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 .
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) 1-4 and 7-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 10,453,572 to Brooks further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0314540 to Andrews.
As per claim 1, Brooks teaches a method for improving cybersecurity of an operating room, comprising:
at an operating room (OR) hub storing patient data and connected or one or more medical devices in the operating room (see: Brooks, column 3, lines 49-67; column 4, lines 1-33; column 5, lines 13-23; column 13, lines 9-53; column 26, lines 3-26, is met by may be used in a variety of healthcare entities, including, but not limited to a hospital, system of hospitals, a hospital floor, a hospital ward or unit, a doctor's office, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, and a computer, also referred to as a control system or as a controller, which includes a memory and a processor, and a touch screen, a variety of storage bins, a variety of work lights operatively coupled to the controller, enables the controller to automatically recognize newly-installed devices or subsystems, establish communications with the recognized devices or subsystems):
preventing a user from interacting with the one or more medical devices until the user is authenticated through an operations user interface (UI) of the OR hub (see: Brooks, column 11, lines 59-61; column 15, line 64, through column 16, line 3; column 16, line 42, through column 17, line 3; column 18, line 44-61; column 17, lines 30-48; column 31, lines 16-29, is met by passcode verification or otherwise verifying the authenticity of the user in accordance with the security mechanism utilized, where additional icons that may be displayed in the button bar once a user logs in, such that authenticating the user and permits access);
authenticating the user through the operations UI, wherein authenticating the user through the operations UI comprises determining a type of credential possessed by the user (see: Brooks, column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 42, through column 17, line 3; column 17, lines 30-48; column 18, line 44-61; column 31, lines 16-29, is met by passcode verification or otherwise verifying the authenticity of the user in accordance with the security mechanism utilized, where that authenticating the user and permits access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls, functions, and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access);
based on a determination that the user possesses a hospital network administrator credential, permitting the user to access a plurality of security functions, wherein the plurality of security functions comprises one or more communication ports (see: Brooks, Fig. 31-32; and column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61, is met by permitting access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls, functions, and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access, and depending on the type of information or the security clearance of the particular user, restrictions may be imposed on the basis of the type of information, available controls and available functions such that a nurse may be restricted to the functions the nurse is responsible for such as lighting control and the nurse may be prevented from viewing connectivity information and network settings, whereas a technician may be restricted from viewing user preferences, but permitted to view connectivity information and view and change network settings) to which the one or more medical devices are connected (see: Brooks, Fig. 30; and column 5, lines 13-15; column 11, lines 46-50; column 32, lines 54-57; is met by external connections to the medical cart controller such as USB ports, interfacing with the medical cart directly via a data port such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, RJ45, or Ethernet); and
based on a determination that the user possesses an operator credential, preventing the user from the one or more communication ports (see: Brooks, column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61, is met by permitting access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls, functions, and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access, and depending on the type of information or the security clearance of the particular user, restrictions may be imposed on the basis of the type of information, available controls and available functions such that a nurse may be restricted to the functions the nurse is responsible for such as lighting control and the nurse may be prevented from viewing connectivity information and network settings, whereas a technician may be restricted from viewing user preferences, but permitted to view connectivity information and view and change network settings).
Brooks fails to specifically teach the function of enabling and disabling the one or more communication ports; however, Andrews teaches a toggle switch that is selectively repositionable between an “on” position in which the toggle switch electrically couples a port to the other components of the unit and an “off” position in which the toggle switch electrically decouples the port from the other components of the unit by way of touch screens, where the port may be a USB port (see: Andrews, paragraph 42 and 44).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the toggling a switch to electrically couple or decouple a USB port to the unit by way of touch screens as taught by Andrews with the motivation of providing different commands to control battery charging (see: Andrews, paragraph 44).
As per claim 2, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
based on the determination that the user possesses the hospital network administrator credential, displaying a graphical user interface comprising a first interactive graphical user interface object for the user (see: Brooks, Fig. 31-32; and column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61, is met by permitting access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls, functions, and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access, and depending on the type of information or the security clearance of the particular user, restrictions may be imposed on the basis of the type of information, available controls and available functions such that a nurse may be restricted to the functions the nurse is responsible for such as lighting control and the nurse may be prevented from viewing connectivity information and network settings, whereas a technician may be restricted from viewing user preferences, but permitted to view connectivity information and view and change network settings)
Brooks fails to specifically teach the function to enable and disable at least one of the one or more communication ports; however, Andrews teaches a toggle switch that is selectively repositionable between an “on” position in which the toggle switch electrically couples a port to the other components of the unit and an “off” position in which the toggle switch electrically decouples the port from the other components of the unit by way of touch screens, where the port may be a USB port (see: Andrews, paragraph 42 and 44).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the toggling a switch to electrically couple or decouple a USB port to the unit by way of touch screens as taught by Andrews with the motivation of providing different commands to control battery charging (see: Andrews, paragraph 44).
As per claim 3, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 2, and further teach:
wherein the first interactive graphical user interface object comprises a toggle switch (see: Andrews, paragraph 42 and 44, is met by a toggle switch that is selectively repositionable between an “on” position in which the toggle switch electrically couples a port to the other components of the unit and an “off” position in which the toggle switch electrically decouples the port from the other components of the unit by way of touch screens, where the port may be a USB port).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the toggling a switch to electrically couple or decouple a USB port to the unit by way of touch screens as taught by Andrews with the motivation of providing different commands to control battery charging (see: Andrews, paragraph 44).
As per claim 4, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 3, and further teach:
receiving a first user input to the first interactive graphical user interface object corresponding to enabling the at least one of the one or more communication ports (see: Andrews, paragraph 42 and 44, is met by a toggle switch that is selectively repositionable between an “on” position in which the toggle switch electrically couples a port to the other components of the unit and an “off” position in which the toggle switch electrically decouples the port from the other components of the unit by way of touch screens, where the port may be a USB port).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the toggling a switch to electrically couple or decouple a USB port to the unit by way of touch screens as taught by Andrews with the motivation of providing different commands to control battery charging (see: Andrews, paragraph 44).
As per claim 7, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
based on the determination that the user possesses the hospital network administrator credential and in accordance with the user that possesses the hospital network administrator credential enabling the one or more communication ports, exporting an audit log to an external device connected to the one or more communication ports (see: Brooks, Fig. 31-32; and column 10, lines 13-34; column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61; column 23, lines 14-67, is met by permitting access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls and information including authorized end user access to data and operations such as battery usage memory usage and diagnostics which may transmit status information to the fleet management system, where functions and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access, and depending on the type of information or the security clearance of the particular user, restrictions may be imposed on the basis of the type of information, available controls and available functions such that a nurse may be restricted to the functions the nurse is responsible for such as lighting control and the nurse may be prevented from viewing connectivity information and network settings, whereas a technician may be restricted from viewing user preferences, but permitted to view connectivity information and view and change network settings).
As per claim 8, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the one or more communication ports comprise at least one of a USB port, a serial port, an HDMI port, a DVI port, an Ethernet port, or an audio port (see: Brooks, column 5, lines 13-15; column 11, lines 46-50; column 32, lines 54-57; is met by external connections to the medical cart controller such as USB ports, interfacing with the medical cart directly via a data port such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, or Ethernet).
As per claim 9, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the one or more communication ports are configured to couple the OR hub to one or more networked devices external to the operating room (see: Brooks, column 11, lines 1-24, is met by controller establishing communication with a fleet management system server by utilizing a hard-wire connection to end-user's computer which is in communication with the fleet management system).
As per claim 10, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 9, and further teach:
wherein the one or more networked devices comprise network infrastructure, an imaging server, or a data server (see: Brooks, column 11, lines 1-24; column 32, lines 49-57, is met by controller establishing communication with a fleet management system server by utilizing a hard-wire connection to end-user's computer which is in communication with the fleet management system).
As per claim 11, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the one or more communication ports are configured to implement one or more preauthorized communication protocols (see: Brooks, column 13, line 54, through column 14, line 11; column 26, lines 5-10, is met by controller area network (CAN) protocol mentioned above, such as the CAN 2.0B standard, which is a bus standard that allows microcontrollers, such as microcontrollers in the smart devices and subsystems, to communicate with each other and with the controller, and communications bus or network 868 may be, for example, an Ethernet-based bus that may use any desired or suitable local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) protocol to provide communications, or a wireless-based network that may use any desired or suitable wireless communication protocol).
As per claim 12, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 11, and further teach:
wherein the one or more preauthorized communication protocols comprise USB or SFTP (see: Brooks, column 5, lines 13-15; column 11, lines 46-50, is met by external connections to the medical cart controller such as USB ports, interfacing with the medical cart directly via a data port such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port; column 13, line 54, through column 14, line 11; column 26, lines 5-10, is met by controller area network (CAN) protocol mentioned above, such as the CAN 2.0B standard, which is a bus standard that allows microcontrollers, such as microcontrollers in the smart devices and subsystems, to communicate with each other and with the controller, and communications bus or network 868 may be, for example, an Ethernet-based bus that may use any desired or suitable local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) protocol to provide communications, or a wireless-based network that may use any desired or suitable wireless communication protocol).
As per claim 13, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the OR hub comprises a firewall for controlling data communications to and from the OR hub via the one or more communication ports (see: Brooks, column 4, lines 54-56; column 10, lines 22-30, is met by a firewall within the medical cart controller may be provided to prevent any data transfer or other logical connection with files stored on the user's computer).
As per claim 14, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 13, and further teach:
wherein the firewall automatically configures the one or more communication ports based on network settings preconfigured by the user that possesses the hospital network administrator credential (see: Brooks, column 4, lines 54-56; column 10, lines 22-30, is met by a firewall within the medical cart controller may be provided to prevent any data transfer or other logical connection with files stored on the user's computer).
As per claim 15, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 14, and further teach:
wherein the firewall blocks incoming network connections that are not preconfigured by the user that possesses the hospital network administrator credential (see: Brooks, column 4, lines 54-56; column 10, lines 22-30, is met by a firewall within the medical cart controller may be provided to prevent any data transfer or other logical connection with files stored on the user's computer).
As per claim 16, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the one or more medical devices comprise at least one of a surgical light, an insufflator, an endoscope camera, a printer, a touch panel, or an audio and video router (see: Brooks, column 4, lines 1-33; column 5, lines 13-23; column 13, lines 9-53; column 26, lines 3-26, is met by touch screen, variety of storage bins, a variety of work lights operatively coupled to the controller, enables the controller to automatically recognize newly-installed devices or subsystems, establish communications with the recognized devices or subsystems).
As per claim 17, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein the plurality of security functions comprises at least one of scanning the OR hub for a virus, encrypting a disk, controlling access to the OR hub, or viewing an audit log (see: Brooks, column 11, lines 59-61; column 17, lines 30-48, is met by improved security through enhanced
remote control of login, configurable timeouts, and drawer access via PIN codes, and passcode verification or otherwise verifying the authenticity of the user in accordance with the security mechanism utilized).
As per claim 18, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 1, and further teach:
wherein authenticating the user through the operations UI comprises: displaying a login prompt that requests the user to enter a username and password; receiving a user input to the operations UI comprising the username and password; authenticating the user based on the username and password; and determining the type of credential possessed by the user (see: Brooks, column 11, lines 59-61; column 17, lines 30-48; column 16, line 42, through column 17, line 3; column 31, lines 16-29, is met by improved security through enhanced remote control of login, configurable timeouts, and drawer access via PIN codes, and passcode verification or otherwise verifying the authenticity of the user in accordance with the security mechanism utilized, and the GUI navigates to a passcode or pin pad screen, the GUI updates control area of the login display to change the login icon to a numeric pin pad icon and includes individually selectable elements corresponding to numbers, letters or characters with which to enter a passcode unique to the user to as to authenticate the user and permit access based on that user's level of access, and where various mechanisms for logging in may be utilized, including, but not limited to, biometric authentication and badge readers, and dual factor authentications such as multiple pass codes, pass code and physical authentication, such as a badge reader or biometrics, witness authentication, where authenticated using a variety of techniques, including, but not limited to, token key, radio-frequency identification (RFID), or a centralized location for network administration and security, such as Active Directory™ from Microsoft® or the OneSign Platform™ (single sign) from Imprivata®, that checks the submitted passcode and authenticates/authorizes the user).
Claims 19-20 repeat the subject matter of claim 1, which has been shown to be fully disclosed by the cited prior art in the rejections above; as such, claims 19-20 are rejected here for the same reasons given in the above rejections of claim 1, which are incorporated herein.
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 10,453,572 to Brooks further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0314540 to Andrews further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0091575 to Duncan.
As per claim 5, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 2, and further teach:
wherein the graphical user interface comprises a second interactive graphical user interface object for the user to initiate (see: Brooks, Fig. 31-32; and column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61, is met by permitting access based on that user’s level of access, where various different views are displayed to an operator such as a nurse or service technician provide access to different controls, functions, and information and may be customized for different users depending on their department, group, or level of access, and depending on the type of information or the security clearance of the particular user, restrictions may be imposed on the basis of the type of information, available controls and available functions such that a nurse may be restricted to the functions the nurse is responsible for such as lighting control and the nurse may be prevented from viewing connectivity information and network settings, whereas a technician may be restricted from viewing user preferences, but permitted to view connectivity information and view and change network settings)
Brooks and Andrews fail to specifically teach the following limitations met by Duncan as cited an anti-virus scan of a removable device connected to the one or more communication ports (see: Duncan, abstract, is met by scanning a USB attached device or other type of removable media device for the detection of viruses and to block the transfer of detected virus-containing electronic files and to disallow the copy or writing of files to or from the removable media device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the scanning a USB attached device or other type of removable media device for the detection of viruses and to block the transfer of detected virus-containing electronic files and to disallow the copy or writing of files to or from the removable media device as taught by Duncan with the motivation of preventing a host computer system from being infected (see: Duncan, paragraph 3).
As per claim 6, Brooks and Andrews teach the invention as claimed, see discussion of claim 5, and further teach:
blocking communication between the removable device and the OR hub (see: Brooks, column 14, line 63, through column 15, line 19; column 16, lines 4-9; column 16, line 48-52; column 18, line 44-61, is met by restricting functions).
Brooks and Andrews fail to specifically teach the following limitations met by as cited:
receiving a second user input to the second interactive graphical user interface object corresponding to initiating the anti-virus scan of the removable device; executing the anti-virus scan of the removable device; detecting malware on the removable device (see: Duncan, abstract and paragraph 42, is met by scanning a USB attached device or other type of removable media device for the detection of viruses such as malware and to block the transfer of detected virus-containing electronic files and to disallow the copy or writing of files to or from the removable media device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the functions and screens as taught by Brooks to incorporate the scanning a USB attached device or other type of removable media device for the detection of viruses such as malware and to block the transfer of detected virus-containing electronic files and to disallow the copy or writing of files to or from the removable media device as taught by Duncan with the motivation of preventing a host computer system from being infected (see: Duncan, paragraph 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found on the attached PTO-892 form, including:
U.S. Application Publication 2013/0190674 to Case (see: Fig. 1; and paragraph 25-26 and 33, server, network and medical device; paragraph 38, 58, and 68, password; paragraph 31, 48, 50-51, 58, and 69, healthcare profession entering data via the interface, and access to the first memory location may be prevented during execution of the medical procedure routine).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT A SOREY whose telephone number is (571)270-3606. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fonya Long can be reached on (571) 270-5096. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT A SOREY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3682
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