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
In the amendment filed 17 September 2025:
Claim(s) 1-5 are amended
Claim(s) 1 -9 are pending
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 Examiner notes that the rejection will reference the translated documents (attached) corresponding to any foreign documents recited in the rejection.
Claims 1-2,4-5,7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over MIYAMOTO et al (Foreign Publication JP-2002351987-A) in view of Haitin et al (US Publication No. 20040054436).
Regarding Claim 1
A medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet, comprising the steps of:
(A01) obtaining a prescription after a doctor's diagnosis and treatment [MIYAMOTO at Page 3 Para 0007 teaches It is a medical facility or the like, which can be used for remote medical diagnosis based on the subject's biological information received via a communication line. Such a first place and a second place are connected via a communication line, and telemedicine is performed. At this time, if the physician determines that the medication is necessary as a result of the diagnosis, the doctor prepares a prescription for the drug for the subject], and transmitting said prescription to a remote control center [MIYAMOTO at Page 7 Para 0007 teaches The prepared prescription is a pharmacy that can prescribe medicines according to the contents of the prescription via a dedicated communication line connecting the subject to the medical facility or another general-purpose communication line such as the Internet. The drug is then sent to a pharmacy that is close to the subject's address and can deliver the drug quickly];
[ … ] … and then sending a warning signal and executing Step (A03), if not, or executing step (A05), if yes [MIYAMOTO at Page 8 Para 0013 teaches the operation is performed so as to check whether the contents match the contents of the prescription received at the first place (interpret to combine with (A03) and (A05) of Haitin)];
(A07) reconfirming whether each of the said at least one medicine obtained is consistent with the respective medicine prescribed in said prescription [MIYAMOTO at Page 4 Para 2 teaches this corresponds to claim 2, wherein the collation means checks whether the medicine delivered by the transportation means matches the contents of the prescription received by the reception means at the first place; MIYAMOTO at Page 15 Para 2 teaches as described above, the courier company can use the prescription content collation system 10 to confirm that the collation results match, and then hand the medicine bag requested by the pharmacy 7 to the patient], and with said smart medicine cabinet, outputting a label consistent with the content of said prescription through a label machine, and attaching the label to said medicine bag [MIYAMOTO at Page 14 Para 3 teaches From there, a medicine bag on which a sticker to be stuck on the medicine bag or the content of the prescription is printed is output (interpret to combine with medical professional of Haitin)];
(A08) delivering said medicine bag containing said at least one medicine [MIYAMOTO at Page 14 Para 5 teaches when arriving at the patient's home 2, the courier delivers the medicine bag received from the pharmacist to the patient at the patient's home 2, or a caregiver such as a family member or a helper of the patient.];
MIYAMOTO does not teach (A02) operating a smart medicine cabinet based on the content of the received said prescription;
(A03) inputting the name of at least one medicine and related information prescribed in the content of said prescription into an input unit of said smart medicine cabinet;
(A04) with a controller of said smart medicine cabinet, identifying the correctness of the name of each of said at least one medicine based on the received name of each of said at least one medicine … [ … ]
(A05) with said controller of said smart medicine cabinet: controlling at least one medicine drawer of said smart medicine cabinet that matches the name of each of said at least one medicine to open;
(A06) obtaining the required quantity of medicines that comply with the content of said prescription from the opened said at least one medicine drawer, and putting the medicines into a medicine bag;
and.(A09) administering said at least one medicine according to the instructions described in said label and said description.
Haitin teaches (A02) operating a smart medicine cabinet based on the content of the received said prescription [Haitin at Para. 0040 teaches as will be described more particularly below, the central computer 20, and each medicine cabinet 30 or 40, includes a processor having a memory for storing the names of patients and their prescribed medication dosages, a display (or touch) screen for displaying the patient names and their respective medication dosages, and a communication link enabling communication between the central computer and the medicine cabinet];
(A03) inputting the name of at least one medicine and related information prescribed in the content of said prescription into an input unit of said smart medicine cabinet [Haitin at Para. 0045 teaches the ward computer 20 also serves as a simple and friendly man-machine interface for the entry of the physician's orders regarding medications. Such entries may be done by manually inputting this information, or by automatically inputting the information via the portable units 60];
(A04) with a controller of said smart medicine cabinet, identifying the correctness of the name of each of said at least one medicine based on the received name of each of said at least one medicine [Haitin at Para. 0082 teaches If the medicine cabinet (30, 40) is available, the ward computer 20 downloads the list of patients to receive medication at that time, identifying each patient, the medication, and the dosage for the respective patient]… [ … ]
(A05) with said controller of said smart medicine cabinet: controlling at least one medicine drawer of said smart medicine cabinet that matches the name of each of said at least one medicine to open [Haitin at Para. 0052 teaches the medicine cabinet 30 shown in FIG. 3 includes a rectangular housing in which the medication compartments are in the form of drawers 31 arranged in a rectangular array, consisting of a plurality of horizontal rows and vertical columns. Each drawer 31 preferably includes a lock, shown schematically at 32, which normally locks the drawer in its closed position, but which is selectively actuatable to release the drawer to enable it to be pulled out by the healthcare attendant in order to access the medication supply within the drawer];
(A06) obtaining the required quantity of medicines that comply with the content of said prescription from the opened said at least one medicine drawer, and putting the medicines into a medicine bag [Haitin at Para. 0056 teaches the medicine cabinet drawers will normally be in the locked position. When a drawer is selected either by patient name, or by a specific medication, that drawer will be released enabling a spring (not shown) to project the selected drawer forward. Such a selected drawer may be returned to its normal locked position by manually pushing it back into its place, whereupon its spring lock would be engaged to lock it into position; Haitin at Para. 0097 teaches if any particular medication is needed in relatively large quantities, a plurality of drawers may be allocated to the respective medication];
and.(A09) administering said at least one medicine according to the instructions described in said label and said description [Haitin at Para. 0046 teaches the ward computer 20 also serves as a simple and friendly man-machine interface in the dispensing of the medications to the patient from the medicine cabinet(s) 30, 40, and in the replenishing of the medicine cabinets].
It would have been prima facie obvious skill in the art, at the time of effective filing, to combine label of MIYAMOTO with the controller of Haitin with the motivation to improve the current manual process for filling unit dose carts.
Regarding Claim 2
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 1,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein in step (A01), said doctor's diagnosis and treatment is conducted through remote video or phone calls [MIYAMOTO at Page 9 Para 8 teaches the remote prescription creating system 5 is operated by a physician to create a prescription for a patient in a telemedicine diagnosis], and then said prescription is obtained through fax, video, photo or Internet transmission [MIYAMOTO at Page 3 Para 0007 teaches The prepared prescription is a pharmacy that can prescribe medicines according to the contents of the prescription via a dedicated communication line connecting the subject to the medical facility or another general-purpose communication line such as the Internet];
said prescription is transmitted wirelessly from a transmission unit set up in said remote medical center to a transceiver unit set up in said remote control center to receive said prescription and said remote medical center is further equipped with a storage unit for storing information content [MIYAMOTO at Page 13 Para 7 teaches the transmitted remote prescription is transmitted from the remote prescription creation system 5 in the medical facility 1 to the remote prescription reception system 6 in the patient's home 2 and then transmitted from the remote prescription reception system 6 to the pharmacy 7. It may be realized by a route for transferring to the prescription receiving system 8, or conversely, the medical facility 1; MIYAMOTO at Page 14 Para 2 teaches the remote prescription receiving system 8 of FIG. 8 stores prescription data created by the remote prescription creating system 5 in the received data storage unit 81 via the network communication unit 81].
Regarding Claim 4
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 1,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein the content of said description in steps (A01) and (A03) is the name of the medicine, dosage, days of use, method of use, side effects of the medicine, and date and time of diagnosis and treatment, and said description also indicates medication instructions, precautions, and the instructions of said doctor for step (A09).
The Examiner notes that the content of said descriptions in steps (A01) and (A03) have no functional relevance to the Claim and is non-functional descriptive information.
Regarding Claim 5
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 1,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein in steps (A03), (A04) and (A05) said smart medicine cabinet is equipped with a control system, said control system comprising said controller, a start unit, a memory unit, and a warning unit [Haitin at Para. 0017 teaches the medicine cabinet including a cabinet processor having a memory for storing the names of patients and their prescribed medication dosages, and a display screen for displaying the patient names and their respective prescribed medication dosages; the delivery device including a display screen for displaying the patient names and their respective medication dosages, and a communication link with the medicine cabinet through which the cabinet processor communicates to the tray the patient names and their respective medication dosages; Haitin at Para. 0043 teaches FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the central computer provided in each ward or group of wards. Such a computer includes a conventional CPU (central processor unit) 21 having a memory 22; an input 23 from the medicine cabinet(s) (30, 40, FIG. 1); an input 24 from the portable units (60, FIG. 1); and one or more manual inputs 25, such as a keyboard, touch screen, mouse, and the like. The central processor 21 includes an output 26 to the medicine cabinet(s) 30, 40; a display 27; and a printer 28, e.g., for printing inventory records management reports, etc. The central ward computer 20 does not have (but may have) a direct output to the delivery devices 50 since it communicates with them via the medicine cabinet(s) 30, 40 as will be described below; Haitin at Para 0061 teaches Medicine cabinet 40 illustrated in FIG. 4 also includes a processor 43 having a memory for storing the names of patients and their respective medication dosages, and a display screen 44 for displaying such information. Each drawer 41 may also be provided with a light indicator 45 controlled by the processor 43 to indicate the drawer containing the medication to be accessed for a particular patient, although an indicator 45 is not essential in this case since the selected drawer is automatically unlocked and projected forwardly by the selector unit 42a as described above (light indicator controlled by processor interpreted as warning unit)],
said controller being selectively a central processing unit, a chip or a microprocessor electrically connected to said input unit, said start unit, said memory unit, said warning unit, said medicine drawers and said label machine in step (A02) to start said smart medicine cabinet through said start unit [Haitin at Para. 0065 teaches Where cooling is required, the cabinet could include a refrigeration unit similar to a mini-bar refrigerator; and where special security measures are required, the cabinet could be normally locked and unlocked only when a proper and valid password or personal identification is inputted; Haitin at Para. 0070 teaches the tray further includes a processor having a memory and a communication link 55, e.g., wired or wireless, with the processor (33 or 43) of the respective medicine cabinet 30, 40, to enable the latter processor also to control the light indicators 53 and the display screen 54 of the tray. Each tray 50 further includes a keyboard 56 for manually entering data, and a bar code reader 57 for reading the bar code on a patient's wrist, to enable matching that patient with the patients name displayed on the display screen 54],
said start unit being selectively a keyboard, a fingerprint reader or a facial recognition device provided on said smart medicine cabinet for entering passwords [Haitin at Para. 0043 teaches Such a computer includes a conventional CPU (central processor unit) 21 having a memory 22; an input 23 from the medicine cabinet(s) (30, 40, FIG. 1); an input 24 from the portable units (60, FIG. 1); and one or more manual inputs 25, such as a keyboard, touch screen, mouse, and the like; Haitin at Para. 0065 teaches where cooling is required, the cabinet could include a refrigeration unit similar to a mini-bar refrigerator; and where special security measures are required, the cabinet could be normally locked and unlocked only when a proper and valid password or personal identification is inputted];
said input unit of said smart medicine cabinet in step (A03) is selectively a plurality of keys or a touch screen for inputting content and information related to said description [Haitin at Para. 0043].
Regarding Claim 7
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 5,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein in step (A04), said smart medicine cabinet emits said warning signal, and said controller of said smart medicine cabinet is electrically connected to said warning unit to control said warning unit to emit said warning signal, said warning unit being selectively a warning light or a warning sound effect device (such as a buzzer, horn or loudspeaker), which emits said warning signal in the form of a warning light or warning voice [Haitin at Para. 0061 (see Claim 5 for explanation; interpreted as warning light)].
Regarding Claim 8
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 1,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein in steps (A05) and (A06), said controller of said smart medicine cabinet is electrically connected to said medicine drawers respectively, and said medicine drawers are for storing tablets, powders, capsules, oral liquids, injections, intravenous medicines, external medicines for external application of medicines, ointments, patches, as well as bandages, cotton, cotton swabs, gauze, tapes, and medical related equipment including syringes and intravenous needles [Haitin at Para. 0021 the compartments in the medicine cabinet being in the form of drawers which are normally locked but which are selectively unlocked by the cabinet processor when containing a medication supply to be included in a prescribed medication dosage for a named patient; Haitin at Para. 0022 teaches as used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, the term “drawer” includes any type of storage compartment, such as, but not limited to, conventional drawers and bins.].
The reference of Haitin teaches a medical drawer that stores items. The Examiner notes that “for storing [the listed items]” is an intended use of a drawer and is not required to occur.
Regarding Claim 9
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 1,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin further teach wherein in steps (A05) and (A07), said smart medicine cabinet is electrically connected to said label machine through said controller, and said controller controls said label machine to output a label with the same content as said description [Haitin at Para. 0055 teaches the illustrated medicine cabinet 30 further includes a label printer 39. As will be described below, such a printer may be used for printing labels to be applied to the drawers 31 to identify the medications contained therein, particularly as new medications are added].
Claims 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over MIYAMOTO, Haitin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Rufo et al (US Publication No. 20180342329)..
Regarding Claim 3
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 2,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin do not teach wherein said remote video or phone call is conducted through the Global Satellite Positioning System (GPS), satellite network (Inmarsat), Internet or cloud system (Azure);
said transmission unit of said remote medical center also uses the Global Satellite Positioning System (GPS), satellite network (Inmarsat), Internet or cloud system (Azure) to communicate with said transceiver unit of said remote control center wirelessly.
Rufo teaches wherein said remote video or phone call is conducted through the Global Satellite Positioning System (GPS), satellite network (Inmarsat), Internet or cloud system (Azure) Rufo at Para 0392 teaches the telemedicine module in accordance with the present invention offers the ability to schedule health care related consultation at a predetermined time. An audio or audio-video connection may be initiated by the medical professional, the patient, or the caregiver];
said transmission unit of said remote medical center also uses the Global Satellite Positioning System (GPS), satellite network (Inmarsat), Internet or cloud system (Azure) to communicate with said transceiver unit of said remote control center wirelessly [Rufo at Para 0324 teaches the smart medicine cabinet may be activated by a door sensor and/or motion detectors which provide a signal to the HAPPIE home unit 103 indicating that the smart medicine cabinet has been accessed].
It would have been prima facie obvious skill in the art, at the time of effective filing, to combine the references of MIYAMOTO/Haitin with the prescription use of Rufo with the motivation to improve the quality and safety of home living in general.
Claims 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over MIYAMOTO, Haitin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Haitin'461 et al (US Publication No. 20070088461).
Regarding Claim 6
MIYAMOTO/Haitin teach the medication administration of remote smart medicine cabinet as claimed in claim 5,
MIYAMOTO/Haitin do not teach wherein in steps (A03) and (A04), said controller of said smart medicine cabinet identifies whether the input of the name of each of said at least one medicine is correct based on the received name of each of said at least one medicine and then compares the input with plural medicine names stored in said memory unit;
said memory unit stores the name, quantity, usage and efficacy of the medicines stored in said medicine drawers of said smart medicine cabinet.
Haitin’461 teaches wherein in steps (A03) and (A04), said controller of said smart medicine cabinet identifies whether the input of the name of each of said at least one medicine is correct based on the received name of each of said at least one medicine[Haitin’461 at Para 0103 teaches Once the physician has completed the examination of the patient and prescribed the necessary medications, the physician may then exit the Add Medication frame. Upon exiting, POE computer 60 conducts a clinical screening of the medications prescribed for the patient and verifies that there are no known negative interactions between medications and that there are no known negative interactions between the medication and the patient's allergies or safety concerns. A typical and commonly used and accepted database for such procedure is, for example, First Data Bank or Micro Medics. The order entered by the physician is then automatically compared against predetermined standards to assure that the dosage is correct, and undergoes screening against the patient's medical history, including drug allergies and multiple drug interactions. It should be noted that the physician may look up the drug interaction, and side effect while prescribing medications by selecting this option on POE computer 60. Nevertheless, even if this option is selected by the physician, a check is automatically conducted after prescribing all medications for the patient] and then compares the input with plural medicine names stored in said memory unit [Haitin’461 at Para. 0100 teaches the physician, though, may choose to prescribe brand name medication that is equivalent to the generic drug, in which case, the physician may select the “Commercial Names” tab to view a list of brand name medications. For those medications that are rarely prescribed, the physician may select from a national database that includes all medications available for prescribing, such selected medications would then have to be ordered];
said memory unit stores the name, quantity, usage and efficacy of the medicines stored in said medicine drawers of said smart medicine cabinet [Haitin’461 at Para. 0103].
It would have been prima facie obvious skill in the art, at the time of effective filing, to combine the references of MIYAMOTO, Haitin with the memory of Haitin’461 with the motivation to improve the current manual process for filling unit dose containers.
Response to Arguments
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102/103
Regarding the rejection of Claims 1-9, the Examiner has considered the Applicant’s arguments; however the arguments are not persuasive. Applicant argues:
It can be seen that MIYAMOTO and Haitin are completely different medical diagnosis and treatment methods, so the one of ordinary skill in the art has no motivation to easily combine the medical diagnosis and treatment methods of MIYAMOTO and Haitin, and MIYAMOTO and Haitin cannot achieve the technical features and effects of the present invention. Therefore, MIYAMOTO and Haitin cannot be easily combined and cannot be used to prove the claims of the present invention are obvious.
Regarding (a), the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant has not stated any authority as to what constitutes a proper motivation to combine. Both references are within the same field of disease diagnosis and treatment and therefore, the motivation to combine presented is sufficient.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon in the present basis of rejection are noted in the attached PTO 892 and include:
Wiegand et al (Foreign Publication EP-2435010-B1) discloses a device for assisting a manual directing of medicaments, a system for directing and distributing medicaments and a method for operating as well as a computer program product for controlling such a system.
Wan et al (US Publication No. 20020153411) discloses a medicine cabinet or similar device that assists users in selecting and taking medication.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 JONATHAN C EDOUARD whose telephone number is (571)270-0107. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 730 - 430.
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/JONATHAN C EDOUARD/Examiner, Art Unit 3683
/JASON S TIEDEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3683
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