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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, Claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 06/17/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 8-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/17/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Duque et al. (US 20140183244 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 5-7, Duque et al. discloses a staple cartridge (100/158) comprising: an upper surface (184, [0087], figs. 10-16); one or more staples [0077], fig. 7); a cutting element (146) having a cutting blade (178/183); a slot (108) for receiving the cutting element extending in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the staple cartridge ([0077], figs. 7-16);
a shuttle (144) comprising one or more inclined ramps (176, figs. 10-13); and
wherein the cutting element (146) is translatable relative to the shuttle in a direction transverse to the slot from a first position (shuttle 144 moves independently of 146 until contacting protrusions 170 of cutting member 146 figs. 10-12 and cutting member 146 also pivots/translates relative to shuttle fig. 16), wherein at least a portion of the cutting blade protrudes above the upper surface of the stapler cartridge and a second position, wherein the cutting element is disposed below the upper surface of the stapler cartridge (below an upper surface 184 of the cartridge body 158 and into the distal garage 112 [0100-0102]);
wherein the cutting element (146) is axially translatable from the first position to the second position (moves both axially and pivots from a first position to second position at camming portion 182 and also moves down into shuttle recesses 192 from upper cartridge body receptacles 198), wherein the cutting element has an upper surface and wherein the upper surface extends in a first plane in the first position and a second plane in the second position (pivots to from upper plane to lower plane below 184), wherein the first plane is substantially parallel to the second plane and wherein the cutting element is in the first position at a proximal portion of the staple cartridge and the second position at a distal portion of the staple cartridge (“Near the end of the distal travel of the drive member 144, the distal end of the knife member 146 is driven along a cam surface 182 of the cartridge body 158, thereby raising the distal end of the knife member 146 to lower the cutting blade 178 below an upper surface 184 of the cartridge body 158 and into the distal garage 112” [77-0101], figs. 1-16).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
Reasons for Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art of record fails to teach or render obvious a surgical stapling device comprising all the structural and functional limitations and further comprising, amongst other limitations/features, to a staple cartridge with a shuttle having ramps, a knife slot and a knife track reposition a knife member within the knife slot during a second portion of the distal movement of the staple pushing shuttle/staple driver so as to retract the cutting blade below the upper surface of the cartridge wherein the cutting element is translatable relative to the shuttle in a direction transverse to the slot from a first position, wherein at least a portion of the cutting blade protrudes above the upper surface of the stapler cartridge and a second position, wherein the cutting element is disposed below the upper surface of the stapler cartridge and a guide track and the cutting element comprises a guide track engagement feature that extends transversely relative to the slot and is engaged with the guide track. Although Schulze et al. (US 5673840 A) teaches having a guide for the knife, Schulze et al. fails to disclose having the cutting element translatable relative to the shuttle in a direction transverse to the slot from a first position, wherein at least a portion of the cutting blade protrudes above the upper surface of the stapler cartridge and a second position, wherein the cutting element is disposed below the upper surface of the stapler cartridge with a guide track and the cutting element comprises a guide track engagement feature that extends transversely relative to the slot and is engaged with the guide track.. Having the knife guided down a track(s) configured to have the cutting blade retracted into the cartridge body after a stapling operation provides an effective guide for the knife to be in cutting position during use and out of cutting position after use and to have the knife unexposed when a cartridge has been used/spent while in a surgical area provides an effective control of the knife in a surgical area.
While various features of the claimed subject matter are found individually in the prior art, a skilled artisan would have to include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure to combine or modify the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed subject matter, and thus obviousness would not be proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971). There is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine or modify the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention, and thus obviousness would not be proper. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Additional prior art considered pertinent: see form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT LONG whose telephone number is (571)270-3864. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9am-5pm, 8-9pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SHELLEY SELF can be reached at (571) 272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT F LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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