DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed June 23, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-7 and 9-21 remain pending in the application. Claims 1-4, 7, 11-17, and 19 are noted as amended, claim 8 is noted as cancelled, and claims 20-21 are noted as newly added. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome all previous objections set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed April 1, 2026 and all objections therein have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 10, and 19-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chiu et al. (US PGPub 20220336100), hereinafter referred to as Chiu, in view of Cork et al. (US PGPub 20170039423), hereinafter referred to as Cork.
With regard to claims 1, 2, and 19, Chiu teaches a system [claim 1] (Abstract; Paragraphs 0026, 0099 teach a system including an electronic device), a method [claim 2] (Abstract; Paragraph 0100; “augmented reality guidance process”), and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon [claim 19] (Paragraphs 0004, 0074, 0089 teach the device/system can include non-transitory computer-readable medium capable of storing instructions for execution by a control module/processor) for providing assistance to a user of a medical device via an augmented reality (AR) device (Paragraphs 0086, 0089, 0100 teach the system including augmented reality guidance for a medical device), comprising:
the AR device (Paragraphs 0086, 0099-0100 teach the electronic device for augmented reality guidance (AR Device)), wherein the AR device comprises or is connected to an optical sensor (Paragraphs 0086, 0088 teach the device includes an imaging device which may be realized as a camera including image sensors (optical sensors)); and
a control device (Paragraphs 0086, 0099-0100; “control device”) configured to:
identify an operational setting of the medical device based on the image data captured by the optical sensor (Paragraphs 0092, 0096, 0097 teach the process identifies the operational settings and/or configuration of the medical device based on the captured image);
determine a task to be executed by the user on the medical device (Paragraphs 0092, 0095 teach the process includes identifying/determining the current objective (task) of the user);
monitor activities of the user using the optical sensor (Paragraphs 0097-0098, 0116, 0145-0146 teach the system can monitor user actions, interactions, and manipulations of the medical device based on the captured images);
determine an assistance scheme for providing assistance to the user for carrying out the determined task based on the identified operational setting of the medical device, the determined task to be executed, and the monitored activities of the user (Paragraphs 0097, 0102, 0104, 0110, 0120, 0145-0146 teach the system can provide guidance based on the current settings and/or configuration of the medical device, the user’s objective, and the user’s performance (monitored activities) wherein the guidance overlay can be changed (determined) based on the settings, user preferences, and objective/task including changing the language or style/type of guidance); and
provide assistance according to the determined assistance scheme, wherein providing the assistance comprises causing output of indications via the AR device (Paragraphs 0097, 0104, 0110, 0120, 0145-0146 teach the system providing guidance information and guidance/feedback to the user in the form of a guidance overlay using augmented reality including images and indications of guidance).
Chiu may not explicitly teach providing assistance to a user of a dialysis device; the dialysis device, wherein the dialysis device is configured to treat extracorporeal blook of a patient; wherein the optical sensor is configured to capture image data of an accessory of the dialysis device; wherein the identified operational setting includes a configuration of the accessory of the dialysis device; wherein the task to be executed by the user on the dialysis device includes mounting the accessory of the dialysis device to the dialysis device to prepare the dialysis device for treatment; and wherein the indications include images and/or video as to how the accessory should be mounted to the dialysis device. However, Cork teaches a head-mounted display device for interfacing with medical devices including dialysis machines such as hemofiltration machines (treating extracorporeal blood of a patient) wherein the device uses a camera to capture images and video of the medical device and provide instructions and/or feedback based on the analyzed image wherein the captured image can include components of the device (accessory) such as clamps, disposable and replaceable components, batteries, and tubing wherein the instructions (task) can include correcting a condition or state of the device or installing the disposable or replaceable unit/component on the device wherein the instructions can include pictures or video of the unit properly installed and/or demonstrating the instructions (Paragraphs 0019, 0029, 0035-0036, 0043, 0061, 0071).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu to incorporate the teachings of Cork by applying the teachings of Chiu to a dialysis device and incorporating the steps of imaging the device and components of the device, analyzing the images to identify conditions of the components, and provide feedback and instructions for the components such as installing the components wherein the instructions include pictures or video of Cork for the augmented reality guidance of Chiu, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to augmented reality guidance systems and methods for training and guiding users on medical device. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu to include a dialysis machine as Chiu already teaches the methods can be applied to other medical devices (Chiu Paragraph 0026), wherein the substitution of the dialysis device for the medical device would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try as it is a known medical device and would be expected to perform in the same way, and by coding the system to include capturing images or videos of a dialysis device including components of the device such as disposable and replaceable components such as tubing or clamps wherein the provide instructions and feedback can include videos or pictures for installing and/or assembling the device and components. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu would include providing assistance to a user of a dialysis device; the dialysis device, wherein the dialysis device is configured to treat extracorporeal blook of a patient; wherein the optical sensor is configured to capture image data of an accessory of the dialysis device; wherein the identified operational setting includes a configuration of the accessory of the dialysis device; wherein the task to be executed by the user on the dialysis device includes mounting the accessory of the dialysis device to the dialysis device to prepare the dialysis device for treatment; and wherein the indications include images and/or video as to how the accessory should be mounted to the dialysis device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Cork with Chiu’s system and method in order to provide more comprehensive and personalized training and ensure proper usage and installing/assembly of the device (Cork Paragraphs 0043, 0061).
With regard to claim 3, Chiu further teaches wherein capturing the image data comprises: capturing an image (Paragraphs 0088, 0090, 0092 teach the device captures images of the user’s surrounding environment and the medical device). Examiner notes that the use of “and/or” in this claim as well as subsequent claims is interpreted under its broadest reasonable interpretation meaning, for example, A and/or B is A or B individually or A and B in combination. Therefore, only one element of the group is needed to teach the claim as recited.
With regard to claim 4, Chiu, as modified, further teaches wherein identifying the operation setting of the dialysis device (see prior art rejection of claim 2 above) further comprises: identifying the dialysis device (Paragraphs 0094, 0141 teaches the system identifies the current state and status of the medical device); and/or determining a spatial position and/or a spatial orientation of the dialysis device (Paragraphs 0105, 0125, 0141 teach the device can determine the position and/or orientation of the medical device). As discussed above, Cork teaches a dialysis device as the analyzed medical device, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute the dialysis device for the medical device as Chiu teaches applying the techniques to other medical devices and dialysis devices are a known type of medical device that would be obvious to apply the techniques of Chiu to and expect similar results.
With regard to claim 5, Chiu further teaches further comprising: obtaining, from a reference database, at least one related reference operation for the determined task (Paragraphs 0090, 0097, 0104, 0141, 0143-0146 teach the system can store, retrieve, and utilize user guides (reference operation) from the memory/database to achieve the desired and/or intended objective such as performing a desired task with the medical device); wherein the assistance scheme is determined based on a comparison between the monitored activities of the user and a related reference operation obtained from the reference database (Paragraphs 0094, 0141, 0143-0146 teach the system can provide guidance to the user based on the user guide to complete the sequence of steps to achieve the desired objective wherein the guidance is based in part of monitoring and analyzing the user’s manipulations and providing guidance based on differences (comparison) of the user’s interaction/manipulation and a reference interaction/manipulation/user position).
With regard to claim 6, Chiu further teaches wherein the assistance scheme is determined depending on a difference between the monitored activities of the user and the related reference operation (Paragraphs 0094, 0141, 0143-0146 teach the system can provide guidance to the user based in part of monitoring and analyzing the user’s manipulations and providing guidance based on differences between the user’s interaction/manipulation and a reference interaction/manipulation/user position).
With regard to claim 7, Chiu further teaches wherein indications are provided via the AR device based on the difference between the monitored activities of the user and the related reference operation being higher than a predefined threshold (Paragraphs 0094, 0141, 0143-0146 teach the system can provide guidance to the user based in part of monitoring and analyzing the user’s manipulations and providing guidance based on differences between the user’s interaction/manipulation and a reference interaction/manipulation/user position wherein the system can score the user and certify them (indication) when the particular manipulation is above a threshold score based on the deviations/differences).
With regard to claim 10, Chiu further teaches further comprising: computing an evaluation of a skill level of the user based on the monitored activities of the user and a related reference operation for the determined task (Paragraphs 0141, 0145-0146 teach the system can determine a score or other metric (evaluation of a skill level) for the user based on the observed manipulations and actions of the user compared to the reference manipulations and overlay wherein the metric is determined based on the difference or deviation).
With regard to claim 20, Chiu further teaches the medical device includes electronics and components such as an integrated control module including a controller and/or processor and a communications interface and the electronic device includes the controller including a communications interface which can communicate with the other devices including the medical device over a network (Paragraphs 0079-0080, 0086-0087, 0091) but may not explicitly teach wherein the control device is part of the dialysis device. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the controller of the display device integral with the dialysis/medical device in order to simplify or centralize data processing (see MPEP 2144.04) as further supported by Cork which teaches processing data and functions on a server or other computing device over a network to operate the display device and medical device (Paragraphs 0031-0033, 0036).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu based on legal precedent and to incorporate the teachings of Cork by integrating the controller for the display and AR device into the medical/dialysis device of Chiu by allowing the medical/dialysis device to operate as the intermediary device performing the functions and processing the data, as it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to integrate the hardware into any of the networked devices per MPEP 2144.04 as it is well-known in the art to remote process data and transmit the needed data and processes over a network. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu by integrating the controller of the display/electronic device into the medical/dialysis device or having the control functions and processes be implemented on the controller module and hardware of the medical/dialysis device and transmitting the display and other necessary data to the AR device/headset for display. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu would include wherein the control device is part of the dialysis device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Cork and legal precedent with Chiu’s system and method in order to spread out processing requirements and improve system performance by splitting the processing load.
With regard to claim 21, Chiu may not explicitly teach wherein the accessory of the dialysis device comprises a disposable tube set. However, as discussed above, Cork teaches the imaged component can include disposable components and tubing (Paragraphs 0035, 0071).
As discussed above, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu to incorporate the teachings of Cork by applying the teachings of Chiu to a dialysis device and incorporating the steps of imaging the device and components of the device, analyzing the images to identify conditions of the components, and provide feedback and instructions for the components such as installing the components wherein the instructions include pictures or video of Cork for the augmented reality guidance of Chiu, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to augmented reality guidance systems and methods for training and guiding users on medical device. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu by coding the system to include capturing images or videos of a dialysis device including components of the device such as disposable and replaceable components such as tubing. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu would include wherein the accessory of the dialysis device comprises a disposable tube set. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Cork with Chiu’s system and method in order to provide more comprehensive and personalized training and ensure proper usage and installing/assembly of the device (Cork Paragraphs 0043, 0061).
Claim(s) 9 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chiu in view of Cork, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Plahey et al. (US PGPub 20200243193).
With regard to claim 9, Chiu in view of Cork may not explicitly teach wherein the assistance scheme is determined based on a preset or predetermined skill level of the user and/or a rule. However, Plahey teaches a system and method for augmented reality-based training and troubleshooting for medical devices including providing assistance based on a plurality of modes including a novice or expert mode (skill level) wherein the mode can be selected by a user or determined by the system wherein the modes include different types of guidance such as a virtual assistant or written instructions (Abstract; Paragraphs 0121, 0122).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork to incorporate the teachings of Plahey by incorporating the step of determining if a user is a novice or expert and providing guidance based on the determination/selection of the mode of Plahey for the augmented reality guidance of Chiu, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to augmented reality guidance systems and methods for training and guiding users on medical device. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork by coding the system to use the historical data to determine if a user is a novice or expert and/or allow a user to select a novice or expert mode and provide guidance accordingly including using a corresponding/preferred type of guidance. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork would include wherein the assistance scheme is determined based on a preset or predetermined skill level of the user and/or a rule. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Plahey with Chiu in view of Cork’s system and method in order to improve user performance and provide more comprehensive and personalized training.
With regard to claim 11, Chiu, as modified, further teaches further comprising: providing real-time support for operating the dialysis device (Paragraphs 0092, 0098, 0142 teach the system provides real-time support and guidance for a user performing a desired operation of the medical device); wherein the real-time support is provided via the AR device (Paragraphs 0092, 0098, 0142 teach the system providing real-time guidance using augmented reality via the overlays and display of the electronic device) but Chiu in view of Cork may not explicitly teach providing support from an artificial expert and/or a human expert. However, Plahey further teaches the system can provide guidance and troubleshooting via initiating a real-time video conference with an expert technician (Abstract; Paragraphs 0017, 0105, 0121, 0122, 0124).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork to incorporate the teachings of Plahey by incorporating the step of initiating a video conference with an expert technician to assist a user of Plahey for the augmented reality guidance of Chiu, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to augmented reality guidance systems and methods for training and guiding users on medical device. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork by coding the system to initiate a video conference with an expert technician to assist and guide a user with a process or operation. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork would include providing support from a human expert. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Plahey with Chiu in view of Cork’s system and method in order to assist users and improve user performance and training by providing necessary support.
With regard to claim 12, Chiu in view of Cork may not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving a user request for providing the real-time support; wherein providing the real-time support is controlled based on parameters of the received user request. However, Plahey further teaches the user can confirm their experience level (novice or expert) and the system can prompt the user (user request) to initiate the video conference with an expert technician wherein the video conference initiation can be based on the type or issues, complexity, or seriousness of the issue (parameters) captured by the sensors (Paragraphs 0105, 0124).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork to incorporate the teachings of Plahey by incorporating the step of initiating a video conference with an expert technician to assist a user based on prompting the user and captured images from the sensor of Plahey for the augmented reality guidance of Chiu, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to augmented reality guidance systems and methods for training and guiding users on medical device. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork by coding the system to initiate a video conference with an expert technician to assist and guide a user with a process or operation based on prompting the user and determining a seriousness, complexity, or need of an issue based on the captured sensor data. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork would include further comprising: receiving a user request for providing the real-time support; wherein providing the real-time support is controlled based on parameters of the received user request. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Plahey with Chiu in view of Cork’s system and method in order to assist users and improve user performance and training by providing necessary support.
Claim(s) 13-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Haze (US PGPub 20200410427).
With regard to claim 13, Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey may not explicitly teach wherein the human expert is determined out of a set of human experts by executing an identification algorithm; and/or wherein the human expert is assigned to the user or to the dialysis device by executing an assignment algorithm. However, Haze teaches a system and method for recommending experts to assist and guide users wherein an expert is one of a plurality of experts within the organization and selected/recommended based on different algorithms based on identifying a best fit expert or expert based on the task, skills, or requirements (Paragraphs 0015, 0034, 0037, 0040, 0048).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey to incorporate the teachings of Haze by applying the technique of recommending an expert using algorithms and pattern matching of Haze to identify a technician/expert to connect the user with of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey, as, while the references are in different fields of endeavor, the references and the claimed invention are directed to personnel management and training systems for improving user task performance and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the teaching to improve Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey in the same way by providing best-suited experts to improve user training and performance. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey by coding the system to gather user and expert data and use algorithms to perform pattern matching in order to recommend experts to connect with the user via the video support of Plahey to provide guidance wherein the recommendation is based on identifying relevant experts and/or assigning experts based on their specialties and data. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey would include wherein the human expert is determined out of a set of human experts by executing an identification algorithm; and/or wherein the human expert is assigned to the user or to the medical device by executing an assignment algorithm. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Haze with Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey’s system and method in order to provide the best-suited experts and improve user training and performance (Haze Paragraphs 0018, 0034).
With regard to claim 14, Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey may not explicitly teach wherein the identification algorithm and/or the assignment algorithm processes personal information related to a human expert, wherein the personal information is determined by: receiving input from the human expert; analyzing data from an electronic device of the human expert; detecting a presence of the human expert at a predetermined spatial location; receiving a rating of the human expert according to an input of the user; and/or receiving information about the human expert comprising skills, preferences, scheduling data, a rating, and/or further data related to the human expert. However, Haze further teaches the algorithm and pattern matching processes data about the expert including context for the information wherein the information includes current location (detecting a presence), previous expert performance and inputs (receiving input, analyzing data), ratings of the experts (rating), and expert personal information including skills, availability (scheduling), and preferences (Paragraphs 0023-0024, 0030, 0037, 0043-0044).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey to incorporate the teachings of Haze by applying the technique of recommending an expert using algorithms and pattern matching including receiving input data on the experts of Haze to identify a technician/expert to connect the user with of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey, as, while the references are in different fields of endeavor, the references and the claimed invention are directed to personnel management and training systems for improving user task performance and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the teaching to improve Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey in the same way by providing best-suited experts to improve user training and performance. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey by coding the system to gather user and expert data and use algorithms to perform pattern matching in order to recommend experts to connect with the user via the video support of Plahey to provide guidance wherein system performs the analysis based on input data of the experts including expert performance and inputs, ratings, location, demographic data, and personal information including skills, availability, and preferences in order to improve the expert recommendations. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey would include wherein the identification algorithm and/or the assignment algorithm processes personal information related to a human expert, wherein the personal information is determined by: receiving input from the human expert; analyzing data from an electronic device of the human expert; detecting a presence of the human expert at a predetermined spatial location; receiving a rating of the human expert according to an input of the user; and/or receiving information about the human expert comprising skills, preferences, scheduling data, a rating, and/or further data related to the human expert. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Haze with Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey’s system and method in order to provide the best-suited experts, improve user training and performance, and improve expert recommendations (Haze Paragraphs 0018, 0034, 0040).
With regard to claim 15, Chiu, as modified, further teaches further comprising: determining demands of the user for operating the dialysis device (Paragraphs 0104, 0143 teach the system can determine the needs and required steps for the user to completed the desired objective based on the status of the medical device to operate the device), but Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey may not explicitly teach further comprising: storing the personal information in an expert database; wherein the assignment algorithm is configured for assigning the human expert based on a matching between information stored in the expert databased and the determined demands of the user. However, Haze further teaches the pattern matching can be based on the requirements (demands) of the particular user matched with the expert data wherein the expert data is stored in a database by the system (Paragraphs 0019, 0021, 0026, 0046, 0078).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey to incorporate the teachings of Haze by applying the technique of recommending an expert using algorithms and pattern matching including storing the expert data and matching the expert to the user based on expert data and user requirements of Haze to identify a technician/expert to connect the user with of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey, as, while the references are in different fields of endeavor, the references and the claimed invention are directed to personnel management and training systems for improving user task performance and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the teaching to improve Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey in the same way by providing best-suited experts to improve user training and performance. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey by coding the system to gather user and expert data, store the expert data in a database, and use algorithms to perform pattern matching in order to recommend experts to connect with the user via the video support of Plahey to provide guidance wherein the matching is based on expert data and user requirements and needs including the needs identified by Chiu. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey would include further comprising: storing the personal information in an expert database; wherein the assignment algorithm is configured for assigning the human expert based on a matching between information stored in the expert databased and the determined demands of the user. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Haze with Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey’s system and method in order to provide the best-suited experts, improve user training and performance, and improve expert recommendations (Haze Paragraphs 0018, 0034, 0040).
With regard to claim 16, Chiu, as modified, further teaches wherein the demands of the user are determined based on at least one of: user input (Paragraphs 0055, 0103, 0121 teach the targets/requirements for a desired objective/operation can be based on user or patient inputs); input data received from the dialysis device (Paragraphs 0055, 0102-0104 teach the system can determine the user needs based on sensor output and the current status of the medical device); and/or patient information (Paragraphs 0108, 0120 teaches the guidance and thereby the needs to achieve the objective can be determined based on patient data).
With regard to claim 17, Chiu further teaches further comprising: storing monitored activities of the user (Paragraphs 0145-0146 teach the user metrics and performance of individual steps may be stored and recorded to determine performance over time), but Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey may not explicitly teach wherein the human expert is determined based on the stored monitored activities of the user. However, Haze further teaches the recommendation can be based in part on previous/recorded performance data/user activity data (monitored activities) of the organization, experts, and users (Paragraphs 0030, 0036, 0043).
As discussed above, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey to incorporate the teachings of Haze by applying the technique of recommending an expert using algorithms and pattern matching including using stored/recorded user activity data of Haze to identify a technician/expert to connect the user with of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey, as, while the references are in different fields of endeavor, the references and the claimed invention are directed to personnel management and training systems for improving user task performance and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the teaching to improve Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey in the same way by providing best-suited experts to improve user training and performance. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey by coding the system to gather user and expert data and use algorithms to perform pattern matching in order to recommend experts to connect with the user via the video support of Plahey to provide guidance wherein the matching is based in part on the particular user activity and recorded manipulations and metrics of the user. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey would include wherein the human expert is determined based on the stored monitored activities of the user. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Haze with Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey’s system and method in order to provide the best-suited experts, improve user training and performance, and improve expert recommendations (Haze Paragraphs 0018, 0034, 0040).
With regard to claim 18, Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey may not explicitly teach wherein the human expert is determine based on a machine learning module. However, Haze further teaches the recommendation can be made using machine learning to recommend suitable experts and improve future recommendations (Paragraphs 0017, 0036-0039).
As discussed above, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey to incorporate the teachings of Haze by applying the technique of recommending an expert using algorithms and pattern matching including using machine learning models of Haze to identify a technician/expert to connect the user with of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey, as, while the references are in different fields of endeavor, the references and the claimed invention are directed to personnel management and training systems for improving user task performance and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the teaching to improve Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey in the same way by providing best-suited experts to improve user training and performance. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey by coding the system to gather user and expert data and use machine learning to perform pattern matching in order to recommend experts to connect with the user via the video support of Plahey to provide guidance to the user. Upon such modification, the method and system of Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey would include wherein the human expert is determine based on a machine learning module. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Haze with Chiu in view of Cork and Plahey’s system and method in order to provide the best-suited experts, improve user training and performance, and improve future recommendations (Haze Paragraphs 0018, 0034, 0036).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed June 23, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-7 and 9-19 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection(s) of claims 1-7 and 9-19 under 35 U.S.C. 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed June 23, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-7 and 9-19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive by virtue of Applicant’s amendments to the claims. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of the newly cited combination of prior art discussed above.
Conclusion
Accordingly, claims 1-7 and 9-21 are rejected.
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 CORRELL T FRENCH whose telephone number is (571)272-8162. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5pm; Alt Fri 7:30am-4pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached at (571)270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CORRELL T FRENCH/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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