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 .
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Odland (US 2023/0390562 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Odland discloses an implantable medical device, comprising: an implantable microphone arrangement configured to be implanted in a recipient (par 0119), wherein the implantable microphone arrangement comprises an acoustic sensor configured to detect acoustic signals (par 0119) and a vibration sensor configured to detect vibration signals (par 0161, 0273); and a heartbeat detection module configured to filter at least the vibration signals to generate a heartbeat signal representing a heartbeat of the recipient (par 0011, 0024-0025, 0139, 0171-0172).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 20-25 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.
Claims 10-19 and 26-28 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lindsey G Wehrheim whose telephone number is (571)270-5181. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niketa Patel can be reached at (571) 272-4156. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Lindsey G Wehrheim
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3799
/LINDSEY G WEHRHEIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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