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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. DERCHAK (US 20110054270) is added to teach the limitation “measure and output at least one feature selected from the group consisting of oxygen saturation level, a pulse, a quantity of calories burned, and a heartbeat pattern”.
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 1-3, 5-8 and 12-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20160203362) in view of Priyantha (US 20150338916) and DERCHAK (US 20110054270).
In regards to claim 1, Huang discloses a wearable device comprising: a ring, a band or a necklace (Huang Fig. 1 Item 110) comprising:
a receiver portion (Huang paragraph 0006) configured to receive an input from a user to modify a parameter of a smart device (Huang paragraph 0026 note: this reads on trigger smart phone), wherein; and
a control component (Huang Fig. 5 Item 510) configured to: receive, from the receiver portion, the input from the user; and
transmit the input to the smart device to modify the parameter of the smart device (Huang paragraph 0026, 0031 note: this reads on remote device, smartphone).
Huang fails to teach the receiver portion includes a pressure sensitive mechanism that receives input from the user in the form of pressure applied thereto. However, Priyantha discloses a pressure sensitive mechanism that receives input from the user in the form of pressure applied thereto (Priyantha claim 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Priyantha’s gesture component in Huang’s device for improving user experience (Priyantha paragraph 0003).
Huang and Priyantha fails to teach “measure and output at least one feature selected from the group consisting of oxygen saturation level, a pulse, a quantity of calories burned, and a heartbeat pattern”. However, DERCHAK discloses measure and output at least one feature selected from the group consisting of oxygen saturation level (DERCHAK paragraph 0114), a pulse (DERCHAK paragraph 0114 note: this reads on pulse rate), a quantity of calories burned (DERCHAK paragraph 0114), and a heartbeat pattern (DERCHAK paragraph 0114 note: this reads on electrical activity of the heart, EEG, ECG). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use DERCHAK’s data in Huang’s device for providing multimodal communications systems for transmitting signals representing physiological, performance, and contextual information associated with a subject (DERCHAK paragraph 0043).
In regards to claim 2, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device is a ring (Huang paragraph 0020).
In regards to claim 3, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the control component comprises processing circuitry, a microprocessor or processor, and a computer-readable medium that stores computer- readable program code executable by the microprocessor or processor, logic gates, switches, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic controller, or an embedded microcontroller (Huang paragraph 0074-0079).
In regards to claim 5, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device is designed to detect pressure imparted by a body part of the user during performance of an action by the body part of the user (Huang paragraph 0027, 0028).
In regards to claim 6, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device is designed to detect pressure imparted by a body part of the user during performance of an action by the body part of the user (Huang paragraph 0027, 0028).
In regards to claim 7, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device comprises at least one pressure sensor (Huang paragraph 0028).
In regards to claim 8, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the at least one pressure sensor is a force sensitive resistor or a piezoelectric sensor (Priyantha paragraph 0030).
In regards to claim 12, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the control component is configured to: receive, from the receiver portion, the input from the user and transmit the input to the smart device, wherein the smart device is a smart light, a smart television, a smartphone (Huang paragraph 0026, 0031 note: this reads on remote device, smartphone), a smart thermostat, a smart doorbell, a smart lock, a smart refrigerator, smart glasses, a smart watch, or a smart speaker.
In regards to claim 13, Huang discloses a wearable device comprising:
a body portion (Huang Fig. 1 Item 110) that defines an opening, the opening being configured to receive a body part of a user therein, the body portion comprising:
a receiver portion (Huang paragraph 0006) configured to receive an input from a user to modify a parameter of a smart device (Huang paragraph 0026 note: this reads on trigger smart phone), and a control component (Huang Fig. 5 Item 510) configured to: receive, from the receiver portion, the input from the user; and transmit the input to the smart device to modify the parameter of the smart device (Huang paragraph 0026, 0031 note: this reads on remote device, smartphone).
Huang fails to teach the receiver portion includes a pressure sensitive mechanism that receives input from the user in the form of pressure applied thereto. However, Priyantha discloses a pressure sensitive mechanism that receives input from the user in the form of pressure applied thereto (Priyantha claim 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Priyantha’s gesture component in Huang’s device for improving user experience (Priyantha paragraph 0003).
Huang and Priyantha fails to teach “measure and output at least one feature selected from the group consisting of oxygen saturation level, a pulse, a quantity of calories burned, and a heartbeat pattern”. However, DERCHAK discloses measure and output at least one feature selected from the group consisting of oxygen saturation level (DERCHAK paragraph 0114), a pulse (DERCHAK paragraph 0114 note: this reads on pulse rate), a quantity of calories burned (DERCHAK paragraph 0114), and a heartbeat pattern (DERCHAK paragraph 0114 note: this reads on electrical activity of the heart, EEG, ECG). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use DERCHAK’s data in Huang’s device for providing multimodal communications systems for transmitting signals representing physiological, performance, and contextual information associated with a subject (DERCHAK paragraph 0043).
In regards to claim 14, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device is a ring (Huang paragraph 0020).
In regards to claim 15, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device comprises a gesture component that is configured to detect pressure imparted by the body part of the user during performance of an action (Huang paragraph 0027, 0028).
In regards to claim 16, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the action is a touch action (Huang paragraph 0031).
In regards to claim 17, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the wearable device further comprises a processor or microprocessor (Huang paragraph 0077-0079).
In regards to claim 18, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the input from a user comprises a gesture (Huang Fig. 1paragraph 0006).
In regards to claim 19, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the gesture comprises movement of a hand or a finger (Huang Fig. 1 “gesture command”).
In regards to claim 20, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the movement of the hand is a hand swipe (Huang paragraph 0030).
In regards to claim 21, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK further discloses the receiver portion further comprises buttons (Huang Fig. 1 Item 110 note: smart watches, band have buttons) configured to receive input from the user.
Claims 4 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Manuel (US 20160350581).
In regards to claim 4, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Although Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK does not specifically mention the control component comprises switches, “switches” reads on transistors in integrated circuit (Huang paragraph 0079 note: transistors in integrated circuit provide switching function e.g., ON/OFF, 0 to1 and vice versa).
Manuel also discloses the control component comprises switches (Manuel paragraph 0026). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Manuel’s switches in Huang’s device for fashion accessory and at the same time providing other computing functions (Manuel paragraph 0001).
In regards to claim 9, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Although Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK does not specifically mention the at least one pressure sensor is on an inner surface of the ring, the band or the necklace. Manuel discloses biometric sensor is on an inner surface of the ring (Manuel Fig. 1A paragraph 0022, 0023 note: this reads on inside surface). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Manuel’s inside surface in Huang’s device for fashion accessory and at the same time providing other computing functions (Manuel paragraph 0001).
In regards to claim 10, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Although Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK does not specifically mention the at least one pressure sensor is on an inner surface of the ring. Manuel discloses biometric sensor is on an inner surface of the ring (Manuel Fig. 1A paragraph 0022, 0023 note: this reads on inside surface). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Manuel’s inside surface in Huang’s device for fashion accessory and at the same time providing other computing functions (Manuel paragraph 0001).
In regards to claim 11, Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK discloses a wearable device as described above. Although Huang in view of Priyantha and DERCHAK does not specifically mention the at least one pressure sensor is on an outer surface of the ring. Manuel discloses biometric sensor is on an outer surface of the ring (Manuel Fig. 1A paragraph 0022, 0023 note: this reads on outside surface). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Manuel’s inside surface in Huang’s device for fashion accessory and at the same time providing other computing functions (Manuel paragraph 0001).
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-21 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-9 of U.S. Patent No. 11502713. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because (please see the comparison below:)
The application claims and patented claims match-up as follows:
Application Claims Patent Claims US 11502713.
1, 13 1
7, 8 3, 8
Conclusion
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/HSINCHUN LIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641