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 .
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 6 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 6 recites the limitation “the threshold change amount” and “the threshold changing time”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It appears all the limitations are introduced in claim 5, therefore, for examination purposes, claim 6 will be interpreted as depending from claim 5.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kenji (JP2016077822, machine translation accessed 10/7/2025 relied upon herein), hereafter Kenji.
Regarding Claim 1, Kenji discloses a massage apparatus (device shown in Fig. 1) comprising: an arm massage unit for massaging a user's arm (Fig. 3, par. 0007, “an armrest that has at least one of the plurality of massage mechanisms and supports the user's arm”); and a control unit for controlling the arm massage unit (par. 0007, “a control unit that controls the massage mechanism”), wherein the arm massage unit comprises a space (Fig. 11 and 12 shows a space for an arm) and an electrode arranged in the space (par. 0023, “a sensor 70 that detects various biological information such as the pulse rate, electrical resistance of the skin, and skin temperature of the user by contact with the armrest 13”; Electrodes are interpreted as a conductors that make electrical contact with the body, as the prior art discloses, the sensors 70 are in contact with the user and detects electrical signals produced by the user and therefore is an electrode), and wherein the control unit determines whether an electrical value of the electrode is changed (see par. 0014-0017, the electrode constantly measures biological information of the user, and the control unit will monitor the information from the electrode), and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on a determination result and an operation state of the arm massage unit (par. 0025, “The control device 40 controls various motors of the treatment unit 20 in accordance with a massage course selected by operating the operation unit 30. The control device 40 also controls various motors of the treatment unit 20 based on biological information constantly detected by the sensor 70.”).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenji, in view of Fujii (JPH11042263, machine translation accessed 10/7/2025 relied upon herein), hereafter Fujii.
Regarding Claim 2, Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 1, but does not specifically disclose wherein the electrical value is at least one among voltage, current, resistance, and impedance of the electrode, and wherein the operation state is at least one among an operating state in which the arm massage unit is operated and a stop state in which the arm massage unit is stopped.
However, Fujii teaches a massage apparatus (Fig. 1, par. 0001), comprising of an electrode (par. 0007, a capacitance detection unit), a control unit (par. 0009, the control unit), wherein the control unit determines whether an electrical value of the electrode is changed (par. 0007, “a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a person in the support main body on the basis of capacitance detected by the capacitance detection unit”), and an operation state of the apparatus (par. 0009, “the control unit that stops the massage operation of the treatment device when the determination unit determines that there is no person, it is possible to stop the massage operation when the pers on moves away from the massage machine and restart the massage operation when the person returns”). Fujii further teaches wherein the electrical value is at least one among voltage, current, resistance, and impedance of the electrode (Examiner Notes: See applicant’s claim 1, the change in electric value is measured by the control unit; Fujii, par. 0007, a capacitance detection unit is disclosed, capacitance is defined by the change of voltage, C=Q/V, therefore in operation, when detecting the capacitance, a voltage value is also detected as the electrical value), and wherein the operation state is at least one among an operating state in which the arm massage unit is operated and a stop state in which the arm massage unit is stopped (par. 0009, “it is possible to stop the massage operation when the person moves away from the massage machine and restart the massage operation when the person returns”; an operating state and a stop state are disclosed). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the known device of Kenji, with the electrodes and control unit of Fujii, to only operate the massager when the user is present, as taught by Fujii (Fujii, par. 0007-0009).
Regarding Claim 3, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit performs a first determination to determine whether the electrical value is changed (Fujii, par. 0009, “a determination part for determining the presence or absence of a person on the treatment table on the basis of capacitance detected by the capacitance detection means is provided”; the control unit determines the presence of a user based on change to the electrical value), performs a second determination to determine whether the operation state is in the operating state (Fujii, par. 0009, “to stop the massage operation when the person moves away from the massage machine and restart the massage operation when the person returns”; the determination is made when the control unit start/stop the massage operation), and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on the first determination result and the second determination result (Fujii, par. 0009, the prior art discloses start/stop the massage operation based on the electrical value and operation state).
Regarding Claim 4, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 3, wherein in at least one among a case in which the electrical value is not changed and the operation state is in the stop state and a case in which the electrical value is changed and the operation state is in the operating state, the control unit maintains the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See Fujii par. 0009-0011, the prior art discloses detecting the presence of a user based on changes in the value detected by the electrode, when the value is not changed, meaning no person is present, the massager remains off; when the value is changed, meaning the user is present, the massager continues operating), wherein in a case in which the electrical value is not changed and the operation state is in the operating state, the control unit stops the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit, and wherein in a case in which the electrical value is changed and the operation state is in the stop state, the control unit operates the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit (Fujii, par. 0016, “the capacitance detected by each of the detection bodies S1 to S6 greatly changes depending on the capacitance of the person. The determination unit 16 determines that the user is seated on the massage machine based on this change…”) (Examiner Notes: In the cited example of the prior art, a change in the electrical value means the person is present, and no change in the value means no person is present; in the case wherein the person is present, the massager is turned on from an off state, and vice versa, when the person is not present, the massager is turned off).
Claim(s) 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenji, in view of Fujii, further in view of Eiji (EP1629818), hereafter Eiji.
Regarding Claim 5, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 3, but is silent on wherein in a case in which the electrical value is changed, the control unit performs at least one among a third determination to determine whether a change amount of the electrical value exceeds a predetermined threshold change amount and a fourth determination to determine whether changing time with respect to the change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold changing time, and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on the second determination result and at least one among the third determination result and the fourth determination result (Examiner Notes: The claim recites “the control unit performs at least one among…”, the phrase “at least one among” encompasses performing either one or both determinations, in the following rejection, the prior art discloses the control unit performing the third determination).
However, Eiji teaches a massage apparatus (Fig. 2, abstract), comprising of an electrode for detecting a change in an electrical value (par. 0012, “a bio-signal sensor for sensing bio-signals of the user depending on impedance changes between the pair of electrodes”), and a control unit (Fig. 7, par. 0108, CPU 13a). Eiji further teaches the control unit performs a determination to determine whether a change amount of the electrical value exceeds a predetermined threshold change amount (Fig. 9, step S905), and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on the determination result (par. 0102-0112, “if the output value V21 of the sensor section 100 is lower than the predetermined reference value V22 (YES), it is judged that the user has moved away from the back rest portion”; the prior art determines if the user moved away from the massager based on the electrical value compared with the threshold, then controls the operation of the massager based on the result). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skilled in the art to further modify the known massage device of Kenji, with the control unit of Eiji, to perform a determination of comparing the electrical value to a threshold, to prevent accidental stopping of the massager due to minor movement from the user as taught by Eiji (Eiji, par. 0102-0112).
Regarding Claim 6, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 3, wherein in at least one among the case in which the change amount exceeds the threshold change amount (Eiji, Fig. 9, step S905) and the case in which the changing time exceeds the threshold changing time, and in a case in which the operation state is in the operating state, the control unit maintains the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See rejection for claim 3, Fujii par. 0009-0011, when the change amount exceeds the threshold, the control unit decides the person is present, therefore maintaining operation), wherein in at least one among the case in which the change amount is less than the threshold change amount (Eiji, Fig. 9, step S905) and the case in which the changing time is less than the threshold changing time, and in a case in which the operation state is in the stop state, the control unit maintains the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See rejection for claim 3, Fujii par. 0009-0011, Eiji par. 0102-0112, when the change amount is below the threshold, the control unit decides the person is away, therefore the device remains off), wherein in at least one among the case in which the change amount is less than the threshold change amount (Eiji, Fig. 9, step S905) and the case in which the changing time is less than the threshold changing time, and in a case in which the operation state is in the operating state, the control unit stops the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See rejection for claim 3, Fujii par. 0009-0011, Eiji par. 0102-0112, when the change amount is below threshold, the control unit decides the person is away, therefore turns off the device if it is operating), and wherein in at least one among the case in which the change amount exceeds the threshold change amount (Eiji, Fig. 9, step S905) and the case in which the changing time exceeds the threshold changing time, and in a case in which the operation state is in the stop state, the control unit operates the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See rejection for claim 3, Fujii par. 0009-0011, Eiji par. 0102-0112, when the change amount exceeds the threshold, the control unit detects the person is present, therefore turns on the device if it is off).
Claim(s) 7-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenji, in view of Fujii, further in view of Koichi (JP2007325712, machine translation accessed 10/7/2025 relied upon herein), hereafter Koichi.
Regarding Claim 7, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the arm massage unit comprises an air cell disposed in the space (Kenji, par. 0023, “The arm treatment unit 60 includes various components such as an airbag and a motor for inflating and deflating the airbag, and is provided on the armrest 13”). Kenji further discloses detecting the changes in the pressure of the air cells (Kenji, par. 0025), but is silent on and wherein in a case in which the operation state of the arm massage unit is changed into the operating state, the control unit controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on pneumatic pressure of the air cell.
However, Koichi teaches a massage apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising of a massage unit (par. 0003, treatment heads), a pressure detection mean (par. 0003), and a control unit (par. 0003, a control unit), wherein the control unit controls the operation of the massage unit based on the pressure value (par. 0003, “a control unit for… controlling the massage operation to stop if the average value is lower than a predetermined reference value”). Kenji already discloses detecting the pneumatic pressure in the air cells (Kenji, par. 0025). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skilled in the art to further modify the known device of Kenji, with the pressure value control of Koichi, to prevent misuse and increase safety as taught by Koichi (Koichi, par. 0004).
Regarding Claim 8, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit expands the air cell, performs a fifth determination to determine whether the pneumatic pressure of the expanded air cell exceeds a predetermined threshold pneumatic pressure, and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on the fifth determination result (Koichi, par. 0003, “a control unit for calculating the average value of the pressure detected by the pressure detection means over a certain period of time, and for controlling the massage operation to stop if the average value is lower than a predetermined reference value”).
Regarding Claim 9, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 8, wherein in a case in which the pneumatic pressure of the expanded air cell exceeds the threshold pneumatic pressure, the control unit maintains the operation of the arm massage unit, and wherein in a case in which the pneumatic pressure of the expanded air cell is less than the threshold pneumatic pressure, the control unit stops the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See Koichi par. 0003-0004, the prior art teaches stopping the massage operation if the pressure is below a predetermined value to prevent misuse, it would have been clear that the operation would be maintained if the pressure is above the predetermined value).
Regarding Claim 10, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 8, but is silent on wherein in a case in which the pneumatic pressure of the expanded air cell exceeds the threshold pneumatic pressure, the control unit performs at least one among a sixth determination to determine whether a rechange amount of the electrical value changing after the expansion of the air cell exceeds a predetermined threshold rechange amount and a seventh determination to determine whether rechanging time with respect to the rechange amount exceeds a predetermined threshold rechanging time, and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based on at least one among the sixth determination result and the seventh determination result (Examiner Notes: The claim recites “the control unit performs at least one among…”, the phrase “at least one among” encompasses performing either one or both determinations, in the following rejection, the prior art discloses the control unit performing the sixth determination).
However, Fujii further teaches when then massage device is operating, the control unit performs a determination to determine whether a rechange amount of the electrical value changing exceeds a predetermined threshold rechange amount (See Fig. 9, after comparing with the threshold change amount, the control system loops back and step S904 is conducted, par. 0106, “output value V21 of the sensor section 100 is compared with previous output value V20 of the sensor section 100 stored in the ROM 13b or RAM 13c (step S904). In the case of a first output value, there is no previous value, and it may be compared with an initial value (for example, 0) preset in the storage means”), and controls the operation of the arm massage unit based the determination result (par. 0105-0107). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skilled in the art to further modify the known massage device of Kenji, with the control unit of Fujii, to further determine a rechange amount to further detect if the user is feeling discomfort from the massage operation as taught by Fujii (Fujii, Fig. 9, par. 0105-0107).
Regarding Claim 11, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the threshold change amount and the threshold rechange amount are different from each other (Fujii, par. 0105-0111, values V20 and V22 corresponds to threshold rechange amount and threshold change amount), and the threshold changing time and the threshold rechanging time are different from each other.
Regarding Claim 12, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 10, wherein in at least one among a case in which the rechange amount exceeds the threshold rechange amount (Fujii, par. 0105-0111) and a case in which the rechanging time exceeds the threshold rechanging time, the control unit maintains the operation of the arm massage unit, and wherein in at least one among a case in which the rechange amount is less than the threshold rechange amount and a case in which the rechanging time is less than the threshold rechanging time, the control unit stops the arm massage unit to change the operation of the arm massage unit (Examiner Notes: See Fujii, Fig. 9, par. 0009, 0105-0111, the prior art teaches when the rechange amount is below threshold, the control unit judges the user is moving away due to discomfort, and stops the operation).
Regarding Claim 13, the modified Kenji discloses the massage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrode measures biometric information of the user (par. 0007, “a sensor that is provided on the armrest and detects the user's biometric information by contacting the arm”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRIS HANYU GONG whose telephone number is (703)756-5898. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4:30.
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/KRIS HANYU GONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/VICTORIA MURPHY/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785