Ex Parte Kovatchev

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 7, 2016

12159891 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 7, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/159,891 09/10/2008
134006 7590 09/09/2016
V orys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP (UV A)
1909 K St., NW
Ninth Floor
Washington, DC 20006
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Boris P. Kovatchev
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
070239.000015 3872
EXAMINER
RIGGS II, LARRY D
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1631
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/09/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
vmdeluca@vorys.com
patlaw@vorys.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte BORIS P. KOV ATCHEV1
Appeal2014-002969
Application 12/159,891
Technology Center 1600
Before DONALD E. ADAMS, ULRIKE W. JENKS, and
RICHARD J. SMITH, Administrative Patent Judges.
JENKS, Administrative Patent Judge.
uECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 involving claims directed to a
system for determining blood glucose variability. The Examiner rejects the
claims as obvious. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.
1 According to Appellant, the Real Party in Interest is University of Virginia
Patent Foundation. (App. Br. 2.)
Appeal2014-002969
Application 12/159,891
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Claims 30, 31, 33, 35---62, 64, and 66-89 are on appeal, and can be
found in the Claims Appendix of the Appeal Brief. Appellant seeks review
of the Examiner's rejection of claims 30, 31, 33, 35---62, 64, and 66-89 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over Kovatchev2 (see Reply Br. 2; App. Br. 15).
Claim 30 is representative of the claims on appeal, and reads as
follows:
30. A system for determining blood glucose variability of a
patient said system comprising:
an acquisition module acquiring a plurality of blood glucose
data points representing glucose concentration levels in blood
of said patient; and a processor programmed to:
transform the plurality of blood glucose data points from
a blood glucose range to a transformed range according
to a transforming function,
calculate a risk value for each of a plurality of the
transformed plurality of blood glucose data points,
calculate a plurality of risk ranges each based on a
plurality of the calculated risk values within a period of
time with a predetermined duration, and
calculate at least one composite risk range based on a
plurality of the calculated risk ranges.
(App. Br. 25, Claims Appendix (formatting added))
Claim 61, the only other independent claim, recites a computer
program product that similarly "calculate[ s] at least composite one risk
range based on a plurality of the calculated risk ranges".
2 Kovatchev et al., Symmetrization of the Blood Glucose Measurement Scale
and Its Applications, 20 Diabetes Care 1655-1658 (1997).
2
Appeal2014-002969
Application 12/159,891
Obviousness over Kovatchev
The issue presented is: Does the preponderance of the evidence of
record support the Examiner's conclusion that Kovatchev teaches
calculating a composite risk range as claimed?
Findings of Fact
FF 1. Fig. 1 of Kovatchev is reproduced below:
Figure 1 shows the blood glucose data distribution from a single
subject with diabetes. The figure displays the aggregation of 186
individual readings from a subject's blood glucose meter over time
(Kovatchev 1656, see Fig. 1 and Example 1; see Final Act. 3 7).
FF2. Kovatchev transforms the data points from Fig. I using a two
parameter logarithmic type transformation (see Kovatchev,
Appendix). The recalculated data is shown in Fig. 2:
3 Office Action mailed Dec. 17, 2012.
3
Appeal2014-002969
Application 12/159,891
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