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 .
Applicant’s amendment filed 1/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 10-12, and 19 are amended.
Claim 6 is canceled.
Claim 21 is newly added.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Amendments filed on 1/26/2026 are entered for prosecution. Claims 1-5 and 7-21 remain pending in the application.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to refer to www.uspto.gov/TerminalDisclaimer.
Claims 10-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness‐type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 10-20 of U.S. Patent No. 10,834,764 (hereinafter, US 10,834,764) in view of Rathod (US 2018/0350144 A1, hereinafter Rathod).
Regarding claim 10:
US 10,834,764 teaches a non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:”):
scanning received Bluetooth transmissions for a hashed identifier and a Bluetooth service identifier of a nearby device, wherein the Bluetooth service identifier is generated by an application executed on the nearby device (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “scanning Bluetooth transmissions for device data including Bluetooth service identifiers;” and [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “…, wherein the device data includes the advertisement identifier, wherein the advertisement identifier corresponds with a hashed advertisement identifier matching a Bluetooth service identifier received in a Bluetooth transmission by the media processor”),
matching the Bluetooth service identifier to an identifier in a list of identifier pairs, wherein the list of identifier pairs includes pairs of hashed identifiers and service identifiers (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “mapping a Bluetooth service identifier found in the device data to a pair in the list of identifier pairs, the Bluetooth service identifier matching the hashed advertisement identifier, wherein the matching indicates a nearby device.”); and
sending the hashed identifier to a server, wherein the server facilitates sending a push notification to the nearby device based on the sending of the hashed identifier (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the operations further comprise sending the pair in the list of identifier pairs of the nearby device to a server responsive to receiving an engagement trigger, wherein the server facilitates content to be sent to the nearby device in a push notification.”), wherein the push notification comprises content, wherein the content includes coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, or a combination thereof (see, [Claim 16 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
US 10,834,764 does not explicitly teach wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display, and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements, product selection and purchase, content feedback, polls, 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment, and enhanced immersive 3D maps.
In the same field of endeavor, Rathod teaches wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display (see, Rathod: para. [0067], “In an embodiment accessing pre-defined geo-fence in real world and associated virtual objects and responsive to the client device being within a pre-defined boundary of geofence in the real world and then within a range of beacon or receiving from the closest beacon, a unique push message contains unique code or identity via notification, display or provide, …, said received unique code or identity associated one or more types of one or more virtual objects and associated data … to the client device or in the real world map or virtual world.”; para. [0184], “The display 210 includes, for example, a touch screen display. The display 210 displays the media items generated by the media capture application 271. A user can conduct augmented reality scanning of real world object(s) and can take picture of real world object(s) by touching the corresponding media items on the display 210. A touch controller monitors signals applied to the display 210 to coordinate the augmented reality scanning or scanning capturing, recording, and selection of the media items.”), and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements (see, Rathod: para. [0213], “showing advertisements all the time or particular time, time range at particular date or day”; para. [0214] [0375]), product selection and purchase (see, Rathod: para. [0314], “view products and make purchase one or more selected products in 2D or 3D or multi-dimensional virtual world.”; para. [0319] [0325] [0462] [0463]), content feedback, polls (e.g., survey) (see, Rathod: para. [0206], “wherein one or more types of user actions and activities comprise need to … fill form … including feedback, comments, …, survey form, …”; para. [0207], “provide comments or feedback or reviews … of products or services”), 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment (see, Rathod: para. [0315], “In an embodiment enable user to select, update and apply one or more visual settings related to viewing of virtual world, wherein visual settings comprises view virtual world in 2D or 3D map, provide purpose including play game, conduct real world activities and based on that update visual display of virtual world.”), and enhanced immersive 3D maps (see, Rathod: para. [0152] [0430], “displaying 3D maps of real world outdoor and indoor view”; para. [0457]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of US 10,834,764 in combination of the teachings of Rathod in order to send a unique push message and to provide an interactive second screen/display experience associated with the client device (e.g., UE) (see, Rathod: para. [0067] and Abstract).
Regarding claim 11:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the sending of the hashed identifier is responsive to receiving an engagement trigger (see, [Claim 11 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the operations further comprise sending the pair in the list of identifier pairs of the nearby device to a server responsive to receiving an engagement trigger, wherein the server facilitates content to be sent to the nearby device in a push notification.”).
Regarding claim 12:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the hashed identifier is added to the list of identifier pairs responsive to the nearby device registering for the push notification (see, [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “receiving, by a processing system including a processor, a registration for push notifications; generating, by the processing system, an advertisement identifier for a mobile device responsive to the registration; …, wherein the advertisement identifier corresponds with a hashed advertisement identifier matching a Bluetooth service identifier received in a Bluetooth transmission by the media processor;”; and [Claim 12 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the nearby device receives the advertisement identifier responsive to registering for the push notification.”; and [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “retrieving a list of identifier pairs, where each pair in the list of identifier pairs comprises an advertisement identifier and a hashed advertisement identifier;”).
Regarding claim 13:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the list of identifier pairs is retrieved from the server (see, [Claim 13 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the list of identifier pairs is retrieved from the server.”).
Regarding claim 14:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the operations further comprise displaying a program and wherein the push notification is associated with the program (see, [Claim 14 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the operations further comprise displaying a program and wherein the content is associated with the program.”).
Regarding claim 15:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the processing system comprises a set-top box (see, [Claim 15 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein a set-top box comprises the processing system.”).
Regarding claim 16:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the push notification comprises deep links to advertiser offers (see, [Claim 16 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
Regarding claim 17:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the Bluetooth transmissions comprise a device name, a Bluetooth random address, and the Bluetooth service identifier (see, [Claim 17 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the device data comprises a device name, a Bluetooth random address, and the Bluetooth service identifier.”).
Regarding claim 18:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the processing system comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment (see, [Claim 18 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the processing system comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.”).
Regarding claim 19:
US 10,834,764 teaches a method, comprising:
receiving, by a processing system comprising a processor, device data indicating that a mobile device is located nearby a media processor, wherein the device data includes an identifier, wherein the identifier is associated with a Bluetooth service identifier generated by an application executed by the mobile device, wherein the device data includes a hashed identifier corresponding to the identifier (see, [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “A method, comprising: receiving, by a processing system including a processor, …; … receiving, by the processing system, device data indicating that the mobile device is located nearby a media processor, wherein the device data includes the advertisement identifier, wherein the advertisement identifier corresponds with a hashed advertisement identifier matching a Bluetooth service identifier received in a Bluetooth transmission by the media processor”) and received in a Bluetooth transmission by the media processor (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “scanning Bluetooth transmissions for device data including Bluetooth service identifiers;”), wherein the media processor compares the Bluetooth service identifier to a mapped list of hashed identifier and Bluetooth service identifier pairs (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “…; mapping a Bluetooth service identifier found in the device data to a pair in the list of identifier pairs, the Bluetooth service identifier matching the hashed advertisement identifier, ...”), and wherein the media processor associates the mobile device with the hashed identifier based on the comparison (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “…, wherein the matching indicates a nearby device.”);
utilizing, by the processing system and based on the comparison, the hashed identifier to determine whether to create a push notification (see, [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “utilizing, by the processing system, the advertisement identifier to determine whether to create a push notification;”); and
facilitating, by the processing system and based on the utilizing, transmission of content to the mobile device in the push notification (see, [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “facilitating, by the processing system, transmission of content to the mobile device in the push notification.”), wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, or a combination thereof (see, [Claim 20 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
US 10,834,764 does not explicitly teach wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display, and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements, product selection and purchase, content feedback, polls, 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment, and enhanced immersive 3D maps.
In the same field of endeavor, Rathod teaches wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display (see, Rathod: para. [0067], “In an embodiment accessing pre-defined geo-fence in real world and associated virtual objects and responsive to the client device being within a pre-defined boundary of geofence in the real world and then within a range of beacon or receiving from the closest beacon, a unique push message contains unique code or identity via notification, display or provide, …, said received unique code or identity associated one or more types of one or more virtual objects and associated data … to the client device or in the real world map or virtual world.”; para. [0184], “The display 210 includes, for example, a touch screen display. The display 210 displays the media items generated by the media capture application 271. A user can conduct augmented reality scanning of real world object(s) and can take picture of real world object(s) by touching the corresponding media items on the display 210. A touch controller monitors signals applied to the display 210 to coordinate the augmented reality scanning or scanning capturing, recording, and selection of the media items.”), and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements (see, Rathod: para. [0213], “showing advertisements all the time or particular time, time range at particular date or day”; para. [0214] [0375]), product selection and purchase (see, Rathod: para. [0314], “view products and make purchase one or more selected products in 2D or 3D or multi-dimensional virtual world.”; para. [0319] [0325] [0462] [0463]), content feedback, polls (e.g., survey) (see, Rathod: para. [0206], “wherein one or more types of user actions and activities comprise need to … fill form … including feedback, comments, …, survey form, …”; para. [0207], “provide comments or feedback or reviews … of products or services”), 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment (see, Rathod: para. [0315], “In an embodiment enable user to select, update and apply one or more visual settings related to viewing of virtual world, wherein visual settings comprises view virtual world in 2D or 3D map, provide purpose including play game, conduct real world activities and based on that update visual display of virtual world.”), and enhanced immersive 3D maps (see, Rathod: para. [0152] [0430], “displaying 3D maps of real world outdoor and indoor view”; para. [0457]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of US 10,834,764 in combination of the teachings of Rathod in order to send a unique push message and to provide an interactive second screen/display experience associated with the client device (e.g., UE) (see, Rathod: para. [0067] and Abstract).
Regarding claim 20:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the content comprises the coupon messaging, the companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, and deep links to advertiser offers (see, [Claim 20 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
Regarding claim 21:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein providing, by the processing system, the mapped list of hashed identifier and Bluetooth service identifier pairs to the media processor (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: …; retrieving a list of identifier pairs, where each pair in the list of identifier pairs comprises an advertisement identifier and a hashed advertisement identifier; …”, wherein the processing system in claim 10 of US 10,834,764 is equivalent to the media processor of the instant application.).
Claims 1-5 and 7-9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness‐type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 2, 4, 6-10, and 19 of US 10,834,764 in view of claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,405,966 (hereinafter, US 11,405,966) further in view of Rathod.
Regarding claim 1:
US 10,834,764 teaches a device, comprising: a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “A device, comprising: a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:”):
receiving an identifier for the device (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “receiving an advertisement identifier;”) responsive to registering the device with a push notification framework (see, [Claim 3 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the operations further comprise registering for the push notification and wherein the advertisement identifier is received responsive to the registering for the push notification.”);
hashing the identifier to generate a hashed identifier (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “hashing the advertisement identifier, thereby creating a hashed advertising identifier;”);
registering the hashed identifier with a first system; registering a service identifier (SID) for the device with the first system, wherein the SID is generated by an application executed on the device (see, [Claim 1 of US 11,405,966]: “registering the hashed advertisement identifier and the advertisement identifier with a first system;”);
broadcasting device information in a transmission received by a second system, wherein the device information includes the hashed identifier, wherein the device information includes the SID (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “transmitting device data including the hashed advertisement identifier and the advertisement identifier to a system;”), wherein the second system obtains from the first system a mapped list of hashed identifier and SID pairs (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “retrieving a list of identifier pairs, where each pair in the list of identifier pairs comprises an advertisement identifier and a hashed advertisement identifier;”), and wherein the second system compares the SID of the device information to the SIDs of the pairs of the mapped list (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “mapping a Bluetooth service identifier found in the device data to a pair in the list of identifier pairs, the Bluetooth service identifier matching the hashed advertisement identifier, wherein the matching indicates a nearby device.”); and
receiving content in a push notification from the push notification framework responsive to the transmission (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “receiving content in a push notification, wherein the system associates the device data with the advertisement identifier to determine whether to create the push notification.”), wherein the second system associates the device with the hashed identifier based on the comparison and notifies the first system that the device is nearby (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “mapping a Bluetooth service identifier found in the device data to a pair in the list of identifier pairs, the Bluetooth service identifier matching the hashed advertisement identifier, wherein the matching indicates a nearby device.”), and the first system directs the push notification framework to send the content to the device (see, [Claim 19 of US 10,834,764]: “utilizing, by the processing system, the advertisement identifier to determine whether to create a push notification; and facilitating, by the processing system, transmission of content to the mobile device in the push notification.”), wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, or a combination thereof (see, [Claim 1 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
US 10,834,764 in view of US 11,405,966 does not explicitly teach wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display, and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements, product selection and purchase, content feedback, polls, 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment, and enhanced immersive 3D maps.
In the same field of endeavor, Rathod teaches wherein the content is relevant to second, interactive content displayed on a display (see, Rathod: para. [0067], “In an embodiment accessing pre-defined geo-fence in real world and associated virtual objects and responsive to the client device being within a pre-defined boundary of geofence in the real world and then within a range of beacon or receiving from the closest beacon, a unique push message contains unique code or identity via notification, display or provide, …, said received unique code or identity associated one or more types of one or more virtual objects and associated data … to the client device or in the real world map or virtual world.”; para. [0184], “The display 210 includes, for example, a touch screen display. The display 210 displays the media items generated by the media capture application 271. A user can conduct augmented reality scanning of real world object(s) and can take picture of real world object(s) by touching the corresponding media items on the display 210. A touch controller monitors signals applied to the display 210 to coordinate the augmented reality scanning or scanning capturing, recording, and selection of the media items.”), and wherein the second, interactive content is for: advertisements (see, Rathod: para. [0213], “showing advertisements all the time or particular time, time range at particular date or day”; para. [0214] [0375]), product selection and purchase (see, Rathod: para. [0314], “view products and make purchase one or more selected products in 2D or 3D or multi-dimensional virtual world.”; para. [0319] [0325] [0462] [0463]), content feedback, polls (e.g., survey) (see, Rathod: para. [0206], “wherein one or more types of user actions and activities comprise need to … fill form … including feedback, comments, …, survey form, …”; para. [0207], “provide comments or feedback or reviews … of products or services”), 3D content viewing and point of view adjustment (see, Rathod: para. [0315], “In an embodiment enable user to select, update and apply one or more visual settings related to viewing of virtual world, wherein visual settings comprises view virtual world in 2D or 3D map, provide purpose including play game, conduct real world activities and based on that update visual display of virtual world.”), and enhanced immersive 3D maps (see, Rathod: para. [0152] [0430], “displaying 3D maps of real world outdoor and indoor view”; para. [0457]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of US 10,834,764 in view of US 11,405,966 in combination of the teachings of Rathod in order to send a unique push message and to provide an interactive second screen/display experience associated with the client device (e.g., UE) (see, Rathod: para. [0067] and Abstract).
Regarding claim 2:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the transmission is a Bluetooth transmission (see, [Claim 10 of US 10,834,764]: “scanning Bluetooth transmissions for device data including Bluetooth service identifiers;”).
Regarding claim 3:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the transmission comprises a device name and a Bluetooth random address (see, [Claim 6 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the device data comprises a device name, a Bluetooth random address, and the hashed advertisement identifier.”).
Regarding claim 4:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the registering provides permission to track the device (see, [Claim 2 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the operations further comprise providing permission to track the device.”).
Regarding claim 5:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the identifier is received from a notification framework (see, [Claim 4 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the advertisement identifier is received from a notification framework.”).
Regarding claim 7:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the second system comprises a set-top box and the content is associated with a program broadcast to the set-top box (see, [Claim 7 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the system comprises a set-top box and the content is associated with a program broadcast to the set-top box.”).
Regarding claim 8:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the content comprises deep links to advertiser offers (see, [Claim 8 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the content comprises coupon messaging, companion augmented reality or virtual reality experiences, deep links to advertiser offers, or a combination thereof.”).
Regarding claim 9:
US 10,834,764 further teaches wherein the processing system comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment (see, [Claim 9 of US 10,834,764]: “wherein the processing system comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.”).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the instant application are broader in scope. It is well settled that broadening the scope of the claims would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the narrower issued claims. In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982) and In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
The rejection can be overcome by: (A) filing a terminal disclaimer; (B) amending the claims to be patentably distinct from the claims of the reference patent/application, or (C) submitting evidence of patentable distinctness.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 7-21 would be allowable if the nonstatutory obviousness‐type double patenting rejections to these claims set forth in this Office action are overcome and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Terminal Disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer may be effective to overcome a nonstatutory double patenting rejection over a reference patent (37 CFR 1.321(b) and (c)). A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional, the reply must be complete. MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The terminal disclaimer filed on 2/9/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Patent No. 11,405,966 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Although a recorded history indicates that the US Patent No. 10,834,764 has been expired on 12/16/2024 due to maintenance fee related issue, its expiration is a voluntary forfeiture, not a shortening of statutory term. Accordingly, nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection still applies, and the instant application would still require a terminal disclaimer, unless the NSDP is overcome by a) amending the claim(s), or submitting rebuttal arguments or evidence of nonobviousness, such that the rejection is no longer applicable. A declaration under 37 CFR 1.131(a) is never sufficient to overcome a nonstatutory double patenting rejection because such a declaration fails to address in any manner the policy reasons behind such rejections, i.e., to prevent the unjustified extension of patent exclusivity beyond the term of a patent. Furthermore, the rule itself makes it clear such declarations are not appropriate when the patent to be overcome is claiming the same patentable invention as defined in 37 CFR 41.203(a) (anticipated or rendered obvious), which is always the case when a doubler patenting rejection is made, even of the nonstatutory type.
Conclusion
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/JI-HAE YEA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471