DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/18/2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 11 are amended, and 1-3, 5-7 and 11 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 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 under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim 1-3, 5, 7, 11 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Music (US 7,706,896), and further in view of Tolmie (US 20070180129 A1) and Zhou (US 20080221399 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 11, Music discloses a medical patient monitoring device and method for monitoring physiological information, the medical patient monitoring device comprising:
an interface configured to receive physiological information associated with at least one patient (via interface 20 coupled to sensor 16 configured to be connected to a body part to sense a patient's physiological parameters, col. 3, line 63-66, col. 4, lines 5-10 and Fig. 1); and
a detector for detecting a physical presence of a clinician token within a detection area in a vicinity of the medical patient monitoring device (door sensors 172A and 172B, col. 10, line 43-col. 12, line 10),
wherein the medical patient monitoring device further comprises a processor that is configured to take a predetermined action in response to detection of the clinician token in the detection area (if the ID tag corresponds to a caregiver, the technique 210 may next include unlocking access to the medical device at an appropriate permissions level. For example, in one embodiment, an access control system in the medical device 164 may be configured to unlock the medical device 164 and allow the medical device control system 262 to execute instructions and/or commands commensurate with the permission level of the caregiver 62, col. 12, lines 3-10).
Music fails to disclose the predetermined action comprises receiving patient physiological data and displaying the patient physiological data on the medical patient monitoring device.
Tolmie teaches a device to detect the presence of an identity token and perform a predetermined action on a medical device including receiving patient physiological data and displaying the patient physiological data on the medical device (Para. 29).
From the teachings of Tolmie, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Music to include the predetermined action comprises receiving patient physiological data and displaying the patient physiological data on the medical patient monitoring device in order to automatically present useful information to a medical professional, thereby improve convenience.
The combination of Music and Tolmie fail to disclose the patient data comprises historical physiological data from a central monitoring system and displaying the patient historical physiological data on the medical patient monitoring device, wherein the patient historical physiological data is stored remotely and made available at the medical patient monitoring device only after it is received from the central monitoring system.
Zhou teaches a system to store patient historical physiological data at a database of a central system and sharing of the stored patient historical physiological data with a medical professional at a monitor upon request by the professional (Para. 41, 52, 56).
From the teachings of Zhou, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Music and Tolmie to include the patient data comprises historical physiological data from a central monitoring system and displaying the patient historical physiological data on the medical patient monitoring device, wherein the patient historical physiological data is stored remotely and made available at the medical patient monitoring device only after it is received from the central monitoring system in order to allow viewing of remotely stored and shared information by the clinician to improve convenience.
Regarding claim 2, Music discloses wherein the predetermined action is based on a time of day that the clinician token is detected (via any time of day, an access control system in the medical device 164 may be configured to unlock the medical device 164 and allow the medical device control system 262 to execute instructions and/or commands commensurate with the permission level of the caregiver 62, col. 12, lines 3-10).
Regarding claim 3, Music discloses wherein the processor is configured to take the predetermined action if the clinician token is detected during normal waking hours, and to take a second predetermined action if the clinician token is detected during normal sleeping hours (via first action of unlock the medical device 164 and second action of unlock the medical device 164 during normal waking hours and during normal sleeping hours, col. 12, lines 3-10).
Regarding claim 5, Music discloses wherein the predetermined action is based on a length of uninterrupted time that the clinician token remains in the vicinity of the medical patient monitoring device after having been detected (via detecting caregiver ID 168 in a duration, an access control system in the medical device 164 may be configured to unlock the medical device 164 and allow the medical device control system 262 to execute instructions and/or commands commensurate with the permission level of the caregiver 62, col. 12, lines 3-10).
Regarding claim 7, Music discloses wherein the clinician token is indicative of an identity of a clinician, and wherein the predetermined action is also associated with an attribute of the identity of the clinician (via detecting caregiver ID 168, an access control system in the medical device 164 may be configured to unlock the medical device 164 and allow the medical device control system 262 to execute instructions and/or commands commensurate with the permission level of the caregiver 62, col. 12, lines 3-10).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Music in view of Tolmie and Zhou, and further in view of Koblasz (US 20090051545 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Music, Tolmie and Zhou fail to disclose wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether or not a sanitation device in proximity to the medical patient monitoring device has been used within a predetermined period of time before the clinician token is detected in the vicinity of the medical patient monitoring device, and prevent operation of medical patient monitoring device based on determining that the sanitation device was not used within a predetermined period of time.
Koblasz teaches a system to detect whether a sanitation device in proximity to an identification device has been used before granting access to a medical service (Para. 78-81).
From the teachings of Koblasz, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Music, Tolmie and Zhou to include the limitations cited above in order to improve safety by preventing use of the medical monitoring device unless sanitation is done.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/18/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection based on new reference (US 20080221399 A1) not presented before.
Double Patenting Rejections are now withdrawn in view of the changes to the amended claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang (US 20100081891 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONG HANG JIANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins Feild can be reached at (571)272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YONG HANG JIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689