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 . 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.
DETAILED ACTION
The following NON-FINAL Office Action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed on 8/6/2025.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-3, 5-12, 14-16 are currently pending.
Claims 4, 13 are cancelled.
Claims 1, 11 are currently amended.
Claims 14-16 are new.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, 14-16 have been examined and have been rejected.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/6/2025 has been entered.
IDS
The information disclosure statement filed on 7/15/2025 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 and is considered by the Examiner.
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Response to Amendment
The previously pending rejection under 35 USC 101, will be maintained. The 101 rejection is updated in view of the amendments.
The previously pending rejections under 35 USC 102/103 are maintained on new grounds.
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Response to Arguments
Regarding Applicant’s arguments pertaining to 35 USC 102 & 103:
Applicant argues on page 9 of remarks 8/6/2025:
“FIGS. 79 and 80 and the corresponding written description of Hosoi do not expressly or inherently describe, in a case in which endoscope G-R-1 will not be available in time for a scheduled procedure, determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes of the endoscope G-R-1 by which a delay in provisioning the endoscope G-R-1 can be reduced. Therefore, Hosoi does not expressly or inherently describe: ‘in a case in which an endoscope will not be available in time for a scheduled procedure, determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes of the endoscope by which a delay in provisioning the endoscope can he reduced’ as recited in claim 1.”
Examiner respectfully finds Applicant’s argument moot. Referring back to Applicant specification with regard to the delay reduction feature, in ¶ [0014] “to determine possible modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes by which a delay in the provision of the endoscope concerned can be reduced” and ¶ [0016] “a user of the provisioning system can be quickly and easily offered possible solutions in the event of problems with the provision, in order to reduce or even completely avoid influences of the delayed provision on the examination
procedure. In view of the above as additional support for the claim as amended can be found in ¶ [0248] of Hosoi, where modification of the reprocessing of a specific endoscope reduces the delay of that specific endoscope (Hosoi ¶ [0248]: With respect to the endoscope G-R-3, the set value of the third cleaning machine 50c is 2, and hence the priority order thereof is lower than those of the first cleaning machine 50a and the second cleaning machine 50b. Therefore, it is also possible to assign the first cleaning machine 50a or the second cleaning machine 50b to the endoscope G-R-3 at a time when the first cleaning machine 50a or the second cleaning machine 50b can be used. In such a case, however, the cleaning of the endoscope G-R-3 is delayed, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of working efficiency. Therefore, unless assignment is prohibited, the cleaning machine assignment unit 144 positively assigns the cleaning machine 50[c] [EN: modification of reprocessing of G-R-3], even if the priority order thereof is low).
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Regarding Applicant’s arguments pertaining to 35 USC 101:
Applicant submits on page 10 of remarks 8/6/2025:
“In claim 1, the processor is configured to adapt to a situation where an endoscope
will not be available in time for a scheduled procedure. In such a situation, the processor is configured to determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes of the endoscope by which a delay in provisioning the endoscope can be reduced. Modification to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes of the endoscope by which a delay in provisioning the endoscope can be reduced increases the likelihood that the endoscope can be available for use for a scheduled procedure. As shown above, claim 1 recites additional elements that improve timeliness of a reprocessing process of the endoscope to thereby integrate any alleged abstract idea into a practical application. Therefore, claim 1 satisfies Step 2A, Prong Two, of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's subject matter eligibility analysis. Accordingly, claim 1 should be found to be directed to patent eligible matter under 35 U.S.C. §101. Claim 11 is directed to patent eligible subject matter for similar reasons.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Although the amended claims further limit the timeline improvement to a specific endoscope, it does not appear that any computer-based additional elements, let alone technological improvements, are presented via the current amendments which have not been previously presented.
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Regarding new claims:
Applicant submits on page 11 of remarks 8/6/2025:
“New claims 14-16 have been added. New claims 14-16 depend from and incorporate by reference all the elements of claim 1. New claims 14-16 are not anticipated by or obvious over the cited references, and are directed to patent eligible subject matter for at least the reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1. Moreover, new claims 14-16 recite additional features that further distinguish the claimed provisioning system of claim 1 over the cited references and that further establish that the claimed provisioning system of claim 1 is directed to patent eligible subject matter.”
Examiner points to new reference Oberleitner et al. US 20020163636 A1, hereinafter Oberleitner and relevant disclosures detailed in the 35 USC 103 rejection section below.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 1-3, 5-10, 14-16 are directed to a system which is a statutory category.
Claims 11-12 are directed to a method and process which is a statutory category.
Claim 1 (independent claim) recites A provisioning system for endoscopes in an application environment comprising one or more examination rooms and one or more reprocessing stations for endoscopes, the provisioning system comprising:
a processor comprising hardware, the processor being configured to…
control a display to display an indicator which indicates whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for the respective scheduled procedure.
Claim 11 (independent claim) contains similar language.
The claims recite, describe, or set forth a judicial exception of an abstract idea in Step 2A Prong One (see MPEP 2106.04(a)). The exemplary application of the claimed systems and methods includes “receive first information about scheduled procedures,” “receive second information about a status of one or more endoscopes,” “determine from the first information and the second information whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for each respective scheduled procedure,” “…display an indicator which indicates whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for the respective scheduled procedure,” and “determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes by which a delay in the provision of the endoscope can be reduced” at independent claims 1, 11. Additionally, the exemplary application of the claimed systems and methods includes, among the dependent claims, “determine the one or more modifications upon request by a user” at claim 5; “… display the determined modifications in a selection list” at claim 6; and “generate and transmit execution instructions for a modified reprocessing process to a manual pre-cleaning station” at claim 8. Therefore, the claims recite computer-aided mental processes of observation, evaluation and judgment as tested per MPEP 21.06.04(a)(2) III ¶2, 1st sentence and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) III C. For example MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) III cites Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016); to submit that a claim to "collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis," where the data analysis steps are recited at high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, recite mental processes.
Here, such collection or observation are set forth by “receive first information about scheduled procedures,” and “receive second information about a status of one or more endoscopes” at independent Claims 1, 11.
Here, the analysis or evaluation and judgment are set forth by “determine from the first information and the second information whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for each respective scheduled procedure,” and “determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes by which a delay in the provision of the endoscope can be reduced” at independent Claims 1, 11; “determine the one or more modifications upon request by a user” at dependent Claim 5; “instructions for a modified reprocessing process to a manual pre-cleaning station” at dependent Claim 8.
Here, displaying or notification of certain results of the collection and analysis are set forth by “display an indicator which indicates whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for the respective scheduled procedure” at independent Claims 1, 11 and …display to display the determined modifications in a selection list” at dependent Claim 6; “generate and send control commands to an endoscope reprocessing device upon selection of a determined modification by the user” at dependent Claim 7; and “generate and transmit execution instructions for a modified reprocessing process to a manual pre-cleaning station” at dependent Claim 8.
With respect to Step 2A Prong Two, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional computer-based elements of an application environment, a processor, a display, hardware, user interface, and control memory are merely applying the abstract idea. According to the specification regarding these elements, “The provisioning system 100 includes a data processing system 102 configured to receive and process information related to scheduled and/or ongoing procedures and reprocessing processes, as well as the current location and condition of individual endoscopes, if applicable. The data processing system 102 can be embodied by software running on a processor, controller, CPU or regular or special purpose computer (e.g., medical-grade computer) and each may have an associated storage device (memory)” (Original Specification p. 5 lines 10-15); “Figure 1 shows an endoscope provisioning system 100 in an exemplary application environment 101, which may be an outpatient endoscopy office or an endoscopy department of a hospital. The application environment includes a plurality of examination rooms UR1, UR2, UR3. The number of examination rooms may vary as desired. The term ‘examination room’ does not exclude [those] procedures with interventional parts such as biopsies or sclerotherapy are also performed in these rooms. Furthermore, the application environment comprises a reprocessing station for the reprocessing of used endoscopes, which includes manual pre-cleaning stations VR1, VR2, VR3, endoscope reprocessing units EDG1, EDG2, drying cabinets TS1, TS2, TS3, and storage cabinets AS 1, AS2. The numbers of the individual elements are again arbitrary and serve only as an example” (Original Specification p. 4 lines 26-34 and p. 5 lines 1-3). According to MPEP 2106.05(f)(1), considering whether the claim recites only the idea of a solution or outcome i.e., the claim fails to recite the technological details of how the technological solution to the technological problem is accomplished. The recitation of claim limitations that attempt to cover an entrepreneurial and thus abstract solution to an entrepreneurial problem with no technological details on how the technological result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result, does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application (Step 2A Prong Two) or provide significantly more (Step 2B) because this type of recitation is equivalent to the words "apply it". Therefore, when reading the above claimed additional computer-based elements in light of the original specification, the Examiner finds that they merely apply said abstract idea. Thus, these additional limitations, considered individually and in combination, amount to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a general-purpose computer or use the computer as a tool to perform the above identified abstract idea and therefore do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application without imposing meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
For example the capabilities of the processor to “receive first information about scheduled procedures, receive second information about a status of one or more endoscopes, the second information comprising an indication of whether an endoscope is ready for use, currently in use, or currently being reprocessed” to subsequently “determine from the first information and the second information whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for each respective scheduled procedure” can be viewed as not meaningfully different than a process for monitoring audit log data that is executed on a general-purpose computer as tested per MPEP 2106.05(f)(iii)1, while the capabilities of such processor to “control a display to display an indicator which indicates whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for the respective scheduled procedure” is not meaningfully different than requirements of computer components to tailor information and provide it to the user on a generic computer, as tested per MPEP 2106.05(f)(v)2.
Claims 2, 12 (dependent claims) recite The provisioning system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control a display to display a user interface having a graphical user interface wherein the graphical user interface comprises:
a first presentation area in which data about ready-to-use endoscopes is displayed,
a second presentation area in which data about scheduled procedures is displayed, and
a third presentation area in which data about endoscopes undergoing reprocessing is displayed.
Dependent Claims 2, 12 further recite a user interface and graphical user interface as additional computer-based elements. Yet this language merely requires the use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data). As such, the claim requirement amounts to the use of software to tailor information and provide it to the user on a generic computer, per MPEP 2106.05(f)(2)(v). Thus, such a generic recitation of a user interface and graphical user interface is insufficient to show a practical application of the recited abstract idea when tested per MPEP 2106.05(f). Thus, when tested per Step 2A, Prong 2, the user interface and graphical user interface do not integrate the abstract exception into a practical application. For the same reasons articulated per MPEP 2106.05(f) above, the user interface and graphical user interface of Claims 2, 12 also do not provide significantly more than the abstract exception itself.
Claim 9 (dependent claims) recites The provisioning system according to claims 4, further comprising a control memory for storing rules according to which process parameters of reprocessing processes can be modified without impairing an effectiveness of the reprocessing processes.
Claim 10 (dependent claim) recites The provisioning system according to claim 9, wherein performance curve fields are stored in the control memory, the performance curve fields describing the effectiveness of a reprocessing step as a function of one or more process parameters.
Dependent Claims 9, 10 further recite a control memory as an additional computer-based element. Yet this language merely requires the use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data). As such, the claim requirements amount to a commonplace business method or mathematical algorithm being applied on a general purpose computer, per MPEP 2106.05(f)(2)(i). Thus, such a generic recitation of a control memory is insufficient to show a practical application of the recited abstract idea when tested per MPEP 2106.05(f). Thus, when tested per Step 2A, Prong 2, the control memory does not integrate the abstract exception into a practical application. For the same reasons articulated per MPEP 2106.05(f) above, the control memory of Claims 9, 10 also do not provide significantly more than the abstract exception itself.
Further, dependent Claims 2-3, 5-10, 12, 14-16 merely incorporate the additional elements recited in Claims 1, 11 along with further narrowing of the abstract idea of Claims 1, 11 along with their execution of the abstract idea. Specifically, Claims 2-3, 5-10 further narrow the application environment; and Claims 2-3, 5-10, 12 further narrow the provisioning system, processor, hardware, and display as additional computer-based elements to capabilities such as receive, control, display, determine, configure, store, generate, transmit, modify, and send various forms of data such as scheduled procedures, endoscope status, endoscope availability, endoscope location, reprocessing steps, reprocessing modifications, control commands, execution instructions, measures of effectiveness, temperatures, concentrations and performance curve fields, etc. which, when evaluated per MPEP 2106.05(f)(2) represent mere invocation of computers to perform an existing process. Therefore, the additional elements recited in the claimed invention individually and in combination fail to integrate a judicial exception into a practical application (Step 2A prong two) and for the same reasons they also fail to provide significantly more (Step 2B).
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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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
Hosoi et al. US 20180102189 A1 hereinafter Hosoi. As per,
Claim 1: Hosoi teaches “A provisioning system for endoscopes in an application environment” (Hosoi ¶ [0115] 2nd sentence: The endoscopic examination work support system 1 comprises: an information management device 10, a terminal device 12, an endoscope cabinet 14, endoscopic observation devices 22a to 22d, and a first cleaning machine 50a to a fourth cleaning machine 50d, which are interconnected to each other by a network 2, such as LAN (local area network) “comprising”
“one or more examination rooms” (Hosoi ¶ [0016] 1st / 2nd sentences: The endoscopic observation device is installed in each of a plurality of examination rooms. In this embodiment, the endoscopic observation device 22a is installed in a first examination room 20a, the endoscopic observation device 22b in a second examination room 20b, the endoscopic observation device 22c in a third examination room 20c, and the endoscopic observation device 22d in a fourth examination room 20d) “and”
“one or more reprocessing stations for endoscopes” (Hosoi ¶ [0118] 1st sentence: A plurality of cleaning machines are installed in a cleaning room 40, and in this embodiment the first cleaning machine 50a, the second cleaning machine 50b, the third cleaning machine 50c, and the fourth cleaning machine 50d are provided), “the provisioning system comprising:
“a processor comprising hardware”, (Hosoi ¶ [0128] 1st sentence: Each component of the information management device 10 can be realized by a CPU…), the processor being configured to:
“receive first information about scheduled procedures” (Hosoi ¶ [0129] 1st / 2nd sentences: An examination order is generated in a hospital information system such as, for example, an ordering system, and is issued to an endoscopy department system. Before the endoscopic examination work for one day starts, the information management device 10 acquires the examination orders for the one day that have been generated in the hospital information system, so that the use schedule and cleaning schedule of each individual of the endoscopes 30 possessed in a medical facility are scheduled. ¶ [0130] 1st sentence: The examination order includes order information on an endoscopic examination (examination ID), information on scheduled examination start time, that on scheduled examination end time, patient identification information (patient ID), examination type information, primary doctor of the examination, and examination room);
“receive second information about a status of one or more endoscopes” (Hosoi ¶ [0125] 1st sentence: FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the virtual status of the endoscope 30 that is set during the generation of the schedule information),
“the second information comprising an indication of whether an endoscope is ready for use, currently in use, or currently being reprocessed” (Hosoi ¶ [0125] 2nd / 3rd sentences: The endoscope 30 takes any one of the statuses including "under use" (STl) [currently in use], "used" (ST2), "under cleaning" (ST3) [currently being processed] and "under standby" (ST4) [ready for use]. The arrows illustrated in FIG. 2 indicate the transition direction of the statuses. By grasping the statuses of all the endoscopes 30 at an arbitrary timing, the information management device 10 assigns the endoscope 30 proper at the timing to an examination);
“determine from the first information and the second information whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for each respective scheduled procedure” (Hosoi ¶ [0126] 1st sentence: In the four statuses illustrated in FIG. 2, the endoscope 30 that can be assigned to an examination is the endoscope whose status is "under standby", and the endoscopes 30 that are in other statuses cannot be assigned to an examination. ¶ [0156]: FIG. 9 illustrates a detailed flowchart of the endoscope assignment processing illustrated in S18 of the basic flowchart. In the first assignment processing unit 120, the endoscope assignment unit 126 performs processing for assigning, of a plurality of possessed endoscopes 30, an endoscope to be used to each endoscopic examination whose schedule is managed by the examination schedule management unit 110. ¶ [0218] 1st sentence: When the endoscope specification unit 124 specifies an endoscope 30 of low priority model and the endoscope assignment unit 126 intends to assign the specified endoscope to an endoscopic examination, it is preferable that the endoscope assignment availability confirmation unit 128 confirms to a user the availability of endoscope assignment);
“control a display to display an indicator which indicates whether a ready-to-use endoscope is or will be available for the respective scheduled procedure” (Hosoi ¶ [0123] 1st sentence: The schedule information on the endoscope 30 is generated by the information management device 10. The timing when the schedule information is generated is before endoscopic examination work for one day starts, and a person preparing for examination can determine the handling of the endoscope 30 by seeing the schedule information displayed on the screen of the display of the terminal device 12. ¶ [0205] …display processing unit 150 may read the examination schedule information from the examination schedule holding unit 206 and read the cleaning schedule information from the cleaning schedule holding unit 208, and may display the individual schedule table of the endoscopes 30 on the display of the terminal device 12. This individual schedule table is illustrated in FIG. 21, and by generating such an individual schedule table, a person preparing for examination can understand the schedule of each individual of the endoscope 30. In the case of wanting to understand the situation of the endoscope 30 at a certain time, a person preparing for examination can understand, by the individual schedule table, the situation [indicator] such as whether the endoscope 30 is under cleaning or under use in an examination. For example, at ¶ [0191] 1st sentence: The scheduled cleaning end times of the endoscopes with endoscope Nos. 1 to 3 are 9:30 and the cleaning thereof is completed at the time of 9:30, and hence the statuses thereof are “under standby”, and they become candidate endoscopes for the examinations E9, E10, and E11. ¶ [0193] 1st sentence: In this way, the endoscope assignment unit 126 can re-assign an endoscope, the cleaning of which is completed at the scheduled examination start time and the status of which is “under standby”, to the examination. ¶ [0300] 3rd sentence noting a different example where: the information on the histories in which the endoscope 30 was actually cleaned serve as useful information when failure analysis, etc., is performed. ¶ [0302] In FIGS. 39 and 40, the display processing unit 150 displays the number of times of cleaning of the endoscope 30 for each person-in-charge as the cleaning history information, but may display, for example, the cleaning time of the endoscope for each person-in-charge as the cleaning history information. Additionally, the display processing unit 150 may display, for each person-in-charge, the number of times of cleaning or cleaning time of the endoscope 30 cleaned by a person-in-charge. ¶ [0267] 3rd - 4th sentences: …if there is no assignable preferential endoscope at the scheduled examination start time, it is preferable to assign another endoscope rather than to wait for the preferential endoscopes to become available, thereby allowing an efficient examination schedule to be generated. If there is no candidate endoscope, it is preferable to notify a user of the fact); “and
“in a case in which an endoscope will not be available in time for a scheduled procedure, determine one or more modifications to ongoing or pending reprocessing processes of the endoscope by which a delay in provisioning the endoscope can be reduced” (Hosoi ¶ [0248]: With respect to the endoscope G-R-3, the set value of the third cleaning machine 50c is 2, and hence the priority order thereof is lower than those of the first cleaning machine 50a and the second cleaning machine 50b. Therefore, it is also possible to assign the first cleaning machine 50a or the second cleaning machine 50b to the endoscope G-R-3 at a time when the first cleaning machine 50a or the second cleaning machine 50b can be used. In such a case, however, the cleaning of the endoscope G-R-3 is delayed, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of working efficiency. Therefore, unless assignment is prohibited, the cleaning machine assignment unit 144 positively assigns the cleaning machine 50[c] [EN: modification of reprocessing of G-R-3], even if the priority order thereof is low. ¶ [0313]: rescheduling processing unit 172 determines based on the situation information whether it is necessary to change an element included in the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule illustrated in FIG. 41. For example, when the time at which the situation information acquisition unit 170 acquires the examination end notice information is later than the scheduled examination end time of the examination, the rescheduling processing unit 172 determines that it is necessary to change the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule [modification to reprocessing]. [Also see Figs. 79, 80 where adjusting cleaning process W16 reduces the delay for endoscope G-R-1]).
Claim 2: Hosoi teaches “The provisioning system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control a display to display a user interface having a graphical user interface” (Hosoi ¶ [0510] 1st sentence: An input interface, such as a keyboard or a mouse, is connected to the terminal device 12, and the input receiving unit 176 receives an input operation from a user via the terminal device 12. ¶ [0123]: The schedule information on the endoscope 30 is generated by the information management device 10. The timing when the schedule information is generated is before endoscopic examination work for one day starts, and a person preparing for examination can determine the handling of the endoscope 30 by seeing the schedule information displayed on the screen of the terminal device 12), “wherein the graphical user interface comprises:”
“a first presentation area in which data about ready-to-use endoscopes is displayed” (Hosoi ¶ [0126] 2nd sentence: The statuses of the endoscopes 30 stored in the endoscope cabinet 14 are "under standby,” and therefore when the processing for generating the schedule information is started, it is assumed that the statuses of all the endoscopes 30 are "under standby." ¶ [0205] 1st sentence: … display processing unit 150 may read the examination schedule information from the examination schedule holding unit 206 and read the cleaning schedule information from the cleaning schedule holding unit 208, and may display the individual schedule table [first presentation area] of the endoscopes 30 on the display of the terminal device 12. ¶ [0191] 1st sentence: The scheduled cleaning end times of the endoscopes with endoscope Nos. 1 to 3 are 9:30 and the cleaning thereof is completed at the time of 9:30, and hence the statuses thereof are “under standby”, and they become candidate endoscopes for the examinations E9, E10, and E11. ¶ [0193] 1st sentence: In this way, the endoscope assignment unit 126 can re-assign an endoscope, the cleaning of which is completed at the scheduled examination start time and the status of which is “under standby”, to the examination),
“a second presentation area in which data about scheduled procedures is displayed”, (Hosoi ¶ [0204] 3rd sentence: … the display processing unit 150 may read the examination schedule information from the examination schedule holding unit 206 and display the examination schedule table illustrated in FIG. 20 [second presentation area] on the display of the terminal device 12. ¶ [0205] 2nd sentence: This individual schedule table is illustrated in FIG. 21, and by generating such an individual schedule table, a person preparing for examination can understand the schedule of each individual of the endoscope 30. ¶ [0267] 3rd - 4th sentences: …if there is no assignable preferential endoscope at the scheduled examination start time, it is preferable to assign another endoscope rather than to wait for the preferential endoscopes to become available, thereby allowing an efficient examination schedule to be generated. If there is no candidate endoscope, it is preferable to notify a user of the fact) “and”
“a third presentation area in which data about endoscopes undergoing reprocessing is displayed” (Hosoi ¶ [0204] 4th sentence: the display processing unit 150 may read the cleaning schedule information from the cleaning schedule holding unit 208 and display the cleaning schedule table illustrated in FIG. 20 [third presentation area] on the display of the terminal device 12. ¶ [0205] final sentence: In the case of wanting to understand the situation of the endoscope 30 at a certain time, a person preparing for examination can understand, by the individual schedule table, the situation such as whether the endoscope 30 is under cleaning or under use in an examination. ¶ [0300] 3rd sentence noting a different example where: the information on the histories in which the endoscope 30 was actually cleaned serve as useful information when failure analysis, etc., is performed. ¶ [0302] In FIGS. 39 and 40, the display processing unit 150 displays the number of times of cleaning of the endoscope 30 for each person-in-charge as the cleaning history information, but may display, for example, the cleaning time of the endoscope for each person-in-charge as the cleaning history information. Additionally, the display processing unit 150 may display, for each person-in-charge, the number of times of cleaning or cleaning time of the endoscope 30 cleaned by a person-in-charge), “wherein”
“the data displayed in the second presentation area comprises the indicator” (Hosoi ¶ [0205] final sentence: In the case of wanting to understand the situation of the endoscope 30 at a certain time, a person preparing for examination can understand, by the individual schedule table, the situation [indicator] such as whether the endoscope 30 is under cleaning or under use in an examination. For example, at ¶ [0191] 1st sentence: The scheduled cleaning end times of the endoscopes with endoscope Nos. 1 to 3 are 9:30 and the cleaning thereof is completed at the time of 9:30, and hence the statuses thereof are “under standby”, and they become candidate endoscopes for the examinations E9, E10, and E11).
Claim 5: Hosoi teaches “The provisioning system according to claim 1, wherein the processer is further configured to determine the one or more modifications upon request by a user” (Hosoi Claim 13: The endoscopic examination work support system… further comprising: a display processing unit that displays the changed examination schedule and/or cleaning schedule on a display, wherein when there are a plurality of candidates for the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule, the display processing unit displays each candidate on the display, and wherein when a user selects one of the candidates, the change [modification] of the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule is fixed. ¶ [0017]: 2nd / 3rd sentences: The endoscopic examination work support system further comprises: a situation information acquisition unit that acquires situation information on the situation of an examination; and a rescheduling modification processing unit that determines based on the situation information that it is necessary to change the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule. The rescheduling processing unit instructs at least one of the examination schedule management unit and the cleaning schedule management unit to change an element [modification] included in the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule. ¶ [0484] 1st sentence: …the cleaning start notice information [modification] and the cleaning end notice information [modification] may be input by a user and received by the input receiving unit 176 along with the time information, and the input receiving unit 176 may transfer the cleaning start notice information and the cleaning end notice information to the situation information acquisition unit 170 as the situation information).
Claim 6: Hosoi teaches “The provisioning system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to control the display to display the determined one or more modifications in a selection list” (Hosoi Claim 13: The endoscopic examination work support system… further comprising: a display processing unit that displays the changed examination schedule and/or cleaning schedule on a display, wherein when there are a plurality of candidates [selection list] for the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule, the display processing unit displays each candidate on the display, and wherein when a user selects one of the candidates, the change [modification] of the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule is fixed. ¶ [0017]: FIG. 43 illustrates, of the configuration of the information management device 10, the configuration of the processing unit 100 having the function of executing rescheduling processing. The processing unit 100 includes the examination schedule management unit 110, the first assignment processing unit 120, the cleaning schedule management unit 130, the second assignment processing unit 140, the display processing unit 150, a situation information acquisition unit 170, a rescheduling processing unit 172 [for determined modifications to reprocessing schedule], a change-disallowed examination specification unit 174, and an input receiving unit 176).
Claim 7: Hosoi teaches “The provisioning system according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to generate and send control commands to an endoscope reprocessing device upon selection of a determined modification by a user in order to cause the endoscope reprocessing device to perform a modified reprocessing process” (Hosoi Claim 13: The endoscopic examination work support system… further comprising: a display processing unit that displays the changed examination schedule and/or cleaning schedule on a display, wherein when there are a plurality of candidates [selection list] for the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule, the display processing unit displays each candidate on the display, and wherein when a user selects one of the candidates, the change [modification] of the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule is fixed. Hosoi ¶ [0019] 2nd / 3rd sentences: The endoscopic examination work support system further comprises: a situation information acquisition unit that acquires situation information on the situation of a cleaning machine [endoscope reprocessing device]; and a rescheduling processing unit that determines based on the situation information that it is necessary to change the cleaning schedule and/or the examination schedule. The rescheduling processing unit instructs [sends control commands] at least one of the cleaning schedule management unit and the examination schedule management unit to change an element included in the cleaning schedule and/or the examination schedule).
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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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
I. Claims 3, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
Hosoi as applied to respective claims 2, 6 in view of
Cousin et al. US 20210151174 A1 hereinafter Cousin. As per,
Claim 3: Hosoi teaches all of the limitations in claim 2 above.
Hosoi does not teach “The provisioning system according to claim 2, wherein the second information additionally comprises information about a location of the one or more endoscopes.”
* However *
Cousin in analogous art of endoscope inventory management in a medical facility teaches or suggests “The provisioning system according to claim 2, wherein the second information additionally comprises information about a location of the one or more endoscopes” (Cousin ¶ [0074] 1st sentence: system 110 receives information such as a room assigned to operate using certain endoscopes, or performing repair operation, or time duration required for performing a medical procedure or repairing. The staff member or technician uses the information to deliver the endoscopes at appropriate locations in the medical facility or obtain data corresponding to the location of certain endoscopes in the medical facility).
Hosoi and Cousin are found as analogous art of endoscope inventory management in a medical facility. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Hosoi’s endoscopic examination work support system/method, particularly with regard to displaying status information about an endoscope, to have included Cousin’s teachings in order to have provided the location of an endoscope in a medical facility in addition to its reprocessing and availability status. The benefit of including this feature would further automate reprocessing of endoscopes by reducing time and effort by medical staff in locating and distributing the endoscopes (Cousin ¶ [0005]). The predictability of such modifications and/or variations, would have been corroborated by the broad level of skill of one of ordinary skills in the art as articulated by Hosoi ¶ [0303, 0387, 0466, 0560] in view of Cousin [0119] (see MPEP 2143 G).
Further, the claimed invention could have also been viewed as a mere combination of old elements in a similar field of endeavor of endoscope inventory management in a medical facility. In such combination each element would have merely performed same organizational and managerial function as it did separately. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that, given existing technical ability to combine the elements, as evidenced by Hosoi in view of Cousin above, the to- be combined elements would have fit together like pieces of a puzzle in a logical, complementary, technologically feasible and/or economically desirable manner. Thus, it would have been reasoned that the results of the combination would have been predictable (see MPEP 2143 A).
Claim 8: Hosoi teaches all of the limitations in claim 6 above.
Hosoi further teaches or suggests “The provisioning system according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured, upon selection of a determined modification by a user, to generate and transmit execution instructions for a modified reprocessing process [..]” (Hosoi Claim 13: The endoscopic examination work support system according to claim 9, further comprising: a display processing unit that displays the changed examination schedule and/or cleaning schedule on a display, wherein when there are a plurality of candidates [selection list] for the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule, the display processing unit displays each candidate on the display, and wherein when a user selects one of the candidates, the change [modification] of the examination schedule and/or the cleaning schedule is fixed. Hosoi ¶ [0019] 2nd / 3rd sentences: The endoscopic examination work support system further comprises: a situation information acquisition unit that acquires situation information on the situation of a cleaning machine [endoscope reprocessing device]; and a rescheduling processing unit that determines based on the situation information that it is necessary to change the cleaning schedule and/or the examination schedule. The rescheduling processing unit instructs [sends control commands] at least one of the cleaning schedule management unit and the examination schedule management unit to change an element included in the cleaning schedule and/or the examination schedule).
Hosoi does not explicitly teach an element to be changed (modified reprocessing process) comprising “to a manual pre-cleaning station.”
However, Cousin in analogous art of endoscope inventory management in a medical facility teaches a reprocessing “to a manual pre-cleaning station” (Cousin ¶ [0088] final two sentences: As known, endoscopy reprocessing includes a series of steps such as precleaning, leak checking, manual cleaning, rinsing, visual inspection, Minimum Effective Concentration (MEC), High-level disinfection, rinsing, and dry alcohol flush. As such, after completing each of the steps, the technician uses reprocessor unit 155 to update the data to system 110. ¶ [0089] first five sentences: For example, after completion of precleaning, the technician uses reprocessor unit 155 to update system 110, as shown in step 350. After step 350, the technician presoaks (step 351) the endoscope. Here, the endoscope is pre-soaked for approximately one hour and then sent for a leak check. Further, the technician performs a leak check on the endoscope and updates data that the "leak check is completed" in system 110 using the reprocessor unit 155, as shown in step 352. Further, the technician manually cleans the endoscope and updates data such as "manual cleaning is completed" in system 110 using reprocessor unit 155, as shown in step 352. Further, the technician rinses the endoscope with clean water and updates data such as "rinsing is completed" in system 110 using reprocessor unit 155, as shown in step 356).
Rationales to haves modified/combined Hosoi / Cousin are above and reincorporated.
II. Claims 11, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
Hosoi in view of
Cousin. As per,
Claim 11: Hosoi teaches “A method for operating a provisioning system for endoscopes” (Hosoi ¶ [0115] 2nd sentence: The endoscopic examination work support system 1 comprises: an information management device 10, a terminal device 12, an endoscope cabinet 14, endoscopic observation devices 22a to 22d, and a first cleaning machine 50a to a fourth cleaning machine 50d, which are interconnected to each other by a network 2, such as LAN (local area network), “comprising:”
“receiving first information about scheduled procedures” (Hosoi ¶ [0129] 1st / 2nd sentences: An examination order is generated in a hospital information system such as, for example, an ordering system, and is issued to an e