DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16th, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Request for Continued Examination
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/14/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Sheet
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §112(b)
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.
Claim 7 is 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 7, the claim recites the limitations “the sixth axis of rotation” and “the fifth axis of rotation.” However, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims. Specifically, claim 7 previous recites that the articulated-arm robot has “six axes of rotation.” Reciting a plural quantity (six axes) does not explicitly and positively introduce the specific, individual ordinal elements (a first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth axis). Because “fifth axis” and “sixth axis” were never positively introduced into the claim, referring to them using the definite articles “the” leaves the claim unclear as to which specific axes are being referenced. To overcome this rejection, the applicant may amend claim 7 to explicitly introduce the axes prior to referencing them.
Allowable Subject Matter
If the above rejections under 35 USC 112(b) are overcome, claims 1-2 and 4-8 would be deemed allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB A SMITH whose telephone number is (571) 272-3974 and email is Jacob.Smith@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30AM - 5:30PM.
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, Hemant Desai can be reached on (571) 272-4458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB A SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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