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 CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office Action on the merits of Application 17/773,060 filed on 4/29/22. Claims 1-3 & 6-22 are pending. Claims 4, 5 & 23 have been cancelled due to a preliminary amendment.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/29/22, 11/29/22 & 7/16/23 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 21 & 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non- statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims are directed to computer readable media that covers signals per se. That is, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the recited “chip configured to store program instruction,” covers both non-statutory subject matter in the form of a volatile memory chip and statutory subject matter in the form of a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. This rejection may be overcome by amending the claim to cover only the non-transitory computer readable storage medium. See MPEP 2106.03(I).
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 & 6-22 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1
Line 15: “the preset” should be amended as -- a preset --.
Line 18: “the side” should be amended as -- a side --.
Line 19: “the boundary” should be amended as -- a boundary --.
Claim 8
Line 13: “an infrared receiving head at a front end” should be amended as -- the infrared receiving head at the front end --.
Line 15: “a first configuration angle” should be amended as -- the first configuration angle --.
Claim 17
Lines 1 & 2: “that planning” should be amended as -- the planning --.
Claim 18
Line 5: “is a recharge” should be amended as -- is in a recharge --.
Line 12: “is a station” should be amended as -- is in a station --.
Lines 14, 15, 16 ,18 & 19: “a traversal priority” should be amended as -- the traversal priority --.
Lines 15, 16, 17, & 19: “a corresponding navigation target” should be amended as -- the corresponding navigation target --.
Claims 2, 3, 6-7, 9-16 & 19-22 are also objected to for being dependent upon an objected base claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 18
Line 11: “the lowest”
The term “lowest” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “relative” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what constitutes being the lowest.
Line 16: “the second highest”
The term “second highest” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “second highest” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what constitutes being the second highest.
Claims 19 & 20 are also rejected for being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 & 6-17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objections stated above.
Claims 18-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Koo ‘268 teaches an automatic charging for an autonomous robot
Ben-David ‘441 teaches a computerized system for guiding a mobile robot to a docking station.
Abramson ‘659 teaches an autonomous robot.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUAN LE whose telephone number is (571)270-3122. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm PST.
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, Ernesto Suarez can be reached on 571-270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HUAN LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655