DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/11/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 11/11/2025 have been fully considered but are moot in view of a new grounds of rejection.
Regarding Applicants argument that Olson fails to disclose the amended recitation “…record on batter memory, regardless of the battery usage, information indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value in response to voltage of the power supplied from the battery being below a threshold…”, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Olson discloses two separate processes used to detect/indicate battery failure. The first process (fully described in col. 4 lines 38- col. 5, line 19), herein referred to as the “remaining power check”, involves using the memory component of the battery back and the processor to provide an ongoing indication of remaining battery energy (col. 5, lines 29-36). In short, during the “remaining power check”, the memory component of the battery pack collects and stores information (col. 4, lines 22-38) that it then uses to solve equations (col. 4, lines 44-46) that determine the amount of power remaining in the battery pack (col. 4, lines 39-43). The second process, herein referred to as “battery voltage level test”, operates independently of the “remaining power check” (col. 5, lines 37-40). Specifically, the “battery voltage level test” involves supplying a low-level battery signal to the processer whenever the voltage levels of the battery cells are determined to be below a threshold value (col. 5, lines 40-43). As described in Olson, if the processer receives a low-level battery signal the memory component of the battery is updated to reflect a battery failure (col. 5, lines 42-45). Examiner notes that this update to the memory component is recorded “regardless of the calculated battery usage” determined during the “remaining power check” process. Examiner also notes that updating the memory to reflect battery failure would be considered information “indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value”, and that the update to the memory component occurs “in response voltage of the power supplied from the battery being below a threshold”.
Regarding Applicants argument that Olson fails to disclose the amended recitation “in a subsequent self-diagnosis: determine that the battery is abnormal in a case where information indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value is recorded on battery memory”, Examiner respectfully disagrees. As disclosed in Olson, the “battery voltage level test” is performed at or during several events including before and after automatic external defibrillator (AED) use. As described below (Claim Rejections – 35 USC 102), “a subsequent diagnosis” is when the “voltage level test” is performed after AED use (col. 5, lines 63-67). As described above, performing “the battery voltage level test” would include “determining that the battery is abnormal in a case where information indicating that battery usage exceeds a predetermine value is recorded on the battery memory”, as this is exactly what is happening when the processor updates the memory component to reflect a battery failure (col. 5, lines 42-45).
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Olson et al. (6,366,809).
In re claim 1, Olson discloses a defibrillator (abstract) comprising:
processing circuitry (Fig. 6a); and
a memory (76) storing a program (Col. 4, Lines 17-21),
wherein, when executed on the processing circuitry, the program causes the processing circuitry to, in an initial self-diagnosis (Col. 5, Lines 63-67: “battery voltage test…before use of AED”):
*calculate battery usage (Col. 5, Lines 3-8: “amount of power remaining”) of a battery (Fig. 6b: 15) configured to supply power to the defibrillator;
*record, on a battery memory (18), information related to the battery usage (Col. 4, lines 22-35; col. 5, lines 8-12); and
*Regarding the “calculation of battery usage…” and “record, on a battery memory…”, it is apparent that the calculation of battery usage (process described in Col. 5, Lines 3-19) would occur during the initial self-diagnosis (i.e., battery voltage test…before use of AED) as the memory component and processor work together to provide an ongoing indication of the remaining battery energy (Col. 5, Lines 30-32).
record, on the battery memory, regardless of the calculated battery usage, (Col. 5, Lines 37-39: “voltage level sensing circuits…operate independently of battery status indicator gauge”) battery information indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value (Col. 5, Lines 42-45: “updates memory component…to reflect a battery failure”) in response to voltage of the power supplied from the battery being below a threshold (Col. 5, Lines 39-42: “whenever the voltage levels of battery cells are less than a predetermined value”), and
when executed on the processing circuitry, the program causes the processing circuitry to, in a subsequent self-diagnosis (Col. 5, Lines 63-67: “battery voltage test…just after AED use”) :
determine that the battery is abnormal in a case where information indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value is recorded on the battery memory (Col. 5, Lines 42-49; Examiner notes that a “battery voltage test” is a case where information indicating that the batter usage exceeds a predetermined value is recorded in memory as described in Col. 5, Lines 42-45).
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.
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 2-6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Olson et al. (US 6,366,809) in view of Morgan (US 5,591,213).
In re claim 2, Olson discloses wherein,
when executed on the processing circuitry, the program causes the processing circuitry to:
conduct first self-diagnosis (Col. 6, Lines 47-49 : “daily self-test”) in which the voltage is measured with first current (inherent) supplied from the battery to the defibrillator;
conduct second self-diagnosis (Col. 6, Lines 47-49 : “weekly self-test”) in which the voltage is measured with second current (inherent) supplied from the battery to the defibrillator; and
record, on the battery memory, the battery information indicating that the battery usage exceeds a predetermined value (Col. 5, Lines 42-45) in response to the voltage being below the threshold (Col. 5, Lines 39-42 : “predetermined value”) during the second self-diagnosis (Col. 5, Lines 63-67).
Olson does not disclose
second current, which is higher than the first current.
Morgan discloses an analogous defibrillator that preforms tests prior to being deployed (abstract). Morgan further discloses that in some cases test frequency may need to be adjusted to preserve battery life, as some tests require more power than others (Col. 4, Lines 48-54).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the defibrillator of Olson to include the high current requirement for more infrequent tests, as taught in Morgan. One would have been motivated to make this modification because tests that demand higher power will require the battery to supply more current to the defibrillator at the same voltage level (inherent).
In re claim 3, Olson discloses wherein
intervals for the second self-diagnosis (Col. 6, Lines 49-52: “daily self-test”) are longer than those for the first self-diagnosis (Col. 6, Lines 53-54 : “weekly self-test”).
In re claim 4, Olson discloses wherein,
when executed on the processing circuitry, the program further causes the processing circuitry to determine, regardless of the voltage, that the battery is abnormal (Col. 5, Lines 51-56 : “non-functional”) in a case where the battery information indicating the battery failure is recorded on the battery memory (Col. 5, Lines 57-62).
In re claim 6, the proposed combination yields (all mapping directed to Olson)
a capacitor (Fig. 3: 44) configured to be supplied with the power from the battery and to store power for an electric shock (Col. 4, Lines 8-10 : “defibrillating countershock”)
wherein, when executed on the processing circuity, the program further causes the processing circuitry to:
cause power not to be supplied from the battery to the capacitor during the first self-diagnosis (Col 6. Lines 49-51, 55-59 : “weekly self-test also includes” (the second diagnosis includes additional features (i.e., charging the capacitor) that are not included in the first diagnosis)) ; and
cause the power for the electric shock to be supplied from the battery to the capacitor during the second self-diagnosis (Col. 6, Lines 55-59: “high voltage generation circuit” (high voltage generation circuit charges capacitors (Col. 4, Lines 8-10)).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Olson et al. (US 6,366,809) in view of Freeman et al. (US 2016/0274162).
In re claim 7, Olson does not disclose wherein,
when executed on the processing circuitry, the program further causes the processing circuitry to cause the battery information to be transmitted to a management server.
However, Freedman discloses a defibrillator with the ability to communicate self-test (includes battery related self-tests [0188]) results to a remote server [0141].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the defibrillator of Olson to include the ability to transmit battery information to a server, as taught by Freedman. One would have been motivated to make this modification because storing test information can help address impending device failures (Freedman, [0171]).
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Olson et al. (US 6,366,809) in view of Schweizer et al. (US 6,223,077).
In re claim 8, Olson discloses wherein, when executed on the processing circuitry, the program further causes the processing circuitry to:
cause the battery information not to be recorded on the battery memory until a predetermined period of time has passed (Col. 5, Lines 50-55; (failure of memory component will prevent battery information from being recorded for a period of time))
Olson does not disclose
the ability to detect that a battery pack including the battery is attached to the defibrillator
However, Schweizer discloses an analogous defibrillator capable of detecting if battery communication has been lost (Fig. 3, 222) and periodically rechecking the battery to see if communication has been restored (Fig 3, 224).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the defibrillator of Olson to include the ability to detect if the battery is properly attached to the defibrillator, as taught by Schweizer. One would have been motivated to make this modification because an improperly connected battery would prevent the defibrillator from functioning.
In re claim 9, Olson does not disclose wherein when executed on the processing circuitry, the program further causes the processing circuitry to
detect that a battery pack including the battery is attached to the defibrillator; and
causes comparison of the voltage with the threshold not to be conducted until a predetermined period of time has passed since it is detected that the battery pack is attached to the defibrillator.
Schweizer discloses an analogous defibrillator capable of detecting if battery communication has been lost (Fig. 3, 222) and periodically rechecking the battery to see if communication has been restored (Fig 3, 224). Schweizer further discloses only comparing the voltage to a threshold value (Fig. 4, 232) after additional monitoring (230) has been completed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the defibrillator of Olson to include the ability to detect if the battery is properly attached to the defibrillator, as taught by Schweizer. One would have been motivated to make this modification because an improperly connected battery would prevent the defibrillator from functioning.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Olson et al. (US 6,366,809) in view of Obel et al. (US 6,748,273).
In re claim 10, Olson discloses wherein,
when executed on the processing circuitry, the program further causes the processing circuitry to calculate a fluctuation in battery usage (Col. 4, Lines 39-40, “remaining power”)
Olson does not disclose
the calculation being based on a time integral of current supplied from the battery.
However, Obel discloses an analogous battery status detecting circuit (Col. 2, Lines 2-8) that measures charge depletion using the time integral of the current (Col. 4, Lines 9-15) supplied from the battery (inherent).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery fluctuation calculation in Olson to include using the time integral of the current, as taught by Obel. One would have been motivated to make this modification both because the time integral of the current is known in the art and because the results, i.e. determining total charge consumed (Obel: Col. 4, Lines 9-12), are reasonably predictable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bowers (WO 2006/015347) discloses a defibrillator that calculates remaining battery capacity (abstract).
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLIVIA WALKER whose telephone number is (571)272-7052. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7-4pm CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Hamaoui can be reached at (571)-270-5625. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OLIVIA WALKER/Examiner, Art Unit 3796
/DAVID HAMAOUI/SPE, Art Unit 3796
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