DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 1-20 were pending, with claims 1-2, 4-17, and 19 rejected and claims 3, 18, and 20 objected to in the previous office action. Claims 1, 2, 4, 11-13, 16-17, and 19 were amended. Claims 3, 18 and 20 were cancelled. Claims 1-2, 4-17, and 19 remain pending and are examined in this office action.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/18/2026 has been entered.
Priority
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/327,509, filed on April 5, 2022.
Response to Arguments
35 USC § 103:
Applicant’s arguments regarding the previous § 103 rejections of claims 1-2, 4-17, and 19 (pg. 7, remarks filed 6/18/2026) have been fully considered, and are persuasive.
Claims 3, 18 and 20 were previously objected to as containing allowable subject matter but depending from a rejected base claim. Independent claims 1, 17 and 19 have been amended to include similar subject matter from dependent claims 3, 18, and 20 (which are now cancelled).
Therefore, claims 1-2, 4-17, and 19 as recited have overcome the prior art and the previous § 103 rejections are withdrawn.
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 1-2, 4-17, and 19 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 recites “an object tray configured to automatically extend toward the vehicle to provide the multiple object compartments at the same time or receive the multiple object compartments at the same time adjacent to the object pick-up station”; claim 17 recites “activate an object tray configured to automatically extend toward the vehicle to provide the multiple object compartments at the same time or receive the multiple object compartments at the same time adjacent to the object pick-up station”; and claim 19 recites “activate the object tray to automatically extend toward the vehicle to provide the multiple object compartments at the same time or receive the multiple object compartments at the same time adjacent to the object pick-up station.”
These limitations render claims 1, 17, and 19 indefinite because it is unclear if the alternative language (“or receive”) is intended to be an alternative to providing the multiple object compartments, or is instead intended to be an alternative to automatically extending/activating the object tray. For example, claim 1 (as representative) is amenable to either of the following claim constructions:
an object tray configured to automatically extend toward the vehicle to: i) provide the multiple object compartments at the same time or ii) receive the multiple object compartments at the same time adjacent to the object pick-up station
an object tray configured to: i) automatically extend toward the vehicle to provide the multiple object compartments at the same time or ii) receive the multiple object compartments at the same time adjacent to the object pick-up station
See Ex Parte Miyazaki, 89 USPQ2d 1207, 1211, (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 2008), holding “if a claim is amenable to two or more plausible claim constructions” the claim may be rejected as indefinite during prosecution.
In view of paragraphs ¶ 0043 and ¶ 0045 of the specification filed 4/4/2023, it appears the claim was likely intended to be read under the first interpretation above, and this interpretation is applied for the purposes of further examination. However, the recited claim language is still indefinite for the reasons above, and should be amended to either clarify or remove the indefinite language above.
Claims 2 and 4-16 are also rejected under § 112(b) as they depend from claim 1.
Novelty/Non-Obviousness
Claims 1-2, 4-17, and 19 are novel and nonobvious over the prior art for the following reasons:
As indicated in the final rejection mailed 12/19/2025, claims 3, 18 and 20 were objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would have been allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Subject matter similar that of previous claims 3, 18 and 20 have been incorporated into independent claims 1, 17, and 19. As previously discussed (see final rejection mailed 12/19/2025), the prior art does not teach, in the context of the claims as a whole, an automated system attached to a locker for extending a tray t towards a recipient vehicle to provide multiple compartments at the same time, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
US 20220177233 A1 to Ishiguro et al. (Ishiguro) is the closest prior art not previously cited and teaches an automated drive through system that uses elevators and lateral conveyors to deliver an order to a customer through a delivery window (Ishiguro: ¶ 0025-0033, Figs. 1-2), wherein a customer delivery window includes a payload tray which is extended out from the customer delivery window to make it easier for the customer to retrieve the contents (Ishiguro: ¶ 0079-0080, Figs. 9A-9B). However, Ishiguro still does not cure the deficiencies of the previous combination of Kelly, Long, and Salter and does not disclose an automated mechanism to extend multiple object compartments at the same time towards the customer vehicle, in the exact manner claimed.
While claims 1, 17 and 19 are novel and nonobvious, the amendments introduce new issues under § 112(b) as indicated above, and thus remain rejected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hunter Molnar whose telephone number is (571)272-8271. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:30 - 4:00 EST. 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.
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/HUNTER MOLNAR/Examiner, Art Unit 3628
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