DETAILED ACTION
Restriction/Election Requirement
In response to the claims filed 12/29/2023, the Office issued a Restriction/Election Requirement on 03/03/2026. The Office required restriction between the invention of Group I (Claims 1-5) and the invention of Group II (Claims 6-13).
Applicant’s election of Group II in the reply filed on 04/06/2026 is acknowledged.
Accordingly, Claims 1 and 6-13 will be examined herein on the merits. Claims 2-5 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/06/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) filed on 12/29/2023 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and is/are being considered by the Examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for priority for U.S. National Stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 filed on 01/12/2022. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55(f)(2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1 and 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The courts have described the essential question to be addressed in a description requirement issue in a variety of ways. An objective standard for determining compliance with the written description requirement is, "does the description clearly allow persons of ordinary skill in the art to recognize that he or she invented what is claimed." In re Gosteli, 872 F.2d 1008, 1012, 10 USPQ2d 1614, 1618 (Fed. Cir. 1989). Under Vas-Cath, Inc. v. Mahurkar, 935 F.2d 1555, 1563-64, 19 USPQ2d 1111, 1117 (Fed. Cir. 1991), to satisfy the written description requirement, an applicant must convey with reasonable clarity to those skilled in the art that, as of the filing date sought, he or she was in possession of the invention, and that the invention, in that context, is what is presently claimed.
While there is a presumption that an adequate written description of the claimed invention is present in the specification as filed, In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 262, 191 USPQ 90, 96 (CCPA 1976), a question as to whether a specification provides an adequate written description may arise in the context of an original claim. An original claim may lack written description support when (1) the claim defines the invention in functional language specifying a desired result but the disclosure fails to sufficiently identify how the function is performed or the result is achieved or (2) a broad genus claim is presented but the disclosure only describes a narrow species with no evidence that the genus is contemplated. See Ariad Pharms., Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., 598 F.3d 1336, 1349-50 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (en banc).
In the instant case, claims 1 and 6-13 recite limitations directed to ‘measuring trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person’. Thus, claims 1 and 6-13 define the invention by functional language associated with measurement of trunk balance of a person that is dependent on the parameters of an external force application on the person and a movement of the person due to said external force application (see e.g., claim 7 reciting “in order to measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation”). However, the disclosure fails to explain how such a result is achieved, i.e., the disclosure fails to describe and/or quantify the characterization of such a trunk balance measurement across all disclosed embodiments of the invention. The generic claim language is merely restated in ipsis verbis appearance within the instant specification with no further elucidation (see ¶0149 of published application US 2024/0339219 A1). Thus, the disclosure appears to be silent with regard to characterization of trunk balance measurement and also fails to show in what manner the parameters of the external force application and the movement of the person are related to the resultant trunk balance measurement (i.e., the as-filed disclosure fails to elucidate any mathematical relationship between these parameters, thereby failing to characterize the trunk balance measurement). See MPEP § 2163 Section II, e.g., Amgen, 927 F.2d at 1206, 18 USPQ2d at 1021. In essence, because the disclosure provides no evidence of any quantification for the claimed “movement of the person under evaluation” signifying the trunk balance or the mathematical relationship between the trunk balance and the external force applied, one of ordinary skill in the art would not recognize that the applicant had possession of the claimed conditions directed to the trunk balance measurement as recited. Furthermore, the trunk balance measurement method as claimed encompasses a large multiplicity of possible measurement methods ranging from ground reaction force measurements, body-worn accelerometers, various velocity/area tests, center of pressure measurements, electrogoniometers, electromyographic activity measurement, 4-stage balance tests, proprioception tests, etc. thereby rendering the claimed measurement method as failing to provide evidence of a reduction to practice to corroborate possession of the invention. See Burroughs Wellcome Co. v. Barr Labs. Inc., 40 F.3d 1223, 1229, 32 USPQ2d 1915, 1920 (Fed. Cir. 1994).Since one of ordinary skill in the art would not recognize that the applicant had possession of the claimed invention, claims 1 and 6-13 are rejected for failing the written description requirement.
The Examiner respectfully suggests that the claims be amended to recite limitations that are supported by the originally-filed specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 6-13 recite the limitation: “measurement result of good trunk balance”. It is unclear what is meant by the term ‘good trunk balance’ as this appears to be relative terminology, wherein the as-filed specification fails to provide any objective standard for measuring the scope of the term in the form of specifying what a ‘good trunk balance’ corresponds to. Rather, the instant disclosure merely restates in ipsis verbis the generic claim language, thereby rendering the limitation indefinite. When subjective terminology is used in a claim, some objective standard must be provided in order to allow the public to determine the scope of the claim. See MPEP § 2173.05(b) Sections I & IV, citing Ex parte Oetiker, 23 USPQ2d 1641 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1992), In re Musgrave, 431 F.2d 882, 893 (CCPA 1970) and Datamize, 417 F.3d at 1344-45. Similarly claims 1, 7, 9, 11 and 13 recite “the person under evaluation is caused to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation”. It is unclear what is meant by “unstable posture” since the disclosure fails to provide any objective standard for either a stable or an unstable posture, thereby rendering the limitation as subjective terminology and therefore indefinite. Claims 6-13 also recite: “measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation”. It is also unclear how the trunk balance is generally measured and what form of movement (of the person under evaluation) is measured in addition to the relationship between said movement and the external force applied on the person. The instant specification fails to elucidate this limitation beyond a mere restatement of the generic claim language, with no further support and/or clarity for such any mathematical relationship between the parameters as claimed. Thus, not only is the trunk balance measurement unclear as recited in the claims, but also what is meant by a “good trunk balance” as discussed supra. See also corresponding rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(a). For the purposes of examination, these limitations will be treated as inherent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by St. George et al. (see NPL titled “Visual field motion during a body pull…” (2020)).
Regarding Claim 1, St. George discloses: A trunk balance measurement method for measuring trunk balance of a person (FIG. 1), comprising: an external force input step of causing a person under evaluation of which trunk balance is to be measured to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation (pgs. 1935-36: During the pull [external force input], Fy forces acted on the body initially in the opposite direction to that of the pull in order to remain standing; pgs. 1933, 1941: When we are pushed or pulled unexpectedly, a fast and effective reaction by the postural muscles is required to avoid falling over…lateral weight shifts that were indicative of step preparation were identified when there was a lateral shear force (Fx) after the pull of over 5 N that lasted more than 50 ms occurring concurrently with diverging vertical forces (Fz) under the two feet), then causing the person under evaluation to hold each of things of different colors in sequence (FIG. 1; p. 1932 c. 1: A visual pattern was projected onto this screen that filled subjects’ field of view [holding in view different colors in sequence]), and externally applying a force to the person under evaluation (p. 1932 c. 2: testing subjects over a 20 N pull force window); and a measurement step of measuring trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation in the external force input step (p. 1933 c. 1: Participants stood at a comfortable foot-width, with each foot on a separate force plate; p. 1931 c. 2: Wireless surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from muscles. The 3-D positions of infrared emitting diode markers were recorded…The EMG, ground reaction 3-D forces were recorded with a CODA motion-capture system).
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.
Claims 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over St. George et al. (see NPL titled “Visual field motion during a body pull…” (2020)) in view of Tanaka et al. (WO 2020/175591 A1).
The Examiner notes that the text of foreign references as cited throughout this Office Action are to the English translation retrieved from the Patent Translate feature of https://worldwide.espacenet.com on 04/18/2026 and provided herewith.
Regarding Claim 6, as best understood, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 1, as above. St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: An eyewear lens color determination method for determining an eyewear lens color using the trunk balance measurement method, the eyewear lens color determination method comprising: a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining an eyewear lens color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear lens color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: An eyewear lens color determination method for determining an eyewear lens color using the trunk balance measurement method, the eyewear lens color determination method comprising (¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture): a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining an eyewear lens color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of St. George in view of Tanaka to satisfy the claimed condition, because such an eyewear lens color determination is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 7, as best understood, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 6, as above. St. George further discloses: then the person under evaluation is caused to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation, in order to measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation (pgs. 1935-36: During the pull [external force input], Fy forces acted on the body initially in the opposite direction to that of the pull in order to remain standing; pgs. 1933, 1941: When we are pushed or pulled unexpectedly, a fast and effective reaction by the postural muscles is required to avoid falling over…lateral weight shifts that were indicative of step preparation were identified when there was a lateral shear force (Fx) after the pull of over 5 N that lasted more than 50 ms occurring concurrently with diverging vertical forces (Fz) under the two feet; p. 1933 c. 1: Participants stood at a comfortable foot-width, with each foot on a separate force plate; p. 1931 c. 2: Wireless surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from muscles. The 3-D positions of infrared emitting diode markers were recorded…The EMG, ground reaction 3-D forces were recorded with a CODA motion-capture system).
St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for eyewear lens colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear eyewear with each eyewear lens color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and an eyewear lens color that provides a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear lens color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for eyewear lens colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear eyewear with each eyewear lens color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and an eyewear lens color that provides a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking; ¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of St. George in view of Tanaka to satisfy the claimed condition, because such an eyewear lens color determination is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 8, as best understood, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 1, as above. St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: A contact lens color determination method for determining a contact lens color using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the contact lens color determination method comprising: a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining a contact lens color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: A lens color determination method for determining a lens color using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the lens color determination method comprising (¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture): a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining a lens color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking).
Although Tanaka does not appear to explicitly disclose a contact lens color, Tanaka teaches a colored eyewear lens (¶0025-29). Therefore, substituting the colored eyewear lens of Tanaka for colored contact lens would yield a contact lens color determination method for determining a contact lens color using the trunk balance measurement method as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Tanaka via a simple substitution of colored contact lens to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a colored contact lens is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing the eyewear for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 9, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 8, as above. St. George further discloses: the person under evaluation is caused to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation, in order to measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation (pgs. 1935-36: During the pull [external force input], Fy forces acted on the body initially in the opposite direction to that of the pull in order to remain standing; pgs. 1933, 1941: When we are pushed or pulled unexpectedly, a fast and effective reaction by the postural muscles is required to avoid falling over…lateral weight shifts that were indicative of step preparation were identified when there was a lateral shear force (Fx) after the pull of over 5 N that lasted more than 50 ms occurring concurrently with diverging vertical forces (Fz) under the two feet; p. 1933 c. 1: Participants stood at a comfortable foot-width, with each foot on a separate force plate; p. 1931 c. 2: Wireless surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from muscles. The 3-D positions of infrared emitting diode markers were recorded…The EMG, ground reaction 3-D forces were recorded with a CODA motion-capture system).
St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for contact lens colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, the person under evaluation is caused to wear either a contact lens or contact lenses with each color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and a contact lens color providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear lens color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for lens colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, the person under evaluation is caused to wear either a lens or lenses with each color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and a lens color providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking; ¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture).
Although Tanaka does not appear to explicitly disclose a contact lens color, Tanaka teaches a colored eyewear lens (¶0025-29). Therefore, substituting the colored eyewear lens of Tanaka for colored contact lens would yield a contact lens color determination method for determining a contact lens color using the trunk balance measurement method as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Tanaka via a simple substitution of colored contact lens to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a colored contact lens is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing the eyewear for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 10, as best understood, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 1, as above. St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: An eyewear frame color determination method for determining an eyewear frame color using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the eyewear frame color determination method comprising: a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining an eyewear frame color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: An eyewear color determination method for determining an eyewear color using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the eyewear color determination method comprising (¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture): a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining an eyewear color based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking).
Although Tanaka does not appear to explicitly disclose an eyewear frame color, Tanaka teaches an colored eyewear lens in an eyewear frame (¶0116: the prism lens eyeglasses 2000 comprises a frame and a prism lens 11 as shown in the above embodiment. The frame comprises a bridge 2001, a front section 2002 (2002a, 2002b) connected by the bridge 2001 and holding the prism lens 11, a temple 2003 extending from the front section 2002b, an earpiece 2004 provided at the end of the temple, and a nose pad 2005 provided on the front section 2002 and in contact with the wearer's nose to support the prism lens glasses; ¶0009, 0079, 0091). Therefore, substituting the colored eyewear lens of Tanaka for colored eyewear frames would yield an eyewear frame color determination method for determining an eyewear frame color using the trunk balance measurement method as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Tanaka via a simple substitution of colored eyewear frames to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a colored eyewear frame is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 11, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 10, as above. St. George further discloses: the person under evaluation is caused to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation, in order to measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation (pgs. 1935-36: During the pull [external force input], Fy forces acted on the body initially in the opposite direction to that of the pull in order to remain standing; pgs. 1933, 1941: When we are pushed or pulled unexpectedly, a fast and effective reaction by the postural muscles is required to avoid falling over…lateral weight shifts that were indicative of step preparation were identified when there was a lateral shear force (Fx) after the pull of over 5 N that lasted more than 50 ms occurring concurrently with diverging vertical forces (Fz) under the two feet; p. 1933 c. 1: Participants stood at a comfortable foot-width, with each foot on a separate force plate; p. 1931 c. 2: Wireless surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from muscles. The 3-D positions of infrared emitting diode markers were recorded…The EMG, ground reaction 3-D forces were recorded with a CODA motion-capture system).
St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for eyewear frame colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear eyewear with each eyewear frame color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and then an eyewear frame color providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear lens color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for eyewear colors is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear eyewear with each eyewear color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and then an eyewear color providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking; ¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture).
Although Tanaka does not appear to explicitly disclose an eyewear frame color, Tanaka teaches an colored eyewear lens in an eyewear frame (¶0116: the prism lens eyeglasses 2000 comprises a frame and a prism lens 11 as shown in the above embodiment. The frame comprises a bridge 2001, a front section 2002 (2002a, 2002b) connected by the bridge 2001 and holding the prism lens 11, a temple 2003 extending from the front section 2002b, an earpiece 2004 provided at the end of the temple, and a nose pad 2005 provided on the front section 2002 and in contact with the wearer's nose to support the prism lens glasses; ¶0009, 0079, 0091). Therefore, substituting the colored eyewear lens of Tanaka for colored eyewear frames would yield an eyewear frame color determination method for determining an eyewear frame color using the trunk balance measurement method as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Tanaka via a simple substitution of colored eyewear frames to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a colored eyewear frame is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 12, as best understood, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 1, as above. St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: A human wearable thing color determination method for determining a color of a human wearable thing using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the wearable thing color determination method comprising: a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining a color of a wearable thing of the person under evaluation based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining a human wearable thing color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: A human wearable thing color determination method for determining a color of a human wearable thing using the trunk balance measurement method according to claim 1, the wearable thing color determination method comprising: (¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture): a color acquisition step of acquiring color information on the thing providing measurement results of good trunk balance in the measurement step; and a color determination step of determining a color of a wearable thing of the person under evaluation based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of St. George in view of Tanaka to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a human wearable thing color determination is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Regarding Claim 13, St. George discloses the trunk balance measurement method according to Claim 12, as above. St. George further discloses: the person under evaluation is caused to have readily an unstable posture upon external application of a force to the person under evaluation, in order to measure trunk balance of the person under evaluation based on a movement of the person under evaluation produced by externally applying a force to the person under evaluation (pgs. 1935-36: During the pull [external force input], Fy forces acted on the body initially in the opposite direction to that of the pull in order to remain standing; pgs. 1933, 1941: When we are pushed or pulled unexpectedly, a fast and effective reaction by the postural muscles is required to avoid falling over…lateral weight shifts that were indicative of step preparation were identified when there was a lateral shear force (Fx) after the pull of over 5 N that lasted more than 50 ms occurring concurrently with diverging vertical forces (Fz) under the two feet; p. 1933 c. 1: Participants stood at a comfortable foot-width, with each foot on a separate force plate; p. 1931 c. 2: Wireless surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from muscles. The 3-D positions of infrared emitting diode markers were recorded…The EMG, ground reaction 3-D forces were recorded with a CODA motion-capture system).
St. George does not appear to explicitly disclose: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for colors of a wearable thing is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear a wearable thing with each color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and a color of the wearable thing providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined.
Tanaka is related to St. George with respect to determining an eyewear lens color using a trunk balance measurement method (¶0011, 0025, 0027, 0029 0034-35, 0050, 0061, 0067-73, 0096, 0125), and Tanaka teaches: in the color determination step, a plurality of candidates for colors of a wearable thing is selected based on the color information acquired in the color acquisition step, then the person under evaluation is caused to wear a wearable thing with each color of the plurality of candidates in sequence, and a color of the wearable thing providing a measurement result of good trunk balance is determined (¶0027: if the prism lens 11 is made of transparent green, for example, it becomes an intermediate color between warm and cool colors, and because it is less stimulating, it can provide a sense of calm and security…green has long been believed to have an eye-soothing effect, and looking straight ahead through a green, transparent prism lens is expected to reduce eye strain; ¶0025: if the prism lens 11 is made red and transparent, it is expected that the sympathetic nervous system of the wearer P1 (see Figure 2) will become dominant over the parasympathetic nervous system; ¶0026: if the prism lens 11 is made of yellow transparent material, for example, it can stimulate the left brain of the wearer P1; ¶0066-67: The method for selecting lenses in prism glasses 1 involves performing an eyeball immobility direction determination step to determine the immobility direction of the subject P2's eyeball, and a lens selection step to select a prism lens 11 based on the immobility Direction… the subject P2 is asked to maintain the posture during the mid-stance phase of walking; ¶0001: a method for selecting lenses in prism eyeglasses; ¶0025: The prism lens 11 may be colored and transparent; ¶0096: By wearing the prism glasses 1400 for a certain period of time or longer (for example, half a day, but not limited to this), the wearer can stimulate areas of the brain that are not normally affected by shifting the image input to the eyes. Furthermore, as shown in the above embodiment, it can also be used to correct the wearer's posture; ¶0125: wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time can influence the wearer's usual posture).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of St. George in view of Tanaka to satisfy the claimed condition, because such a human wearable thing color determination is known and selected to influence and correct the wearer’s posture when wearing prism lens glasses for a certain period of time, as taught in paragraph ¶0096, 0125 of Tanaka.
Other Relevant Documents Considered
Prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure: Berme et al. (US 11,311,209 B1) discloses trunk balance measurement methods and further satisfying some of the additional conditions as claimed.
Conclusion
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/SAMANVITHA SRIDHAR/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/BUMSUK WON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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