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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 38-59 are pending.
This communication is in response to the communication filed April 9, 2026.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 38-59 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-37 of U.S. Patent No. 11,881,315. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the patented claim limitations are substantially similar to the pending claim limitations.
Pending Claim 38: A personal sensor system comprising: at least one sensor associated with an individual;
Patented claim 1: A personal area sensor system comprising: a set of sensors capable of capturing sensor data associated with an individual;
at least one computer readable non-transitory memory storing software instructions including a prediction agent;
a sensor hub communicatively coupled with the set of sensors and
and at least one processor coupled with the at least one sensor and the at least one memory that, upon execution of the software instructions, performs the operations of:
comprising at least one computer readable memory and at least one processor that, upon execution of software instructions stored in the memory, performs operations to:
obtaining, in the at least one memory, a use case package related to the individual, the use case package comprising one or more executable code and data structure compilations, and one or more leading indicator rule sets corresponding to a use case in the use case package; obtaining, in the at least one memory, sensor data related to the individual from the at least one sensor;
obtain, in the memory, at least one action prediction agent configured to generate a predicted required action based on at least one condition state related to the individual; determine a use case package related to the individual, the use case package comprising one or more executable code and data structure compilations, and one or more leading indicator rule sets corresponding to the use case;
generating a set of leading indicators from the sensor data according to the one or more leading indicator rule sets corresponding to the use case in the use case package;
generate, using at least one of the one or more executable code and data structure compilations in real-time, a set of leading indicators from the sensor data based on a context of the individual and according to the one or more leading indicator rules sets, the at least one of the one or more executable code and data structure compilations operative to convert the set of leading indicators into;
wherein the set of leading indicators comprises computed values generated by executing the one or more leading indicator rule sets on sensor data obtained from a plurality of sensors of different modalities, the computed values representing relationships between the different sensor modalities and being indicative of one or more possible conditions of the individual that may arise at a future time;
Patented claim 6: wherein the sensor data comprises at least two different data modalities. Patented claim 7: wherein the set of leading indicators comprises imputed values from the sensor data.
predicting, via the prediction agent, at least one predicted action including a recommendation for a condition based on the set of leading indicators;
generate at least one predicted required action for a condition via the at least one action prediction agent based on the condition state vector relative to at least one known state related to the individual; and
and causing a computing device to render the at least one predicted action including the recommendation on an output of the computing device.
cause, via transmitting an alert over a network, a computing device to render the predicted required action on an output of the computing device.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY M. PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-6793 and email is jay.patel2@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8AM-4:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter H. Choi can be reached on (469)295-9171. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAY M. PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3686
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