DETAILED ACTION
A. This action is in response to the following communications: Amendment filed: 09/16/2025. This action is made Final.
B. Claims 1-2,4-14, 18-19 and 21-25 remain pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2,4-14, 18-19 and 21-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen, Shelten Gee Jao et al. (US Pub. 2016/0325143 A1), herein referred to as “Yuen” in view of
As for claims 1, 18 and 23, Yuen teaches. A method for controlling a wearable device and corresponding wearable device of 18 and computer program product of 23 comprising a display screen; a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the wearable device to: and comprising computer-executable instructions that are stored on a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium and that when executed by a processor, cause a wearable device to (par. 171 fig. 2A biometric monitoring device having a display and various sensors; par. 510 computer medium storing instructions to run on the biometric device):
detecting an abnormal touch event on a display screen of the wearable device; and enabling gesture recognition in response to the abnormal touch event when the wearable device is worn on an arm of a user (par. 287 biometric monitoring devices may receive input from the user through one or more local or remote input methods. One such embodiment of local user input may use a sensor or set of sensors to translate a user's movement into a command to the device. Such motions could include but may not be limited to tapping, rolling the wrist, flexing one or more muscles, and swinging one's arm. Another user input method may be through the use of a button such as, but not limited to, capacitive touch buttons, capacitive screen buttons, and mechanical buttons); wherein the abnormal touch event indicates that an abnormal event exists on a touch point or a touch track detested on the display screen (par. 173 example of touch events on wearable device using finger).
Yuen does not describe what can be classified as an abnormal touch event only that different touch events can happen; however in the same field of endeavor Kamath teaches abnormal (false positive detection) touch events wherein the abnormal touch event includes at least one of: a touch shape of the touch point not being a quasi-circular shape including a circle, an ellipse, or an approximate circle or a touch area of the touch point not falling within a set range, a plurality of touch points detected within a predetermined time, or the touch track jittering so as to change a movement direction back and forth (Kamath provides at least 4 examples of false positive detection or “abnormal touch event” and describes each example in detail below how they are detected; which shares same detection as that claimed.
Example 1 par. 251 performing an action on the first or second electronic device in response to detecting the a motion gesture having a second portion that corresponds to a detected respective attitude of the first electronic device and forgoing performing the action on the first or second electronic device when the motion gesture does not satisfy the gesture-control criteria allows the first or second electronic device to be controlled by gestures performed at the first electronic device without incorrectly performing an action when the full gesture is not performed, which simplifies interactions between the user and the first and second electronic devices and enhances the operability of the first and second electronic devices (e.g., by preventing false positive gesture detection and thereby preventing performing an action when the user does not intend to control the second electronic device to perform the action); par. 268 in accordance with a determination that the second motion gesture does not include a second portion, which precedes the first portion, that includes detection of the respective attitude of the first electronic device relative to the respective frame of reference, the electronic device forgoes (734) initiating the process to determine whether the second motion gesture satisfies the gesture-control criteria for controlling the first electronic device or the second electronic device, such as forgoing performing an operation at the second electronic device 500 b in response to the gestures performed in FIGS. 6S and 6T, which are not part of the same gesture sequence;
Example 2 par. 271 a determination that the first portion of the second motion gesture that includes the movement of the first electronic device is not detected within the predefined time interval of the second portion of the second motion gesture that includes the detection of the respective attitude of the first electronic device relative to the respective frame of reference, such as the time delay 614 between detecting the arming portion of the gesture sequence illustrated in FIG. 6H and the triggering portion illustrated in FIG. 6I, the electronic device forgoes (740) determining whether the second motion gesture satisfies the gesture-control criteria for controlling the first electronic device or the second electronic device, such as not causing the second electronic device 500 b to perform an action as shown in FIG. 6I.
Example 3 par. 274 the motion gesture performed by the first electronic device does not satisfy the gesture-control criteria when the state of the electronic device is a second state, different than the first state (744), such as the second electronic device 500 b running a game application as illustrated in FIGS. 6II-JJ ; par. 277 , the gesture-control criteria are not satisfied when the motion gesture performed by the first electronic device does not include a third portion, preceding the first portion, that satisfies the initiating criteria (748). FIGS. 6FF-HH illustrate the third electronic device 500 c performing a play next operation in response to an initiating portion, an arming portion, and a triggering portion of the gesture sequence.
Example 4 par. 279 the initiating criteria is satisfied in accordance with the third portion of the motion gesture including coordinated (e.g., with respect to time) detection of (750) movement of the first electronic device (752) (e.g., the first and/or second electronic devices detect a movement of the first electronic device that matches movement criteria of the initiating gesture); and audio corresponding to the third portion of the motion gesture (754) (e.g., the first and/or second electronic devices detect audio that matches audio criteria of the initiating gesture), such as detection of coordinated audio data and movement data sensed by the third electronic device 500 c indicating that the user snaps their fingers as illustrated in FIG. 6EE.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kamath into Yuen because Kamath suggests in paragraph 4 that users wish to control electronic devices using motion gestures. Enhancing these interactions improves the user's experience with the device and decreases user interaction time, which is particularly important where input devices are battery-operated.
As for claims 2 and 19, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 1, wherein after enabling the gesture recognition, the method further comprises: recognizing a first user gesture from the user; and performing a first operation corresponding to the first user gesture (par. 324 and 327 user can interact through touching and motion gestures to interact with a plurality of apps for various scenarios the user may find themselves in, such as swimming, drinking coffee etc…).
As for claims 4 and 21, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, wherein an initial state of the first user gesture is an initial action starting from a preset tilt angle relative to a horizontal plane (par. 6 and 11 angular rate data collected by wearable device that facilitates interaction with said device as well as inputs data into said device as to what activity the user is trying to achieve and/or record).
As for claims 5 and 22, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2 wherein after enabling the gesture recognition, the method further comprises: recognizing a second user gesture from the user, wherein the second user gesture is different from the first user gesture, and where: an initial state of the second user gesture is an initial action starting from preset tilt angle relative to a horizontal plane; and performing a second operation corresponding to the second user gesture (par. 8 different angular gestures for different input needs of the wearable device).
As for claim 6, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, wherein after enabling the gesture recognition, the method further comprises: determining whether a preset user gesture is recognized within a preset time period, wherein the preset user gesture comprises the first user gesture; and exiting the gesture recognition when the preset user gesture is not recognized within the preset time period (par. 40 portable sensor device may include logic for controlling power used by the first angular rate sensor. This logic may be configured to cause the power used by the first angular rate sensor to be reduced from a normal operating level to a reduced level during times when the logic has determined that the first angular rate sensor is not to be used and to cause the power used by the first angular rate sensor to be increased to the normal operating level from the reduced level during times when the logic has determined that the first angular rate sensor is to be used).
As for claim 7, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, wherein before recognizing the first user gesture, the method further comprises: calculating a tilt angle of the wearable device relative to a horizontal plane using acceleration data; determining whether the tilt angle is in preset tilt angle range; and recognizing the first user gesture when the tilt angle s in the preset tilt angle range (par. 11 the portable sensor device, the logic for (a) may involve, at least in part, accounting for whether the one or more angular motion parameters indicate that the angular velocity of the portable sensor device is above a first angular motion rate threshold. In some such implementations of the portable sensor device, the first threshold may be an angular motion rate between 400 degrees per second and 600 degrees per second).
As for claim 8, Yuen teaches. The method claim 2, wherein recognizing the first user gesture-made-by-the-user comprises: determining, based on ambient light data (par. 112 ambient light input), a first gesture recognition algorithm for recognizing the first user gesture; and recognizing the first user gesture using the first gesture recognition algorithm (par. 228-229 biometric monitoring devices of the present disclosure may use one or more, or all of the environmental sensors described herein and one or more, or all of the physiological sensors described herein; user motion of device and ambient light data input used for interaction with device).
9, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 8, based determining whether the ambient light data are greater than a preset threshold; and recognizing the first user gesture using a second gesture recognition algorithm that is based on the ambient light data and acceleration data when the ambient light data is greater than the preset threshold. And recognizing the first user gesture using a third gesture recognition algorithm that is based on photoplethysmography data and the acceleration data when the ambient Hight data are lower than the preset (par. 232 biometric monitoring devices of the present disclosure may use data from two or more sensors to calculate the corresponding physiological or environmental data as seen in the table below (for example, data from two or more sensors may be used in combination to determine metrics such as those listed below). The biometric monitoring device may include, but is not limited to, the number, types, or combinations of sensors specified below. Additionally, such biometric monitoring devices may derive the included data from the corresponding sensor combinations, but are not limited to the number or types of data that may be calculated from the corresponding sensor combinations).
As for claim 10, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 1further comprising: determining whether photoplethysmography data are within a preset range; and determining that the wearable device is worn on the arm when the photoplethysmography data are within the preset range (par. 129 using photoplethysmography for data collection for interaction with the wearable device).
As for claim 11, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, wherein the first user gesture comprises a wrist flip gesture, a fist clenching and unclenching gesture, or a finger rubbing gesture (par. 355 various gesture detections including flip, two hand touch).
As for claim 12, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, when identifying that the wearable device displays an incoming call, and incoming call, a mute operation, a hang-up operation, or an answer operation on the incoming call (par. 262 three information communication methods—visual, motion, and auditory—may, in various embodiments of biometric monitoring devices, be used alone or in any combination with each other or another method of communication to communicate any one or plurality of: an external device has information that needs to be communicated to the user such as an incoming phone call or any one of the above alerts).
As for claim 13, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, identifying that the wearable device plays a song, and a switching operation or a pause operation on the song (par. 409 wearable device functions as generic music player).
As for claim 14, Yuen teaches. The method of claim 2, starting a voice assistant application of the wearable device; or calling a payment interface (par. 327 various application uses with wearable device wherein these two generic type of applications would be apart of this limited list; e.g., potentially in combination with a mobile phone that provides auditory and/or visual cues to train user breathing in relaxation exercises; endurance sport coach which the apps may fuse or merely display information from an external device or set of external devices including, but not limited to, a heart rate strap, GPS distance tracker, body composition scale, blood pressure monitor, blood glucose monitor, watch, smart watch, mobile communication device such as a smart phone or tablet, or server. ).
As for claim 24, Yuen teaches. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the wearable device to: recognize a first user gesture from the user; and perform a first operation corresponding to the first user gesture (par. 287 the user interface buttons may be made of metal. In embodiments where the screen uses capacitive touch detection, it may always be sampling and ready to respond to any gesture or input without an intervening event such as pushing a physical button) .
As for claim 25, Yuen teaches. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the wearable device to: determine whether photoplethysmography data are within a preset range; and determine that the wearable device is worn on the arm when the photoplethysmography data are within the preset range (par. 122 the biometric monitoring device may include an optical sensor having one or more light sources (LED, laser, etc.) to emit or output light into the user's body, as well as light detectors (photodiodes, phototransistors, etc.) to sample, measure and/or detect a response or reflection of such light from the user's body and provide data used to determine data that is representative of stress (or level thereof), blood pressure, and/or heart rate of a user (e.g., such as by using photoplethysmography).
(Note :) It is noted that any citation to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006,1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2,4-14, 18-19 and 21-25 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Inquires
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to NICHOLAS AUGUSTINE at telephone number (571)270-1056.
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.
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/NICHOLAS AUGUSTINE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2178 November 19, 2025
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