DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/29/2025 has been entered.
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 Amendment
The information disclosure statement of 12/29/2025 has not been considered.
In view of the amendments, the previous 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections are withdrawn.
In view of the amendments, the claims remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Notice to Applicant
In the amendment dated 12/29/2025, the following has occurred: claims 1, 4, and 19-20 are amended; claims 2-3 and 5-18 remain unchanged; and no new claims have been added.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Effective Filing Date: 10/19/2015
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. 101 Rejections:
Applicant amended the claims to overcome the previous 101 claim rejections. Examiner withdraws these rejections.
35 U.S.C. 103 Rejections:
Applicant argues with respect to the previously-cited Marcus reference when referring to the amended independent claims. Examiner however relies on the Agrawal and Crowder et al. references for the independent claims. The new independent claims are not solely previous-cited claim 4 rolled into the previously-cited independent claims. Accordingly, Examiner relies on the Crowder et al. reference to teach the amended change of delivery for insulin limitations.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/29/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is 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 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.
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.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al.
As per claim 1, Agrawal teaches a system, comprising:
--one or more processors; (see: paragraph [0016] where there is a processor device) and
--one or more processor-readable media storing instructions (see: paragraph [0016] where there is at least one memory element that stores instructions) which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause performance of:
--identifying a plurality of event patterns within a plurality of monitoring periods based on measurement values of a physiological condition; (see: paragraph [0200] and FIGS. 7A and 7B where there is identification of events within various periods of time. These events are based on a physiological condition related to glucose)
--causing display of a snapshot graphical user interface display, (see: paragraph [0075] and FIGS. 7A and 7B where there is causing of a display on an interface) wherein:
--the snapshot graphical user interface display comprises a graph overlay region and an event detection region, (see: FIGS. 7A and 7B where there is a graph overlay region of the 24-Hour Glucose Overlay and an event detection region of the displayed patterns/events)
--the graph overlay region comprises a graphical representation of the measurement values with respect to a time of day, (see: FIGS. 7A and 7B where there is a graph overlay region which graphs the glucose data with respect to the time of day) and
--the event detection region comprises a pattern guidance display for at least a subset of the plurality of event patterns, (see: FIG. 7B where there is an event detection region with a pattern guidance display in the form of “Overall Observations”) wherein the pattern guidance display for at least one event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns includes a graphical representation of a recommended therapeutic remedial action (see: FIGS. 7B and 16B where the guidance display (Overall Observation) includes a graphical representation of a recommended therapeutic action such as “Consider recommending the use of Bolus Wizard for food and co…” and “Consider counseling patient on correct use of meter, sensor, etc.”).
Agrawal may not further, specifically teach:
1) --a recommended therapeutic remedial action that comprises a change in an amount of insulin to deliver and/or change in a time at which to deliver insulin prior to a subsequent time period, to be used by a medical device, where the change in the amount of insulin and/or change in the time at which to deliver insulin is to mitigate occurrence of the at least one event pattern during the subsequent time period; and
2) --causing, responsive to user input, automated reprogramming of the medical device for implementation of the recommended therapeutic remedial action prior to the subsequent time period such that the medical device delivers insulin according to the change in the amount of insulin and/or the change in the time at which to deliver the insulin.
Crowder et al. teaches:
1) --a recommended therapeutic remedial action that comprises a change in an amount of insulin to deliver and/or change in a time at which to deliver insulin prior to a subsequent time period, to be used by a medical device, (see: paragraphs [0040], [0108], and [0144] where there is adjusting of a medical delivery device’s parameters to change the amount and time to deliver the insulin (recommended therapeutic remedial action). The delivery here is prior to a future time period of a future event) where the change in the amount of insulin and/or change in the time at which to deliver insulin is to mitigate occurrence of the at least one event pattern during the subsequent time period; (see: paragraphs [0144] and [0177] where there is display of a recommendation/suggestion of an adjustment of stimulation parameters. The recommended therapeutic remedial action includes a preselected set of therapy parameters in the form of a suggested set of parameters. Also see: paragraph [0040] where there is adjusting of a medical delivery device’s parameters to change the amount and time to deliver the insulin (recommended therapeutic remedial action). These parameters are preselected as the system here is able to suggest these values for adjusting the therapy delivered by the stimulation device. The occurrence would be mitigated based on this recommendation) and
2) --causing, responsive to user input, automated reprogramming of the medical device for implementation of the recommended therapeutic remedial action prior to the subsequent time period (see: paragraph [0108] where the programmer 362 can transmit code to the implantable medical device to change modes as desired by a physician. The computing device (programmer 362) is configured to, in response to a physician’s selection of a change in mode, automate reprogramming of the implantable medical device. Further see: paragraph [0188] where the implantable device is programmed to deliver therapy according to a schedule. The schedule being “a time period associated with the at least one respective event pattern of the respective pattern guidance display” is taught in the Agrawal reference above) such that the medical device delivers insulin according to the change in the amount of insulin and/or the change in the time at which to deliver the insulin (see: paragraphs [0040], [0108], and [0144] where there is adjusting of a medical delivery device’s parameters to change the amount and time to deliver the insulin).
One of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to have 1) a recommended therapeutic remedial action that comprises a change in an amount of insulin to deliver and/or change in a time at which to deliver insulin prior to a subsequent time period, to be used by a medical device, where the change in the amount of insulin and/or change in the time at which to deliver insulin is to mitigate occurrence of the at least one event pattern during the subsequent time period and 2) cause, responsive to user input, automated reprogramming of the medical device for implementation of the recommended therapeutic remedial action prior to the subsequent time period such that the medical device delivers insulin according to the change in the amount of insulin and/or the change in the time at which to deliver the insulin as taught by Crowder et al. in the system as taught by Agrawal and Mayou et al. in combination with the motivation(s) of improving the response of the patient to the therapy (see: paragraph [0038] of Crowder et al.).
As per claim 2, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Crowder et al. further teaches wherein the user input comprises selection of the graphical representation of the recommended therapeutic remedial action (see: see: paragraph [0108] where the programmer 362 can transmit code to the implantable medical device to change modes as desired by a physician. The computing device (programmer 362) is configured to, in response to a physician’s selection (user input) of a change in mode, automate reprogramming of the implantable medical device. Further see: paragraph [0188] where the implantable device is programmed to deliver therapy according to a schedule).
The motivations to combine the above-mentioned references are discussed in the rejection of claim 1, and incorporated herein.
As per claim 3, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal further teaches wherein the at least one event pattern indicates that a glucose level is outside a target glucose range during a time period associated with the at least one event pattern (see: paragraph [0117] where the glucose readings outside of a particular pattern/range is being shown. The event patterns here indicate these readings).
As per claim 4, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal et al. further teaches wherein the event pattern is associated with a time of day, (see: paragraph [0008] where there is a time of day associated with the event patterns) and wherein the subsequent time period corresponds to a next occurrence of the time of day (see: paragraph [0147] where there is a next occurrence and the occurrences coincide with time periods).
As per claim 5, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal further teaches wherein the medical device comprises an infusion device that is operable to deliver fluid to a body of a patient associated with the medical device (see: paragraph [0077] where device communication layer 24 is responsible for interfacing with at least one, and, in further embodiments, to a plurality of different types of subject support devices 12, such as, for example, blood glucose meters, glucose sensors/monitors, or an infusion pump. Supports device 12 is an infusion pump (infusion device) operable to deliver fluid to a body of a patient based on measurement values for a physiological condition in the body of the patient for a sensing arrangement, the fluid influencing the physiological condition).
As per claim 16, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal further teaches a database to store the measurement values, (see: 29 of FIG. 1 and paragraph [0076] where there is a database layer to store measurement data 12) wherein the instructions further cause performance of obtaining the measurement values from the database and identifying the plurality of event patterns based on the obtained measurement values (see: computing device 100 from FIG. 1 where it is connected to a database layer that stores the measurement values obtained from devices 12. Also see: paragraphs [0083] and [0183] where computing device 100 may perform various, described decision support features. Also see: paragraph [0151] where database information is used to recognize patterns. There are instructions here which cause obtaining measurement values from the database and identifying patterns based on these obtained values).
As per claim 17, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal further teaches wherein the instructions cause display of the snapshot graphical user interface display to a client computing device communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, (see: paragraph [0184] where the electronic report snapshot may be transmitted to a destination device for presentation. The destination device is the client computing device) the client computing device displaying the snapshot graphical user display on a display device associated therewith (see: paragraph [0184] where the destination device (client) presents the electronic report snapshot).
As per claim 18, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. Agrawal further teaches wherein the one or more measurement values are obtained from a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device (see: paragraph [0013] where there are blood glucose readings from a continuous glucose monitor sensor).
As per claim 19, claim 19 is similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected in a similar manner.
As per claim 20, claim 20 is similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected in a similar manner. Agrawal further teaches one or more processor-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors (see: paragraph [0016] where there is a processor device and memory with instructions).
Claims 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al. as applied to claim 1, and further in view of U.S. 2013/0035575 to Mayou et al.
As per claim 6, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. The combination may not further, specifically teach wherein the instructions further cause performance of prioritizing the plurality of event patterns to generate a prioritized list.
Mayou et al. teaches:
--wherein the instructions further cause performance of prioritizing the plurality of event patterns to generate a prioritized list (see: paragraphs [0214] and [0217] where one or more of the following filters may be applied for selecting the final patterns or reducing the number of patterns prior to selecting final patterns from candidate sets: 3. Prioritized by type of events: Another filter may assign a weight or score to each event based on the severity of the event. Prioritization of event patterns is occurring based on the filtering criteria of type of events in order to generate a prioritized list).
One of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to have wherein the instructions further cause performance of prioritizing the plurality of event patterns to generate a prioritized list as taught by Mayou et al. in the system as taught by Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination with the motivation(s) of preventing excessive alerts to the user, including alerts in response to measurements that do not pose a risk to the user (see: paragraph [0007] of Mayou et al.).
As per claim 7, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 6, see discussion of claim 6. Agrawal further teaches wherein the instructions further cause filtering of the list of the plurality of event patterns based on one or more filtering criteria (see: paragraph [0119] where patterns may be in themselves further sorted and filtered by the types of readings forming the pattern. The remaining event patterns (the patterns) form a list after the event patterns are sorted through and filtered).
Mayou et al. teaches a list as a prioritized list (see: paragraphs [0213] – [0217] where the number of event patterns are may be filtered down for selecting the final patterns via various types of prioritization schemes. The remaining event patterns form a list of prioritized event patterns).
The motivations to combine the above-mentioned references are discussed in the rejection of claim 1, and incorporated herein.
As per claim 8, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 7, see discussion of claim 7. Agrawal further teaches wherein the pattern guidance display presents the subset of the plurality of event patterns based at least in part on the filtered list (see: paragraphs [0171] and [0262] where regardless of which event occurrences, if any, are detected, the process 1200 may continue to task 1224 for purposes of generating an appropriate output that conveys the recommendations. The output may be a report suitable for display, printing, and/or transmission to a destination device, wherein the recommendations included on the report are intended to address the detected event occurrences. A display is being generated which comprises a respective pattern guidance display (recommendations) for each respective event pattern of the filtered list (the detected event occurrences). The graphical representation of the recommended therapeutic modification is the output of the recommendation. Also see: paragraph [0216] where the modal day can be divided into eight intervals of three hours each. Each interval is assigned a weight or score. Based on the assigned weight or score, the candidate sets may be prioritized by the weight or score of the events in the pattern, sum as sum, an average, a median or the like of the weights or scores in a candidate set. The highest priority set in then selected, and the events included in the selected set are deleted from the remaining sets. Thus, the highest priority event pattern is being retained within each respective monitoring period).
Mayou et al. teaches a filtered list as a filtered prioritized list (see: paragraphs [0213] – [0217] where the number of event patterns are may be filtered down for selecting the final patterns via various types of prioritization schemes. The remaining event patterns form a list of prioritized event patterns).
The motivations to combine the above-mentioned references are discussed in the rejection of claim 6, and incorporated herein.
As per claim 9, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 7, see discussion of claim 7. Agrawal further teaches wherein the recommended therapeutic remedial action is one of one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions, (see: FIG. 16B and paragraph [0229] where recommendations appear in the region 1148. Accordingly, the recommendation shown in the region 1148 of FIG. 16B is a recommendation selected out of various recommendations otherwise the invention would output the same recommendation regardless of the events detected) and wherein the pattern guidance display for a highest priority event pattern of the filtered prioritized list includes a pattern analysis region identifying one or more potential causes of the highest priority event pattern above a therapy analysis region identifying the one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions pertaining to the highest priority event pattern (see: “Observations” 1148 of FIG. 16B where the observations window is being considered as the pattern guidance display and that the top region is a pattern analysis region while the bottom region is a therapy analysis region. Also see: paragraph [0268] where the observations window highlights important issues. Thus, information for the highest priority event is being shown).
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al. further in view of U.S. 2013/0035575 to Mayou et al.as applied to claim 1, and further in view of U.S. 2008/0059229 to Yamada.
As per claim 10, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 9, see discussion of claim 9. The combination may not further, specifically teach wherein the therapy analysis region comprises a table including a plurality of columns, and wherein each column of the plurality of columns corresponds to a respective recommended therapeutic remedial action of the one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions.
Yamada teaches:
--wherein the therapy analysis region comprises a table including a plurality of columns, (see: FIG. 4 where there are different medicaments for a case. The therapy analysis region here (the entire table) includes a plurality of columns) and wherein each column of the plurality of columns corresponds to a respective recommended therapeutic remedial action of the one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions (see: FIG. 4 and paragraph [0063] where there are different columns and two columns correspond to the plurality of remedial actions (medicaments 1 and 2)).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute wherein the therapy analysis region comprises a table including a plurality of columns, and wherein each column of the plurality of columns corresponds to a respective recommended therapeutic remedial action of the one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions as taught by Yamada for the therapy analysis region and therapeutic remedial actions as disclosed by Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, with the difference being the substitution of the elements. In the present case, the combination of Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. teaches remedial actions in the therapy analysis region and teaching wherein the remedial actions are displayed in individual columns would only be a superficial change and thusly, a non-functional change. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted the one known element for the other to produce a predictable result (MPEP 2143).
As per claim 11, Agrawal, Crowder et al., Mayou et al., and Yamada in combination teaches the system of claim 10, see discussion of claim 10. Agrawal further teaches further comprising a database to store therapeutic modification logic rules associated with the highest priority event pattern, wherein the one or more processors are communicatively coupled to the database to obtain the therapeutic modification logic rules from the database, (see: 28 of FIG. 1 and paragraph [0080] where the database layer 28 may include a centralized database repository that is responsible for warehousing and archiving stored data in an organized format for later access, and retrieval. Also see: paragraph [0099] where the treatment recommendations are stored and accessed by the system 16. A database here is storing therapeutic modification logic rules. Additionally, the computing device (computing device 100 from FIG. 1) is coupled to the database. Also see: paragraph [0262] where regardless of which event occurrences, if any, are detected, the process 1200 may continue to task 1224 for purposes of generating an appropriate output that conveys the recommendations. The output may be a report suitable for display, printing, and/or transmission to a destination device, wherein the recommendations included on the report are intended to address the detected event occurrences. Also see: paragraph [0091] where treatment may be developed or modified. The computing device here can identify the course of treatment recommendation (recommended therapeutic modification) that is output based on the detected event occurrence information and corrective measures that are needed to be taken (modification logic) to modify the treatment) identify a current therapy for a patient, and identify the one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions based at least in part on the therapeutic modification logic rules and the current therapy, (see: 28 and 100 of FIG. 1 and paragraphs [0080], [0091], [0099], and [0262]. The computing device here identifies a current therapy because it can identify a treatment that can be modified. Thus, it can identify a current treatment needing to be modified and modify it based on its own modification rules (logic)) and wherein the recommended therapeutic remedial action of the pattern guidance display is one of the identified one or more recommended therapeutic remedial actions (see: FIGS. 15 and 16 and paragraph [0229] where recommendations appear in the region 1148. Also see: paragraph [0262] where the recommendations may be included in the report of FIG. 15, thus the recommendations in the observation region 1148 of the report is the identified recommendation).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al. further in view of U.S. 2013/0035575 to Mayou et al.as applied to claim 1, and further in view of U.S. 2014/0046940 to Thomson et al.
As per claim 12, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 9, see discussion of claim 9. The combination may not further, specifically teach wherein the therapy analysis region is hidden in response to expansion of the respective pattern guidance display for another event pattern of the filtered prioritized list.
Thomson et al. teaches:
--wherein the therapy analysis region is hidden in response to expansion of the respective pattern guidance display for another event pattern of the filtered prioritized list (see: paragraph [0053] and FIG. 5 where screen 542 of 1-3 expands into 551 of 1-4 via selection of 550 of 1-3.The events here are expandable and collapsible and cover the regions of other events when expanded. The filtered prioritized list was taught in the claim 1 rejection).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute wherein the therapy analysis region is hidden in response to expansion of the respective pattern guidance display for another event pattern of the filtered prioritized list as taught by Thomson et al. for the respective pattern guidance display as disclosed by Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. in combination since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, with the difference being the substitution of the elements. In the present case, the combination of Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. already teach a respective pattern guidance display so substituting that display with a display that is both expandable and collapsible would only be a superficial change and thusly would not change the underlying functionality of the combination of Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mayou et al. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted the one known element for the other to produce a predictable result (MPEP 2143).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al. as applied to claim 1, and further in view of U.S. 2014/0046940 to Thomson et al.
As per claim 13, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. The combination may not further, specifically teach wherein the pattern guidance display for each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns is expandable or collapsible.
Thomson et al. teaches:
--wherein the pattern guidance display for each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns is expandable or collapsible (see: paragraph [0053] and FIG. 5 where screen 542 of 1-3 expands into 551 of 1-4 via selection of 550 of 1-3.The events here are expandable and collapsible. The filtered prioritized list was taught in the claim 1 rejection).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute wherein the pattern guidance display for each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns is expandable or collapsible as taught by Thomson et al. for the respective pattern guidance display as disclosed by Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, with the difference being the substitution of the elements. In the present case, the combination of Agrawal and Crowder et al. already teaches a respective pattern guidance display so substituting that display with a display that is both expandable and collapsible would only be a superficial change and thusly would not change the underlying functionality of the combination of Agrawal and Crowder et al.. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted the one known element for the other to produce a predictable result (MPEP 2143).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2013/0338630 to Agrawal in view of U.S. 2013/0172774 to Crowder et al. as applied to claim 1, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 9,192,536 to Mackin et al.
As per claim 14, Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 1, see discussion of claim 1. The combination may not further, specifically teach wherein the graph overlay region includes a marker associated with each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns, wherein each marker encompasses a period of time corresponding to the event pattern associated therewith.
Mackin et al. teaches:
--wherein the graph overlay region includes a marker associated with each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns, (see: FIG. 2 and column 3, lines 34-40 where there are markers in a graphical overlay region associated with each medical event) wherein each marker encompasses a period of time corresponding to the event pattern associated therewith (see: FIG. 2 and column 3, lines 34-40 where there are indications of each respective event and each indication encompasses a period of time).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute wherein the graph overlay region includes a marker associated with each event pattern of the subset of the plurality of event patterns, wherein each marker encompasses a period of time corresponding to the event pattern associated therewith as taught by Mackin et al. for the graphical overlay region and event patterns as disclosed by Agrawal and Crowder et al. in combination since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, with the difference being the substitution of the elements. In the present case, the combination of Agrawal and Crowder et al. teaches a display of graphical overlay and event patterns and substituting wherein the graph visually displays the events on the graph as opposed to near the graph would not change the functionality of the combination of Agrawal and Crowder et al. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted the one known element for the other to produce a predictable result (MPEP 2143).
As per claim 15, Agrawal, Crowder et al., and Mackin et al. in combination teaches the system of claim 14, see discussion of claim 14. Mackin et al. further teaches wherein the pattern guidance display for each event pattern includes a respective header region that is color-coordinated with the marker associated with the respective event pattern (see FIG. 2 and column 3, lines 34-40 where the touch pads and the events on the graph may be colored the same to indicate the event time).
The motivations to combine the above-mentioned references are discussed in the rejection of claim 14, and incorporated herein.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven G.S. Sanghera whose telephone number is (571)272-6873. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00 (alternating Fri).
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/STEVEN G.S. SANGHERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3684