DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 2-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over the claims of U.S. Patent No(s). 9,965,946, 10,672,260, 11,645,905 and 12,142,136. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of Application No. 18/908,267 are obvious variants of the claims of U.S. Patent No(s). 9,965,946, 10,672,260, 11,645,905 and 12,142,136.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2, 7, 8, 11, 18 and 19 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kiani (US 2011/0001605 A1) in view of Cossins (US 7,447,509 B2).
Regarding claim 2, Kiani discloses a method for monitoring overall health of a physiological monitoring system in a plurality of physiological monitoring systems (see at least Figure 1, item 100 | [0076] note a first physiological monitoring system (100) includes one (or more) patient monitoring device(s) (110) | [0426] note various aspects and features described herein can be combined together and still fall within the scope of the invention | [0147] note the network (610) can interconnect devices (640), which are patient monitoring device(s) (110), from multiple hospitals or clinical locations, which may be remote from one another),
wherein the physiological monitoring system comprises one or more patient monitoring devices (see at least Figure 1, item 100, 106 and 110 | [0076] note the first physiological monitoring system (100) includes one (or more) patient monitoring device(s) (110) | [0079] note the first physiological monitoring system (100) includes a patient monitoring device (110) and the network interface module (106)),
wherein the one or more patient monitoring devices each comprise one or more sensors configured to obtain physiological information when coupled to a patient (see at least Figure 1, item 102 | [0079] note the sensor (102) | [0081] note a sensor (102) of the patient monitoring device (110) is attached to a medical patient),
the one or more patient monitoring devices configured to communicate via a network associated with the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0076] note the network interface module (106) transmits information over the network), the method comprising:
as implemented by one or more computer systems comprising computer hardware and memory, the one or more computer systems configured with specific executable instructions (see at least Figure 5, item 500 | [0137] note the alarm notification system (500) server, and that servers comprise hardware and memory with executable instructions | [0136] note the server’s (500) communication interface (550) | [0423-0425] note processor, memory and instructions),
receiving, from the physiological monitoring system, a plurality of metrics of the physiological monitoring system, the plurality of metrics being indicative of the overall health of the physiological monitoring system (see at least Figure 1, item 106 | [0089] note the network interface module (106), of the first physiological monitoring system (100), performs context management, which includes as least associating context information with physiological information to form a contextual data package, wherein the context information may include the categories of context information related to the network interface module (106), context information related to usage of the network interface module (106), context information related to a network connection, etc., and within one or more of these context categories, context information might include environmental conditions such as changes to the state of the network, usage statistics of the network interface module (106), etc.); and
strongly suggests, causing display of the plurality of metrics in a status pane (see at least [0133] note the service module (536), of the server (500), provides interfaces for various technical support actors to access system performance data to access performance, for example, data traffic, device assets connected, software version management, CPU loading, network loading, etc. and execute remote technical service procedures, for example, resetting a printer queue, repartition of disk, uploading software patches, etc.).
However, Kiana does not specifically disclose in response to a user selection of the physiological monitoring system from a display of graphical indications of the plurality of physiological monitoring systems, causing display of the plurality of metrics in a status pane; based on an analysis of the plurality of metrics, determining or predicting an issue with the physiological monitoring system; in response to determining or predicting the issue, generating a notification; and causing for display the notification in the status pane.
It is known to monitor devices in different ways. For example, Cossins teaches a monitoring system that in response to a user selection of the first monitoring system from a display of graphical indications of the plurality of monitoring systems, causing display of the plurality of metrics in a status pane; based on an analysis of the plurality of metrics, determining or predicting an issue with the first monitoring system; in response to determining or predicting the issue, generating a notification; and causing for display the notification in the status pane (see at least col. 3, lines 44-52, note alarm data | col. 11, lines 54-67, note alarm data | Figures 22B-23, note the displayed geographic region (MTA) and graphical indications of a plurality of monitoring systems (cells) | col. 25, lines 45-53, note when a cell is selected, as from the map, the system defaults to display the network statistics for the BTS statistics tab in the MDO | col. 17, lines 3-11, note displayed metrics in response to a selected cell | col. 13, lines 11-52; note a user can configure the GMS to display a concentric circle as a performance element and having a red color as the performance characteristic when a critical level of five hundred dropped calls is reached, or when X number of drops and Y number of blocks is reached | col. 14, line 35 – col. 15, line 3 | col. 18, line 8 – col. 19, line 55 | col. 5, lines 1-9, note network interface | col. 36, lines 29-49, note performance metrics are dynamic and rendered dynamically | col. 7, lines 19-48 | col. 21, line 55 – col. 22, line 27).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to incorporate the features of Cossins into Kiani. This provides the ability for Kiani’s technical support actors (see [0133] of Kiani) to view a plurality of performance metrics of a plurality of physiological monitoring systems at a glance (see col. 13, lines 11-40 of Cossins) to see if anything needs to be addressed.
Regarding claim 7, Kiani in view of Cossins wherein the plurality of metrics comprise a processor utilization, a memory utilization, a number of times a notification system associated with the physiological monitoring system failed, a number of errors generated, and/or a number of times at least one of the one or more patient monitoring devices disconnected from the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0133] of Kiani, note CPU loading).
Regarding claim 8, Kiani in view of Cossins teach wherein the plurality of metrics comprise a number of times at least one of the one or more patient monitoring devices generated an alarm condition, a number of times the alarm condition lasted more than a threshold amount of time, and/or a number of times the alarm condition lasted less than the threshold amount of time (see at least [0133] of Kiani, note devices connected is a performance metric | col. 13, lines 23-40 of Cossins, note a critical level is reached when a certain number of drops or disconnections occur).
Regarding claim 11, Kiani discloses a system for monitoring overall health of a physiological monitoring system in a plurality of physiological monitoring systems (see at least Figure 1, item 100 | [0076] note a first physiological monitoring system (100) includes one (or more) patient monitoring device(s) (110) | [0426] note various aspects and features described herein can be combined together and still fall within the scope of the invention | [0147] note the network (610) can interconnect devices (640), which are patient monitoring device(s) (110), from multiple hospitals or clinical locations, which may be remote from one another),
wherein the physiological monitoring system comprises one or more patient monitoring devices (see at least Figure 1, item 100, 106 and 110 | [0076] note the first physiological monitoring system (100) includes one (or more) patient monitoring device(s) (110) | [0079] note the first physiological monitoring system (100) includes a patient monitoring device (110) and the network interface module (106)),
wherein the one or more patient monitoring devices each comprise one or more sensors configured to obtain physiological information when coupled to a patient (see at least Figure 1, item 102 | [0079] note the sensor (102) | [0081] note a sensor (102) of the patient monitoring device (110) is attached to a medical patient),
the one or more patient monitoring devices configured to communicate via a network associated with the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0076] note the network interface module (106) transmits information over the network), the system comprising:
a communication interface configured to receive from the physiological monitoring system a plurality of metrics indicative of the overall health of the physiological monitoring system (see at least Figure 5, item 500 | [0137] note the alarm notification system (500) server, and that servers comprise hardware and memory with executable instructions | [0136] note the server’s (500) communication interface (550) | [0423-0425] note processor, memory and instructions | [0426] note various aspects and features described herein can be combined together and still fall within the scope of the invention | [0147] note the network (610) can interconnect devices (640), which are patient monitoring device(s) (110), from multiple hospitals or clinical locations, which may be remote from one another | Figure 1, item 106 | [0089] note the network interface module (106), of the first physiological monitoring system (100), performs context management, which includes as least associating context information with physiological information to form a contextual data package, wherein the context information may include the categories of context information related to the network interface module (106), context information related to usage of the network interface module (106), context information related to a network connection, etc., and within one or more of these context categories, context information might include environmental conditions such as changes to the state of the network, usage statistics of the network interface module (106), etc.),
wherein the communication interface is configured to communicate with each physiological monitoring system in the plurality of physiological monitoring systems (see at least Figure 6, item 500 | [0147] note the network (610) can interconnect devices (640), which are patient monitoring device(s) (110), from multiple hospitals or clinical locations, which may be remote from one another);
a memory configured to store the plurality of metrics (see at least [0133] | [0423-0425] note processor, memory and instructions);
a processor (see at least [0423-0425] note processor, memory and instructions) configured to:
strongly suggested, cause to display the plurality of metrics in a status pane (see at least [0133] note the service module (536), of the server (500), provides interfaces for various technical support actors to access system performance data to access performance, for example, data traffic, device assets connected, software version management, CPU loading, network loading, etc. and execute remote technical service procedures, for example, resetting a printer queue, repartition of disk, uploading software patches, etc.).
However, Kiani does not specifically disclose in response to a user selection of the physiological monitoring system from a display of graphical indications of the plurality of physiological monitoring systems, cause to display the plurality of metrics in a status pane; based on an analysis of the plurality of metrics, determine or predict an issue with the physiological monitoring system; generate a notification in response to determining or predicting the issue; and cause for display the notification in the status pane.
It is known to monitor devices in different ways. For example, Cossins teaches a monitoring system that in response to a user selection of a first monitoring system from a display of graphical indications of a plurality of monitoring systems, cause to display the plurality of metrics in a status pane; based on an analysis of the plurality of metrics, determine or predict an issue with the first monitoring system; generate a notification in response to determining or predicting the issue; and cause for display the notification in the status pane (see at least col. 3, lines 44-52, note alarm data | col. 11, lines 54-67, note alarm data | Figures 22B-23, note the displayed geographic region (MTA) and graphical indications of a plurality of monitoring systems (cells) | col. 25, lines 45-53, note when a cell is selected, as from the map, the system defaults to display the network statistics for the BTS statistics tab in the MDO | col. 17, lines 3-11, note displayed metrics in response to a selected cell | col. 13, lines 11-52; note a user can configure the GMS to display a concentric circle as a performance element and having a red color as the performance characteristic when a critical level of five hundred dropped calls is reached, or when X number of drops and Y number of blocks is reached | col. 14, line 35 – col. 15, line 3 | col. 18, line 8 – col. 19, line 55 | col. 5, lines 1-9, note network interface | col. 36, lines 29-49, note performance metrics are dynamic and rendered dynamically | col. 7, lines 19-48 | col. 21, line 55 – col. 22, line 27).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to incorporate the features of Cossins into Kiani. This provides the ability for Kiani’s technical support actors (see [0133] of Kiani) to view a plurality of performance metrics of a plurality of physiological monitoring systems at a glance (see col. 13, lines 11-40 of Cossins) to see if anything needs to be addressed.
Regarding claim 18, Kiani in view of Cossins teach wherein the plurality of metrics comprise a processor utilization, a memory utilization, a number of times a notification system associated with the physiological monitoring system failed, a number of errors generated, and/or a number of times at least one of the one or more patient monitoring devices disconnected from the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0133] of Kiani, note CPU loading).
Regarding claim 19, Kiani in view of Cossins teach wherein the plurality of metrics comprise a number of times at least one of the one or more patient monitoring devices generated an alarm condition, a number of times the alarm condition lasted more than a threshold amount of time, and/or a number of times the alarm condition lasted less than the threshold amount of time (see at least [0133] of Kiani, note devices connected is a performance metric | col. 13, lines 23-40 of Cossins, note a critical level is reached when a certain number of drops or disconnections occur).
Claims 3, 4, 15 and 16 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kiani (US 2011/0001605 A1) in view of Cossins (US 7,447,509 B2) as applied to claims 2 and 11 above, and in further view of O'Hara (US 2008/0202606 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Kiani in view of Cossins do not specifically teach wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics comprises comparing each of the plurality of metrics with a baseline.
It is known to use threshold or baselines in data comparison. For example, O'Hara teaches a system wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics comprises comparing each of the plurality of metrics with a baseline (see at least [0020] note repair or replacement is required if the resulting difference between the baseline reading or measurement and the current measured value exceeds or falls below a threshold (e.g., a relative change and/or an absolute change | [0021] note other metrics can be monitored as well | [0022] note alert).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to incorporate the features of O'Hara into Kiani in view of Cossins. This provides the ability to obtain an empirically and/or theoretically determined baseline for comparison to current readings/measurements to help determine potential failure/replacement.
Regarding claim 4, Kiani in view of Cossins and O'Hara teach wherein the issue is determined or predicted in response to one of the plurality of metrics deviating from the baseline by a predetermined amount (see at least [0020] of O'Hara, note repair or replacement is required if the resulting difference between the baseline reading or measurement and the current measured value exceeds or falls below a threshold (e.g., a relative change and/or an absolute change | [0021] of O'Hara, note other metrics can be monitored as well | [0022] of O'Hara, note alert).
Regarding claim 15, Kiani in view of Cossins and O'Hara teach wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics comprises comparing each of the plurality of metrics with a baseline, the memory configured to store the baseline (see at least [0020] of O'Hara, note repair or replacement is required if the resulting difference between the baseline reading or measurement and the current measured value exceeds or falls below a threshold (e.g., a relative change and/or an absolute change | [0021] of O'Hara, note other metrics can be monitored as well | [0022] of O'Hara, note alert).
Regarding claim 16, Kiani in view of Cossins and O'Hara teach wherein the issue is determined or predicted in response to one of the plurality of metrics deviating from the baseline by a predetermined amount (see at least [0020] of O'Hara, note repair or replacement is required if the resulting difference between the baseline reading or measurement and the current measured value exceeds or falls below a threshold (e.g., a relative change and/or an absolute change | [0021] of O'Hara, note other metrics can be monitored as well | [0022] of O'Hara, note alert).
Claims 5, 6 and 17 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kiani (US 2011/0001605 A1) in view of Cossins (US 7,447,509 B2) as applied to claims 2 and 11 above, and in further view of Galt (US 2007/0293977 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Kiani in view of Cossins do not specifically teach wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics further comprises calculating and causing for display an overall index score for the physiological monitoring system based on the plurality of metrics.
It is known to measure system performance in different ways. For example, Galt teaches monitoring the overall health of a system wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics further comprises calculating and causing for display an overall index score for the system based on the plurality of metrics (see at least [0055] note preventative maintenance information 601 can be represented on the human machine interface screen as an overall health score 605…the health score 605 could be related to the degree that an operational parameter 606 is detected out of operational range…the health score 605 could be weighted based on the severity of the out-of-limits condition (e.g., if sensors measure that the oil is contaminated by particulates above a maximum value, then health score 605 could be decreased by a greater amount than if the operational temperature of the system is too high) | [0056] note the health score is represented by a visual representation).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to incorporate the features of Galt into Kiani in view of Cossins. This allows for predicting or indicating a potential failure in advance of actual failure, thus providing better up-time to customers.
Regarding claim 6, Kiani in view of Cossins and Galt teach wherein one or more of the plurality of metrics are weighted in calculating the overall index score (see at least [0055] of Galt).
Regarding claim 17, Kiani in view of Cossins and Galt teach wherein the analysis of the plurality of metrics further comprises calculating and causing for display an overall index score for the physiological monitoring system based on the plurality of metrics (see at least [0055] of Galt).
Claims 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kiani (US 2011/0001605 A1) in view of Cossins (US 7,447,509 B2) as applied to claims 2 and 11 above, and in further view of Morris (US 2010/0076453 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Kiani in view of Cossins do not specifically teach wherein the notification further comprises a command or instructions on how to solve the issue.
It is known to provide assistance when troubleshooting a system. For example, Morris teaches a system wherein the notification further comprises a command or instructions on how to solve the issue (see at least [0027] | [0029-0030]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to incorporate the features of Morris into Kiani in view of Cossins. This provides the ability to assist an individual that is addressing the issue with the system, thus improving efficiency.
Regarding claim 10, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach further comprising executing the command or instructions to solve the issue (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Regarding claim 12, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit the notification to a system performance monitor (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Regarding claim 13, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach wherein the system performance monitor is a computing device internal to the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Regarding claim 14, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach wherein the system performance monitor is a computing device external to the physiological monitoring system (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Regarding claim 20, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach wherein the notification further comprises a command or instructions on how to solve the issue (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Regarding claim 21, Kiani in view of Cossins and Morris teach wherein the processor is configured to execute the command or instructions to solve the issue (see at least [0027] of Morris).
Conclusion
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/BRIAN WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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