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 and A in the reply filed on 5/19/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 3, 4, 12 and 13 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 5/19/2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the third screw in the second vertebra required in claims 9 and 18 (it is noted all figures show the 3rd screw in the third vertebra a maybe a typo in the claims) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 10 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3 of each claim the line should end with a semicolon. Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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, 8-11 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Beale et al. (US Pub 2016/0270772).
With respect to claim 1, Beale discloses a method of manipulating a patient during surgery (fig 1E and 2G below) to achieve one or more surgical objectives, the method comprising: supporting the patient on a patient-positioning system (paragraph 83, dynamic surgical table system disclosed in US patent 7,234,180); accessing a spine of the patient from a posterior approach to provide a posterior surgical pathway (Fig 1E, I1); accessing the spine of the patient from a lateral approach to provide a lateral surgical pathway (fig 1E, I3) ;first performing a first compression or decompression objective by (1) manipulating a first vertebra and an adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (paragraph 183, decompression), (2) determining if the first compression or decompression objective is acceptable using at least one of visual inspection and radiographic image review (paragraph 183 (visualization), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first compression or decompression objective; second performing a first alignment objective by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (paragraph 179 rotate and/or derotate vertebral bodies), (2) determining if the first alignment objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 183 also paragraph 81, intra-operative imaging)) , and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first alignment objective; third performing a first stabilization objective by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (paragraph 103), (2) determining if the first stabilization objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first stabilization objective; fourth performing a second compression or decompression objective (paragraph 170, used on a plurality of vertebral levels) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and an adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (paragraph 183), (2) determining if the second compression or decompression objective is acceptable using at least one of visual inspection and radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second compression or decompression objective; fifth performing a second alignment objective (paragraph 170 , plurality of levels) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and the adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway ((paragraph 179, rotate/ derotate), (2) determining if the second alignment objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second alignment objective; and sixth performing a second stabilization objective (paragraph 170 performed on multiple levels) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and the adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (fig 2C), (2) determining if the first stabilization objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second stabilization objective; wherein the access to the first and second vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (abstract); and wherein the access to the second and third vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (abstract and paragraph 170). With respect to claim 2, Beale discloses wherein the performing of the first compression or decompression objective by manipulating the first and second vertebrae includes at least one of (1) manipulating the first and second vertebrae with surgical instruments (paragraph 179, manipulation instruments), and (2) articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system (paragraph 83, using a dynamic table). With respect to claim 8, Beale discloses further comprising: attaching a first bone screw (fig 2C, D10) to a first posterior portion of the first vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; attaching a second bone screw to a second posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway (paragraph 127, delivered d10 to a second device); and attaching a spinal rod to the first bone screw (paragraph 103) with a first lock (engages the threads in the tulip), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first bone screw, and after the performing of the first compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the second bone screw using a second lock to facilitate the performing of the first alignment objective and the first stabilization objective (paragraph 103). With respect to claim 9, Beale discloses further comprising: attaching a third bone screw (paragraph 127, inserting D30 into the second vertebrae)(if this is a typographical error and this is supposed to read the third vertebra, paragraph 170 discloses performing the procedure on multiple vertebral levels) to a third posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; and attaching the spinal rod (paragraph 103) to the third bone screw with a third lock (threaded opening in the tulip in fig 2G), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first and second bone screws, and after the performing of the second compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the third bone screw using a third lock to facilitate the performing of the second alignment objective and the second stabilization objective.
With respect to claim 10, Beale discloses a method of manipulating a patient during surgery (See fig 1E and 2G below) to achieve one or more surgical objectives, the method comprising: supporting the patient on a patient-positioning system (paragraph 83, dynamic table); accessing a spine of the patient from a posterior approach to provide a posterior surgical pathway (fig 1E, I1); accessing the spine of the patient from a lateral approach to provide a lateral surgical pathway (fig 1E, I3); first performing a first compression or decompression objective (paragraph 183) by (1) manipulating a first vertebra and an adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first compression or decompression objective is acceptable using at least one of visual inspection and radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first compression or decompression objective; second performing a first alignment objective (paragraph 179, rotate/ derotate) by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first alignment objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first alignment objective; and third performing a first stabilization objective (paragraph 103 and fig 2G) by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first stabilization objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first stabilization objective; fourth performing a second compression or decompression objective (paragraph 170, multiple levels and paragraph 183) between the second vertebra and an adjacent third vertebra; fifth performing a second alignment objective (paragraph 170, multiple levels and paragraph 179) between the second vertebra and the third vertebra ;and sixth performing a second stabilization objective on the second vertebra and the third vertebra (paragraph 103 and 127, fixation screws in multiple levels); wherein the access to the first and second vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (abstract); and wherein the access to the second and third vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (abstract and paragraph 170). With respect to claim 11, Beale discloses wherein the performing of the first compression or decompression objective by manipulating the first and second vertebrae includes at least one of (1) manipulating the first and second vertebrae with surgical instruments (fig 1E and paragraph 179, manipulation tools), and (2) articulating the patient on the patient- positioning system (using dynamic table paragraph 83). With respect to claim 71, Beale discloses further comprising: attaching a first bone screw (fig 2G, D10) to a first posterior portion of the first vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; attaching a second bone screw (paragraph 127) to a second posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; and attaching a spinal rod to the first bone screw with a first lock (paragraph 103), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first bone screw, and after the performing of the first compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the second bone screw using a second lock (fig 2G) to facilitate the performing of the first alignment objective and the first stabilization objective. With respect to claim 18, Beale discloses further comprising: attaching a third bone screw (fig 2G, D30) to a third posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; and attaching the spinal rod (paragraph 103) to the third bone screw with a third lock (see fig 2G below), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first and second bone screws, and after the performing of the second compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the third bone screw using a third lock to facilitate the performing of the second alignment objective and the second stabilization objective.
With respect to claim 19, Beale discloses a method (see figs 1E and 2G below) of manipulating a patient during surgery to achieve one or more surgical objectives, the method comprising: supporting the patient on a patient-positioning system (paragraph 83 dynamic table); accessing a spine of the patient from a posterior approach to provide a posterior surgical pathway (fig 1E, I1) ; accessing the spine of the patient from a lateral approach to provide a lateral surgical pathway (fig 1E, I3); first performing a first compression or decompression objective (paragraph 183) by (1) manipulating a first vertebra and an adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway via manipulating the first and second vertebrae with surgical instruments (paragraph 179) and articulation of the patient-positioning system (paragraph 83), (2) determining if the first compression or decompression objective is acceptable using at least one of visual inspection and radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first compression or decompression objective; second performing a first alignment (paragraph 179)objective by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first alignment objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first alignment objective; third performing a first stabilization objective by (1) manipulating the first vertebra and the adjacent second vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (paragraph 103), (2) determining if the first stabilization objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the first stabilization objective; fourth performing a second compression or decompression objective (paragraphs 170 and 183, performed on multiple levels) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and an adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway via manipulating the first and second vertebrae with surgical instruments (paragraph 179) and articulation of the patient-positioning system (paragraph 83, dynamic table), (2) determining if the first compression or decompression objective is acceptable using at least one of visual inspection and radiographic image review (paragraph 81, intraoperative imaging), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second compression or decompression objective; fifth performing a second alignment objective (paragraph 170 and 179, multiple levels to perform the rotation) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and the adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first alignment objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second alignment objective; and sixth performing a second stabilization objective (paragraph 170 and fig 2G) by (1) manipulating the second vertebra and the adjacent third vertebra via access thereto from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway, (2) determining if the first stabilization objective is acceptable using the at least one of the visual inspection and the radiographic image review (paragraph 81), and (3) if not, repeating the performing of the second stabilization objective; wherein the access to the first and second vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (Abstract); and wherein the access to the second and third vertebrae occurs simultaneously from the posterior surgical pathway and the lateral surgical pathway (abstract and paragraph 170). With respect to claim 20, Beale discloses further comprising: attaching a first bone screw (fig 2G, D10) to a first posterior portion of the first vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; attaching a second bone screw (fig 2G, D10 and paragraph 127) to a second posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; attaching a third bone screw (fig 2G, D30 and paragraph 127) to a third posterior portion of the second vertebra via the posterior surgical pathway; attaching a spinal rod (paragraph 103) to the first bone screw with a first lock (fig 2G below), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first bone screw, and after the performing of the first compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the second bone screw using a second lock (fig 2G below) to facilitate the performing of the first alignment objective and the first stabilization objective; and attaching the spinal rod to the third bone screw with a third lock (fig 2G below), and after attachment of the spinal rod to the first and second bone screws, and after the performing of the second compression or decompression objective attaching the spinal rod to the third bone screw using a third lock to facilitate the performing of the second alignment objective and the second stabilization objective (paragraph 103).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 (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 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(s) 5-7 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beale et al. (US Pub 2016/0270772) in view of Horton et al. (US Patent 7,234,180).
With respect to claims 5-7 and 14-16, Beale discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes rotating a longitudinal beam portion of the patient-positioning system to rotate the patient between prone, supine, and/or lateral positions, wherein the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes shortening or lengthening the longitudinal beam to correspondingly compress or decompress portions of the spine of the patient wherein the patient is supported on at least a thorax-support portion and a pelvic-support portion, and the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes adjusting portions of the thorax-support portion and the pelvic-support portion to provide access to a lateral portion of the patient.
Horton which Beale incorporates by reference discloses articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes rotating a longitudinal beam portion of the patient-positioning system to rotate the patient between prone, supine, and/or lateral positions (col. 3, ll. 47-50), wherein the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes shortening or lengthening (col. 10, ll. 18-25) the longitudinal beam to correspondingly compress or decompress portions of the spine of the patient wherein the patient is supported on at least a thorax-support portion (fig 2, 80) and a pelvic-support portion (fig 2, 136), and the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes adjusting portions of the thorax-support portion and the pelvic-support portion to provide access to a lateral portion of the patient (col. 11, ll. 15-20) to support the patient’s body and minimize the stress to the patient (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Beale to include wherein the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes rotating a longitudinal beam portion of the patient-positioning system to rotate the patient between prone, supine, and/or lateral positions, wherein the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes shortening or lengthening the longitudinal beam to correspondingly compress or decompress portions of the spine of the patient wherein the patient is supported on at least a thorax-support portion and a pelvic-support portion, and the articulating the patient on the patient-positioning system includes adjusting portions of the thorax-support portion and the pelvic-support portion to provide access to a lateral portion of the patient in view of Horton in order to support the patient’s body and minimize the stress to the patient.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20050081865 A1 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20180177658 A1 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20150272681 A1 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20160000468 A1 discloses a method for manipulation of a patient including a compression/decompression, alignment and stabilization steps on progressive adjacent levels of a vertebra
US 20220040021 A1 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20180125598 A1 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20220192712 A1 discloses a method for manipulation of a patient including a compression/decompression, alignment and stabilization steps on progressive adjacent levels of a vertebra
US 20210068863 A1 discloses a method of manipulation using multiple approaches
US 8147524 B2 discloses a method for manipulation of a patient including a compression/decompression, alignment and stabilization steps on progressive adjacent levels of a vertebra
US 12575991 B2 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 9744087 B2 discloses a patient support system for spinal surgery
US 20180008253 A1 discloses a method for manipulation of a patient including a compression/decompression, alignment and stabilization steps on progressive adjacent levels of a vertebra using multiple approaches
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN J COTRONEO whose telephone number is (571)270-7388. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
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/S.J.C/Examiner, Art Unit 3773 /EDUARDO C ROBERT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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