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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt is acknowledged of Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS), filed 06 January 2026, which have been placed of record in the file. An initialed, signed, and dated copy of each PTO-1449 or PTO-SB-08 form is attached to the Office action.
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of a preliminary amendment, filed 09 January 2026, which has been placed of record and entered in the file.
Status of the claims:
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 7-20 are new.
Specification and Drawings:
Amendments to the specification have not been submitted in the amendment filed 09 January 2026.
Amendments to the drawings have been submitted in the amendment filed 09 January 2026.
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 1-13, and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoon (U.S. Patent No. 5,833,695).
With respect to claim 1, Yoon discloses a stapler cartridge reload assembly comprising: a staple retainer comprising a first side and a second side opposite the first side (tubular elongate body 382, top and bottom inner surfaces of body 382 are opposite to each other, fig. 25); a first reload cartridge body removably coupled to the first side of the staple retainer (staple cartridge 30 includes cartridge body 36 removably coupled to upper inner surface of body 382, figs. 1, 25, col. 5, l. 17-23); and a second reload cartridge body removably coupled to the second side of the staple retainer (staple cartridge 30 includes cartridge body 38 removably coupled to lower inner surface of body 382, figs. 1, 25, col. 5, l. 17-23).
With respect to claim 2, Yoon discloses the staple retainer comprises a handling portion configured to be grasped by a user and extending from an end portion of the staple retainer (handle 414, fig. 30).
With respect to claim 3, Yoon discloses the handling portion comprises laterally opposed gripping members (handle 414 includes laterally opposed outer edges to be gripped by the user, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 4, Yoon discloses the staple retainer comprises one or more retention features configured to removably couple the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body to the staple retainer (cap 392 includes flaps restraining the staple cartridge 30, figs. 25-27, col. 12, l. 5-50).
With respect to claim 5, Yoon discloses the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body are each configured to be retained in opposing jaws of a stapler instrument (cartridge 36 is retained in jaw 222, cartridge 38 is retained in jaw 224, fig. 30).
With respect to claim 6, Yoon discloses the staple retainer is configured to disengage from the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body after the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body are retained in the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument (flaps of cap 392 permit cartridge 36 and cartridge 38 to exit the tube 382 as cartridge 36 and cartridge 38 are retained in the jaws 222, 224, cartridges are at least partially retained in the jaws when the tube is disengaged, figs. 28-30).
With respect to claim 7, Yoon discloses the handling portion comprises a paddle-shaped portion extending from the end portion of the staple retainer (handle 390 is paddle-shaped, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 8, Yoon discloses the laterally opposed gripping members are on respective side walls at opposite edges of the paddle-shape portion (opposed outer edges of handle 414 are on respective side walls of rod 408 and adjacent opposite edges of handle 390, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 9, Yoon discloses the laterally opposed gripping members extend generally perpendicularly to the paddle-shaped portion of the handling portion (opposed outer edges of handle 414 extend perpendicularly to bottom surface of handle 390, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 10, Yoon discloses each of the laterally opposed gripping members comprise one or more surface features to facilitate grasping of the gripping members (opposed outer edges of handle 414 include a continuous surface, handle 414 includes a proximally facing surface, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 11, Yoon discloses the one or more surface features is at least one of a surface texture and a concave surface profile (handle 390, paddle shaped surface includes a concave surface profile, fig. 16).
With respect to claim 12, Yoon discloses the one or more retention features comprise protrusions or detents (flaps of cap 392 comprise protrusions when bent outwardly to permit cartridge 30 to exit, figs. 25-27, col. 12, l. 5-50).
With respect to claim 13, Yoon discloses the one or more retention features comprise tabs (the flaps of cap 392 comprise tabs, fig. 27).
With respect to claim 15, Yoon discloses the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body have different configurations from each other (cartridge body 36 does not include staples, cartridge body 38 includes staples, fig. 1).
With respect to claim 16, Yoon discloses a method of installing a first reload cartridge body and a second reload cartridge body in a stapler instrument (staple cartridge 30 includes cartridge body 36 and cartridge body 38 installed in jaws 222, 224 of surgical stapler 210, fig. 16, col. 9, l. 40-52), the method comprising: inserting a staple retainer between opposing jaws of the stapler instrument (tubular elongate body 382 is inserted within proximal portion 220 between jaws 222, 224, fig. 28), wherein the first reload cartridge body and the second reload cartridge body are coupled to opposing sides of the staple retainer (staple cartridge 30 includes cartridge body 36 removably coupled to upper inner surface of body 382, and cartridge body 38 removably coupled to lower inner surface of body 382, figs. 1, 25, col. 5, l. 17-23); engaging the first reload cartridge body with a first jaw of the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument (cartridge body 36 engaged with jaw 222, fig. 30); engaging the second reload cartridge body with a second jaw of the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument (cartridge body 38 engaged with jaw 224, fig. 30); and removing the staple retainer while maintaining the first reload cartridge body engaged with the first jaw and maintaining the second reload cartridge body engaged with the second jaw (the elongate tubular body 382 is removed from the cartridge bodies 36, 38 by action of advancing rod 408, fig. 30, col. 12, l. 31-50, col. 13, l. 30-53).
With respect to claim 17, Yoon discloses inserting the staple retainer between the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument further comprises positioning the staple retainer using a handling portion of the staple retainer (depressing handle 414 positions the elongate tubular body 382 and the cartridge bodies 36, 38 with respect to each other, fig. 30).
With respect to claim 18, Yoon discloses engaging the first reload cartridge body with the first jaw and the second reload cartridge body with the second jaw comprises moving the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument toward each other (opposing jaws 222, 225 move toward each other with cartridge body 36 and cartridge body 38 therebetween, fig. 17).
With respect to claim 19, Yoon discloses removing the staple retainer comprises moving the opposing jaws of the stapler instrument away from each other after respectively engaging the first reload cartridge body with the first jaw and the second reload cartridge body with the second jaw (jaws 222, 224 with cartridge bodies 36, 38 therebetween move from a closed position to an open position to capture tissue, figs. 30, 17).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Jasemian et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2017/0290584).
With respect to claim 14, Yoon fail to disclose the one or more retention features comprise one or more protrusions on one of the first and second reload cartridge bodies or the staple retainer and one or more detents on the other of the first and second reload cartridge bodies or the staple retainer, the one or more detents and the one or more protrusions are configured to mate.
Jasemian et al. disclose in a similar system that it is old and well known to provide protrusions (retention tabs 512, fig. 12) that mate with detents (retention recesses 214) to retain a staple cartridge on a jaw.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the Yoon device to include protrusions and detents as taught by Jasemian et al. in order to releasably secure the cartridge bodies to the jaws. In this instance, a skilled artisan would have recognized that the provision of protrusions and detents from the Jasemian et al. device to the Yoon device involves no more than the predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions, and that one of ordinary skill in the art could have provided the known element and the results would have been predictable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to disclose or teach the method of claim 16, wherein: engagement between the first reload cartridge body and the first jaw exerts a force on the first reload cartridge body greater than a retention force between the first reload cartridge body and the staple retainer; and engagement between the second reload cartridge body and the second jaw exerts a force on the second reload cartridge body greater than a retention force between the second reload cartridge body and the staple retainer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Woodard et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2014/0158741) disclose an applicator for fasteners (figs. 23A, 23B).
Shelton et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2018/0235617) disclose a buttress applicator (fig. 8).
Green et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5,156,614) and Hessler (U.S. Patent No. 8,827,136) disclose cartridges retained in upper and lower staple jaws.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Linda J. Hodge whose telephone number is (571)272-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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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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/LINDA J. HODGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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