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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 6/2/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/2/2026. The requirement is deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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) 1-2 and 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (KR 20200063353 A) in view of Guo et al. (DE 102015106003 A1; hereinafter “Guo”).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 1: a prosthetic hand assembly, comprising: a hand structure (Fig. 1) including an actuatable wrist (Fig. 1), a palm (H1), and a plurality of actuatable fingers (H2), wherein the actuatable wrist and at least one of the plurality of actuatable fingers is coupled to corresponding actuators configured to selectively direct movement of the actuatable wrist and at least one of the plurality of actuatable fingers (pgs. 3-5 of the provided translation); a camera (30) disposed on one side of the hand structure (Fig. 1), wherein the camera is selectively operable to generate a plurality of images of an object positioned adjacent the hand structure (pgs. 3-5); a processor coupled with the actuators (pgs. 3-6), wherein the processor is communicatively coupled with the camera and configured to receive the plurality of images of the object (pgs. 3-6), wherein the processor is configured to determine one or more characteristic of the object from the plurality of images of the object (pgs. 3-6), and wherein the processor is configured to selectively drive one or more of the actuators to affect movement of the actuatable wrist and at least one of the plurality of actuatable fingers based on the one or more characteristics of the object (pgs. 3-6).
While Kang states that the hand palm portion is rotatable (pg. 4), it does not explicitly recite that the wrist is actuatable. Guo teaches that it is well known in the art that a wrist of a prosthetic hand assembly is actuatable in response to sensors and processors (pgs. 4-7 of the provided translation), in order to provide the prosthetic hand with a broader range of motion to better interact with its surrounding environment. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the wrist of Kang to be actuatable, as taught by Guo, for the purpose of providing the prosthetic hand with a broader range of motion to better interact with its surrounding environment. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success.
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 2: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics of the object includes a distance from the camera to the object (pg. 3).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 4: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics of the object includes type of the object (pgs. 4-6).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 5: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 4, wherein the type of object includes balls of different types, a pen, a cup, a glass, and tools of different types (Figs. 3-5; pgs. 4-6).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 6: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 4, wherein the actuators are activated based on the type of the object (pgs. 4-6).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 7: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 6, wherein force of the actuators is adjustable based on the type of the object (pgs. 3-6).
Kang teaches the following regarding claim 8: the prosthetic hand assembly of claim 1, further comprising sensors (20, 50) with signals therefrom which when integrated with the processor and the actuators provide a feedback control loop for operating the actuators (pgs. 3-6).
Claim(s) 3, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Guo further in view of Nagarajan et al. (US Pat. No. 10,981,272; hereinafter “Nagarajan”).
Kang, as modified by Guo, teaches the limitations of the claimed invention, as described above. However, they do not explicitly recite generating a bounding box for each object image and using a pre-trained neural network model. Nagarajan teaches that it is well known in the art that computer processors generate a bounding boxes for object images, and each bounding box is based upon at least two coordinates of the object in each image of the plurality of images (col. 14, lines 64-col. 16, lines 45; col. 20, lines 12-41). Nagarajan further teaches the computer processor including a memory (known inherent components of computer systems), wherein the memory is configured to store a pre-trained neural network model therein; the pre-trained neural network model is configured to determine the type of the object; and the parameters of the pre-trained neural network are adjustable based on sensor signals (col. 2, lines 6-col. 4, lines 55). This configuration helps determine the distance of the palm of the hand structure from the object based upon multiple images from multiple sensors for a comparison of each bounding box of the plurality of bounding boxes (col. 14, lines 64-col. 16, lines 45; col. 20, lines 12-41) in order to improve the performance of the prosthetic hand. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the devices of Kang and Guo to utilize bounding boxes and pre-trained neural network models, as taught by Nagarajan, for the purpose of improving the performance of the prosthetic hand. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ann Hu whose telephone number is (571) 272-6652. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:00 am-5:30 pm EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Jerrah Edwards, at (408) 918-7557. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/ANN HU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3774
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