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 .
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 3 is 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 3 recites the limitation "the mother parameter detection unit" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, and 46-47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941).
With respect to claims 1 and 46, Ray et al. discloses a fetal Doppler, comprising: a housing (100; 600; [0026]); a fetal detection unit (170) and a maternal parameter detection unit (125; 130), wherein the fetal detection unit and the maternal parameter detection unit are respectively used for collecting fetal physiological data and maternal physiological data ([0035]); a controller (145; 150; 604; [0040]) is arranged in an internal cavity of the housing; and the controller is used for analyzing the collected fetal physiological data and maternal physiological data, so as to obtain a fetal heart rate ([0035]) and a maternal parameter ([0035]).
With respect to claim 3, Ray et al. discloses blood oxygen signal (130; [0035]), ultrasonic signal (135; [0035]), or an ECD signal (170; [0035]).
With respect to claim 5, Ray et al. discloses wherein the maternal parameter detection unit comprises a blood oxygen acquisition unit (125; 130; [0035]).
With respect to claim 47, Ray et al. disclose a display (155) to display measurements ([0038]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Park (US 2016/0058416).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except wherein the parameter detection unit is a piezoelectric ceramic wafer. However, Park teaches in the same field of endeavor an ultrasound probe comprising a piezoelectric wafer ceramic material (PZT; [0049]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with PZT as taught by Park as it is a well known material used in ultrasound probes.
Claim(s) 5-9 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Park (US 2016/0058416).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except for the light guide structure of the blood oxygen acquisition unit. However, Park teaches in the same field of endeavor a blood oxygen acquisition unit comprising a light guide structure (Fig. 6) comprising a light emitting element (921), a light receiving element (204), a first and second barrier (921; 204; Fig. 6) integrally formed by a blocking base (93), and a condensing lens (922) comprises at least one convex lens ([0070]).
Claim(s) 24 and 52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Park (US 2016/0058416) and Tyler et al. (US 2015/0151142).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except wherein the parameter detection unit is a piezoelectric ceramic wafer. However, Park teaches in the same field of endeavor an ultrasound probe comprising a piezoelectric wafer ceramic material (PZT; [0049]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with PZT as taught by Park as it is a well known material used in ultrasound probes. Ray et al. does not teach an angle adjustment component for adjusting a signal transmission direction and controlling the action of the angle adjustment. However, Tyler et al. teaches in the same field of endeavor adjusting the angle of ultrasound energy in response to movement of the tracked tissue site ([0020]; [0023]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with the angle adjustment component as taught by Tyler et al. in order to track target tissue.
Claim(s) 25 and 53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Park (US 2016/0058416) and Tyler et al. (US 2015/0151142) as applied to claim 24, further in view of Hamelmann et al. (US 2019/0133549).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except for the arrangement of wafer components are divided into central wafer and peripheral wafers. However, Hamelmann et al. teaches in the same field of endeavor it is well known for a transducer array to comprise of a center and peripheral elements (Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with the arrangement as taught by Hamelmann et al. as a rearrangement of parts is well within the skill level of one of ordinary skill in the art (MPEP 2144.04(IV)(C)).
Claim(s) 48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Park (US 2016/0058416) and Sudo et al. (US 2022/0142548).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except for detecting an overlapping period between the fetal and maternal heart rate. However, Sudo et al. teaches in the same field of endeavor detecting and designating a period of overlap between the fetal and maternal signals ([0091]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with displaying the overlap as taught by Sudo et al. as it is well known to display the overlap to monitor both fetal and maternal signals.
Claim(s) 54 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Oz et al. (US 2016/0270670).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except for obtaining a fetal heart rate comprises: performing valid signal identification, extracting peak features, and performing gain processing. However, Oz et al. teaches in the same field of endeavor wherein obtaining a fetal heart rate comprises: performing valid signal identification ([0017-0020]); extracting peak features ([0009]); and performing gain processing ([0151]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with obtaining the fetal heart rate as taught by Oz et al. as they are well known signal processing steps in determining heart rate.
Claim(s) 63 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ray et al. (US 2020/0359941) in view of Ray et al. (US 2020/0352487).
Ray et al. discloses the subject matter substantially as claimed except for limb access detection. However, Ray et al. teaches in the same field of endeavor detecting the position of the fetus as movement may limit the ability to obtain fetal oximetry information ([0138]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided Ray et al. with position detection of the fetus as movement may limit the ability to obtain fetal oximetry information and necessitate repositioning ([0138]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23 and 49-50 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record fails to disclose the claimed combination of subject matter of the fetal Doppler comprises an ultrasonic unit, a fetal heart-rate acquisition surface of the ultrasonic acquisition unit and a blood oxygen acquisition surface of the blood oxygen acquisition unit are located on two different surfaces of the housing; the blood acquisition unit comprises a blood oxygen measurement module for acquiring a blood oxygen signal and a trigger sensing module arranged on the blood oxygen acquisition surface and electrically connected to the controller; when the trigger sensing modules sense that there is an obstructing object near the blood oxygen acquisition surface, a control signal for controlling the blood oxygen measurement module to start is sent to the controller. The prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious the claimed combination of subject matter of the detection method comprises detecting whether there is an overlapping interval between the fetal heart rate and the maternal heart rate; if the overlapping interval is detected, sending a prompt and/or marking the overlapping interval on a displayed heart rate curve, wherein the heart rate curve comprises at least one of the following: a fetal heart rate curve generated from the fetal heart rate and a maternal heart rate curve generated from the maternal heart rate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER LUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1609. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anhtuan T Nguyen can be reached at (571)272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER LUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797