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 .
Response to Amendment
Claims 25-26 were previously rejected for indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and have been amended; Examiner accordingly withdraws the prior rejections of claims 25-26 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claims 8 and 25 have been amended. Claims 27-29 have been added. Claims 1-8, 10-13, and 15-29 are pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-8, 15-17, and 25-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaud et al. (US 20200306445, henceforth Michaud) in view of Fischell et al. (US 20110054334, henceforth Fischell), Stuart et al. (Stuart, M., Turman, A.B., Shaw, J. et al. Effects of aging on vibration detection thresholds at various body regions. BMC Geriatr 3, 1 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-3-1 (Year: 2003), henceforth Stuart), and Olivas et al. (US 20190060562, henceforth Olivas).
Regarding claim 1, Michaud discloses a medical system (pump system 100, fig. 2A, and remote control device of [0008]) comprising: a skin-mountable medical device (pump system 100, fig. 2A; Examiner notes that this is skin mountable because, as noted in [0048], “Site connector 146 can be configured to be attached to an infusion site on a user, while pump 102 can be carried in a separate location, such as … on the user's body.” Since it says on the user’s body and a part of the system is mounted to the skin, it is skin-mountable as claimed) having an activatable tactile indicator (see [0059], pump 102 vibrates; this is an activatable tactile indicator); a user interface (the remote control device has a display which is a user interface, [0007]-[0008]) configured to receive information (see [0007] and [0008], the remote control and display thereof is configured to receive information where a user can use the display to input information regarding device configurations and statuses as needed; see also [0054]-[0055]); a processor (pump 102 has a processor, [0049]; the remote control device of [0008] also has a processor such as to be able to communicate and run its software as in [0051]; these processors work in concert in two-way communication as in [0049] and [0051]) configured to determine an active control pattern (see [0053] and [0055], the active control pattern is the sequence of vibrations desired) associated with the information (see [0053] and [0055]) and to control activation of the tactile indicator in accordance with the active control pattern (see [0053] and [0055]; the vibrations are of the pump and are controlled by the processors) to thereby provide indication information to the user (see [0053] and [0055]-[0059]; this indication is controlled by device 100 where device 100 has the firmware which allows for the vibrations; the claimed indication information is the information conveyed as a particular notification as disclosed; note also that the particular vibration is specific to a particular alert as in [0008]).
Michaud does not disclose changing the intensity of the vibration for the needs of the particular patient. Fischell teaches the use of multiple intensities of vibrations to deliver alarms (see [0098], [0101], claim 10). Fischell also teaches that some patients have differing levels of sensitivities to vibrations which can cause missed notifications or an inability to determine a particular pattern of vibrations (see [0006] and [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added a feature to the device of Michaud which allows for changing of the vibration intensity as needed for the particular user as this would mitigate missed alerts and would allow for particular types of alarms or certain patterns of alarms to be noticed more easily ([0006], [0008], [0098]). This is then a determination of the active control pattern as claimed because the active control pattern is the vibration sequence which is being modified based on the calibrated values.
Michaud as modified by Fischell discloses that the device can be attached to the user’s body in multiple locations (Brown et al., US 20120123230, which is incorporated by reference into Michaud at [0108], discloses that “The proximal housing 12 may be affixed to the patient's body 34 in a convenient location such as the underside of the upper arm, abdomen, etc. via an adhesive component” [0023] – in the disclosure of Michaud, this would be incorporated to mean that the pump 102 can be positioned in various places about the body of the user where it vibrates to provide notifications).
Michaud as modified by Fischell does not disclose that the information used for determination of the activation control pattern is location information associated with a location on a user’s body where the device shall be mounted. Stuart teaches that the thresholds for detecting vibration varies depending on the region of the body where the vibration is applied to the body (See Figure 1, pg. 4, the different regions where stimuli were applied had different amplitudes of vibrations required for the sensation threshold across different frequencies).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included information associated with a location on a user’s body where the skin-mountable medical device shall be mounted into the configuration information which is used for the setting of vibration intensity for the patient since the desired vibration intensity would change depending on the device’s mounting location since the ability to sense vibration (and thus vibration intensity) varies depending on the location on the body where vibration is applied (see at least Stuart Figure 1).
Michaud as modified by Fischell and Stuart (henceforth Michaud as modified) thus discloses that the device can be attached to the user’s body in multiple locations (Brown et al., US 20120123230, which is incorporated by reference into Michaud at [0108], discloses that “The proximal housing 12 may be affixed to the patient's body 34 in a convenient location such as the underside of the upper arm, abdomen, etc. via an adhesive component” [0023]), and that this location is input as configuration information to be used for setting of vibration intensity during calibration (see modification above with regards to Stuart).
Michaud as modified does not explicitly disclose that the location would be selected from a plurality of body locations which include an abdomen, upper arms, and thighs. Olivas teaches a medical system which is attachable to a plurality of body locations including a patient’s abdomen, thigh, arm, or another portion of the patient’s body ([0003]), and that low profile devices are useful for attaching to many places on the body without impeding activities of daily living for the patient ([0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have placed the device of Michaud as modified in a variety of bodily locations which wouldn’t impede activities of daily living including a patient’s abdomen, thigh, arm, or another portion of the patient’s body as in Olivas to increase patient ease of use and minimize discomfort (see at least Olivas [0003], [0027], and [0029]), and further to have configured these various bodily locations to be selectable for the configuration information such that the calibration is set for a particular body area as Stuart shows that different body areas have different sensitivities to tactile stimuli (see at least Stuart fig. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Michaud as modified by Fischell, Stuart, and Olivas (henceforth Michaud as modified) discloses the medical system wherein the activatable tactile indicator is a vibrator (pump 102 can vibrate as disclosed in [0050] which makes it a vibrator).
Regarding claim 3, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system further comprising a memory (see [0008], the active control patterns are stored in memory) having stored thereon a set of predetermined control patterns from which the active control pattern is selectable ([0008]; Examiner notes that while [0008] discusses the memory and control patterns pertaining to light, vibrations are listed as an alternative use to lights in [0050] and this vibratory embodiment is the chosen embodiment, and thus the control patterns for the vibratory indicator are what is understood to be located in the memory since the light indication patterns would be vibratory indication patterns in the chosen embodiment) and wherein the location information determines which of the set of predetermined control patterns is selected (in the modified device, the setting of location information is part of the configuration information used in calibration to help set the pattern which is stored in the memory and is thus predetermined relative to the beginning of use of alarms as the alarms must be calibrated prior to their commencement).
Regarding claim 4, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system further comprising a remote control (remote control device of [0007] and [0008]), wherein the skin-mountable medical device and the remote control are configured for wireless data exchange with each other (see [0051]), wherein the user interface is provided on the remote control ([0007]).
Regarding claim 5, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the remote control is configured to determine the active control pattern (see [0051], the remote control can be configured such as to control drug delivery; since the active control pattern is based on the drug delivery, this is considered to be a determination of the active control pattern as well; see also in [0008], the remote control device is also disclosed as knowing the active control pattern information, and thus could explicitly send the commands for the indication sequence) and to transmit information indicative of the active control pattern to the skin-mountable medical device (see [0051], device 100 and the remote control are configured for two way communications with each other).
Regarding claim 6, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the skin-mountable medical device is configured to determine the active control pattern based on information retrieved from the remote control (since pump 102 is responsible for the delivery of notifications as in [0050], it determines the particular pattern of vibrations to deliver as a notification based on the information given from the remote controller; this information would reasonably also include the location information put into the remote controller for setting the vibration intensity as desired depending on the mounting location of the skin-mountable device including pump 102 in the modified device).
Regarding claim 7, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the activatable tactile indicator is a vibrator (pump 102 can vibrate as disclosed in [0050] which makes it a vibrator) and at least some of the control patterns among the set of predetermined control patterns differ in at least one of frequency, amplitude, number of activation bursts, sequences of activation bursts, and pauses between activation bursts ([0050]).
Regarding claim 8, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the skin-mountable medical device includes an insulin infusion pump (the structures within pump 102, fig. 1A, which provide for insulin delivery as in [0004] and [0065] are the claimed pump).
Regarding claim 15, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system further comprising a medical unit (drive unit 118 and medicament cartridge 116 which connects to it make up a medical unit since they deliver medicament to a user, see [0047] which also incorporates by reference Michaud, US 20170049957, which further describes the drive mechanism which is the medical unit).
Regarding claim 16, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the indication information includes alerts (see [0055]-[0057], alarms and alerts are specifically discussed).
Regarding claim 17, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the alerts include alerts regarding content of an insulin cartridge and a battery state (“insulin cartridge being empty”, [0056], battery level of the pump including charging, [0059]).
Regarding claim 25, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the processor is configured to select the active control pattern from a set of predetermined control patterns for operating the activatable tactile indicator ([0008]; Examiner notes that while [0008] discusses the memory and plurality of control patterns pertaining to light, vibrations are listed as an alternative use to lights in [0050] and this vibratory embodiment is the chosen embodiment, and thus the control patterns for the vibratory indicator are what is understood to be located in the memory since the light indication patterns would be vibratory indication patterns in the chosen embodiment) wherein each of the predetermined control patterns in the set differs from the other predetermined control patterns ([0008], “being selected from a plurality of different light patterns stored in memory each indicating a different type of pump status”) and wherein each one of the plurality of body locations corresponds to a respective one of the predetermined control patterns (each control pattern is considered to correspond to its particular body location where it is customized for that body location based on the calibrated threshold which differs at each body location as taught by Stuart).
Regarding claim 26, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein each of the predetermined control patterns in the set differs from the other predetermined control patterns in at least one of frequency, amplitude, number of activation bursts, sequences of activation bursts, and pauses between activation bursts (see [0008], “each indicating a different type of pump status”, and see [0050], “patterns, frequencies, durations, sequences, combinations, colors, brightness levels, etc.”).
Regarding claim 27, Michaud as modified discloses the medical system wherein the skin-mountable medical device includes a continuous glucose-measurement device (see [0052]; a CGM is a continuous glucose monitor which is a continuous glucose measurement device as claimed).
Claim(s) 10-13, 19-20, 22-23, and 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaud et al. (US 20200306445, henceforth Michaud) in view of Fischell et al. (US 20110054334, henceforth Fischell) and Stuart et al. (Stuart, M., Turman, A.B., Shaw, J. et al. Effects of aging on vibration detection thresholds at various body regions. BMC Geriatr 3, 1 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-3-1 (Year: 2003), henceforth Stuart).
Regarding claim 10, Michaud discloses a remote control (remote control of [0007] and [0008]) comprising: a user interface (display of remote control, [0007]) configured to receive information (see [0051], the remote control and display thereof are configured for two-way communication; the display of [0051] is also configured to receive information from the user as in [0050]) regarding a skin-mountable medical device (pump system 100, fig. 2A; Examiner notes that this is skin mountable because, as noted in [0048], “Site connector 146 can be configured to be attached to an infusion site on a user, while pump 102 can be carried in a separate location, such as … on the user's body.” Since it says on the user’s body and a part of the system is mounted to the skin, it is skin-mountable as claimed), including an activatable tactile indicator (see [0059], pump 102 vibrates; this is an activatable tactile indicator); wherein the remote control has a controller (see [0051]) that is configured to determine an active control pattern (see [0051], the remote control can be configured such as to control drug delivery; since the active control pattern is based on the drug delivery, this is considered to be a determination of the active control pattern as well; see also in [0008], the remote control device is also disclosed as knowing the active control pattern information, and thus could explicitly send the commands for the indication sequence) in dependence of the information (the information is how it is determined what dosage to give, see [0051] and [0094]), and wherein the controller is further configured to (i) control activation of the activatable tactile indicator of the skin-mountable medical device in accordance with the active control pattern, and/or (ii) to transmit information indicative of the control pattern from the remote control to the skin-mountable device (see two way communication, [0051]).
Michaud does not disclose changing the intensity of the vibration for the needs of the particular patient. Fischell teaches the use of multiple intensities of vibrations to deliver alarms (see [0098], [0101], claim 10). Fischell also teaches that some patients have differing levels of sensitivities to vibrations which can cause missed notifications or an inability to determine a particular pattern of vibrations (see [0006] and [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added a feature to the device of Michaud which allows for changing of the vibration intensity as needed for the particular user as this would mitigate missed alerts and would allow for particular types of alarms or certain patterns of alarms to be noticed more easily ([0006], [0008], [0098]). This is then a determination of the active control pattern as claimed because the active control pattern is the vibration sequence which is being modified based on the calibrated values.
Michaud as modified by Fischell discloses that the device can be attached to the user’s body in multiple locations (Brown et al., US 20120123230, which is incorporated by reference into Michaud at [0108], discloses that “The proximal housing 12 may be affixed to the patient's body 34 in a convenient location such as the underside of the upper arm, abdomen, etc. via an adhesive component” [0023] – in the disclosure of Michaud, this would be incorporated to mean that the pump 102 can be positioned in various places about the body of the user where it vibrates to provide notifications).
Michaud as modified by Fischell does not disclose that the information used for determination of the activation control pattern is location information associated with a location on a user’s body where the device shall be mounted. Stuart teaches that the thresholds for detecting vibration varies depending on the region of the body where the vibration is applied to the body (See Figure 1, pg. 4, the different regions where stimuli were applied had different amplitudes of vibrations required for the sensation threshold across different frequencies).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included information associated with a location on a user’s body where the skin-mountable medical device shall be mounted into the configuration information which is used for the setting of vibration intensity for the patient since the desired vibration intensity would change depending on the device’s mounting location since the ability to sense vibration (and thus vibration intensity) varies depending on the location on the body where vibration is applied (see at least Stuart Figure 1).
Michaud as modified by Fischell and Stuart (henceforth Michaud as modified) thus discloses the remote control where a control pattern is predefined for each body location of the plurality of body locations (in the modified device, the plurality of body locations as disclosed by Brown et al. [0023] where the device can be placed as called out by the remote control would have different sensitivity thresholds as taught by Stuart, and these different areas would thus each have to be calibrated prior to use, or predetermined relative to using the device after the calibration, to allow for proper thresholding to occur).
Regarding claim 19, Michaud as modified discloses the remote control wherein the indication information includes alerts (see [0055]-[0057], alarms and alerts are specifically discussed).
Regarding claim 20, Michaud as modified discloses the remote control wherein the alerts include alerts regarding content of an insulin cartridge and a battery state (“insulin cartridge being empty”, [0056], battery level of the pump including charging, [0059]).
Regarding claim 11, Michaud discloses a method of providing tactile indications to a user of a medical system (pump system 100, fig. 2A, and remote control device of [0008]; tactile indications are provided to a user via vibrations as in [0050]) that includes a skin-mountable medical device (pump system 100, fig. 2A; Examiner notes that this is skin mountable because, as noted in [0048], “Site connector 146 can be configured to be attached to an infusion site on a user, while pump 102 can be carried in a separate location, such as … on the user's body.” Since it says on the user’s body and a part of the system is mounted to the skin, it is skin-mountable as claimed), the method comprising:
a) receiving, via a user interface of the medical system, information (see [0051], the remote control and display thereof are configured for two-way communication; the display of [0051] is also configured to receive information from the user as in [0050]);
b) determining by the medical system an active control pattern (see [0053] and [0055], the active control pattern is the sequence of vibrations desired) in dependence of the information (the information is how it is determined what dosage to give, see [0051] and [0094]) wherein the active control pattern determines frequency (the patterns include varying frequencies, see [0050] and [0053]) and amplitude of the tactile indications (see [0050] and [0053], brightness of LEDs is equivalent to amplitude or intensity of vibrations; amplitude could also consider to be disclosed where the patterns include portions of zero amplitude where the vibration is not occurring followed by portions with amplitude where vibrations are occurring).
Michaud does not disclose changing the intensity of the vibration for the needs of the particular patient. Fischell teaches the use of multiple intensities of vibrations to deliver alarms (see [0098], [0101], claim 10). Fischell also teaches that some patients have differing levels of sensitivities to vibrations which can cause missed notifications or an inability to determine a particular pattern of vibrations (see [0006] and [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added a feature to the device of Michaud which allows for changing of the vibration intensity as needed for the particular user as this would mitigate missed alerts and would allow for particular types of alarms or certain patterns of alarms to be noticed more easily ([0006], [0008], [0098]). This is then a determination of the active control pattern as claimed because the active control pattern is the vibration sequence which is being modified based on the calibrated values.
Michaud as modified by Fischell discloses that the device can be attached to the user’s body in multiple locations (Brown et al., US 20120123230, which is incorporated by reference into Michaud at [0108], discloses that “The proximal housing 12 may be affixed to the patient's body 34 in a convenient location such as the underside of the upper arm, abdomen, etc. via an adhesive component” [0023] – in the disclosure of Michaud, this would be incorporated to mean that the pump 102 can be positioned in various places about the body of the user where it vibrates to provide notifications).
Michaud as modified by Fischell does not disclose that the information used for determination of the activation control pattern is location information associated with a location on a user’s body where the device shall be mounted. Stuart teaches that the thresholds for detecting vibration varies depending on the region of the body where the vibration is applied to the body (See Figure 1, pg. 4, the different regions where stimuli were applied had different amplitudes of vibrations required for the sensation threshold across different frequencies).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included information associated with a location on a user’s body where the skin-mountable medical device shall be mounted into the configuration information which is used for the setting of vibration intensity for the patient since the desired vibration intensity would change depending on the device’s mounting location since the ability to sense vibration (and thus vibration intensity) varies depending on the location on the body where vibration is applied (see at least Stuart Figure 1).
Regarding claim 12, Michaud as modified by Fischell and Stuart (henceforth Michaud as modified) discloses the method further comprising selecting the active control pattern from a set of predetermined control patterns ([0008]; Examiner notes that while [0008] discusses the memory and control patterns pertaining to light, vibrations are listed as an alternative use to lights in [0050] and this vibratory embodiment is the chosen embodiment, and thus the control patterns for the vibratory indicator are what is understood to be located in the memory since the light indication patterns would be vibratory indication patterns in the chosen embodiment) stored on a memory of the medical system (see [0008], the active control patterns are stored in memory) as a function of the location information (in the modified device, the location information is used to calibrate the alarms as each location will have different sensitivities in view of the teachings of Stuart).
Regarding claim 13, Michaud as modified discloses the method further comprising providing the user interface on a remote control ([0007]).
Regarding claim 22, Michaud as modified discloses the method wherein the indication information includes alerts (see [0055]-[0057], alarms and alerts are specifically discussed).
Regarding claim 23, Michaud as modified discloses the method wherein the alerts include alerts regarding content of an insulin cartridge and a battery state (“insulin cartridge being empty”, [0056], battery level of the pump including charging, [0059]).
Regarding claim 28, Michaud as modified discloses the method wherein, prior to step b), the active control pattern is defined in a preparatory step (in the modified method, this is the calibration step at which point the detected threshold is measured and set) during which the medical system automatically varies one or more control parameters while actuating the tactile indicator (in the modified method, the claimed control parameter is the intensity as this is varied by the device during calibration after the device receives the signal for calibration testing) and the user selects a desired configuration of the one or more control panels via the user interface (this is the user selecting their desired threshold in the modified method according to the body location as different body locations have different thresholds as explained above in the rejection of claim 11).
Regarding claim 29, Michaud as modified discloses the method wherein the preparatory step is carried out for a specific body location when first installing the skin-mountable medical device at the specific body location (in the modified method and in view of the teachings of Stuart, the calibration is done for the particular mounting location of the infusion pump of Michaud as different skin areas have different sensitivities and thus would need individual calibrations since they each have different thresholds).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaud et al. (US 20200306445, henceforth Michaud) in view of Fischell et al. (US 20110054334, henceforth Fischell), Stuart et al. (Stuart, M., Turman, A.B., Shaw, J. et al. Effects of aging on vibration detection thresholds at various body regions. BMC Geriatr 3, 1 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-3-1 (Year: 2003), henceforth Stuart), and Olivas et al. (US 20190060562, henceforth Olivas) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cho et al. (US 20150332565, henceforth Cho).
Regarding claim 18, Michaud as modified discloses the activatable tactile indicator as claimed which provides vibrations (see [0059], pump 102 vibrates; this is an activatable tactile indicator).
Michaud as modified does not disclose what specific kind of actuator is used to create the vibrations for the activatable tactile indicator, and thus Michaud as modified does not discloses that the tactile indicator includes at least one of a coin vibration motor, an eccentric rotating mass vibration motor, a linear resonant actuator, a piezoelectric actuator, an electro-stimulation device or an actuatable tactile element pressable into the skin of the user. Cho teaches that vibrations for notifications in portable devices can be made by a linear resonant actuator ([0003], note also that eccentric motors are taught which appear to be the same as eccentric rotating mass vibration motors as claimed, as are piezo actuators which appear to be the same as piezoelectric actuators).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used a linear resonant actuator to provide the vibrations of the activatable tactile indicator of Michaud as modified as Cho teaches linear resonant actuators as known art effective methods of providing vibrations in portable devices ([0002], [0003]) and because such a modification would have yielded the same, predictable result of the activatable tactile indicator providing indications by vibrating using an actuator.
Claim(s) 21 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaud et al. (US 20200306445, henceforth Michaud) in view of Fischell et al. (US 20110054334, henceforth Fischell) and Stuart et al. (Stuart, M., Turman, A.B., Shaw, J. et al. Effects of aging on vibration detection thresholds at various body regions. BMC Geriatr 3, 1 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-3-1 (Year: 2003), henceforth Stuart) as applied to claims 10 and 11 above, respectively, and further in view of Cho et al. (US 20150332565, henceforth Cho).
Regarding claim 21 and 24, Michaud as modified discloses the activatable tactile indicator as claimed which provides vibrations (see [0059], pump 102 vibrates; this is an activatable tactile indicator).
Michaud as modified does not disclose what specific kind of actuator is used to create the vibrations for the activatable tactile indicator, and thus Michaud as modified does not discloses that the tactile indicator includes at least one of a coin vibration motor, an eccentric rotating mass vibration motor, a linear resonant actuator, a piezoelectric actuator, an electro-stimulation device or an actuatable tactile element pressable into the skin of the user. Cho teaches that vibrations for notifications in portable devices can be made by a linear resonant actuator ([0003], note also that eccentric motors are taught which appear to be the same as eccentric rotating mass vibration motors as claimed, as are piezo actuators which appear to be the same as piezoelectric actuators).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used a linear resonant actuator to provide the vibrations of the activatable tactile indicator of Michaud as modified as Cho teaches linear resonant actuators as known art effective methods of providing vibrations in portable devices ([0002], [0003]) and because such a modification would have yielded the same, predictable result of the activatable tactile indicator providing indications by vibrating using an actuator.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/23/2026, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues regarding the independent claims that the pump 102 of Michaud as modified, which is relied on for the claimed activatable tactile indicator as claimed in the rejection above, cannot be an activatable tactile indicator since it is a pump. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Pump 102 has vibrating elements which provide tactile indications depending on their activation, which means it is an activatable tactile indicator as claimed. Regarding dependent claim 8, the structures within pump 102 which are responsible for pumping are considered to be the claimed pump, and thus the argument for claim 8 is similarly found unpersuasive.
Thus, Applicant’s arguments are respectfully found unpersuasive and all pending claims are rejected as indicated in the body of the rejection above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Levesque et al. (US 20150145656) is considered relevant prior art regarding teaching the use of different tactile activation patterns for different body locations for actuatable tactile indicators used to provide notifications and feedback (see at least Abstract, “Wearable devices may be worn at various locations on a body of the user. Each location may be associated with a wearable device. Different haptic feedback may be provided at different locations based on the event such that the events may be distinguished or otherwise identified based on the location at which haptic feedback is provided.”).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL J MARRISON whose telephone number is (703)756-1927. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00a-3:30p ET.
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/SAMUEL J MARRISON/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
/EMILY L SCHMIDT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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