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
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Parramon et al (US20180110992A1, hereinafter “Parramon”).
Regarding claim 1, Parramon discloses a method for programming an implantable medical device (IMD) having a plurality of electrodes implantable in a patient's spinal column (par 0080, 0089), the method comprising: causing the IMD to apply a plurality of candidate waveforms to the patient's spinal cord (pars 0075, 0080-0081), wherein each waveform comprises a plurality of sequential pulses (pars 0080, 0094), wherein each pulse comprises a first phase having a first polarity and a second phase having a second polarity opposite of the first polarity (pars 0080-0081, 0085-0086, 0125-0127), wherein the first and second phases are separated by an inter-phase interval, IPI, wherein each of the candidate waveforms has a different IPI (pars 0080-0081, 0085-0086); selecting one of the candidate waveforms for treating the patient based on a determination of effectiveness of each of the candidate waveforms (par 0080-0081, 0083); and programming the IMD with the selected candidate waveform (par 0075, 0083).
Regarding claim 11, Parramon discloses the further comprising determining the plurality of candidate waveforms (pars 0075, 0080-0081).
Regarding claim 12, Parramon discloses determining the plurality of candidate waveforms comprising predicting, based on neural modeling, temporal firing patterns of neural elements evoked by the candidate waveforms (par 0101-0102).
Regarding claim 13, Parramon discloses applying the candidate waveforms comprises using a graphical user interface, GUI to select the candidate waveforms (pars 0072, 0075, 0080-0081).
Regarding claim 14, Parramon discloses the GUI is configured to provide a ranking of the effectiveness of the candidate waveforms (pars 0072, 0076).
Regarding claim 15, Parramon discloses the GUI is configured to provide an indication of an expected physiological and/or clinical effect associated with the stimulation program using the candidate waveforms (par 0072, 0076).
Regarding claim 16, Parramon discloses the second phase is actively driven (pars 0080-0081, 0085-0086, 0125-0127).
Regarding claim 18, Parramon discloses a neuromodulation system comprising: an external device for programming an implantable medical device IMD (pars 0080-0081), wherein the IMD comprises a plurality of electrodes implantable in a patient's spinal column (par 0080, 0089), and wherein the external device comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions (pars 0080-0081), which when executed by the external device configure the external device to: cause the IMD to apply a plurality of candidate waveforms to the patient's spinal cord (pars 0075, 0080-0081), wherein each waveform comprises a plurality of sequential pulses (pars 0080, 0094), wherein each pulse comprises a first phase having a first polarity and a second phase having a second polarity opposite of the first polarity (pars 0080-0081, 0085-0086, 0125-0127), wherein the first and second phases are separated by an inter-phase interval, IPI, wherein each of the candidate waveforms has a different IPI (pars 0080-0081, 0085-0086); select one of the candidate waveforms for treating the patient based on a determination of effectiveness of each of the candidate waveforms (par 0080-0081, 0083); and program the IMD with the selected candidate waveform (par 0075, 0083).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10, 17, 19, and 20 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
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Lindsey G Wehrheim
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3799
/LINDSEY G WEHRHEIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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