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 .
Claims 1, 2, 5-7, 11-18 and 21-22 are pending.
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.
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 and 10-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luna et al. (hereinafter Luna) (US 20160270717 A1) in view of Lettow (US 20160327979 A1)1.
As to claim 1, Luna teaches A device for being attached to a user or the user's clothing [0044: “bands 104-112 may be implemented as wearable personal data or data capture devices (e.g., data-capable devices) that are worn by a user around a wrist, ankle, arm, ear, or other appendage, or attached to the body or affixed to clothing.”], the device having a length, a width, and a thickness [band has three dimensions], the device comprising:
(a) electronic circuity, a first power source, and a display [0050: “band 200 includes bus 202, processor 204…battery 214…”] [0061: “interface module 410 may be used to manage different types of displays…”]; and
(c) one or more connectors [FIG. 2: communications facility 216]
wherein the device is configured to communicate with and receive data from one or more medical devices [0135: “FIG. 20 depicts an example of various medical devices that can communicate with a wearable device incorporating a monitoring and feedback module.”] by:
receiving data in one or more transmission protocols [0054: “communications facility 216 may be implemented to provide a “wired” data communication capability such as an analog or digital attachment, plug, jack, or the like to allow for data to be transferred. In other examples, communications facility 216 may be implemented to provide a wireless data communication capability to transmit digitally encoded data across one or more frequencies using various types of data communication protocols, without limitation.”];
reformatting the data into a format compatible for the one or more medical devices [0047] [FIG.20] [00136: It illustrate the communications between the band and the medical devices. The band provides health-related information and instructions to medical device and create a feedback loop between the band and the medical devices. The medical devices can perform execution based upon the information and instructions. It implies that the format of data is formatted into a format compatible for the medical devices.]; and
transmit the data in one or more different transmission protocols [0054];
wherein the one or more medical devices are selected from one or more of: a blood glucose meter; a pacemaker; a blood pressure monitor; an insulin pump; a pulse oximeter; a Holter monitor; an electrocardiograph; an electroencephalograph; a blood alcohol monitor; an alcohol breathalyzer; an alcohol ignition interlock; a respiration monitor; an accelerometer; a skin galvanometer; a thermometer; a patient geolocation device; a scale; an intravenous flow regulator; a patient height measuring device; a biochip assay device; a monitor for biological agents; a hazardous chemical agent monitor; an ionizing radiation sensor; a sphygmomanometer; a loop recorder; a spirometer; an event monitor; a prothrombin time (PT) meter; an international normalized ratio (INR) meter; a tremor sensor; and a defibrillator [0134: “Examples of medical devices include, but are not limited to, glucose monitors, heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors, CPAP machines, pacemakers, homocysteine level monitors, and intravenous (“IV”) monitors.”], wherein the one or more medical devices are separate and detached from the device [0135] [FIG. 20],
wherein the one or more connectors comprises an optical fiber connection, a tip and sleeve (TS) connection, a tip, ring, and sleeve (TRS) connection, a tip, ring, ring, and sleeve (TRRS) connection, a serial peripheral interface bus (SPI) connection, a universal serial bus (USB) connection, an RS-232 serial connection, an Ethernet connection, or a FireWire connection [0071: “Bands 104 and 108 may communicate with mobile communications device 118 or laptop 122 using any number of known wired communication technologies (e.g., Universal Service Bus (USB) connections, TRS/TRRS connections, telephone networks, fiber-optic networks, cable networks, etc.).”],
and wherein the device has a plurality of operating modes that change depending upon which of the one or more medical devices are in communication with the device [0049] [0135-0137: The various medica devices can communicate with a wearable device. Therefore, in order to support the functionalities of the medical devices, the operating mode of the wearable device will be changed based on the medica device in communication with the wearable device.].
Luna does not teach the device comprising a thickness of 1/4" or less.
Lettow teaches a wearable device having a thickness of 1/4" or less [0044: “In some cases, the device cam have a maximum thickness…or of about 6mm, or of about 4mm, or of about 2mm, or of about 1mm…”].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of designing the thickness of ¼’’ or less as suggested in Lettow into Luna to implement fabrication of the wearable device. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such modification to improve user experience by reducing the size and weight of the device.
As to claims 2, 5-7, 11-18, and 21-22, the rejections are respectfully maintained for the reasons as set forth in the last office action mailed on 09/03/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 03/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, Applicant argued that Lunar in view of Lettow fails to teach the new inserted limitation on the amendment filed on 03/02/26.
The examiner respectfully traverses Applicant’s argument with the reasons as set forth in the rejection recited above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 XUXING CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3486. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5:30PM.
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/XUXING CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2176
1 Luna and Lettow was cited as prior art in the previous office action mailed on 05/08/2025.
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