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 § 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 1-2 and 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1
Claims 1-2 and 5-13 are within the four statutory categories. However, as will be shown below, claims 1-2 and 5-13 are nonetheless unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim 1 is representative of the inventive concept and recites:
A medical information management apparatus comprising a hardware processor that:
obtains first medical information that is input by a patient to a patient terminal and that includes vital information of the patient;
attaches note information input by a healthcare practitioner to the first medical information being displayed on a display in accordance with a manipulation of an operation receiver;
and outputs the first medical information to which the note information is attached;
wherein the note information is configured to be reviewed by the patient at the same patient terminal at which the first medical information is input;
wherein the healthcare practitioner diagnoses the patient as a result of the first medical information to which the note information is attached;
and wherein when the note information is attached to the first medical information, the hardware processor superposes the note information on the first medical information and displays the first medical information and the note information, or the hardware processor embeds the note information in the first medical information and displays the first medical information and the note information; wherein the first medical information is one or more of vital information, exercise information, medication information, meal information, and feeling information; and wherein the note information is input by the healthcare practitioner in response to review of the first medical information by the healthcare practitioner.
*Claim 13 recites same elements as claim 1, but for a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium
Step 2A Prong One
The broadest reasonable interpretation of these steps includes mental processes because the
highlighted components can practically be performed by the human mind (in this case, the process of
diagnosing, reviewed, and superposing) or using pen and paper. Other than reciting generic computer components/functions such as “hardware processor”, “processor”, “terminal”, “display”, and “receiver”, nothing in the claims precludes the highlighted portions from practically being performed in the mind. For example, in claim 1, but for the system language, the claim encompasses the user attaining patient data and providing commentary on the data and making the data with commentary visible.
If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation
in the mind, but for the recitation of generic computer components/functions, then it falls within
“Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Additionally, the mere nominal recitation of a generic
computer does not take the claim limitation out of the mental process grouping. Thus, the claim recites
a mental process. Additionally, the recitation of generic computer components and functions such as
superposing also covers behavioral or interactions between people (i.e. the computer), and/or managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (i.e. social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions – in this case a person is able to physically follow the steps to gather, process, and make visible, the patient data), hence the claim falls under “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity”. The types of identified abstract ideas are considered together as a single abstract idea for analysis purposes.
Dependent claims 2 and 5-12 recite additional subject matter which further narrows or defines the
abstract idea embodied in the claims.
Step 2A Prong Two
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims
recite the following additional limitations:
Claims 1 and 13 recite obtaining, attaching, outputting, inputting, processor, terminal, displayed, display, and receiver
In particular, the additional elements do no integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, other than the abstract idea per se, because the additional elements amount to no more limitations which:
Amount to mere instructions to apply an exception (MPEP 2106.05(f)). The limitations of
Obtaining, attaching, inputting, and outputting data are recited as being performed by a processor (or computer), terminal (or computer), or receiver (or computer). These limitations are recited at a high level of generality and amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer.
Add insignificant extra-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)) to the abstract idea such as the recitation of outputting, inputting, displayed, display, receiver, and embeds.
Dependent claims 2 and 5-12 do not include any additional elements beyond those already
recited in claims 1 and 13 and hence do not integrate the aforementioned abstract idea into a practical
application. Looking at the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already
present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of
elements improve the functioning of a computer or machine learning model or improves any other
technology. Their collective function merely provides conventional computer implementation and do
not impose a meaningful limit to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Step 2B
Claims 1 and 13 do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to discussion of integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements: A computer in claim 1; amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception to the abstract idea. Additionally, the additional limitations, other than the abstract idea per se, amount to no more than limitations which amount to elements that have been recognized as well-understood, routine, and conventional activity in particular fields as demonstrated by the recitation of an additional element such as:
Terminal, which is expressly used to collect information/data (Para 0287, Tran et al (US20140121476A1) discloses: “The call center enables any of a first plurality of physician or health care practitioner terminals to be in audio communication over the network with any of a second plurality of patient wearable appliances…”) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Receiver, which is generally used to receive and/or send data (Para 0068, Tran et al (US20140121476A1) discloses: “The receiver may be installed in the same room with the patient, or at a central surveillance area as desired within the range of the transmitting device 10.”) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Display/displaying, which is used to visualize data (Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1354-55) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Data which is expressly used describe a form of information (Para 0017, Tran et al (US20140121476A1) discloses: “All patient information, including personal data, laboratory test results…”) in a manner that would be will-understood, routine, and conventional.
Embedding, which is used to attach information or data specifically to a larger information set (Para 0319, Tran et al (US20140121476A1) discloses: “The watch can capture highly detailed electric, water and gas utility usage data and embed intelligence…”) in a manner that would be will-understood, routine, and conventional.
Obtaining data which refers to data gathering (TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 614, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1748 (Fed. Cir. 2016)) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Attaching data which refers to a form of sending/receiving data (TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 614, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1748 (Fed. Cir. 2016)) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Outputting refers to the act of producing data from a computer system (Para 0095, Fernandez(US 20200235841 A1) discloses: “Output interface 816 may comprise one or more conventional mechanisms that output information to the operator or user, such as a display 840, etc.”) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Inputting refers to the action of entering data into a computer or system(Para 45, Pallemulle(US 10936710 B1) discloses: “In some embodiments the device can include at least one additional input component 1012 able to receive conventional input from a user. This conventional input can include, for example, a push button, touch pad, touch screen, wheel, joystick, keyboard, mouse, keypad, or any other such device or element whereby a user can input a command to the device.”) in a manner that would be well-understood, routine, and conventional.
Dependent claims 2 and 5-12 do not include any additional elements beyond those already recited in independent claims 1 and 13. Therefore, they are not deemed to be significantly more than the abstract idea because, as stated above, the limitations of the aforementioned dependent claims amount to no more than generally linking the abstract idea to a particular technological environment or field of use, and/or do not recite and additional elements not already recited in independent claims 1 and 13 hence do not amount to “significantly more” than the abstract idea.
Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea identified above. Furthermore, looking at the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually, and there is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology, and their collective function merely provide conventional computer implementation.
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.
Claims 1-2, and 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsumori(US20210118568A1) in view of Denholm(US20110137676A1).
Claim 1
Mitsumori discloses:
A medical information management apparatus comprising a hardware processor that: obtains first (Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) medical information (Para 0005, Mitsumori discloses: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a medical information [MEDICAL INFORMATION] system…”) that is input by a patient to a patient terminal(Para 0022, Denholm discloses patient terminal) and that includes vital information (Para 0028, Mitsumori discloses: “The physiological examination data is examination data related to vital signs [VITAL SIGNS ARE VITAL INFORMATION]…”) of the patient(Para 0003, Mitsumori discloses: “Medical providers (e.g., medical doctors) provide treatment for examined subjects (e.g., patients [PATIENT]) by comprehensively observing those various types of medical data.”); attaches note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) input(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses: “when a comment or the like is input[INPUT] for the medical data…”) by a healthcare practitioner(Para 0031, Mitsumori discloses: “a medical provider”[HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER]) to the first medical information (Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ATTACHED TO FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”) being displayed (Para 0031, Mitsumori discloses: “and to cause the obtained data to be displayed [DISPLAYED]…”) on a display (Figure 2, Mitsumori discloses a display, #140) in accordance with a manipulation of an operation receiver (Para 0065, Mitsumori discloses: “operation to designate [MANIPULATION OPERATION] one of the events displayed in the timeline display region G11 via the input interface 130 or the like, the display controlling function 155 [DISPLAY CONTROLLING FUNCTION CAN BE RECEIVER] refers to the integration data server 400 and obtains the medical data corresponding to the designated event …”); and outputs (Figures 10-14, Mitsumori discloses various outputs) the first (Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) medical information(Para 0005, Mitsumori discloses: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a medical information [MEDICAL INFORMATION] system…”) to which the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) is attached (Para 0082, Figure 10, #W2, Mitsumori discloses: “ diagnosis/treatment data displayed in the data display region G12, the display controlling function 155 may cause an input region W2 to be displayed while being kept in correspondence with the diagnosis/treatment data, as illustrated in FIG. 10.”); wherein the note information is configured to be reviewed by the patient at the same patient terminal at which the first medical information is input(Para 0037, Denholm discloses care-giver providing feedback and sending messages to patient terminal); wherein the healthcare practitioner diagnoses the patient as a result(Para 0031, Mitsumori discloses: “a medical provider[HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER] (which hereinafter may be referred to as a “user”) who operates the medical information processing apparatus 100 is able to obtain examination data and diagnosis/treatment data created in the past for a patient, from the integration data server 400 and to cause the obtained data to be displayed, for the purpose of creating diagnosis/treatment data or performing a diagnosis process on the patient[DIAGNOSES PATIENT AS A RESULT]. “) of the first(Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) medical information(Para 0005, Mitsumori discloses: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a medical information [MEDICAL INFORMATION] system…”) to which the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) is attached(Para 0082, Figure 10, #W2, Mitsumori discloses: “ diagnosis/treatment data displayed in the data display region G12, the display controlling function 155 may cause an input region W2 to be displayed while being kept in correspondence with the diagnosis/treatment data, as illustrated in FIG. 10.”) and wherein when the note information is attached to the first medical information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ATTACHED TO FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”), the hardware processor superposes(Figure 10, Mitsumori discloses a display of medical information with a corresponding superposed attached note (W2)) the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) on the first medical information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ON FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”) and displays(Para 0031, Mitsumori discloses: “and to cause the obtained data to be displayed [DISPLAYS]…”) the first medical information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ON FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”) and the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”), or the hardware processor embeds(Figure 9, Mitsumori discloses a display of an embedded note (W1) with its associated medical information) the note information in the first medical information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ON FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”) and displays the first medical information and the note information(Figure 9, Mitsumori discloses a display of an embedded note (W1) with its associated medical information); ; wherein the first medical information is one or more of vital information, exercise information, medication information(Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data indicating the diagnosis/treatment record[CAN HAVE MEDICATION INFORMATION]…”), meal information, and feeling information; and wherein the note information is input(Para 0083, Mitsumori discloses inputting a comment related to medical information) by the healthcare practitioner(Para 0023, Mitsumori discloses medical provider) in response to review of the first medical information by the healthcare practitioner.
Mitsumori does not explicitly disclose: patient terminal
Denholm discloses:
patient terminal(Para 0022, Denholm discloses patient terminal)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art to have modified the medical information processing apparatus and method of Mitsumori, to include a patient terminal, as taught by Denholm. One of ordinary skill would have been so motivated to enable a patient to input health data and at the same time attain notes from the evaluating physician, to better improve quality of care, but in this case, for a patient communication method and system(Para 0010, Denholm discloses: “While some attempts have been made to develop more effective patient communication systems, such systems have yet to adequately address the needs of patients lacking the ability to communicate verbally. “).
Claim 2
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor displays the first (Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) medical information (Para 0005, Mitsumori discloses: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a medical information [MEDICAL INFORMATION] system…”) to which the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) is attached on the display (Figure 10, Mitsumori discloses a display of medical information with a corresponding attached note (W2)).
Claim 5
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor outputs (Figures 10, Mitsumori discloses an output of first medical information, P11, with an attached note, W2) the first medical information (Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data recording the content of the input so as to be kept in correspondence with the medical data or the item for which the input was made [NOTE INFORMATION ATTACHED TO FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] …”) to which the note information is attached (Figure 9, Mitsumori discloses a display of an embedded note (W1) with its associated medical information) to the patient (Para 0003, Mitsumori discloses: “Medical providers (e.g., medical doctors) provide treatment for examined subjects (e.g., patients [PATIENT]) by comprehensively observing those various types of medical data.”) terminal (Para 0023, Mitsumori discloses: “medical information processing apparatus 100 is realized by using a computer apparatus such as a workstation, a personal computer, or a tablet terminal [TERMINAL]…”).
Claim 6
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor attaches the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) to a first region (Figure 6, Para 0065, Mitsumori discloses: “ the display controlling function 155 causes the obtained medical data to be displayed in the data display region [DATA DISPLAY REGION CAN BE FIRST REGION] G12…”) in which the first (Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) medical information (Para 0005, Mitsumori discloses: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a medical information [MEDICAL INFORMATION] system…”) is displayed (Figure 9, Mitsumori discloses a display of an embedded note (W1) with its associated medical information in the first region (G12)).
Claim 7
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor attaches the note information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) to a second region that is different from a first region (Para 0067, Mitsumori discloses: “data display region G12, each of the pieces of medical data is displayed in a different one of small regions (hereinafter, “panels”) that are each smaller than the data display region G12 [DATA DISPLAY REGION CAN BE BROKEN INTO SEVERAL SMALLER REGIONS SUCH THAT A FIRST AND SECOND REGION CAN BE CREATED].) in which the first medical information(Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “ first data [FIRST DATA CAN BE FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION] indicating the diagnosis/treatment record…”) is displayed (Para 0031, Mitsumori discloses: “and to cause the obtained data to be displayed [DISPLAYED]…”).
Claim 8
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the note information (Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT DATA CAN BE NOTE INFORMATION]…”) includes at least one among an annotation(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT IS A TYPE OF ANNOTATION]…”), a letter (Figure 9, W1, Mitsumori discloses a note that is a comment but includes at least one letter) a symbol (Para 0064, Mitsumori discloses: “ is configured to display figures that symbolically express [SYMBOL] the content of the events…”) , a comment (Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “the data managing function 151 stores comment data [COMMENT]…”), and audio data (Para 0035, Mitsumori discloses: “the input interface 130 is realized by….a contactless input circuit using an optical sensor, an audio input circuit [AUDIO INPUT CAN BE AUDIO DATA], and/or the like…”)
Claim 9
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor further obtains second medical information (Para 0020, Mitsumori discloses: “second data indicating an examination result relevant to the first data [SECOND DATA CAN BE SECOND MEDICAL INFORMATION]…”) that is obtained in an examination (Para 0025, Mitsumori discloses: “physiological examinations [EXAMINATION] and image examinations performed on the patients…”) of the patient(Para 0025, Mitsumori discloses: “physiological examinations and image examinations performed on the patients[EXAMINATION OF PATIENT] …”), and the hardware processor outputs first combination information that is a combination of at least the first medical information to which the note information is attached and the second medical information (Mitsumori discloses: Figure 10 shows first information (P11) attached to note (W2), Figure 11 shows the addition of second medical information (P12) in addition to first information (P11) [OUTPUT OF FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION WITH NOTE AND SECOND MEDICAL INFORMATION]).
Claim 10
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor attaches second note information to the second medical information (Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “a comment or the like is input for the medical data or a specific item included in the medical data, the data managing function 151 is configured to perform a process of storing the content of the input…” [A COMMENT CAN BE ATTACHED TO ANY MEDICAL DATA AND CAN BE CONSIDERED SECOND NOTE INFORMATION FOR THE SECOND MEDICAL INFORMATION]) in accordance with a manipulation of the operation receiver (Para 0065, Mitsumori discloses: “operation to designate [MANIPULATION OPERATION] one of the events displayed in the timeline display region G11 via the input interface 130 or the like, the display controlling function 155 [DISPLAY CONTROLLING FUNCTION CAN BE RECEIVER] refers to the integration data server 400 and obtains the medical data corresponding to the designated event …”) by the healthcare practitioner (Para 0003, Mitsumori discloses: “Medical providers (e.g., medical doctors) [MEDICAL PROVIDERS/DOCTORS CAN BE HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS] provide treatment for examined subjects…”).
Claim 11
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor further obtains third medical information (Figure 11, Mitsumori discloses P13, which can be considered third medical information) that is related to the first medical information (Figure 11, Mitsumori discloses P11, which can be considered first medical information), and the hardware processor outputs second combination information that is a combination of at least the first medical information to which the note information is attached and the third medical information(Mitsumori discloses: Figure 10 shows first information (P11) attached to note (W2), Figure 11 shows the addition of second medical information (P12) and third information (P13) in addition to first information (P11) [OUTPUT OF FIRST MEDICAL INFORMATION WITH NOTE AND THIRD MEDICAL INFORMATION]).
Claim 12
Mitsumori discloses:
The medical information management apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the hardware processor attaches third note information to the third medical information(Para 0041, Mitsumori discloses “a comment or the like is input for the medical data or a specific item included in the medical data, the data managing function 151 is configured to perform a process of storing the content of the input…” [A COMMENT CAN BE ATTACHED TO ANY MEDICAL DATA AND CAN BE CONSIDERED THIRD NOTE INFORMATION FOR THE THIRD MEDICAL INFORMATION]) in accordance with a manipulation of the operation receiver (Para 0065, Mitsumori discloses: “operation to designate [MANIPULATION OPERATION] one of the events displayed in the timeline display region G11 via the input interface 130 or the like, the display controlling function 155 [DISPLAY CONTROLLING FUNCTION CAN BE RECEIVER] refers to the integration data server 400 and obtains the medical data corresponding to the designated event …”) by the healthcare practitioner(Para 0003, Mitsumori discloses: “Medical providers (e.g., medical doctors) [MEDICAL PROVIDERS/DOCTORS CAN BE HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS] provide treatment for examined subjects…”).
Claim 13
Claim 13 has similar limitations as claim 1. See claim 1 analysis.
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. 101
(Page 6) Regarding the assertion that the amendments more clearly incorporates the claims into a practical application.
Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The amendments add additional human activity and therefore do not incorporate the claims into a practical application. Please refer to the 101 analysis above.
35 U.S.C. 103
(Page 7) Regarding the assertion that the amendments are not disclosed by Mitsumori.
Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The amendments, when interpreted under BRI are disclosed by Mitsumori. Please refer to 103 analysis above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
• Owurowa et al (US20040103000A1): Owurowa discloses a portable system and method for health information storage, retrieval, and management. Some disclosures of this invention are similar to this pending instant application. (Specification, pp 5-8)
• Scharf et al (US20040204635A1): Scharf discloses a device and method for annotation of physiological data with associated observational data. Some disclosures of this invention are similar to this pending instant application. (Specification, pp 5-8)
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/S.G.P./Examiner, Art Unit 3685
/KAMBIZ ABDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3685
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