DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment filed 2/28/2024; claims 2 - 21 are pending; claim 1 has been cancelled.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 13 recites “comprises at least one of an athlete, a casual user, a rehabilitation user, and a chronic user”. A semi-colon (“;”) is missing.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 2 - 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: Is the claimed invention a statutory category of invention?
Claims 2, 13 and 20 are directed to a method or system of unweighted treatment management (Step 1, Yes).
Step 2A, Prong 1: Does the claim recite an abstract idea?
The limitation of steps: … providing a user's information, the information comprising at least two of the following characteristics: age, weight, gender, location, desired result, current medical condition, height, lift access requirements, therapist access requirements, therapy history, past workout information, desired diagnostic assessment, and user type, wherein user type comprises at least one of an athlete, a casual user, a rehabilitation user, and a chronic user; analyzing, using a processor, the user's information based, at least in part, on aggregate information in a database comprising other users' characteristics and associated past workout session data including duration, speed, incline, and unweighting level used during workouts; and generating, using the processor, a suggested workout routine including duration, speed, incline, and unweighting level to be used during a workout based on the comparing of the user's information to the other users' information as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components (claims 13 and 20). The claimed method akin to mental process of observations, evaluations, and judgements of a therapist. The mere nominal recitation of a processor performing these steps does not take the claim limitation outside of the mental processes grouping. Thus, the claim recites a mental process (Step 2A, Prong 1: yes).
Step 2A, Prong 2: Does the claim recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application?
Per the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, if a claim as a whole integrates the recited judicial exception into a practical application of that exception, a claim is not "directed to" a judicial exception. Alternatively, a claim that does not integrate a recited judicial exception into a practical application is directed to the exception. Evaluating whether a claim integrates an abstract idea into a practical application is performed by a) identifying whether there are any additional elements recited in the claim beyond the abstract idea, and b) evaluating those additional elements individual and in combination to determine whether they integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, using one or more of the considerations laid out by the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit. Exemplary considerations indicative that an additional element (or combination of elements) may have or has not been integrated into a practical application are set forth in the 2019 PEG
With respect to the instant claims, Claims 1, 13 and 20 recite the additional elements of: a processor, an unweighted system, a user interface, a processor. Claims 11 – 12 and 18 – 19 recite: a differential air pressure system and a non-differential air pressure system. It is particularly noted that the use of processor "as a tool" to perform an abstract method and steps for a user interface that only amount to extra solution activity (input and output interface) are indicated in the 2019 PEG as examples that an additional element has not been integrated into a practical application. Even in combination, the recited additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits, such as an improvement to a computing system, on practicing the abstract idea (STEP 2A, Prong 2: NO).
Step 2B: Does the claim recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception?
Claims 1, 13 and 20 recite the additional elements of: a processor, an unweighted system, a user interface, a processor. Claims 11 – 12 and 18 – 19 recite: a differential air pressure system and a non-differential air pressure system set forth above for Step 2A, Prong 2. Regarding these limitations: Applicant's specification describes these features "… The exemplary computer system 600 may comprise an exemplary client or server computer system. Computer system 600 comprises a communication mechanism or bus 611 for communicating information, and a processor 612 coupled with bus 611 for processing information. Processor 612 may in some variations be a microprocessor, but is not limited to a microprocessor” in the Applicant’s specification, para. [0269]). There is no indication in the Specification that Applicants have achieved an advancement or improvement in computer for prescribing exercise based on user characteristics. Dependent claims 3 – 12, 14 – 19 and 21 inherit the deficiencies of their respective parent claims through their dependencies and do not recite additional limitations sufficient to direct the claims to more than the claimed abstract idea, and are thus rejected for the same reasons.
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.
Claims 2 - 10, 12 - 17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Swanson (US 2015/0181314 A1 supported by provisional application 61/920286) in view of Hidler (US 2008/0287268 A1)
Re claims 2, 13, 20:
Swanson teaches 2. A method of treatment management (Swanson, Abstract), comprising:
providing a user's information, the information comprising at least two of the following characteristics: age, weight, gender, location, desired result, current medical condition, height, lift access requirements, therapist access requirements, therapy history, past workout information, desired diagnostic assessment, and user type, wherein user type comprises at least one of an athlete, a casual user, a rehabilitation user, and a chronic user (Swanson, [0038]; [0090]; [0118]; [0132]);
analyzing, using a processor, the user's information based, at least in part, on aggregate information in a database comprising other users' characteristics and associated past workout session data including duration, speed, incline used during workout (Swanson, [0071], “Systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention also may be used to provide and/or suggest workouts for users (e.g., pre-programmed workouts, optionally taking into account various factors, such as user age, height, weight, fitness level, gender, past performance, goals, etc.)”; [0090], “historical data relating to a user's recorded workout history in general, a user's workout history for that particular activity type, or other features of a user's preferences or history (such as typical overall workout elapsed time, elapsed distance, typical speed, typical incline or resistance settings, weight, age, weight loss/gain, etc.)”; [0100], “As a workout routine proceeds in this example system and method, the electronic device 508 receives speed, distance, and timing information and compares this information to past workout data for the user relating to his/her personal bests”; [0134]); and
generating, using the processor, a suggested workout routine including duration, speed, incline, to be used during a workout based on the comparing of the user's information to the other users' information (Swanson, [0060], “workout information downloaded from a workout routine stored in or available through the portable equipment may be used to control various features of the workout, such as: weight machine settings, resistance settings, incline (or hill level) settings, target distance (or other overall time length or duration) settings, target calorie burn (or other physiological based parameter) settings, treadmill speed or incline settings, etc”; [0071], “provide and/or suggest workouts for users (e.g., pre-programmed workouts, optionally taking into account various factors, such as user age, height, weight, fitness level, gender, past performance, goals, etc.). Such workouts may be designed by fitness experts, e.g., for individual users, for general categories or groups of users, etc … the downloaded workout may provide a wide variety of information to the user, such as: real time workout parameter feedback (e.g., speed, distance covered, stair-stepping, elliptical, or other rate information, calories burned, elapsed time, etc.) … real-time comparison information to previous workouts or to a user's "personal best;" etc.)”; [0090], “historical data relating to a user's recorded workout history in general, a user's workout history for that particular activity type, or other features of a user's preferences or history (such as typical overall workout elapsed time, elapsed distance, typical speed, typical incline or resistance settings, weight, age, weight loss/gain, etc.”).
Swanson teaches 13. An treatment system (Swanson, Abstract), comprising:
an system; a user interface configured to enable identification of a user to the system (Swanson, [0032] – [0033]); and a processor comprising computer readable instructions for:
receiving a user's information, based on the identification of the user, the user's information comprising at least two of the following characteristics: age, weight, gender, location, desired result, current medical condition, height, lift access requirements, therapist access requirements, therapy history, past workout information, desired diagnostic assessment, and user type, wherein user type comprises at least one of an athlete, a casual user, a rehabilitation user, and a chronic user (Swanson, [0038]; [0090]; [0118]; [0132])
analyzing the user's information based, at least in part, on aggregate information in a database comprising other users' characteristics and associated past workout session data including duration, speed, incline during workouts (Swanson, [0071], “Systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention also may be used to provide and/or suggest workouts for users (e.g., pre-programmed workouts, optionally taking into account various factors, such as user age, height, weight, fitness level, gender, past performance, goals, etc.)”; [0090], “historical data relating to a user's recorded workout history in general, a user's workout history for that particular activity type, or other features of a user's preferences or history (such as typical overall workout elapsed time, elapsed distance, typical speed, typical incline or resistance settings, weight, age, weight loss/gain, etc.)”; [0100], “As a workout routine proceeds in this example system and method, the electronic device 508 receives speed, distance, and timing information and compares this information to past workout data for the user relating to his/her personal bests”; [0134]); and
generating a suggested workout routine including duration, speed, incline to be used during a workout based on the comparing of the user's information to the other users' information (Swanson, [0060], “workout information downloaded from a workout routine stored in or available through the portable equipment may be used to control various features of the workout, such as: weight machine settings, resistance settings, incline (or hill level) settings, target distance (or other overall time length or duration) settings, target calorie burn (or other physiological based parameter) settings, treadmill speed or incline settings, etc”; [0071], “provide and/or suggest workouts for users (e.g., pre-programmed workouts, optionally taking into account various factors, such as user age, height, weight, fitness level, gender, past performance, goals, etc.). Such workouts may be designed by fitness experts, e.g., for individual users, for general categories or groups of users, etc … the downloaded workout may provide a wide variety of information to the user, such as: real time workout parameter feedback (e.g., speed, distance covered, stair-stepping, elliptical, or other rate information, calories burned, elapsed time, etc.) … real-time comparison information to previous workouts or to a user's "personal best;" etc.)”; [0090], “historical data relating to a user's recorded workout history in general, a user's workout history for that particular activity type, or other features of a user's preferences or history (such as typical overall workout elapsed time, elapsed distance, typical speed, typical incline or resistance settings, weight, age, weight loss/gain, etc.”).
20. An treatment system (Swanson, Abstract), comprising:
an system (Swanson, Abstract);
a user interface configured to enable identification of a user to the system (Swanson, [0063]); and
a processor comprising instructions for:
downloading a workout routing to the system, the workout routine comprising a desired duration, speed, incline (Swanson, [0060], “workout information downloaded from a workout routine stored in or available through the portable equipment may be used to control various features of the workout, such as: weight machine settings, resistance settings, incline (or hill level) settings, target distance (or other overall time length or duration) settings, target calorie burn (or other physiological based parameter) settings, treadmill speed or incline settings, etc”; [0071], “provide and/or suggest workouts for users (e.g., pre-programmed workouts, optionally taking into account various factors, such as user age, height, weight, fitness level, gender, past performance, goals, etc.). Such workouts may be designed by fitness experts, e.g., for individual users, for general categories or groups of users, etc … the downloaded workout may provide a wide variety of information to the user, such as: real time workout parameter feedback (e.g., speed, distance covered, stair-stepping, elliptical, or other rate information, calories burned, elapsed time, etc.) … real-time comparison information to previous workouts or to a user's "personal best;" etc.)”; [0090], “historical data relating to a user's recorded workout history in general, a user's workout history for that particular activity type, or other features of a user's preferences or history (such as typical overall workout elapsed time, elapsed distance, typical speed, typical incline or resistance settings, weight, age, weight loss/gain, etc.”); and
recording performance data from the workout routine in the system (Swanson, [0067]; [0090]; [0016]).
Swanson does not explicitly disclose an unweighted treatment system/method.
Hidler (US 2008/0287268 A1) teaches a body-weight support system that allows individuals with severe gait impairments to practice over-ground walking in a safe, controlled manner (Hidler, Abstract).
Hidler teaches [A] method of unweighted treatment management (Hidler, Abstract) comprising: analyzing, using a processor, the user's information based, at least in part, on aggregate information in a database comprising other users' characteristics and associated past workout session data including unweighting level used during workouts; and generating, using the processor, a suggested workout routine including duration, speed, incline, and unweighting level to be used during a workout based on the comparing of the user's information to the other users' information (Hidler, fig. 6, “Training History”, “Body Weight Support”, “Training Session Number: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8”; [0104], “the angle of inclination”; [0054]; [0051], “Data is stored for each training session to monitor improvements in a number of important metrics, such as average walking speed, level of body-weight support, rest breaks, session time, walking time”; [0015], “controlled manner while their improvements can be tracked over time”; [0052], “unclip the pocketPC from their belt and increase the level of support”). Therefore, in view of Hidler, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method/system described in Swanson, by providing the body-supporting system as taught by Hidler, in order to provide a body-weight support system that allows individuals with severe gait impairments to practice over-ground walking in a safe (Hidler, Abstract).
Re claims 3, 14:
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the analyzing includes matching the user's information to other users' characteristics. 14. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the computer readable instructions for analyzing further include computer readable instructions for matching the user's information to other users' characteristics (Swanson, [0070], “Systems and methods according to at least
some examples of this invention further may allow users to compare their workout routines, data, and/or fitness level to other information, such as: their own stored workouts; stored workouts of other users of remote system 704 (optionally workouts of specific individuals, such as friends, workout partners, etc.; users of the same or similar size, weight, age, gender, fitness level, etc.; etc.);”; [0082]).
Re claims 4, 15:
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the therapy history includes therapy history on an unweighted system. 15. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the therapy history includes therapy history on an unweighted system (Hidler, fig. 6, “Training History”, “Body Weight Support”, “Training Session Number: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8”; [0104], “the angle of inclination”; [0054]; [0051], “Data is stored for each training session to monitor improvements in a number of important metrics, such as average walking speed, level of body-weight support, rest breaks, session time, walking time”; [0015], “controlled manner while their improvements can be tracked over time”).
Re claims 5, 16:
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the therapy history includes at least one of a prescribed therapy history, an actual therapy history, and a therapy history using other equipment. 16. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the therapy history includes at least one of a prescribed therapy history, an actual therapy history, and a therapy history using other equipment (Swanson, [0066]; [0082]; [0090]; [0100]).
Re claims 6, 17:
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising downloading the generated suggested workout routine to a selected unweighted system. 17. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the computer readable instructions further include instructions for downloading the generated suggested workout routine to a selected unweighted system (Swanson, [0060], “workout information downloaded from a workout routine stored in or available through the portable equipment may be used to control various features of the workout”; [0085], “Plural workout routines, optionally user mixed workout routines, stored and downloaded workout routines”).
Re claim 7:
7. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the suggested workout routine is based on a medical guideline (Swanson, [0130], “The workout programs may be designed by third parties (e.g., coach, nutritionist, trainer, physician, etc.)”; Hidler, [0051], “user-interface 100 allows the therapist to monitor and control all of the features of the system”).
Re claim 8:
8. The method of claim 2, further comprising sending the suggested workout routine to a medical professional or an insurance provider for approval (Swanson, [0130], “The workout programs may be designed by third parties (e.g., coach, nutritionist, trainer, physician, etc.)”; Hidler, [0051], “user-interface 100 allows the therapist to monitor and control all of the features of the system”).
Re claim 9:
9. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing a list of unweighted systems appropriate for the suggested workout routine (Swanson, [0056], “for example: training machines commonly found in a gym, such as treadmills, spinning machines, elliptical training machines, stationary bicycles, stair climbing machines, cross-country ski simulating machines, weight lifting machines, rowing machines, etc.”; [0080]; [0087], “wherein a "part" constitutes a specific type of workout activity, such as: warm-up, walking, running, biking, rowing, use of exercise equipment or gym machines (such as treadmills, stair-stepping machines, elliptical machines, exercise bicycles, rowing machines, cross-country ski simulators, etc.), weight lifting (free weights or gym machines), yoga, dance, aerobics, martial arts, team sports, cool-down, etc. In this example system and user interface, any combination of activities may be included in a workout routine without departing from this invention”).
Re claim 10:
10. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the suggested workout routine comprises generating a workout routine for equipment other than an unweighted system (Swanson, [0056], “for example: training machines commonly found in a gym, such as treadmills, spinning machines, elliptical training machines, stationary bicycles, stair climbing machines, cross-country ski simulating machines, weight lifting machines, rowing machines, etc.”; [0080]).
Re claims 12, 19:
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the unweighted system includes a non-differential air pressure system. 19. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the unweighted treatment system includes a non-differential air pressure system (Hidler, figs. 2 - 4).
Claims 11, 18 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Swanson and Hidler as applied to claims 10, 13 or 20 above, and further in view of Kuehne et al. (US 2012/0238921 A1).
Re claims 11, 18, 21:
The combination of Swanson and Hidler does not explicitly disclose DAP system. Kuehne et al. (US 2012/0238921 A1) teaches an invention relate of a differential air pressure systems and methods of using and calibration such systems for individuals with impaired mobility. Kuehne teaches 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the unweighted system includes a differential air pressure system. 18. The unweighted treatment system of claim 13, wherein the unweighted treatment system includes a differential air pressure system. 21. The unweighted treatment system of claim 20, wherein the unweighted system includes a differential air pressure system (Kuehne, Abstract; [0007]). Therefore, in view of Kuehne, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method/system described in Swanson, by providing the DAP as taught by Kuehne, since Differential Air Pressure (DAP) systems have been developed to use air pressure in, for example, a sealed chamber to simulate a low gravity effect and support a patient at his center of gravity without the discomfort of harness systems or the inconvenience of water-based therapies (Kuehne, [0005]).
Conclusion
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/JACK YIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715