DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I in the reply filed on 8/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 7-14 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 8/05/2026.
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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) as a whole, considering all claim elements both individually and in combination, do not amount to significantly more than
an abstract idea. A streamlined analysis of claim 1 follows.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites a muscle strength evaluation device. Thus, the claim is directed to a machine/apparatus, which is one of the statutory
categories of invention. The claim is then analyzed to determine whether it is directed to any judicial exception. The following limitations set forth a judicial exception:
"estimating a muscle strength …acquire feature data including a feature quantity used for estimation of a muscle strength of an evaluation target muscle related to a fall risk, the feature quantity data being extracted from sensor data related to movement of a user’s foot… evaluate a muscle strength of the evaluation target muscle of the user…output information regarding an evaluation result."
These limitations describe a mathematical calculation. Furthermore, the limitations also describe a mental process as the skilled artisan is capable of performing the recited limitations and making a mental assessment thereafter. Examiner also notes that nothing from the claims suggest that the limitations cannot be practically performed by a human, or using simple pen/paper.
Next, the claim as a whole is analyzed to determine whether any element, or combination of elements, integrates the identified judicial exception into a practical application. For this part of the 101 analysis, the following additional limitations are considered:
"a muscle strength evaluation device comprising: a storage configured to store…a memory storing instructions…a processor connected to the memory and configured to execute the instructions…".
These additional limitations do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical
application. Rather, the additional limitations are each recited at a high level of generality such that it amounts to insignificant extra-solution activity, e.g., mere data gathering steps necessary to perform the identified judicial exception do not integrate the claims into a practical application. See MPEP 2106.05(g).
The additional limitations also do not add significantly more to the identified judicial exception because they are recited at a high level of generality. Moreover, Examiner takes official notice that "a sensor configured to obtain an electrical signal including data associated with motility in a gastrointestinal tract of a patient" is widely- understood, routine, and conventional.
Dependent claims 2-6 also fail to add something more to the abstract independent claims as they merely further limit the abstract idea, recite limitations that do not integrate the claims into a practical application for substantially similar reasons as set forth above, and/or do not recite significantly more than the identified abstract idea for substantially similar reasons as set forth above.
Therefore, claims 1-6 are not patent eligible under 35 USC 101.
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 1-6 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the evaluation target muscle", “the estimation model”, “the user”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the evaluation target muscle". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3-6 recites the limitation “the user”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiotani et al (“Estimation of lower limb muscle strength by gender using lower leg motion measurement during daily walking”).
Regarding claim 1, Shiotani et al discloses A muscle strength evaluation device comprising: a storage configured to store an estimation model that outputs a muscle strength index of the evaluation target muscle (Sections 2.2-2.3) according to an input of feature amount data used for estimating a muscle strength of an evaluation target muscle related to a fall risk (Section 3.1-3.2); a memory storing instructions (Section 2.3, section 4); and
a processor connected to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to (“Section 3 describes the processing method…”, page 1, second column, first paragraph):
acquire feature quantity data including a feature quantity used for estimation of a muscle strength of an evaluation target muscle related to a fall risk, the feature quantity data being extracted from sensor data related to movement of a user's foot (Section 2.2-2.3);
input the acquired feature quantity data to the estimation model and evaluate a muscle strength of the evaluation target muscle of the user according to the muscle strength index output from the estimation model (Sections 3.1-3.2); and
output information regarding an evaluation result related to the muscle strength of the evaluation target muscle of the user (Section 4).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YASMEEN S WARSI whose telephone number is (571)272-9942. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am to 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Valvis can be reached at 571-272-4233. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YASMEEN S WARSI/ Examiner, Art Unit 3791 /ALEX M VALVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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