DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 22 January 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 21, 22, 26, 27, 40-42 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Harper (US 2009/0247857) in view of Rud (US 2010/0177800).
Regarding claim 21, Harper discloses an analyte monitoring device, comprising:
an analyte sensor including an in vivo portion configured for fluid contact with a bodily fluid under a skin layer, the analyte sensor configured to monitor an analyte level in the bodily fluid and generate one or more signals associated with the monitored analyte level (element 101); and
electronics including a power source (element 207), a sensor interface section (element 201) and a temperature detection circuit (element 203). Harper does not disclose details of the temperature detection circuit, such as it comprising a current source; first and second switches each having closed and open states; a reference resistor; a component configured as a thermistor or a resistive thermal device (RTD); and a node connected to ground between the reference resistor and the component, where the first switch is electrically connected in series with the reference resistor along a first electrical path that extends from the current source to the node while the switch is closed, and wherein the second switch is electrically connected in series with the component along a second path that extends from the current to the node while the switch is closed. Rud teaches a temperature detection circuit comprising a current source (element 24); first and second switches (element 30, see paragraphs [0014], [0015], where switches inherently have at least closed and open states); a reference resistor (element 34); a component configured as a thermistor or a resistive thermal device (RTD) (element 32); and a node between the resistor and RTD (element 36), wherein the first switch is electrically connected in series with the reference resistor along a first electrical path extending from the current source to the node when the first switch is closed and the second switch is electrically connected in series along a second electrical path extending from the current source to the node when the second switch is closed (the internal components of element 30 provide switching that is connected in series to each of the resistor and RTD via separate electrical paths – see figure 1).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have made the system of Harper with the temperature detection circuit including a current source, a reference resistor, an RTD, and a node, with switches creating first and second electrical paths from the current source to the reference resistor and component respectively when those switches are closed, as taught by Rud, in order to enable operation as Harper does not disclose any details of construction of this component and Rud teaches a useful sensor circuit for sensing temperature in its environs.
Rud further teaches the device being connected to ground (paragraph [0033]), but does not specifically call for a node connected to ground between the reference resistor and the component; however, it would have been a mere matter of design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have placed the connection to ground between the reference resistor and the component, since Applicant has not disclosed use of this particular location as providing a particular advantage, solving a stated problem, or serving a different purpose than that of the grounding in Rud’s device. Moreover, it appears that providing a node to ground at either location in the system would perform equally well to ground the system. As such, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have made the device of Harper and Rud, with a node connected to ground between the reference resistor and the component, because such a modification would have been considered a mere design consideration that fails to patentably distinguish over Harper and Rud.
Regarding claim 22, Harper further discloses that the temperature detection circuit is configured to measure skin temperature (paragraph [0053]).
Regarding claim 26, Harper further discloses that the electronics are configured to measure and store values of its inputs (paragraph [0050]); as modified this would include a value of a resistance of the reference resistor.
Regarding claim 27, Rud’s reference resistor is electrically connected in parallel with the component (figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to make the system of Harper, as modified by Rud, with the reference resistor connected in parallel with the component, as further taught by Rud, in order to allow separate measurements from these devices (Rud paragraph [0014], [0015]).
Regarding claim 40, Rud further teaches a multiplexer (another function of element 30) and an analog-to-digital converter (element 26, see paragraph [0015]), wherein the first and second paths are electrically connected to the analog-to-digital converter through the multiplexer (figure 1, element 40), wherein the analog-to-digital converter is configured to convert a voltage across the first and second paths from analog to digital (paragraph [0015]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have made the system of Harper, as modified above, and further included a multiplexer and analog-to-digital converter in the electronics, as further taught by Rud, in order to allow conversion and subsequent transmission of sensed signals.
Regarding claim 41, Harper further discloses that the analyte is glucose (paragraph [0032]).
Regarding claim 42, Harper further discloses that the analyte is glucose (paragraph [0032]).
Claim 23 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Harper, as modified and applied above, and further in view of Hayter (US 2011/0184265).
Regarding claim 23, Harper does not disclose the electronics further comprising an internal temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature internal to an integrated circuit of the analyte monitoring device. Hayter teaches a similar analyte measurement device (paragraph [0008]) which includes an internal temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature internal to an integrated circuit of the device (paragraph [0010]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have made the device of Harper, as modified above, with an internal temperature sensor, as taught by Hayter, in order to ensure the internal circuitry is not malfunctioning.
Claim 25 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Harper, as modified and applied above, and further in view of Maxedon (US 5143452).
Regarding claim 25, Harper further discloses that the power source is a battery (paragraph [0048]); Rud teaches that the current source can be any type of current source but does not that the current source is a resistor current source, an active current source, or an inductor type current source. Maxedon teaches a current source for a temperature detection circuit (column 1, lines 45-56), where that current source may be a resistor current source (column 2, lines 53-57). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have made the system of Harper, as modified above, using a resistor current source, as taught by Maxedon, as Rud does not specify a preferred type of current source and Maxedon teaches that such a source is useful in a temperature detection circuit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 22 January 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the art rejections, Applicant argues that Rudd “seeks to concurrently pass current through both the RTD and reference resistor at the same time” and “as such, Rud does not require switches along electrical paths as set forth” in the claims. The Examiner notes that relative operation of the switches is not found in any limitation of the invention as claimed so long as the recited physical structure of the circuit as described is present. No comment is made upon Applicant’s assertion of how Rud operates when that is not reflected by any claim language and the physical structure of Rud’s plurality of switches, when closed, result in both paths of components as described. No part of the invention as claimed precludes both paths existing at the same time. Applicant’s assertion that the switches of the switch/MUX do not exist is entirely unpersuasive. Applicant continues by asserting that Rud’s switch/MUX “can be accomplished by a single switch”; as it is not disclosed as being such, this general assumption of an undisclosed structure is moot.
Conclusion
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/KAREN E TOTH/Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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