DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-10 are presented for examination on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morris (US 11969578 B2) in view of Delaney (US 11178267 B1).
As to claim 1, Morris discloses in methods for providing an alert or an alarm to a user of a mobile communications device having claimed:
a. a user terminal held by a user, the user terminal read on Col. 11, Lines 1-33, (FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an inter-app communications architecture 100 on a mobile computing device 130 to facilitate data distribution and inter-app transitions between a source app 101 and one or more target apps 102a, 102b, . . . 102n that may be linked to the source app 101);
b. processing circuitry configured to perform a notification for the user using at least one of a sound or a vibration read on Col. 35, Lines 15-32, (for patient users' mobile computing devices that include appropriate vibration hardware to create a vibrate action (such as smartphones), the CGM app 410 is configured to override the mute switch set by the patient user on their smartphone, such as phone calls, texts, notifications, or other alerts, to reliably alert the patient user of his glucose condition in a manner that respects the user's desire to be uninterrupted, and therefore reduce alert fatigue. As a mobile medical device app, it is necessary that a patient user receives the alarms pertaining to their medical condition (e.g., glucose levels and trend) to promptly and properly react to their condition);
c. control operations to execute a dummy notification not including details of which the user is to be notified at a predetermined notification timing read on Col. 35, Line 65 – Col. 36, Line 2, (the escalation sequence includes: (i) the smartphone sending, based on instruction from the CGM app 410, a local notification with the selected alert sound (without mute override) and vibrating concurrently);
d. a regular notification including details of which the user is to be notified read on Col. 24, Lines 10-43, (For example, the CGM device 420 sends the glucose data (e.g., a new glucose value) every 5 minutes, and receives reference capillary blood glucose measurements when entered by the user for calibration. The receiver device and CGM app 410 display the glucose readings and alert the user when glucose levels are outside of a target zone. In some implementations, the alerts are generated by the CGM app 410 executed on the smartphone when the received glucose data exceeds a predetermined threshold. The CGM app 410 can also provide connectivity to the remote monitoring service (e.g., Dexcom Share service), e.g., for secondary display on a Remote Monitoring app on a remote monitor's smartphone (e.g., the Dexcom Follow App). The CGM app 410 integrates the functionality of the remote monitoring system for a host (e.g., Dexcom Share), allowing patient CGM data to be shared with remote monitors (e.g., host-selected individuals, like friends and family) in real time). Morris does not explicitly recite set a sound level or a vibration intensity of the dummy notification to be lower than a sound level or a vibration intensity of the regular notification,
wherein the regular notification is a notification configured to cause a user to check or use the user terminal and is a notification from an actual application, from a plurality of applications, operating on the user terminal; and the dummy notification is a notification in which only a notification sound or vibration is output and is not from any of the plurality of applications operating on the user terminal.
However, Delaney in managing accessibility features for mobile devices cures this deficiency by teaching that it may be beneficial:
e. set a sound level or a vibration intensity of the dummy notification to be lower than a sound level or a vibration intensity of the regular notification, wherein the regular notification is a notification configured to cause a user to check or use the user terminal and is a notification from an actual application, from a plurality of applications, operating on the user terminal; and the dummy notification is a notification in which only a notification sound or vibration is output and is not from any of the plurality of applications operating on the user terminal read on Col. 1, Line 55 – Col. 2, Line 5 & Col. 7, Lines 15-32, (mobile devices (e.g., cellular phones) are ubiquitous in contemporary lifestyle, assisting users of the mobile devices in many business and/or personal environments. The users may access applications and/or functions stored in the mobile devices assisted by various features designed to improve access (“accessibility features”) of the mobile devices. Such accessibility features can facilitate the users interfacing with the mobile devices and may be referred to as user-interface parameters. The user-interface parameters may be configured to generate output to the users or to receive input from the users, or both. In some embodiments, the user-interface parameters include a size of various items to display on the screen (e.g., characters, graphical elements and/or icons corresponding to applications of the mobile device), a volume level (e.g., a ringtone volume), a vibration mode, an illumination alert mode, a brightness level of the screen, a voice-recognition sensitivity level, a gesture-perception sensitivity level, or the like. The mobile device 110 may store a first plurality of settings provided by the user, where individual settings of the first plurality each correspond to individual user-interface parameters of the first subset. The mobile device 110 may also generate a second accessibility icon corresponding to a second subset of user-interface parameters selected by the user (e.g., the ringtone volume, the illumination alert level, the font size of text messages). The mobile device 110 may also store a second plurality of settings provided by the user, where individual settings of the second plurality each correspond to individual user-interface parameters of the second subset. Similarly, the mobile device 110 may generate additional (e.g., three (3), four (4), or even more) accessibility icons based on the user's input).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the managing accessibility features for mobile device of Delaney into Morris in order to provide a user device where individual values correspond to individual user-interface parameters where individual settings of the plurality each correspond to individual user-interface parameters of the group to generate multiple accessibility icons that each correspond to different groups (e.g., collections) of user-interface parameters.
As to claim 2, Morris further discloses:
a. wherein the notification timing includes a time set in advance read on Col. 34, Line 46 – Col. 35, Line 10, ( Upon selection of one of the two profiles (e.g., the second profile in some implementations), the alert profile set-up method includes a process to allow the user to set the start and stop times of that respective profile. Upon setting the start/stop times for the one profile, the alert profile set-up method can include a process to automatically set the other profile to the time period outside the set profile time range. For example, if the user selects a start/stop time for the second profile (e.g., work profile) as 9 am to 5 pm, then the alert profile set-up method can automatically set the first profile (e.g., non-work profile) as 12:00:00 am to 8:59:59 am and 5:00:01 pm to 11:59:59 pm for each calendar day).
As to claim 10, the claim is interpreted and rejected as to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3, and 5-7 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. However, an updated search will need to be performed after the next response from Applicant.
Claims 4, 8 and 9 are also objected to as being directly or indirectly dependent of claims 3 and 7.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-2 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection that was necessitated by Applicant's amendment.
Citation of pertinent Prior Arts
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: see PTO-892 Notice of References Cited.
Conclusion
8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fekadeselassie Girma whose telephone number is (571)270-5886. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30am - 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta W. Goins can be reached on (571) 272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Fekadeselassie Girma/
Primary Examiner Art Unit 2689