DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the application filed on 15 April 2024.
Claims 1-16 are presented for 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 (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.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mackellar et al. US 20180317794 A1.
As to claim 1, Mackellar discloses, substantially the invention as claimed, including a communicating device (Figures 1-3, a biosignal sensor subsystem 110) for a user having a scalp and a skull bone, comprising:
(a) a microphone embedded between the scalp and the skull bone of the user so as to sense user-generated sound vibrations corresponding to sounds generated by the user from the skull bone and to generate a first electrical signal representative thereof (the set of sensors 120, which individually or collectively function to detect and/or measure one or more biosignals from a user,.. The sensors 120 preferably electrodes, but can include audio sensor, such as microphones, [37]);
(b) a speaker embedded between the scalp and a skull bone of the user so as to transmit received sound vibrations to the skull bone in response to a second electrical signal, wherein the received sound vibrations are sensed by the user (the electronics subsystem 160 can include a signal processing module 168 comprising an amplifier that functions to amplify a detected biosignal in order to facilitate signal processing by the system 100, …, in one variation, the amplifier is placed after a multiplexer in order to amplify a single output line, .. [108]-[109]); and
(c) a chipset (the electronics subsystem 160) embedded between the scalp and a skull bone of the user, the chipset electrically coupled to the microphone so as to receive the first electrical signal and electrically coupled to the speaker so as to generate the second electrical signal, the chipset including a circuit that is configured to communicate with a remote wireless communication device (Figure 3, user mobile device) (the electronics subsystem 160 comprises a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) configured to provide a substrate and connections for elements of the electronics subsystem 106. In a specific example, the PCB is coated in a biocompatible material to facilitate subcutaneous insertion and long-term (permanent, semi-permanent) emplacement beneath the skin of the user. In this specific example, the electronics subsystem 160 is preferably encapsulated and includes a wireless communication module and inductive charging capability (e.g., a slave coil that can be inductively coupled to an external master coil to facilitate charging of the electronics subsystem), [102]) .
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the communication art to recognize that the claimed elements of “microphone”, “speaker” “chipset” in a biocompatible envelope are equivalent to Mackellar’s electronics subsystem 160 to perform collecting the biosignals from user and further processing in order to facilitate handling of detected biosignals and signal processing communicating with the remote wireless communication device (Mackellar, [108]-[109], [112]-[118]).
As to claim 2, Mackellar discloses, wherein the chipset comprises a cellular chipset and wherein the remote wireless communication device comprises a cellular telephone tower (The user mobile device comprises the cellular module used for relaying or communicating with an external element, [114]).
As to claim 3, Mackellar discloses, further comprising: (a) a battery that powers the chipset; and (b) a wireless power transfer device embedded between the scalp and a skull bone that recharges the battery (the power module 164, [103]-[106]).
As to claim 4, Mackellar discloses, wherein the microphone is surrounded by a biocompatible envelope (Figures 1-3 and associated paragraphs, [37], [101]-[103]).
As to claim 5, Mackellar discloses, wherein the biocompatible envelope comprises at least one of polyamide, polytetrafluoroethylene, or a poly (p-xylylene) polymer (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs).
As to claim 6, Mackellar discloses, wherein the speaker is surrounded by a biocompatible envelope (Figures 1-3 and associated paragraphs).
As to claim 7, Mackellar discloses, wherein the biocompatible envelope comprises at least one of polyamide, polytetrafluoroethylene, or a poly (p-xylylene) polymer (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs)..
As to claim 8, Mackellar discloses, wherein the microphone is placed adjacent to a selected one of a frontal bone or a parietal bone of the skull bone (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs).
As to claim 9, Mackellar discloses, wherein the speaker is placed adjacent to a temporal bone of the skull bone (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs).
As to claim 10, Mackellar discloses, wherein the sounds comprise verbal sounds (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs).
Claim 11 has similar limitations of claims 1, 3, 4, 6; therefore, claim 11 is rejected under the sale rationale as in claims 1, 3, 4, 6 as shown above.
As to claim 12, Mackellar discloses, wherein the chipset comprises a cellular chipset and wherein the remote wireless communication device comprises a cellular telephone tower (The user mobile device comprises the cellular module used for relaying or communicating with an external element, [114]).
As to claim 13, Mackellar discloses, wherein the biocompatible envelope comprises at least one of polyamide, polytetrafluoroethylene, or a poly (p-xylylene) polymer (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs). .
As to claim 14, Mackellar discloses, wherein the microphone is placed within the biocompatible envelope so as to be adjacent to a selected one of a frontal bone or a parietal bone of the skull bone when the biocompatible envelope is embedded between the skull bone and the scalp (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs).
As to claim 15, Mackellar discloses, wherein the speaker is placed within the biocompatible envelope so as to be adjacent to a temporal bone of the skull bone when the biocompatible envelope is embedded between the skull bone and the scalp (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs)..
As to claim 16, Mackellar discloses, wherein the sounds comprise verbal sounds (Figures 1-5 and associated paragraphs)..
The prior art cited in this Office action is: Mackellar et al. US 20180317794 A1.
Conclusion
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/HAI V NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649 .