DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/23/2025.
Claim Status
Claims 1-20 are pending,
claims 1-16 are withdrawn,
claims 17-20 are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/22/2024 is following the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
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.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HANSEN (US 20210007628 A1) in view of Cheng et al. hereinafter Cheng (US 20210396729 A1) and further in view of Cameron (US 20170182267 A1)
With respect to claim 17, HANSEN discloses a system of evaluating air quality sensor data (measuring the flow of air being inhaled or exhaled by a user, para. [0001]) comprising:
a carrying case (housing 3) having an interior pouch (see Fig. 2 that shows the housing having an interior pouch);
a spirometer device (spirometer 1) integrated with the carrying case (housing 3 which forms a means for holding the spirometer 1, para. [0040]), wherein the spirometer device has a pressure sensor (differential pressure sensor 30, para. [0007]) and a spirometer tube (1) coupled to the pressure sensor (see FIG. 4 that shows sensor 30 for use with a portable spirometer, para. [0035]), wherein the spirometer devices a mouthpiece (mouthpiece 2) that is configured to be extended away from a body of the carrying case (the mouthpiece 2 is connected to the housing 3, the mouthpiece 2 may be pivoted between a standby position, shown in FIG. 2, and an active position as shown in FIG. 3, para. [0041]);
a plurality of air quality sensors integrated with the carrying case (the sensor unit 10 comprises at least one digital differential pressure sensor 30 and temperature sensor 36, para. [0046]- [0047]).
HANSEN discloses the claimed subject matter except the plurality of air quality sensors including sensors for measuring 03, PM2.5, NO2, and relative humidity levels; a global positioning system (GPS) sensor integrated with the carrying case and configured to provide location data for the carrying case; and hardware circuitry configured to transmit sensor data from at least the pressure sensor, air quality sensors, or GPS sensor to a base station.
Cheng invention related to a system for small area real-time air pollution assessment discloses the plurality of air quality sensors including sensors for measuring 03, PM2.5, NO2 (the measuring device include a spirometer, include 03, PM2.5, NO2 para. [0024]- [0025]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Hansen to include the plurality of air quality sensors taught by Cheng. Hansen discloses a portable air quality monitoring system integrated with a carrying case but is silent as to these specific air quality parameters. Cheng teaches incorporating such sensors into a portable air pollution assessment system. An ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine these teachings to expand the range and accuracy of air quality measurements, yielding predictable results with a reasonable expectation of success.
HANSEN modified by Cheng is silent about a global positioning system (GPS) sensor integrated with the carrying case and configured to provide location data for the carrying case; and hardware circuitry configured to transmit sensor data from at least the pressure sensor, air quality sensors, or GPS sensor to a base station.
Cameron invention related to an electronic vapor devices configured to provide spirometer functionality discloses the system comprises global positioning system sensor (the vapor device 100 can comprise a global positioning system (GPS) unit 118, para. [0074]) and configured to provide location data for the carrying case (The GPS 118 can detect a current location of the device 100 and transmit the usable data to the one or more services via the network access device 106, para. [0074]) and hardware circuitry configured to transmit sensor data from at least the pressure sensor, air quality sensors, or GPS sensor to a base station (see Fig. 1 that shows processor 102, sensors 116 and 136, GPS 118, and network access device 106 for receiving and transmitting vapor device information; see also para. 0040]-[0041]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to further modify Hansen to include GPS sensor integrated with the carrying case and hardware circuitry configured to transmit sensor data to a base station, as taught by Cameron. Cameron discloses integrating GPS and communication circuitry into a portable sensor device to provide location tagged transmission. An ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate these features to enable location-aware monitoring and remote data reporting, which constitutes a predictable use of known techniques to improve a known system.
With respect to claim 18, HANSEN, Cheng, and Cameron disclose the system of claim 17 above. HANSEN further in view of the interior pouch is adapted to receive an asthma inhaler device (The spirometer 1 is to be used by a user exhaling air into a mouthpiece 2 or inhaling air through the mouthpiece 2, para. [0040]).
With respect to claim 19, HANSEN, Cheng, and Cameron disclose the system of claim 17 above. Cameron further discloses one or more microphones adjacent to the mouthpiece of the spirometer (see Figs. 1 and 11), wherein the sensor data transmitted by the hardware circuitry further comprises breathing sounds recorded via the one or more microphones (The vapor device 900 can comprise an audio interface 906. The microphone 908 can receive audio signals and provide the audio signals to a processor for interpretation into one or more commands to control one or more functions of the exemplary vapor device 900, para. [0097]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify HANSEN to include one or more microphones adjacent to the mouthpiece as taught by Cameron, in order to capture breathing sounds for processing. Such a modification represents a predictable use of known audio sensing techniques to supplement respiratory measurements, with a reasonable expectation of success.
With respect to claim 20, HANSEN, Cheng, and Cameron disclose the system of claim 17 above. HANSEN is silent about a pulse oximeter device integrated with the carrying case, wherein the pulse oximeter device is located in an inner tube of the spirometer device, wherein the sensor data transmitted by the hardware circuitry further comprises data obtained by the pulse oximeter device.
Cheng further discloses the use of pulse oximeter in air quality-health impacts assessment real-time air pollution assessment (Para. [0019]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Hansen to integrate a pulse oximeter device with the spirometer system, including locating the pulse oximeter within an inner tube of the spirometer and transmitting pulse oximetry data with the other sensor data. Cheng teaches using pulse oximeter in air quality health impact assessments, and an ordinarily skilled artesian would have been motivated to combine these teachings to correlate respiratory measurements with blood oxygen data, yielding predictable results with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20210076980 A1 discloses a portable, handheld spirometer (1) comprising a MEMS-based thermal fluid flow sensor (13, 13.1, 13.2) for generating a signal in response to a fluid flow generated during inhalation or exhalation; and a microcontroller (14) for calculating the fluid flow from the signal generated by the flow sensor (13, 13.1, 13.2). The spirometer (1) may be connected to other devices, such as a smartphone or a personal computer or any other computing unit which is adapted to collect, store, analyse, exchange and/or display data. The invention further describes the use of the spirometer (1) in measuring a user's lung performance and/or monitoring it over time. Furthermore, the spirometer (1) may be provided in a system together with an air quality measurement device for determining the air quality at a location of interest; and a computing unit for collecting, analysing and correlating the user's lung performance data obtained from the spirometer (1) with the air quality data, and optionally geo-localization data of said location.
US 20130053719 A1 discloses an airflow measurement device for use by a patient and for use with an external device, the airflow measurement device comprising: a metered dose medication applicator; a processor; a sensor coupled to the processor and operative to measure air movement through the metered dose medication applicator caused by the patient; and a communication mechanism coupled to the processor and operative to transmit the air movement measurements to the external device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEDEON M KIDANU whose telephone number is (571)270-0591. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4.
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/GEDEON M KIDANU/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/KRISTINA M DEHERRERA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855 1/7/26