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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 October 29, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed on October 29, 2025. As directed by the amendment, Claims 67-69 and 78-81 have been amended. Claims 88 and 89 are new claims. Claims 67-89 are pending in the instant application.
Regarding the Office Action mailed April 30, 2025:
Applicant’s arguments with regarding the 35 USC 103 rejections have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference and/or interpretation applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. See 35 USC 103 rejections below for more details.
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 67-87 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosenbluth et al. (US 2019/0001129 A1) alone.
Regarding Claim 67, Rosenbluth discloses method of generating jitter variation of nerve stimulation in a non-implantable wrist worn device to enhance therapeutic response for a user (apparatus of Fig 1; 100 has 102 placed on the wrist, making it wrist worn, Fig 1; approach is non-invasive, paragraph 0065), the method comprising: measuring a pathological tremor frequency of a tremor of the user (device or system may include sensors for monitoring tremor, paragraph 0192; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193); calculating or setting a treatment frequency that is different from the pathological tremor frequency to avoid exact alignment to the pathological tremor frequency (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222; the treatment frequency has to be different from the tremor frequency in terms of phase, timing, or frequency to cancel out the tremor signals through destructive interference; destructive interference is a well-known technique to cancel out signals), wherein the treatment frequency comprises a burst frequency and a burst frequency variation (tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; randomizing parameters such as frequency, paragraph 0262; intraburst frequency can be varied in random fashion, paragraph 0287; interburst frequency can be between 1 Hz to about 20 Hz, paragraph 0288), wherein the burst frequency is centered around the pathological tremor frequency of the user (tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; randomizing parameters such as frequency, paragraph 0262; intraburst frequency can be varied in random fashion, paragraph 0287; burst frequency shown to be in same frequency range as tremor frequency), wherein the burst frequency variation varies by less than 6 Hz from the measured pathological tremor frequency of the user (interburst frequency can be between 4 Hz and 12 Hz, between 4 Hz and 8 Hz, between 3.5 Hz and 7.5 Hz, or between 6 Hz and 10 Hz, paragraph 0288; these ranges vary by less than 6 Hz; since the burst frequency can be varied and can be between 4-12 Hz, the window in which the frequencies are applied would be less than 6 Hz in various instances; Example: a tremor frequency of 6 Hz and a treatment frequency of 7 Hz would be in a 1 Hz window); and treating the user's tremor by stimulating at least two nerves, using at least two electrodes (electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130; effector may include two electrodes or an electrode array may include multiple electrode pairs, paragraph 0131), wherein the at least two electrodes are non-implantable (electrical stimulation may be transcutaneous, transcutaneous electrical stimulation may be achieved by electrodes placed on surface of skin, paragraph 0128), wherein the stimulating is performed using the treatment frequency (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222), and wherein the jitter facilitates the treatment of the user's tremor (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193; jittering is another way of saying applying varying frequencies).
Rosenbluth also teaches the preferred pulse frequency of about 50 Hz to 300 Hz or 150 Hz (paragraph 0129), the burst frequency being between 1 Hz to 20 Hz (paragraph 0288), the frequency may vary every few seconds (paragraph 0142), and the intraburst frequency can be varied in a random fashion (paragraph 0287).
The current embodiment of Rosenbluth fails to explicitly disclose wherein the at least two electrodes are located on the wrist-worn device; the burst frequency is jittered at a rate less than 100 Hz/s.
However, an alternative embodiment of Rosenbluth teaches the at least two electrodes are located on the wrist-worn device (1450, Figs 14H-14L; housing 1450 may have the configuration of a wrist watch, electrodes 1454 of interface may be arranged in strips, other electrode configurations may also be used, paragraph 0180) since this is a known configuration that can house the device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device to be in the form of a wrist watch or wristband, as taught by Rosenbluth, since this is a known configuration that can house the device.
The current embodiment of Rosenbluth fails to explicitly teach the burst frequency is jittered at a rate less than 100 Hz/s.
However, Rosenbluth further teaches the burst frequency being between 1 Hz to 20 Hz (paragraph 0288) and the frequency may vary every few seconds (paragraph 0142). Rosenbluth also teaches the stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays (paragraph 0150). Based on these teachings, it would be obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have the burst frequency to be varied every few seconds (which would be around 2-5 seconds) which would produce a jitter of at most 10 Hz/s (a frequency change from 1 Hz to 20 Hz in 2 seconds would produce a jitter of around 10 Hz/s since 20 Hz/2s= 10 Hz/s). The resulting jitter rate would meet the claimed jitter rate since it is less than 100 Hz/s. This would be an expected and obvious jitter rate since Rosenbluth teaches that these jitter rates would be expected to be at these low levels. Applicant has not further defined a lower limit to the claimed jitter rate.
Regarding Claim 68, Rosenbluth teaches the burst frequency is in a range of 3-12 Hz (Rosenbluth: burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; interburst frequency can be between 4 Hz and 12 Hz, paragraph 0288).
Regarding Claim 69, Rosenbluth teaches if the pathological tremor frequency is low, the burst frequency is not jittered to be lower than the pathological tremor frequency; wherein, if the pathological tremor frequency is high, the burst frequency is not jittered to be higher than the pathological tremor frequency (Rosenbluth: tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; randomizing parameters such as frequency, paragraph 0262; intraburst frequency can be varied in random fashion, paragraph 0287; since tremors are between 4-12 Hz and the burst frequency is also between 4-12 Hz, the variation and randomization of frequencies would happen within the 4-12 Hz and thus, would not jitter outside of the 4-12 Hz range of tremors).
Regarding Claim 70, Rosenbluth teaches a variation in the treatment frequency for enhancing a therapeutic response of the stimulation compared to the treatment frequency being constant over a time period (Rosenbluth: stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150).
Regarding Claim 71, Rosenbluth teaches stimulating at the pathological tremor frequency of the user (Rosenbluth: tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; burst frequency is the same as an expected frequency of tremors; variations of the burst frequency would match the tremor frequency of the user at a certain point during treatment).
Regarding Claim 72, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a median nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 73, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a radial nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 74, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a ulnar nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 75, Rosenbluth teaches positioning a first nerve electrode of the at least two electrodes to deliver stimulation to a median nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130; effector may include two electrodes or an electrode array may include multiple electrode pairs, paragraph 0131).
Regarding Claim 76, Rosenbluth teaches positioning a first nerve electrode of the at least two electrodes to deliver stimulation to a radial nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130; effector may include two electrodes or an electrode array may include multiple electrode pairs, paragraph 0131).
Regarding Claim 77, Rosenbluth teaches positioning a first nerve electrode of the at least two electrodes to deliver stimulation to a ulnar nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130; effector may include two electrodes or an electrode array may include multiple electrode pairs, paragraph 0131).
Regarding Claim 78, Rosenbluth teaches measuring motion of an extremity of the user using one or more biomechanical sensors to generate motion data (Rosenbluth: device or system may include sensors for monitoring tremor, paragraph 0192; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193; motion data can be taken, extract data in 4 to 12 Hz range, paragraph 0196); calculating or setting the treatment frequency based on the motion data (Rosenbluth: device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193).
Regarding Claim 79, Rosenbluth discloses a method of generating jitter variation of nerve stimulation in a wrist worn device to enhance therapeutic response for a user (apparatus of Fig 1; 100 has 102 placed on the wrist, making it wrist worn, Fig 1), the method comprising: measuring a pathological frequency of a user (device or system may include sensors for monitoring tremor, paragraph 0192; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193); calculating or setting a treatment frequency that is different from the pathological frequency to avoid exact alignment to the pathological frequency (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222; the treatment frequency has to be different from the tremor frequency in terms of phase, timing, or frequency to cancel out the tremor signals through destructive interference; destructive interference is a well-known technique to cancel out signals); treating the user by stimulating at least two nerves, using at least two electrodes (electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130; effector may include two electrodes or an electrode array may include multiple electrode pairs, paragraph 0131); wherein the at least two electrodes are non-implantable (electrical stimulation may be transcutaneous, transcutaneous electrical stimulation may be achieved by electrodes placed on surface of skin, paragraph 0128); wherein the stimulating is performed using the treatment frequency (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222); wherein the treatment frequency comprises one or more of: (i) a burst frequency and a burst frequency variation (tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; randomizing parameters such as frequency, paragraph 0262; intraburst frequency can be varied in random fashion, paragraph 0287; interburst frequency can be between 1 Hz to about 20 Hz, paragraph 0288) and (ii) a pulse frequency and a pulse frequency variation (stimulation mode may comprise between 50 Hz and 150 Hz, paragraph 0043; preferred pulse frequency of about 50 Hz to 300 Hz or 150 Hz, paragraph 0129; the pulse frequency may vary every few seconds, paragraph 0142), wherein if the treatment frequency is the burst frequency, the burst frequency is centered around the pathological frequency of the user (tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; randomizing parameters such as frequency, paragraph 0262; intraburst frequency can be varied in random fashion, paragraph 0287; burst frequency shown to be in same frequency range as tremor frequency) and the burst frequency variation varies by less than 6 Hz from the measured pathological tremor frequency of the user (interburst frequency can be between 4 Hz and 12 Hz, between 4 Hz and 8 Hz, between 3.5 Hz and 7.5 Hz, or between 6 Hz and 10 Hz, paragraph 0288; these ranges vary by less than 6 Hz; since the burst frequency can be varied and can be between 4-12 Hz, the window in which the frequencies are applied would be less than 6 Hz in various instances; Example: a tremor frequency of 6 Hz and a treatment frequency of 7 Hz would be in a 1 Hz window), wherein if the treatment frequency is the pulse frequency, the pulse frequency is varied in a range of 50-150 Hz (stimulation mode may comprise between 50 Hz and 150 Hz, paragraph 0043; preferred pulse frequency of about 50 Hz to 300 Hz or 150 Hz, paragraph 0129); and wherein the jitter is therapeutically effective to reduce habituation to a therapy for the user (device uses stimulation schemes designed to dephase, override, or obscure the abnormal network, reset phase of neuron, stimulation may occur at a single location but vary in parameters over time, vary in frequency every few seconds, paragraph 0142; stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150; optimization algorithm may find best solution for outputs, algorithm may be self-calibrating to adjust stimulation parameters like frequency, tailor stimulation over time to adjust in real-time to a patient’s tremor needs, paragraph 0222; data from tremor sensors used to measure patient’s current and historical tremor characteristics include frequency, may be used to determine activities, paragraph 0193; jittering is another way of saying applying varying frequencies).
Rosenbluth also teaches the preferred pulse frequency of about 50 Hz to 300 Hz or 150 Hz (paragraph 0129), the burst frequency being between 1 Hz to 20 Hz (paragraph 0288), the pulse frequency may vary every few seconds (paragraph 0142), and the intraburst frequency can be varied in a random fashion (paragraph 0287).
The current embodiment of Rosenbluth fails to explicitly disclose wherein the at least two electrodes are located on the wrist-worn device; the treatment frequency is jittered at a rate less than 100 Hz/s.
However, an alternative embodiment of Rosenbluth teaches the at least two electrodes are located on the wrist-worn device (1450, Figs 14H-14L; housing 1450 may have the configuration of a wrist watch, electrodes 1454 of interface may be arranged in strips, other electrode configurations may also be used, paragraph 0180) since this is a known configuration that can house the device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device to be in the form of a wrist watch or wristband, as taught by Rosenbluth, since this is a known configuration that can house the device.
The current embodiment of Rosenbluth fails to explicitly teach the treatment frequency is jittered at a rate less than 100 Hz/s.
However, Rosenbluth further teaches the burst frequency being between 1 Hz to 20 Hz (paragraph 0288), the pulse frequency of about 50 Hz to 300 Hz or 150 Hz (paragraph 0129), and the frequency may vary every few seconds (paragraph 0142). Rosenbluth also teaches the stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays (paragraph 0150). Based on these teachings, it would be obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have the burst frequency to be varied every few seconds (which would be around 2-5 seconds) which would produce a jitter of at most 10 Hz/s (a frequency change from 1 Hz to 20 Hz in 2 seconds would produce a jitter of around 10 Hz/s since 20 Hz/2s= 10 Hz/s). The resulting jitter rate would meet the claimed jitter rate since it is less than 100 Hz/s. This would be an expected and obvious jitter rate since Rosenbluth teaches that these jitter rates would be expected to be at these low levels. Applicant has not further defined a lower limit to the claimed jitter rate.
Regarding Claim 80, Rosenbluth teaches the treatment frequency is a burst frequency in a range of 3-12 Hz (Rosenbluth: burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; interburst frequency can be between 4 Hz and 12 Hz, paragraph 0288).
Regarding Claim 81, Rosenbluth teaches the treatment frequency is the burst frequency, and wherein the burst frequency varies by less than 3 Hz from the measured tremor frequency of the user (Rosenbluth: since the burst frequency can be varied and can be between 4-12 Hz, the window in which the frequencies are applied would be less than 3 Hz in various instances; Example: a tremor frequency of 6 Hz and a treatment frequency of 7 Hz would be in a 1 Hz window). It is noted that Applicant has not specified that the frequency only varies by less than 3 Hz from the measured tremor frequency.
Regarding Claim 82, Rosenbluth teaches a variation in the treatment frequency for enhancing a therapeutic response of the stimulation compared to the treatment frequency being constant over a time period (Rosenbluth: stimulation parameters can be altered or cycled, if stimulation is being triggered to phase of tremor, stimulation can be delivered with random or variable temporal delays, if stimulation was using set amplitude and/or frequency, stimulation can be changed to a chaotic, random, or variable modality to prevent or disrupt habituation, paragraph 0150).
Regarding Claim 83, Rosenbluth teaches stimulation at the pathological frequency of the user (Rosenbluth: tremors typically between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0002; frequency analysis between 4 to 12 Hz, paragraph 0034; burst on/off at a frequency between 4-12 Hz, paragraph 0043; burst frequency is the same as an expected frequency of tremors; variations of the burst frequency would match the tremor frequency of the user at a certain point during treatment).
Regarding Claim 84, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a median nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 85, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a radial nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 86, Rosenbluth teaches the at least two nerves comprises a ulnar nerve (Rosenbluth: electrodes may be in contact with user at surface of skin above one or more nerves that may include medial, radial, and ulnar nerves, electrode may be a pair, paragraph 0130).
Regarding Claim 87, Rosenbluth teaches for the treatment of tremor, depression, inflammation, headache, gastrointestinal disorder, or cardiac disease (Rosenbluth: tremor, overactive bladder, cardiac dysfunction, neurotransmitter dysfunction, Abstract; depression, paragraph 0068; inflammatory bowel diseases, paragraph 0281; treat migraine, paragraph 0184; migraine may also be treated, paragraph 0065).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 88 and 89 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.
Claims 88 and 89 contain allowable subject matter.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 88 is dependent on Claim 67 and discusses the burst frequency being varied at a rate between 0.01 Hz/s and 0.1 Hz/s.
Claim 89 is dependent on Claim 79 and discusses the burst frequency being varied at a rate between 0.01 Hz/s and 0.1 Hz/s and the pulse frequency being varied at a rate between 1-10 Hz/s.
Prior art similar to the claimed invention are explained below.
Rosenbluth et al. (US 2019/0001129 A1) discusses a peripheral nerve stimulator. Though Rosenbluth discusses the ability to vary the frequency being delivered to the user, Rosenbluth does not teach the specific jitter rates or frequency variation rates found in Claims 88 and 89. The claimed rates have a narrow, particularly low range and it would not be obvious to vary the frequency at this specific rate as there is no motivation in Rosenbluth to do so. Rosenbluth merely says that the frequency can be varied “every few seconds” and does not elaborate further on this. There is no teaching in Rosenbluth that would motivate one of ordinary skill in the art to choose or utilize these specific frequency variation rates. Therefore, Rosenbluth does not disclose Claims 88 and 89.
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/BRIAN T KHONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/JOSEPH D. BOECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785