DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed October 21, 2025 in which claims 10-22 are presented for examination and claims 1-9 are canceled.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The reference cited in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement (see page 3, lines 4-10 of the specification, which cites EP 3,799,582 A1). 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, EP 3,799,582 A1 has not been considered.
Specification
The use of the term Velcro (see at least page 4, line 23 and page 7, line 13 of the specification), which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology (i.e., hook and loop fastener); furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term (i.e., “VELCRO®”).
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “2” has been used to designate both “housing” and “vibration monitor/housing” (see at least page 7, lines 3 and 5 of the specification).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “3” has been used to designate both “holding glove element” and “glove element” (see at least page 7, lines 8-9 and 12 of the specification).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “5” has been used to designate both “wrist strap” and “strap” (see at least page 7, lines 11 and 13 of the specification).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 14, line 4 recites the limitation “a user,” which should be amended to recite “the user” for purposes of proper antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 10-13 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Pub No. 2015/0173666 Smith et al.
To claim 10, Smith discloses a system for measuring vibrations (100) (see Figure 4; paras. 0021-0070), the system comprising:
a housing (135,170) enclosing a vibration monitor (155) (see especially Figures 4-5 and 7-8; para. 0028);
a holding glove (105) for at least an index finger and a thumb (see Figure 4; para. 0021), wherein the holding glove comprises a pocket (115) configured to hold the housing over the first dorsal interossei muscles on a back side of a hand of a user (see Figure 4; para. 0021).
To the limitation “configured to hold the housing over the first dorsal interossei muscles on a back side of a hand of a user,” it is respectfully noted that the glove will fit differently sized and shaped hands in different manners and an intended relative position of the housing to a user’s hand anatomy is functional and not patentably significant.
To claim 11, Smith further discloses a system wherein the holding glove further comprises a wrist strap (annotated Figure 4, see below).
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To claim 12, Smith further discloses a system wherein the pocket comprises an elastic outer layer (see Figure 4; para. 0024).
To claim 13, Smith further discloses a system further comprising a transmitter (165) connected to the vibration monitor (see Figure 7; para. 0028).
To claim 20, Smith further discloses a system wherein the system further comprises a haptic generator configured to produce a signal when a predetermined threshold level of vibrations is sensed (para. 0033).
To claim 21, Smith further discloses a system further comprising any one or more of a motion sensor, a temperature sensor, a gas sensor, a sound sensor, a particle sensor, and a light sensor (para. 0028).
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 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (as applied to claim 10, above).
To claim 22, Smith discloses a system wherein the vibration monitor is configured to measure vibrations (para. 0028).
Smith does not explicitly disclose a system wherein the vibration monitor is configured to measure vibrations equal to or greater than 2 Hz.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the system of Smith such that the vibration monitor is configured to measure vibrations that are equal to or greater than 2 Hz as a matter of routine optimization to tailor the system to a particular end use. It is further respectfully noted that it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.05).
Claims 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (as applied to claim 10, above) in view of US Pub No. 2021/0108959 Feraru et al.
To claim 14, Smith discloses a system as recited in claim 10, above.
Smith does not explicitly disclose a system wherein the system further comprises a remote device with a software application, wherein the transmitter is configured to wirelessly interact with the software application in the remote device for recording vibration data corresponding to the vibrations a user is exposed to.
However, Feraru teaches a system for measuring vibrations wherein the system comprises a remote device (40), wherein a transmitter is configured to wirelessly interact with a software application in the remote device for recording vibration data corresponding to the vibrations a user is exposed to (paras. 0022, 0054-0056).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the system of Smith to include a remote device as taught by Feraru because Feraru teaches that this configuration is known in the art and beneficial for providing a user with a personal record of vibration exposure (para. 0055).
To claim 15, the modified invention of Smith (i.e., Smith in view of Feraru, as detailed above) further teaches a system wherein the remote device comprises a mobile phone (paras. 0022, 0054-0056 of Feraru).
To claim 16, the modified invention of Smith (i.e., Smith in view of Feraru, as detailed above) further teaches a system further comprising a receiver (paras. 0022, 0054-0056 of Feraru).
To claim 17, the modified invention of Smith (i.e., Smith in view of Feraru, as detailed above) further teaches a system wherein the system is configured to provide a notification to the user when a predetermined level of accumulated vibrations have been sensed by the vibration monitor (paras. 0022, 0054-0056 of Feraru).
To claim 18, the modified invention of Smith (i.e., Smith in view of Feraru, as detailed above) further teaches a system wherein the software application has a connection with a computer data network (paras. 0022, 0054-0056 of Feraru).
To claim 19, the modified invention of Smith (i.e., Smith in view of Feraru, as detailed above) further teaches a system wherein the software application has a connection with a computer data network (paras. 0022, 0054-0056 of Feraru).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Additional body-carried systems for measuring vibrations transmitted to machinery operators including USPN 10,928,243 McLaughlin et al., USPN 8,280,658 Thompson et al., and US Pub No. 2009/0192723 Jonsson and additional gloves with structural configurations similar to glove element (3) of the instant application including US Pub No. 2023/0161410 Ward and US Pub No. 2009/00251120 Vestling (see form PTO-892 “Notice of References Cited”).
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/F Griffin Hall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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