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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to communication filed 01/12/26.
Response to Amendment
The examiner acknowledges the amendment of claim 1,4,6,9,17,21, and 24.
Response to Arguments
Regarding applicant’s argument regarding the use of credential for accessing the medicine dispenser, Tupler teaches the functions of the computer program accessible through the portal are based on the user credentials (use of the dispenser is declined for unauthorized user, paragraph 072) and teaches the functions of the computer program accessible through the portal are based on the user credentials (use of the dispenser is declined for unauthorized user, paragraph 072).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1,4-10,15-16,19-25, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2)] as being anticipated by Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571.
Regarding claim 1, Tupler teaches a system comprising: a lockable medication container configured to securely store and dispense medication (paragraph 038,048), a portal configured to receive inputs from a pharmacist and a patient (paragraph 040,-041), each user having user credentials associated with a defined role of either the pharmacist, the healthcare provider or the patient (paragraph 072), such inputs controlling the lockable medical container in dispensing of the medication, wherein the portal is in communication with a database and computer program (paragraph 043-044), wherein the functions of the computer program accessible through the portal are based on the user credentials (use of the dispenser is declined for unauthorized user, paragraph 072), the portal is configured to:
receive a prescription for a medication to be dispensed from a health care provider (paragraph 034,040);
access a profile of a patient from a dashboard on the portal, wherein the portal ts connected to a database and a computer program; wherein the profile comprises patient data (patient medicine schedule represents patient profile, paragraph 040,050);
access a health care provider profile through the portal, wherein the health care provider profile includes privileges associated with the health care provider for each medication dispenser container based on medication and patient profile (profile is represented by information for the health care provide used to provide notification to the healthcare provider regarding medication refills and operation of the medication container, paragraph 052,058,063);
provide instructions on dispensing the medication based on the prescription for recommendations by the doctor (paragraph 040-041);
provide parameters of the medication dispenser container to the pharmacist, the parameters including a size of the locking medication container and a size of an adapter based on the identification of the medication and the prescription (paragraph 042,098);
automatically configuring configure the medication container for distribution of the medication to the patient using an identification of the medication and the health care provider profile and the instructions (paragraph 040,043,049,072).
Regarding claim 4, Tupler teaches the instructions are based on recommendations from the health care provider (paragraph 040).
Regarding claim 5, Tupler et al. teaches placing the locking medication container is placed in set-up mode (pharmacist enter the prescription information, paragraph 043).
Regarding claim 6, Tupler teaches the set-up mode comprises generating user credentials for the patient and associating the user credentials with the medication dispenser (the patient is provided with a password which inherently include password generation, paragraph 072).
Regarding claim 7, Tupler teaches the user credentials comprise one of access codes, biometric detection, and override codes (paragraph 072).
Regarding claim 8, Tupler teaches the medication container (100) is in communication with the (112) portal (fig.1).
Regarding claim 9, Tupler teaches generating an alert when the medication is dispensed to the patient (paragraph 036).
Regarding claim 10, Tupler teaches receiving, through the portal, the alert when a medication is dispensed to the user and when the medication is retrieved (paragraph 036-037).
Regarding claim 15, Tupler teaches configuring the locking medication dispenser container further comprises setting one or more attributes of the locking medication dispenser container based on a nature of the medication and preferences of the health care provider (paragraph 040).
Regarding claim 16, Tupler teaches the one or more attributes includes a dispensing schedule having a periodic dispensing schedule or a dispensing schedule based on a request (paragraph 040).
Regarding claim 19, Tupler teaches the one or more attributes include audio or visual alerts when the medication is dispensed (paragraph 070).
Regarding claim 20, Tupler teaches the one or more attributes include audio or visual alerts when the medication is retrieved (paragraph 070).
Regarding claim 21, Tupler teaches the portal is configured to generate a time stamp associated with the retrieval of the medication (paragraph 049,063).
Regarding claim 22, Tupler teaches the locking medication container is locked or unlocked through the portal by an authorized individual (paragraph 048).
Regarding claim 23, Tupler teaches the portal is configured to permit the locking medication container to be unlocked by the authorized individual on an emergency basis (paragraph 048).
Regarding claim 24, Tupler teaches the manner for locking and unlocking the locking medication container comprises one of entering a credential or receiving a remote signal (paragraph 048).
Regarding claim 25, Tupler teaches the patient data comprises the patient's current or past medicines and the patient's medicine allergies, if any (side effects, paragraph 052).
Regarding claim 29, Tupler teaches an inventory of components of the medication container dispenser is presented on the portal (paragraph 042,088).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571 in view of Carter US Patent 4967928.
Regarding claim 2-3, Tupler et al. teaches the instructions comprise instructions for disposing the medication in the locking medication container (paragraph 038,048) but is silent on teaching disposing the medication in an unsecure compartment in a locking medication dispenser. Carter in an analogous art teaches a medicine container distributing medicine from an unsecured and secured portion of the container (col. 2 lines 42-55). The examiner consider disposing a majority of the medication in the locking medication container and disposing a minority of the medication in the unsecure department depends on the type of medication to be dispense and therefore represents an obvious variation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Tupler as disclosed by Carter because such modification represents an improvement over the system of Carter by providing a flexible medicine container for dispensing secured and unsecured medication.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571 in view of Hadaaegh US Patent 7757295.
Regarding claim 11, Tupler is silent on teaching the portal is further configured to receive through the portal, an indication of an unauthorized attempt to access the medication and to disable access credentials through the portal if a number of unauthorized attempts exceeds a threshold number. Hadaaegh in an analogous art teaches providing notification when the number of unauthorized attempt exceed a threshold and disable access credentials through the portal if a number of unauthorized attempts exceeds a threshold number (col. 2 lines 20-52).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Tupler as disclosed by Hadaaegh because such modification represents an improvement in the security over the system of Tupler by further limiting the chance of unauthorized access.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571 in view of Ainasser et al. US Patent Application Publication 2016/0267310.
Regarding claim 12, Tupler is silent on teaching the portal is further configured to reset further comprising resetting, through the portal, updated access credentials and to provide providing the updated access credentials to a user. Ainasser et al. in an analogous art teaches updating the access credentials and providing the updated access credentials to a user (paragraph 0173).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Tupler as disclosed by Ainasser because such modification represents an improvement in the security over the system of Tupler by further limiting the chance of unauthorized access.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571 in view of Tangellapally et al. US Patent 7426475.
Regarding claims 13-14, Tupler teaches authenticating the patient and other person having access to the medicine container (paragraph 072) but is not explicit in teaching authenticating, through the portal, the health care provider prescribing the medication by comparing the health care provider credentials to a set of stored credentials in the database. Tangellapally et al. in an analogous art teaches authenticating the the health care provider prescribing the medication by comparing the health care provider credentials to a set of stored credentials in the database (col. 14 lines 15-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Tupler as disclosed by Tangellapally because such modification represents an improvement in the security over the system of Tupler by further limiting the chance of unauthorized access.
Claim(s) 26-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupler et al. US Patent Application Publication 20180308571 in view of Hawkin et al. US Patent Application Publication 2016/0267310.
Regarding claim 26-27, Tupler is silent on teaching placing the locking medication container is performed in a set-up mode and once the set-up mode is completed, the locking medication container transitions to a demonstration mode. Hawkins et al. in an analogous art teaches placing the locking medication container is performed in a set-up mode and once the set-up mode is completed, the locking medication container transitions to a demonstration mode (the container is first setup then enter the mode in which user identification is entered, fig. 3, paragraph 0101-0113 ). Hawkin teaches the demonstration mode comprises the user performing steps to use the locking medication container and accessing dispensed medication (Fig. 3, step 306).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Tupler as disclosed by Hawkins because such modification represents an improvement over the system of Tupler by providing the means medicine container to be configured based on the operating environment and the patient’s preferences.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-18 and 30-35 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/VERNAL U BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686