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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 7, filed 04/29/2026, with respect to the interpretation of Claims 1 and 8 under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The interpretation of Claims 1 and 8 under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-13, filed 04/29/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of Claims 1-9 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Specifically, regarding Step 2A, Prong Two, the abstract idea in the amended claim is integrated into the practical application of saving power, as further explained in pages 9-13 of the arguments filed 04/29/2026. Therefore, the rejection of Claims 1-9 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 13-16, filed 04/29/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of independent Claims 1 and 6 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Ye and Kim. All dependent claim rejections have been updated accordingly.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 13-16, filed 04/29/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of independent Claim 8 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Ye, Addison, and Kim. All dependent claim rejections have been updated accordingly.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 8, “the control device includes...” should read “wherein the control device includes...”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Ye et al (CN 114073520 A, hereinafter Ye; a machine translation was relied upon for this rejection) in view of Kim et al (US 20190069781 A1, hereinafter Kim).
Regarding Claim 1, Ye discloses a biological information measurement device (Element 200, Fig. 1) comprising:
a light emitting unit including a first light emitting diode (Element 251, Fig. 3; “When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]), a second light emitting diode (Element 252, Fig. 3; “When the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED 252 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]), and a third light emitting diode configured to emit green light (Element 253, Fig. 3; “When the green light emitted by the green LED 253 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]);
at least one photodiode (Element 254, Fig. 3) configured to receive the red light (“When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by deoxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), the infrared light (“When the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED252 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by oxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), and the green light emitted by the light emitting unit (“When the green light emitted by the green LED 253 illuminates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by the blood, and part is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), to generate a first light receiving signal based on the red light (“…which converts it into red light data”, [0065]), a second light receiving signal based on the infrared light (“…which converts it into infrared light data”, [0065]), and a third light receiving signal based on the green light (“…which converts it into green light data”, [0065]);
a controller (Element 210, Fig. 2; also see [0067]-[0068]) configured to measure a pulse wave (See Figs. 7 and 11-12; these figures show a PPG signal waveform, which is a visual representation of the pulsatile changes in blood flow of the subject) and an oxygen saturation concentration (See the method of Fig 4, specifically Step 409, [0096]) based on the first light receiving signal, the second light receiving signal, and the third light receiving signal (“Controller 210 calculates blood oxygen saturation based on PPG signals that meet the blood oxygen detection conditions”, [0097]);
and a memory configured to store a program (Element 230, Fig. 2; “a memory for storing instructions executed by one or more controllers of the electronic device”, [0031]), wherein the controller executes the program (“The memory 230 can be used to store the instructions executed by the controller 210”, [0062]) to operate (“Step 403, Fig. 4; “Specifically, the controller 210 in the watch 200 executes the blood oxygen detection algorithm in the green light detection mode, controlling the red LED 251, infrared LED 252 and green LED 253 in the PPG sensor 250 to light up in sequence”, [0083]; also see [0021], [0081]) or in a second mode of measuring the pulse wave using the first light receiving signal or the second light receiving signal (Step 406, Fig. 4; “Watch 200 enters non-green light detection mode, only turning on the red LED 251 and infrared LED 252 in PPG sensor 250 for blood oxygen detection”, [0089]).
Ye discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing wherein in the first mode, the pulse wave is measured without using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal.
However, Kim, which also discloses a biological information measurement device (Element 101, Fig. 1), discloses wherein in the first mode, (See “Loose-Normal” and “Loose-Sleep” statuses in Fig. 11) the pulse wave is measured without using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (“With reference to the table of FIG. 11, if the wearing state is a loose state and the motion state is a normal state, the processor may use only a light emitting element of a green band among a plurality of light emitting elements”, [0138]). 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 first mode of measuring a pulse wave of Ye with the first mode of measuring a pulse wave Kim, because the first mode of Kim can enhance power consumption efficiency ([0005], [0066]) while maintaining pulse wave measurement accuracy ([0138]).
Regarding Claim 2, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the controller calculates signal quality data using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (See Step 408, Fig. 4; “The controller 210 of the watch 200 determines whether the quality of the PPG signal meets the blood oxygen detection conditions based on red light data and infrared light data”, [0093]),
operates the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode in the second mode when the signal quality data is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value (“It can be understood that the above relationship (9) can filter out PPG signals that do not meet the blood oxygen detection conditions, while retaining PPG signals that meet the blood oxygen detection conditions”, [0155]; “it can also be determined whether the PPG signal meets the blood oxygen detection conditions by judging whether the ratio of the number of single-hop AC signals that satisfy the above relationship (9) to the total number of AC signal hops in the red light and infrared light data within a certain time period is within the threshold range of the ratio and whether the number of single-hop AC signals exceeds the set threshold”, [0156]), and
operates the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode(“it is understood that in some other embodiments, the blood oxygen detection mode of the watch 200 can also be preset to the green light detection mode by default”, [0079]) when the signal quality data is smaller than the predetermined threshold value (“It can be understood that the above relationship (9) can filter out PPG signals that do not meet the blood oxygen detection conditions, while retaining PPG signals that meet the blood oxygen detection conditions”, [0155]; “it can also be determined whether the PPG signal meets the blood oxygen detection conditions by judging whether the ratio of the number of single-hop AC signals that satisfy the above relationship (9) to the total number of AC signal hops in the red light and infrared light data within a certain time period is within the threshold range of the ratio and whether the number of single-hop AC signals exceeds the set threshold”, [0156]; if the default mode of the watch is green light detection mode and at least some PPG signals do not meet the blood oxygen detection conditions, then the controller operates the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit in the first mode when the signal quality data is smaller than the threshold value).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement device according to claim 2, wherein the signal quality data is correlation data between the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (Step 408, Fig. 4; “The fluctuation stability of the AC component in red light data and infrared light data can be determined by judging whether the ratio of the rise height to the fall height of the single-hop AC signal in red light data and the ratio of the fall height of the single-hop AC signal are within the ratio threshold range, and whether the ratio of the rise height to the fall height of the single-hop AC signal in infrared light data is within the ratio threshold range.”, [0147]), and
the predetermined threshold value is a correlation data threshold value (“It can be understood that the above relationship (9) can filter out PPG signals that do not meet the blood oxygen detection conditions, while retaining PPG signals that meet the blood oxygen detection conditions”, [0155]; “it can also be determined whether the PPG signal meets the blood oxygen detection conditions by judging whether the ratio of the number of single-hop AC signals that satisfy the above relationship (9) to the total number of AC signal hops in the red light and infrared light data within a certain time period is within the threshold range of the ratio and whether the number of single-hop AC signals exceeds the set threshold”, [0156]).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement device according to claim 1. Modified Ye discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing wherein the controller turns off the first light emitting diode and the second light emitting diode when operating the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode in the first mode. However, Kim teaches wherein the controller turns off the first light emitting diode and the second light emitting diode when operating the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode in the first mode (See “Loose-Normal” and “Loose-Sleep” statuses in Fig. 11; “With reference to the table of FIG. 11, if the wearing state is a loose state and the motion state is a normal state, the processor may use only a light emitting element of a green band among a plurality of light emitting elements”, [0138]). 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 first mode of measuring a pulse wave of Ye with the first mode of measuring a pulse wave Kim, because the first mode of Kim can enhance power consumption efficiency ([0005], [0066]) while maintaining pulse wave measurement accuracy ([0138]).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the controller turns off the third light emitting diode (Step 406, Fig. 4; “Watch 200 enters non-green light detection mode, only turning on the red LED 251 and infrared LED 252 in PPG sensor 250 for blood oxygen detection”, [0089]).
Regarding Claim 6, Ye discloses a biological information measurement method ([0001]) comprising:
causing a first light emitting diode (Element 251, Fig. 3; “When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]) and a second light emitting diode configured to emit infrared light to emit light (Element 252, Fig. 3; “When the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED 252 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]);
generating, by at least one photodiode, a first light receiving signal based on the red light (“When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by deoxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254, which converts it into red light data”, [0065]) and a second light receiving signal based on the infrared light (“When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by deoxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254, which converts it into red light data”, [0065]);
operating, by a controller that executes a program stored in a memory (“The memory 230 can be used to store the instructions executed by the controller 210”, [0062]), in a second mode of measuring a pulse wave using the first light receiving signal or the second light receiving signal (Step 406, Fig. 4; “Watch 200 enters non-green light detection mode, only turning on the red LED 251 and infrared LED 252 in PPG sensor 250 for blood oxygen detection”, [0089]); and
operating, by the controller, by switching to a first mode of measuring the pulse wave using a third light receiving signal based on green light emitted by a third light emitting diode (“Step 403, Fig. 4; “Specifically, the controller 210 in the watch 200 executes the blood oxygen detection algorithm in the green light detection mode, controlling the red LED 251, infrared LED 252 and green LED 253 in the PPG sensor 250 to light up in sequence”, [0083]; also see [0021], [0081]).
Ye discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing wherein, in the first mode, the pulse wave is measured without using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal.
However, Kim, which also discloses a biological information measurement method (Abstract), teaches wherein, in the first mode (See “Loose-Normal” and “Loose-Sleep” statuses in Fig. 11), the pulse wave is measured without using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (“With reference to the table of FIG. 11, if the wearing state is a loose state and the motion state is a normal state, the processor may use only a light emitting element of a green band among a plurality of light emitting elements”, [0138]).
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 first mode of measuring a pulse wave of Ye with the first mode of measuring a pulse wave Kim, because the first mode of Kim can enhance power consumption efficiency ([0005], [0066]) while maintaining pulse wave measurement accuracy ([0138]).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement method according to claim 6, further comprising:
measuring an oxygen saturation concentration (See the method of Fig 4, specifically Step 409, [0096]) using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal when operating in the second mode (Step 406, Fig. 4; “Watch 200 enters non-green light detection mode, only turning on the red LED 251 and infrared LED 252 in PPG sensor 250 for blood oxygen detection”, [0089]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ye in view of Addison et al (US 20190142274 A1, hereinafter Addison) and in view of Kim.
Regarding Claim 8, Ye discloses a biological information measurement system (See Fig. 1) comprising:
a biological information measurement device (Element 200, Fig. 1) and a control device (Element 100, Fig. 1), wherein the biological information measurement device includes:
a light emitting unit including a first light emitting diode configured to emit red light (Element 251, Fig. 3; “When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]), a second light emitting diode configured to emit infrared light (Element 252, Fig. 3; “When the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED 252 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]), and a third light emitting diode configured to emit green light (Element 253, Fig. 3; “When the green light emitted by the green LED 253 irradiates human tissue…”, [0065]),
at least one photodiode (Element 254, Fig. 3) (“When the red light emitted by the red LED 251 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by deoxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), the infrared light (“When the infrared light emitted by the infrared LED252 irradiates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by oxyhemoglobin, and part of it is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), and the green light emitted by the light emitting unit (“When the green light emitted by the green LED 253 illuminates human tissue, part of it is absorbed by the blood, and part is reflected back and received by the photodetector 254…”, [0065]), and to generate a first light receiving signal based on the red light (“…which converts it into red light data”, [0065]), a second light receiving signal based on the infrared light (“…which converts it into infrared light data”, [0065]), and a third light receiving signal based on the green light (“…which converts it into green light data”, [0065]),
a controller (Element 210, Fig. 2; also see [0067]-[0068]) configured to operate the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode (See [0060]),
a communication interface (Element 220, Fig. 2) configured to transmit the first light receiving signal, the second light receiving signal, and the third light receiving signal (“watch 200 sends a PPG signal containing green light data to mobile phone 100”, [0218]; “watch 200 sends PPG signals without green light data to mobile phone 100”, [0219]), and
a memory configured to store a program (Element 230, Fig. 2; “a memory for storing instructions executed by one or more controllers of the electronic device”, [0031]),
the control device includes:
a terminal communication circuit configured to receive the first light receiving signal, the second light receiving signal, and the third light receiving signal (“In the embodiment shown in Figure 14, after the watch 200 acquires the PPG signal, it sends the PPG signal to the mobile phone 100”, [0215]), and
a data controller (“Mobile phone 100 may include processor 110…”, [0247]; “The processor in mobile phone 100 performs the same calculation process as in process 409 above”, [0226]) configured to calculate a pulse wave (See Figs. 7 and 11-12; these figures show a PPG signal waveform, which is a visual representation of the pulsatile changes in blood flow of the subject) using any one of the first light receiving signal, the second light receiving signal, and the third light receiving signal (“In the embodiment shown in Figure 14, after the watch 200 acquires the PPG signal, it sends the PPG signal to the mobile phone 100, which then analyzes the quality of the PPG signal and calculates the blood oxygen saturation”, [0215]),
the controller executes the program to operate
Ye discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing wherein the data controller is configured to evaluate an irregular pulse; and the controller operates the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode in the first mode without generating the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal.
However, Addison, which also discloses a biological information measurement system (See Abstract), teaches wherein the data controller (Element 315, Fig. 3) is configured to evaluate an irregular pulse (See Fig. 8; “In an embodiment, a pulse oximeter may be the sensor used, and an alarm condition may be triggered based on an irregular pulse measurement from the pulse oximeter”, [0077]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ye with Addison such that the data controller of Ye also evaluates an irregular pulse, because an irregular pulse can be an indicator that a patient is not well (See [0075] of Addison).
Kim, which also discloses a biological information measurement system (See Fig. 1), discloses the controller operates the light emitting unit and the at least one photodiode in the first mode (See “Loose-Normal” and “Loose-Sleep” statuses in Fig. 11) without generating the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (“With reference to the table of FIG. 11, if the wearing state is a loose state and the motion state is a normal state, the processor may use only a light emitting element of a green band among a plurality of light emitting elements”, [0138]). 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 first mode of measuring a pulse wave of Ye with the first mode of measuring a pulse wave Kim, because the first mode of Kim can enhance power consumption efficiency ([0005], [0066]) while maintaining pulse wave measurement accuracy ([0138]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ye in view of Addison and Kim, and further in view of Papini et al (US 20210275090 A1, hereinafter Papini).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Ye discloses the biological information measurement system according to claim 8, wherein the data controller calculates an oxygen saturation concentration (See the method of Fig 4, specifically Step 409, [0096]) using the first light receiving signal and the second light receiving signal (Step 406, Fig. 4; “Watch 200 enters non-green light detection mode, only turning on the red LED 251 and infrared LED 252 in PPG sensor 250 for blood oxygen detection”, [0089]). Modified Ye discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing wherein the data controller evaluates a sleep apnea syndrome.
However, Papini, which also discloses a biological information measurement system (See Abstract), teaches wherein the data controller (Element 20, Fig. 2) evaluates a sleep apnea syndrome (“A system for detecting sleep apnea uses a PPG sensor for generating a PPG signal”, Abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Ye with Papini, wherein the data controller evaluates a sleep apnea syndrome, because under-diagnosis of sleep apnea is a large problem due to difficulties in testing ([0019] of Papini), and a PPG system such as taught by Ye can be used to effectively and easily test for sleep apnea ([0023] of Papini).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See Shim et al (EP 3117762 A1) (“Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, after analyzing the signal qualities of the two PPG signals, which are detected when the two green LEDs 20 and 21 are operated in the alternating manner, if a green LED with a PPG signal having a bad quality (from which an abnormal signal is detected) is turned off, the heartbeat can be accurately measured and current consumption can be reduced”, [0140]).
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.
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/JONATHAN E. COOPER/Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/JACQUELINE CHENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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