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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending and examined below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter. Claim 18 is directed to “a computer-readable medium.” The Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI) of machine readable media can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Thus, a claim to a computer readable medium that can be a compact disc or a carrier wave covers a non-statutory embodiment as being directed to non-statutory subject matter. See, e.g., Mentor Graphics v. EVE-USA, Inc., 851 F.3d at 1294-95, 112 USPQ2d at 1134 (claims to a "machine-readable medium" were non-statutory, because their scope encompassed both statutory random-access memory and non-statutory carrier waves) [MPEP 2106.03].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17 are allowable over the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The closest prior art of record US 20130025055 A1 discloses a robotic patient positioning assembly including a patient treatment couch, and a robotic arm coupled to the patient treatment couch. The robotic arm is configured to move the patient treatment couch along five rotational degrees of freedom and one substantially vertical, linear degree of freedom.
As per independent claims 1 and 12, the closest prior art of record taken either individually or in combination with other prior art of record fails to teach or render obvious receiving input data indicative of an extent of a workspace for a procedure, determining a desired position or orientation of the base using at least the input data indicative of the extent of the workspace, and operating the positioning indicator to direct a manual repositioning of the base toward the desired position or orientation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BASIL T JOS whose telephone number is (571)270-5915. The examiner can normally be reached 11:00 - 8:00 PM.
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/Basil T. Jos/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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