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 .
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 13 January 2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3-6, 8, and 10-14 are pending and currently under consideration for patentability; claims 1, 3, 5, 8, and 11 have been amended; claims 2, 7, 9, and 15 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments dated 21 November 2025 have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive or moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant has amended the independent claims to recite pre-processing the user heart data by removing noise or outliers and replacing extreme values using neighboring data to create formatted user heart data and analyzing inter-beat-intervals in windows within the first time period. The Examiner has addressed the amended limitations in the updated text of the rejection below.
Applicant argues that Moorman does not describe analyzing inter-beat intervals in windows, but rather describes a wavelet transformation system (Arguments, p. 7). The Examiner respectfully submits that, in a separate section, Moorman describes the use of moving windows used for the analysis steps ([0051]). Therefore, the Examiner respectfully submits that Moorman suggests analyzing inter-beat intervals, in the form of pulses, in windows within a first time period as recited.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-6, 8, and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moorman et al. (US 2016/0143594 A1) in view of Reifman et al. (US 2022/0151569 A1) and Chung et al. (US 2015/0106020 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 11, Moorman describes a method and system for reporting a user’s risk of infection ([0007], [0068]), comprising
receiving, from a sensor of a wearable device worn by the user, user heart data ([0075])
determining, from the formatted user heart data by a pulse rate variability phase acceleration algorithm, the user’s pulse rate variability phase acceleration values for the first time period ([0183])
determining, from the formatted user heart data by a pulse rate variability phase deceleration algorithm, the user’s pulse rate variability phase deceleration values for the first time period ([0066], [0083]) by analyzing inter-beat-intervals in windows within the first time period ([0051])
determining, by a trained infection risk prediction algorithm using the user’s pulse rate variability phase acceleration values and the user’s pulse rate variability phase deceleration values for the first time period, the user’s risk of a current infection ([0044], [0046], [0150])
providing, via a user interface, the determined user’s risk of a current infection ([0175], [0224])
Regarding claim 8 in particular, Moorman describes prescribing, by the medical professional in response to the provided patient’s risk of a current infection, an antibiotic and/or anti-viral treatment to treat the patient’s current infection ([0066], [0083], [0087]).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 11, although Moorman provides an example of oxygen saturation data measured from photoplethysmography ([0075], figure 1), Moorman does not explicitly disclose using a photoplethysmography sensor. Moorman also does not explicitly disclose pre-processing the user heart data by removing noise or outliers and replacing extreme values using neighboring data to create formatted user heart data, and wherein the first time period is a predefined window extracted from an overnight sleep episode of the user.
However, Reifman also describes a method and system for reporting a user’s risk of infection ([0001]), including using a photoplethysmography sensor (table 2) and wherein the time period during which data is obtained is a predefined window extracted from an overnight sleep episode of the user ([0019], [0063]). As Reifman also describes reporting a user’s risk of infection and is in a similar field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use a PPG sensor and overnight data, similar to that described by Reifman, when using the system described by Moorman, as doing so advantageously allows the resulting system to use a larger array of sensors and analyze user data over a more complete period of time.
Similarly, Chung also describes a method and system for analyzing a user’s heart data ([0008] - [0009]), including the step of pre-processing the user heart data by removing noise or outliers and replacing extreme values using neighboring data to create formatted user heart data ([0093]). As Chung is also directed towards analyzing a user’s heart data and is in a similar field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate a pre-processing system similar to that described by Chung when using the system described by Moorman, as doing so advantageously increases the accuracy of the resulting data.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Moorman describes transmitting the received user heart data to a remote server, wherein said pre-processing and determining steps are performed at the remote server ([0227]).
Regarding claims 4, 10 and 12, Moorman describes wherein the user interface comprises a web portal ([0221]).
Regarding claim 5, Moorman describes receiving, by a medical professional via the user interface, the determined user’s risk of a current infection ([0234]).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Moorman describes wherein the method is performed at a regular interval for the user ([0010] - [0011], continuous time-varying processes that can be revealed by analysis of the time series data) by a remote service ([0227]).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Ankit D. Tejani, whose telephone number is 571-272-5140. The Examiner may normally be reached on Monday through Friday, 8:30AM through 5:00PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carl Layno, can be reached by telephone at 571-272-4949. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (in USA or Canada) or 571-272-1000.
/Ankit D Tejani/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796