DETAILED ACTION
This is the first office action on the merits in this application. The claims of May 14, 2025, are under consideration. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Buttler et al. (US 8,080,015 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Buttler teaches a process for extracting an orthopedic component (col. 1, lines 20-21; col. 9, lines 26-30) with a dual-purpose orthopedic instrument as at figs. 9A-D , comprising the steps of:
inserting an extractor rod 17d into an externally accessible channel 7d/9d of a weight 2d at an angle offset from a longitudinal axis thereof (see angle of 7d relative to longitudinal axis of 2d, which is considered to be the axis along 9d; rod 17d is taught being a guide means, which guide means can be attached to an implant for insertion/extraction, thereof (col. 10, lines 8-19));
tilting the extractor rod 17d into the externally accessible channel 7d/9d as at fig. 9A until the extractor rod 17d is generally coaxially aligned within the weight 2d along axis of 9d as at figs. 9B-D;
attaching the extractor rod to an orthopedic component (col. 10, lines 8-19);
sliding the weight along at least a portion of the extractor rod (col. 10, lines 8-19); and
creating an impulse sufficient to extract the orthopedic component.
Regarding Claim 2, the creating step includes the step of impacting the weight 2d against an outwardly extending collar formed along a length of the extractor rod 17d (rod 17 can be an ‘extraction rod’ (col. 7,lines 25-30); such a rod is known to include an outwardly extending collar permitting the weight to function in extraction procedures).
Regarding claim 6, the tilting step includes the step of orienting the extractor rod in a predetermined orientation keyed for reception within a receiving channel 7d (the positions of figs. 9A-B are considered to be showing a ‘keyed’ interaction between the rod and the channels).
Regarding claim 7, the process includes the step of passing the extractor rod 17d over a chamfered latch 21 of a self-actuable lock (actuated by the insertion process from fig. 9A to 9B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 8 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.
Claims 9-20 are allowed.
This application is a divisional of US patent 12,521,159. Many of the features which made that application allowable are present in the instant process claims. Search has been conducted reviewing previously identified prior art and additional search has been conducted. No more relevant prior art has been discovered at this time.
Conclusion
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/DAVID W BATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
