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
The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not).
There are two claims numbered “1” resulting in the subsequent claims having issues (dependent off of claim 1- there being two claim 1s thus ambiguous as to which claim 1; and claims which depend on themselves). The examiner has understood this issue to be a typographical error which applicant is required to fix in the subsequent response. To expedite prosecution, the following chart demonstrates the examiner’s understanding of the numbering of the claims for examination purposes. All dependencies are considered ‘as-written’ in the claim and will correspond to the understood claim number.
Examiner considers claim number:
Claim as presented on 2/14/2025:
1
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279
647
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2
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42
647
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3
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38
617
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4
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83
646
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5
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57
626
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Greyscale
6
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64
645
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Greyscale
7
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60
606
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Greyscale
8
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109
643
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Greyscale
9
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36
624
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Greyscale
10
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60
632
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Greyscale
11
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109
632
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Greyscale
12
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56
591
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Greyscale
13
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88
623
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Greyscale
14
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124
638
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Greyscale
15
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58
613
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16
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274
656
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17
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47
637
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18
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58
623
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Greyscale
19
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60
636
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Greyscale
20
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66
629
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21
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83
632
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Greyscale
22
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119
633
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23
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145
646
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Greyscale
24
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98
640
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25
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88
622
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Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species A (instrument 100) in the reply filed on 6/18/26 is acknowledged. Claims 3, 13, 16-25 (based on understood claim numbering) have been withdrawn as being draw to non-elected Group II and/or non-elected Species B-D.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4-12, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, lines 9-10 recite “a driver handle coupled to a proximal portion of the shaft extending through the reducer handle”. It is unclear which part is “extending through the reducer handle- whether it be the driver handle or the shaft. As shown in Fig. 2B below, both these elements extend through the reducer handle and so the claim can be read both ways making the scope unclear. For examination purposes, the claim will be interpreted as the proximal portion of the shaft is the element that extends through the reducer handle.
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505
858
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Dependent claims 2, 4-12, 15 are rejected under 112(b) as they contain all the deficiencies of claim 1 from which they depend.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 12, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Varieur et al. (US Publication No. 2025/0149053 A1).
A surgical system (Fig. 16A), comprising: a reducer clip (12) having a lumen (28, Fig. 4) extending from a proximal end (20A/20B) to a distal end (22A/22B) thereof (Fig. 4), a recess formed in a sidewall of the reducer clip along a distal portion thereof (shown below), and threads (50A, 50B) formed in the sidewall of the reducer clip along a proximal portion thereof (Fig. 6); a shaft (70, Fig. 14) disposed through the lumen of the reducer clip (12) (shown in Fig. 16A); a reducer handle (14) having a lumen extending from a proximal end (end by 60) to a distal end (end by 62) thereof (Fig. 15) and threads (68) formed along an outer distal portion thereof (Fig. 15) , the reducer handle threads (68) interfacing with the threads formed along the proximal portion of the reducer clip (50A, 50B) (Fig. 16A); and a driver handle (72) coupled to a proximal portion of the shaft extending through the reducer handle (proximal portion of shaft 70 extends through the reducer handle as shown in Fig. 15 and driver handle 72 couples to the proximal portion of the shaft).
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380
508
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2. The system of claim 1, wherein the driver handle extends proximal to the reducer handle (shown in Fig. 15, 72 extends proximal to 14).
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaft (70) further comprises a proximal-facing shoulder (see figure below).
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350
593
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12. The system of claim 1, wherein the reducer handle further comprises a cylindrical proximal portion defining a proximal-facing recess (shown below).
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222
609
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15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a bone anchor (100, Fig. 16A) , wherein the reducer clip (12) is configured to couple to a proximal portion of the bone anchor (102, shown in Fig. 16A).
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cain et al. (US Publication No. 2018/0036044 A1).
A surgical system (Fig. 23), comprising: a reducer clip (20+30) having a lumen extending from a proximal end to a distal end thereof (lumen shown in Fig. 8, proximal end at 22 and distal end at 21 in Fig. 1), a recess formed in a sidewall of the reducer clip along a distal portion thereof (shown below), and threads (23) formed in the sidewall of the reducer clip along a proximal portion thereof (Fig. 1);
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257
452
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a shaft (300) disposed through the lumen of the reducer clip (shown in Fig. 24) ;
a reducer handle (40+50) having a lumen extending from a proximal end to a distal end thereof (lumen shown in Fig. 12 and can be seen as accepting 300 in figure 24) and threads (43) formed along an outer distal portion thereof, the reducer handle threads (43) interfacing with the threads (23) formed along the proximal portion of the reducer clip [0046]; and
a driver handle (304) coupled to a proximal portion of the shaft (300) extending through the reducer handle (fig. 24).
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the driver handle (304) extends proximal to the reducer handle (40+50) (Fig. 24).
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reducer clip (20+30) further comprises a locking sleeve (20) with a locking tab (29) at a distal end thereof (Fig. 1) that is configured to translate relative to another portion of the reducer clip (translates relative to ring 30, described as pushed over sleeve in [0048]).
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the reducer clip (20+30) further comprises opposed tabs (32, Fig. 4) extending radially away from a longitudinal axis of the reducer clip (32 shown as bulging radially outward in Fig. 4-6).
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the reducer clip (20+30) further comprises a flat formed on an outer proximal portion thereof (shown below).
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365
474
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9. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaft (300) further comprises a proximal-facing shoulder (see below).
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236
526
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10. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaft (300) further comprises a flat formed along a proximal portion thereof (see below).
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236
526
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11. The system of claim 1, wherein the reducer handle (40+50) further comprises a distal-facing shoulder (see figure below) disposed proximal to the threads that is fully capable of contacting a proximal-facing portion of the reducer clip and prevent further distal advancement of the reducer handle relative to the reducer clip.
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221
600
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609
565
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15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a bone anchor (2), wherein the reducer clip (20+30) is configured to couple to a proximal portion of the bone anchor (fig. 19).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACQUELINE T JOHANAS whose telephone number is (571)270-5085. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. 9:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Robert can be reached at 571-272-4719. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACQUELINE T JOHANAS/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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