Another Pre-Appeal Brief Win

January, 25th, 2017

Categories: Blog, News Tags: patent, USPTO, whipgroup

WHIPgroup attorneys were again successful in using the Pre-Appeal program to advance prosecution. The invention is directed to an arrangement having a medical instrument and a manipulator that can be releasably connected to one another via a hook/eyelet connection. A Final Office Action rejected the claims as obvious over a number of prior art references. WHIPgroup attorneys filed a Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review and argued that the hypothetical combination would be inoperable. A Panel was persuaded by WHIPgroup’s arguments and issued a decision reversing the Examiner’s rejections.