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 § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mullaney (U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0087819 A1, hereinafter “Mullaney”).
Mullaney discloses, regarding claim 1, an external fixation system (10, see Fig. 1), comprising: a first platform (12); a first joint member coupled to the first platform (see annotated Fig. 1 below); a second platform (14); a second joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 below) and a third joint member coupled to the second platform (see annotated Fig. 1 below); a first strut assembly (see annotated Fig. 1 below) including a first joint coupled to the first joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 below) and a second joint coupled to the second joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 below); and a second strut assembly (see annotated Fig. 1 below) including a third joint coupled to the first joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 below) and a fourth joint coupled to the third joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 below).
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Regarding claim 2, wherein the first platform is configured to be coupled to a first bone and/or a tissue of a patient (via pins, see para. [0051]), and the second platform is configured to be coupled to a second bone and/or a tissue of a patient (via pins, see para. [0051]).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the first strut assembly extends at a first angular direction between the first joint member and the second joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 above), and the second strut assembly extends at a second different angular direction between the first joint member and the third joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 above).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the second joint member is circumferentially spaced from the third joint member (see annotated Fig. 1 above).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mullaney, as applied to claim 1 above and in view of Bordeaux et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0022314 A1, hereinafter “Bordeaux”).
Mullaney discloses all of the features of the claimed invention, as previously set forth above, Mullaney further discloses, regarding claim 4, wherein the first platform is a ring (see Fig. 1). However fails to disclose, regarding claim 4, wherein the second platform is a partial ring.
Bordeuax discloses an external fixation device (see Fig. 1A), wherein a second platform (1135a) is a partial ring (see Fig. 3B) in order to allow added flexibility for a patient that the device is attached to e.g. so that the platform can be positioned such that the gap is posterior to the patient's knee, allowing the patient's knee to flex without interference from the base body (see para. [0112]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the second platform in Mullaney to be a partial ring in view of Bordeaux in order to allow added flexibility for a patient that the device is attached to e.g. so that the platform can be positioned such that the gap is posterior to the patient's knee, allowing the patient's knee to flex without interference from the base body.
Claim(s) 6-13, 18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mullaney, as applied to claim 1 above and in view of Ross et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0331840 A1, hereinafter “Ross”).
Mullaney discloses all of the features of the claimed invention, as previously set forth above, except regarding claim 6, wherein the first strut assembly includes a first strut body, a second strut body, and an intermediate strut body extending axially between the first strut body and the second strut body; regarding claim 7, wherein the intermediate strut body is rotatably fixed and axially translatably received within the first strut body; regarding claim 8, wherein the second strut body is received within the intermediate strut body; regarding claim 9, wherein the first strut assembly includes a threaded rod extending within the intermediate strut body and being rotatably coupled to each of the first strut body and the second strut body; regarding claim 10, wherein the first strut assembly includes a first adjustment mechanism that is configured to selectively axially fixate the intermediate strut body relative to the first strut body or selectively allow the intermediate strut body to freely axially translate relative to the first strut body; regarding claim 11, wherein the first strut assembly includes a second adjustment mechanism configured to selectively rotate the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod in order to selectively axially translate the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod; regarding claim 12, wherein an end portion of the first strut body comprises external threads, and further wherein the first adjustment mechanism includes a first collar member threadably coupled with the external threads of the end portion of the first strut body; regarding claim 13, wherein rotation of the first collar member about the end portion of the first strut body axially translates the first collar member along the end portion of the first strut body; regarding claim 18, wherein the second adjustment mechanism includes a second collar member axially fixed and rotatably coupled to an end portion of the intermediate strut body; and regarding claim 20, wherein the intermediate strut body includes an internally threaded cavity, and an external thread of the threaded rod is threadably coupled with the internally threaded cavity.
Ross discloses an external fixation system (see Fig. 7) with strut assemblies (10, see Fig. 3), wherein the first strut assembly includes a first strut body (18 or 28), a second strut body (28 or 18), and an intermediate strut body (22) extending axially between the first strut body and the second strut body (see Fig. 3); wherein the intermediate strut body (22) is rotatably fixed and axially translatably received within the first strut body (via 24, 46, 20 and 48, see Figs. 2-3); wherein the second strut body (28) is received within the intermediate strut body (see Fig. 3); wherein the first strut assembly (10) includes a threaded rod (24) extending within the intermediate strut body (see Fig. 3) and being rotatably coupled to each of the first strut body and the second strut body (see Fig. 3); wherein the first strut assembly (10) includes a first adjustment mechanism (46 or 26) that is configured to selectively axially fixate the intermediate strut body (22) relative to the first strut body (18 or 28, see Fig. 3) or selectively allow the intermediate strut body (22) to freely axially translate relative to the first strut body (see Fig. 3); wherein the first strut assembly (10) includes a second adjustment mechanism (26 or 46) configured to selectively rotate the second strut body (28 or 18) relative to the intermediate strut body (22) and the threaded rod (24) in order to selectively axially translate the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod (see Fig. 3); wherein an end portion (e.g. end portion of 28) of the first strut body (28) comprises external threads (e.g. threads of 28), and further wherein the first adjustment mechanism (26) includes a first collar member (26) threadably coupled with the external threads of the end portion of the first strut body (28, see Fig. 3); wherein rotation of the first collar member (26) about the end portion of the first strut body (28) axially translates the first collar member along the end portion of the first strut body (see Fig. 3); wherein the second adjustment mechanism (26) includes a second collar member (26) axially fixed and rotatably coupled to an end portion of the intermediate strut body (22, see Fig. 3); wherein a body portion of the second strut body (18) includes an axial-extending slot 20, see Fig. 2), and wherein the intermediate strut body (22) includes an internally threaded cavity (48), and an external thread of the threaded rod (24) is threadably coupled with the internally threaded cavity (see Figs. 2-3) in order to provide a strut assembly that enables end-to-end length of the strut assembly to be done in a rapid telescopic manner (see para. [0031]) and enables end-to-end length of the strut assembly to be done in a gradual threaded manner (see para. [0035]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the strut assemblies in Mullaney to include a first strut body, a second strut body, and an intermediate strut body extending axially between the first strut body and the second strut body in order to provide a strut assembly that enables end-to-end length of the strut assembly to be done in a rapid telescopic manner and enables end-to-end length of the strut assembly to be done in a gradual threaded manner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 14-17, and 19 is/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: The claims 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:
An external fixation system, comprising: a first strut assembly including a first joint coupled to the first joint member and a second joint coupled to the second joint member; and a second strut assembly including a third joint coupled to the first joint member and a fourth joint coupled to the third joint member; wherein the first strut assembly includes a first strut body, a second strut body, and an intermediate strut body extending axially between the first strut body and the second strut body; wherein the first strut assembly includes a threaded rod extending within the intermediate strut body and being rotatably coupled to each of the first strut body and the second strut body; wherein the first strut assembly includes a first adjustment mechanism that is configured to selectively axially fixate the intermediate strut body relative to the first strut body or selectively allow the intermediate strut body to freely axially translate relative to the first strut body; wherein the first strut assembly includes a second adjustment mechanism configured to selectively rotate the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod in order to selectively axially translate the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod; and as per claim 14, wherein a clamping portion of the first collar member is positioned axially past the end portion of the first strut body and includes a tapered bearing surface; and as per claim 19, and further wherein the second collar member is rotatably fixed to the body portion via a radially extending pin that is coupled to the second collar member and is received within the axial-extending slot such that rotation of the second collar member about the end portion of the intermediate strut body axially translates the second strut body relative to the intermediate strut body and the threaded rod.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michelle C. Green whose telephone number is (571)270-7051. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday between 9am-5pm.
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/M.C.G/ Examiner, Art Unit 3773
/JULIANNA N HARVEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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