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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed, 02 October 2025, of application filed, with the above serial number, on 10 August 2022 in which claims 1-11 have been amended. Claims 1-11 are pending in the application.
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.
Claim 8 is 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. Claim 8 depends on claim 1 which is amended to also ‘store the address information…in the memory’, thus it is not clear if the claim 8 ‘store’ limitation further narrows the claim or is redundant.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Neagle (hereinafter “Neagle”, 2018/0358117).
As per Claim 1, Neagle discloses an information processing apparatus comprising:
a memory (at least paragraph 18); and
a processor (at least paragraph 18, 21), wherein the processor is configured to:
receive address information representing an address of an institution that has received a prescription (at least paragraph 44-45, 50, 52; pharmacy selection and patient medicine prescriptions stored in database; pharmacy information may also be stored in the system as well; the prescription is electronically transmitted to the pharmacy);
store the address information representing the address of the institution that has received the prescription as a past transmission history information in the memory (at least paragraph 44-45, 50, 52; pharmacy selection and patient medicine prescriptions stored in database; pharmacy information may also be stored in the system as well; the prescription is electronically transmitted to the pharmacy);
in a case where an abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from a patient, access the past transmission history information in the memory to obtain the address information representing the address of the institution that has received the prescription and automatically transmit identification information of the patient and information including the fact that the abnormality is detected in the biological information to the address represented by the address information (at least paragraph 68; the detection of a dangerous spike in blood pressure data being monitored by a cuff device worn by the patient. The actionable data engine 238 may then issue an alert or notification to, for example, the patient, the patient's care team, which may include, e.g., physicians, nurses, pharmacist, home caregiver, social worker, case manager, and family members).
As per Claim 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in the case where the abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from the patient, include the biological information acquired from the patient in the information to be transmitted to the address represented by the address information (at least paragraph 68; the detection of a dangerous spike in blood pressure data being monitored by a cuff device worn by the patient. The actionable data engine 238 may then issue an alert or notification to, for example, the patient, the patient's care team, which may include, e.g., physicians, nurses, pharmacist, home caregiver, social worker, case manager, and family members).
As per Claim 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in the case where the abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from the patient, include information on a prescription content of the prescription in the information to be transmitted to the address represented by the address information (at least paragraph 68; the actionable data engine 238 may issue an alert when it detects incompatible medication being prescribed and fulfilled at a pharmacy).
As per Claim 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to: in the case where the abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from the patient, include information on a prescription content of the prescription in the information to be transmitted to the address represented by the address information (at least paragraph 68; the actionable data engine 238 may issue an alert when it detects incompatible medication being prescribed and fulfilled at a pharmacy).
As per Claim 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to: in a case where a prescription has been transmitted to designated address information as image data in the past transmission history information, include the image data in the information to be transmitted to the address represented by the address information as the information on the prescription content of the prescription (at least paragraph 21; 68; patient health and wellness data 14 also include information about the healthcare providers, pharmacies, dependent sub-accounts, allergies, vaccination record, lifestyle and exercise data, dietary data, laboratory data, imaging data, medical charts, past, current (including automatically monitored) and future health/physiological parameters (heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, perspiration, glucose level, blood oxygen level, risky addiction or behavior such as smoking cessation monitoring), diagnostics, HIPAA and security, legal document data (living will, do not resuscitate directives, power of attorney, etc.), and insurance data).
As per Claim 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to: in a case where a prescription has been transmitted to designated address information as image data in the past transmission history information, include the image data in the information to be transmitted to the address represented by the address information as the information on the prescription content of the prescription (at least paragraph 21; 68; patient health and wellness data 14 also include information about the healthcare providers, pharmacies, dependent sub-accounts, allergies, vaccination record, lifestyle and exercise data, dietary data, laboratory data, imaging data, medical charts, past, current (including automatically monitored) and future health/physiological parameters (heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, perspiration, glucose level, blood oxygen level, risky addiction or behavior such as smoking cessation monitoring), diagnostics, HIPAA and security, legal document data (living will, do not resuscitate directives, power of attorney, etc.), and insurance data).
As per Claim 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in the case where the abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from the patient, refer to the past transmission history information to transmit the identification information of the patient and the information including the fact that the abnormality is detected in the biological information to an address with a latest transmission date and time among addresses to which a prescription has been transmitted in the past (at least paragraph 35, 51, 58, 68; medication module 39 maintains data about the patient's current medicines, details about the medicines, medical history, compliance data, reminders, ineffective medicines for the patient, medical allergies, and side effects associated with any current and past medicines; detects incompatible medication being prescribed and fulfilled at a pharmacy).
As per Claim 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire the address information representing the address of the institution that has received the prescription from another system, and store the address information in the memory (at least paragraph 18-21, 44-45, 50, 52; databases).
As per Claim 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire information on a prescription content of the prescription from the another system together with the address information representing the address of the institution that has received the prescription, store the acquired information in the memory, and in the case where the abnormality is detected in biological information acquired from the patient, transmit information including the information on the prescription content of the prescription to the address represented by the address information (at least paragraph 64; eg. reconcile prescription data 232 to make sure that the data is synchronized with information that resides with pharmacies; at least paragraph 68; the detection of a dangerous spike in blood pressure data being monitored by a cuff device worn by the patient. The actionable data engine 238 may then issue an alert or notification to, for example, the patient, the patient's care team, which may include, e.g., physicians, nurses, pharmacist, home caregiver, social worker, case manager, and family members)).
Claims 10-11 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claim 1 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra. Claims 10 and 11 are CRM and method claims corresponding to claim 1 and are rejected in the same manner with respect to claim 1 above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02 October 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the prior art rejection, Applicant argues on p. 14 that “Neagle fails to disclose or suggest that the person or institution to be notified is stored a pass transmission history in the memory.”
Applicant argues that the amendment of ‘receive address information representing an address of an institution that has received a prescription’ is not just any contact information as the prescription was transmitted to this particular institution previously.
The specification recites in par. 38-39 that the address information is facsimile address information and the stored address information is stored as fax transmission history, and par. 51 outlines that the transmission address may also be ‘e-mail or the like’. Other paragraphs such as par. 45 specify more concisely that the address of the institution that has received the prescription being a pharmacy. Thus, amended claim 1 recites more broadly, but in essence for receiving pharmacy information for a prescription, storing pharmacy information and accessing pharmacy information to transmit patient information and detected abnormality to the pharmacy.
Neagle teaches in at least paragraph 44-45, 50, 52 that a pharmacy selection and patient medicine prescriptions are stored in database, pharmacy information may also be stored in the system as well, and the prescription is electronically transmitted to the pharmacy and thus having an ‘e-mail or the like’ address information to transmit the prescription to the pharmacy based on information stored for the pharmacy.
The rejection relies on par. 68 for the abnormality being detected and transmitting id information on the patient in the mapping of claim 1, see above. Neagle teaches that when ab abnormality is detected such as a dangerous spike in blood pressure, an alert or notification is issued to…the patient’s care team which may include…pharmacist. Thus, in Neagle, a notification or alert is issued to the entire care team of the patient including any pharmacist stored in the database (wherein the pharmacist is the user at the address information of the respective pharmacy).
See MPEP 2111.03 for transitional phrases as claim 1 uses the phrase ‘comprising’ which is inclusive or open-ended, Neagle’s alert issued to the entire care team (of the single or multiple pharmacists at the single or multiple pharmac(ies)) anticipates the claimed transmission to the pharmacy. Claims 10 and 11 similarly use the transitional phrase ‘comprising’ and thus similar rationale to claim 1 applies.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on 571-272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443