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
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 November 14, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on November 14, 2025. Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, and 17-20 are pending and addressed below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments have introduced new matter in the 35 USC 112(a) rejection below. Though current amendments have overcome the prior art of record, examiner notes that amendments to overcome the rejection under 35 USC 112(a) may result in a claim rejected by the previously presented prior art rejection of US20210304559A1 (Cupersmith) in view of US20110119226A1 (Ruhl) and US20210304559A1 (Cupersmith) in view of US20110119226A1 (Ruhl) and (Shaw).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(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.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, and 17-20 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 claim(s) contains 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding independent claims 1, 8, and 15, applicant has amended the claim to read “generating a threshold amount based on a set of parameters associated with the entertainment event, wherein the set of parameters comprise a location of the entertainment event and a distance between a location corresponding to a central base of robotic butler deployment and the location of the entertainment event, wherein the threshold amount generated is greater when the distance between the location corresponding to the central base of robotic butler deployment and the location of the entertainment event is greater”. However, there is no original disclosure for “wherein the threshold amount generated is greater when the distance between the location corresponding to the central base of robotic butler deployment and the location of the entertainment event is greater”. Applicant’s specification refers to “the threshold amount 316 can be reduced when the distance between and the centralized base of operations for robotic butler deployment is less than a predetermined deployment radius” ([0033]). However, examiner notes that the reduction of the threshold amount based on the listed variables is only behavior described in the context of being “less” than an amount. The specification does not contain any language of what happens to the threshold amount when the distance between is greater nor does it indicate any form of direct proportionality with respect to the distance between. Therefore, there does not exist support for the limitation in the specification.
Dependent claims 3-7, 10-14, and 17-20 are also rejected as they are dependent to the independent claims above respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US20170227962 (Cesarano) discloses a collision avoidance system of unmanned vehicles where the difference between a planned position and current position is compared with a threshold value based on parameters such as position and distance.
US9796091B1 (Soo) discloses a selective robot deployment system that comprises both context dependent deployment and a system of monitoring a user’s social network, actions, and activities.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAEWOOK JUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM..
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, Wade Miles can be reached on (571) 270-7777. 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.
/J.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3656
/WADE MILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656