DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to applicant’s response filed under 37 C.F.R. §1.111 in response to a non-final office action. Claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 13, 16, and 18 have been amended. Claims 1-14, 16-18, and 28-30 are subject to examination.
Acknowledgement is made to the Applicant’s amendment to claim 2 to obviate the previous objection to claim 2. The previous objection to claim 2 is hereby withdrawn.
Acknowledgement is made to the Applicant’s explanation of claim language regarding the previous 112(b) rejection to claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 16, and 18. The previous 112(b) rejection to claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 16, and 18 is hereby withdrawn
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-7, 9, 13-14, 16-18, and 28-30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou in view of Zourob et al. (US 2023/0088942, hereinafter “Zourob”).
Regarding Claim 1, Hou teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor (Hou: the terminal 1100 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 1102, see paragraph [0101]); and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: transmitting, to a management entity, a binding request for binding with at least one neighboring apparatus (Hou: the terminal 1100 may include... a memory 1104, see paragraph [0101]; The processing component 1102 may include one or more processors 1120 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps in the above described methods, see paragraph [0102]; In step 403, the first terminal transmits to the server a device binding request carrying therein the device identifier of the target device, see paragraph [0048]); and
receiving, from the management entity, a binding response to the binding request (Hou: a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal upon receiving the first acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus (Zourob: The method then continues in step 111 with connecting to the second communication device over a non-cellular connection. In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraphs [0058]-[0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 2, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the transmitting by being triggered with a predetermined event (Hou: In an embodiment, if the confirm key is clicked in the binding prompt page by the user, the first terminal may receive the binding instruction of the first account identifier for binding with the target device. Therefore, the first terminal may be triggered to generate the device binding request … and then transmit the device binding request to the server according to a server address prestored in the application program, see paragraph [0049]).
Regarding Claim 3, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the binding request comprises at least one identity of the at least one neighboring apparatus (Hou: In step 403, the first terminal transmits to the server a device binding request carrying therein the device identifier of the target device, see paragraph [0048]); and
wherein the binding response comprises at least one of acknowledge or negative acknowledge of the binding request (Hou: a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal upon receiving the first acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Regarding Claim 4, Hou teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor (Hou: the terminal 1100 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 1102, see paragraph [0101]); and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: receiving, by an apparatus from a management entity, a capacity request for binding capacity with a neighboring apparatus (Hou: the terminal 1100 may include... a memory 1104, see paragraph [0101]; The processing component 1102 may include one or more processors 1120 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps in the above described methods, see paragraph [0102]; In step 406, the server transmits a binding inquiry message, which carries therein the first account identifier and the device identifier, to the second terminal, see paragraph [0059]); and
transmitting, to the management entity, a capacity response to the capacity request (Hou: the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server, see paragraph [0063]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, to perform measurement by the apparatus for the neighboring apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, to perform measurement by the apparatus for the neighboring apparatus (Zourob: In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraph [0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 5, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 4, wherein the capacity request comprises at least one binding information type (Hou: the binding inquiry message may be a message used for inquiring the terminal that logs into the primary administrative account of the target device regarding whether an auxiliary administrative account is allowed to be bound with, see paragraph [0060]); and
wherein the capacity response comprises at least one reject reason (Hou: In case that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device fails, a failed binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal ... if a second acknowledgement message (i.e. a message indicating that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device is not approved) responsive to the binding inquiry message is received from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Regarding Claim 6, Hou teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor (Hou: As shown in FIG. 10, the apparatus 1000 includes: a processing component 1022 which may further include one or more processors, see paragraph [0097]); and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: receiving, from a first apparatus, a binding request for binding with at least one neighboring apparatus of the first apparatus (Hou: the apparatus 1000 includes: ... a memory 1032 which is configured to store instructions, such as application programs, executable by the processing component 1022 ... Furthermore, the processing component 1022 is configured to execute the instructions so as to perform the method described above, see paragraph [0097]; In step 404, the server receives the device binding request from the first terminal, and the device binding request carries therein the device identifier of the target device broadcasted by the target device, see paragraph [0051]);
transmitting, to a second apparatus of the at least one neighboring apparatus, a first capacity request for a binding capacity of the second apparatus, in response to the binding request (Hou: In step 406, the server transmits a binding inquiry message, which carries therein the first account identifier and the device identifier, to the second terminal that logs into the account corresponding to the second account identifier, see paragraph [0059]);
receiving, from the second apparatus, a first capacity response to the first capacity request (Hou: the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server, see paragraph [0063]);
binding the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the first capacity response (Hou: If the confirm key on the binding inquiry page is clicked by the user of the second terminal, the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server. Upon receiving the acknowledgement message, the server may record the first account identifier in an item of auxiliary administrative accounts included in the attribute information of the target device, see paragraph [0063]); and
transmitting, to the first apparatus, a binding response to the binding request (Hou: a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal upon receiving the first acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus (Zourob: The method then continues in step 111 with connecting to the second communication device over a non-cellular connection. In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraphs [0058]-[0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 7, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the binding request comprises at least one identity of the at least one neighboring apparatus (Hou: In step 404, the server receives the device binding request from the first terminal, and the device binding request carries therein the device identifier of the target device broadcasted by the target device, see paragraph [0051]); and
wherein the binding response comprises at least one of acknowledge or negative acknowledge of the binding request (Hou: In case that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device is successfully performed, a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Regarding Claim 9, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: establishing an association between the first apparatus and an identity of the second apparatus (Hou: Upon receiving the acknowledgement message, the server may record the first account identifier in an item of auxiliary administrative accounts included in the attribute information of the target device, see paragraph [0063]).
Regarding Claim 13, Hou teaches a method comprising: transmitting, to a management entity, a binding request for binding of an apparatus with at least one neighboring apparatus (Hou: In step 403, the first terminal transmits to the server a device binding request carrying therein the device identifier of the target device, see paragraph [0048]); and
receiving, from the management entity, a binding response to the binding request (Hou: a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus (Zourob: The method then continues in step 111 with connecting to the second communication device over a non-cellular connection. In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraphs [0058]-[0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 14, Hou-Zourob teaches method of claim 13, wherein the transmitting, to a management entity, a binding request for binding with at least one neighboring apparatus is triggered with a predetermined event (Hou: In an embodiment, if the confirm key is clicked in the binding prompt page by the user, the first terminal may receive the binding instruction of the first account identifier for binding with the target device. Therefore, the first terminal may be triggered to generate the device binding request … and then transmit the device binding request to the server according to a server address prestored in the application program, see paragraph [0049]).
Regarding Claim 16, Hou teaches a method comprising: receiving, by an apparatus from a management entity, a capacity request for binding capacity with a neighboring apparatus (Hou: In step 406, the server transmits a binding inquiry message, which carries therein the first account identifier and the device identifier, to the second terminal that logs into the account corresponding to the second account identifier, see paragraph [0059]); and
transmitting, to the management entity, a capacity response to the capacity request (Hou: the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server, see paragraph [0063]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, to perform measurement by the apparatus for the neighboring apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, to perform measurement by the apparatus for the neighboring apparatus (Zourob: In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraph [0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 17, Hou-Zourob teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the capacity request comprises at least one binding information type (Hou: the binding inquiry message may be a message used for inquiring the terminal that logs into the primary administrative account of the target device regarding whether an auxiliary administrative account is allowed to be bound with, see paragraph [0060]); and
wherein the capacity response comprises at least one reject reason (Hou: In case that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device fails, a failed binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal ... if a second acknowledgement message (i.e. a message indicating that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device is not approved) responsive to the binding inquiry message is received from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Regarding Claim 18, Hou teaches a method comprising: receiving, from a first apparatus, a binding request for binding with at least one neighboring apparatus of the first apparatus (Hou: In step 404, the server receives the device binding request from the first terminal, and the device binding request carries therein the device identifier of the target device broadcasted by the target device, see paragraph [0051]);
transmitting, to a second apparatus of the at least one neighboring apparatus, a first capacity request for a binding capacity of the second apparatus, in response to the binding request (Hou: In step 406, the server transmits a binding inquiry message, which carries therein the first account identifier and the device identifier, to the second terminal that logs into the account corresponding to the second account identifier, see paragraph [0059]);
receiving, from the second apparatus, a first capacity response to the first capacity request (Hou: the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server, see paragraph [0063]);
binding the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the first capacity response (Hou: If the confirm key on the binding inquiry page is clicked by the user of the second terminal, the second terminal may be triggered to transmit an acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message to the server. Upon receiving the acknowledgement message, the server may record the first account identifier in an item of auxiliary administrative accounts included in the attribute information of the target device, see paragraph [0063]); and
transmitting, to the first apparatus, a binding response to the binding request (Hou: In case that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device is successfully performed, a successful binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal upon receiving the first acknowledgement message responsive to the binding inquiry message from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Hou does not explicitly teach, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zourob teaches, wherein the binding with the at least one neighboring apparatus is configured to allow the apparatus to utilize the at least one neighboring apparatus to perform measurement for the apparatus (Zourob: The method then continues in step 111 with connecting to the second communication device over a non-cellular connection. In step 112, the method comprises delegating to the second communication device to perform ... measurements associated with the first communication device through cellular communication with a network node ... The term delegating may in this disclosure be seen as the first device putting the responsibility of acquiring measurements on the second device, see paragraphs [0058]-[0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou to include the features as taught by Zourob above in order to improve power management for devices with constrained power resources (Zourob: see paragraph [0036]).
Regarding Claim 28, Hou-Zourob teaches a non-transitory program storage device readable with an apparatus tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable with the apparatus for performing the method of claim 13 (Hou: the terminal 1100 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 1102, a memory 1104 …, see paragraph [0101]; The memory 1104 is configured to store various types of data to support the operation of the terminal 1100. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operated on the terminal 1100, see paragraph [0103]).
Regarding Claim 29, Hou-Zourob teaches a non-transitory program storage device readable with an apparatus tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable with the apparatus for performing the method of claim 16 (Hou: Hou: the terminal 1100 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 1102, a memory 1104 …, see paragraph [0101]; The memory 1104 is configured to store various types of data to support the operation of the terminal 1100. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operated on the terminal 1100, see paragraph [0103]).
Regarding Claim 30, Hou-Zourob teaches a non-transitory program storage device readable with an apparatus tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable with the apparatus for performing the method of claim 18 (Hou: As shown in FIG. 10, the apparatus 1000 includes: a processing component 1022 which may further include one or more processors, and memory resource represented by a memory 1032 which is configured to store instructions, such as application programs, executable by the processing component 1022 ... Furthermore, the processing component 1022 is configured to execute the instructions so as to perform the method described above, see paragraph [0097]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou-Zourob in view of Johnsson et al. (US 2016/0073279, hereinafter “Johnsson”) and further in view of Doetsch et al. (US 2016/0021693, hereinafter “Doetsch”).
Regarding Claim 8, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform: receiving an access request for the first apparatus (Hou: In step 404, the server receives the device binding request from the first terminal, see paragraph [0051]); and
transmitting the access request to the second apparatus (Hou: In step 406, the server transmits a binding inquiry message … to the second terminal, see paragraph [0059]).
Hou-Zourob does not explicitly teach, [an access request] for first measurement information [of the first apparatus];
receiving second measurement information of the second apparatus; and
determining the first measurement information based on the second measurement information a calibration parameter.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Johnsson teaches an access request for first measurement information of the first apparatus (Johnsson: The Admission Control Node comprises a receiving unit adapted for receiving, from the first device, a request for performing the measurement between the first and the second device, see paragraph [0016]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou-Zourob to include the features as taught by Johnsson above in order to prevent measurements from influencing each other (Johnsson: see paragraph [0018]).
Hou-Zourob-Johnsson does not teach receiving second measurement information of the second apparatus; and
determining the first measurement information based on the second measurement information and a calibration parameter.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Doetsch teaches receiving second measurement information of the second apparatus (Doetsch: In step 13, the second user terminal UE2 reports ... to the master base station BS1 measurement results such as received power or received Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) of beacon signals sent by the first user terminal UE1. Preferably, the second user terminal UE2 reports also measurement results based on pilots sent out by the serving slave base station BS2, see paragraph [0085]); and
determining the first measurement information based on the second measurement information and a calibration parameter (Doetsch: In step 14, the master base station BS1 analyses the received measurement reports from ... the second user terminal UE2 by comparing beacon based measurement reports with pilot based measurement reports preferably summed with an offset value ... The master base station BS1 can e.g. decide to use a D2D communication only if ... a received beacon SINR is higher than a pilot SINR+offset value, see paragraph [0086]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou-Zourob-Johnsson to include the features as taught by Doetsch above in order to enable efficient support of proximity-based services (Doetsch: see paragraph [0007]).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou-Zourob in view of Chen et al. (US 2018/0324170 A1, hereinafter “Chen”).
Regarding Claim 10, Hou-Zourob teaches the apparatus of claim 6, but does not explicitly teach, receiving, from one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus, a binding release request for de-binding the first apparatus and the second apparatus;
deleting an association between the first apparatus and a binding information type based on the binding release request;
transmitting, to the first apparatus, a binding release response to the binding release request; and
transmitting, to another one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus, binding release information or binding update information.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chen teaches receiving, from one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus, a binding release request for de-binding the first apparatus and the second apparatus (Chen: a user sends a cancelation request to a server through a mobile phone APP, the cancelation request carrying a first device identifier to be released, see paragraph [0164]);
deleting an association between the first apparatus and a binding information type based on the binding release request (Chen: the server releases the first device identifier according to the first device identifier carried in the cancelation request, and deletes a binding relation between user's identity information and the first device identifier, see paragraph [0165]);
transmitting, to the first apparatus, a binding release response to the binding release request (Chen: the server returns a cancelation success response to the mobile phone APP, see paragraph [0167]); and
transmitting, to the second apparatus, binding update information (Chen: Releasing the first device identifier in this step may be setting the first device identifier to be invalid/illegal, or deleting the first device identifier from the server, see paragraph [0166]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hou-Zourob to include the features as taught by Chen above in order to improve device security (Chen: see paragraph [0007]).
Regarding Claim 11, Hou-Zourob-Chen teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform: transmitting, to a third apparatus of the at least one neighboring apparatus, a second capacity request for binding capacity of the third apparatus, in response to the binding release request from the second apparatus (Chen: There is also a case, i.e., when an IoT device released from identity authentication sends a login request to the server, the server determines that the first identity authentication identifier of the IoT device has been released, and returns a login failure response. After receiving the login failure response, the IoT device may actively initiate a registration request only including terminal device information, see paragraph [0173]);
receiving, from the third apparatus, a second capacity response to the second capacity request (Chen: the server generates a second device identifier using the terminal device information. In this case, the server generates the second device identifier only using original physical information such as a device model, a device MAC address and a device SN. This method is not described in detail herein ... the server returns a second device identifier to the IoT device, see paragraphs [0174]-[0176]); and
binding the first apparatus and the third apparatus based on the second capacity response (Chen: the IoT device saves the received second device identifier, see paragraph [0177]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Chen is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 10.
Regarding Claim 12, Hou-Zourob-Chen teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first capacity request comprises at least one binding information type (Hou: Herein, the binding inquiry message may be a message used for inquiring the terminal that logs into the primary administrative account of the target device regarding whether an auxiliary administrative account is allowed to be bound with, see paragraph [0060]); and
the first capacity response comprises at least one reject reason (Hou: In case that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device fails, a failed binding notification message responsive to the device binding request may be transmitted to the first terminal ... if a second acknowledgement message (i.e. a message indicating that the binding operation between the first terminal and the target device is not approved) responsive to the binding inquiry message is received from the second terminal, see paragraph [0064]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILLIP J EGAN KEARNS whose telephone number is 571-272-4869. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-7 EST.
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416