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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 5, filed 15 Sep 2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections of 18 Jun 2026 have been withdrawn in view of the amended claims.
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 5-7, filed 15 Sep 2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 rejections of 18 Jun 2026 have been withdrawn in view of the amended claims.
Examiner’s Comments
For a compact prosecution, Examiner proposed Examiner’s amendment (see attached Interview Summary) to overcome following claim objection and 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections and place the instant application in condition for allowance. However, Applicant needed further time to consider the proposed Examiner’s amendment. See the attached Interview Summary.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-7, 10-11, and 13 are currently under examination. Claims 8-9, 12, and 14 have been cancelled since the Non-Final Office Action of 18 Jun 2026.
Claim Objection
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informality:
“the only one first component” should read “the only one component”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-7, 10-11, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a liquid adhesive that comprises only one component comprising a fibrinogen, wherein the adhesive is free of thrombin and the only component reacts with the resorbable magnesium alloy to harden without the addition of thrombin or another component”. First, the metes and bounds of the claim is unclear particularly in view of “comprising only one component a fibrinogen” are unclear. The terms “comprises” do not limit the component of the adhesive to “only one component” yet fibrinogen is being recited to be the “only one component” of the adhesive. See MPEP 2111.03. Second, “only one component comprising fibrinogen” recites broad and narrow ranges in the same claim. A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c). In the present instance, claim 1 recites the broad recitation “only one component”, and the claim also recites “fibrinogen” which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims. Lastly, the antecedent basis for “the addition” is unclear. Claims 2-7, 10-11, and 13 inherit the deficiency by the nature of their dependency on claim 1. For the purposes of examination, the limitation is being given a broadest reasonable interpretation as “a liquid adhesive that consists of fibrinogen, wherein the adhesive is free of thrombin and the fibrinogen reacts with the resorbable magnesium alloy to harden without any addition of thrombin or another component”.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “wherein the only one component is applied together via a cannula”. It is unclear what is being applied “together” with the “only one component”, when “only one component” is being applied. For the purposes of examination, the limitation is being given a broadest reasonable interpretation as “wherein the adhesive is applied via a cannula”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7, 10-11, and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
When the claims are considered as a whole, prior arts do not disclose, neither individually nor in combination, at least gluing an X-ray marker into an opening of a vascular implant that is made of a resorbable magnesium alloy with a liquid adhesive that consist of fibrinogen, wherein the adhesive is free of thrombin and the fibrinogen reacts with the resorbable magnesium alloy to harden without any additional component. In particular, Dugan et al. (US PG Pub No. 2007/0156230), a prior art previously made of record discloses gluing an X-ray marker into a vascular implant that is made of a resorbable material ([0039]-[0042]: stent of a biodegradable polymer) with a liquid fibrin glue ([0071], [0073]: fibrin glue, which is known in the art to comprise fibrinogen and thrombin; see Non-Final Office Action of 18 Jun 2026). Additionally, O’Neill (US PG Pub No. 2013/0325059), another prior art previously made of record, discloses a liquid adhesive comprising fibrinogen and thrombin, wherein the fibrinogen and the thrombin are combined to form the adhesive ([0013], [0042]-[0043]). However, neither Dugan et al. nor O’Neill discloses at least a liquid adhesive consisting of only fibrinogen and allowing the fibrinogen to react with magnesium alloy in adhering an X-ray marker to the magnesium alloy.
The technical advantage of the claimed invention is “Surprisingly, it has been found that an adhesive which only has the first component reacts with metals, such as magnesium, and hardens even without the addition of thrombin or the second component, which considerably simplifies the application or processing of the adhesive … By the adhesive according to the invention, there is the possibility of avoiding non-resorbable adhesives, such as for example, NUSIL MED 2-4213, or of minimizing their use” ([0021]-[0022] of the specification of the instant application).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Younhee Choi whose telephone number is (571)272-7013. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Y.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3797
/ANHTUAN T NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
09/30/26
