DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 13-18 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 13, Ln. 2 recites “said chamber” which should read “said humidification chamber” for consistency with claim 8
Claim 18, Ln. 2 recites “based on ambient humidity” which should read “based on the ambient humidity” for consistency with claim 8
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 8-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) steps of 1) obtaining an indication of an initial water level measure, 2) determining an evaporation rate of water in the humidification chamber using a measure of ambient humidity, and 3) determining a remaining water level measure in the humidification chamber based on the initial water level measure and the evaporation rate. The first of those three steps merely amounts to pre-solution data collection. The second and third of the three steps merely amount to mathematical calculations which are able to be performed mentally or by hand. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim does not use its determination of the remaining water level measure to perform any meaningful action beyond the abstract idea of calculating the remaining water level measure. It is noted that the claimed steps do not need to occur with any particular timing and do not even positively require active use of the humidification chamber. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claim only generically recites the humidification chamber and the humidified gases delivery system in attempting to establish the context of the claim. A humidification chamber and a humidified gases delivery system are merely conventional elements used in respiratory therapy. Further, while the claim recites its three steps as performed by an electronic controller the use of an electronic structure to perform steps otherwise able to be manually performed is only using the electronic structure as a tool to perform a mental process and fails to add significantly more than the abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(C)).
Each of claims 9-11 and 13-19 only recite further mathematical calculation steps able to performed mentally and or by hand. Claim 12 only recites the further structure of a humidity sensor. However, humidity sensors are a common form of sensor in the humidification art and thus fail to meaningfully extend beyond the abstract idea of the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-22 are allowed over the prior art. Claims 8-19 are solely rejected based upon the above 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 8, the prior art fails to teach or suggest a method of determining an amount of water in a humidification chamber within a humidified gases delivery system according to the particular steps recited by the instant claim. Specifically, the claim requires the steps of obtaining an indication of an initial water level measure, determining an evaporation rate of water in the humidification chamber using a measure of ambient humidity, and determining a remaining water level measure in the humidification chamber based on the initial water level measure and the evaporation rate. The particular context of the claim as operating in regard to a humidification chamber within a humidified gases delivery system is also noted.
Closest prior art to the instant claim is McPhee (U.S. Pub. 2002/0129815) which teaches various operations such as determining of how much power to apply to achieve a desired evaporation rate (¶¶0130-0138) and determination of a water out alarm (¶¶0161-0173). However, McPhee fails to teach or suggest using a measure of ambient humidity to determine an evaporation rate of water in the humidification chamber and then determining a remaining water level measure in the humidification chamber based on the initial water level measure and the evaporation rate. McPhee instead as fully different methods of determining a remaining water level measure.
There is no other prior art relatable to the context of the instant claim which is found to use ambient humidity in a suitably relatable determination of an evaporation rate which is then used to determine a remaining water level.
It is thus found that one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing of the invention would only have arrived at the instantly claimed invention by way of improper hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH D BOECKER whose telephone number is (571)270-0376. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
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, Kendra Carter can be reached at (571) 272-9034. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOSEPH D. BOECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785
Prosecution Insights