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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I (claims 1-16) in the reply filed on 09/23/2025 is acknowledged. The non-elected claims 17-20 have been withdrawn from prosecution in this application by Applicant in the response.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in the specification page 9, para [0024], at the end of line 7 “the second surface 102” should be “the second surface 106”.
The specification includes the use of the term “metal work piece”, however because in this instant case, the term is intended to mean a piece of material or metal worked upon by the disclosed apparatus, as per a plain dictionary definition, it is suggested to replace “metal work piece” with --metal workpiece--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3, 5 and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, the preamble includes “A system for automated
plate shaping and verification”; however, the body of the claim appears to lack any
structure for shaping and/or verification of the claimed metal workpiece.
Claims 1-3, 5 and 14, includes the term “metal work piece”, however because in this instant case, the term is intended to mean a piece of material or metal worked upon by the claimed apparatus, as per a plain dictionary definition, it is suggested to replace “metal work piece” with --metal workpiece--. 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 1-16 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 1, which is drawn to an apparatus recites multiple process steps and a computer processing component configured for executing the steps, namely determining an amount…, generating a plurality of candidate heating paths…, modeling an estimated deformation .., selecting a first candidate heating path.., and causing the heating element…; but does not recite any structures, that have structural cooperative relationship with or linked to the computer for performing said process steps. Furthermore, the term “configured” does not necessarily provide the claimed computer processing components with sufficient structure(s) for performing the claimed steps. The claim is therefore rendered indefinite since the metes and bounds are unascertainable.
Claim 1, recites the phrases “determining an amount of deviation between a present shape of the metal work piece and a target shape” in line 8-9; and recites the phrase “modeling an estimated deformation of the metal work piece” in line 13. In particular, it is unclear from the manner in which the claim is set forth, how either of the deviation and deformation are imposed on the metal workpiece by the claim apparatus and also if any difference exit between the term “deviation” and “deformation”; thereby rendering the scope of the claim indefinite.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the robotic arm" at the end of line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9, recites the limitation “a series of heating parameter”, however it is unclear what said limitation means and/or what constitutes said claimed heating parameters since said parameters are not defined in the claim; furthermore, the specification eventhough in para [0029], [0033] and [0036], refers to “heating parameters”, however it appears to provide no clear definition as to what constitutes parameters for the heating; thereby rendering the scope of the claim indefinite.
In claims 11 and 12, the term “pattern type” renders the scope of the claim indefinite in that it has been held that adding the word “type” to an otherwise definite limitation/expression, extends the scope of the expression so as to render it indefinite. Also see MPEP 2173.05(b). III.E.
Art rejection
Besides the rejecting under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-
AlA), second paragraph, presented above, the claims are free from art rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wegener (US 6,601,426), Maeda (US 7,666,346), Nashiki (US 5,359,872), Park et al. (US 9,061,339) and Shimizu et al. (US 7,361,015) are also cited in PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL ABOAGYE whose telephone number is (571)272-8165. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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, Keith Hendricks can be reached at 571-272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.A/Examiner, Art Unit 1733
/JESSEE R ROE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759