DETAILED ACTION
This action is pursuant to claims filed on 06/05/2026. Claims 1-16 and 32-35 are pending, with claims 1-15 withdrawn. An action on the merits of claims 16 and 32-35 is as follows.
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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/05/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 32-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 32, the claim recites the limitation “a sporting equipment used by the athlete” in line 2. It is unclear if this limitation is meant to refer to the equipment being used by the athlete in claim 16, lines 7-8, or different equipment. If it is meant to refer to the equipment from claim 16, it needs to refer back to it. If it is meant to refer to different equipment, it needs to be clearly distinguished from the equipment from claim 16. For purposes of examination, it is being interpreted as referring to the equipment from claim 16. Claims 33-35 are also rejected due to their dependence on claim 32.
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.
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.
Claims 16, 32, 33, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Phan (KR 20060123103) in view of Elsherbini (US 20180020982) and Stivoric (US 20080320030). Citations to KR 20060123103 will refer to the English Machine Translation that accompanies this Office Action.
Regarding independent claim 16, Phan teaches a system for monitoring an athlete (Page 8: “The present invention relates to an interactive diagnostic patch or bracelet having a skin interface layer, one or more analysis or processing layers, and a user output interface.”; Page 107: “The uses of sports patches include real-time use during sports activities. These sports can include daily exercise, typically done by individuals in a gym or health club, or more rigorous workouts performed by professional athletes such as marathon runners, swimmers, hockey players, baseball players, football players, and soccer players.”), the system comprising:
a patch configured to be attached to a skin of the athlete and sense a condition of the athlete based on a sample of blood obtained from the athlete (Page 1: “The present invention relates to personal diagnostic devices such as skin patches or diagnostic bracelets, and in particular to interactive adhesive skin patches and medical diagnostic bracelets. More specifically, the present invention relates to an interactive adhesive skin patch and a personal diagnostic bracelet, including a skin/patch interface, one or more analysis or processing layers, and a user output and/or input interface.”; Page 8: “The patch may also further contain means for collecting a skin biological sample, such as blood. The collected samples can be subjected to one or more real-time quantitative or qualitative analyses to detect or monitor physiological changes in the body.”; Page 12: “a detector for detecting a diagnostic result derived from the processing of the fluid sample … The above device advantageously comprises a processor for processing the diagnostic results detected by the detector, and the processor generates output information regarding the user's medical condition”), the patch further configured to transmit first information representative of the sensed condition (Page 8: “The signal may be visually displayed via a user output interface layer in the form of a bar code, color change, numeric output, or alphanumeric output that may be color or monochrome presented on an LED/LCD display, or may be transmitted to a remote computer.”).
However, Phan does not teach an intermediate component implemented as a part of an equipment being used by the athlete, the intermediate component configured to receive the first information from the patch and transmit second information representative of the first information.
Elsherbini discloses a wellness monitoring patch system. Specifically, Elsherbini teaches an intermediate component configured to receive the first information from the patch and transmit second information representative of the first information(Fig. 7 shows patch 3 (reference character 701) collecting information from all the patches, then transporting the information to the communication device (analogous to the monitor); [0066]: “FIG. 7 illustrates, by way of example, a logical block diagram of another embodiment of a system 700 for monitoring one or more biological parameters. In the system 700, each patch 702A, 702B, and 702C communicates signals directly to a master patch 701. The master patch 701 is the only patch that communicates with the intermediate communications device 604. Each patch 702A-C has the ability to communicate with the network, such as through the master patch 701 and the external device 604, but does not communicate directly with the device 604. In such embodiments, the network 606, the master patch 701, and/or the external device 604 performs analysis and/or synthesis of data from multiple patches 702A-C.”. The master patch is the intermediate component, and the synthesis of data from multiple patches is the second information that is representative of the first information (the data from the patches).). Phan and Elsherbini are analogous arts as they are both related to the same field of endeavor of systems used to monitor the performance of athletes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the intermediate device from Elsherbini into the system from Phan as it allows the system to incorporate information from the equipment being used by the user and transport the information from a single device to the monitor, which allows the system to record more information and incorporate it into the analysis for output.
However, the Phan/Elsherbini combination does not teach the intermediate component implemented as part of an equipment being used by the athlete.
Stivoric discloses body sensor systems. Specifically, Stivoric teaches the intermediate component implemented as a part of an equipment being used by the athlete ([0109]: “The sensor or body monitor may be may be included in fitness equipment such as cardio equipment, weight training equipment, scales, sports equipment”;[0013]: “At least one data source rendering a life bit may be a body monitor, such as including one or more sensors. The data may include physiological data, contextual data and environmental data. The data may also include …, physiological state data”. The sensor is located on fitness equipment and the sensor measures physiological state data from the user, which indicates that the user is using the equipment.). Phan, Elsherbini, and Stivoric are analogous art as they are all related to the same field of endeavor of systems used to monitor the conditions of athletes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the location of the intermediate component from Stivoric into the Phan/Elsherbini combination as the combination is silent on the location of the intermediate component, and Stivoric discloses a suitable location in an analogous device.
The Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination teaches a monitor external to the patch (Phan, Page 8: “The signal may be visually displayed via a user output interface layer in the form of a bar code, color change, numeric output, or alphanumeric output that may be color or monochrome presented on an LED/LCD display, or may be transmitted to a remote computer.”. The remote computer is the monitor, which is analogous to the communications device from Elsherbini.), the monitor configured to receive the second information from the intermediate component (Elsherbini, Fig. 7 shows patch 3 (reference character 701) collecting information from all the patches, then transporting the information to the communication device (analogous to the monitor); [0066]: “FIG. 7 illustrates, by way of example, a logical block diagram of another embodiment of a system 700 for monitoring one or more biological parameters. In the system 700, each patch 702A, 702B, and 702C communicates signals directly to a master patch 701. The master patch 701 is the only patch that communicates with the intermediate communications device 604. Each patch 702A-C has the ability to communicate with the network, such as through the master patch 701 and the external device 604, but does not communicate directly with the device 604. In such embodiments, the network 606, the master patch 701, and/or the external device 604 performs analysis and/or synthesis of data from multiple patches 702A-C.”) and generate an output (Phan, Page 10: “The test patch or bracelet may perform quantitative and/or qualitative testing to generate local results of the test and provide user output and/or user input and/or processing capabilities.”).
Regarding claim 32, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination teaches the system of claim 16, further comprising a sensor configured to a part of a sporting equipment used by the athlete to measure a performance related parameter associated with the user of the sporting equipment (Stivoric, [0109]: “FIG. 7 illustrates, by way of example, a logical block diagram of another embodiment of a system 700 for monitoring one or more biological parameters. In the system 700, each patch 702A, 702B, and 702C communicates signals directly to a master patch 701. The master patch 701 is the only patch that communicates with the intermediate communications device 604. Each patch 702A-C has the ability to communicate with the network, such as through the master patch 701 and the external device 604, but does not communicate directly with the device 604. In such embodiments, the network 606, the master patch 701, and/or the external device 604 performs analysis and/or synthesis of data from multiple patches 702A-C.”; Stivoric, [0109]: “The sensor or body monitor may be may be included in fitness equipment such as cardio equipment, weight training equipment, scales, sports equipment”[0013]: “At least one data source rendering a life bit may be a body monitor, such as including one or more sensors. The data may include physiological data, contextual data and environmental data. The data may also include … physiological state data,”. The sensor incorporated in the equipment measures parameters such as physiological data and physiological state data, which is the performance related parameter.).
Regarding claim 33, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination teaches the system of claim 32 wherein the sensor is configured to provide information corresponding to the measured performance related parameter to the monitor (Elsherbini, Fig. 7 shows patch 3 (reference character 701) collecting information from all the patches, then transporting the information to the communication device (analogous to the monitor); [0066]: “FIG. 7 illustrates, by way of example, a logical block diagram of another embodiment of a system 700 for monitoring one or more biological parameters. In the system 700, each patch 702A, 702B, and 702C communicates signals directly to a master patch 701. The master patch 701 is the only patch that communicates with the intermediate communications device 604. Each patch 702A-C has the ability to communicate with the network, such as through the master patch 701 and the external device 604, but does not communicate directly with the device 604. In such embodiments, the network 606, the master patch 701, and/or the external device 604 performs analysis and/or synthesis of data from multiple patches 702A-C.”).
Regarding claim 35, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination teaches the system of claim 32.
However, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination is silent on the type of sensor used.
Stivoric teaches wherein the sensor includes an accelerometer (Stivoric, [0147]: “the monitoring device may measure energy expenditure, heart rate and galvanic skin response and also included a glucometer and accelerometer”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the sensor being an accelerometer from Stivoric into the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination as the combination is silent on the type of sensor used, and Stivoric discloses a suitable sensor in an analogous device.
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination as applied to claim 32 above, and further in view of Heikenfeld (US Patent 9867539).
Regarding claim 34, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination teaches the system of claim 32.
However, the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination does not disclose the specific type of circuit being used in the device.
Heikenfeld discloses a sensor to sense sweat from a user. Specifically, Heikenfeld teaches wherein the sensor includes an RFID circuit (Column 15, lines 64-65 “A wearable, medical-grade adhesive RFID enabled sensor patch is reported”; Column 20, lines 46-49: “The assembled RFID circuit was tested to ensure that the resonate frequency was near enough to the target frequency of 13.56 MHz that the device would communicate with the reader”). Phan, Elsherbini, Stivoric, and Heikenfeld are analogous arts as they are all sensor patches used for sensing health parameters of a user.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the RFID circuit from Heikenfeld into the system from the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination as the Phan/Elsherbini/Stivoric combination does not disclose the specific circuit used, and Heikenfeld discloses a suitable sensor in an analogous device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 16 and 32-35 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/E.K.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/MATTHEW KREMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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