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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group III, claims 16-20 in the reply filed on March 05, 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 1-15 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Applicant is advised to cancel the withdrawn and nonelected claims 1-15 in the next response.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 16, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1), 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yun et al. (U. S. Pub. 2015/0148863).
As for claim 16, Yun et al. discloses (see Figs. 3, 4 and 14; [0047]—[0051]) a method for monitoring an electrogenic cell (i.e., brain cell of the subject S), the method comprising:
decreasing an input impedance of the electrogenic cell (brain cell) by driving an output current (minute current) through an electrode (110) placed in contact with the electrogenic cell (brain cell of the subject); and
sensing electric signals (i.e., sensing brain signals using detecting element 300) generated by the electrogenic cell (brain cell) with an amplifying circuit (i.e., amplifying module 330 as shown in Fig. 14) coupled to the electrode (110).
As for claim 19, Yun et al. discloses the method of claim 16, wherein driving the output current through the electrode (110) comprises driving a direct current (DC) for at least one minute (i.e., using the transcranial direct current stimulation in [0034]).
As for claim 20, Yun et al. discloses method of claim 16, wherein the output current is controlled (using control unit 400 and the stimulating element 200) to alternate between two or more values (i.e., two or more values of the minute current, which are based on the received optimal range of stimulation determined by the control unit 400; see [0039]).
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.
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yun et al. (U. S. Pub. 2015/0148863), in view of Petrofsky (U. S. Pub 2011/0121859).
As for claims 17 and 18, Yun et al. disclose the method of claim 16 as discussed above.
Yun et al. does not specifically disclose wherein driving the output current through the electrode comprises causing an input voltage of an impedance element to follow an output voltage of the impedance element, and coupling the output voltage to the electrode, and wherein causing the input voltage to follow the output voltage comprises causing a source terminal of a transistor to follow a gate terminal of the transistor.
Petrofsky discloses the use of a conventional voltage follower, wherein an input voltage follows an output voltage, and further the use of a NMOS based voltage follower wherein a source terminal of a transistor follows a gate terminal of the transistor (see abstract and [0020], [0074]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yun et al. to use a conventional voltage follower, or a NMOS based voltage follower, wherein a source terminal of a transistor follows a gate terminal of the transistor, as taught by Petrofsky, to drive the output current through the electrode, for the purpose of reducing the phase noise of the output signal, and ensures desired stimulation or sensing voltage is applied (see abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY HE whose telephone number is (571)272-2230. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am--5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AMY HE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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