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 . The instant application with Application Number 18/584,755 filed on 02/22/2024 is presented for examination. Claims 1-15 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statements dated 01/29/2026 and 12/09/2025 are acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haverinen et al. (US 2023/0205636) (Hereinafter, Haverinen) in view of Doval et al. (US 2024/0008205).
With respect to claims 1 and 8-9, Haverinen discloses a charger device (Fig. 3, 305), comprising: a charging post comprising a plurality of portions (Fig. 4, base 410 and support 405) wherein the charging post is configured to receive a wearable ring device (Fig. 4, 104-a; Para. #: charging device 305-a, which may charge the wearable device 104-a.)
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and a charging element disposed within one or more of the plurality of portions of the charging post and configured to charge the wearable ring device through direct or indirect electrical coupling with an additional charging element of the wearable ring device when the wearable ring device is received by the charging (Para. # 0110: the wearable device 104-b in a defined radial position relative to the charging component 104-b for wireless charging. For instance, if the wearable device 104-b is placed on the charging component 305-b in a non-charging position (e.g., rotated with respect to the charging position).
Haverinen does not expressly disclose plurality of portions is configured to move in a first direction relative to a second portion, and a locking component configured to prevent the first portion to move relative to the second portion when the charger device is in a locked configuration.
Doval, on the other hand, discloses wherein a first portion of the plurality of portions is configured to move in a first direction relative to a second portion of the plurality of portions (See Fig. 8, ring 805-b move to a different direction-top and bottom parts; Para. # 0062: The charger may include a datum structure that mates with a ring 104 datum structure to create a specified orientation with the ring 104 during 104 charging), and
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a locking component configured to prevent the first portion to move relative to the second portion when the charger device is in a locked configuration (Fig. 6, locking component 620);
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HAVERINEN and Doval are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely universal charger and wireless connection for ring wearable device.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a plurality of portions and a locking element to the ring charging system to the universal charger of Haverinen in view of Doval for the benefit of charging the wearable device, such as a ring by moving to the convenient direction of the parts in order to accommodate the charger elements so that the locking mechanism locked for efficient charging when proper position or orientation is attained.
With respect to claims 2 and 3, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Doval discloses wherein the first portion is configured to stop moving in the first direction relative to the second portion based at least in part on the first portion and the second portion being against an inner surface of the wearable ring device (Para. # 102/134: the cover 310 may be mounted or attached to an inner circumferential surface of the ring 305. For example, a ring-shaped housing of the cover 310 may at least partially surround the ring 305 when the cover 310 is in the mounted state).
With respect to claim 4, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses further comprising: a spring mechanism configured to exert a mechanical force on at least the first portion to move the first portion in the first direction relative to the second portion when the locking component is released, wherein the first portion and the second portion are positioned against the inner surface of the wearable ring devices based at least in part on the mechanical force being exerted on at least the first portion (Para. # 0037: a temperature sensor 240 (or other sensor) may be attached to a user's finger (e.g., using a clamps, spring loaded clamps, etc.).
With respect to claims 5-7, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Doval discloses wherein the locking component is coupled with the spring mechanism to prevent the spring mechanism from exerting the mechanical force on at least the first portion when the charger device is in the locked configuration (Para. # 0037: a power source, and device electronics configured to read the single temperature sensor 24; may be attached to a user's finger (e.g., using a clamps, spring loaded clamps, etc.).
With respect to claim 10, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses wherein one or more of the plurality of portions of the charging post comprise one or more geometric features that are configured to interface with one or more additional geometric features of the wearable ring device to orient the wearable ring device in a first radial orientation (Para. # 0028-0029: may support techniques for a charging device which may charge wearable devices 104 of multiple sizes, shapes, or both. configured to charge wearable devices 104 of varying sizes and/or shapes).
With respect to claim 11, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses wherein the charging element is configured to charge the wearable ring device based at least in part on the wearable ring device being oriented in the first radial orientation (Para. # 0050: The charger may include a datum structure that mates with a ring 104 datum structure to create a specified orientation with the ring 104 during 104 charging).
With respect to claims 12 and 13, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses wherein the plurality of portions of the charging post are configured to place the charging element within a threshold distance of the additional charging element of the wearable ring device to charge the wearable ring device (Para. # the charging position may be based on a threshold distance between the wearable device 104 and the charging device (e.g., may satisfy a threshold distance).
With respect to claim 14, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses further comprising: a magnetic component disposed within one or more of the plurality of portions of the charging post and configured to interact with one or more magnetic components of the wearable ring device to orient the wearable ring device in a first radial orientation for charging of the wearable ring device (Para. # 0084/0085: the charging device may include a magnetic component that attracts a magnetic component on a wearable device 104. A magnetic force between the magnetic components of the charging device and the wearable device 104 may orient the wearable device 104 in a charging position relative to the charging device).
With respect to claim 15, the combined references of Haverinen and Doval disclose the charger device as described above, further Haverinen discloses, wherein the charging element comprises a transmitter coil, ferrite tape, or both (Para. # 0090-0092: the housing 205 may also store a magnetic component 320-a (e.g., ferrite tape, other charging magnet, a transmitter coil, a rare earth magnet, or the like).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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