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 § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 – 9 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DiPoto et al. (US 2005/0075644 A1) in view of Yamada et al. (US 2019/0335977 A1).
Regarding claim 1, DiPoto discloses a high shape-retention retractor (Figs. 2 – 4) that: contains, as a main component (ref. 24), a material having chemical resistance and being an elastic material (paragraph [0122] discloses nitinol and plastics having similar properties which are elastic and have chemical resistance, specifically nitinol which has a high titanium content to form a protective titanium dioxide layer);
has a first end (Fig. 6, ref. 38) and a second end (ref. 40 and 44, Figs. 4 - 6) separated from the first end in a state of being developed in a plate shape (Figs. 5 – 6), and has a width direction (see remarked Fig. 6 below); and
is configured to be elastically curved from the plate state such that the first end and the second end overlap in a thickness direction of the plate state to form a ring (Fig. 4), wherein:
a through-hole (either of refs. 46, 48, Fig. 5) is formed to allow the second end to pass through in a first end nearby area that is near the first end (rivet 44 of the second end is shown passing through the through-holes); and
a size of a diameter of the ring can be varied by changing a length of a distance over which the second end is passed through the through-hole is adjustable to change a size of a diameter of the ring (as shown in Figs. 2- 4, the ring is adjustable by changing the amount of distance ref. 44 passes through the through-holes).
DiPoto is silent regarding the material of the main component being a synthetic resin. However, paragraph [0124] discloses that other materials, such as nitinol or plastics, may be used.
Yamada teaches a bending device use with surgical instruments in the related field of medical devices, wherein the device is formed of PEEK (polyether ether ketone) resin (paragraph [0025]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the material of DiPoto with PEEK resin, as taught by Yamada, for the purpose of balancing both elasticity and rigidity (paragraph [0025]) while being biocompatible.
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Regarding claim 2, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 1, wherein a second end nearby area that is near the second end has an engaged portion protruding from the through-hole in the width direction in a state where the second end is passed through the first end nearby area (the rivet ref. 44 protrudes in a width direction as shown in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 4, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 1, wherein an inner peripheral edge of the through-hole has a shape having a line segment between two points (see remarked Fig. 6 below which shows through-hole ref. 46 having a curved line segment between two points), and the line segment between the two points is inclined such that, of the two points, a first point located closer to a first edge (top edge of ref. 54) in the width direction comes closer to either of the first end of the second end than a second point located closer to a second edge in the width direction does (see remarked Fig. 6 below).
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Regarding claim 5, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses
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the high shape-retention retractor according to of claim 1, wherein in a central area that is an area sandwiched between the first end nearby area and the second end nearby area, a center line in the width direction draws an arc in the developed state.
Regarding claim 6, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 5, wherein the inner peripheral edge of the through-hole has a shape having a line segment between two points, and the line segment between the two points is inclined with respect to the width direction such that, in the developed state, an extension line, extended inward of the arc, of the line segment between the two points passes through a position farther from the arc than a center point of the arc (Figs. 4 – 6).
Regarding claim 7, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 1, wherein a plate thickness in the thickness direction is 0.1 mm or more and less than 0.5 mm (paragraph [0124] discloses a thickness of about 0.007 inches or 0.1778 mm).
Regarding claim 8, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 1, wherein the central area that is an area sandwiched between the first end nearby area and the second end nearby area has a wavy portion where at least one edge in the width direction is wavy in the width direction (Figs. 5 – 6 both show wavy bottom edges at ref. 50).
Regarding claim 9, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according claim 1, wherein the central area that is an area sandwiched between the first end nearby area and the second end nearby area has an uneven portion where at least one edge in the width direction is uneven in the width direction (Figs. 5 – 6 show both top and bottom edges being non-linear and thus providing uneven portions between the two ends).
Regarding claim 11, DiPoto in view of Yamada discloses the high shape-retention retractor according to claim 1, containing a polyether ether ketone resin as the main resin component DiPoto as modified by Yamada).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 10 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.
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 TESSA M MATTHEWS whose telephone number is (571)272-8817. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8am - 1pm.
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/TESSA M MATTHEWS/Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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