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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments regarding the Restriction Requirement have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Requirement for Restriction has been withdrawn.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed (i.e., a descriptive title that distinguishes the invention and is not a generic or general description). The new title should take into account any amendments to the claims to best indicate the claimed invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 8/11/23, 11/21/24, 4/2/25, 7/29/25, and 11/18/25 follow the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 55, 131, and 132 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gulati et al. (US 2016/0249836) in view of Naka (EP 0898931).
Regarding claim 1, Gulati teaches a method of measuring a tissue element (abstract), comprising:
obtaining, an output light intensity corresponding to exit light having at least one predetermined wavelength, wherein the output light intensity is acquired by a measurement probe, the measurement probe is provided on a device of measuring a tissue element (two-dimensional LED array 2210; ¶ 0051, ¶¶ 0424-0426, Fig. 22A and ¶ 0547, Fig. 36C and 36D), and the device of measuring a tissue element has a signal-to-noise ratio level for distinguishing an expected change in a concentration of a tissue element (¶¶ 433-438 and ¶ 0543); and
processing at least one output light intensity corresponding to the at least one predetermined wavelength based on an interference suppression method (physical interference; ¶¶ 0525-0535), so as to determine a concentration of a detected tissue element (detecting sub-surface anomalies; ¶ 0535),
but does not explicitly teach in response to a reproducibility of a controllable measurement condition being met.
However, Naka teaches obtaining, in response to a reproducibility of a controllable measurement condition being met (“during a measurement the image on the pattern-bearing member is aligned with the unique marking to enable the same target area to be remeasured each time measurement is performed by the measuring means”; ¶ 0010), an output light intensity corresponding to exit light having at least one predetermined wavelength (“Upon receipt of the reflected or transmitted light, the light measuring unit 24 measures the intensity of the reflected or transmitted light”; ¶ 0028).
Gulati and Naka are in the same field of endeavor of a method and system for measuring a tissue element. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the method and system of Gulati to obtain, in response to a reproducibility of a controllable measurement condition being met, an output light intensity as taught by Naka. The combination improves the accuracy and reliability of the method and system by reducing measurement errors (¶¶ 0001-0006, Naka).
Regarding claim 2, Gulati in view of Naka teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining a positioning feature (¶ 0008, Naka); determining a measurement region according to the positioning feature, wherein the measurement region meets the reproducibility of the controllable measurement condition (¶ 0012, Naka); and arranging the measurement probe at a position corresponding to the measurement region (¶ 0012, Naka), wherein the positioning feature comprises a first posture positioning feature and a region positioning feature, and wherein the determining a measurement region according to the positioning feature comprises: adjusting a current measurement posture of a detected object to a target measurement posture according to the first posture positioning feature, wherein the target measurement posture meets the reproducibility of the controllable measurement condition; and determining the measurement region according to the region positioning feature, in response to a determination that the current measurement posture is the target measurement posture (¶¶ 0015-0017, Figs 1A-1E, Naka).
Regarding claim 4, Gulati in view of Naka teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the arranging the measurement probe at a position corresponding to the measurement region comprises: arranging the measurement probe at the position corresponding to the measurement region by a fixing portion, wherein the fixing portion is integrated with, partially separated from or completely separated from the measurement probe, wherein the fixing portion comprises a fixing seat and a first fitting part, and wherein the arranging the measurement probe at the position corresponding to the measurement region by a fixing portion comprises: arranging the fixing seat at the position corresponding to the measurement region by the first fitting part; and arranging the measurement probe on the fixing seat (¶¶ 0019-0023, Figs. 3A-3G, Naka); or wherein the fixing portion comprises a second fitting part, and wherein the arranging the measurement probe at the position corresponding to the measurement region by the fixing portion comprises: arranging the measurement probe at the position corresponding to the measurement region by the second fitting part.
Claim 55 recites similar limitations as claim 1 thus, arguments similar to that presented above for claim 1 are equally applicable to claim 55.
Regarding claim 131, Gulati in view of Naka teach a wearable apparatus, comprising the device of measuring the tissue element according to claim 55 (¶ 0548, Gulati).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 11, 14, 17, 18, 24-28, 31, 32, 36-43, 15, 47-49, and 132-134 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gulati et al. (US 2016/0097716) teaches a noninvasive system for detection/measurement of glucose and other analytes in a medium such as tissue.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENT YIP whose telephone number is (571)270-5244. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 PM PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi M. Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270-3438. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENT YIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
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