DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The action is in response to the application filed on 09/14/2023.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 22-31 has withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/20/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 12-21) in the reply filed on 11/20/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-21 are pending and examined below.
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.
Claim(s) 12-13, 16, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20160058300 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Yoon”).
Regarding claim 12, Yoon, an optical sensor device, teaches a wearable device (paragraph [0063]-[0065]) for monitoring blood flow of a patient (paragraph [0008], [0090]-[0093]), the wearable device comprising:
a housing configured for attachment to the patient (paragraphs [0063]-[0064]; as shown in Figure 3);
a light source positioned in the housing to transmit light toward the patient when the housing is attached to the patient (110; paragraph [0085]; Figure 5A);
an optical sensor positioned in the housing to receive light from the patient when the housing is attached to the patient (120; paragraph [0085]; Figure 5A); and
a lens assembly positioned in the housing to relay light from the patient onto the optical sensor, the lens assembly including a first lens and a second lens, first lens positioned closer to the optical sensor and the second lens positioned closer to the patient when the housing is attached to the patient (“Referring to FIG. 11B-F, a cross-wedge concave lens 1165 may be inserted as a first lens and convex lenses 1166 may be inserted as second lenses into a transparent substrate“ (thus 1166 is closer to a patient than 1165); paragraph [0130]; as shown in 11B-F).
Regarding claim 13, Yoon teaches wherein the first lens is positioned in the housing in a first orientation and the second lens is positioned in the housing in a second orientation, where the second orientation is different than the first orientation (paragraph [0130]; as shown in 11B-F).
Regarding claim 16, Yoon teaches wherein the optical sensor and the lens assembly are positioned to allow the optical sensor to receive at least some of the light transmitted toward the patient by the light source after it is reflected back from the patient (paragraph [0007]).
Regarding claim 18, Yoon teaches further comprising a processor (130; Figure 5A) connected to the optical sensor and the light source (as shown in Figure 5A), the processor programmed to:
control the light source to transmit light toward the patient (paragraphs [0095]-[0096]);
receive data produced by the optical sensor in response to light received from the patient (paragraphs [0095]-[0096]);
and produce an output based on the received data (paragraphs [0095]-[0096]).
Regarding claim 19, Yoon teaches wherein the processor is programmed to produce the output based on the received data by determining a laser speckle flow index based on the received data (paragraphs [0095]-[0096]).
Regarding claim 20, Yoon teaches further comprising a wireless communication interface and the processor is further programmed transmit the output based on the received data through the wireless communication interface (paragraph [0179]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 14, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of US 20160157736 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Huang”).
Regarding claim 14, Yoon does not explicitly teach wherein the second lens has a different focal length from the first lens to achieve magnification.
However, Huang, a laser speckle optical sensor device, teaches wherein the second lens has a different focal length from the first lens to achieve magnification (paragraph [0028]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Yoon, to have the lens achieve magnification, as taught by Huang, because doing so provides for optimal data detection.
Regarding claim 15, Yoon does not explicitly teach wherein the first lens is adjustable to adjust a focal plane of the lens assembly.
However, Huang, a laser speckle optical sensor device, teaches wherein the first lens is adjustable to adjust a focal plane of the lens assembly (paragraph [0028]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Yoon, to have an adjustable lens, as taught by Huang, because doing so provides for optimal data detection.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of US 20140206980 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Lee”).
Regarding claim 17, Yoon does not explicitly teach wherein the optical sensor and the lens assembly are positioned to allow the optical sensor to receive at least some of the light transmitted toward the patient by the light source after it is transmitted through the patient.
However, Lee teaches wherein the optical sensor and the lens assembly are positioned to allow the optical sensor to receive at least some of the light transmitted toward the patient by the light source after it is transmitted through the patient (paragraph [0023], [0040]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee, to have a transmission type optical mode, as taught by Lee because it would be the simple substitution of one known element (the reflection system of Yoon) with another (the transmission system of Lee) in order to achieve a predictable result namely a mode of collecting light data off of a user.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of US 20160198961 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Homyk”).
Regarding claim 21, Yoon does not explicitly teach further comprising a battery to provide power to the light source, the optical sensor, and the processor.
However, Homyk, a laser speckle optical sensor device, teaches further comprising a battery to provide power to the light source, the optical sensor, and the processor (paragraph [0081]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Yoon, to have a battery, as taught by Homyk, because doing so provides power to allows the device to function.
Conclusion
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/ABID A MUSTANSIR/Examiner, Art Unit 3791