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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 06/13/2025 in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7-9, 11-12, 18, 25 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ozawa et al (hereinafter Ozawa) (US 2013/0096651 A1).
As to claim 1 and 25, Ozawa discloses a method (see claim 37), performed by an electronic implant, for aligning an accessory device (Fig 5, 150) with the electronic implant (Fig 5, 200), wherein the electronic implant comprises an interface (Fig 5, 155, 156) for interacting with the accessory device, processing circuitry (Fig 5, 140), and one or more electromagnetic positioning coils (Fig 5, 18), the method comprising:
- monitoring a presence of the accessory device (see parags [0009-0010]), and
- upon determining that the accessory device is present, energizing the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils by feeding a current through the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils to generate a magnetic field for aligning the accessory device (see parags [0010], [0031], [0034-0035], [0042], modulating the impedance of the charging coil results in generating an alignment electromagnetic field).
As to claim 2, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the generated magnetic field is for positioning the accessory device in relation to the electronic implant (see parag [0031]).
As to claim 3, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the generated magnetic field is for orientating the accessory device in relation to the electronic implant (see parags [0031], [0034-0035]).
As to claim 7, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim1, wherein the method comprises: - upon determining that the accessory device is not present, deactivating the electromagnetic positioning coil (see parag [0042]).
As to claim 8, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein monitoring comprises monitoring a magnetic field change at the electronic implant (see parags [0008], [0013]).
As to claim 9, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the presence of the accessory device is detected upon a magnetic switch comprised in the electronic implant being activated by the magnetic field (see Fig 5, 160, parag [0035]).
As to claim 11, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein monitoring comprises monitoring a charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface (see parag [0064]).
As to claim 12, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein the accessory device is determined to be present when the charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface is equal to or above a charging threshold (see parags [0035-0036], [0064]).
As to claim 18, Ozawa discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein the charging parameter is indicative of one or more of: - alignment of the accessory device (see parags [0031-0032]), - a frequency bandwidth, - a current amplitude in the coil, and - a phase alignment.
As to claim 29, Ozawa discloses a method (see claim 37), performed by an accessory device (Fig 5, 150), for aligning the accessory device with an electronic implant (Fig 5, 200), wherein the accessory device comprises an interface for interacting with the electronic implant (Fig 5, 155, 156), processing circuitry (Fig 5, 140), and a positioning device being an electromagnetic positioning coil (Fig 4, 17, 18), and wherein the electronic implant is configured to generate a first magnetic field (see parag [0008]), the method comprising: - receiving, from the electronic implant, a signal indicative of an interaction parameter (see parag [0032], alignment pulses), and - providing, in response to the signal indicative of the interaction parameter, an output comprising energizing the electromagnetic positioning coil of the positioning device to generate a second magnetic field for aligning the position device with and/or attracting the position device to the first magnetic field (see parags [0010], [0031], [0034-0035], [0042], modulating the impedance of the charging coil results in generating an alignment electromagnetic field).
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.
Claim(s) 4-6, 10 and 13-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa et al (hereinafter Ozawa) (US 2013/0096651 A1) in view of Hernandez (US 2022/0203103 A1).
As to claim 4, Ozawa does not disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic implant comprises an energy storage and/or wherein the interface of the electronic implant comprises a wireless charging interface, and wherein an energy used to energize the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils is supplied by one of the energy storage or the charging interface, or both. However, Hernandez discloses wherein the electronic implant (Fig 1, 100) comprises an energy storage (Fig 1, 118) and/or wherein the interface of the electronic implant comprises a wireless charging interface, and wherein an energy used to energize the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils is supplied by one of the energy storage or the charging interface, or both (see parags [0053], [0066-0067]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the implant device of Ozawa to include the teachings as taught by Hernandez in order to monitor the power level of the battery (see parag [0053]).
As to claim 5, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein the accessory device is a wireless charging device (Fig 5, 150) and the interface for interacting with the accessory device is a wireless charging interface (Fig 5, interface between 17 and 18), and wherein the energy used to energize the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils is supplied by the wireless charging interface during a charging procedure ([0031], [0034-0035], [0042]).
As to claim 6, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the wireless charging interface comprises an inductive charging coil (Hernandez, Fig 1, 112) different from the one or more positioning coils and/or a capacitive power transfer (CPT) coupling coupler, and wherein the energy used to energize the one or more electromagnetic positioning coils is supplied by one of the inductive charging coil and the CPT coupling coupler during a charging procedure (Hernandez, see parag [0057]).
As to claim 10, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the accessory device is a communication device and the interface for interacting with the accessory device is a communication interface (Hernandez, see parags [0056-0057]).
As to claim 13, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the method comprises: - upon determining that the accessory device is present, communicating, to a bearer of the electronic implant, a signal indicative of an interaction parameter, wherein the interaction parameter is the charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface (see parag [0047], signal alignment).
As to claim 14, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein communicating comprises sending, to the accessory device, the signal indicative of the charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface (Ozawa, see parag [0047]).
As to claim 15, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 14, wherein the signal indicative of a rate of a charging current generated in the wireless charging interface comprises an indication instructing the wireless charging device to emit a signal indicative of the charging parameter to the bearer of the electronic implant (Ozawa, see parags [0027], [0036]).
As to claim 16, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 14, wherein the signal indicative of the charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface comprises an indication instructing the wireless charging device to adjust a charging parameter of the wireless device (Ozawa, see parags [0058], [0060]).
As to claim 17, the combination of Ozawa and Hernandez discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein communicating comprises sending, to a user equipment of the bearer of the electronic implant, a signal instructing the user equipment to generate an output indicative of the charging parameter generated in the wireless charging interface (Ozawa, see parags [0053], [0058]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2023/0276242 A1; US 2019/0151668 A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2836 June 12, 2026
/TAELOR KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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