P3 Program Successfully Used to Advance Prosecution

November, 10th, 2016

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

WHIPgroup was successful in using the Post-Prosecution Pilot (P3) Program to advance prosecution of an application for a medical manipulator system having a controller that limits use of a medical instrument when a usage count reaches a preset limit. The claims were rejected based on a combination of four references, and WHIPgroup argued the prior art did not disclose a controller that allows a working unit to continue to operate until a preset time. The panel was persuaded and issued a decision stating the claims were allowable. A notice of allowance is expected in due course.