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Claims 1-16 and 26 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08 June 2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species II: Figure 14 in the reply filed on 08 June 2026 is acknowledged. Examiner would like to note that Species II: Figure 14 only refers to a headpiece, and thus the claims that align with this species are claims 17-25. Claims 1-16 describe Species I and Claim 26 describes Species III, which are non-elected and therefore withdrawn.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed 08 June 2026. As per the amendment: claims 1-16 and 26 have been withdrawn and no claims have been cancelled, added, or amended. Thus claims 17-25 are presently pending and under examination.
Drawings
Color photographs and color drawings are not accepted in utility applications unless a petition filed under 37 CFR 1.84(a)(2) is granted. Any such petition must be accompanied by the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h), one set of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or three sets of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if not submitted via the via USPTO patent electronic filing system, and, unless already present, an amendment to include the following language as the first paragraph of the brief description of the drawings section of the specification:
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied. See 37 CFR 1.84(b)(2).
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.
Claim 23 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 23 currently depends from itself, and therefore the dependency of the claim is indefinite. For examination purposes, claim 23 will be read as if dependent on claim 22, which recites the main body.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 17-22 and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhu (US 2021/0022636 A1), hereinafter Zhu.
Regarding claim 17, Zhu teaches a smart monitoring headpiece device (brainwave headband 100, [0001] “a headband for measuring bio-signals”) comprising: at least one sensor module comprising one or more sensors (electrode contact 101, 102, 103 auxiliary electrode contact 301, [0075] “a tri-axis gyroscope and accelerometer can be included on the PCBA module 112, which can be used for head movement detection”, [0074] “Plus, an embedded sensor can be included for temperature and heart rate detection.”), a battery (power pack 112A, [0071] “the PCBA module can include a power pack 112A, such as a rechargeable battery pack), a wireless transceiver ([0075] “PCBA module 112[0080] “each headband 100 is equipped with embedded wireless transmission capability, such as Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi or other wireless communication module”), a charging circuit ([0075] “PCBA module 112 can include…battery power charging and management function”), a data recording module ([0075] “The PCBA module 112 can contain a memory (not specifically shown, but part of PCBA module 112) that records the bioelectric EEG signals and links this data to the corresponding measured ECG, body temperature and heart rate.”), and a control unit ([0075] “PCBA module 112 can include bio-sensing data process function”); and a securement member ([0067]-[0068] “The back of the brainwave headband 100 can include an elastic fabric, allowing a single size band to accommodate most users. The front of the brainwave headband 100 may include an elastic or non-elastic fabric, allowing the active components to remain in a defined spacing with relation to each other. In some embodiments, the headband 100 can be formed from a two-layer construction, with an inner layer formed from an elastic material, and an outer layer, typically sandwiching the inner layer, but not attached thereto (or minimally attached thereto, such as fewer than four locations, for example). The outer layer may be bunched up when the elastic is not extended so that the elastic may be expanded while the outer layer may be non-elastic and/or non-stretching...the headband 100 may be formed of a fabric material that may be separated from the various electronic components, thus permitting the headband 100 to be washed.”, [0069] “a protective box 107 to hold a bio-signal detection PCBA module 112.”)
Regarding claim 18, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above), wherein the sensor module is positioned within a housing unit ([0073] “In the manufacture, a high temperature pressure sticking process can be used to integrate headband 100 fabric materials with electrode contact 101, 102,103 conductive fabric sensors. As shown in FIG. 4A, in some embodiments, a perimeter 101B may be disposed about the electrically conducting fabric 101A of the contact 101”, view Figure 3C and 4A-4B).
Regarding claim 19, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above), wherein the housing unit comprises a flexure mechanical auto-adaptation feature that adapts to different sizes and shapes of foreheads of users ([0067] “The back of the brainwave headband 100 can include an elastic fabric, allowing a single size band to accommodate most users.”).
Regarding claim 20, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above), wherein the one or more sensor is selected from the group consisting of a temperature sensor ([0066],[0074]), a global positioning sensor ([0075]), accelerometer sensor ([0066]), heartrate sensor ([0066]), an ECG sensor ([0074]) mobility sensor ([0066]), and combinations thereof.
Regarding claim 21, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above), wherein the one or more sensors, battery, data recording module and charging circuit, are housed outside the sensor module in an external unit ([0069] “With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3B, on the backside of the brainwave headband 100, there is a protective box 107 to hold a bio-signal detection PCBA module 112.”, [0075] “PCBA module 112 can include bio-sensing data process function, battery power charging and management function and wireless data transmitter (e.g. Bluetooth®) to allow the data to be transmitted and stored on a remote device”, view Figure 3B and 5B: the PCBA 112 that contains a sensor, battery, data recording module, and charging circuit are external to the headband that houses the electrodes 101,102, 103, and 301)
Regarding claim 22, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above), wherein the housing unit (Figure 3C) comprises a main body and two side wings (view Examiner modified Figure 3C), and wherein the two side wings are configured to flex and allow the headpiece device directly contact or remain proximal to skin portion of a subject's head ([0067] “The back of the brainwave headband 100 can include an elastic fabric, allowing a single size band to accommodate most users. The front of the brainwave headband 100 may include an elastic or non-elastic fabric, allowing the active components to remain in a defined spacing with relation to each other. In some embodiments, the headband 100 can be formed from a two-layer construction, with an inner layer formed from an elastic material, and an outer layer, typically sandwiching the inner layer, but not attached thereto (or minimally attached thereto, such as fewer than four locations, for example). The outer layer may be bunched up when the elastic is not extended so that the elastic may be expanded while the outer layer may be non-elastic and/or non-stretching.”).
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Examiner Modified Figure 3C
Regarding claim 25, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 18 (as shown above), wherein the battery (power pack 112A) is configured to charge the sensor module and one or more sensors in the housing unit ([0071] “the PCBA module can include plug 111…and a power pack 112A, such as a rechargeable battery pack”, [0073] and Figure 7, [0069] explains how the electrodes are connected to the PCBA module). Examiner would like to note that as the power pack 112A is the only power supply in the device and is connected to the sensors, it will inherently be used to charge the sensor module and the sensors.
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) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu as applied to claim 22 above, and further in view of Wartena et al. (US 2012/0029322 A1), hereinafter Wartena.
Regarding claim 23, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 22 (as shown above), wherein the main body holds one or more sensors (view Figure 3C and Figure 4A: electrode contact 101 is present on the main body) and wherein one or more of the side wings comprise one or more sensors that are to be in contact with the skin of the user (view Figure 1A, 3C, 4B, and 5A, [0067] “Ground electrode contact 102 may be positioned at the user's left head side, and reference electrode contact 103 may be positioned at the user's right head side, both may be positioned to contact the user's ears.”).
Zhu fails to explicitly disclose the main body holding one or more sensors that are separated by a distance from the skin of the user.
However, Wartena teaches a headband used for processing and measuring bio-physiological signals (Abstract, Figure 5 and 6) wherein “the headband 58 is one example of pliable headgear containing at least one sensor for capturing at least one bio-physiological signal of a sleeping object. For example, the sensors 12 and 60 are contactless sensors. For example, the sensors 12 and 60 are covered by a cloth surface layer 62 of the pliable headband 58.” ([0088]).
It would have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhu to incorporate the teachings of Wartena to have the main body hold one or more sensors that are to be separate by a distance from the skin of the user, as these prior art references are directed to wearable sensor device. One would be motivated to do this to be able to capture physiological signals without direct contact with the skin such as through a conductive space, as recognized by Wartena ([0032]).
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Halleck et al. (US 2003/0088160 A1), hereinafter Halleck.
Regarding claim 24, Zhu discloses the smart monitoring headpiece device of claim 17 (as shown above). Zhu fails to explicitly disclose wherein the device further comprises a data recording module configured to save data on a removable memory card.
However, Halleck teaches a system for monitoring physiological conditions of a person wherein the monitor unit is mounted on a wearable belt (Abstract, [0054]) wherein the device further comprises a data recording module configured to save data on a removable memory card ([0054] “monitor unit 100 contains a flash memory data storage system for storing the physiological condition data collected by the physiological condition sensors within monitor unit 100.”, [0057] “Flash memory data storage system 300 comprises flash memory data card 310. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, flash memory data card 310 is a CompactFlash.TM. data card. However, other types of flash memory data cards 310 may be used.”, [0066]).
It would have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhu to incorporate the teachings of Halleck to have the device further comprise a data recording module configured to save data on a removable memory card, as these prior art references are directed to wearable bands made for monitoring physiological signals. One would be motivated to do this to allow for easy user access and transfer of the data, as recognized by Halleck ([0066]).
Conclusion
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/ATTIYA SAYYADA HUSSAINI/Examiner, Art Unit 3792
/NIKETA PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3792
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