DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-11 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 4/7/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-11 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made. See below for detail.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed 01/12/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR § 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. The drawings fail to disclose claimed subject matters as indicated in the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR § 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR § 1.121(b) 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.
Specification
The Examiner notes the following informalities:
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR § 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Specifically, the spec, as originally submitted, fails to provide sufficient written description support as indicated in the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) below.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) & (b):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
(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 ), first & second paragraph:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
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 1-11 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, line 11, “the object” lacks antecedent basis. Previously, there were “an object,” “a mobile object,” and “a prescribed object.” Which should be considered as “the object.” For examination purpose, “the object” appears to be “the prescribed object.”
Claim 11 has the same issue as claim 1.
Claims 2-10 are rejected due to claim dependency. Additionally, all reference to “the object” in claims 2-10 are unclear due to the reason stated for claim 1.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1, as discussed in the rejection under 112(b), the claim requires detecting a “prescribed object” by moving a distance measurement device up and down. On the other hand, the claim also requires the triggering of the moving to be having detected the “prescribed object.” The spec does not appear to support detecting such kind of object because the claim is self-contradictory. Also see rejection of claim 2 below. It appears the triggering of moving the distance measurement device up or down is to first detect a “pole.” However, the spec provides no guidance on how to detect a pole in the first place.
Regarding claim 2, the spec only discloses detecting a thin object like a rope or a chain suspended between two poles. See Fig. 7 and related discussion in page 17. The claimed unable to detect thin object can be detected by moving/tilting the distance measurement device upward/downward (Figs. 4 and 5). There is no support for how to detect a pole by moving/tilting the distance measurement.
Claim 11 has the same issue as claim 1.
Claims 2-10 are rejected due to claim dependency.
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 1-3, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Motochika et al., JP 2021112417 A (“Motochika”) (page information refers to the attached machine translated version).
Regarding claim 1, Motochika teaches a control device that is mounted in a mobile object (Fig. 1, travel type cleaner), the control device comprising:
a distance measuring device that is mounted in a mobile object and that emits electromagnetic waves to detect an object on the basis of a result of detection of the electromagnetic waves bouncing back from the object (Fig. 1, Lidar 6; p. 2);
a support device that supports the distance measuring device (Fig. 1, p. 1, housing 1); and
a controller configured to detect a prescribed object present in a traveling direction of the mobile object (Fig. 8, p. 3; Fig. 25, S1, p. 7, detect an obstacle in the traveling direction of the cleaner) and to control a state of the support device such that a support state of the distance measuring device changes between at least a first posture and a second posture or changes between a first position and a second position (Fig. 25, S3; p. 7, lift the housing to scan the shape of the obstacle),
wherein, when the object has been detected, the controller is configured to cause the distance measuring device to emit electromagnetic waves in a state in which the distance measuring device is supported in the first posture or at the first position and then to cause the distance measuring device to emit electromagnetic waves in a state in which the distance measuring device is supported in the second posture or at the second position to which a direction or a position of the distance measuring device changes in at least one of an upward direction and a downward direction from the first posture or the first position by controlling the support device (Fig. 25, S3; pp. 7-8, lift the housing to scan the shape of the obstacle).
Regarding claim 2, Motochika teaches the control device according to claim 1 wherein the prescribed object includes a post of a pole or a post of a fence (Fig. 25; p7-p8, lift the housing to scan the shape of the obstacle), and wherein the post of the pole or the post of the fence is an object the distance measuring device is unable to detect without changing the posture or the position (Fig. 25; p7-p8, lift the housing to scan the shape of the obstacle; the disclosed method will cause the cleaner to stop at a post and determine the shape of the post to be long and tall; without lifting the housing, the tall and thin shape of a post cannot be determined).
Regarding claim 3, Motochika teaches a control device that is mounted in a mobile object (Fig. 1, travel type cleaner), the control device comprising:
a distance measuring device that is mounted in the mobile object and that emits electromagnetic waves to detect an object on the basis of a result of detection of the electromagnetic waves bouncing back from the object (Fig. 1, Lidar 6; p. 2);
a support device that supports the distance measuring device (Fig. 1, p. 1, housing 1);
a position recognizer configured to recognize a position of the mobile object (Fig. 26, S10, p. 8, determine if the cleaner travels to the center of an area; Fig. 24, p. 7, determine self-position with reference to the charging stand); and
a controller configured to control a state of the support device such that a support state of the distance measuring device changes between at least a first posture and a second posture or changes between a first position and a second position (Fig. 26, S11, p.8, lift the front of the housing),
wherein, when it is determined that the mobile object reaches or approaches a prescribed range on the basis of a result of recognition from the position recognizer, the controller is configured to cause the distance measuring device to emit electromagnetic waves in a state in which the distance measuring device is supported in the first posture or at the first position and then to cause the distance measuring device to emit electromagnetic waves in a state in which the distance measuring device is supported in the second posture or at the second position to which a direction or a position of the distance measuring device changes in at least one of an upward direction and a downward direction from the first posture or the first position by controlling the support device (Fig. 26, S13, p. 8, scan to determine an obstacle shape).
Regarding claim 10, Motochika teaches the control device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the mobile object to avoid an obstacle to the mobile object when the obstacle is detected as a result of detection in a process of causing the distance measuring device to emit electromagnetic waves (Fig. 25, p 7, based on the shape of the scanned obstacle, moving away from the obstacle).
Claim 11 is a method claim corresponding to device claim 1. It is rejected for the same reason.
Conclusion
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/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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