DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites the limitation “the at least one medical device” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Note: For the purpose of the art rejection below, the limitation is interpreted to represent “the medical device”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-12, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yadav et al. [US 20230205641] in view of Huang [US 20230297587] and Narusawa [US 20200376652].
As to claim 1. Yadav discloses A method for tracking a status of at least one device in a distributed medical device system, wherein the distributed medical device system comprises:
at least one device, [fig. 1, 0049] production host 106, comprising a function unit, [fig. 1, 0054] applications 136 performing processes for clients, a control unit, and a memory unit, [0050] hosts include a processor and memory;
a status repository server, [fig. 1, 0049] backup management server 112, the status repository server being connected with the at least one device through a network, [fig. 1]; and
a database, [fig. 12, 0142] database 1230;
the method comprising the steps of
a) storing a digital representation of the at least one device that corresponds to a state of the at least one device, [0058] initial backup is a full backup stored as an image, [0158] of a source volume,
b) determining, by the control unit of the device, an operational status of the at least one device, [0077] monitor and track changes in the source volume in the form of a bitmap [0079] that includes addresses of changed blocks in the source volume since the previous backup,
c) computing, by the control unit of the device, an updated digital representation of the operational status of the at least one device, [0091] perform incremental backup of the changes since the last backup according to the bitmap,
d) storing, by the control unit of the respective device, the updated digital representation in the memory unit of the at least one device, [0091] write the data to a secondary storage 121;
e) comparing, by the control unit of the respective device, the updated digital representation of the operational status with a previously stored digital representation of a previously determined operational status of the at least one device, [0091] retrieve bitmap, an identify changes, [0142] validate the backup by comparing checksums, [0147, 0148] checksums are created for each file to be compared with a backup copy of the file when the backup copy is made,
f) preparing, by the control unit of the at least one device, a plurality of change reports identifying any differences between the updated digital representation of the current status and the previously stored digital representation of the previously determined operational status, [0092] bitmaps along with snapshots stored at the secondary storage, [0148, 0151] the checksums are stored in the database, [0179] metadata of files with bitmaps stored in metadata database,
g) transmitting, by the control unit of the at least one device, the change report to the status repository server, [0092, 0116] bitmaps along with snapshots stored at the secondary storage, [0179] backups performed on backup servers; [0184, 0185] wherein backup data including bitmaps and metadata is moved to the server, and
h) storing, by the status repository server, the plurality of the change reports in the database, [0092, 0116] bitmaps along with snapshots stored at the secondary storage, [0148, 0151] the checksums are stored in the database, [0179] metadata of files with bitmaps stored in metadata database.
Yadav fails to disclose wherein the device is a medical device; wherein the operational status of the at least one medical device including sensor log information and error information.
Huang teaches a method and device for synchronizing data comprising a primary gateway 510 implemented as a medical device, [0088]; wherein the backup gateway receives a change in a first stored data from the medical device, [0031, 0032]; wherein the backup gateway 520 receives incremental data from medical device and synchronize the stored data with the incremental data, [fig. 1, 11, 0032]; wherein the system comprises one or more sensors for providing status information about the device, [0096].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yadav with that of Huang so that the backup and validation methods of Yadav can be implemented on a medical device to ensure patient data is not lost in case of a system failure.
The combination of Yadav and Huang fails to teach wherein the operational status of the at least one medical device including sensor log information and error information.
Narusawa teaches a robot management and control system comprising a backup management 54, generating 55 and storing sections 56, [fig. 2, 0048]; wherein the backup generating section generates backup data 8, [0049]; wherein the backup data includes error information 732, and sensor information 743, [fig. 4, 0053].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Yadav and Huang with that of Narusawa so that the backup can contain every information about the machine at the time of backup.
As to claim 2. Yadav discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the steps b) - h) are repeated in a loop while the at least one medical device is operating, [abs.] the steps performed periodically.
As to claim 3. Yadav discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the step of computing the updated digital representation of the operational status of the at least one medical device includes writing at least one of system events, status messages, and error messages to at least one logfile, [0154] generate a report of the validation process including [0142] a list of a status of the validation result, [0154] failed backup status.
Yadav fails to disclose wherein the generating includes writing the at least one of system events, status messages, and error messages to a logfile.
Huang teaches a method and device for synchronizing data comprising a primary gateway 510 implemented as a medical device, [0088]; wherein the backup gateway receives a change in a first stored data from the medical device, [0031, 0032]; wherein the backup gateway 520 receives incremental data from medical device and synchronize the stored data with the incremental data, [fig. 1, 11, 0032] wherein the incremental data includes data of differences in the first and second stored data, [0035]; wherein the method generates a file list including data identifier, and summary information of the data, [0054].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yadav with that of Huang so that the system changes can be tracked fully.
As to claim 4. Yadav fails to disclose The method of any of claim 1, wherein the at least one medical device comprises a user interface.
Huang teaches the system comprising an I/O interface, [fig. 12, 0095].
The combination of Yadav and Huang fails to disclose wherein the step of computing the updated digital representation of the operational status of the at least one medical device includes writing user input received through the user interface to at least one log file.
Narusawa teaches a robot management and control system comprising a backup management 54, generating 55 and storing sections 56, [fig. 2, 0048]; wherein the backup generating section generates backup data 8, [0049]; wherein the backup data includes error information 732, and sensor information 743, [fig. 4, 0053], and events on the robot that include an event in operation of a user interface, [0075].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Yadav and Huang with that of Narusawa so that the system can backup updates to the file by the user.
As to claim 5. Yadav fails to disclose The method of any of claim 3, wherein the step of storing the updated digital representation in the memory unit includes writing the at least one log file to a file system of the memory unit.
Huang teaches a method and device for synchronizing data comprising a primary gateway 510 implemented as a medical device, [0088]; wherein the backup gateway receives a change in a first stored data from the medical device, [0031, 0032]; wherein the backup gateway 520 receives incremental data from medical device and synchronize the stored data with the incremental data, [fig. 1, 11, 0032] wherein the incremental data includes data of differences in the first and second stored data, [0035]; wherein the method generates a file list including data identifier, and summary information of the data, [0054].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yadav with that of Huang so that the system changes can be tracked fully.
As to claim 7. Yadav discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing the updated digital representation in the memory unit includes writing the at least one configuration file to a file system of the memory unit, [0091] write the change in volume of any change to the backup media.
As to claim 8. Yadav discloses The method of claim 5, wherein the step of comparing the updated digital representation of the operational status with a previously stored digital representation of a previously determined operational status includes scanning the file system of the memory unit for at least one of newly added files, deleted files, and changed files, [0091].
As to claim 9. Yadav discloses The method of claim 8, wherein the step of preparing the plurality of change reports comprises at least one of: writing an identifier, [0091] address of the changed volume mapped into the bitmap of any newly added file, deleted file, and changed file to the plurality of change reports, writing the content of any newly added file to the plurality of change reports, and writing the content difference of any changed file to the plurality of change reports, [0091].
As to claim 10. Yadav discloses The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of writing at least one of a time stamp, a medical device identifier, and a unique change identifier to the plurality of change reports, [0052] time and date of the backup, identifier of the backup source, identification of the files.
As to claim 11. Yadav discloses The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of compressing the plurality of change reports before the step of transmitting the plurality of change reports, [0054].
As to claim 12. Yadav discloses The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of encrypting the a plurality of change reports before the step of transmitting the plurality of change reports, [0054].
As to claim 14. Yadav discloses A method for retrieving a status of at least one device in a distributed device system, wherein the distributed medical device system comprises:
at least one device, [fig. 1, 0049] production host 106;
a status repository server, [fig. 1, 0049] backup management server 112, the status repository server being connected with the at least one device through a network, [fig. 1]; and
a database, [fig. 12, 0142] database 1230;
the method comprising the steps of
determining, by a control unit of the at least one medical device, an operational status of the at least one medical device, [0058] initial backup is a full backup stored as an image, [0158] of a source volume;
retrieving, through the status repository server, a digital representation of an initial status of the at least one device from the database, [0058] initial backup is a full backup stored as an image, [0158] of a source volume, that corresponds to a state of the at least one device at a time of factory delivery, [0158] created at an initial time;
retrieving, through the status repository server, a sequence of change reports for the at least one medical device from the database based on the operational status of the at least one medical device, [0077] monitor and track changes in the source volume in the form of a bitmap [0079] that includes addresses of changed blocks in the source volume since the previous backup, [0092] bitmaps along with snapshots stored at the secondary storage, [0148, 0151] the checksums are stored in the database, [0179] metadata of files with bitmaps stored in metadata database; and
sequentially applying the changes listed in the retrieved sequence of change reports to the digital representation of the initial status, to obtain a digital representation of the current status of the at least one medical device, [0059] restoring a volume includes retrieving the last full backup and then sequentially identifying the incremental changes after the last full backup and applying the changes.
Yadav fails to disclose wherein the device is a medical device; wherein the operational status of the at least one medical device including sensor information and error log information.
Huang teaches a method and device for synchronizing data comprising a primary gateway 510 implemented as a medical device, [0088]; wherein the backup gateway receives a change in a first stored data from the medical device, [0031, 0032]; wherein the backup gateway 520 receives incremental data from medical device and synchronize the stored data with the incremental data, [fig. 1, 11, 0032]; wherein the system comprises one or more sensors for providing status information about the device, [0096].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yadav with that of Huang so that the backup and validation methods of Yadav can be implemented on a medical device to ensure patient data is not lost in case of a system failure.
The combination of Yadav and Huang fails to teach wherein the operational status of the at least one medical device including sensor log information and error information.
Narusawa teaches a robot management and control system comprising a backup management 54, generating 55 and storing sections 56, [fig. 2, 0048]; wherein the backup generating section generates backup data 8, [0049]; wherein the backup data includes error information 732, and sensor information 743, [fig. 4, 0053].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Yadav and Huang with that of Narusawa so that the backup can contain every information about the machine at the time of backup.
As to claim 15. Huang discloses A medical device, comprising, [fig. 9, 0096] sensor component 914 for use with imaging applications, a control unit, [fig. 9, 0090] processing component 902, and a memory unit, [fig. 9, 0091] memory 904, wherein the control unit of the device is configured to the method as claimed in claim1, which are rejected using the same prior arts and reasoning as to that of claim 1
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yadav in view of Huang, and Narusawa as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Paraschiv et al. [US 12119106].
As to claim 13. the combination of Yadav, Huang and Narusawa fails to disclose The method of claim 1, further comprising using revision control systems GIT or SVN.
Paraschiv teaches a medical system that uses GIT to implement a backup system [col. 16, lines 1-41].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Yadav, Huang and Narusawa with that of Paraschiv so that the system can be implemented using one of the widely used version control systems to reduce implementation cost and time.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are 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.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENYAM HAILE whose telephone number is (571)272-2080. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 AM - 5:30 PM Mon. - Thur..
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/Benyam Haile/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688
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