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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 5-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claim 2, lines 4-5: “a current membrane pressure sensor that acquires the pressure strain value” should be “a current membrane pressure sensor from the membrane pressure sensors that acquires a corresponding pressure strain value of the pressure strain values”;
in claim 5, lines 4-5: “an MCU, pressure strain values generated by chest, abdomen, and shoulders of a wearer when the wearer is breathing and acquired by membrane pressure sensors” should be “the MCU, the pressure strain values generated by the chest, abdomen, and shoulders of the wearer when the wearer is breathing and acquired by the membrane pressure sensors”;
in claim 5, line 8: “a breathing pattern” should be “the breathing pattern”;
in claim 6, lines 2-4: “an MCU, pressure strain values generated by chest, abdomen, and shoulders of a wearer when the wearer is breathing and acquired by membrane pressure sensors” should be “the MCU, the pressure strain values generated by the chest, abdomen, and shoulders of the wearer when the wearer is breathing and acquired by the membrane pressure sensors”;
in claim 6, lines 5-6: “a current membrane pressure sensor that acquires the pressure strain value, and receiving the pressure strain value” should be “a current membrane pressure sensor from the membrane pressure sensors that acquires a corresponding pressure strain value of the pressure strain values, and receiving the corresponding pressure strain value”;
in claim 7, lines 2-3. “a thoracic breathing contribution ratio, an abdominal breathing contribution ratio, and a shoulder movement amplitude” should be “the thoracic breathing contribution ratio, the abdominal breathing contribution ratio, and the shoulder movement amplitude”;
in claim 7, line 7: “a chest region of a wearable vest” should be “the chest region of the wearable vest”;
in claim 7, line 8: “an abdominal region” should be “the abdominal region”;
in claim 7, line 11: “a shoulder region” should be “the shoulder region”;
in claim 8, line 2: “a breathing pattern” should be “the breathing pattern”;
in claim 9, line 6: “an LCD” should be “the LCD”;
in claim 10, line 3: “a pressure strain value” should be “a pressure strain value of the pressure strain values”; and
in claim 10, lines 3-4: “the corresponding membrane pressure sensor” should be “a corresponding membrane pressure sensor of the membrane pressure sensors”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “different regions of the wearable vest” in line 11, but it is not clear if these regions are the same as, related to, or different from “chest, abdomen, and should regions of the wearable vest” of claim 1, lines 5-6. The chest, abdomen, and should regions are different regions of the vest, but the claim treats these two recitations as separate and distinct. The relationship between these two recitations should be made clear.
Claims 2-10 are rejected by virtue of their dependence from claim 1.
Claim 3 recites “a display angle of the wearable vest is changed by sliding on the touch screen” in lines 3-4 which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupin (US 20110060215 A1) in view of Hoskuldsson (US 20190274586 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Tupin discloses a device for monitoring thoracic and abdominal breathing patterns (see paragraph 0134: apparatus #10 tracks three primary types of breathing including chest, abdominal and clavicular; and see paragraph 0156: embodiment #100), comprising a wearable vest (see paragraph 0156: embodiment #100 comprises a vest #110) internally covered with a layer of sensors (see paragraph 0156: vest #110 holds one or more wireless sensors), a micro control unit (MCU) (see paragraph 0041 and 0052: apparatus includes control unit having software and hardware used to process signal returns; and see paragraph 0146-0147: microprocessor control module #56), and a liquid crystal display (LCD) (see paragraph 0147: display instantaneous and trended respiratory functions and events; and see paragraph 0248: user interface that provides real time display), wherein the MCU is connected to the membrane pressure sensors and the LCD separately (see paragraph 0146-0147, 0248 and Fig. 5: microprocessor control module #56 is part of sensor #20 and connects to user interface seen in Fig. 33 separately);
the sensors are disposed in chest, abdomen, and shoulder regions of the wearable vest (see paragraph 0156 and Fig. 12: sensors #120 are deployed at strategic locations about a subjects upper body in waist; and see paragraph 0134: chest, abdomen and clavicular breathing is measured), and configured to acquire values generated by chest, abdomen, and shoulders of a wearer when the wearer is breathing (see paragraphs 0134, 0156-0158: mechanical movement the various anatomical elements are measured indicative of respiratory functionality where the anatomical elements include chest, abdomen and shoulders) and transmit the pressure strain values to the MCU;
the MCU is configured to identify a breathing pattern of the wearer according to the values (see paragraph 0157: breathing patterns are quantitatively characterized based on collected sensor data); and
the LCD is configured to display the values of different regions of the wearable vest and the breathing pattern of the wearer in real time three-dimensionally (see paragraph 0248: user interface provides real time display of what is sensed by sensors and allows a user to isolate and select various depth segments which is interpreted to mean that three dimensional depth segments are visualized of the different regions).
Tupin does not specifically disclose that the sensor are membrane pressure sensors; wherein the membrane pressure sensors are configured to acquire pressure strain values generated by chest, abdomen and shoulders of a wearer when the wearer is breathing; where a breathing pattern is identified according to the pressure strain values and further that the pressure strain values are displayed.
Hoskuldsson teaches membrane pressure sensors that are configured to acquire pressure stain values generated by chest, abdomen and shoulders of a weaver when wearer is breathing (see paragraph 0063, sensor belts may be capable of measuring changes in the band stretching or the area of the body encircled by the belt when placed around a subjects body are pressure values; and see paragraph 0073, pressure is measured and associated respiratory effort can be estimated by measuring thoracoabdominal changes) and further that a breathing pattern is identified and displayed according to the pressure strain values (see paragraph 0065, respiratory movement signals are sent to a processor #38 by leads and respiratory inductive plethysmograph measures respiratory (RIP) related areal changes including displacement values; and see paragraph 0077-0084, RIP modeling and calculating using collected data is interpreted to be breathing pattern; and see paragraph 0256, RIP are processed and displayed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tupin with the teachings of Hoskuldsson to have utilized pressure sensors because it would have resulted in the predictable result of measuring changes of an area due to displacement to correlate to respiration (Hoskuldsson: see [0063]).
Further, the substitution of one known element, the sensors, as taught by Tupin for another particular type of sensor such as pressure sensors as taught by Hoskuldsson would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention since the substitution would have yielded predictable results, namely, to provide measurement of changes of an area due to displacement and strain (Hoskuldsson: see [0063]).
With respect to claim 2, all limitations of claim 1 apply in which the combination of Tupin and further teaches a data selector (Tupin: see paragraph 0248, user interface allows user to isolate and select various bins or depth segments associated with the data with filters), wherein the data selector is connected to the membrane pressure sensors and the MCU separately (Tupin: see paragraph 0146-0147, 0248 and Fig. 5: microprocessor control module #56 is part of sensor #20 and connects to user interface with the selector which is part of the user interface seen in Fig. 33 separately); and the MCU is configured to select, by means of the data selector, a current membrane pressure sensor that acquires the pressure strain value (Tupin: see paragraph 0248-0250: interface allows user to filter the collection of data from a subject).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupin in view of Hoskuldsson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nakata (US 20130030257 A1).
With respect to claim 3, all limitations of claim 1 apply in which Tupin and Hoskuldsson do not specifically disclose a touch screen, wherein the touch screen is connected to the MCU and the LCD separately; and a display angle of the wearable vest is changed by sliding on the touch screen.
Nakata teaches a touch screen (see paragraph 0328: touch screen), where the touch screen is connected to a display and a processor separately (see paragraph 0328: display includes touch screen and is separately connected to radar unit) and a display angle is changed by sliding on the touch screen (see paragraph 0328: a button is used to toggle and zoom).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tupin and Hoskuldsson with the teachings of Nakata to have included a touch screen and change a display angle because it would have resulted in the predictable result allowing a user to zoom in and out of visualizing data (Nakata: see [0328]) to visual detail (Nakata: see [0333]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tupin in view of Hoskuldsson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cao (US 20230142080 A1).
With respect to claim 4, all limitations of claim 1 apply in which Tupin and Hoskuldsson do not specifically disclose wherein the MCU is a STM32 series chip.
Cao teaches a model of a control unit is STM32 series chip (see paragraph 0066: STM32F407 series chip with an advanced RISC machine as a core is used as the main control module #17 and chips with moderate performance such as a STM32F407ZGT6 can be selected).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tupin and Hoskuldsson with the teachings of Cao to have used a STM32 chip series because it would have resulted in the predictable result of using a chip with moderate performance to improve execution speed of a control algorithm and code efficiency (Cao: see [0066]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Examiner Note on Allowable Subject Matter
The closet prior art of record, Tupin, Hoskuldsson and Zheng (CN 212261367 U), does not teach or suggest identifying a breathing pattern of a wear based on a thoracic breathing contribution ratio, an abdominal breathing contribution ratio and a shoulder movement amplitude in combination with the other recited limitations. Specifically the closest prior art of record does not teach or suggest “receiving, by an MCU, pressure strain values generated by chest, abdomen, and shoulders of a wearer when the wearer is breathing and acquired by membrane pressure sensors”; “calculating a thoracic breathing contribution ratio, an abdominal breathing contribution ratio, and a shoulder movement amplitude based on the pressure strain values”; and “identifying a breathing pattern of the wearer based on the thoracic breathing contribution ratio, the abdominal breathing contribution ratio, and the shoulder movement amplitude” of claim 5.
Claims 6-10 are allowable by virtue of their dependence from claim 5.
Conclusion
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/N.N.P./Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/MATTHEW KREMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791