objected to because of the following informality:
In lines 3-4, it appears that the phrase “a second plane oriented in a cranial-caudal direction along a mid-longitudinal axis of the third bone screw” should read “a second plane oriented in a cranial-caudal direction extends in a direction along a mid-longitudinal axis of the third bone screw” for clarity (i.e. similar to the language in lines 1-3 of claim 41).
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.
Claims 40-42 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 40 recites the limitation "the contact" in line 26. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Since claims 41 and 42 are dependent upon claim 40, they contain the same issue.
Claim 40 recites the limitation "the spinal implant" in lines 26 and 27 (i.e. two separate instances). There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Since claims 41 and 42 are dependent upon claim 40, they contain the same issue.
Claim 40 recites the limitation "the disc space" in line 27. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Since claims 41 and 42 are dependent upon claim 40, they contain the same issue.
Note: It appears that amending lines 26-27 of claim 40 to read “wherein contact of the first tip and the second tip to the first bone screw serves to increase loading on the vertebral body” would overcome this rejection and render the claim clear (see numbered page 35 of the current specification for support). For examination purposes, claim 40 will be treated as such.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-31 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Claims 21-31 in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof, could be found which disclose, or suggest, in combination with the underlined limitations below, a method for surgically treating a spine of a patient, the method comprising positioning a patient on a surgical table for surgery; accessing a first portion of the spine of the patient via a first incision on a first lateral portion of the patient located on a first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a second portion of the spine of the patient via a second incision on a first posterior portion of the patient on the first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a third portion of the spine of the patient via a third incision on a second posterior portion of the patient on an opposite second side of the sagittal plane; inserting a spinal implant into a disc between an upper first vertebrae and a lower second vertebrae at the first portion of the spine via access through the first incision; inserting a first bone screw into and through portions of the upper first vertebrae at the first posterior portion of the spine via access through the second incision so that the first bone screw follows an inferior-anterior trajectory to position a first tip of the first bone screw adjacent a first anterior portion of the spinal implant; and inserting a second bone screw into and through portions of the lower second vertebrae at the second posterior portion of the spine via access through the third incision so that the second bone screw follows a superior-anterior trajectory to position a second tip of the second bone screw adjacent a second anterior portion of the spinal implant.
Claim 32 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection set forth in this Office action.
Claims 33-39 are allowed.
Claims 32-39 in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof, could be found which disclose, or suggest, in combination with the underlined limitations below, a method for surgically treating a spine of a patient, the method comprising positioning a patient on a surgical table for surgery; accessing a first portion of the spine of the patient via a first incision on a first lateral portion of the patient located on a first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a second portion of the spine of the patient via a second incision on a first posterior portion of the patient on the first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a third portion of the spine of the patient via a third incision on a second posterior portion of the patient on an opposite second side of the sagittal plane; inserting a spinal implant into a disc between an upper first vertebrae and a lower second vertebrae at the first portion of the spine via access through the first incision; inserting a first bone screw into and through portions of the upper first vertebrae at the first posterior portion of the spine via access through the second incision so that the first bone screw follows an inferior-anterior trajectory to contact a first tip of the first bone screw to a first anterior portion of the spinal implant; and inserting a second bone screw into and through portions of the lower second vertebrae at the second posterior portion of the spine via access through the third incision so that the second bone screw follows a superior-anterior trajectory to contact a second tip of the second bone screw to a second anterior portion of the spinal implant; wherein the contact of the first tip and the second tip to the spinal implant serves in maintaining the spinal implant in position within the disc space.
Claim 40 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
Claims 41 and 42 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include 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. Claims 40-42 in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof, could be found which disclose, or suggest, in combination with the underlined limitations below, a method for surgically treating a spine of a patient, the method comprising positioning a patient on a surgical table for surgery, and supporting the patient on the surgical table so that the coronal plane of the patient is oriented at an acute angle relative to horizonal; accessing a first portion of the spine of the patient via a first incision on a first lateral portion of the patient located on a first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a second portion of the spine of the patient via a second incision on a first posterior portion of the patient on the first side of the sagittal plane; accessing a third portion of the spine of the patient via a third incision on a second posterior portion of the patient on an opposite second side of the sagittal plane; inserting a first bone screw into a vertebral body of a vertebrae in a lateral direction at the first portion of the spine via access through the first incision; inserting a second bone screw into and through portions of the vertebrae at the first posterior portion of the spine via access through the second incision so that the first bone screw follows an at least in part anterior trajectory to position a first tip of the second bone screw adjacent a first portion of the first bone screw; and inserting a third bone screw into and through portions of the vertebrae at the second posterior portion of the spine via access through the third incision so that the second bone screw follows an at least in part anterior trajectory to position a second tip of the third bone screw adjacent a second portion of the first bone screw; wherein contact of the first tip and the second tip to the first bone screw serves to increase loading on the vertebral body.
Conclusion
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