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 .
The Office Action mailed out on 10/14/2025 is hereby withdrawn due to clerical error. The present Office Action supersedes and replaces the Office Action mailed on October 24, 2025.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 14 is allowed.
With respect to claim 14, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “a circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron comprising a piezoresistive device that receives pressure applied to a diagnosis target and changes a magnitude of resistance
based on the pressure, and a switching device that changes a magnitude of resistance based
on a voltage applied from an input voltage, wherein the pressure and a mechanical property
of the diagnosis target are quantified from an output voltage set based on the input voltage
and the voltage applied to the switching device; and
a predictor that predicts a disease of the diagnosis target by inputting input data
generated based on a quantified value for each of the pressure and the mechanical property
into a pretrained model.”
Claims 5-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With respect to claim 5, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “wherein the switching device is in a switched-off state when no voltage is applied, performs a switched-on when the applied voltage reaches a threshold voltage or higher, performs the switched-off when the applied voltage reaches a holding voltage or less in the switched-on
state, and performs the switched-on when the applied voltage again reaches the threshold
voltage or higher.”
Claims 6 and 8 are allowable due to its dependency on claim 5; claim 7 is allowable due to its dependency on claim 6; claim 9 is allowable due to its dependency on claim 7; claim 10 is allowable due to its dependency on claim 9; claim 11 is allowable due to its dependency on claim 6; claim 12 is allowable due to its dependency on claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Roh et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11/464,589 B1).
With respect to claim 1, Roh et al. discloses a circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron, comprising:
a piezoresistive device that receives pressure applied from an external object (col. 11, lines 1-5) and
changes a magnitude of resistance based on the pressure (para 0038, lines 1-8); and
a switching device that changes a magnitude of resistance based on a voltage applied
from an input voltage (col. 25, lines 38-45),
wherein the pressure and a mechanical property of the external object are quantified
from an output voltage set based on the input voltage and the voltage applied to the switching
device (col. 30, lines 24-30).
With respect to claim 2, Roh et al. discloses the circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron according to claim 1, wherein the pressure is quantified based on a frequency of a spike pattern of the output voltage (col. 60, lines 11-20), and the mechanical property of the external object is quantified based on a change rate per unit time of the frequency of the spike pattern (col. 64, lines 43-55).
With respect to claim 3, Roh et al. discloses the circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical property includes at least one of stiffness and hardness of the external object (col. 5, line 64-col. 6, line 5).
With respect to claim 4, Roh et al. discloses the circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron according to claim 1, wherein the voltage applied to the switching device is applied based on a voltage divider rule between the switching device and the piezoresistive device (col. 11, lines 1-6).
With respect to claim 13, Roh et al. discloses the circuit for providing an artificial tactile neuron according to claim 1, wherein the switching device is connected in series with the piezoresistive device (col. 11, lines 1-6), and the circuit further comprises a capacitor connected in parallel with the serially connected switching device and piezoresistive device (col. 11, lines 1-6).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHANA AKHTER HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7543. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eman A Alkafawi can be reached at 571-272-4448. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FARHANA A HOQUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858