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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 30 September 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed on 30 September 2025, is acknowledged. Claims 1 and 6-8 are amended. Claim 2 is cancelled.
Claims 1 and 3-17 are pending in the instant application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 30 September 2025, with respect to the objections to claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objections to claim 1 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-17 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive in light of the amendments. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Levendowski (US10953192B2) and further in view of Kitado (US5167610A), Verzal (US20190175026A1) and Maslick (GB2563036A).
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “a sleep state” in line 21, but should read --the sleep state--.
Claim 1 recites “falling asleep time” in line 26, but should read --a falling asleep time--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levendowski (US10953192B2) in view of Kitado (US5167610A) and further in view Verzal (US20190175026A1) and Maslick (GB2563036A).
Regarding claim 1, Levendowski discloses a method for sleep monitoring (Abstract, "Systems and methods for managing sleep quality of a patient,"), the method comprising detecting whether a sleep assistance command is received (Col 29, lines 21-25 "The DAU 110 may then characterize the signals to detect a condition indicative of needing an intervention and/or transmit the acquired signals to computer system 390 or other computer systems for processing and detection." The detection and determination of needed intervention is the sleep assistance command); lighting up a breathing light at a preset frequency in response to receiving the sleep assistance command (Col 29 lines, 58-60 "At step 740, one or more intervention for application to the patient may be determined based on the recommendation information." Col 29-30 lines 65-2 "The intervention may include one or more of, but not to be limited to, tactile vibrations (e.g., vibrotactile), audible (e.g., sounds, music, etc.), visual (modifying ambient light such as adding blue light),"); monitoring physical sign information of a user in response to receiving a monitoring command (Abstract, "collecting physiological signal data of the patient using a data acquisition unit electrically coupled to at least one sensor affixed to the patient that generates the physiologic signal data"; Col 31, lines 30-31 "The process 800 begins at step 805 with the acquisition of physiological signals from a patient by a DAU" The availability/input of signals is the monitoring command.); detecting whether the user enters into a sleep state according to the physical sign information (Col 18, 15-19 "In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to 20 assess sleep onset and cortical arousals."); determining sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user, wherein the physical sign information comprises at least breathing information (Abstract "filtering the physiological signal data into a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to a plurality of power spectra waveforms; and characterizing an etiology of sleep quality of the patient" Col 7, lines 44-46 "Such implementations included concomitant monitoring of respiratory patterns for the assessment of sleep and breathing abnormality.") and the breathing information is determined according to at least one of: oronasal airflow information (Col 10, lines 34-35 "DAU 110 is configured to receive a signal from a nasal pressure transducer 313 to acquire airflow data."); or thoracoabdominal motion information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)); wherein the physical sign information further comprises at least one of: blood oxygen information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)); electroencephalogram information (Col 7, lines 37-41 "For example, a DAU is described that can be used to acquire a number of physiological signals from the forehead including electroencephalographic (EEG), electroocular (EOG) and electromyographic (EMG) signals,"); body movement information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)); and electrocardiogram information (Col 9-10, lines 67-2, “In addition, DAU 110 may be communicatively connected to a nasal pressure transducer 313, one or more EEG sensors 380, one or more ECG sensors”); wherein the detecting whether the user enters into a sleep state according to the physical sign information (Col 18, 15-19) comprises acquiring, by a body motion monitoring circuit (Col 11, lines 42-46), the body movement information of the user (Col 11, lines 42-46), and outputting the thoracoabdominal motion information (Col 11, lines 42-46); and determining falling asleep time of the user based on the thoracoabdominal motion information output and the body movement information acquired by the body motion monitoring circuit (Col 18, 15-19, Col 11, lines 42-46).
Levendowski discloses being able to light up a breathing light at a preset frequency in response to receiving the sleep assistance command but does not disclose that the breathing light flashes or gradually reducing a brightness of the breathing light within a first preset duration until the breathing light is extinguished in response to determining that where the user enters into the sleep state. Kitado discloses a sleep induction system (Abstract) wherein sleep detection is determined by respiratory rate (Col 5, lines 21-25) wherein the breathing light flashes in response to a user’s respiratory rate (Figure 3, Col 4, line 60 to Col 5, line 21) or a preset frequency (Col 5, line 46 to Col 6, line 25) and that the brightness of the beathing light is slowly decreased within first preset duration until the user is asleep (Figure 4 and Col 5, lines 9-21). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by Levendowski, with the breathing light flashing in response to a user’s respiratory rate and gradually reducing a brightness of the breathing light within a first preset duration until the breathing light is extinguished in response to determining that the user enters into the sleep state as taught by Kitado, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of shifting the subject organically into the state of sleep in accordance with the respiration cycle, and is capable of realizing the sleep induction smoothly organically within a short time (Col 2, lines 11-15).
Levendowski discloses being able to diagnose sleep apnea through his method, but Levendowski and Kitado do not explicitly disclose the sleep quality information comprising a number of sleep apnea events. Verzal teaches that it is known “at least one of the different types of sleep parameters (e.g. quality or disorder) may correspond to obstructive-sleep-apnea (OSA)-related parameters. In some examples, the OSA-related parameters may comprise a number of obstructive sleep apnea events or a severity of obstructive sleep apnea behavior" as set forth in paragraph [0130], since it is known in the art that the number of sleep apnea events per hour or period of sleep is used to diagnosis sleep apnea. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski, with explicitly including the number of sleep apnea events as taught by Verzal, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of being able to appropriately diagnose sleep apnea with no additional changes to Levendowski, with a step known in the art to diagnose sleep apnea.
Levendowski, as modified, discloses using a respiratory effort band to determine thoracoabdominal motion information, but modified Levendowski does not disclose the use of an ultra-wideband bioradar circuit to do so. Maslick discloses a method for monitoring and modulating circadian rhythms (Abstract), wherein the method comprises using an ultra-wideband (UWB) radar sensor to provide motion data comprising user respiration, heartbeat or body & limb movement information (Abstract). Maslick uses the UWB data to determine a user’s sleep stages, including if they are awake or asleep (Page 3, lines 24-27), and further uses the determined sleep stages to control a light to improve circadian rhythm (Page 5, lines 13-20). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski, with using an ultra-wideband bioradar circuit to monitor thoracoabdominal motion information as taught by Maslick, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of an effective method for monitoring both thoracoabdominal motion information and body motion for the purpose of determining sleep stages (Abstract).
Regarding claim 3, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, further discloses the determining the sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user comprises determining the number of the sleep apnea according to the blood oxygen information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/ receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)) and the oronasal airflow information (Col 10, lines 34-35 "DAU 110 is configured to receive a signal from a nasal pressure transducer 313 to acquire airflow data.") in a case where the breathing information is determined according to the oronasal airflow information (Col 10, lines 34-35 "DAU 110 is configured to receive a signal from a nasal pressure transducer 313 to acquire airflow data.").
Regarding claim 4, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, further discloses the determining the sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user comprises determining the number of the sleep apnea (as discussed in Claim 5 supra) according to the thoracoabdominal motion information or according to the thoracoabdominal motion information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)) and at least one of the body movement information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)) and the electrocardiogram information in a case where the breathing information is determined according to the thoracoabdominal motion information(Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)).
Regarding claim 6, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, further discloses the sleep quality information comprises the falling asleep time (Col 18, 15-19 "In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to 20 assess sleep onset and cortical arousals.").
Regarding claim 7, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1 and 6, further discloses the determining the sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user comprises determining the falling asleep time further according to at least one of the electroencephalogram information (Col 18, Lines 10-19) and/or determining the awaking time (Col 18, 15-19 "In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to 20 assess sleep onset and cortical arousals.") according to the electroencephalogram information (Col 18, Lines 10-19 "Within the sensor strap 120, EEG/EOG/EMG electrodes 235 are optimally positioned to measure rapid eye movements, cortical arousals, sleep spindles, K-complexes and stage sleep. Sensors placed on the forehead may be capable of acquiring both the brain's electrical activity and eye movements. In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to assess sleep onset and cortical arousals.").
Regarding claim 8, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1 and 6, further discloses the determining the sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user comprises determining the falling asleep time further according to at least one of the oronasal airflow information (Col 10, lines 34-35), the electroencephalogram information (Col 18, Lines 10-19), or the body movement information (Col 11, lines 42-46) and/or determining the awaking time (Col 18, 15-19 "In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to 20 assess sleep onset and cortical arousals.") according to the electroencephalogram information (Col 18, Lines 10-19 "Within the sensor strap 120, EEG/EOG/EMG electrodes 235 are optimally positioned to measure rapid eye movements, cortical arousals, sleep spindles, K-complexes and stage sleep. Sensors placed on the forehead may be capable of acquiring both the brain's electrical activity and eye movements. In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to assess sleep onset and cortical arousals."), in a case where the breathing information is determined according to the thoracoabdominal motion information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)) and/or the oronasal airflow information (Col 10, lines 34-35 "DAU 110 is configured to receive a signal from a nasal pressure transducer 313 to acquire airflow data.").
Regarding claim 9, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1 and 6, further discloses the determining the sleep quality information of the user according to the physical sign information of the user comprises determining the deep sleep duration and/or light sleep duration of the user (Col 26, lines 12-14 "For example, the physiological signals of a patient may be monitored to identify a current sleep state experienced by a patient," Figure 15, Step 1514, Characterize physiological signals and Step 1515, Identify sleep stage.) according to the electroencephalogram information (Col 18, Lines 10-19 "Within the sensor strap 120, EEG/EOG/EMG electrodes 235 are optimally positioned to measure rapid eye movements, cortical arousals, sleep spindles, K-complexes and stage sleep. Sensors placed on the forehead may be capable of acquiring both the brain's electrical activity and eye movements. In one embodiment, the sensor strap 120 provides for at least one sensor to be placed off the forehead in a non-frontal region of the brain to improve the detection of alpha waves which are used to assess sleep onset and cortical arousals."), and/or the body movement information (Col 11, lines 42-46 "In one embodiment, DAU 110 can include a wireless transmitter/receiver 377 for receiving data from peripheral sensors (i.e., wireless ECG sensors, finger pulse oximeter, respiratory effort bands, sensors measuring leg movements, etc.)).
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Regarding claim 10, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, discloses the method further comprises detecting whether a sleep assistance command is received (Col 29, lines 21-25 "The DAU 110 may then characterize the signals to detect a condition indicative of needing an intervention and/or transmit the acquired signals to computer system 390 or other computer systems for processing and detection." The detection and determination of needed intervention is the sleep assistance command); playing sleep assistance music in response to receiving the sleep assistance command (Col 29 lines, 58-60 "At step 740, one or more intervention for application to the patient may be determined based on the recommendation information." Col 29-30 lines 65-2 "The intervention may include one or more of, but not to be limited to, tactile vibrations (e.g., vibrotactile), audible (e.g., sounds, music, etc.), visual (modifying ambient light such as adding blue light),").
Regarding claim 15, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, discloses a device for implementing the method for sleep monitoring of claim 1 (Abstract, "Systems and methods for managing sleep quality of a patient," The limitation “for implementing the method of sleep monitoring of claim 1” is interpreted as intended use and as long as the device reads on the claimed limitations, the device can interpreted as being able to accomplish the method.), the device comprising a communication circuit configured to receive a control command from a user (Col 14, line 30-33 "System 400 may include a communication interface 440. The communication interface 440 allows software and data to be transferred between system 400 and external devices (e.g. printers), networks, displays, or information sources."); a physical sign monitoring circuit configured to monitor the user's physical sign information and output the physical sign information (Figure 3, Sensor driving unit “323”) to a processor (Figures 3 and 4, the DAU is wirelessly connect to an External Computer System “390”, which has a processor “410”); wherein the physical sign monitoring circuit comprises at least a breathing monitoring circuit configured to monitor breathing information of the user (Figure 3, Sensor driving unit “323” that is comprised of “( e.g., comprising an optical signal amplifier that includes digitally programmable potentiometers 321 and/or means to convert and amplify outputs from a photodiode 322)” would be connected to Sensors “395, which include sensors that monitor breathing information as disclosed supra); the processor, communicatively coupled with the communication circuit (Figure 4, Processor “401” and Communication Interface “440”) and the physical sign monitoring circuit (Figures 3 and 4, the DAU (where the Sensor driving unit “323” resides) is wirelessly connect to an External Computer System “390”, which has a processor “410”) and configured to receive the physical sign information output by the physical sign monitoring circuit when the communication circuit receives a monitoring command, and determine the sleep quality information of the user based on the physical sign information of the user (Abstract "filtering the physiological signal data into a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to a plurality of power spectra waveforms; and characterizing an etiology of sleep quality of the patient" Col 7, lines 44-46 "Such implementations included concomitant monitoring of respiratory patterns for the assessment of sleep and breathing abnormality.").
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Regarding claim 16, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1 and 15, discloses a multimedia circuit configured to emit sound and/or light according to a command. (Figure 3, see above, audio output “316” connected to micro-controller “315”).
Regarding claim 17, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 1 (Col 13, lines 14-17 "The main memory 415 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 410, such as one or more of the functions and/or methods discussed above." Line 21-28 "The main memory 415 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and/or static random-access memory (SRAM). Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random 25 access memory (SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random-access memory (RDRAM), ferroelectric random-access memory (FRAM), and the like, including read only memory (ROM)").
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levendowski (US10953192B2) in view of Kitado (US5167610A), Verzal (US20190175026A1), and Maslick (GB2563036A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hang ("Validation of overnight oximetry to diagnose patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea", 2015).
Regarding claim 5, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, discloses the use of a pulse oximetry sensors to manage sleep quality in a case where the breathing information is determined according to the thoracoabdominal motion information, but modified Levendowski does not explicitly state determining a blood oxygen drop from the pulse oximetry data. Hang teaches it is known in the art that oxyhemoglobin desaturation is an indicator of sleep disruption and sleep apnea in the Conclusions to show that pulse oximetry can be used to diagnosis sleep apnea (Conclusions). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught modified Levendowski with determining the blood oxygen drop data as taught by Hang, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of using the already available pulse oximetry sensor to ensure the step of checking for blood oxygen desaturations is accomplished as part of establishing the sleep quality information.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levendowski (US10953192B2) in view of Kitado (US5167610A), Verzal (US20190175026A1) and Maslick (GB2563036A), as applied to claim 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Shouldice (US20160151603A1).
Regarding claim 11, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1 and 10, discloses detecting whether a user enters into a sleep state as discussed supra and playing music to assist in sleep, but modified Levendowski does not disclose gradually reducing a playback volume of the sleep assistance music within a second preset duration until the sleep assistance music stops playing in a case where the user enters into the sleep state. Shouldice teaches that it is known “Optionally, the processor may be further configured to determine a measure of sleep or wake of the user, with the movement sensor. The processor may be further configured to gradually reduce volume of the played sound file through the speaker during a further first period of time, if sleep is detected," as set forth in Paragraph [0086] to provide a proper sleep environment, since music that continues to play during sleep may be disruptive. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski with slowly decreasing the volume of the music being played once the user is asleep until the music stops as taught by Shouldice, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of not impacting the effectivity of Levendowski’s method, while providing an easily achievable (sleep state is already known) step to improve user sleep performance.
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levendowski (US10953192B2) in view of Kitado (US5167610A), Verzal (US20190175026A1), and Maslick (GB2563036A) as applied to claims 1, 6 and 9 above, and further in view of Nálevka (“Sleep as Android: Smart Alarm” Android Application, 2010).
Regarding claim 12, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1, 6 and 9, does not disclose a wake-up alarm capability. Nálevka discloses a software application that functions as a wake-up alarm that has a first wake up time, “Smart Period” (Page 1, see figure below), that detects a light sleep state (Page 1) and initiates a “gentle volume increase” (Page 6) for a preset time and if the time reaches the “Alarm Time” (Page 1), the device initiates the alarm at a preset intensity. The “Smart Period” is a time set before the “Alarm Time” so the first wake-up time is always earlier than the second wake-up time. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski with the smart alarm as taught by Nálevka, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of implementing a software solution for a method with the hardware requirements already in place and improving the wake-up process of the user.
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Regarding claim 13, Levendowski, as modified in claims 1, 6, 9 and 12, does not disclose a wake-up alarm snooze capability. Nálevka discloses a software application that functions as a wake up alarm, which stops the alarm when the device is interacted (Page 11 “Volume or camera button effect” or “Long Press” to dismiss alarm) with a pause command (Page 7 “Snooze”) for a preset pause duration (Page 7 “Snooze Duration”), has the ability to turn off the device after the device turns on a for a fourth preset duration (Page 19 “Backup alarm duration”), then the backup alarm will pause again for the “Snooze Duration”, and the device will turn off after a number of preset times (Page 19 “Repeat” or Page 7 “Snooze Limit”). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski with the smart alarm with snooze and backup alarm capability as taught by Nálevka, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of implementing a software solution for a method with the hardware requirements already in place and improving the wake-up process of the user.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levendowski (US10953192B2) in view of Kitado (US5167610A, Verzal (US20190175026A1) and Maslick (GB2563036A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Oswold (“Data Structures: Your Quick Intro to Circular Buffers”, 2019).
Regarding claim 14, Levendowski, as modified in claim 1, discloses playing music but does not disclose the storage of buffered files. Oswold discloses that it is known in the art to use circular buffers, which is a first in, first out buffer queue. “If the buffer is full and you need to add something new, simply set the list item pointed to by the back pointer to the new item and increment the back pointer by one. The front will now point to the most recently added item. This technique of memory allocation has benefits when you’re working with a lot of data in real time. As more data is added to the structure, the old data will be removed so no data will ever need to be shifted.” (Page 3). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method as taught by modified Levendowski with a circular buffer as taught by Oswold, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of a common data handling process in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marc D Honrath whose telephone number is (571)272-6219. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles A Marmor II can be reached at (571) 272-4730. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES A MARMOR II/Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3791
/M.D.H./ Examiner, Art Unit 3791