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 Amendment
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed on June 9, 2026. As directed by the amendment: claim(s) 1, 3, 6, 8-9, 12-13, 15, and 18 have been amended, claim(s) 7 and 19 have been cancelled, and no claim(s) have been added. Thus, claims 1-6 and 8-18 are currently pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-6 and 8-18 have been considered but the arguments do not apply to the combination of the references being used in the new grounds of rejection set forth above. The applicant asserts that the prior art rejections do not teach or suggest the features as amended into the amended claims; therefore, the examiner has applied a new combination of prior art to reject the claims and address the arguments necessitated by such amendment.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3 contains the limitation “…wherein optical the sensors…” and the examiner has understood this to be a typo and should be “…wherein the optical sensors…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 8, 10-11, 13-14 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mannheimer (US 5,842,982) in view of Pareddy (US 2020/0163602 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Mannheimer discloses a biometric monitoring system for monitoring the health of user (e.g. abstract), the system comprising: an article of clothing configured for placement over or contacting a foot of user (e.g. Fig 7:52 col 4 lines 38-56), the article of clothing including: a body portion (e.g. Fig 7:52 col 4 lines 38-56); a transparent sole portion connected to the body portion and arranged such than the body portion is place over the foot of the user the transparent sole portion is arranged on or near a sole of the foot of the user (e.g. Fig 7:56 “a pocket 56 on the bottom of the foot” ); a sensor bed arranged and configured to contact the transparent sole portion (e.g. col 3 lines 10-15 and col 4 lines 40-42 “The emitter and detector can be inserted into the pockets and connected to cable 16”); and one or more biometric sensors on the sensor bed arranged and configured, with the transparent sole portion between the sensor bed and the sole of the foot of the user (e.g. col 4 lines 42-47), to transmit light through the transparent sole portion so that it contacts the sole of the foot of the user and receive one or more reflected signals from the sole of the foot of the user to measure the health of the user (e.g. col 3 lines 10-15, col 4 lines 40-42 and col 7 lines 38-56 Fig 7).
Mannheimer is silent regarding the sensor bed positioned on an outside of the article of clothing and an outer flap arranged such that the sensor bed is held in place between the outer flap and the transparent sole portion. Mannheimer does disclose the use of a pocket to hold the sensor, and one could argue that technically the outer portion of the pocket is a flap, but in the instance the applicant disagrees the examiner has provided Pareddy as a teaching.
However, Pareddy discloses an apparatus for infant monitoring comprising a wrap or sock that wraps around an infant’s foot such that the sensor bed positioned on an outside of the article of clothing is secured within a pocket or a flap which would have the outer flap arranged such that the sensor bed is held in place between the outer flap.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Mannheimer to incorporate the teachings of Pareddy to substitute the pocket of Mannheimer with a flap for the purpose of utilizing a known substitute to hold sensors in place on the foot.
Regarding claim 13, Mannheimer discloses A method of monitoring a health of user (e.g. abstract), the method comprising: placing an article of clothing as recited in claim 1 on a foot of user (e.g. Fig 7:52 col 4 lines 38-56), the article including: a body portion (e.g. Fig 7:52 col 4 lines 38-56); and a transparent sole portion connected to the body portion and arranged such than the body portion is place over the foot of the user the transparent sole portion is arranged on or near a sole of the foot of the user (e.g. Fig 7:56 “a pocket 56 on the bottom of the foot” ); providing a sensor bed that includes one or more biometric sensors (e.g. col 3 lines 10-15 and col 4 lines 40-42 “The emitter and detector can be inserted into the pockets and connected to cable 16); arranging the sensor bed relative to the article of clothing such that the biometric sensors transmits light through the transparent sole portion so that it contacts the sole of the foot of the user and receive one or more reflected signals from the sole of the foot of the user to measure (e.g. col 3 lines 10-15, col 4 lines 40-42 and col 7 lines 38-56 Fig 7).
Mannheimer is silent regarding wherein the article of clothing includes an outer flap and is arranged such that the sensor bed is held in place between the outer flap and the transparent sole portion. Mannheimer does disclose the use of a pocket to hold the sensor, and one could argue that technically the outer portion of the pocket is a flap, but in the instance the applicant disagrees the examiner has provided Pareddy as a teaching.
However, Pareddy discloses an apparatus for infant monitoring comprising a wrap or sock that wraps around an infant’s foot such that the sensor bed positioned on an outside of the article of clothing is secured within a pocket or a flap which would have the outer flap arranged such that the sensor bed is held in place between the outer flap.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Mannheimer to incorporate the teachings of Pareddy to substitute the pocket of Mannheimer with a flap for the purpose of utilizing a known substitute to hold sensors in place on the foot.
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the biometric sensors are optical sensors (e.g. col 3 lines 10-15 and col 4 lines 40-42 “The emitter and detector can be inserted into the pockets and connected to cable 16”).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the transparent sole portion is completely transparent (e.g. col 4 lines 44-45).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the transparent sole portion is partially transparent and allows light from the optical sensors to pass through it (e.g. col 4 lines 42-47 mesh allows partial transparency).
Regarding claim 8, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the biometric sensors are optical sensors (e.g. Mannheimer col 3 lines 10-15 and col 4 lines 40-42 “The emitter and detector can be inserted into the pockets and connected to cable 16”).
Regarding claim 10, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the transparent sole portion is completely transparent (e.g. Mannheimer col 4 lines 44-45).
Regarding claim 11, Modified Mannheimer discloses wherein the transparent sole portion is partially transparent and allows light from the optical sensors to pass through it (e.g. Mannheimer col 4 lines 42-47 mesh allows partial transparency).
Claim(s) 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mannheimer in view of Preddy as applied to claim 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Hu (US 2016/0278646 A1).
Regarding claims 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18, modified Mannheimer is silent regarding wherein the optical sensors can measure one or more of temperature and heart rate.
However, Hu discloses an opto-physiological sensor and method wherein the biometric/optical sensors can measure one or more of temperature and heart rate (e.g. [0151]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the modified system and method of Mannheimer to incorporate the teachings of Hu wherein the biometric/optical sensors can measure one or more of temperature and heart rate for the purpose of utilizing a known signal processing analyzer to separate and measure the signals acquired by the photodetector (e.g. Hu [0151])
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 JESSANDRA F HOUGH whose telephone number is (571)270-7902. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7 am - 4 pm.
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, David Hamaoui can be reached at (571)270-5625. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Jessandra Hough September 3, 2026
/J.F.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3796
/William J Levicky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796
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