DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, claims 1-2, 13-15, 26 in the reply filed on 09/30/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-2, 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Barral et al. US Patent Application No. 2019/0110856, Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), (hereinafter Barral).
Regarding claim 1, Barral discloses a system for supporting a medical procedure involving a medical device (A system 100 for segmenting surgical videos; paragraph 39, Figure 1), the system comprising:
one or more communication devices including a microphone, a speaker, a video camera, and a display (Microphone 112, and a camera 101; Figure 1; para 39); video has other corresponding information such as audio information, inherently requiring a speaker; para 135, Figure 1), said one or more communication devices configured to collect audio and visual data of an ongoing medical procedure within an operating room and to provide said audio and visual data to a representative device (The microphone 112 captures audio and the camera captures video during a surgical procedure in an operating room and stream to a remote server/remote telesurgery station (representative device); paras 39, 41, 42, 49, Figure 1);
the representative device being configured to receive said audio and visual data, play an audible representation of said audio data, and display a visual representation of said visual data (The remote telesurgery station receives the audio and video where a user at a remote user terminal 1110 for a user to interacts with a web-based GUI on a display screen to playback the surgical video and corresponding audio; paras 53, 135, Figure 11);
the one or more communication devices being further configured to receive support audio and visual data regarding the use of the medical device from the representative device (Receiving identified segments of a surgical video with corresponding audio information to provide training to a surgeon on a particular type of surgical procedure performed by a surgical robotic arm (medical device) from the remote telesurgery station; paras 37, 39, 43, 49, 135), play an audible representation of said support audio data, and display a visual representation of said support visual data in real- time during the medical procedure (Displaying the video and audio signals in real-time during performance of the surgical procedure; paras 42), 43).
Regarding claim 2, Barral discloses the system of claim 1 wherein said one or more communication devices comprise an iPad device, said video camera being an integrated component included in the iPad device (Video camera being an integrated component included in the any commercially available tablet computing device (tablet includes camera); para 149).
Regarding claim 13, Barral discloses the system of claim 1 wherein said display is configured to provide a live stream video of a representative supporting said medical procedure (Events are indicated in the surgical video in real-time on the display; para 48).
Regarding claim 14, Barral discloses the system of claim 1 further comprising a second display, the second display configured to provide a live stream video of a representative supporting said medical procedure (Surgical video is streamed to a remote telesurgery station for a user transmit identified segments of the surgical video during performance (supporting) of the medical procedure; paras 37, 39, 42, 43, 49, 135).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barral in view of Hallen US patent Application No. 2019/0099226, Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), (hereinafter Hallen).
Regarding claim 15, Barral discloses the system of claim 1 wherein said display is configured to provide a live stream video of at least one of a representative supporting said medical procedure (paras 37, 39, 42, 43, 49, 135), the visual data being received by the representative device (Streaming the audio and video to the a remote server/remote telesurgery station; para 49), and a view a surgeon performing the medical procedure (the camera 101 captures video during performance of the surgical procedure to enable the surgeon to view the actions taken; paras 42, 46, Figure 1).
Barral does not disclose a picture-in-picture view of a representative supporting said medical procedure.
NOVARTIS discloses a picture-in-picture view of supporting said medical procedure (pre-operative diagnostic images (supporting medical procedure) can be overlaid on the main surgical window as a picture-in-picture image; para 57, Figure 4A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. at the time the invention was made, to modify the Barral invention to include a picture-in-picture view of supporting said medical procedure, as taught by Hallen, for the benefit of overlaying a diagnostic image on the main surgical window (Hallen; para 57).
8. Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barral.
Regarding claim 26, Barral discloses the system of claim 1 further comprising said representative device (para 49).
Barral does not specifically disclose the representative device including a pen or stylus configured to provide mark ups or notes on a captured image or video selected from said audio and visual data.
However, Barral discloses a touch-sensitive display capable of receiving touch inputs to select options (para 42), and user-provided annotations or notes in the captured video (para 76).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, that a touch sensitive display could be used by a finger, or a pen or stylus, with the same results, and that providing touch input signals on the display could be used for the user to add notes to the video.
Information Disclosure Statement
9. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/05/2023 and 07/26/2024 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Cited Art
10. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mason et al. (US 11,508,482) discloses a system comprising: a treatment apparatus configured to be manipulated by the user for performing an exercise; an interface communicatively coupled to the treatment apparatus; one or more sensors configured to sense one or more characteristics of an anatomical structure of the user; and a processing device and a memory communicatively coupled to the processing device, and the memory includes computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to: receive, from the sensors, one or more sensor inputs describing the one or more characteristics of the anatomical structure related to a current status of the user; calculate an infection probability of a disease based on the one or more characteristics of the anatomical structure; output for display, on the interface, a visual representation of the infection probability; and output for display, on the interface, a recommendation for a treatment plan, the treatment plan comprising information related to the user's performance of the exercise via the treatment apparatus, the exercise corresponding to the disease, wherein the disease is defined as an infection related to one of a surgical site or injury of the anatomical structure, wherein the interface is configured to present at least one of an image or an audible or tactile signal representative of the infection probability.
SETEGN et al. (US 2020/0258627) discloses a healthcare platform comprising: (a) an electromagnetic field sensing system configured to sense an electromagnetic field data associated with an individual, wherein the electromagnetic field sensing system comprises sensors configured to non-invasively sense electromagnetic fields generated by a tissue, an organ, or a body part of the individual; (b) a healthcare provider portal configured to be used by a healthcare provider of the individual; (c) a patient portal configured to be used by the individual; and (d) a server configured to operatively communicate with the healthcare provider portal and the patient portal, the server encoded with software modules comprising: (i) a data ingestion module configured to receive the sensed electromagnetic field data; (ii) a service module configured to provide at least one healthcare service that is accessed through the healthcare provider portal and the patient portal, the at least one healthcare service related to the sensed electromagnetic field data; (iii) an interface module configured to provide the healthcare provider portal and the patient portal with access to the at least one healthcare service, the interface module comprising an application programming interface; (iv) a machine learning module configured to apply a trained machine learning algorithm to the sensed electromagnetic field data, thereby generating an analysis result; and (v) a data analysis module configured to identify a presence or absence of an abnormality of the tissue, organ, or body part of the individual based on the analysis result, wherein the healthcare provider portal comprises a communication interface configured to provide at least one of a text, an audio, and a video transmission from the healthcare provider portal to the patient portal.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 am-4 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benny Tieu can be reached at (571) 272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALLEN H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682