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
This action is a final rejection
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 are pending
Claims 1-8, 10-11, 13, 15-16 were cancelled
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23-25 were amended
Claims 26-31 were added.
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 are rejected under 35 USC § 101
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 are rejected under 35 USC § 103
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s claim for a foreign priority date of 6-30-2021
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12-19-2023, and 1-2-2025, are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 are not patent eligible because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Analysis
First, claims are directed to one or more of the following statutory categories: a process, a machine, a manufacture, and a composition of matter. Regarding claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 the claims recite an abstract idea of Lifestyle improvement.
Independent Claims 9, 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 101 based on the following analysis.
-Step 1 (Does the claim fall within a statutory category? YES): claims 9, and 14 recite a system and server of lifestyle improvement.
-Step 2A Prong One (Does the claim fall within at least one of the groupings of abstract ideas?: YES): The claimed invention:
A system and server comprising:
obtain, bed-time information about an act of going to bed by a user and history information indicating a history of blood pressure measurement performed by the user;
determine whether the user has taken a blood pressure measurement in a period of a predetermined amount of time ending when the user goes to bed, based on the bed-time information and the history information; and
in response to determining that the user has not taken the blood pressure measurement in the period, (1) generate first timing information which causes to start the blood pressure measurement and (2) transmit the first timing information.
receive the timing information
inform the user of an optimal timing to measure blood pressure, based on the timing information
belonging to the grouping of mental processes under concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) as it recites “lifestyle improvement”. (refer to MPP 2106.04(a)(2)). Alternatively the claim belongs to certain methods of organizing human activity under managing personal relationships or interactions between people as it recites “lifestyle improvement”. (refer to MPP 2106.04(a)(2)). Accordingly this claim recites an abstract idea.
-Step 2A Prong Two (Are there additional elements in the claim that imposes a meaningful limit on the abstract idea? NO).
Claim 9 recites:
one or more memories;
at least one processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Claim 14 recites:
A portable terminal connected to a server over a network;
one or more server memories;
at least one server processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more server memories;
sensing device;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
one or more terminal memories;
at least one terminal processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more terminal memories.
Such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination do not integrate the judicial exception/abstract idea into a “practical application” of the judicial exception because they do not impose any meaningful limit on practicing the judicial exception.
-Step 2B (Does the additional elements of the claim provide an inventive concept?: NO. As discussed previously with respect to Step 2A Prong Two:
Claim 9 recites:
one or more memories;
at least one processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Claim 14 recites:
A portable terminal connected to a server over a network;
one or more server memories;
at least one server processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more server memories;
sensing device;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
one or more terminal memories;
at least one terminal processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more terminal memories.
Amounting to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)) Accordingly, even when viewed as a whole the claim does not provide an inventive concept (significantly more than the abstract idea) and hence the claim is ineligible.
-Step 1 (Does the claim fall within a statutory category? YES): claim 17 recites a method of lifestyle improvement.
-Step 2A Prong One (Does the claim fall within at least one of the groupings of abstract ideas?: YES): The claimed invention:
A control method comprising:
obtaining, bed-time information about an act of going to bed by a user and history information indicating a history of blood pressure measurement by the user; and
based on the bed-time information and the history information, in response to determining that the user has not taken a blood pressure measurement in a period of a predetermined amount of time ending when the user goes to bed, (1) generating timing information which causes to start the blood pressure measurement and (2) transmitting the timing information to the cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
belonging to the grouping of mental processes under concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) as it recites “lifestyle improvement”. (refer to MPP 2106.04(a)(2)). Alternatively the claim belongs to certain methods of organizing human activity under managing personal relationships or interactions between people as it recites “lifestyle improvement”. (refer to MPP 2106.04(a)(2)). Accordingly this claim recites an abstract idea.
-Step 2A Prong Two (Are there additional elements in the claim that imposes a meaningful limit on the abstract idea? NO).
Claim 17 recites:
one or more processors;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
Such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination do not integrate the judicial exception/abstract idea into a “practical application” of the judicial exception because they do not impose any meaningful limit on practicing the judicial exception.
-Step 2B (Does the additional elements of the claim provide an inventive concept?: NO. As discussed previously with respect to Step 2A Prong Two:
Claim 17 recites:
one or more processors;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Amounting to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)) Accordingly, even when viewed as a whole the claim does not provide an inventive concept (significantly more than the abstract idea) and hence the claim is ineligible.
Dependent Claims:
Step 2A Prong One: The following dependent claims recites additional limitations that further define the abstract idea of “lifestyle improvement”. The claim limitations include:
Claim 12: store a measurement result in response to receiving the measurement result;
Claim 19 wherein:
obtain wake-up information about an act of waking up by the user and breakfast preparation information about an act of preparing breakfast by the user,
determine an optimal second timing for blood pressure measurement of the user based on the wake-up information and the breakfast preparation information, and
notify second timing information regarding the optimal second timing;
Claims 20: wherein the optimal second timing is included in a period from after the user wakes up to when the user starts the act of preparing breakfast;
Claim 21: obtain urination information about urination by the user, and determine the optimal second timing based on the urination information.
Claim 22: wherein the optimal second timing is included in a period from after the user urinates to when the user starts the act of preparing breakfast.
Claim 23: prompt the user to measure blood pressure, based on the second timing information.
Claim 24: measure a blood pressure of the user, based on the second timing information;
Claim 25:
store, each of one or more results of the blood pressure measurement of the user in association with a time of obtainment of the result; and
extract, from the one or more results, a result of a blood pressure measurement taken at the optimal second timing for blood pressure measurement of the user, based on the second timing information.
Claim 27, 29, 31: wherein the first timing information causes to output an alert.
Step 2A Prong Two (Are there additional elements in the claim that imposes a meaningful limit on the abstract idea? NO). The following dependent claims recite mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination do not integrate the judicial exception/abstract idea into a “practical application” of the judicial exception because they do not impose any meaningful limit on practicing the judicial exception. The claims include:
Claim 12:
at least one processor;
one or more memories;
cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Claim 18: A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the control method.
Claim 19: at least one processor.
Claim 21: at least one processor.
Claim 23: at least one processor.
Claim 24: at least one processor.
Claim 25:
at least one processor;
one or more memories;
Claim 26, 28, 30: wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to turn on an LED provided thereon
Claim 27, 29, 31:
cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
a speaker.
Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination do not integrate the judicial exception/abstract idea into a “practical application” of the judicial exception because they do not impose any meaningful limit on practicing the judicial exception.
Step 2B (Does the additional elements of the claim provide an inventive concept?: NO). As discussed previously with respect to Step 2A Prong Two, the following dependent claims recite mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Accordingly, even when viewed as a whole the claim does not provide an inventive concept (significantly more than the abstract idea) and hence the claim is ineligible. The claims include:
Claim 12:
at least one processor;
one or more memories;
cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Claim 18: A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the control method.
Claim 19: at least one processor.
Claim 21: at least one processor.
Claim 23: at least one processor.
Claim 24: at least one processor.
Claim 25:
at least one processor;
one or more memories;
Claim 26, 28, 30: wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to turn on an LED provided thereon
Claim 27, 29, 31:
cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
a speaker.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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
non-obviousness.
Claims 9, 12, 14, 17-18, 28-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable by Nakajima et.al (JP 2019093006 A) hereinafter “Nakajima”, in view of Morris et.al (US 20210118579 A1) hereinafter “Morris”, in view of Shyu et.al (US 20120108985 A1) hereinafter “Shyu”
Regarding claims 9 & 14 Nakajima teaches:
A lifestyle improvement system comprising: (See at least [page 9, lines 22-23] via: “…sphygmomanometer 1, server 70, and portable terminal 80)
one or more memories; at least one processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories and configured to: (See at least [Page 8, lines 7-10] via: “…The control unit 103 includes a processor that configures a computer, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and the like, and performs information processing based on a program (an information processing program) stored in at least one of the ROM and the storage unit 104. and
A portable terminal connected to a server over a network, the server including: one or more server memories; and at least one server processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more server memories and configured to: (See at least [Page 9, lines 22-27] via: “…The communication unit 108 is an interface for connecting the sphygmomanometer 1 to at least one of the server 70 and the portable terminal 80. The portable terminal 80 is, for example, a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The portable terminal 80 is assumed to be owned by the subject. The communication unit 108 is controlled by the control unit 103. The communication unit 108 transmits information to at least one of the server 70 and the portable terminal 80 via the network...”; in addition see at least [Page 22, lines 8-12] via: “…instead of the storage unit 104 of the sphygmomanometer 1, the server 70 or The memory of the portable terminal 80 may store blood pressure related information, and the information acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the blood pressure related information stored in the memory of the server 70 or the portable terminal 80...”)
obtain, from a sensing device bed-time information about an act of going to bed by a user and history information indicating a history of blood pressure measurement performed by the user; (See at least [page 9, lines 1-11] via: “…The acceleration sensor 105 is a three-axis acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor 105 outputs, to the control unit 103, acceleration information representing acceleration in three directions orthogonal to each other. The acceleration information is an example of information representing the movement of the subject… The control unit 103 can also estimate the to-be-measured person's bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up using the acceleration information…”; in addition see at least [page 13, lines 15-23] via: “…Further, the situation specifying unit 1032 may group blood pressure information by combining a plurality of situations.. the situation specifying unit 1032 combines time information and action schedule information, specifies bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up, and divides blood pressure information into groups according to the bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up situation. For example, before bedtime, it is a designated time two hours before bedtime, and after waking up, it is a designated time within two hours from awakening..”; in addition see at least [page 4, lines 7-10] via: “…blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various locations, such as at home or at work, and blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various times, including on the go. Blood pressure values measured in these various situations are used for health care and the like..”)
determine whether the user has taken a blood pressure measurement in a period of a predetermined amount of time ending when the user goes to bed, based on the bed-time information and the history information; (See at least [page 16, lines 17-22] via: “…The configuration of the current situation detection unit 1033 will be described…The support information output unit 1034 receives the measurement promotion situation from the situation identification unit 1032, receives the current situation from the current situation detection unit 1033, compares the current situation with the measurement promotion situation, and based on the comparison result, the current situation whether or not to fall under the measurement promotion situation..”; in addition see at least [page 13, lines 15-23] via: “…Further, the situation specifying unit 1032 may group blood pressure information by combining a plurality of situations.. the situation specifying unit 1032 combines time information and action schedule information, specifies bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up, and divides blood pressure information into groups according to the bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up situation. For example, before bedtime, it is a designated time two hours before bedtime, and after waking up, it is a designated time within two hours from awakening..”; in addition see at least [page 4, lines 7-10] via: “…blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various locations, such as at home or at work, and blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various times, including on the go. Blood pressure values measured in these various situations are used for health care and the like..”) and
in response to determining that the user has not taken the blood pressure measurement in the period] (1) generate first timing information which causes a [cuffless] blood pressure measurement device to start the blood pressure measurement and (2) transmit the first timing information to the [cuffless] blood pressure measurement device. (See at least [page 13, lines 15-22] via: “…the situation specifying unit 1032 may group blood pressure information by combining a plurality of situations.. the situation specifying unit 1032 combines time information and action schedule information, specifies bedtime, .. and divides blood pressure information into groups according to the bedtime, .. situation. For example, before bedtime, it is a designated time two hours before bedtime,..”; in addition see at least [page 16 lines 35-38 & Page 17 lines 1-13] via: “...the support information output unit 1034 outputs, to the blood pressure measurement unit 1035, … instructing blood pressure measurement (start of blood pressure measurement). The blood pressure measurement unit 1035 measures the blood pressure based on the first support information. In other words, the first support information is a blood pressure measurement instruction to the blood pressure measurement unit 1035…the support information output unit 1034 urges the communication unit 108 to perform an input operation for causing the blood pressure measurement unit 1035 to generate a measurement instruction of blood pressure (hereinafter also referred to as “input operation for blood pressure measurement”) output support information. The communication unit 108 transmits an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement to a destination registered in advance ... For example, by registering in advance the destination corresponding to the portable terminal 80, the communication unit 108 transmits, to the portable terminal 80, an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement. The portable terminal 80 receives an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement..”; in addition see at least [Page 4, lines 33-36 & Page 5, line 1] via: “...The sphygmomanometer 1 is, for example, a sphygmomanometer of a type that starts blood pressure measurement based on an input of an instruction to start blood pressure measurement by a subject or a trigger signal generated autonomously by the sphygmomanometer 1... The sphygmomanometer 1 includes a main body 10, a belt 20, and a cuff structure 30...”)
the portable terminal comprising: one or more terminal memories; and at least one terminal processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more terminal memories and configured to: (See at least [Page 9, lines 22-28] via: “…The communication unit 108 is an interface for connecting the sphygmomanometer 1 to at least one of the server 70 and the portable terminal 80. The portable terminal 80 is, for example, a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The portable terminal 80 is assumed to be owned by the subject. The communication unit 108 is controlled by the control unit 103. The communication unit 108 transmits information to at least one of the server 70 and the portable terminal 80 via the network. The communication unit 108 passes information from at least one of the server 70 and the portable terminal 80 received via the network to the control unit 103..”; in addition see at least [Page 22, lines 8-12] via: “…instead of the storage unit 104 of the sphygmomanometer 1, the server 70 or The memory of the portable terminal 80 may store blood pressure related information, and the information acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the blood pressure related information stored in the memory of the server 70 or the portable terminal 80...”)
receive the timing information; (See at least [page 11, lines 30-31] via: “…the information acquisition unit 1031 acquires at least one of the current time information..”; and
inform the user of an optimal timing to measure blood pressure, based on the timing information. (See at least [page 17, lines 3-13] via: “…the support information output unit 1034 urges the communication unit 108 to perform an input operation for causing the blood pressure measurement unit 1035 to generate a measurement instruction of blood pressure (hereinafter also referred to as “input operation for blood pressure measurement”) output support information. The communication unit 108 transmits an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement to a destination registered in advance ... For example, by registering in advance the destination corresponding to the portable terminal 80, the communication unit 108 transmits, to the portable terminal 80, an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement. The portable terminal 80 receives an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement..”)
However Nakajima is silent the following limitation that is taught by Morris:
in response to determining that the user has not taken the blood pressure measurement in the period (1) generate first timing information and (2) transmit the first timing information .. (See at least [139] via: “…As indicated in FIG. 12, .... if the patient missed or skipped taking a blood pressure measurement or reading at an expected or scheduled date/time, the prescription management agent 500 in association with or using the data communication manager 600 communicates a corresponding type of message to the patient computing device 190 (e.g., ... a reminder if the patient missed or skipped taking a blood pressure measurement or reading).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima to incorporate the teachings of Morris. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Morris’ teaching regarding monitoring biomarkers including blood pressure as taught by Morris. The combination of Nakajima and Morris enables reminding the user to obtain a blood pressure reading at an expected scheduled time in case the measurement was missed or skipped.
Furthermore Nakajima and Morris are silent the use of a cuffless blood pressure unit as taught by Shyu:
cuffless blood pressure measurement device: (See at least [0021] via: “…Refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a cross sectional view and a block diagram of an embodiment are disclosed. As shown in figure, a cuffless blood pressure monitor 1 of the present invention is a non-invasive blood pressure monitor. All the non-invasive blood pressure monitors currently available include a cuff. The inflation of the cuff applies a pressure to an artery of an user. However, the applied pressure will make the user feel uncomfortable. Thus the present invention provides a cuffless blood pressure monitor 1...”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima and Morris to incorporate the teachings of Shyu. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values with a cuffed device and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shyu’s teaching regarding monitoring the blood pressure with a cuffless device as taught by Shyu. The combination of Nakajima and Shyu enables the use of a blood measuring device that is more comfortable to the user.
Alternatively Nakajima does not teach that the cuff blood pressure device is cuffless. However, replacing the cuff device with a cuffless device is a matter of design choice (In re Wolfe, 116 USPQ 443, 444 (CCPA 1961))
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of he claimed invention, to modify Nakajima to incorporate a cuffless device (instead of a cuff device) because it is a matter of design choice for the convenience of the patient.
Regarding claim 12 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9. Nakajima also teaches:
store a measurement result, to the one or more memories in response to receiving the measurement result from the cuffless blood pressure measurement device each blood pressure information (hereinafter also referred to as "blood pressure measurement condition")… The blood pressure measurement status is at least one of time information (measurement time), position information (measurement position),… For example, the timing of blood pressure measurement described above is any one of the timing at the start of blood pressure measurement, during the measurement of blood pressure, or at the end of blood pressure measurement…”; in addition see at least [page 23, lines 10-14] via: “…When a measurement instruction is generated in response to the blood pressure measurement input operation, the blood pressure is measured based on the measurement instruction, blood pressure information obtained by measurement in association with the measurement situation (predetermined situation) is output, and is associated with the measurement situation The blood pressure information is stored..”; in addition see at least [Page 4, lines 33-36] via: “...The sphygmomanometer 1 is, for example, a sphygmomanometer of a type that starts blood pressure measurement based on an input of an instruction to start blood pressure measurement by a subject or a trigger signal generated autonomously by the sphygmomanometer 1...”)
Regarding claim 17 Nakajima teaches:
obtaining, by the one or more processors, bed-time information about an act of going to bed by a user and history information indicating a history of blood pressure measurement by the user; (See at least [page 9, lines 1-11] via: “…The acceleration sensor 105 is a three-axis acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor 105 outputs, to the control unit 103, acceleration information representing acceleration in three directions orthogonal to each other. The acceleration information is an example of information representing the movement of the subject… The control unit 103 can also estimate the to-be-measured person's bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up using the acceleration information…”; in addition see at least [page 13, lines 15-23] via: “…Further, the situation specifying unit 1032 may group blood pressure information by combining a plurality of situations.. the situation specifying unit 1032 combines time information and action schedule information, specifies bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up, and divides blood pressure information into groups according to the bedtime, bedtime, and wake-up situation. For example, before bedtime, it is a designated time two hours before bedtime, and after waking up, it is a designated time within two hours from awakening..”; in addition see at least [page 4, lines 7-10] via: “…blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various locations, such as at home or at work, and blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various times, including on the go. Blood pressure values measured in these various situations are used for health care and the like..”) and
, based on the bed-time information and the history information, [in response to determining that the user has not taken a blood pressure measurement in a period] of a predetermined amount of time ending when the user goes to bed, (1) generating by the one or more processors, timing information which causes a [cuffless] blood pressure measurement device to start the blood pressure measurement and (2) transmitting the timing information to the [cuffless] blood pressure measurement device.(See at least [page 16, lines 17-22] via: “…The configuration of the current situation detection unit 1033 will be described…The support information output unit 1034 receives the measurement promotion situation from the situation identification unit 1032, receives the current situation from the current situation detection unit 1033, compares the current situation with the measurement promotion situation, and based on the comparison result, the current situation whether or not to fall under the measurement promotion situation..”; in addition see at least [page 4, lines 7-10] via: “…blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various locations, such as at home or at work, and blood pressure values can be measured and recorded at various times, including on the go. Blood pressure values measured in these various situations are used for health care and the like..”; in addition see at least [page 17, lines 3-13] via: “…the support information output unit 1034 urges the communication unit 108 to perform an input operation for causing the blood pressure measurement unit 1035 to generate a measurement instruction of blood pressure (hereinafter also referred to as “input operation for blood pressure measurement”) output support information. The communication unit 108 transmits an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement to a destination registered in advance ... For example, by registering in advance the destination corresponding to the portable terminal 80, the communication unit 108 transmits, to the portable terminal 80, an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement. The portable terminal 80 receives an e-mail or the like prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement..”; in addition see at least [page 13, lines 15-22] via: “…the situation specifying unit 1032 may group blood pressure information by combining a plurality of situations.. the situation specifying unit 1032 combines time information and action schedule information, specifies bedtime, .. and divides blood pressure information into groups according to the bedtime, .. situation. For example, before bedtime, it is a designated time two hours before bedtime,..”; in addition see at least [page 16, lines 35-38 & Page 17, lines 1-2] via: “…the support information output unit 1034 outputs, to the blood pressure measurement unit 1035, … instructing blood pressure measurement (start of blood pressure measurement). The blood pressure measurement unit 1035 measures the blood pressure based on the first support information. In other words, the first support information is a blood pressure measurement instruction to the blood pressure measurement unit 1035…”; in addition see at least [Page 4, lines 33-36 & Page 5, line 1] via: “...The sphygmomanometer 1 is, for example, a sphygmomanometer of a type that starts blood pressure measurement based on an input of an instruction to start blood pressure measurement by a subject or a trigger signal generated autonomously by the sphygmomanometer 1... The sphygmomanometer 1 includes a main body 10, a belt 20, and a cuff structure 30...”)
However Nakajima is silent the following limitation that is taught by Morris:
in response to determining that the user has not taken the blood pressure measurement in the period (1) generating timing information and (2) transmitting the timing information .. (See at least [139] via: “…As indicated in FIG. 12, .... if the patient missed or skipped taking a blood pressure measurement or reading at an expected or scheduled date/time, the prescription management agent 500 in association with or using the data communication manager 600 communicates a corresponding type of message to the patient computing device 190 (e.g., ... a reminder if the patient missed or skipped taking a blood pressure measurement or reading).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima to incorporate the teachings of Morris. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Morris’ teaching regarding monitoring biomarkers including blood pressure as taught by Morris. The combination of Nakajima and Morris enables reminding the user to obtain a blood pressure reading at an expected scheduled time in case the measurement was missed or skipped.
Furthermore Nakajima and Morris are silent the use of a cuffless blood pressure unit as taught by Shyu:
cuffless blood pressure measurement device: (See at least [0021] via: “…Refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a cross sectional view and a block diagram of an embodiment are disclosed. As shown in figure, a cuffless blood pressure monitor 1 of the present invention is a non-invasive blood pressure monitor. All the non-invasive blood pressure monitors currently available include a cuff. The inflation of the cuff applies a pressure to an artery of an user. However, the applied pressure will make the user feel uncomfortable. Thus the present invention provides a cuffless blood pressure monitor 1...”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima and Morris to incorporate the teachings of Shyu. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values with a cuffed device and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shyu’s teaching regarding monitoring the blood pressure with a cuffless device as taught by Shyu. The combination of Nakajima and Shyu enables the use of a blood measuring device that is more comfortable to the user.
Alternatively Nakajima does not teach that the cuff blood pressure device is cuffless. However, replacing the cuff device with a cuffless device is a matter of design choice (In re Wolfe, 116 USPQ 443, 444 (CCPA 1961))
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of he claimed invention, to modify Nakajima to incorporate a cuffless device (instead of a cuff device) because it is a matter of design choice for the convenience of the patient.
Regarding claim 18 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 17. Nakajima also teaches:
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the control method (See at least [page 25, lines 28-35] via: “…a part of the processing in each of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by using a general-purpose computer as basic hardware. The program for realizing the above process may be provided by being stored in a computer readable recording medium. The program is stored on the recording medium as a file of an installable format or a file of an executable format… The recording medium may store the program and may be any computer readable one..”)
Regarding claims 28, 30 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claims 14 and 17 respectively. Nakajima also teaches:
wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to turn on an LED provided thereon (See at least [Page 5, lines 12-17] via: “...The display unit 101 displays various information. The display unit 101 is provided in the main body 10 and at a position where the subject can visually recognize via the glass 10B.…The display unit 101 may include an LED (Light Emitting Diode)...”; in addition see at least [Page 17, lines 15-16] via: “...The display unit 101 displays information prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement ..”; in addition see at least [Page 18, lines 38-39] via: “...The display unit 101 displays blood pressure related information..”; in addition see at least [Page 18, lines 36-38-] via: “...the blood pressure information output unit 1036 outputs the blood pressure related information including the blood pressure information and the blood pressure measurement status associated with the blood pressure information to the display unit 101..”; in addition see at least [Page 21, lines 20-22] via: “... the subject sees the information prompting the input operation of the blood pressure measurement displayed on the display unit 101, and operates (presses etc.) the measurement switch of the operation unit 102 (step S36, YES)...”)
Regarding claims 29, 31 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claims 14 and 17 respectively. Nakajima also teaches:
wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to output an alert from a speaker provided thereon (See at least [Page 17, lines 21-24] via: “…when the sphygmomanometer 1 includes a speaker, information prompting the input operation of blood pressure measurement based on the second support information may be notified from the speaker by voice or sound effect or the like..”)
Claims 19-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable by Nakajima, in view of Morris in view of Shyu, in view of Shiga et.al (JP 2010142273 A) hereinafter “Shiga”, in further view of Takahashi et.al (JP 2020201642 A) hereinafter “Takahashi”
Regarding claim 19 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9. Nakajima Morris and Shyu are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
determine an optimal second timing for blood pressure measurement of the user based on the wake-up information and the breakfast preparation information, (See at least [page 7, lines 9-11] via: “... It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, …and before breakfast…”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris and Shyu to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding outputting blood pressure of a person after waking up and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a baseline reading of a person’s blood pressure measurements after waking up and before breakfast to be used as baseline comparison of blood pressure based on other conditions later in the day.
Nevertheless Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Shiga are silent the following limitations that are taught by Takahashi:
obtain wake-up information about an act of waking up by the user and breakfast preparation information about an act of preparing breakfast by the user, (See at least [page 2, lines 25-27] via: “…The biological information recognition unit 1c is composed of sensors mounted on the mobile information terminal 1, and obtains biological information necessary for calculating a deep sleep rate such as respiration, pulse, and body movement during sleep of the user..”; in addition see at least [page 3, lines 7-8] via: “…the wake-up time, the physical information, and the life event may be recognized based on the biometric information recognized by the biometric information recognition unit…”; in addition see at least [page 11, lines 16-17] via: “…when the recommended schedule as shown in the screen of FIG. 15 is determined, the notification unit 2h, along with the wake-up time and the wake-up time, includes breakfast…”)
notify second timing information regarding the optimal second timing . (See at least [page 11, lines 16-17] via: “…when the recommended schedule as shown in the screen of FIG. 15 is determined, the notification unit 2h, along with the … the wake-up time, includes breakfast..”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Shiga to incorporate the teachings of Takahashi. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Takahashi’s teaching regarding the scheduling of timing of a person after waking up and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Takahasi enables scheduling the timing of a baseline reading of a person’s biological information after waking up and before breakfast to be used as baseline of a person’s biological information to be compared to other conditions later in the day.
Regarding claim 20 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
wherein the optimal second timing is included in a period from after the user wakes up to when the user starts the act of preparing breakfast (See at least [page 7, lines 9-11] via: “... It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, …and before breakfast…”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding outputting blood pressure of a person after waking up after starting the preparation of breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a baseline reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and during breakfast to be used as comparison to the baseline blood pressure after waking but before breakfast..
Regarding claim 21 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain urination information about urination by the user, and determine the optimal second timing based on the urination information. (See at least [page 7, lines 9-10] via: “...It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, after urination.. and before breakfast”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding outputting blood pressure of a person after waking up and urination and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and urinating and before breakfast to be used as comparison to baseline blood pressure after waking up but before breakfast and before urinating.
Regarding claim 22 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
wherein the optimal second timing is included in a period from after the user urinates to when the user starts the act of preparing breakfast. (See at least [page 7, lines 9-11] via: “…It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure …after urination, …, and before breakfast…”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding outputting blood pressure of a person after waking up and urination and before breakfast preparation. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and urinating and before breakfast preparation to be used as comparison to baseline blood pressure after waking up but before breakfast preparation.
Regarding claim 23 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
prompt the user to measure blood pressure, based on the second timing information. (See at least [page 7, lines 9-11] via: “…medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, … and before breakfast. The blood pressure is preferably measured after resting in a sitting position for 1 to 2 minutes. Therefore, these pieces of information may be output as a measurement guide…”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person including blood pressure values could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding prompting to measure blood pressure of a person after waking up and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and before breakfast to be used as comparison to baseline blood pressure after waking up but before breakfast and before urinating.
Regarding claim 24 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
measure a blood pressure of the user, based on the second timing information. (See at least [page 3, lines 17-20] via: “…The biometric index management device according to the present invention includes a measurement data acquisition unit that acquires measurement data measured by a measurement device according to a predetermined measurement timing from the measurement device, with respect to a biometric index used for health condition evaluation..”; in addition see at least [page 7, lines 7-11] via: “…Adopt a prescribed method. For example, regarding the “blood pressure value”, blood pressure at the measurement timing of at least two points of “when waking up”… It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, after urination, before taking medicine, and before breakfast…”; in addition see at least [page 8, lines 26-27] via: “…when “wake-up”, which is the measurement timing of the blood pressure value, has a range from 5:30 am to 9:00 am..”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding measuring blood pressure of a person after waking up and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables obtaining a reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and before breakfast to be used as comparison to baseline blood pressure after waking up but before breakfast and before urinating.
Regarding claim 25 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi are silent the following claim that is taught by Shiga:
store, to the one or more memories each of one or more results of the blood pressure measurement of the user in association with a time of obtainment of the result; (See at least [page 3, lines 17-21] via: “…The biometric index management device according to the present invention includes a measurement data acquisition unit that acquires measurement data measured by a measurement device according to a predetermined measurement timing from the measurement device, with respect to a biometric index used for health condition evaluation. Storage means for accumulating a plurality of measurement data acquired during a day or a predetermined unit period as a data set..”; in addition see at least [page 7, lines 21-29] via: “…When the user measures the biometric index according to the measurement guide, the biometric index collection unit 10 acquires measurement data from the measurement device via the communication connector 104. When the measuring device is always connected, measurement data is collected almost in real time. The measurement data acquired from the measuring device is accumulated in the user information DB 11 that is a storage means. At this time, measurement data is recorded together with information indicating measurement timing such as measurement date and time…FIG. 5 shows an example of measurement data stored in the user information DB 11. In the example of FIG. 5, a data set for each day is accumulated and managed for … blood pressure value…”;
and extract, from the one or more results, a result of a blood pressure measurement taken at the optimal second timing for blood pressure measurement of the user, based on the second timing information. (See at least [page 3, lines 17-20] via: “…The biometric index management device according to the present invention includes a measurement data acquisition unit that acquires measurement data measured by a measurement device according to a predetermined measurement timing from the measurement device, with respect to a biometric index used for health condition evaluation..”; in addition see at least [page 7, lines 7-11] via: “…Adopt a prescribed method. For example, regarding the “blood pressure value”, blood pressure at the measurement timing of at least two points of “when waking up”… It is medically recommended to measure blood pressure at waking up within 1 hour after waking up, after urination, before taking medicine, and before breakfast…”; in addition see at least [page 8, lines 26-27] via: “…when “wake-up”, which is the measurement timing of the blood pressure value, has a range from 5:30 am to 9:00 am..”)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Nakajima, Morris, Shyu and Takahashi to incorporate the teachings of Shiga. Those in the art would have recognized that Nakajima’s teaching regarding a method of acquiring biological and present state information of a person including blood pressure values and outputting information of the present state corresponding to the biological information of a person could be modified to include Shiga’s teaching regarding storing and retrieving measurement of blood pressure of a person after waking up and before breakfast. The combination of Nakajima and Shiga enables storing a reading of a person’s blood pressure after waking up and before breakfast to be used as comparison to baseline blood pressure after waking up but before breakfast.
Regarding claims 26 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima also teaches:
wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to turn on an LED provided thereon (See at least [Page 5, lines 12-17] via: “...The display unit 101 displays various information. The display unit 101 is provided in the main body 10 and at a position where the subject can visually recognize via the glass 10B.…The display unit 101 may include an LED (Light Emitting Diode)...”; in addition see at least [Page 17, lines 15-16] via: “...The display unit 101 displays information prompting an input operation of blood pressure measurement ..”; in addition see at least [Page 18, lines 38-39] via: “...The display unit 101 displays blood pressure related information..”; in addition see at least [Page 18, lines 36-38-] via: “...the blood pressure information output unit 1036 outputs the blood pressure related information including the blood pressure information and the blood pressure measurement status associated with the blood pressure information to the display unit 101..”; in addition see at least [Page 21, lines 20-22] via: “... the subject sees the information prompting the input operation of the blood pressure measurement displayed on the display unit 101, and operates (presses etc.) the measurement switch of the operation unit 102 (step S36, YES)...”)
Regarding claims 27 Nakajima, Morris and Shyu teach the invention as claimed and detailed above with respect to claim 9 and Nakajima, Morris, Shyu, Shiga and Takahashi teach the invention as detailed above with respect to claim 19. Nakajima also teaches:
wherein the first timing information causes the cuffless blood pressure measurement device to output an alert from a speaker provided thereon (See at least [Page 17, lines 21-24] via: “…when the sphygmomanometer 1 includes a speaker, information prompting the input operation of blood pressure measurement based on the second support information may be notified from the speaker by voice or sound effect or the like..”)
Prior Art Made of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure, and is listed in the attached form PTO-892 (Notice of References Cited). Unless expressly noted otherwise by the Examiner, all documents listed on form PTO-892 are cited in their entirety.
OKUKAWA (JP 2021089677 A) -BLOOD PRESSURE ANALYSIS DEVICE, BLOOD PRESSURE ANALYSIS METHOD, AND BLOOD PRESSURE ANALYSIS PROGRAM -teaches: a blood pressure analysis device, a blood pressure analysis method, and a blood pressure analysis program that can notify each person to be measured of a result of analysis on variations in blood pressure in an optimized form.SOLUTION: A system control unit 31 of an analysis device 3 comprises: a blood pressure variation determination unit 31A that analyzes a user's past blood pressure measurement data stored in a database 33 with different analysis algorithms determined individually for a plurality of variation factors for causing variations in blood pressure and determines the presence or absence of variations in the user's blood pressure; and a notification control unit 31B that, when the blood pressure variation determination unit 31A determines that the variations are present, notifies the user of information based on the variation factor corresponding to the analysis algorithm used for the determination of the presence or absence of the variations..
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9-12-2025, have been fully considered but not found
persuasive.
Applicant amended independent claims 9, 14, 17 and dependent claims 12, 19, 21, 23-25 and added claims 26-31 as posted in the above analysis with additions underlined and deletions as .
In response to applicant's arguments regarding claim interpretation under 35 U.S.C § 112(f).
Based on the Applicant’s amendments to claims the interpretation of claims under 35 U.S.C § 112(f) has been withdrawn.
In response to applicant's arguments regarding claim rejection under 35 U.S.C § 101.
Several steps are taken in the analysis as to whether an invention is rejected under 101. The first step is to determine if the claim falls within a statutory category. In this case it does for claims 9, 14 and 17 since the claims recite a system, server and method of lifestyle improvement.
The second step under 2A prong one is to determine if the claims recite an abstract idea, which would be the case if the invention can be grouped as either: a) mathematical concepts; (b) mental processes; or (c) certain methods of organizing human activity (encompassing (i) fundamental economic principles, (ii) commercial or legal interactions or (iii) managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people). The current invention is classified as an abstract idea since it may be grouped as a mental process as it recites “lifestyle improvement”. Alternatively it may be grouped as methods of organizing human activity under managing personal relationships or interactions between people as it recites “lifestyle improvement”.
The third step under 2A Prong Two is to determine if additional elements in the claim imposes a meaningful limit on the abstract idea in order to integrate it into a practical idea. The current invention does not represent a practical idea since the additional elements amount to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a generic computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea.
the fourth step under 2B is to determine if additional elements of the claim provide an inventive concept. An invention may be classified as an inventive concept if a computer-implemented processes is determined to be significantly more than an abstract idea (and thus eligible), where generic computer components are able in combination to perform functions that are not merely generic, and non-conventional even if generic computer operations on a generic computing device is used to implement the abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong ONE
The Applicant offers no argument against independent claims 9, 14 and 17 reciting an abstract idea as posted in the non-final Office Action
Step 2A Prong TWO
The Applicant argues that even if the invention recites an abstract idea it is directed to patentable subject matter since it integrates the abstract idea into a practical application. The Applicant further argues that the claims are directed toward a machine, a cuffless blood pressure measurement device, and the processor in the claimed system that transmits timing information causing the device to start the blood pressure measurement. This feature is more than mere data transmission. The recited feature reflects technological control over a specific external device. The Applicant further argues that the invention improves the usability and accuracy of home blood pressure monitoring by automatically initiating measurement in response to user behavior.
The Examiner disagrees with the Applicant since the Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
The Examiner restates that claims 9 14 and 17 do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Neither claims 9, 14 or 17 recite additional elements that impose a meaningful limit on the abstract idea:
Claims 9 recites:
one or more memories;
at least one processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
Claim 14 recites:
A portable terminal connected to a server over a network;
one or more server memories;
at least one server processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more server memories;
sensing device;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device;
one or more terminal memories;
at least one terminal processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more terminal memories;
Claim 17 recites:
one or more processors;
a cuffless blood pressure measurement device.
The additional elements as recited above amount to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Accordingly, the claim as a whole does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
A colloquial interpretation of a practical idea such as a machine, a cuffless blood pressure measurement device, and processor in the claimed system that transmits timing information causing the device to start the blood pressure measurement is not enough to classify the claims as integrated into a practical application.
In order to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application the additional elements should be shown to impose a meaningful limit on the abstract idea. A colloquial interpretation of a practical application is not enough.
In order to integrate the abstract idea into a practical idea the Applicant could demonstrate at least one of the conditions enumerated below applies:
Improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field - see MPEP 2106.05(a)
Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine - see MPEP 2106.05(b)
Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing - see MPEP 2106.05(c)
Applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception - see MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo
The Applicant has not demonstrated any of the above listed conditions.
Regarding Step 2B
Similar to the analysis under Step 2A Prong Two, the additional elements amount to mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely use a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea. (refer to MPEP 2106.05(f)). Support for this can be found in the specification, paragraphs (0040-0049). Accordingly, the claim does not provide an inventive concept (significantly more than the abstract idea) and hence the claim is ineligible.
In order evaluate whether the claim recites additional elements that amount to an inventive concept what could be shown is:
Adding a specific limitation (unconventional other than what is well-understood, routine, conventional (WURC) activity in the field - see MPEP 2106.05(d)
The Applicant has not demonstrated the above listed condition.
As a result, the Examiner restates the rejection of the invention under 35 USC §101.
In response to applicant's arguments regarding claim rejection under 35 U.S.C § 103.
The applicant's arguments with respect to claims 9, 14, 17 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.
As a result, the Examiner restates the rejection of the invention under 35 USC §103
For reasons of record and as set forth above, the examiner maintains the rejection of claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 as being directed to a judicial exception without significantly more, and thereby being directed to non-statutory subject matter under 35 USC §101. In addition the rejection of claims 9, 12, 14, 17-31 under 35 USC §103 are maintained based on prior art. In reaching this decision, the Examiner considered all evidence presented and all arguments actually made by Applicant.
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 PIERRE L MACCAGNO whose telephone number is (571)270-5408. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 to 5:00.
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, Mamon Obeid can be reached at (571)270-1813. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PIERRE L MACCAGNO/Examiner, Art Unit 3687
/MAMON OBEID/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3687