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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 9, 2025 and May 28, 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I: claims 1-5, 7, 11-17 and 24 in the reply filed on July 14, 2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. See MPEP 2106 and 2106.03 for guidance. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter of a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. “A computer-readable medium” (or “computer program product”, “computer readable media”) as recited is not patent eligible subject matter because it is “software/data per se”. Furthermore, it is not a remedy when such “software/data” are claimed as a product without any structural recitations. “Thus, a product claim to a software program that does not also contain at least one structural limitation (such as a ‘means plus function’ limitation) has no physical or tangible form, and thus does not fall within any statutory category.” MPEP 2106.03(I). A recommended remedy for claiming a computer program is to have it embodied within a “non-transitory” computer readable medium. See also USPTO Published 2019 Patent Eligibility Guidance. The examiner notes page 26 of the applicants specification states, “As described above for the method for generating an edge cutting line 40 for an orthodontic aligner, this embodiment also relates to a computer-readable medium, specifically a non- transitory computer-readable medium, which stores instructions executable by a processor to cause a computing device to perform the generation method described above.” However, this is read as not definitive, it appears to state that a type of computer-readable medium is a non-transitory computer readable medium.
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 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2020099973 (hereinafter WO ‘973).
Regarding independent claim 1, WO ‘973 discloses A method (paragraph 0007, “In some examples, a method may include forming a model of dental anatomy ”) for generating an edge cutting line for an orthodontic aligner (paragraph 0102, “In some examples, the 3D model may include indentations or depressions (e.g., relative to a plane of the teeth) to facilitate forming at least one of the shells and the gingival ridges in the thermoformed and trimmed appliance body” … “Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.”), wherein the generating method comprises:
identifying a tooth contour of a dental model corresponding to at least one first tooth, and obtaining a first region corresponding to the tooth contour (paragraph 0023, “ Example removable dental appliances include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround two or more teeth of a dental arch of a patient. The appliance body includes a shell configured to receive one or more teeth of a patient and a gingival ridge extending from a first interproximal region of the appliance body at a mesial portion of the shell along a gingival edge of the shell to a second interproximal region of the appliance body at a distal portion of the shell.” … “When worn by the patient, the enhanced stiffness of the gingival portion of the removable dental appliance may enhance contact between the removable dental appliance and the teeth below the respective height of contour of the respective teeth, e.g., near the gingival margin of the respective teeth. Enhancing contact below the height of contour increases retention of the removable dental appliance on the teeth and improves engagement of the removable dental appliance with the respective occlusal surfaces of the respective teeth.”);
determining a second region corresponding to an attachment, wherein the attachment is located at least partially on the orthodontic aligner corresponding to at least a portion of the at least one first tooth or an interdental space, wherein the orthodontic aligner is related to the dental model (paragraph 0007, “ In some examples, a method may include forming a model of dental anatomy of a patient providing desired positions of a plurality of teeth; and forming, based on the model, a removable dental appliance including an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient, where the appliance body includes a shell shaped to engage a tooth of the plurality of teeth in an initial position of the tooth;” paragraph 0032, “ Appliance body 104 includes gingival ridges 102. Gingival ridges 102 may include any suitable height, e.g., extending in the gingival-occlusal direction. For example, the height of a respective gingival ridge of gingival ridges 102 may be between about 0.5 millimeter (mm) and about 10 mm, such as between about 1 mm and about 5 mm.” … “For example, a respective gingival ridge of gingival ridges 102 may extend the entire distance from a first interproximal region mesial of a respective shell to a second interproximal region distal of the respective shell. By extending to interproximal regions mesial and/or distal to a respective shell of shells 108, a respective gingival ridges 102 may enhance the stiffness of the respective shell at the gingival ridge by physically coupling to the relatively stiffer interproximal region of the appliance body 104 (e.g., compared to the relatively more flexible shell). In some examples, gingival ridges 102 may extend across one or more interproximal regions. By extending across one or more interproximal regions, gingival ridges 102 may stiffen two or more adjacent shells at gingival ridges 102.”);
when the first region cannot completely cover the second region, generating an edge cutting line for the orthodontic aligner based on the second region, wherein the edge cutting line is configured to cut the orthodontic aligner (paragraph 0051, “ In some examples, as illustrated in FIG. 1H, gingival ridge 102D may protrude over a portion of a lingual gingival margin, a portion of a labial gingival margin, or both.”… “In this way, removable dental appliance 100 may be configured to utilize the alveolar process as an anchor. For example, including one or more gingival ridges 102 attached to one or more respective portions of shells 108 extending to contact the gingiva may access additional bracing provided by the extended surface indirectly engaging with the alveolar process without impeding mobility of teeth 106, enable greater force to be applied to a selected tooth of teeth 106 while using the more rigid alveolar process as an anchor instead of neighboring teeth 106, or both. ”).
Regarding dependent claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 further discloses wherein the edge cutting line satisfies at least one of the following:
at least a portion of the edge cutting line is located below a first gingival line;
at least a portion of the edge cutting line intersects with the first gingival line (paragraph 0102, “ Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.” Cutting to form the gingival ridge is read as intersecting with the first gingival line);
at least a portion of the second region is located below the first gingival line;
at least a portion of the second region intersects with the first gingival line;
wherein the first gingival line comprises a gingival line of the at least one first tooth (paragraph 0102, “ Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.”), and/or at least a portion of a gingival line of at least one tooth adjacent to the at least one first tooth.
Regarding dependent claim 24, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 further discloses A computer-readable medium, wherein the computer-readable medium stores instructions executable by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method (paragraph 0086, “In one example, memory 74 may store program instructions (e.g., software instructions) that are executed by processor 72 to carry out the techniques described herein. In other examples, the techniques may be executed by specifically programmed circuitry of processor 72. In these or other ways, processor 72 may be configured to execute the techniques described herein.”), wherein the method comprises the method for generating an edge cutting line for an orthodontic aligner according to claim 1 (see claim 1 analysis);
Or (EXAMINER NOTE: based on “or” everything after is considered unnecessary as the initial limitations prior to “or” are met), the method comprises
obtaining a dental model corresponding to at least one first tooth;
in response to a first instruction from a user and the dental model, determining a second region corresponding to an attachment, wherein the attachment is located at least partially on an orthodontic aligner corresponding to at least a portion of the at least one first tooth or an interdental space; wherein the first instruction is configured to indicate position information of the attachment;
generating an edge cutting line based on the second region,
wherein the edge cutting line satisfies at least one of the following:
at least a portion of the edge cutting line is located below a first gingival line;
at least a portion of the edge cutting line intersects with the first gingival line;
at least a portion of the second region is located below the first gingival line;
at least a portion of the second region intersects with the first gingival line;
wherein the first gingival line comprises a gingival line of the at least one first tooth, and/or at least a portion of a gingival line of at least one tooth adjacent to the at least one first tooth.
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.
Claim(s) 3-4, 7 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘973 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 2023/0363704 to Zhu et al. (hereinafter Zhu).
Regarding dependent claim 3, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the generating method further comprises:
when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and an opposing tooth of the first tooth, adjusting a position of the attachment on the orthodontic aligner to a first position.
However, Zhu discloses wherein the generating method further comprises:
when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and an opposing tooth of the first tooth, adjusting a position of the attachment on the orthodontic aligner to a first position (paragraph 0015, “Also described herein are methods of setting a location of a mounting surface for a monitoring electronics unit on a dental appliance, the method comprising: receiving a digital model the dental appliance and a digital model of the patient's dentition; optimizing the location of the mounting surface having a predetermined mounting area in the digital model of the dental appliance by: starting from an initial location of the mounting surface, iteratively adjusting one or more of a position, an angulation and an orientation of the mounting surface relative to a patient's dental arch corresponding to the digital model of the patient's dentition, until each of the position, the angulation and the orientation of the mounting surface in the digital model of the dental appliance are within a constrained range relative to the digital model of the patient's dentition, and the mounting surface does not collide with the patient's teeth or with a treatment feature of the aligner”).
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Zhu is directed toward, “Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Zhu are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when correcting dental issues and alignment, there is a desire to prevent any sort of abnormal contact between teeth, while still moving them to a desired location. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Zhu in order to ensure while correcting dental alignment, the patient’s teeth still remain comfortable, and do not cause further issues.
Regarding dependent claim 4, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 and Zhu in the combination fail to explicitly disclose wherein before adjusting the position of the attachment on the orthodontic aligner to the first position, the attachment is at a second position on the orthodontic aligner, wherein the second position is a position where the attachment is located when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and the opposing tooth of the first tooth.
However, Zhu does disclose at paragraph 0015, “Also described herein are methods of setting a location of a mounting surface for a monitoring electronics unit on a dental appliance, the method comprising: receiving a digital model the dental appliance and a digital model of the patient's dentition; optimizing the location of the mounting surface having a predetermined mounting area in the digital model of the dental appliance by: starting from an initial location of the mounting surface, iteratively adjusting one or more of a position, an angulation and an orientation of the mounting surface relative to a patient's dental arch corresponding to the digital model of the patient's dentition, until each of the position, the angulation and the orientation of the mounting surface in the digital model of the dental appliance are within a constrained range relative to the digital model of the patient's dentition, and the mounting surface does not collide with the patient's teeth or with a treatment feature of the aligner.” Thus, had the second position been one where there is interference between the attachment and a tooth, there would be adjustment to a first position on the aligner itself. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when correcting dental issues and alignment, there is a desire to prevent any sort of abnormal contact between teeth, while still moving them to a desired location. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Zhu in order to ensure while correcting dental alignment, the patient’s teeth still remain comfortable, and do not cause further issues.
Regarding dependent claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the generating method further comprises:
when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and the opposing tooth of the first tooth, adjusting the position of the attachment on the orthodontic aligner, and the direction of adjustment is toward a gingival margin.
However, Zhu discloses wherein the generating method further comprises:
when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and the opposing tooth of the first tooth, adjusting the position of the attachment on the orthodontic aligner, and the direction of adjustment is toward a gingival margin (paragraph 0015, “Also described herein are methods of setting a location of a mounting surface for a monitoring electronics unit on a dental appliance, the method comprising: receiving a digital model the dental appliance and a digital model of the patient's dentition; optimizing the location of the mounting surface having a predetermined mounting area in the digital model of the dental appliance by: starting from an initial location of the mounting surface, iteratively adjusting one or more of a position, an angulation and an orientation of the mounting surface relative to a patient's dental arch corresponding to the digital model of the patient's dentition, until each of the position, the angulation and the orientation of the mounting surface in the digital model of the dental appliance are within a constrained range relative to the digital model of the patient's dentition, and the mounting surface does not collide with the patient's teeth or with a treatment feature of the aligner” adjusting the position could be read as going toward or away from the gingival margin based on the needed adjustment/issues with the aligner).
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Zhu is directed toward, “Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Zhu are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when correcting dental issues and alignment, there is a desire to prevent any sort of abnormal contact between teeth, while still moving them to a desired location. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Zhu in order to ensure while correcting dental alignment, the patient’s teeth still remain comfortable, and do not cause further issues.
Regarding dependent claim 11, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the edge cutting line extends along a first direction of the first tooth, and at least covers at least one tooth adjacent to the at least one first tooth or an interdental space.
However, Zhu discloses wherein the edge cutting line extends along a first direction of the first tooth, and at least covers at least one tooth adjacent to the at least one first tooth or an interdental space (paragraph 0144, “ FIGS. 2W and 2X illustrate a modified cutting (trimming) line around the mounting surface that cuts through this buffer region”).
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Zhu is directed toward, “Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Zhu are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when cutting or trimming dental appliances, it is most efficient to cut as many areas at once as possible. This would prevent retrying the aligner in a patient’s mouth and causing additional pain. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Zhu in order to ensure the most efficient cutting process possible while limiting patient pain from excess material.
Regarding dependent claim 12, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 further discloses wherein the generating method further comprises:
displaying at least a portion of the dental model (paragraph 0087, “User interface 82 provides a GUI that visually displays the 3D representation of the digital model of teeth.”); WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose as further recited. However, Zhu discloses displaying at least one of the edge cutting line (paragraph 0059, “Any of these methods may include adjusting a trimming line to accommodate the mounting surface in the digital model of the dental appliance including the optimized location of the mounting surface, and/or manufacturing the dental appliance from the digital model of the dental appliance including the optimized location of the mounting surface.”), the attachment (paragraph 0136, “a 3D model of the patient's teeth with any clinical features such as attachments)”), and the orthodontic aligner (Figure 3B, element 362).
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Zhu is directed toward, “Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Zhu are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when cutting a dental appliance, there is a desire for a user to be in agreement with the automated analysis system. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Zhu in order to ensure a user agrees with a displayed edge cutting line so that the cut isn’t automatically made which a user would determine is inaccurate causing the creation and fitting process to restart.
Claim(s) 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘973.
Regarding dependent claim 13, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 discloses wherein the generating method further comprises:
obtaining a first instruction from a user, wherein the first instruction is configured to indicate desired position information of the attachment or desired position information of an orthodontic aligner edge (paragraph 0099, “The dimensions and shapes of a removable dental appliance for the patient may be presented to a user via user interface 82 of computer 80 (506). In examples in which dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance are presented to a user via user interface of 82, the user may have the opportunity to adjust the design constraints or directly adjust the dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance before the design data is sent to computer-aided manufacturing system 84. ”);
WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose wherein generating the edge cutting line based on the second region comprises: generating a first cutting line based on the first instruction and the second region.
However, as shown above WO ‘973 does disclose the acceptance of user input to affect the shape and dimensions of the dental appliance (see paragraph 0099). Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand cutting or trimming of the appliance should be a last step, based on the fact that the cutting of material cannot be undone. Said differently, one would want to ensure the appliance is near completion and to a user’s acceptance before determining where to cut. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate the cutting line after user input and the second region, so that the output is most accurate and acceptable to a user, and further the appliance would not need to be remade to correct an erroneous cutting line.
Claim(s) 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘973 as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 2013/0089828 to Borovinskih (hereinafter Borovinskih).
Regarding dependent claim 14, the rejection of claim 13 is incorporated herein. WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the generating method further comprises:
in response to a second instruction from the user, adjusting the generated first cutting line to a second cutting line, wherein the second instruction is configured to indicate adjustment information of the first cutting line, and the second cutting line is configured to generate a target orthodontic aligner. However, Borovinskih discloses wherein the generating method further comprises:
in response to a second instruction from the user, adjusting the generated first cutting line to a second cutting line (Figure 10, element 97 and 98), wherein the second instruction is configured to indicate adjustment information of the first cutting line, and the second cutting line is configured to generate a target orthodontic aligner (paragraph 0055, “In at least one embodiment, the cutout line may be user-manipulable such that the treating practitioner may redefine a location and/or shape of the cutout line.” paragraph 0124, “One or more user-manipulable nodes may be provided, where the nodes operate to segment the cutout line into a plurality of connected lines having shapes that are user-manipulable. In this embodiment, five nodes are shown. A user may reposition a node such as node 116, whereby repositioning the node may result in the lines to adjacent nodes (e.g., the cutout line between nodes 115 and 116, and the cutout line between nodes 116 and 117) being adjusted.”).
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Borovinskih is directed toward, “An orthodontic positioning device and methods for making an orthodontic positioning device including a first patient removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to a patient's teeth provided in one of an upper jaw and a lower jaw (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Borovinskih are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when cutting a dental appliance, there is a desire for a user to be in agreement with the automated analysis system. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Borovinskih in order to ensure a user maintains control of the cutting line so that the cut isn’t automatically made which a user would determine is inaccurate or wouldn’t agree with causing the creation and fitting process to restart.
Regarding dependent claim 15, the rejection of claim 14 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 further discloses wherein the second instruction is configured to indicate at least one of:
updating position information of the attachment (paragraph 0075, “Modeling software provides a user interface that allows the practitioner to manipulate digital representations of the teeth in 3D space relative to the digital representation of the dental arch of patient 12.” Paragraph 0075, “selecting the dimensions, shapes, and positions of the gingival ridge (e.g., gingival ridges 102) and shells (e.g., shells 108)” paragraph 0079, “ User interface 54 provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that visually displays the 3D representation of the teeth of patient 12. In addition, user interface 54 provides an interface for receiving input from practitioner 60, e.g., via a keyboard and a pointing device, a touchscreen, or the like, for manipulating the teeth of patient 12 within the modeled dental arch.” Paragraph 0083, “ User interface 54 displays the rendered 3D triangular mesh to practitioner 60 and allows practitioner 60 to change viewing perspectives and manipulate objects within the 3D environment.” Paragraph 0099, “The dimensions and shapes of a removable dental appliance for the patient may be presented to a user via user interface 82 of computer 80 (506). In examples in which dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance are presented to a user via user interface of 82, the user may have the opportunity to adjust the design constraints or directly adjust the dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance before the design data is sent to computer-aided manufacturing system 84. ”);
Additionally, Borovinskih discloses an adjustment target position of the first cutting line (paragraph 0055, “In at least one embodiment, the cutout line may be user-manipulable such that the treating practitioner may redefine a location and/or shape of the cutout line.” paragraph 0124, “One or more user-manipulable nodes may be provided, where the nodes operate to segment the cutout line into a plurality of connected lines having shapes that are user-manipulable. In this embodiment, five nodes are shown. A user may reposition a node such as node 116, whereby repositioning the node may result in the lines to adjacent nodes (e.g., the cutout line between nodes 115 and 116, and the cutout line between nodes 116 and 117) being adjusted.”).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand updating parts of an aligner or attachment can effect where the aligner sits in the mouth, and thus the parts that may need to be cut off to not cause discomfort. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Borovinskih to ensure the output aligner cut line is accurate in relation to other features being adjusted.
Claim(s) 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘973, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 2023/0363861 to Qin et al. (hereinafter Qin).
Regarding independent claim 16, WO ‘973 discloses A method (paragraph 0007, “In some examples, a method may include forming a model of dental anatomy ”) for generating an edge cutting line for an orthodontic aligner (paragraph 0102, “In some examples, the 3D model may include indentations or depressions (e.g., relative to a plane of the teeth) to facilitate forming at least one of the shells and the gingival ridges in the thermoformed and trimmed appliance body” … “Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.”), wherein the generating method comprises:
obtaining a dental model corresponding to at least one first tooth (paragraph 0007, “ In some examples, a method may include forming a model of dental anatomy of a patient providing desired positions of a plurality of teeth; and forming, based on the model, a removable dental appliance including an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient, where the appliance body includes a shell shaped to engage a tooth of the plurality of teeth in an initial position of the tooth;”);
in response to a first instruction from a user and the dental model, determining a second region corresponding to an attachment, wherein the attachment is located at least partially on an orthodontic aligner corresponding to at least a portion of the at least one first tooth or an interdental space (paragraph 0075, “Modeling software provides a user interface that allows the practitioner to manipulate digital representations of the teeth in 3D space relative to the digital representation of the dental arch of patient 12.” Paragraph 0075, “selecting the dimensions, shapes, and positions of the gingival ridge (e.g., gingival ridges 102) and shells (e.g., shells 108)” paragraph 0079, “ User interface 54 provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that visually displays the 3D representation of the teeth of patient 12. In addition, user interface 54 provides an interface for receiving input from practitioner 60, e.g., via a keyboard and a pointing device, a touchscreen, or the like, for manipulating the teeth of patient 12 within the modeled dental arch.” Paragraph 0083, “ User interface 54 displays the rendered 3D triangular mesh to practitioner 60 and allows practitioner 60 to change viewing perspectives and manipulate objects within the 3D environment.” Paragraph 0099, “The dimensions and shapes of a removable dental appliance for the patient may be presented to a user via user interface 82 of computer 80 (506). In examples in which dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance are presented to a user via user interface of 82, the user may have the opportunity to adjust the design constraints or directly adjust the dimensions and shapes of the removable dental appliance before the design data is sent to computer-aided manufacturing system 84. ”);
generating an edge cutting line based on the second region (paragraph 0102, “Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.”).
WO ‘973 fails to explicitly disclose as further recited. However, Qin discloses wherein the first instruction is configured to indicate position information of the attachment (paragraph 0040, “ For example, the software may include, as part of the user interface, user-selectable controls (toggles, inputs, etc.) for adding, removing or adjusting the shape, size and/or location of one or more attachment coupling region(s) as part of the mandibular and/or maxillary devices described herein”)
WO ‘973 is directed toward, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” Qin is directed toward, “Methods and apparatuses for retaining or treating a dental arch (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘973 and Qin are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of dental aligner analysis. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand when generating a dental appliance, there is a desire for a user to be in agreement and further in control with the automated analysis system. One of ordinary skill in the art would be aware automated systems are not always accurate, or do not generate the optimal aligner for the treatment of the patient’s specific condition. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Qin in order to ensure a user maintains control of the aligner features so that the output is most in line with the desires of the user.
Regarding dependent claim 17, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘973 further discloses wherein the edge cutting line satisfies at least one of the following:
at least a portion of the edge cutting line is located below a first gingival line;
at least a portion of the edge cutting line intersects with the first gingival line (paragraph 0102, “ Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.” Cutting to form the gingival ridge is read as intersecting with the first gingival line);
at least a portion of the second region is located below the first gingival line;
at least a portion of the second region intersects with the first gingival line;
wherein the first gingival line comprises a gingival line of the at least one first tooth (paragraph 0102, “ Thermoforming removable dental appliance 100 includes trimming excess material from the applicant body to form the shells and the gingival ridges (526). In some examples, trimming may be performed manually or automated by CNC or robotic machinery such as, e.g., end mill or LASER cutter.”), and/or at least a portion of a gingival line of at least one tooth adjacent to the at least one first tooth.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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 closest prior arts of record teach methods of generating aligners for patient orthodontic treatment.
However, none of them alone or in any combination teaches determining a priority of positions where a priority of a first position is lower or equal to a priority of a second position, where the propriety of the position where the attachment is located is related to function information of the attachment, while also the second position is a position where the attachment is when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and an opposing tooth of a first tooth.
The closest prior art being WO ‘973 discloses, “An example removable dental appliance includes an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient (abstract).” WO ‘973 further discloses the presence of attachments (paragraph 0004) and optimizing the aligner features based on user input (paragraph 0079)
However, WO ‘973 fails to disclose determining a priority of positions where a priority of a first position is lower or equal to a priority of a second position, where the propriety of the position where the attachment is located is related to function information of the attachment, while also the second position is a position where the attachment is when there is occlusal interference between the attachment and an opposing tooth of a first tooth.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
U.S. Publication No. 2019/0152152 to O’Leary et al. discloses, “The dental retainer devices can be customized based on patient specific dental anatomy and dental treatment plans. Methods of making the dental retainer devices are also provided (abstract)”
U.S. Patent No. 11,311,352 to Golcher et al. discloses, “An orthodontic bracket that forms a slot for receiving an archwire. The slot extends through the orthodontic bracket along an archwire axis. The slot is delimited in directions radially of the archwire axis by a slot base surface, an opposite slot cover surface and two opposite slot side surfaces (abstract).”
U.S. Patent No. 12,251,287 to Webber discloses, “Systems, methods, and devices for improved orthodontic treatment of a patient's teeth are provided herein. In some aspects, a method for fabricating an orthodontic appliance for treating a patient's teeth is disclosed (abstract).”
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/COURTNEY JOAN NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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