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
Claims 1-9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group 1, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on November 17, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 10, lines 6-9 recite the phrase “configured to receive the electrical signals and modulating an input/output (I/O) relationship between the biomarkers and electrical stimuli applied to a posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) of the brain by controlling the neurostimulator to stimulate the PCC based on the I/O relationship to achieve a desired level of the biomarkers.”
This phrase is unclear, as the “biomarkers” that are included in the electrical signals are never determined or collected from the electrical signal. Therefore it is unclear how many biomarkers are determined and what the biomarkers are representing.
Since the biomarkers are never determined, it is also unclear how the stimulation can be used to “achieve a desired level of the biomarkers.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Widge et al. (WO 2022/094123, which is reprinted as US 2024/0017069, which references are used her for clarity).
Regarding claim 10, Widge discloses a system for deep brain stimulation, the system comprising:
intracranial electrodes operable to be disposed in a hippocampus region of a brain and configured to record electrical signals that include biomarkers related to memory encoding (e.g. electrodes 106 that can be EEG electrodes as shown in Figure 2; [0057] and are used for receiving signals 122 in Figure 3 and can be placed in the hippocampus region of the brain as disclosed in [0066]);
a neurostimulator configured to stimulate a posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) of the brain (e.g. target region that includes the cingulate cortex as disclosed in Claim 3);
and a controller configured to receive the electrical signals and modulating an input/output (I/O) relationship between the biomarkers and electrical stimuli applied to a posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) of the brain by controlling the neurostimulator to stimulate the PCC based on the I/O relationship to achieve a desired level of the biomarkers (e.g. controller 114 of Figure 2 which takes data from the EEG electrodes in the hippocampus and uses it to stimulate the target region).
Regarding claim 11, as best the claims can be understood, Widge additionally discloses wherein the electrical signals are acquired using intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) (e.g. internal EEG electrodes 106 as disclosed in [0066]).
Regarding claim 12, as best the claims can be understood, Widge additionally discloses wherein the biomarkers include hippocampal theta and gamma oscillatory power (e.g. as disclosed in [0125].
Regarding claim 13, as best the claims can be understood, Widge additionally discloses wherein the intracranial electrodes record the electrical signals using a neural signal processor (NSP) (e.g. processor 108 as shown in Figure 2)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Amanda K Hulbert whose telephone number is (571)270-1912. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00-5:00.
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/Amanda K Hulbert/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792