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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
Receipt is acknowledged of a request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) and a submission, filed on 02-12-2026. The submission, however, is not fully responsive to the prior Office action because “Continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 does not apply to an application unless prosecution in the application is closed. If the RCE was accompanied by a reply to a non-final Office action, the reply will be entered and considered under 37 CFR 1.111. If the RCE was not accompanied by a reply, the time period set forth in the last Office action continues to run from the mailing date of that action.” Per the form PTO-2051 dated 02-25-2026.
Claim Status
Claims 1-44 are cancelled. Claims 45-64 are pending. Claims 46-64 are new.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claims 46-64 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Independent claims 46 and 59, and the claims dependent therefrom, are directed to subject matter that is distinct from the invention of claim 45 as originally presented. In particular, claim 45 is directed to a passive identification tag architecture comprising a plurality of resonant structures disposed on a non-conductive substrate, wherein the plurality of resonant structures do not contact one another and include a plurality of sensor portions for attachment of one or more external sensors. Thus, claim 45 is primarily directed to the physical structural arrangement of resonant structures and external sensor integration within a passive identification tag.
By contrast, newly presented independent claims 46 and 59 are directed to substantially different subject matter involving signal-characteristic encoding, modulation, and normalization architectures utilizing target resonant structures and reference resonant structures. For example, claim 46 recites a target resonant structure configured to broadcast a first tag response signal characterized by target signal characteristics corresponding to a tag identifier, in combination with a reference resonant structure configured to broadcast a reference response signal for normalizing the target signal characteristics. Similarly, claim 59 recites modulation of a baseline response signal using a set of material volumes in conjunction with a reference resonant structure for normalizing target signal characteristics. The claims dependent from claims 46 and 59 further recite additional signaling and encoding features including frequency-shift encoding, amplitude encoding, polarization-selective responses, normalized signal characteristics, multi-frequency interrogation schemes, and multi-parameter tag identifier encoding.
Accordingly, claims 46–64 are directed to distinct inventive concepts involving passive signal encoding and normalization techniques, rather than the passive resonant sensor-tag structure and external sensor attachment arrangement recited in claim 45. Examination of claims 46–64 would require a different field of search and examination than elected claim 45, including art relating to signal normalization, interrogation-response encoding, passive modulation architectures, and resonant signal-processing systems.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits.
Accordingly, claims 46-64 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 45 is allowed. Claims 46–64 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to non-elected inventions distinct from the invention originally presented in claim 45. Claim 45, the sole elected claim pending for examination, has been previously examined on the merits and is considered allowable.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIONNE PENDLETON whose telephone number is (571)272-7497. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a-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, Davetta Goins can be reached at 571-272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIONNE PENDLETON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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