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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Heisler (U.S. Publication 2010/0198242).
Heisler discloses a device (for example see Figures 2-14) comprising:
(claim 1) a shaving burr (100) including:
(claim 1) an inner assembly (12) having
(claim 1) an inner hub (16) with
(claim 1) an inner tube (14) extending distally from the inner hub
(claim 1) wherein the inner tube terminates in a distal bur tip (18, 19, 20, etc.; a broadest reasonable interpretation of the term “bur” is a small surgical cutting tool (as for making an opening in bone (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bur))
(claim 1) an outer assembly (2) having
(claim 1) an outer hub (6) with
(claim 1) an outer tube (4) extending distally from the outer hub
(claim 1) wherein the inner tube is within the outer tube
(claim 1) aa deployment mechanism (paragraph 24) connected to the outer hub
(claim 3) wherein the deployment mechanism is a disk rotatable in a first direction and a second direction (30 and 50; for example see paragraphs 28 and 57)
Heisler discloses a method of using the device discussed above comprising:
(claim 1) providing the shaving bur
(claim 1) moving the deployment mechanism in a first direction causing the distal burr tip to extend from the outer tube (for example see paragraphs 64-65; the axial motion of the inner shaft caused by the rotation of the deployment mechanism in either direction extends the distal bur tip to extend into the opening of the outer tube, i.e. extend from the outer tube)
(claim 1) resecting bone with the distal bur tip (paragraph 77)
(claim 2) moving the deployment mechanism in a second direction cause the distal bur tip to be retracted into the outer tube (for example see paragraph 28; the axial motion of the inner shaft caused by the rotation of the deployment mechanism in either direction retracts the distal bur tip to retract from the opening of the outer tube, i.e. retract into the outer tube)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 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 for cited references the examiner felt were relevant to the application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nicholas Woodall whose telephone number is (571) 272-5204. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am to 5:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Truong, at (571. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NICHOLAS W WOODALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3775
Prosecution Insights