DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The following is a Final Office Action. In response to Examiner's communication of November 28, 2025, Applicant, on February 27, 2026, amended claims 1, 8, & 9 and canceled claim 2. Claims 1 & 3-10 are now pending in this application and have been rejected below.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of the JP2023-186739 application filed November 27, 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendments are sufficient to overcome the 35 USC 101 rejections set forth in the previous action. Therefore, these 35 USC 101 rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant's amendments render moot the 35 USC 102 rejections set forth in the previous action. Therefore, new grounds for rejection under 35 USC 103 necessitated by Applicant’s amendments are set forth below.
Response to Arguments - 35 USC § 101
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 101 have been fully considered, and they are persuasive. Therefore, the 35 USC 101 rejections are withdrawn.
Examiner submits that the additional elements recited in claim 1, and similarly claims 8 and 9, when viewed as a whole, integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application under the second prong of Step 2A (see 84 Fed. Reg. 54-55, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-01-07/pdf/2018-28282.pdf), because, when viewed as an ordered combination, the claims recite, and are necessarily rooted in, an improvement in computer technology similar to Claim 1 of USPTO Subject Matter Eligibility Example 37, namely an improvement in user interfaces displaying icons representing members in need of care detected from an image of the members by changing a display position of an icon of the members in need of care displayed on a display screen, wherein claim 1, and similarly claims 8 and 9, by reciting:
An information processing apparatus, comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor carrying out:
… detecting a member to be inferred in a state of being in need of care from the members shown in the image;
…;
wherein the notifying process changes, from among icons corresponding to respective members of the group displayed on a display screen, a display position of an icon of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care to a position within a predetermined display area set on the display screen.
The specifically recited additional elements sufficient to integrate any abstract idea into a practical application that recite an improvement in computer technology because changing the position of icons provides the improvement of, as the Specification discloses, “mak[ing] the browsing member intuitively” and “easily aware of the emergence of a member who becomes the member in need of care among the members.” [0097], [0102].
Further, this specifically recited combination of additional elements applies any alleged abstract in a meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception.
Response to Arguments - Prior Art
Applicant’s arguments with respect the prior art rejections have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive and now moot in view of new grounds for rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Applicant argues that Early, et al. (WO 2024206485 A1), hereinafter Early, does not disclose or suggest “a state inferring process of inferring states of members shown in an image” because according to Early the relationship between the patient and caregiver is fixed and no process is involved in determining who within a group requires care. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Early expressly discloses, in paragraphs [0004], [0010]-[0011], a patient data charting apparatus comprises processor that obtains image data from an image capture device that tracks a both position of a patient and a caregiver (i.e., a member from among members of a group), wherein image data includes a sequence of images of performance of a medical procedure by at least one caregiver, and the image capture device is activated based on a detection of an emergency scene activity, e.g., responsive to detecting presence of a patient, e.g., detecting the patient on a treatment surface (i.e. inferring a state of the member in the image. Similarly, in paragraphs [0106]-[0108], process 150 for automatically identifying an emergency medical procedure 170 and assessing quality using image data analysis, the process 170 begins with a precursor step identification engine 152 analyzing the image data 104c to identify activity that is the precursor to performing one or more medical procedures, including attaching a therapy device to the patient, and/or preparing a section of the patient’s body (e.g., cleaning skin, positioning head angle, etc.) (i.e. state of the member in the image - patient is being prepared for a needed procedure).
Here, in these portions of Early, Early discloses “a state inferring process of inferring states of members shown in an image” by detecting the presence of a patient, the patient on a treatment surface, precursor procedures including attaching a therapy device, cleaning the patient’s skin, or position the patient head angle from image data tracking both the position of caregivers and patients.
Accordingly, Early discloses “a state inferring process of inferring states of members shown in an image.”
Applicant’s remaining arguments are now moot in view of new grounds for rejections necessitated by Applicant’s amendments, as set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, & 8-10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Early, et al. (WO 2024206485 A1), hereinafter Early, in view of Day, et al. (US 20200105401 A1), hereinafter Day. (Examiner notes the Provisional Application of Early, Provisional Application No. 63/455,897, on which the non-Provisional Application of Early claims benefit, discloses the subject matter relied upon in the non-Provisional Application of Early and was filed before the effective filing date of the present invention).
Regarding Claim 1, Early discloses an information processing apparatus, comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor carrying out (Abstract, [0004]):
a state inferring process of inferring states of members shown in an image, the members shown in the image being among a plurality of members included in a group, and detecting a member to be inferred in a state of being in need of care from the members shown in the image ([0004], [0010]-[0011], a patient data charting apparatus comprises processor that obtains image data from an image capture device that tracks a position of a patient and a caregiver (i.e., a member in need of care from among members of a group – the patients and caregivers are members of a group of people tracked by the apparatus), wherein image data includes a sequence of images of performance of a medical procedure by at least one caregiver, wherein image capture device is activated based on a detection of an emergency scene activity, e.g., responsive to detecting presence of a patient, e.g., detecting the patient on a treatment surface (i.e. a state of the member in the image), [0106]-[0108], in a process 150 for automatically identifying an emergency medical procedure 170 and assessing quality using image data analysis, the process 170 begins with a precursor step identification engine 152 analyzing the image data 104c to identify activity that is the precursor to performing one or more medical procedures, including attaching a therapy device to the patient, and/or preparing a section of the patient’s body (e.g., cleaning skin, positioning head angle, etc.) (i.e. state of the member in the image - patient is being prepared for a needed procedure));
a member evaluating process of performing, based on a status of provision of care provided to the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care and provided by one or more other members of the group ([0004], [0010]-[0011], a patient data charting apparatus comprises processor that obtains image data from an image capture device that tracks a position of a patient and a caregiver (i.e., a member in need of care from among members of a group – the patients and caregivers are members of a group of people tracked by the apparatus), wherein image data includes a sequence of images of performance of a medical procedure by at least one caregiver, the processor identifies a sequence of steps corresponding to one or more medical procedures, identifies the medical procedure, and determines at least one value of a data field based on the medical procedure, further the processor activates image capture based on a detection of an emergency scene activity, e.g., responsive to detecting presence of a patient, e.g., detecting the patient on a treatment surface (i.e. patient is inferred to be in need of care), [0018], the processor further identifies at least one caregiver based on the image data, and may recognize a set of steps of the medical procedure by a particular caregiver of the at least one caregivers (i.e. one or more other members of the group)), evaluations of degrees of contribution of the one or more other members to the group ([0076], the patient data capture apparatus evaluates a caregiver’s performance of the medical procedure and logs performance metrics regarding the performance by recognizing individual caregivers at the emergency medical scene and associate the performance metrics with a particular caregiver performing the medical procedure, evaluating the caregiver’s performance by evaluating a time to perform steps, a number repeated steps, and/or success or failure of completion of the medical procedure (i.e. degrees of contribution), and quality metrics derived through evaluating performance are stored in association with the caregiver (i.e., of the one or more other members to the group), [0106], [0113], in process 150 for automatically identifying an emergency medical procedure 170 and assessing quality of procedure performance using image data analysis, performance assessments may be conducted to rate or rank caregivers (i.e., of the one or more other members to the group), designate a level of familiarity of each caregiver with certain medical procedures, e.g., the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may calculate performance metrics, such as timing, success, etc. metrics in comparison to a benchmark/target (i.e., degrees of contribution), [0116], [0118], the outcomes and/or ratings 162 are stored as procedure review data 164 correlated with the context, e.g., a caregiver and a caregiver team (i.e., of the one or more other members to the group));
an evaluation result presenting process of presenting results ([0136], the patient data charting GUI engine 338 may present the information prepared for logging as electronic patient care record (ePCR) data to one of the caregiver interface device(s) 306 for confirmation, [0066], a computing device 101 provides a user interface 103 for a charting application allowing the user to walk through the pages of the ePCR) of the evaluations to the members of the group ([0106], process 150 for automatically identifying an emergency medical procedure 170 and assessing quality of procedure performance may be performed to identify whether a medical procedure was successfully performed, e.g., for electronic patient care record (ePCR) logging purposes); and
a notifying process of notifying the one or more other members of the group of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care, wherein the notifying process changes … the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care ([0114], during patient care, when one or more of the activity identification 106, the procedure monitoring 156, and the precursor step identification engines 152 predict, identify, or monitor an activity, step, or procedure, these engines may invoke the procedure guidance engine 180, wherein procedure guidance engine 180 generates caregiver guidance 190 corresponding to the activity, step, or procedure, and the procedure guidance engine 156 may provide the guidance (i.e. notifying of the state of the patient is being prepared for a particular needed procedure) visually and/or audibly, e.g., at the wearable camera device 102b, at a device providing the patient charting application 116, or another caregiver interface device 306).
While Early discloses all of the above, including a notifying process of notifying the one or more other members of the group of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care, wherein the notifying process changes … the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care (as above), Early does not appear to expressly disclose the following remaining limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Day.
Day teaches a notifying process of notifying the one or more other members of the group of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care, wherein the notifying process changes, from among icons corresponding to respective members of the group displayed on a display screen, a display position of an icon of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care to a position within a predetermined display area set on the display screen ([0065], fig. 6, one or more icons 620 providing a graphical representation of patient status include selectable items 622, 624 to take an action via the icon 620, e.g., the user to confirming 622 can place the patient on the frailty care pathway (e.g., with delirium treatment instructions 615, etc.), and denying 624 can remove the patient from being watched via the example interface 600, [0060], in a graphical user interface 400 the icons are allocated computationally and adjusted as patient states or care delivery resources change and/or as future prediction requires actions in the current time).
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Early and Day are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of managing the performance of groups of people providing help to people in need of insistence. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Early the ability to notify process changes, from among icons corresponding to respective members of the group displayed on a display screen, a display position of an icon of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care to a position within a predetermined display area set on the display screen, as taught by Day, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of the notifying process changes, from among icons corresponding to respective members of the group displayed on a display screen, a display position of an icon of the member inferred to be in the state of being in need of care to a position within a predetermined display area set on the display screen, as claimed. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Early with the aforementioned teachings of Day in order to produce the added benefit of providing alerting services activity to better serve people need of care and improve operational performance, such as reducing waiting delays. [0031].
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (as above). Further, Early discloses wherein the at least one processor further carries out a group evaluating process of performing an evaluation of the group based on results of the evaluations of respective members belonging to the group performed in the member evaluating process ([0106], performance assessments may be conducted periodically to rate or rank caregivers and/or to designate a level of familiarity of each caregiver with certain medical procedures, [0110], [0117]-[0118], the process 150 may include associating the performance evaluation with a particular caregiver (or caregivers if multiple caregivers are involved), the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may generate one or more management ratings and/or metrics related to the image analysis performed, and the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may correlate the procedure review data 164 with a portion of the context such as, a caregiver, a caregiver team, [0210], the procedure quality analysis service 732 may update (758) performance metrics for one or more caregivers identified with the caregiver identifier(s), and context data may be used to gather metrics related to a particular transport vehicle company, transport vehicle, caregiver team, and level of training/accreditation of caregiver).
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 (as above). Further, Early discloses wherein in the group evaluating process, the at least one processor uses an index value which indicates equality ([0113], the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may calculate performance metrics, such as timing metrics, waste metrics, and/or success metrics in comparison to a benchmark performance level (i.e. index value which indicates equality), [0115], the ratings may include adherence to protocol, e.g., percentage adherence (i.e. index value which indicates equality)) among the degrees of contribution of the respective members, to perform the evaluation of the group ([0106], performance assessments may be conducted periodically to rate or rank caregivers and/or to designate a level of familiarity of each caregiver with certain medical procedures, [0110], for staff evaluations, the process 150 may include associating the performance evaluation with a particular caregiver or caregivers if multiple caregivers are involved, [0210], context data may be used to gather metrics related to a particular transport vehicle company, transport vehicle, caregiver team, and level of training/accreditation of caregiver).
Regarding claim 8, this claim is substantially similar to claim 1, and is, therefore, rejected on the same basis as claim 1. While claim 8 is directed toward a method comprising a processor, Early discloses a method as claimed. [0253], [0257].
Regarding claim 9, this claim is substantially similar to claim 1, and is, therefore, rejected on the same basis as claim 1. While claim 9 is directed toward a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having recorded thereon a control program for causing a computer to carry out processes, Early discloses a computer-readable medium as claimed. Abstract, [0004], [0253], [0257].
Regarding Claim 10, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach, in Early, a mutual watching system (Abstract, [0004], [0253], [0257]), comprising: the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (as above); and a terminal for presenting the results of the evaluations to a member who uses the terminal ([0136], the patient data charting GUI engine 338 may present the information prepared for logging as electronic patient care record (ePCR) data to one of the caregiver interface device(s) 306 for confirmation, [0066], a computing device 101 provides a user interface 103 for a charting application allowing the user to walk through the pages of the ePCR, [0106], process 150 for automatically identifying an emergency medical procedure 170 and assessing quality of procedure performance may be performed to identify whether a medical procedure was successfully performed, e.g., for electronic patient care record (ePCR) logging purposes).
Claims 5 & 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Early, et al. (WO 2024206485 A1), hereinafter Early, in view of Day, et al. (US 20200105401 A1), hereinafter Day, and in further view of Cantu, et al. (US 20160100790 A1), hereinafter Cantu. (Examiner notes the Provisional Application of Early, Provisional Application No. 63/455,897, on which the non-Provisional Application of Early claims benefit, discloses the subject matter relied upon in the non-Provisional Application of Early and was filed before the effective filing date of the present invention).
Regarding Claim 5, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 (as above). Further, while Early discloses all of the above and groups ranked … on a result of the evaluation performed in the group evaluating process, from among a plurality of groups subjected to the evaluation (([0106], performance assessments may be conducted periodically to rate or rank caregivers and/or to designate a level of familiarity of each caregiver with certain medical procedures, [0110], [0117]-[0118], the process 150 may include associating the performance evaluation with a particular caregiver (or caregivers if multiple caregivers are involved), the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may generate one or more management ratings and/or metrics related to the image analysis performed, and the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may correlate the procedure review data 164 with a portion of the context such as, a caregiver, a caregiver team, [0210], the procedure quality analysis service 732 may update (758) performance metrics for one or more caregivers identified with the caregiver identifier(s), and context data may be used to gather metrics related to a particular transport vehicle company, transport vehicle, caregiver team, and level of training/accreditation of caregiver), Early does not appear to expressly disclose the following remaining limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Cantu.
Cantu teaches wherein the at least one processor further carries out a reward giving process of giving rewards to a predetermined number of … ranked high on a result of the evaluation performed in the group evaluating process, from among a plurality of groups subjected to the evaluation ([0235], a server system application module implements a skin and wound-care electronic reward-based system for providers, caregivers, and patients, to improve adherence to a plan of care or other quality/productivity metrics, wherein outcome-based rewards model is used at various levels: at the scanning device user level, the device user is given rewards for achieving individual metrics for quality, compliance, or other metrics, wherein the system ranks device user peers, e.g., awarding a “best scanner of the month” bad,” creating titles such as the “king scanner of floor 2,” and at the care-giver team level, where team incentives can help establish healthy competition between groups of caregivers).
Early and Cantu are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of managing the performance of groups of people providing help to people in need of insistence. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Early the ability to carry out a reward giving process of giving rewards to a predetermined number of ranked high on a result of the evaluation performed in the group evaluating process, from among a plurality of groups subjected to the evaluation, as taught by Cantu, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of carrying out a reward giving process of giving rewards to a predetermined number of high ranked high on a result of the evaluation performed in the group evaluating process, from among a plurality of groups subjected to the evaluation, as claimed. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Early with the aforementioned teachings of Cantu in order to produce the added benefit to improve adherence to a plan of care. [0235].
Regarding Claim 7, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (as above). Further, while Early discloses all of the above and wherein the at least one processor further carries out a reward giving process of giving … in accordance with the results of the evaluations performed in the member evaluating process, to the members who are subjected to the evaluations in the member evaluating process (([0106], performance assessments may be conducted periodically to rate or rank caregivers and/or to designate a level of familiarity of each caregiver with certain medical procedures, [0110], [0117]-[0118], the process 150 may include associating the performance evaluation with a particular caregiver (or caregivers if multiple caregivers are involved), the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may generate one or more management ratings and/or metrics related to the image analysis performed, and the procedure quality analysis engine 160 may correlate the procedure review data 164 with a portion of the context such as, a caregiver, a caregiver team, [0210], the procedure quality analysis service 732 may update (758) performance metrics for one or more caregivers identified with the caregiver identifier(s), and context data may be used to gather metrics related to a particular transport vehicle company, transport vehicle, caregiver team, and level of training/accreditation of caregiver), Early does not appear to expressly disclose the following remaining limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Cantu.
Cantu teaches wherein the at least one processor further carries out a reward giving process of giving rewards in accordance with the results of the evaluations performed in the member evaluating process, to the members who are subjected to the evaluations in the member evaluating process ([0235], a server system application module implements a skin and wound-care electronic reward-based system for providers, caregivers, and patients, to improve adherence to a plan of care or other quality/productivity metrics, wherein outcome-based rewards model is used at various levels: at the scanning device user level, the device user is given rewards for achieving individual metrics for quality, compliance, or other metrics, wherein the system ranks device user peers, e.g., awarding a “best scanner of the month” bad,” creating titles such as the “king scanner of floor 2,” and at the care-giver team level, where team incentives can help establish healthy competition between groups of caregivers).
Early and Cantu are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of managing the performance of groups of people providing help to people in need of insistence. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Early the ability to carry out a reward giving process of giving rewards in accordance with the results of the evaluations performed in the member evaluating process, to the members who are subjected to the evaluations in the member evaluating process, as taught by Cantu, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of carrying out a reward giving process of giving rewards in accordance with the results of the evaluations performed in the member evaluating process, to the members who are subjected to the evaluations in the member evaluating process, as claimed. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Early with the aforementioned teachings of Cantu in order to produce the added benefit to improve adherence to a plan of care. [0235].
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Early, et al. (WO 2024206485 A1), hereinafter Early, in view of Day, et al. (US 20200105401 A1), hereinafter Day, and in further view of Paz, et al. (WO 2024194863 A1), hereinafter Paz. (Examiner notes the Provisional Applications of Paz, Provisional Application Nos. 63/453,641, 63/527,004, and 63/537,487, on which the non-Provisional Application of Paz claims benefit, discloses the subject matter relied upon in the non-Provisional Application of Paz and was filed before the effective filing date of the present invention).
Regarding Claim 6, the combined teachings of Early and Day teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (as above). Further, while Early discloses all of the above and wherein the at least one processor further carries out: a message presenting process of presenting to the members a message generates, … the message resulting in, after the messages are presented to the members, an improvement in the results of the evaluations of the members performed in the member evaluating process ([0114], during patient care, when one or more of the activity identification 106, the procedure monitoring 156, and the precursor step identification engines 152 predict, identify, or monitor an activity, step, or procedure, these engines may invoke the procedure guidance engine 180, wherein procedure guidance engine 180 generates caregiver guidance 190 corresponding to the activity, step, or procedure, and the procedure guidance engine 156 may provide the guidance visually and/or audibly, e.g., at the wearable camera device 102b, at a device providing the patient charting application 116, or another caregiver interface device 306, and [0116], the procedure quality analysis engine 160 generates one or more outcomes and/or ratings 162 including adherence to protocol, e.g., correct/incorrect, percentage adherence, level of adherence), Early does not appear to expressly disclose the following remaining limitations, which however, are taught by further teachings in Paz.
Paz teaches a message presenting process of presenting to the members a message generated with use of a language model trained by machine learning (pp. 1-2, the system includes an avatar including an LLM for conversation and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) module for instructing the LLM to instruct the LLM and to control a virtual avatar to simulate the caregiver interactions with a subject including collecting clinical data and evaluating collected data for medical conditions, p. 25, a Conditional Module may select and/or deploy specific prompt files 33 to control the LLM's responses and/or queries at precise moments during a conversation, p. 14, the avatar may support the informed consent process, e.g., by presenting information in a conversational manner); and a training process of retraining the language model with use of a message from among messages presented in the message presenting process (p. 26, the system may be configured to allow caregivers to train their avatar in a conversational intuitive way, when questions and/or answers are deemed inadequate, caregivers may make adjustments in real time, and the changes may be saved in the corresponding prompt files to contribute to ongoing improvements in the system's performance, p. 14, the system may include continuous training of the Al, continuous training is an integral part of the system, wherein the physician can train the system in a conversational manner, the caregiver may provide specific instructions for asking specific questions on particular occasions, and/or to give detailed explanations showing sketches and/or animations of tests or procedures, the system may facilitate specialty-specific training and/or instructions, the caregiver's training instructions may be saved for their personal use, use by a particular clinic, and/or utilized by an avatar system dedicated to a particular medical specialty, training may facilitate a tailored approach to patient evaluation), the message resulting in, after the messages are presented to the members, an improvement in the results of the evaluations of the members performed in the member evaluating process (p. 13, the system may evaluate the patient's level of understanding, e.g., by analyzing their language, facial expressions, voice, gestures, etc., and the system may adjust the complexity of its answers and/or explanations to match the patient's comprehension level, p. 14, the avatar may support the informed consent process, e.g., by presenting information in a conversational manner, using language that patients can understand, showing visual aids, etc., and the avatar may facilitate that patients comprehend the details of tests and/or procedures, check their understanding, and/or provides a summary for signing by the patient and/or caregiver).
Early and Paz are analogous fields of invention because both address the problem of enhancing the performance of people providing help to people in need of insistence. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the system of Early the ability to include a message presenting process of presenting to the members a message generated with use of a language model trained by machine learning and a training process of retraining the language model with use of a message from among messages presented in the message presenting process, as taught by Paz, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the combination would produce the predictable results of including a message presenting process of presenting to the members a message generated with use of a language model trained by machine learning and a training process of retraining the language model with use of a message from among messages presented in the message presenting process, as claimed. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Early with the aforementioned teachings of Paz in order to produce the added benefit of enhancing enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and/or personalization of care. p. 17.
Conclusion
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES A GUILIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-9859. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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CHARLES GUILIANO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3623
/CHARLES GUILIANO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3623
Prosecution Insights