DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 12/04/2025, have been fully considered. The following rejections and/or objections are either reiterated or newly applied. They constitute the complete set presently being applied to the instant application.
Applicants have amended their claims, filed on 12/04/2025, and therefore rejections newly made in the instant office action have been necessitated by amendment.
Claims 1-10 are the current claims hereby under examination.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. Under the two-step 101 analysis, the claims fail to satisfy the criteria for subject matter eligibility.
Regarding Step 1, claims 1-4 and 6-10 are all within at least one of the four statutory categories.
Claim 1 and its dependent claims disclose a method (process).
Regarding Step 2A, Prong One, the independent claim 1 recites an abstract idea. In particular, the claims generally recite the following:
obtaining a pulse signal for determination;
determining a determination range of the pulse signal for determination through identifying a reverse pulse;
determining a pulse manifestation based on the determination range to provide a pulse manifestation diagnosis information.
These elements recites in claim 1 are drawn to abstract ideas since they involve a mental process that can be practically performed in the human mind including observation, evaluation, judgement, and opinion and using pen and paper.
Obtaining a pulse signal for determination is drawn to an abstract idea since it is a mental process that can be practically performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pen and paper. A person of ordinary skill in the art could reasonably receive the pulse signal for determination on a piece of paper. There is nothing to suggest an undue level of complexity in obtaining a pulse signal for determination.
Determining a determination range of the pulse signal for determination through identifying a reverse pulse is drawn to an abstract idea since it is a mental process that can be practically performed in the human mind or with the aid of pen and paper. A person of ordinary skill in the art could reasonably determine a determination range through observation, evaluation and judgement mentally, or with the aid of pen and paper. There is nothing to suggest an undue level of complexity in determining a determination range of the pulse signal for determination through identifying a reverse pulse.
Determining a pulse manifestation based on the determination range to provide a pulse manifestation diagnosis information is drawn to an abstract idea since it is a mental process that can be practically performed in the human mind or with the aid of pen and paper. A person of ordinary skill in the art could reasonably determine a pulse manifestation based on the determination range through observation, evaluation, and judgement mentally, or with the aid of pen and paper, and provide information related to pulse manifestation diagnosis mentally or with a piece of paper. There is nothing to suggest an undue level of complexity in determining a pulse manifestation based on the determination range to provide a pulse manifestation diagnosis information.
Regarding Step 2A, Prong Two, claim 1 does not recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application. Therefore, the claims are directed to the abstract idea.
a. Recite the words “apply it” or an equivalent with the judicial exception, or include instructions to implement the abstract idea on a computer, or merely use the computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea (e.g., “a computing device”).
As a whole, the additional elements merely serve to gather information to be used by the abstract idea, while generically implementing it on a computer. There is no practical application because the abstract idea is not applied, relied on, or used in a meaningful way. The processing performed remains in the abstract realm, i.e., the result is not used for a treatment. No improvement to the technology is evident. Therefore, the additional elements, alone or in combination, do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Regarding Step 2B, claim 1 does not include additional elements, alone or in combination, that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception (i.e., an inventive concept) for the same reasons as described above.
The element of a computing device does not qualify as significantly more because this limitation is simply appending well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known in the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, e.g., a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known in the industry (see Electric Power Group, 830 F.3d 1350 (Fed. Cir. 2016); Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 110 USPQ2d 1976 (2014)) and/or a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than being stored on a computer readable medium which is a well-understood, routine and conventional activity previously known in the industry (see Electric Power Group, 830 F.3d 1350 (Fed. Cir. 2016); Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 110 USPQ2d 1976 (2014); SAP Am. v. InvestPic, 890 F.3d 1016 (Fed. Circ. 2018)).
In view of the above, the additional elements individually do not integrate the exception into a practical application and do not amount to significantly more than the above judicial exception. Looking at the limitations as an ordered combination (that is, as a whole) adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology. Their collective functions merely provide conventional computer implementation, i.e., the computer is simply a tool to perform the process.
Regarding the dependent claims, claims 2-4 and 6-10 depend on claim 1. The dependent claims merely further define the abstract idea or are additional data output that is well-understood, routine, and previously known to the industry.
For example, the following are dependent claims reciting abstract ideas and can be performed in the human mind or are pre-solution activity:
(Claim 2): “receiving a plurality of pulse signals from a plurality of sensors to determine the pulse signal for determination” is pre-solution activity of generic data-gathering as evidenced by:
US Patent Application 20110201961 (Hu) discloses acquiring pulse signals from sensors as conventional (Hu, [0037]);
US Patent Application 20090048492 (Rantala) discloses conventional sensors used to measure a pulse signal component (Rantala, [0028]);
US Patent 4013068 (Settle) discloses conventional sensors used to produce pulse signals (Settle, Column 3, lines 21-28).
(Claim 3): “selecting the corresponding pulse signal for determination from the pulse signals corresponding to each of "Cun,""Guan," and "Chi" positions” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. One of ordinary skill in the art could easily select the pulse signal corresponding to the different positions mentally or with the aid of pen and paper;
(Claim 4): “wherein the sensors are arranged in an array” is pre-solution activity of generic data-gathering as evidenced by:
US Patent Application 20180340847 (Pan) discloses a conventional sensor array being used to measure pulse signal (Pan, [0053]);
US Patent Application 20190387972 (Hu) discloses conventional pulse measurement devices using a sensor array (Hu, [0105]);
US Patent Application 20090076405 (Amurthur) discloses using an array of sensors to measure pulse as a conventional approach (Amurthur, [0006]).
(Claim 6): “generating the plurality of pulse signals after removing a baseline shift and a high-frequency noise from the plurality of pulse signals received from the sensors” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. One of ordinary skill in the art could easily filter the pulse signals mentally or with the aid of pen and paper;
(Claim 7): “wherein the step of determining the pulse manifestation based on the valid range comprises: dividing the valid range into three equal parts; and determining the pulse manifestation as a "floating pulse," a "middle pulse," or a "sunken pulse" based on a highest pulse peak located in one of the three equal parts” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. One of ordinary skill in the art could easily divide the valid range into the parts mentally or with the aid of pen and paper;
(Claim 8): “before determining the valid range of the pulse signal for determination through identifying the reverse pulse, performing a noise filtering operation and an abnormal peak interval filtering operation on the pulse signal for determination” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. One of ordinary skill in the art could easily filter the pulse signals mentally or with the aid of pen and paper;
(Claim 9): “defining the valid range of the pulse signal for determination based on a first pulse peak and a last pulse peak of the pulse signal for determination” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. A person of ordinary skill in the art could easily define the valid range based on the first valid pulse peak and the last valid pulse peak mentally or with the aid of pen and paper;
(Claim 10): “when a current valley located between a previous peak and a current peak in the pulse signal for determination is closer to the previous peak, the current valley and the current peak form a reverse pulse, and when the current valley is closer to the current peak, the current valley and the current peak form a normal pulse” can be performed mentally or with the aid of pen and paper. A person of ordinary skill in the art could easily determine what is a normal pulse and what is an abnormal pulse mentally or with the aid of pen and paper.
The dependent claims do not recite significantly more than the abstract ideas. Therefore, claims 1-4 and 6-10 are rejected as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claims 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shang (CN 114711733) in further view of Ramholz (“Commentary on Li Shi Zhen’s “Pulse Diagnosis””). Citations to CN 114711733 will refer to the English Machine Translation that accompanies this Office Action.
Regarding independent claim 1, Shang teaches a pulse manifestation determining method ([0001]: “The present invention relates to the field of pulse signal technology, and in particular to a pulse signal extraction method”; [0002]: “Pulse diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine is a method of palpation that involves touching the pulse at different parts of the human body to observe changes in the pulse. When taking a pulse, a Chinese medicine practitioner applies different levels of finger pressure and uses different methods of feeling the pulse, such as floating, middle, and sinking, to sense the patient's pulse rhythm, depth, strength, and other comprehensive impressions, thereby obtaining important information needed for diagnosis and prescription. However, Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis is based on the feeling of the fingers to obtain the pulse condition. Based on the doctor's subjective judgment of the pulse and combined with his own experience, the pulse felt by the fingers is visualized and called the "pulse condition". Manually judging the pulse condition, that is, manually extracting the pulse signal, will cause a high error problem; the pulse signal extracted by existing technology still requires a large amount of data processing, which is not convenient and manual extraction is prone to errors.”), executed by a computer device, comprising:
obtaining a pulse signal for determination ([0009]: “removing noise from an initial pulse signal to obtain a filtered pulse signal”) at the computer device ([0148]: “The processor 111 is configured to execute the program stored in the memory 113 to implement the floating, middle and sinking extraction method based on the pulse wave under varying pressure”);
determining a determination range of the pulse signal for determination ([0009]: “wherein the initial pulse signal is collected under varying pressure conditions;”; [0020]: “Detecting a peak of the filtered pulse signal, and searching for a peak within a range of the filtered pulse signal based on the slope and the peak”).
However, Shang does not teach identifying a reverse pulse.
Ramholz discloses the process involved with pulse diagnosis. Specifically, Ramholz teaches identifying a reverse pulse (Page 3: “The sine wave is formed from the synergy and coordination between yin and yang”; Page 4: “The basic wave can be further analyzed by dividing it into its yang and yin components. The normal pulse begins with an ascending or yang movement …If the pulse begins with a descending motion (the sine wave is reversed), the organ energy is reversing and, if more than one pulse position presents this reversal, the mother-son rule of the 5-Phase theory is breaking down and the condition is more critical.”). Shang and Ramholz are analogous arts as they are both related to determining pulse diagnosis.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include determining the range through identifying a reverse pulse from Ramholz into the method from Shang as it allows the method to determine the reverse pulse and determine a range based on the reverse pulse, as the reverse pulse can show when there is a concern, and determining a valid range based on the reverse pulse can allow for the pulse manifestation to determine any conditions or health issues the user has. The reverse pulse can be used to determine different components of the pulse signal, such as floating, sinking, slow, and rapid (Ramholz, Page 2: “The theory of the pulse is very complicated but it is based upon the four principles--floating, sinking, slow, and rapid. Once they are understood, by elaborating on them, the entire subject can be clarified”), and these components are used in Ramholz, therefore it would be obvious to use the reverse pulse from Ramholz in the analysis from Shang to determine the user’s pulse manifestation.
The Shang/Ramholz combination teaches determining, by the computer device, a pulse manifestation based on the determination range (Shang, [0009]: “wherein the initial pulse signal is collected under varying pressure conditions;”; [0020]: “Detecting a peak of the filtered pulse signal, and searching for a peak within a range of the filtered pulse signal based on the slope and the peak”; [0043]: “By denoising the initial pulse signal collected under varying pressure, filtering out various noises to obtain a filtered pulse signal, and then processing the filtered pulse signal to obtain the central pulse, floating pulse, and sinking pulse, and by specifically refining the pulse image in traditional Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis, a more standardized signal processing result is obtained. The pulse extraction method provided by the present invention can reduce the amount of analysis and processing of pulse signal data for subsequent pulse signal analysts, and by more specifically and refinedly processing the pulse signal obtained by the floating pulse, central pulse, and sinking pulse, the accuracy and efficiency of pulse signal extraction are further improved.”) to provide a pulse manifestation diagnosis information ([0043]: “By denoising the initial pulse signal collected under varying pressure, filtering out various noises to obtain a filtered pulse signal, and then processing the filtered pulse signal to obtain the central pulse, floating pulse, and sinking pulse, and by specifically refining the pulse image in traditional Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis, a more standardized signal processing result is obtained. The pulse extraction method provided by the present invention can reduce the amount of analysis and processing of pulse signal data for subsequent pulse signal analysts, and by more specifically and refinedly processing the pulse signal obtained by the floating pulse, central pulse, and sinking pulse, the accuracy and efficiency of pulse signal extraction are further improved”).
Regarding claim 7, the Shang/Ramholz combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the pulse manifestation based on the valid range comprises: dividing the valid range into three equal parts; and determining the pulse manifestation as a "floating pulse," a "middle pulse," or a "sunken pulse" based on a highest pulse peak located in one of the three equal parts (Shang, [0011]-[0015]: “performing period segmentation on the filtered pulse signal according to the envelope signal to obtain a plurality of pulse periods; Obtaining a maximum value of the signal from the envelope signal, and taking the pulse period corresponding to the maximum value of the signal as the extreme pulse period; Taking the extreme pulse cycle and two pulse cycles adjacent to the extreme pulse cycle as the middle pulse cycle, and taking the filtered pulse signal corresponding to the middle pulse cycle as the middle pulse; Obtaining three pulse cycles preceding the middle pulse cycle from the plurality of pulse cycles as floating pulse cycles, and using filtered pulse signals corresponding to the floating pulse cycles as floating pulses; Three pulse cycles following the middle pulse cycle are obtained from the plurality of pulse cycles as sink pulse cycles, and filtered pulse signals corresponding to the sink pulse cycles are used as sink pulses.”).
Claims 2-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Shang/Ramholz combination as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang (CN 107115103). Citations to CN 107115103 will refer to the English Machine Translation that accompanies this Office Action.
Regarding claim 2, the Shang/Ramholz combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 1.
However, the Shang/Ramholz combination does not teach further comprising: receiving a plurality of pulse signals from a plurality of sensors to determine the pulse signal for determination.
Zhang discloses a method to measure pulse information. Specifically, Zhang teaches further comprising: receiving a plurality of pulse signals from a plurality of sensors to determine the pulse signal for determination (Page 2: “the technical scheme that the present invention takes is a kind of arteries and veins designed based on sensor array”). Shang, Ramholz, and Zhang are analogous arts as they are all related to determining pulse diagnosis.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the plurality of sensors from Zhang into the Shang/Ramholz combination as it allows the method to measure multiple signals, which can provide a more accurate and comprehensive analysis.
Regarding claim 3, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 2.
However, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination is silent on the positions of the sensors.
Zhang teaches further comprising: selecting the corresponding pulse signal for determination, from the pulse signals, corresponding to each of "Cun,""Guan," and "Chi" positions (Page 1: “Medicine diagnosis by feeling the pulse is usually that traditional Chinese physician presses three positions of cun, guan, chi at patient's person's pulse on the wrist radial artery with finger”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the positions from Zhang into the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination as the combination is silent on the positions of the pulse signals, and Zhang discloses suitable positions in an analogous method.
Regarding claim 4, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 2, wherein the sensors are arranged in an array (Zhang, Page 2: “the technical scheme that the present invention takes is a kind of arteries and veins designed based on sensor array”).
Regarding claim 6, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 2, further comprising: generating the plurality of pulse signals after removing a baseline shift and a high-frequency noise from the plurality of pulse signals received from the sensors (Shang, [0017]: “The pulse signal is filtered by a bandpass filter to remove power frequency interference with a frequency of 50 Hz, low-frequency baseline drift, and high-frequency noise of myoelectric interference to obtain the filtered pulse signal.”).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Elsevier (“Skills: Radial Pulse”).
Regarding claim 5, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 2 wherein during a measurement process, the sensors continuously exert a pressure.
However, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination does not teach exerting a pressure until a pulse amplitude is unable to be measured.
Elsevier discloses the proper way to take a person’s pulse. Specifically, Elsevier teaches exerting a pressure until a pulse amplitude is unable to be measured (Page 2: “Lightly compress the artery against the radius, obliterating the pulse initially.”). Shang, Ramholz, Zhang, and Elsevier are analogous arts as they are all related to determining pulse diagnosis.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the process from Elsevier into the Shang/Ramholz/Zhang combination as Elsevier discloses a proper way to determine pulse, which can ensure that the device determines the pulse in an accurate way.
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Shang/Ramholz combination as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhou (CN 112190268). Citations to CN112190268 will refer to the English Machine Translation that accompanies this Office Action.
Regarding claim 8, the Shang/Ramholz combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 1, further comprising: before determining the valid range of the pulse signal for determination through identifying the reverse pulse, performing a noise filtering operation (Shang, [0017]: “The pulse signal is filtered by a bandpass filter to remove power frequency interference with a frequency of 50 Hz, low-frequency baseline drift, and high-frequency noise of myoelectric interference to obtain the filtered pulse signal.”).
However, the Shang/Ramholz combination does not teach an abnormal peak interval filtering operation on the pulse signal for determination.
Zhou discloses a physiological signal processing apparatus. Specifically, Zhou teaches an abnormal peak interval filtering operation on the pulse signal for determination ([0014]: “The present application identifies the characteristic points of the physiological signal, and determines whether there are abnormal characteristic points based on the signal value of the characteristic points and/or the distance between the characteristic points and the adjacent characteristic points of the characteristic points. If so, the abnormal signal segment corresponding to the abnormal characteristic point is removed from the physiological signal, and the remaining signals in the physiological signal are spliced to obtain the first signal”). Shang, Ramholz, and Zhou are analogous arts as they are all related to determining pulse diagnosis.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the abnormal peak interval filtering from Zhou into the Shang/Ramholz combination as it allows the device to filter of the abnormal data, which can provide a more accurate result to the user.
Regarding claim 9, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhou combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 8.
However, the Shang/Ramholz/Zhou combination does not teach further comprising: defining the valid range of the pulse signal for determination based on a first valid pulse peak and a last valid pulse peak of the pulse signal for determination.
Zhou teaches further comprising: defining the range of the pulse signal for determination based on a first pulse peak and a last valid pulse peak of the pulse signal for determination ([0010]: “Identifying characteristic points of the physiological signal, the characteristic points including peak characteristic points and trough characteristic points; obtaining signal values of the characteristic points and/or distances between the characteristic points and adjacent characteristic points”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the range being defined based on the peaks from Zhou into the Shang/Ramholz/Zhou combination as it allows the system to analyze the characteristics of the peaks, which can allow for a more detailed, comprehensive analysis.
Regarding claim 10, the Shang/Ramholz combination teaches the pulse manifestation determining method according to claim 1.
However, the Shang/Ramholz combination does not teach further comprising: when a current valley located between a previous peak and a current peak in the pulse signal for determination is closer to the previous peak, the current valley and the current peak form a reverse pulse, and when the current valley is closer to the current peak, the current valley and the current peak form a normal pulse.
Zhou teaches further comprising: when a current valley located between a previous peak and a current peak in the pulse signal for determination is closer to the previous peak, the current valley and the current peak form a reverse pulse, and when the current valley is closer to the current peak, the current valley and the current peak form a normal pulse ([0014]: “The present application identifies the characteristic points of the physiological signal, and determines whether there are abnormal characteristic points based on the signal value of the characteristic points and/or the distance between the characteristic points and the adjacent characteristic points of the characteristic points.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the analysis of the peak characteristics and the differences between them from Zhou into the Shang/Ramholz combination as the combination is silent on how the reverse pulse was determined, and Zhou discloses a suitable analysis step for determining characteristics of the pulse signal.
Response to Arguments
All of applicant’s argument regarding the rejections and objections previously set forth have been fully considered and are persuasive unless directly addressed subsequently.
Applicant's arguments with respect to the 101 rejection have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that because the method is defined as being performed by a computing device, that it is not an abstract idea. However, as stated in the rejection above, simply being performed by a general computing device does not qualify as significantly more because this limitation is simply appending well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known in the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, e.g., a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known in the industry, therefore the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Applicant also argues that the recitation of determining a pulse manifestation based on the determination range to provide pulse manifestation diagnosis information is a practical application, however this limitation merely describes providing information, which is still an abstract idea, since one of ordinary skill in the art could easily provide information on a piece of paper, verbally, or otherwise, and it is not a practical application to simply provide information. With regards to the argument that the invention significantly improves the technical area, all steps being performed can be accomplished with established equipment and methods that are previously known, and the invention as claimed fails to distinguish itself from such. Also, An improved mental process is still a mental process even if such a mental process results in more accurate results.1,2
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 103 rejection have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant states that Ramholz does not teach the reverse pulse limitation, however as stated above, Ramholz teaches that the pulse is determined through the sine wave, and a normal pulse starts with an increase, and that the reverse pulse starts with a decrease, showing that it is a reverse pulse (Page 3: “The sine wave is formed from the synergy and coordination between yin and yang”; Page 4: “The basic wave can be further analyzed by dividing it into its yang and yin components. The normal pulse begins with an ascending or yang movement …If the pulse begins with a descending motion (the sine wave is reversed), the organ energy is reversing and, if more than one pulse position presents this reversal, the mother-son rule of the 5-Phase theory is breaking down and the condition is more critical.”). Additionally, Ramholz teaches using the factors related to the pulse to determine the different components, and that these different components influence the pulse manifestation (Page 2: “The theory of the pulse is very complicated but it is based upon the four principles--floating, sinking, slow, and rapid. Once they are understood, by elaborating on them, the entire subject can be clarified”). Applicant also states that Ramholz does not teach determining a valid range based on this, however Ramholz is not relied upon to teach the range limitation, Shang teaches determining a range and using the values within the range to determine the pulse manifestation ([0009]: “wherein the initial pulse signal is collected under varying pressure conditions;”; [0020]: “Detecting a peak of the filtered pulse signal, and searching for a peak within a range of the filtered pulse signal based on the slope and the peak”; [0043]: “By denoising the initial pulse signal collected under varying pressure, filtering out various noises to obtain a filtered pulse signal, and then processing the filtered pulse signal to obtain the central pulse, floating pulse, and sinking pulse, and by specifically refining the pulse image in traditional Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis, a more standardized signal processing result is obtained. The pulse extraction method provided by the present invention can reduce the amount of analysis and processing of pulse signal data for subsequent pulse signal analysts, and by more specifically and refinedly processing the pulse signal obtained by the floating pulse, central pulse, and sinking pulse, the accuracy and efficiency of pulse signal extraction are further improved.”).
Applicant argues that there is no motivation to combine, however both references are related to pulse manifestation methods and using pulse measurements to provide information about the important components, and Ramholz discloses the reverse pulse as an indication of health and an important factor to examine and determine these important components, therefore it would have been obvious to combine the references to determine pulse manifestation information.
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 ERIN K MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (703)756-1886. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-5.
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/E.K.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/MATTHEW KREMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
1 “[T]he improvement in computational accuracy alleged here does not qualify as an improvement to a technological
process; rather, it is merely an enhancement to the abstract mathematical calculation of haplotype phase itself...The
different use of a mathematical calculation, even one that yields different or better results, does not render patent
eligible subject matter.” In re Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University, 991 F.3d 1245 (Fed. Cir.
2021).
2 “[A] claim for a new abstract idea is still an abstract idea.” Synopsys, Inc. v. Mentor Graphics Corp, 839 F.3d 1138
(Fed. Cir. 2016).