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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21, 23, and 31 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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, 2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 33, 34, 37, 41, 47, 49, and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachman et al. (US Pub No. 2007/0016443) and Stein et al. (US Pub No. 2022/0160585).
Regarding claim 1, Wachman teaches a medication container (See abstract) comprising:
a housing comprising a plurality of compartments (See [084]), wherein each compartment comprises (i) an indicator and (ii) a lid, wherein each lid comprises an inner surface (See [0047] and [0085]);
an optical sensor disposed on the housing or on at least one lid (See Fig. 1, [0049], and [0076]);
a sensor cover configured to shield the optical sensor from ambient light when the at least one lid is closed (See [0185]-[0186]);
a processor; and a transmitter (See [0071]).
Wachman does not explicitly teach that the sensor cover is configured to mate with the sensor upon closure of the at least one lid.
Stein teaches that the sensor cover is configured to mate with the sensor upon closure of the at least one lid (See abstract, Fig. 1B and [0069]).
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have been motivated to modify Wachman’s system to include Stein’s teachings in order to ensure medication is stored safely, securely, permit easy access and accurately detect that the medication has been removed. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made.
Regarding claim 2, Wachman teaches each compartment comprises an optical sensor (See [0046]).
Regarding claim 4, Wachman does not teach that each compartment or lid comprises a sensor cover, and wherein (i) the sensor cover is concave, curved, rounded, triangular, rectangular, or cuboidal, (ii) the sensor cover comprises a protrusion, (iii) the sensor cover is configured to nestably or slidably mate with the optical sensor, (iv) the sensor cover comprises a sensor cavity, (v) the sensor cover comprises a light filter, (vi) the sensor cover is integral to the lid or housing, or (vii) the sensor cover is removably attached to the lid or housing.
Stein teaches that each compartment or lid comprises a sensor cover, and wherein (i) the sensor cover is concave, curved, rounded, triangular, rectangular, or cuboidal, (ii) the sensor cover comprises a protrusion, (iii) the sensor cover is configured to nestably or slidably mate with the optical sensor, (iv) the sensor cover comprises a sensor cavity, (v) the sensor cover comprises a light filter, (vi) the sensor cover is integral to the lid or housing, or (vii) the sensor cover is removably attached to the lid or housing (See abstract, Fig. 1B and [0069]).
Regarding claim 8, Wachman does not teach the sensor cover comprises a sensor cavity, and wherein the optical sensor is configured to nestably mate with the sensor cavity.
Stein teaches the sensor cover comprises a sensor cavity, and wherein the optical sensor is configured to nestably mate with the sensor cavity (See abstract, Fig. 1B and [0069]).
Regarding claim 10, Wachman does not teach the optical sensor is in a cavity.
Stein teaches the optical sensor is in a cavity (See abstract, Fig. 1B and [0069]).
Regarding claim 11, claim 11 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim 8.
Regarding claim 13, Wachman does not teach wherein upon closure of the lid, the sensor cover conforms to the shape of the optical sensor or the optical sensor is substantially surrounded by the sensor cover.
Stein teaches wherein upon closure of the lid, the sensor cover conforms to the shape of the optical sensor or the optical sensor is substantially surrounded by the sensor cover (See abstract, Fig. 1B and [0069]).
Regarding claim 15, Wachman teaches wherein (i) the optical sensor is disposed on at least one inner surface, (ii) the optical sensor is disposed in at least one compartment, (iii) the optical sensor comprises a sensor surface, (iv) the optical sensor is a photoresistor, (v) the sensor cover is disposed on the housing, (vi) the sensor cover is disposed in at least one compartment, or (vii) the sensor cover is disposed on at least one inner surface (See Fig. 1 and [0049]).
Regarding claim 33, Wachman teaches the indicator is a symbol, a light emitting diode (LED), an embossment, or an indent and/or wherein the indicator is on at least one lid or compartment (See [0047] and Fig. 2C).
Regarding claim 34, Wachman teaches the embossment is Braille or wherein the symbol is a letter or number corresponding to the day of the week or month (See [0047] and Fig. 2C).
Regarding claim 37, Wachman teaches wherein the housing or at least one lid comprises at least one LED, or wherein the housing comprises between 2 to 30 compartments, or wherein the housing comprises 14 compartments (See [0047] and Fig. 2C).
Regarding claim 41, Wachman teaches wherein (i) the plurality of compartments are configured for receiving one or more medications, (ii) each lid comprises a button or switch to open the corresponding compartment, (iii) the processor is configured to determine a positive or negative medication adherence event by a subject based on at least one measurement taken by the optical sensor, (iv) the processor is configured to receive a signal from an external device, and/or (v) the transmitter is configured to wirelessly send a signal to an external device (See [0044] and Fig. 2C).
Regarding claim 47, Wachman teaches wherein (i) the transmitter is configured to wirelessly send a signal to an external device, and wherein the signal corresponds to a positive or a negative medication adherence event, (ii) the processor is configured to receive a signal from an external device or the transmitter is configured to wirelessly send a signal to an external device, and wherein the signal is an alert to a caregiver or healthcare professional regarding a positive or negative medication adherence event and/or wherein the external device is a personal computer, a tablet, a cellular phone, a pharmacy computer, or a patient information database, or (iii) the transmission element is a BLUETOOTH® transmission element (See abstract and [0054]).
Regarding claim 49, Wachman teaches the processor is configured to turn on an LED based on a medication regime received from an external device, wherein the LED corresponds to a medication to be taken by a subject or wherein the processor is configured to send a reminder of a scheduled medication dose to a subject, or wherein the medication container further includes an auditory alert, and wherein the processor is configured to turn on the auditory alert based on the medication regime received from an external device (See [0058]-[0059], [0095], and [0164]-[0170]).
Regarding claim 55, Wachman teaches method of monitoring medication compliance, comprising
(i) providing the medication container of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1);
(ii) providing a medication schedule to the processor from a first external device (See abstract and [0058]-[0059]);
(iii) sensing ambient light with the optical sensor, wherein ambient light corresponds to a positive medication incident (See [0049] and [0051]); and
(iv) sending a signal to the first external device or a second external device with the transmitter, wherein the signal corresponds to the positive medication incident (See [0054]-[0055]).
Claims 25 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachman and Stein as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Loveless (US Pub No. 2006/0184271).
Regarding claim 25, Wachman does not teach wherein each lid is hingeably attached to the housing or wherein each lid is slidably attached to the housing.
Loveless teaches wherein each lid is slidably attached to the housing (See [0117]).
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have been motivated to modify Wachman’s system to include Loveless’s teachings for a safe, easy and quick loading dispenser (Loveless, [0016]). Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made.
Regarding claim 27, Wachman does not teach wherein each lid is slidably attached to the housing, and wherein the housing comprises a groove through which at least one lid is configured to slide and/or wherein the sensor cover is configured to slidably engage the optical sensor.
Loveless teaches that each lid is slidably attached to the housing, and wherein the housing comprises a groove through which at least one lid is configured to slide (See [0117]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)272-0841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/THOMAS S MCCORMACK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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