DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The action is in response to the application filed on 03/07/2024. Claims 1-3 are pending and examined below.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1, and claims dependent thereof, 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.
Regarding claim 1, the claim in the preamble recites “A blood pressure measurement device”; but then does not recite actually measuring blood pressure. As such it is unclear as to whether then claimed device actually needs to be capable of measuring blood pressure. As such the claim is indefinite.
For the purposes of this examination, the claims are interpreted as the device measuring blood pressure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries 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 nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20200345247 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Nishida”) in view of US 10478077 B2 (hereinafter referred to as “Ono”).
Regarding claim 1, Nishida, a wrist worn blood pressure measuring device (abstract), teaches a blood pressure measurement device (abstract) comprising:
a housing (casing 11; paragraphs [0052]-[0054]; Figure 2);
a flow path plate unit accommodated in the housing and at least partially formed of a conductive material (flow path cover 34 made be made of metal; paragraphs [0059]-[0060]; as shown in Figure 11);
a pump connected to the flow path plate unit (pump 14; paragraph [0061], [0067]-[0069]; Figure 11-12);
a pressure sensor connected to the flow path plate unit (pressure sensor 17; paragraph [0070]; Figure 11-12);
a cuff connected to the flow path plate unit and fluidly connected to the pump and the pressure sensor via the flow path plate unit (pressure cuff 71; paragraph [0061], [0067]-[0069]; Figure 11-12);
but does not explicitly teach a printed circuit board accommodated in the housing and including GND; and at least one connection member that connects the GND of the printed circuit board and a part of the flow path plate unit formed of the conductive material.
However, Ono, blood pressure device, teaches a printed circuit board accommodated in the housing (claim 7) and including GND (printed circuit boards contain GNDs; claim 7); and at least one connection member that connects the GND of the printed circuit board and a part of the flow path plate unit formed of the conductive material (claim 7). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Nishida, to have a PCB, as taught by Ono, because doing so provides a processing device to control a cuff and perform calculations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2, and claims dependent thereof, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to teach or suggest all the limitations of the claim with all of the limitations of the base claim.
Conclusion
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/ABID A MUSTANSIR/ Examiner, Art Unit 3791