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 .
Status of Claims
This is in response to applicant’s filing date of November 25, 2025. In preliminary amendment, filed on 11/25/2024, Claims 7-20, 24, 30-43, and 47 were canceled. As a consequence, Claims 1-6, 21-23, 25-29, 44-46, 48, and 49-50 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections --35 U.S.C. § 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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6, 21-23, 25-29, 44-46, 48, and 49-50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Timothy Olson (US-9888351-B2)(“Olson”) and SOUNDARARAJAN et al (US- 20200037158-A1)(“Soundararajan”).
As per claim 1, wearable device (Figure 1)comprising: a processor in electrical communication (Olson at Figure 2, controller 210.) with: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of messages (Olson at Column 9, Lines 26-27, discloses that the controller 210 can “controller 210 may generate a message”; and in Column 14, Lines 57-61, discloses that an indication in the form of an audio or display message can be generated:” specific indicator may include a flash pattern, a particular LED, a combination of LEDs, a displayed message, an audio signal, a vibration or vibration pattern, another detectable indication, or any combination thereof.”), an actuator (Olson at Figure 11, actuator 1110.), an audio transducer (Olson at Figure 2, speaker 216.) , and a light emitter (Olson at Figure 2, LEDs 217.) ,
wherein, responsive to the actuator receiving a user input (Olson at Figure 7 and Column 14, Lines 30-32, disclosing that the user can initiate an action:” method 700 may include receiving, at a first or sending device, a user input directing the first device to send a specific notification signal, at 702.”), the processor: retrieves a message of the plurality of messages from the storage medium (Olson at Figure 6, indicator 610, and Column 8, Lines 14-15, disclosing the retrieval of a message:” the signal may cause a display 214 to provide a light or message.”) (Olson at Column 9, Lines 44-45, discloses playing an audio message at the wearable device:” speaker 216 may be used to play spoken phrases or audio messages”.).
Olson does not disclose, but Soundararajan discloses a process that illuminates the light emitter with a color corresponding to a theme associated with the retrieved message (Soundararajan at Claim 5 discloses that lighting sequences at the wearable device:” wherein the light emitter comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) that may illuminate in a plurality of colors in the visible spectrum, wherein the processor is to cause the one or more LEDs to illuminate in one of the plurality colors based on a content of the message.”).
Soundararajan is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of systems which serves messages on a wearable device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Olson further in view of Soundararajan to allow for notifying a user of the wearable device using a lighting scheme that is narrowly tailored to the content of a message. Motivation to do so would allow for providing a more natural interaction to gain the attention of the user and to provide an additional level of identification/classification (Soundararajan at Para. [0234]).
As per claim 2, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein responsive to the actuator receiving the user input, the processor: retrieves a message of the plurality of messages from the storage medium, subsequent to retrieving the message, illuminates the light emitter with a color corresponding to a theme associated with the retrieved message, and subsequent to illuminating the light emitter, plays the message via the audio transducer (Olson at Column 4, Lines 56-60 discloses activating the lights and rendering a message on the wearable device:” notification signal may flash a specific-colored light, generate a message (text or audio), or generate another indication that the user of the bracelet 100 needs help, wants to be found, or wants to meet up.”).
As per claim 3, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein responsive to the actuator receiving the user input, the processor: selects a theme from the plurality of themes; retrieves a message of the plurality of messages from the storage medium based on the theme (Olson at Column 14, Lines 32-39, discloses generating a specific message that is associated with a particular message such as finding another device:” specific notification signal may direct a paired or receiving device to generate a specific indicator. For example, when a paired device comes within a certain range, a device may normally illuminate a white light. In response to receiving the specific notification signal, a device may instead illuminate a red light. Specific sounds or messages may also be generated in response to receiving the specific notification signal.”), subsequent to retrieving the message, illuminates the light emitter with a color corresponding to a theme associated with the retrieved message, and subsequent to illuminating the light emitter, plays the message via the audio transducer (Olson at Column 14, Line 57-61, discloses generating an audio message and the like:” the specific indicator may include a flash pattern, a particular LED, a combination of LEDs, a displayed message, an audio signal, a vibration or vibration pattern, another detectable indication, or any combination thereof.”).
As per claim 4, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein at least one theme of the plurality of themes describes an emotion (Olson at Column 5, Lines 3-11, discloses that the color on the LED can be selected on the occurrence of certain events like finding a friend which can be representative of an emotion if so determined by the wearer of the device:” a light of a first color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. When a “find friends” notification signal is received from a paired device, a light of a second color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. In some embodiments, in the context of “find friends”, the indicator may continue to flash until the paired devices are within a pre-determined range of one another (which can be determined by controllers within each of the paired devices based, for example, on the received signal strength).”).
As per claim 5, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 4, wherein at least one theme of the plurality of themes describes a fact type (Olson at Column 5, Lines 3-11, discloses that the color on the LED can be selected on the occurrence of certain events like finding a device to pair to:” a light of a first color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. When a “find friends” notification signal is received from a paired device, a light of a second color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. In some embodiments, in the context of “find friends”, the indicator may continue to flash until the paired devices are within a pre-determined range of one another (which can be determined by controllers within each of the paired devices based, for example, on the received signal strength).”).
As per claim 6, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 4, wherein the emotion comprises one or more of joy, forgiveness, contentment, reverence, calm or empowerment (Olson at Column 13, Lines 15-21, discloses that the indicator can be arranged to indicate different types of information which would include emotions and the like:” Indicators may include producing light flashes, sounds, music, vibrations, printed messages, other indicators, or any combination thereof. The bracelet may produce the same indicator any time a paired device is detected. In some embodiments, different paired devices may be associated with different indicators.”).
As per claim 21, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein the light emitter illuminates the actuator (Olson at Column 15 &16, Lines 63-67 & 1-3, discloses that some of the buttons like the actuator contain LEDs for illumination:” Buttons 1108, which may have a selected shape (such as a heart shape, for example), may be fitted through holes in the screen 1102 and opaque layer 1104, and used to depress an actuator 1110 (button or switch) on a printed circuit board 1111 to provide user inputs to the device 1100. The buttons 1108 may also function as lights (e.g. being translucent plastic over an LED) to provide indicators of proximity of other detected devices or signals.”).
As per claim 21, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of messages comprises excerpts from a scripture.
Olson and Soundararajan discloses the claimed invention except for message being attributed to scripture. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a message that relates to scripture, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. See also Ballas Liquidating Co. v. Allied industries of Kansas, Inc. (DC Kans) 205 USPQ 331.
As per claim 23, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a modular wearable device connectable to a plurality of carrier structures (Olson at Figure 1, wrist strap 102, and Column 16, Lines 7-11, disclosing that the device can be attached to a wearable structure:” device 1100 may also include one or more straps 1114 that may fit around a band 1116.”).
As per claim 25, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a wearable device of claim 22, wherein the scripture comprises one or more of The New Testament, The Old Testament, The Quran, The Tanakh, The Torah, The Nevi'im, The Ketuvim, The Vedas, The Upanishads, The Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Tripitaka, The Mahayana Sutras, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Guru Granth Sahib, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, The Writings of Baha'u'llah, The Avesta, The Yasna, The Visperad, or The Vendidad.
Olson and Soundararajan discloses the claimed invention except for message being attributed to scripture. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a message that relates to scripture, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. See also Ballas Liquidating Co. v. Allied industries of Kansas, Inc. (DC Kans) 205 USPQ 331.
As per claim 26, Olson discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Figure 2, memory 212.), the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that when executed by a computer, cause the computer (Figure 2, controller 210.) to: retrieve a message of a plurality of messages stored in the storage medium (Olson at Figure 6, indicator 610, and Column 8, Lines 14-15, disclosing the retrieval of a message:” the signal may cause a display 214 to provide a light or message.”), wherein each message is categorized into at least one of a plurality of themes (Olson at Column 4, Lines 56-60 discloses activating the lights and rendering a message on the wearable device based proximity of a user and a rescue theme when help is needed from a nearby user:” notification signal may flash a specific-colored light, generate a message (text or audio), or generate another indication that the user of the bracelet 100 needs help, wants to be found, or wants to meet up.”); , and plays the message via an audio transducer (Olson at Column 9, Lines 44-45, discloses playing an audio message at the wearable device:” speaker 216 may be used to play spoken phrases or audio messages”.).
Olson does not disclose, but Soundararajan discloses a process that illuminate a light emitter with a color corresponding to a theme associated with the retrieved message (Soundararajan at Claim 5 discloses that lighting sequences at the wearable device:” wherein the light emitter comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) that may illuminate in a plurality of colors in the visible spectrum, wherein the processor is to cause the one or more LEDs to illuminate in one of the plurality colors based on a content of the message.”).
Soundararajan is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of systems which serves messages on a wearable device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Olson further in view of Soundararajan to allow for notifying a user of the wearable device using a lighting scheme that is narrowly tailored to the content of a message. Motivation to do so would allow for providing a more natural interaction to gain the attention of the user and to provide an additional level of identification/classification (Soundararajan at Para. [0234]).
As per claim 27, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein at least one theme of the plurality of themes describes an emotion (Olson at Column 5, Lines 3-11, discloses that the color on the LED can be selected on the occurrence of certain events like finding a friend which can be representative of an emotion if so determined by the wearer of the device:” a light of a first color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. When a “find friends” notification signal is received from a paired device, a light of a second color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. In some embodiments, in the context of “find friends”, the indicator may continue to flash until the paired devices are within a pre-determined range of one another (which can be determined by controllers within each of the paired devices based, for example, on the received signal strength).”).
As per claim 28, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein at least one theme of the plurality of themes describes a fact type (Olson at Column 5, Lines 3-11, discloses that the color on the LED can be selected on the occurrence of certain events like finding a device to pair to:” a light of a first color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. When a “find friends” notification signal is received from a paired device, a light of a second color may flash at the corresponding indicator element 110. In some embodiments, in the context of “find friends”, the indicator may continue to flash until the paired devices are within a pre-determined range of one another (which can be determined by controllers within each of the paired devices based, for example, on the received signal strength).”) .
As per claim 29, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the emotion comprises one or more of joy, forgiveness, contentment, reverence, calm or empowerment (Olson at Column 13, Lines 15-21, discloses that the indicator can be arranged to indicate different types of information which would include emotions and the like:” Indicators may include producing light flashes, sounds, music, vibrations, printed messages, other indicators, or any combination thereof. The bracelet may produce the same indicator any time a paired device is detected. In some embodiments, different paired devices may be associated with different indicators.”).
As per claim 44, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the light emitter illuminates the actuator (Olson at Column 15 &16, Lines 63-67 & 1-3, discloses that some of the buttons like the actuator contain LEDs for illumination:” Buttons 1108, which may have a selected shape (such as a heart shape, for example), may be fitted through holes in the screen 1102 and opaque layer 1104, and used to depress an actuator 1110 (button or switch) on a printed circuit board 1111 to provide user inputs to the device 1100. The buttons 1108 may also function as lights (e.g. being translucent plastic over an LED) to provide indicators of proximity of other detected devices or signals.”).
As per claim 45, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the plurality of messages comprise excerpts from a scripture.
Olson and Soundararajan discloses the claimed invention except for message being attributed to scripture. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a message that relates to scripture, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. See also Ballas Liquidating Co. v. Allied industries of Kansas, Inc. (DC Kans) 205 USPQ 331.
Olson and Soundararajan discloses the claimed invention except for message being attributed to scripture. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a message that relates to scripture, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. See also Ballas Liquidating Co. v. Allied industries of Kansas, Inc. (DC Kans) 205 USPQ 331.
As per claim 46, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the device comprises a modular wearable device connectable to a plurality of carrier structures (Olson at Figure 1, wrist strap 102, and Column 16, Lines 7-11, disclosing that the device can be attached to a wearable structure:” device 1100 may also include one or more straps 1114 that may fit around a band 1116.”).
As per claim 48, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 45, wherein the scripture comprises one or more of The New Testament, The Old Testament, The Quran, The Tanakh, The Torah, The Nevi'im, The Ketuvim, The Vedas, The Upanishads, The Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Tripitaka, The Mahayana Sutras, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Guru Granth Sahib, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, The Writings of Baha'u'llah, The Avesta, The Yasna, The Visperad, or The Vendidad.
Olson and Soundararajan discloses the claimed invention except for message being attributed to scripture. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a message that relates to scripture, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. See also Ballas Liquidating Co. v. Allied industries of Kansas, Inc. (DC Kans) 205 USPQ 331.
As per claim 49, Olson discloses a system (Figure 1) comprising: a first wearable device (Olson at Figure 3, multiple devices such as device 1 302A.); and a second wearable device (Olson at Figure 3, multiple devices such as device 2 302B.), wherein: the first wearable device and the second wearable device are in wireless communication with one another (Olson at Figure 3 and Column 11, Lines 20-25, discloses the use of wireless communication between paired wearable devices:” types of signals or frequencies employed may depend on an intended application of a device. For example, devices configured to detect when a paired device comes in range may employ a wireless communication type with a long range and low interference from physical obstructions.”), each of the first wearable device and the second wearable device (Olson at Figures 2-4) comprises: a processor in electrical communication with a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of messages (Olson at Column 9, Lines 26-27, discloses that the controller 210 can “controller 210 may generate a message”; and in Column 14, Lines 57-61, discloses that an indication in the form of an audio or display message can be generated:” specific indicator may include a flash pattern, a particular LED, a combination of LEDs, a displayed message, an audio signal, a vibration or vibration pattern, another detectable indication, or any combination thereof.”), , and one of the first wearable device or the second wearable device is configured to transit a message of the plurality of messages to the other of the second wearable device or the first wearable device via the wireless communication (Olson at Figure 3, networked wearable devices 302A-302C, and Column 13, Lines 13-27, disclosing the exchange of messages with networked paired devices like shown in Figure3:” If a paired device signal is found, the method 500 may include producing an indicator corresponding to the found signal, at 510. Indicators may include producing light flashes, sounds, music, vibrations, printed messages, other indicators, or any combination thereof. The bracelet may produce the same indicator any time a paired device is detected. In some embodiments, different paired devices may be associated with different indicators. For example, each paired device may be associated with a different LED (or different combination of LEDs) on the face of the bracelet, so which LED is flashing may indicate which paired device has been detected. Different paired devices may also have associated ringtones, printed messages, flash patterns, light colors, or other distinguishing indicators.).
Olson does not disclose, but Soundararajan discloses a process that each message being categorized into at least one of a plurality of themes (Soundararajan at Claim 5 discloses that lighting sequences at the wearable device based on a content message which under broadest reasonable interpretation could be thematic:” wherein the light emitter comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) that may illuminate in a plurality of colors in the visible spectrum, wherein the processor is to cause the one or more LEDs to illuminate in one of the plurality colors based on a content of the message.”).
Soundararajan is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of systems which serves messages on a wearable device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Olson further in view of Soundararajan to allow for notifying a user of the wearable device using a lighting scheme that is narrowly tailored to the content of a message. Motivation to do so would allow for providing a more natural interaction to gain the attention of the user and to provide an additional level of identification/classification (Soundararajan at Para. [0234]).
As per claim 50, Olson and Soundararajan disclose a system of claim 49, wherein each of the first wearable device and the second wearable device comprises: an actuator (Olson at Figure 11, actuator 1110.), an audio transducer (Olson at Figure 2, speaker 216.) , and a light emitter (Olson at Figure 2, LEDs 217.), wherein responsive to the actuator receiving a user input (Olson at Figure 7 and Column 14, Lines 30-32, disclosing that the user can initiate an action:” method 700 may include receiving, at a first or sending device, a user input directing the first device to send a specific notification signal, at 702.”), the processor or the respective user device receiving the user input plays the transmitted message via the audio transducer (Olson at Column 9, Lines 44-45, discloses playing an audio message at the wearable device:” speaker 216 may be used to play spoken phrases or audio messages”.), and illuminates the light emitter with a color corresponding to a theme associated with the transmitted message (Soundararajan at Claim 5 discloses that lighting sequences at the wearable device:” wherein the light emitter comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) that may illuminate in a plurality of colors in the visible spectrum, wherein the processor is to cause the one or more LEDs to illuminate in one of the plurality colors based on a content of the message.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Huang; Willy et al. (US-20230359320-A1) Techniques For Adjusting A Detachable Display Capsule Of A Wrist-Wearable Device To Operationally Complement A Wearable-Structure Attachment, And Wearable Devices And Systems For Performing Those Techniques;
Price; Dawn (US-20220361810-A1) WEARABLE DEVICE;
Aharonson; Eran et al. (US-20220172639-A1) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN ADAPTIVE AND INTERACTIVE TEACHING OF PLAYING A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT;
Wang; Chia-Jean et al. (US-10778826-B1) System to facilitate communication;
Zenoff; Andrew R. (US-20190235581-A1) CENTRALIZED CONTENT DISTRIBUTION IN A WEARABLE DISPLAY DEVICE NETWORK;
Chi; Jumin et al. (US-10082876-B2) Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof;
Cabrera, JR.; Esteban et al. (US-20180042559-A1) SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HEALTH DATA VISUALIZATION AND USER SUPPORT TOOLS FOR CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORING;
Subiakto; Edward (US-20170330471-A1) FIX-SMART WEARABLE LEARNING DEVICE WITH ADJUSTABLE FINGER RING;
Campbell; Steven R. (US-7345955-B1) Display medium having a bibliographic reference corresponding to date;
Colando; Christian J. et al. (US-20060073851-A1) Display of wireless data;
Bubar, David N. (US-20030189877-A1) Prayer clock and method for using same.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELLIS B. RAMIREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-8920. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am to 5:00pm.
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/ELLIS B. RAMIREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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