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 .
Priority
This action is a national stage entry under 35 USC 371 of PCT/JP2023/037211 filed 13 October 2023, which claims the benefit of domestic priority from Japanese Patent Application no. 2022/173469 filed 28 October 2022.
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, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Odaka et al. (WO 2013/140734 – disclosed by Applicant).
In regard to claim 1, Odaka et al. a defibrillator electrode pad (figure 1) comprising:
a metal foil 15 configured to diffuse electricity transmitted from a defibrillator via a cable (para 35-36 and 49);
a conductive adhesive layer 17 configured to be attached to a living body, the conductive adhesive layer 17 being provided on a part of a first surface of the metal foil 15 (para 61 and 62);
a base member 14 provided on a second surface of the metal foil 15 (para 26-34); and an
insulating part 18 covering a portion of the first surface (skin side of 15 which comprises layer 17, figure 1, part 18 covers the u-shaped cut out portion of layer 17 ) at which the conductive adhesive layer 17 is not provided, the insulating part 18 fixing, to the metal foil 17, a cable terminal 16b provided at an end portion of the cable 16 (para 75-81).
In regard to claim 2, Odaka et al. teach that at least a portion of the insulating part 18 is made of a resin (e.g., polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET)), the portion of the insulating part covering the metal foil (para 78).
In regard to claim 10, Odaka et al. is considered show in figure 1 that an end portion of the insulating part 18 is curved in a direction away from a center of the metal foil 15, the end portion of the insulating part 18 being located on a center side of the metal foil 15 in a state where the insulating part covers the metal foil (the part 18 has a triagular shape with a rounded apex located near the metal 15 and base located on center side).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 and 11-13 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 prior art fails to teach or suggest the specific structural arrangement of elements recited in the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN T GEDEON whose telephone number is (571)272-3447. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 am to 5:30 PM ET.
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/BRIAN T GEDEON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796 9 September 2026
