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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/08/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This is in response to applicant’s amendment/response filed on 09/02/2026, which has been entered and made of record. Claims 1, 7, 9, 17 and 22 have been amended. Claims 1-5, 7-9, 11-20, and 22-29 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 09/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive or are rendered moot in view of the new grounds of rejection presented below (as necessitated by the amendment to claims 1 and 17).
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-9, 11-14, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2023/0238098 to Langan et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2019/0180485 to Kim et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al..
Regarding claim 1, Langan et al. teach a method of medical item recognition using augmented reality (par 0004, “ a method for providing hands-free medication tracking using an augmented reality device is provided. The method may include providing an augmented reality device attachable to a face of a user. The method may also include determining, using one or more sensors of the augmented reality device, a user action to be carried out with respect to a medication”), the method comprising:
receiving with an augmented reality (AR) device a medical item identification for a medical item that is to be retrieved from a medical storage device configured to house several different medical items(par 0016-0017, “A user wearing the augmented reality device may, for example, direct gaze towards a particular medication for identification by sensors of the device, such as front facing cameras. Besides identification of the medication, a user action with respect to the identified medication can also be determined. For example, an authenticated user identifier, a detected location, and/or data provided by the sensors can be used to determine the user action. User actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement of medication into shelves or bins, administration of medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications ….. User 110 may wear AR glasses 130 to track various medications, such as medication 120. To identify medication 120, sensors of AR glasses 130 may provide data for a lookup request to be sent to server 114 via network 112. The lookup request may include information such as location, viewing angle, images, video, audio, user identifier, user role identifier, and user eye tracking information. Server 114 may query database 116 to identify medication 120 based on the lookup request”, Fig 3A, par 0033-0034, “User 110 wearing AR glasses 130 may simply direct gaze towards barcode 312A on a label affixed to the medication, as shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310A may then be projected to the user, indicating the medication is detected as Aspirin 650 mg, 200 count. A corresponding update message may be sent to server 114 to update an inventory of the stock room stored in database 116”);
outputting, via a display of the AR device, a visual indicator of a location of the medical item within the medical storage device (Fig 3A, par 0033-0037, “User 110 wearing AR glasses 130 may simply direct gaze towards barcode 312A on a label affixed to the medication, as shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310A may then be projected to the user, indicating the medication is detected as Aspirin 650 mg, 200 count. A corresponding update message may be sent to server 114 to update an inventory of the stock room stored in database 116 …. Once medication shelf 314 is in view, an AR indicator 316 may be provided as a visual indicator augmented over the objects (including the shelves) within the user's view, illustrated here as a highlighted circle, although other indicators may be used”);
capturing a plurality of images with the AR device, the plurality of images including the medical item (par 0018, “While the AR glasses 130 may be used to authorize and track a user taking an item from a specific bin, data captured by the AR glasses 130 of bins near the specific bin may be used to track inventory of other items. In some implementations, the system may identify a discrepancy between the data captured by the AR glasses 130 and an inventory management system count for the item”, par 0025, “The location may be identified using location tracking and/or image recognition, by which captured images are compared against images of known storage locations. When the item is placed in a new location, processor 134 (or server 114) may automatically associate the item with the new location in the database, and create a record indicating that the user placed the item at the new location. In this regard, the record may include a geolocation or shelf or storage identifier, an identifier of the item, and an identifier of the user who placed the item at the new location”, par 0027, “As the AR glasses 130 are worn, the sensors 150 may be activated to capture image data or wireless signals. The captured data or signals may be stored in association with location information of the AR glasses 130 at the time the data or signals were captured”).
But Langan et al. keep silent for teaching after outputting the visual indicator of the location, capturing a plurality of images with the AR device, the plurality of images including the medical item.
In related endeavor, Kim et al. teach after outputting the visual indicator of the location (par 0330-0332, “Using the specific information 1000, the processor 870 acquires a current location (GPS) of the vehicle, a visual traveling record (a visual odometry), a location of a destination (a point-of-interest (POI) GPS), a camera-captured image, a preference level of a POI in the vicinity of the vehicle, and meta data on a destination or the POI …. the vehicle control device 800 according to the present disclosure includes a database (a reference image database) 1010 which the graphic object (a reference image) that is output in such a manner the graphic object is superimposed on the destination is possibly stored in or is possibly retrieved from”), capturing a plurality of images with the AR device, the plurality of images including an item (par 0340-0342, “The AR graphic rendering means outputting the graphic object on the windshield and the window so the graphic object is superimposed on the destination when the driver takes a look at the destination. the camera-captured image, the coordinates of the graphic object for the destination in the camera coordinate system, and the information relating to the destination, the processor 870 (or the AR graphic rendering engine) outputs destination (POI) information so the destination (POI) information is superimposed on the destination (outputs the destination (POI) information to the vicinity of the destination) (S1080).”, Figs 11(a)-11(b), par 0349, “With reference to FIG. 11B(a), the processor 870 identifies a preset destination 1100 from an image that is received through the camera. For example, the processor 870 identifies an object that corresponds to the preset image from the image”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. to include after outputting the visual indicator of the location, capturing a plurality of images with the AR device, the plurality of images including the item as taught by Kim et al. to further combine medical items, as taught by Langan et al., with Kim et al.’s teaching to display an output position and a shape of medical objects using camera after identification.
But Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al. keep silent for teaching extracting, with the AR device, image features from the plurality of images; extracting, with the AR device, a plurality of words on the medical item from the plurality of images; identifying the medical item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words; accessing with the AR device at least one medical database of medical information relating to the medical item.
In related endeavor, Rodriguez et al. teach capturing a plurality of images with an augmented reality (AR) device, the plurality of images including the item (par 0408, “The animation can be presented as an augmented reality overlay on the display of the person's portable device”, par 0443, “ A point of sale system 371 includes an item recognition portion coupled to a sensor 372 (e.g., one or more cameras, etc.). A display panel 373 has an item 374 resting on it, which is recognized and determined by the POS station to have a price of $2.49 (e.g., by reference to a database system)”);
extracting, with the AR device, image features from the plurality of images (par 0445, “From the sensor data, a class of the produce is recognized (e.g., by object recognition based on imagery, or chemical signature). The system may recognize, for example, that the bag contains apples. Based on the class, the system presents a listing of only the items in that class”);
extracting with the AR device a plurality of words on the item from the plurality of images (par 0102, “The object-identifying information can be a machine-readable identifier, such as a barcode or a steganographic digital watermark, either of which can convey a plural-bit payload. This information can additionally or alternatively comprise text—recognized by an optical character recognition engine”, par 0150, “Such a GPU can likewise be employed to perform a watermark or barcode decoding operation, or a fingerprint extraction operation, or an OCR operation, on multiple sets of data (e.g., the differently-transformed image sets) simultaneously.”, par 0169, “This image excerpt is passed to a text detector module that identifies at least one prominent alphabetic character. (Known OCR techniques can be used.)”);
identifying the item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words (par 0121, “an extraction process is applied to generate identification data corresponding to the item. The preferred embodiment applies a digital watermark decoding algorithm, but other identification technologies (e.g., barcode decoding, image fingerprinting, OCR, etc.) alternatively can be used”, , par 0316, “ An initial model of a total 3D volume presented for checkout can be generated based on sensed data (e.g., imagery). When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0250, “by color histogram analysis, the system may make a tentative identification of an item as, e.g., a six-pack of Coke. With this tentative identification, the system can obtain—from the database—information about the configuration of such product, and can use this information to discern the pose or orientation of the product as depicted in the camera imagery”, par 0454, “The product code identifies the product (e.g., Lebanon Bologna), and allows the system to recall the price for that item (e.g., $4.39/pound)”);
accessing, with the AR device, at least one database of information relating to the item (par 0102, “. This information can additionally or alternatively comprise text—recognized by an optical character recognition engine. Still further, the product can be identified by other markings, such as by image fingerprint information that is matched to reference fingerprint information in a product database”, par 0316, “ An initial model of a total 3D volume presented for checkout can be generated based on sensed data (e.g., imagery). When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0314-0316, “this weight can be analyzed and modeled in terms of component weights from individual objects—using reference weight data for such objects retrieved from a database …. When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0455-0456, “The scale includes a camera that captures an image of the package, and extracts the wrapper medium identifier from such imagery. The scale sends the extracted medium identifier—together with the other product details (e.g., product code, product name, measured weight, price per pound, total price) to the store's central computer database for storage”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al. to include extracting, with the AR device, image features from the plurality of images; extracting, with the AR device, a plurality of words on the item from the plurality of images; identifying the medical item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words; accessing with the AR device at least one database of medical information relating to the item as taught by Rodriguez et al. to apply the disclosure by Rodriguez et al. to the medical items, as taught by Langan et al., to identify medical information of the medical item for the medical database through perform a watermark or barcode decoding operation, or a fingerprint extraction operation, or an OCR operation, on multiple sets of data (e.g., the differently-transformed image sets) simultaneously in a AR device.
But Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al. and Rodriguez et al. keep silent for teaching verifying, with the AR device, that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device; determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verifying.
In related endeavor, DeBusk et al. teach verifying, with the AR device, that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device(par 0020-0027, “The UDI Serialized Tracking Database maps the unique number to the item's UDI. As each item is consumed during medical treatment and billed to payers, the unique identification number encoded in the EPC of the device is verified and reported. This provides for detection of certain types of fraud in the dispensing of medical items by validating that necessary supplies were actually utilized during patient care (e.g. a wound debridement requires a scalpel, etc.)….. The computer has a processor that executes instructions for: [0022] (a) receiving the unique identification numbers decoded by the RFID reader, [0023] (b) accessing the database to determine whether each of the unique identification numbers decoded by the RFID reader for each medical item is valid for the UDI number assigned to identify the specific type of medical item, [0024] (c) accessing the database to determine whether any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader has been logged into the database as being associated with a medical item that was previously consumed in medical treatment of a patient, and [0025] (d) generating a fraud alert message if [0026] any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader is not valid for the UDI number assigned to identify the specific type of medical item, or [0027] any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader was previously logged into the database in association with a medical item that previously consumed in medical treatment of a patient”, par 0057, par 0127-0128, “such a check involves two steps: (a) checking that the submitted unique identification number is valid for the UDI (e.g. that the unique number submitted for a scalpel is a valid unique number for a scalpel)(step 326), and (b) validating that the same unique number has not been submitted more than once based on treatment of two different patients (step 328) ….during the automatic fraud check, it may be determined at step 328 that the unique identification number for the used item matches the unique identification number of an item that was logged previously into the database 218 as being used in a procedure”); determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verifying (par 0074, par 0100-0104, “As shown in FIG. 9, each shipment 54 of medical items 38 includes a packing list 56 that has a unique shipment identifier 58 encoded in an RFID tag and/or a bar code attached to the packing list. Upon packing of medical items 38 at a supplier facility for shipment (first transition point), a unique item identifier 39 encoded in an RFID tag and/or a bar code attached to each packed medical item 38 and the unique shipment identifier 58 of the accompanying packing list 56 are read by one or more reading devices 59 and are cross-referenced in a supplier inventory database 60 … the unique shipment identifier 58 is also cross-referenced in the supplier inventory database 60 with the unique personnel identifier 55. As the term is used herein, a “supplier facility” is any location at which the medical items are disposed prior to shipment to the medical facility, such as a manufacturer facility or a distributor facility ….Upon receipt of the shipment 54 of medical items at the medical facility (second transition point), the unique shipment identifier 58 of the packing list 56 is read and decoded by one or more reading devices 62, and the unique shipment identifier is stored in the medical facility inventory database 52 in association with a unique personnel identifier 65 of the person responsible for receiving the shipment of medical items at the medical facility ….Upon unpacking a received shipment 54 of medical items and placement into storage bins 70 in a supply room 68 at the medical facility (third transition point), the unique shipment identifier 58 and the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item 38 is read and decoded by one or more reading devices 66, and the unique item identifier 39 of each medical item 38 is stored in association with a unique supply room identifier in the inventory database 52 for the medical facility ….As shown in FIG. 10, upon pulling medical items 38 from the supply room storage bins 70 to be used in a medical procedure, examination or test, or to be otherwise dispensed to a patient (fourth transition point), the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item 38 is read and decoded by a portal reading device 41 in the supply room, and the unique item identifier of each medical item is stored in the inventory database 52 in association with a unique bill of material (BOM) identifier 73 of the BOM 74 for the procedure/exam/test. In a preferred embodiment, the unique item identifiers 39 and BOM identifier 73 is cross-referenced in the database 52 with a unique personnel identifier 75 of the person removing the medical items from the supply room, which identifier may be encoded in the person's ID badge 71. At this point, the medical items may be in a transport bin 34. Upon delivery of the medical items 38 to a procedure room, examination room, or test room in the medical facility (fifth transition point), the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item is read and decoded by a portal reading device 48 in or at the entrance to the procedure/exam/test room, and the unique item identifier of each medical item is stored in the inventory database 52 in association with a unique procedure/exam/test room identifier and a unique personnel identifier 49 of a person accepting delivery in the procedure/exam/test room”, par 0112, “he procedure room computer 30 may prompt the treating personnel to disclose to the patient certain information related to the proper use of the DME item, to input information to verify the delivery of the DME item to the patient, or to obtain the patient's signature to acknowledge receipt of the DME item”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al. and Rodriguez et al. to include verifying, with the AR device, that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device; determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verifying as taught by DeBusk et al. to perform supply inventory management and procedure-based supply requirements, such systems are not able to provide consistent data analysis of supply utilization and optimization if the usage data is not recorded diligently with accurately recording usage information is the possibility of erroneously charging for items that were not used, which can raise regulatory issues.
But Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., and DeBusk et al. keep silent for teaching updating a medical inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the medical item.
In related endeavor, Jones et al. teach updating an inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the item (par 0003, “Inventory management systems of such retail sales facilities generally update the perpetual inventory in their inventory management database based on the time of delivery. Such updates are made on an assumption that the products are delivered within the scheduled time window and that the products are binned and worked to the sales floor immediately or shortly after the products are delivered”, par 0036, “FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of an operational workflow in implementing a method 400 in order to determine whether to update the electronic data in the inventory management database 140 representing the perpetual inventory of products 190 at the retail sales facility 110 and if so, a delay period determined based on the processed factors associated with the products 190 “, par 0039, “If the electronic data retrieved from the inventory management database 140 indicates that the picks of the cold chain product 190 off the delivery truck were complete, the control unit 210 is programmed to send a signal to the inventory management database to update the perpetual inventory (step 420) “, par 0044-0045, “If the electronic data retrieved from the inventory management database 140 indicates that a product 190 was delivered outside of the projected time for delivery, the control unit 210 is programmed to send a signal to the inventory management database 140 to delay the updating of the perpetual inventory or to update the perpetual inventory (step 420) as appropriate”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., and DeBusk et al. to include updating an inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the item as taught by Jones et al. to further combine medical items, as taught by Langan et al., with Jones et al.’s teaching to update perpetual medical inventory at a retail sales facility after products are delivered to a retail sales facility to provide precisely and efficiently inventory management to reduce the costs associated with product sorting at the retail sales facility and increase the productivity of the workers at the retail sales facility.
Regarding claim 2, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. teach wherein the medical item comprises a medication (Figs 3A-3B, par 0033, “AR glasses 130 is configured to facilitate an intake of medications into a stock room. AR glasses 130 are configured to overlay graphic information regarding inventory control over the real world environment perceived by the user”).
Regarding claim 3, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the medical item comprises a medical device (Figs 3A-3B, par 0033, “AR glasses 130 is configured to facilitate an intake of medications into a stock room. AR glasses 130 are configured to overlay graphic information regarding inventory control over the real world environment perceived by the user”, par 0027, “. The image data may be captured for specific items (e.g., medications, medical equipment), medication dispensers, medical devices (e.g., infusion pump), or physical structures within the clinical area (e.g., signs, floor tiles, doors, trashcans, or other physical landmarks)”, par 0039, “The AR glasses 130 may detect a medication dispensing cabinet or other medical device within the field of view”).
Regarding claim 4, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein the medical item comprises a consumable (Langan et al.: par 0034, “indicating the medication is detected as Aspirin 650 mg”, Rodriguez et al.: par 0341, par 0379, food and so on).
Regarding claim 5, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the medical item is stored in a medical storage area of the medical storage device (par 0029, “Other AR projections may highlight a position of medications for retrieval, for example by providing a high contrast dot, circle, or other visual identifier. Yet other AR projections may identify a position for placement of the medication, such as by identifying a particular compartment or bin in a multi-tiered medication shelf”, Fig 3A, par 0034-0035, “Another example use case is medication drop-off to specific locations, such as bin arrays, medication shelves, and dispensing machines. The user action, or medication drop-off, may be determined based on the detected location (e.g. near a dispensing machine or medication shelf) or authenticated user (e.g. a pharmacist). First, the user may look at a label of the medication for identification, as previously shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310B may then be projected to the user as shown in AR display 332B, indicating to the user where to drop off the medication within medication shelf 314, or “Storeroom 120, Shelf B-1””, par 0039, “the AR glasses 130 may detect a medication dispensing cabinet or other medical device within the field of view”, par 0051, “if a clinician is detected to be standing in a medical supply closet”).
Regarding claim 7, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the medical storage device comprises: a storage-device processor (par 0063); and a storage-device memory, the storage device memory comprising the medical inventory database identifying (par 0017, “The lookup request may include information such as location, viewing angle, images, video, audio, user identifier, user role identifier, and user eye tracking information. Server 114 may query database 116 to identify medication 120 based on the lookup request ….A message indicating the user action may then be sent to server 114 to cause an update in an inventory stored in database 116.”): medical items stored in the medical storage device; and a location in the medical storage device of the medical items stored in the medical storage device (par 0025, “When the item is placed in a new location, processor 134 (or server 114) may automatically associate the item with the new location in the database, and create a record indicating that the user placed the item at the new location. In this regard, the record may include a geolocation or shelf or storage identifier, an identifier of the item, and an identifier of the user who placed the item at the new location”, par 0034, “User 110 wearing AR glasses 130 may simply direct gaze towards barcode 312A on a label affixed to the medication, as shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310A may then be projected to the user, indicating the medication is detected as Aspirin 650 mg, 200 count. A corresponding update message may be sent to server 114 to update an inventory of the stock room stored in database 116”).
Regarding claim 8, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 7, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the medical storage device comprises an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) (par 0016, “User actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement of medication into shelves or bins, administration of medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications “, par 0018, par 0033, “intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement or delivery of medication into specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, administration of a medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications”).
Regarding claim 9, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 8, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the ADC comprises a plurality of drawers, individual one of the plurality of drawers comprising a plurality of compartments, wherein at least some of the medical items are stored each in a unique compartment (par 0016, “User actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement of medication into shelves or bins, administration of medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications “, par 0018, “a user is accessing a matrix drawer including several different storage locations (e.g., bins or pockets) for different items “, par 0024, “ When the object is received into the user's hand, the algorithm may detect the placement and begin identification of the object through image recognition, or by analyzing captured images for identifying features or codes affixed to the object (e.g., barcode or Q-code)”, Fig 3A, par 0035, “Database 116 may include a virtual 3D model of medication shelf 314 that includes metadata specifying the preferred positions of particular medications within shelves A-1, B-1, A-2, and B-2”). This would be obvious for the same reason given in the rejection for claim 6.
Regarding claim 11, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the at least one medical database of medical information relating to the medical item is stored in memory accessible by the AR device via a communication network (par 0017, “User 110 may wear AR glasses 130 to track various medications, such as medication 120. To identify medication 120, sensors of AR glasses 130 may provide data for a lookup request to be sent to server 114 via network 112. The lookup request may include information such as location, viewing angle, images, video, audio, user identifier, user role identifier, and user eye tracking information. Server 114 may query database 116 to identify medication 120 based on the lookup request. Further, AR glasses 130 may determine and confirm a user action with respect to medication 120, such as adding, removing, administering, or disposing of medications. A message indicating the user action may then be sent to server 114 to cause an update in an inventory stored in database 116. “, par 0033, “FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B depict various example augmented reality displays of an augmented reality device, such as AR glasses 130, for hands-free medication tracking, according to various aspects of the subject technology. AR glasses 130 is configured to facilitate an intake of medications into a stock room. AR glasses 130 are configured to overlay graphic information regarding inventory control over the real world environment perceived by the user. AR glasses 130 are configured to communicate a location of the user to a server 114, including the user orientation within the current environment and current direction of sight. Visual information may be converted to digital information and sent to the server, which may then use object or image recognition to identify objects and their specific locations within a three-dimensional space within the view of the user. Based on the current location of the user, the system may identify actions that are required to be performed by the user regarding an inventory of medical items. Such actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement or delivery of medication into specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, administration of a medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications”).
Regarding claim 12, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 11, and Langan et al. further teach wherein determining to deliver the medical item is further based on patient information, wherein the patient information is associated with a recipient of the medical item (par 0025, “When an item is picked up and/or moved, processor 134 (or server 114) may automatically identify the location from which the item is picked up, and associate an identification of the user wearing the glasses with the movement or placement of the item “, par 0033, “Based on the current location of the user, the system may identify actions that are required to be performed by the user regarding an inventory of medical items. Such actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement or delivery of medication into specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, administration of a medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications”, par 0048, “the determining may be based on the authenticated user (e.g. data from retinal scanner 156), a currently detected location (e.g. data from location sensor 158, RGB camera 152, time of flight camera 154), an intended location for the medication (e.g. data from RGB camera 152 and time of flight camera 154 matched to virtual 3D models in database 116), a patient identification (e.g. from RGB camera 152 or RFID reader 146), or other data from sensors 150 and/or communication interface 140 …. The 3D mapping may be generated by processing the data from sensors 150 through a machine learning model trained with model data for medication shelves, bin arrays, automatic dispensing machines, and other locations for retrieving and delivering medications. The 3D mapping may then be matched to virtual 3D models in database 116, wherein the virtual 3D models also specify the positions of particular medications, including preferred positions for drop off”).
Regarding claim 13, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 12, and Langan et al. further teach further comprising retrieving the patient information from a patient database (Fig 3B, par 0041, “ the user may direct gaze at barcode 312C attached to a wrist of the patient to identify patient 318, as shown in AR display 332E. Alternative implementations may use RFID tags or other means of identifying patient 318. AR glasses 130 may then lookup a treatment regimen for patient 318 and provide administration instructions for the user in AR message 310E, which instructs the user to administer orally twice daily or as needed”, par 0070, “ The message flow of FIG. 6 shows messages exchanged between several entities which can be included in an augmented reality system including a hospital information server 690 (e.g., electronic medical record system, patient information system, laboratory information system, time and attendance system, security system, or the like) and a medical device 692 such as an infusion pump or medication dispensing cabinet”). This would be obvious for the same reason given in the rejection for claim 11.
Regarding claim 14, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 13, and Langan et al. further teach wherein the patient database is stored in memory accessible by the AR device via the communication network (par 0033-0034, “ Such actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement or delivery of medication into specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, administration of a medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications. The different modes or actions may be triggered based on optical character recognition of information such as a schedule or other electronic medical record. …. As another example, if the system determines that a user's shift is ended, the AR glasses 130 may adjust resources to a configuration that prioritizes passive data collection. The determination may be based on one or more communications between the AR glasses 130 and a hospital information system such as a time and attendance system …..fields such as authenticated clinician ID or user ID, patient ID, current location, and other data may also be written for each record, enabling tracking of item movement according to user, patient, location, or other criteria. Thus, user 110 merely needs to look at the medication before drop-off to perform an automatic inventory record update in database 116, which requires no handling of handheld scanners, updating of paperwork, or other burdensome manual processes”, par 0084, “As shown in FIG. 6, data is transmitted directly between entities. However, in some implementations, the data may be transmitted via an intermediate server or data store. In such instances, the communication may identify the availability of data and the location of the data (e.g., file name or record identifier)”).
Regarding claim 29, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Langan et al. further teach further comprising: outputting delivery information relating to the medical item to a user via at least one output device of the AR device (par 0057, “From the dispatch or approval location, a clinician or other medical worker may bring the filled medication orders to patients or wards for dispensing to the patient. These workers may also be wearing AR glasses. As they approach the dispatch location, the AR glasses may detect that the worker is preparing to make a delivery run through the facility. The AR glasses or other system actor may survey the items waiting delivery and identify a set that maximizes the delivery run by, for example, grouping orders for a similar ward together. This grouping may be presented as augmented reality content when the user looks into the dispatch location. The items to be included on the next run may be highlighted or listed. The AR glasses may also provide routing information as augmented reality content to guide the worker through the facility along an efficient route. An efficient route may be one that, for example, avoids areas being cleaned, avoids backtracking, minimizes elevator rides, etc.”)
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2023/0238098 to Langan et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2019/0180485 to Kim et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al., further in view of U.S. Patent 11941679 to Manyam.
Regarding claim 15, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 14, but do not explicitly teach wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the item further comprises determining that the medical item is not expired.
In related endeavor, Manyam teaches wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the item further comprises determining that the medical item is not expired (Fig 2, col 6:13-35, “ the user 204 may interact with the portable device 205 by selecting (e.g., via a touch screen) a display control, such as the “More Info” control 215. If the user selects the “More Info” control 215, the portable device 205 may submit a request to the inventory management system 150 for additional item information”, col 9:9-39, “Upon identifying the picked item and the quantity, an item expiration date may be determined for the picked item, as in 412. If the quantity of the item picked is greater than one, each item may have a different expiration date that is determined. In some implementations, the expiration date may be included in the picked item and detected from the images captured of the picked item. For example, a visual identifier may be included on the item that identifies the expiration date. In other implementations, the inventory management system may maintain in an item expiration data store the expiration information for each item and, when the picked item is identified, the inventory management system may identify the expiration date from stored information”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Jones et al. to include wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the item further comprises determining that the medical item is not expired as taught by Manyam to receive a recommendation to pick a replacement item so they do not have to return to the materials handling facility early to replace the expired item.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2023/0238098 to Langan et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2019/0180485 to Kim et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al., further in view of U.S. Patent 11941679 to Manyam, further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2007/0021964 to Maenishi et al..
Regarding claim 16, Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., Jones et al., and Manyam teach all the limitation of claim 15, but do not explicitly teach wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item further comprises determining that a lot number of the medical item is not associated with a recall.
In related endeavor, Maenishi et al. teach wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item further comprises determining that a lot number of the medical item is not associated with a recall (par 0008, “the information items stored in the IC tag of an appliance is collected and used for checking whether the current appliance is the appliance to be recalled so as to identify whether the current appliance is the appliance to be recalled. Therefore, unlike the conventional method, it is possible to automatically identify the locations of the appliances to be recalled without making any recall notification of appliances by using newspaper advertisement or the like”, par 0095, “The recall database apparatus 37 instructs the IC tag reader and writer 34 that is set at each house 32 to read the information items stored in the IC tag 48 of the television receiving set 42 via the Internet 36 (S2). The IC tag reader and writer 34 sends the read information items to the recall database apparatus 37. Therefore, the recall database apparatus 37 receives the information items (S4). The recall database apparatus 37 checks the received information items with the recall product information 96 stored in the database unit 94 (S6). In other words, the recall database apparatus 37 checks whether the television receiving set 42 corresponding to the received information is the product to be recalled”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al., Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., Jones et al., and Manyam to include wherein determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item further comprises determining that a lot number of the medical item is not associated with a recall as taught by Maenishi et al. to provide good and quality product to customer.
Claim(s) 17-20 and 22-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2023/0238098 to Langan et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0181907 to Esmailzadeh, further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al..
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Regarding claim 17, Langan et al. teach a system for item recognition using augmented reality (AR) (par 0005, “a wearable augmented reality device comprising: a display interface for presenting a graphical user interface including at least one opaque or semi-transparent graphic element; a communication interface; a location sensor for detecting location information identifying a location of the wearable augmented reality device; an environment sensor for capturing information within the location”), the system comprising: a medical storage device comprising: a storage-device processor (par 0063); and a storage-device memory comprising an medical inventory database identifying (Figs 1-2, par 0017, par 0019, ““The lookup request may include information such as location, viewing angle, images, video, audio, user identifier, user role identifier, and user eye tracking information. Server 114 may query database 116 to identify medication 120 based on the lookup request ….A message indicating the user action may then be sent to server 114 to cause an update in an inventory stored in database 116.”): medical items stored in the medical storage device; and a location in the medical storage device of the medical items stored in the medical storage device (par 0025, “When the item is placed in a new location, processor 134 (or server 114) may automatically associate the item with the new location in the database, and create a record indicating that the user placed the item at the new location. In this regard, the record may include a geolocation or shelf or storage identifier, an identifier of the item, and an identifier of the user who placed the item at the new location”, par 0034, “User 110 wearing AR glasses 130 may simply direct gaze towards barcode 312A on a label affixed to the medication, as shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310A may then be projected to the user, indicating the medication is detected as Aspirin 650 mg, 200 count. A corresponding update message may be sent to server 114 to update an inventory of the stock room stored in database 116”, par 0029, “Other AR projections may highlight a position of medications for retrieval, for example by providing a high contrast dot, circle, or other visual identifier. Yet other AR projections may identify a position for placement of the medication, such as by identifying a particular compartment or bin in a multi-tiered medication shelf”, par 0035, “Another example use case is medication drop-off to specific locations, such as bin arrays, medication shelves, and dispensing machines. The user action, or medication drop-off, may be determined based on the detected location (e.g. near a dispensing machine or medication shelf) or authenticated user (e.g. a pharmacist). First, the user may look at a label of the medication for identification, as previously shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310B may then be projected to the user as shown in AR display 332B, indicating to the user where to drop off the medication within medication shelf 314, or “Storeroom 120, Shelf B-1””, par 0039, “the AR glasses 130 may detect a medication dispensing cabinet or other medical device within the field of view”, par 0051, “if a clinician is detected to be standing in a medical supply closet”); and an AR device communicatively coupled to the medical storage device, the AR device comprising: a camera; a display; a memory comprising computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to (Fig 2, par 0019, “FIG. 2 depicts an example block diagram of an augmented reality device, or AR glasses 130, for hands-free medication tracking, according to various aspects of the subject technology. AR glasses 130 includes data bus 132, processor 134, memory 136, communication interface 140, sensors 150, display interface 164, identity access management (IAM) interface 168, audio interface 170, power source 180, and power harvester 182. Memory 136 includes non-volatile data store 137”):
receive a medical item identification for a medical item that is to be retrieved from within the medical storage device; output, via the display of the AR device, a visual indicator of a location of the medical item within the storage device (Fig 3A, par 0033-0035, “ AR glasses 130 is configured to facilitate an intake of medications into a stock room …. Based on the current location of the user, the system may identify actions that are required to be performed by the user regarding an inventory of medical items. Such actions may include, for example, intake of medication from restock areas, retrieval of medication from specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, placement or delivery of medication into specific automated dispensing machines, bins, or shelves, administration of a medication to a patient, and disposal of excess medications …the user may look at a label of the medication for identification, as previously shown in AR display 332A. AR message 310B may then be projected to the user as shown in AR display 332B, indicating to the user where to drop off the medication within medication shelf 314, or “Storeroom 120, Shelf B-1”. For example, the data from RGB camera 152 and time of flight camera 154 may be used to build a 3D mapping of the surrounding environment. Database 116 may include a virtual 3D model of medication shelf 314 that includes metadata specifying the preferred positions of particular medications within shelves A-1, B-1, A-2, and B-2. By matching the 3D mapping to the virtual 3D model, the preferred positions for dropping off the identified medication may be determined to position AR indicator 316 and AR message 310B within an AR projection output by display interface 164”).
But Langan et al. keep silent for teaching capturing a plurality of images with an augmented reality (AR) device, the plurality of images depicting the medical item; extracting with the AR device image features from the plurality of images; extracting with the AR device a plurality of words on the medical item from the plurality of images; identifying the medical item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words; accessing at least one medical database of medical information relating to the medical item.
In related endeavor, Rodriguez et al. teach capturing a plurality of images with an augmented reality (AR) device, the plurality of images including depicting the medical item (par 0408, “The animation can be presented as an augmented reality overlay on the display of the person's portable device”, par 0443, “ A point of sale system 371 includes an item recognition portion coupled to a sensor 372 (e.g., one or more cameras, etc.). A display panel 373 has an item 374 resting on it, which is recognized and determined by the POS station to have a price of $2.49 (e.g., by reference to a database system)”);
extracting with the AR device image features from the plurality of images (par 0445, “From the sensor data, a class of the produce is recognized (e.g., by object recognition based on imagery, or chemical signature). The system may recognize, for example, that the bag contains apples. Based on the class, the system presents a listing of only the items in that class”);
extracting with the AR device a plurality of words on the medical item from the plurality of images (par 0102, “The object-identifying information can be a machine-readable identifier, such as a barcode or a steganographic digital watermark, either of which can convey a plural-bit payload. This information can additionally or alternatively comprise text—recognized by an optical character recognition engine”, par 0150, “Such a GPU can likewise be employed to perform a watermark or barcode decoding operation, or a fingerprint extraction operation, or an OCR operation, on multiple sets of data (e.g., the differently-transformed image sets) simultaneously.”, par 0169, “This image excerpt is passed to a text detector module that identifies at least one prominent alphabetic character. (Known OCR techniques can be used.)”);
identifying the medical item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words (par 0121, “an extraction process is applied to generate identification data corresponding to the item. The preferred embodiment applies a digital watermark decoding algorithm, but other identification technologies (e.g., barcode decoding, image fingerprinting, OCR, etc.) alternatively can be used”, , par 0316, “ An initial model of a total 3D volume presented for checkout can be generated based on sensed data (e.g., imagery). When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0250, “by color histogram analysis, the system may make a tentative identification of an item as, e.g., a six-pack of Coke. With this tentative identification, the system can obtain—from the database—information about the configuration of such product, and can use this information to discern the pose or orientation of the product as depicted in the camera imagery”, par 0454, “The product code identifies the product (e.g., Lebanon Bologna), and allows the system to recall the price for that item (e.g., $4.39/pound)”);
accessing at least one database of medical information relating to the medical item (par 0102, “. This information can additionally or alternatively comprise text—recognized by an optical character recognition engine. Still further, the product can be identified by other markings, such as by image fingerprint information that is matched to reference fingerprint information in a product database”, par 0316, “ An initial model of a total 3D volume presented for checkout can be generated based on sensed data (e.g., imagery). When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0314-0316, “this weight can be analyzed and modeled in terms of component weights from individual objects—using reference weight data for such objects retrieved from a database …. When an object in the pile is identified (e.g., by product markings, such as by fingerprinting, barcode, text OCR, or through use of other evidence), the object's shape (volume) is obtained from reference data stored in a database”, par 0455-0456, “The scale includes a camera that captures an image of the package, and extracts the wrapper medium identifier from such imagery. The scale sends the extracted medium identifier—together with the other product details (e.g., product code, product name, measured weight, price per pound, total price) to the store's central computer database for storage”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al. to include capturing a plurality of images with an augmented reality (AR) device, the plurality of images depicting the medical item; extracting with the AR device image features from the plurality of images; extracting with the AR device a plurality of words on the medical item from the plurality of images; identifying the medical item based on at least some of the image features and at least some of the plurality of words; accessing at least one medical database of medical information relating to the medical item as taught by Rodriguez et al. to analyzed for product recognition purposes through captured images to make activities in the day to day lives of users more convenient, secure, and efficient.
But Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al. keep silent for teaching verifying that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device; determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verification.
In related endeavor, DeBusk et al. teach verifying that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device (par 0020-0027, “The UDI Serialized Tracking Database maps the unique number to the item's UDI. As each item is consumed during medical treatment and billed to payers, the unique identification number encoded in the EPC of the device is verified and reported. This provides for detection of certain types of fraud in the dispensing of medical items by validating that necessary supplies were actually utilized during patient care (e.g. a wound debridement requires a scalpel, etc.)….. The computer has a processor that executes instructions for: [0022] (a) receiving the unique identification numbers decoded by the RFID reader, [0023] (b) accessing the database to determine whether each of the unique identification numbers decoded by the RFID reader for each medical item is valid for the UDI number assigned to identify the specific type of medical item, [0024] (c) accessing the database to determine whether any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader has been logged into the database as being associated with a medical item that was previously consumed in medical treatment of a patient, and [0025] (d) generating a fraud alert message if [0026] any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader is not valid for the UDI number assigned to identify the specific type of medical item, or [0027] any unique identification number decoded by the RFID reader was previously logged into the database in association with a medical item that previously consumed in medical treatment of a patient”, par 0057, par 0127-0128, “such a check involves two steps: (a) checking that the submitted unique identification number is valid for the UDI (e.g. that the unique number submitted for a scalpel is a valid unique number for a scalpel)(step 326), and (b) validating that the same unique number has not been submitted more than once based on treatment of two different patients (step 328) ….during the automatic fraud check, it may be determined at step 328 that the unique identification number for the used item matches the unique identification number of an item that was logged previously into the database 218 as being used in a procedure”); determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verification (par 0074, par 0100-0104, “As shown in FIG. 9, each shipment 54 of medical items 38 includes a packing list 56 that has a unique shipment identifier 58 encoded in an RFID tag and/or a bar code attached to the packing list. Upon packing of medical items 38 at a supplier facility for shipment (first transition point), a unique item identifier 39 encoded in an RFID tag and/or a bar code attached to each packed medical item 38 and the unique shipment identifier 58 of the accompanying packing list 56 are read by one or more reading devices 59 and are cross-referenced in a supplier inventory database 60 … the unique shipment identifier 58 is also cross-referenced in the supplier inventory database 60 with the unique personnel identifier 55. As the term is used herein, a “supplier facility” is any location at which the medical items are disposed prior to shipment to the medical facility, such as a manufacturer facility or a distributor facility ….Upon receipt of the shipment 54 of medical items at the medical facility (second transition point), the unique shipment identifier 58 of the packing list 56 is read and decoded by one or more reading devices 62, and the unique shipment identifier is stored in the medical facility inventory database 52 in association with a unique personnel identifier 65 of the person responsible for receiving the shipment of medical items at the medical facility ….Upon unpacking a received shipment 54 of medical items and placement into storage bins 70 in a supply room 68 at the medical facility (third transition point), the unique shipment identifier 58 and the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item 38 is read and decoded by one or more reading devices 66, and the unique item identifier 39 of each medical item 38 is stored in association with a unique supply room identifier in the inventory database 52 for the medical facility ….As shown in FIG. 10, upon pulling medical items 38 from the supply room storage bins 70 to be used in a medical procedure, examination or test, or to be otherwise dispensed to a patient (fourth transition point), the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item 38 is read and decoded by a portal reading device 41 in the supply room, and the unique item identifier of each medical item is stored in the inventory database 52 in association with a unique bill of material (BOM) identifier 73 of the BOM 74 for the procedure/exam/test. In a preferred embodiment, the unique item identifiers 39 and BOM identifier 73 is cross-referenced in the database 52 with a unique personnel identifier 75 of the person removing the medical items from the supply room, which identifier may be encoded in the person's ID badge 71. At this point, the medical items may be in a transport bin 34. Upon delivery of the medical items 38 to a procedure room, examination room, or test room in the medical facility (fifth transition point), the unique item identifier 39 on each medical item is read and decoded by a portal reading device 48 in or at the entrance to the procedure/exam/test room, and the unique item identifier of each medical item is stored in the inventory database 52 in association with a unique procedure/exam/test room identifier and a unique personnel identifier 49 of a person accepting delivery in the procedure/exam/test room”, par 0112, “he procedure room computer 30 may prompt the treating personnel to disclose to the patient certain information related to the proper use of the DME item, to input information to verify the delivery of the DME item to the patient, or to obtain the patient's signature to acknowledge receipt of the DME item”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Kim et al. and Rodriguez et al. to include verifying that the identified medical item matches a medical item that a medical inventory database of the medical storage device identifies as stored at the location of the medical item within the medical storage device; determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item and on the verification as taught by DeBusk et al. to perform supply inventory management and procedure-based supply requirements, such systems are not able to provide consistent data analysis of supply utilization and optimization if the usage data is not recorded diligently with accurately recording usage information is the possibility of erroneously charging for items that were not used, which can raise regulatory issues.
But Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al. and Debusk keep silent for teaching received a confirmation of delivery of the medical item from the medical storage device.
In related endeavor, Esmailzadeh teach determining to deliver the medical item based on the medical information relating to the medical item; received a confirmation of delivery of the medical item from the medical storage device (par 0039, “ Inventory verifications 224 may be confirmations of what particular inventory item is possessed by a particular mobile delivery vehicle that corresponds to a particular mobile delivery device 110 of the one or more mobile delivery devices 110 “, par 0048, “Transaction verification files 236 may correspond to files that evidence a completed sale and delivery of an item in inventory. Transaction verification files 236 may include credit card payment verification, barcode out scanning of the item of inventory, confirmation from the user device 108, confirmation from a mobile delivery device 110, audio recordings of the transaction, video or photographic recordings of a transaction, fingerprint confirmation of a transaction, eye recognition confirmation of a transaction, and other methods”, par 0063-0066, “he regional inventory lists 232 may be filtered at block 408 to remove any inventory listing that is not responsive to the type of product determined by the user attributes 218. For instance, the user attributes 218 may indicate that the user device 108 desires a regional inventory lists 232 that is populated by inventory of a particular category (i.e. chocolate candies, soft drinks, sandwiches, cigarettes, hot drinks, snacks, etc.). The regional inventory lists 232 may also be filtered at block 408 by what particular inventory a mobile delivery device 110 possess. This would then result in displaying a regional inventory list that indicated which mobile delivery devices 110 possess all the inventory for which the user device 108 is interested in. This method could be used to incentivize a user device 108 to purchase inventories owned by a single mobile delivery device 110 ….. The inventory purchase request will indicate to the mobile delivery device 110 that the user device 108 making the inventory purchase request would like to engage in a purchase and delivery transaction with the mobile delivery device 110. The mobile delivery device 110 would then take action to facilitate the delivery and sale of the item of inventory”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al. and DeBusk et al. to include received a confirmation of delivery of the medical item from the medical storage device as taught by Esmailzadeh to allow remote users to order goods from any number of mobile delivery vehicles to make activities in the day to day lives of users more convenient, secure, and efficient.
But Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Esmailzadeh keep silent for teaching updating the medical inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the medical item.
In related endeavor, Jones et al. teach updating the medical inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the medical item (par 0003, “Inventory management systems of such retail sales facilities generally update the perpetual inventory in their inventory management database based on the time of delivery. Such updates are made on an assumption that the products are delivered within the scheduled time window and that the products are binned and worked to the sales floor immediately or shortly after the products are delivered”, par 0036, “FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of an operational workflow in implementing a method 400 in order to determine whether to update the electronic data in the inventory management database 140 representing the perpetual inventory of products 190 at the retail sales facility 110 and if so, a delay period determined based on the processed factors associated with the products 190 “, par 0039, “If the electronic data retrieved from the inventory management database 140 indicates that the picks of the cold chain product 190 off the delivery truck were complete, the control unit 210 is programmed to send a signal to the inventory management database to update the perpetual inventory (step 420) “, par 0044-0045, “If the electronic data retrieved from the inventory management database 140 indicates that a product 190 was delivered outside of the projected time for delivery, the control unit 210 is programmed to send a signal to the inventory management database 140 to delay the updating of the perpetual inventory or to update the perpetual inventory (step 420) as appropriate”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., and Esmailzadeh to include updating the medical inventory database upon confirmation of delivery of the medical item as taught by Jones et al. to update perpetual inventory at a retail sales facility after products are delivered to a retail sales facility to provide precisely and efficiently inventory management to reduce the costs associated with product sorting at the retail sales facility and increase the productivity of the workers at the retail sales facility.
Regarding claims 18-20 and 22-26, Langan et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., Esmailzadeh, and Jones et al. teach all the limitation of claim 17, and Langan et al. further teach claims 18-20 and 22-26 (the claims 18-20 and 22-26 are similar in scope to claims 2 or 3, or 4, 8-9, 7, and 11-14 and are rejected under the same rational).
Claim(s) 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0181907 to Esmailzadeh, further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al., further in view of U.S. Patent 11941679 to Manyam.
Regarding claim 27, Rodriguez et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., Esmailzadeh, and Jones et al. all the limitation of claim 26, the claim 27 is similar in scope to claim 15 and is rejected under the same rational.
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al. in view of in view of U.S. PGPubs 2021/0192162 to Rodriguez et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2018/0096292 to DeBusk et al., further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2017/0161674 to Jones et al., , further in view of U.S. Patent 11941679 to Manyam, further in view of U.S. PGPubs 2007/0021964 to Maenishi et al..
Regarding claim 28, Rodriguez et al. as modified by Rodriguez et al., DeBusk et al., Jones et al., and Manyam teach all the limitation of claim 27, the claim 28 is similar in scope to claim 16 and is rejected under the same rational.
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 Jin Ge whose telephone number is (571)272-5556. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 to 5:00.
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JIN . GE
Examiner
Art Unit 2619
/JIN GE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
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