DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to the applicant’s filing on December 21, 2023. Claims 1 – 22 are pending and examined below.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to for exceeding 150 words. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 – 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0351783 A1 to Goei (herein after “Goei publication").
Note: Text written in bold typeface is claim language from the instant application.
Texts written in normal typeface are comments made by the Examiner and/or passages from the prior art reference(s).
As to claim 1,
the Goei publication discloses a system (802) for networking a plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see Abstract for “[a] system for controlling mobile electric vehicle charging platforms includes a plurality of mobile charging platforms for charging an electric vehicle”; see also FIG. 7 and ¶64 for “an electrical device charging management system 702. The system 702 includes a central control server 704 that is responsible for providing centralized management of the charging management system responsive to a variety of system inputs”; see also FIG. 8 and ¶65 for “a charging management system 802 for electric vehicles . . . The electric vehicle charging management system 802 includes an electric vehicle charging control server 804 that controls and manages all system operations enabling user devices to make reservations, connect with and control charging with a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806”, ¶66 where “[t]he growing deployment of electric vehicles create a need for widespread electrical chargers 806 that are conveniently and strategically located at points of interest”, and ¶69 where “[t]he charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 that have registered with the system for providing charging locations for electric vehicles“)(Emphasis added), comprising
a central charger controller (102, 402, 804) for controlling access to a plurality of charging devices associated with the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see ¶65 for “an electric vehicle charging control server 804 that controls and manages all system operations enabling user devices to make reservations, connect with and control charging with a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806”, ¶67 where “charging control server 804 matches the vehicle to one or more appropriate vehicle chargers 806 at step 904 responsive to the position of the vehicle and the type of charger required to charge the vehicle”, and ¶69 where “[t]he charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 that have registered with the system for providing charging locations for electric vehicles“)(Emphasis added);
a plurality of control nodes (104, 108, 806) each associated with one of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and enabling communication between the central charger controller and each of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see FIG. 1 and ¶4 where the plurality of mobile charging platforms 104 act as nodes communicating with the server; see also ¶34, where “[c]ommunications between the MEC 102, the mobile charging platform 104 and the EV 106 are accomplished using applications 108 that are associated with each of the mobile charging platform 104 and EV 106”; see also FIG. 8 and ¶65 for “a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806” that act as nodes and ¶75 where “[t]he network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection to the charging control server 804 to enable communications and operations occurring between the databases and controllers therein and the control functionalities within the charging unit 806”)(Emphasis added);
a plurality of application program interfaces each associated with one of the plurality of control nodes enabling communication between a control node and one of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see ¶34, where “[c]ommunications between the MEC 102, the mobile charging platform 104 and the EV 106 are accomplished using applications 108 that are associated with each of the mobile charging platform 104 and EV 106”; see also ¶75 where “[t]he network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection to the charging control server 804 to enable communications and operations occurring between the databases and controllers therein and the control functionalities within the charging unit 806”)(Emphasis added);
wherein the central charger controller monitors charging demand across each of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and dispatches mobile charging devices of the plurality of charging devices to locations responsive to the monitored load distribution (see ¶4 for “[a]n artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location between the mobile charging platform and the electric vehicle responsive to first position data received from the mobile charging platform application, second position data received from the electric vehicle, the mobile charging platform data and the electric vehicle data”; see also ¶34 for “a mobile EV charging system 102 (“MEC”) for the reservation of, and the deployment and use of chargers that are incorporated into a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session”; see also ¶47, where “an artificial intelligence module (“AI”) and the EV charging system module (“EVCS”) within the MEC 402 will manage the protocols associated with the various charging parameters and driver needs”; see also ¶67, where “the user may elect to allow the system to select one of the many available 806 chargers pursuant to preset user preferences or to a system provided artificial intelligence system (AIS) which makes the election for them”).
As to claim 2,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller receiving a request for charging from an electric vehicle associated with a first electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and establishes a charging event for the first vehicle in a second electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks. (See Abstract and ¶34, where the artificial intelligence can control which electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks the electric vehicle should be charged.)
As to claim 3,
the Goei publication discloses the charging event comprises dispatching a mobile electric vehicle charging device to the first vehicle. (See ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claim 4,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller (804) broadcasting a request for bid from the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the request for charging (see ¶75, where the network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection between the charging control server 804 and a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806), receives a bid from the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the request for bid (see FIG. 10 and ¶69 – ¶70, where “charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 . . . [and an] appointment database 1006 stores information for charging appointments that are made by vehicle drivers with respect to particular charging units 806. The appointment database 1006 indicates a charging unit 806 and times that the charging unit is presently scheduled to be charging a particular vehicle”), selects a winning bid and dispatches the mobile electric vehicle charging device of the winning bid to the first vehicle to the first vehicle. (See Abstract, where “artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location” based on received platform data; see also ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claim 5,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller monitoring driving activity of an electric vehicle in a first electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks, determines an upcoming charging need for the electric vehicle and dispatches a mobile electric vehicle charging device from a second electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the determined charging need. (See ¶4 for “[a]n artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location between the mobile charging platform and the electric vehicle responsive to first position data received from the mobile charging platform application, second position data received from the electric vehicle, the mobile charging platform data and the electric vehicle data”; see also ¶34 for “a mobile EV charging system 102 (“MEC”) for the reservation of, and the deployment and use of chargers that are incorporated into a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session”; see also ¶47, where “an artificial intelligence module (“AI”) and the EV charging system module (“EVCS”) within the MEC 402 will manage the protocols associated with the various charging parameters and driver needs.”)
As to claim 6,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller managing membership of a requesting electric vehicle charging network with respect to the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks. (See Abstract, ¶40, ¶49, ¶67 and ¶69.)
As to claim 7,
the Goei publication discloses an artificial intelligence system for controlling the operation of the central charger controller. (See Abstract, ¶40, ¶49, ¶67 and ¶69.)
As to claim 8,
the Goei publication discloses a plurality of mobile electric charging stations with at least one charging device; a transport platform for transporting the plurality of mobile electric charging devices; and wherein the central charger controller dispatches the transport platform including the plurality of mobile electric charging devices to a predetermined location responsive to the monitored charging demand distribution. (See ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claim 9,
the Goei publication discloses the plurality of charging devices comprises both mobile electric vehicle charging devices (104, 408) and fixed electric vehicle charging devices (412). (See FIGS. 1 and 8; see also ¶34 for “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported” and ¶44 for “mStations 408 operated by mOperators” and “fixed EV Charging Stations 412”.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 10 – 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0351783 A1 to Goei (herein after “Goei publication") in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0228877 A1 to Feldman et al. (herein after “Feldman et al. publication").
Note: Text written in bold typeface is claim language from the instant application.
Texts written in normal typeface are comments made by the Examiner and/or passages from the prior art reference(s).
As to claims 10 and 17,
the Goei publication discloses a system (802) for networking a plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see Abstract for “[a] system for controlling mobile electric vehicle charging platforms includes a plurality of mobile charging platforms for charging an electric vehicle”; see also FIG. 7 and ¶64 for “an electrical device charging management system 702. The system 702 includes a central control server 704 that is responsible for providing centralized management of the charging management system responsive to a variety of system inputs”; see also FIG. 8 and ¶65 for “a charging management system 802 for electric vehicles . . . The electric vehicle charging management system 802 includes an electric vehicle charging control server 804 that controls and manages all system operations enabling user devices to make reservations, connect with and control charging with a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806”, ¶66 where “[t]he growing deployment of electric vehicles create a need for widespread electrical chargers 806 that are conveniently and strategically located at points of interest”, and ¶69 where “[t]he charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 that have registered with the system for providing charging locations for electric vehicles“)(Emphasis added), comprising
a central charger controller (102, 402, 804) for controlling access to a plurality of charging devices associated with the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see ¶65 for “an electric vehicle charging control server 804 that controls and manages all system operations enabling user devices to make reservations, connect with and control charging with a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806”, ¶67 where “charging control server 804 matches the vehicle to one or more appropriate vehicle chargers 806 at step 904 responsive to the position of the vehicle and the type of charger required to charge the vehicle”, and ¶69 where “[t]he charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 that have registered with the system for providing charging locations for electric vehicles“)(Emphasis added);
a plurality of control nodes (104, 108, 806) each associated with one of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and enabling communication between the central charger controller and each of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see FIG. 1 and ¶4 where the plurality of mobile charging platforms 104 act as nodes communicating with the server; see also ¶34, where “[c]ommunications between the MEC 102, the mobile charging platform 104 and the EV 106 are accomplished using applications 108 that are associated with each of the mobile charging platform 104 and EV 106”; see also FIG. 8 and ¶65 for “a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806” that act as nodes and ¶75 where “[t]he network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection to the charging control server 804 to enable communications and operations occurring between the databases and controllers therein and the control functionalities within the charging unit 806”)(Emphasis added);
a plurality of application program interfaces each associated with one of the plurality of control nodes enabling communication between a control node and one of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see ¶34, where “[c]ommunications between the MEC 102, the mobile charging platform 104 and the EV 106 are accomplished using applications 108 that are associated with each of the mobile charging platform 104 and EV 106”; see also ¶75 where “[t]he network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection to the charging control server 804 to enable communications and operations occurring between the databases and controllers therein and the control functionalities within the charging unit 806”)(Emphasis added).
wherein the central charger controller monitors charging demand across each of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and dispatches mobile charging devices of the plurality of charging devices to locations responsive to the monitored load distribution (see ¶4 for “[a]n artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location between the mobile charging platform and the electric vehicle responsive to first position data received from the mobile charging platform application, second position data received from the electric vehicle, the mobile charging platform data and the electric vehicle data”; see also ¶34 for “a mobile EV charging system 102 (“MEC”) for the reservation of, and the deployment and use of chargers that are incorporated into a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session”; see also ¶47, where “an artificial intelligence module (“AI”) and the EV charging system module (“EVCS”) within the MEC 402 will manage the protocols associated with the various charging parameters and driver needs”; see also ¶67, where “the user may elect to allow the system to select one of the many available 806 chargers pursuant to preset user preferences or to a system provided artificial intelligence system (AIS) which makes the election for them”),
wherein the central charger controller receives a request for charging from an electric vehicle associated with a first electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and establishes a charging event for the first vehicle in a second electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks (see Abstract and ¶34, where the artificial intelligence can control which electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks the electric vehicle should be charged.)
The Goei publication, however, fails to disclose
at least a portion of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks include ride-sharing providers that provide both charging services and ride sharing services.
The Feldman et al. publication discloses a system where electric mobility service providers (eMSP) facilitate charging across multiple Charge Point Operators (CPOs). (See Abstract and ¶17.) The Feldman et al. publication also discloses that “[the] term electric mobility service provider (eMSP) or mobility service provider (MSP) . . . refers to an entity and/or the computing resources of the entity that manages users and gives user access to charging stations that are managed by CPOs. In some cases, an eMSP may also act as a CPO and/or contract with other CPOs. ” (See ¶26.)(Emphasis added.) By describing the eMSP as managing charging for drivers, this implicitly covers fleet/ride-sharing scenarios where the provider manages the vehicle and its energy needs. Such disclosure suggests as situation where at least a portion of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks include ride-sharing providers that provide both charging services and ride sharing services.
Based on a reasonable expectation of success, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to modify and/or provide the Goei publication so that at least a portion of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks include ride-sharing providers that provide both charging services and ride sharing services, as suggested by the Feldman et al. publication, in order to facilitate provisioning electric vehicle charging for charging points within an eMSP network serviced by CPOs.
As to claim 11,
the Goei publication discloses the charging event comprising dispatching a mobile electric vehicle charging device to the first vehicle. (See ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claims 12 and 20,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller monitoring driving activity of an electric vehicle in a first electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks, determines an upcoming charging need for the electric vehicle and dispatches a mobile electric vehicle charging device from a second electric vehicle charging network of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the determined charging need. (See ¶4 for “[a]n artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location between the mobile charging platform and the electric vehicle responsive to first position data received from the mobile charging platform application, second position data received from the electric vehicle, the mobile charging platform data and the electric vehicle data”; see also ¶34 for “a mobile EV charging system 102 (“MEC”) for the reservation of, and the deployment and use of chargers that are incorporated into a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session”; see also ¶47, where “an artificial intelligence module (“AI”) and the EV charging system module (“EVCS”) within the MEC 402 will manage the protocols associated with the various charging parameters and driver needs.”)
As to claim 13,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller (804) broadcasting a request for bid from the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the request for charging (see ¶75, where the network interface 1112 provides for a wireless or wired connection between the charging control server 804 and a variety of electrical vehicle chargers 806), receives a bid from the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks responsive to the request for bid (see FIG. 10 and ¶69 – ¶70, where “charging control server 804 includes a charging apparatus database 1002 that includes all of the electrical vehicle charging units 806 . . . [and an] appointment database 1006 stores information for charging appointments that are made by vehicle drivers with respect to particular charging units 806. The appointment database 1006 indicates a charging unit 806 and times that the charging unit is presently scheduled to be charging a particular vehicle”), selects a winning bid and dispatches the mobile electric vehicle charging device of the winning bid to the first vehicle to the first vehicle. (See Abstract, where “artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location” based on received platform data; see also ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claim 14,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller managing membership of a requesting electric vehicle charging network with respect to the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks. (See ¶56 – ¶60.)
As to claim 15,
the Goei publication discloses an artificial intelligence system for controlling the operation of the central charger controller. (See Abstract, ¶40, ¶49, ¶67 and ¶69.)
As to claim 16,
the Goei publication discloses the plurality of charging devices comprises both mobile electric vehicle charging devices (104, 408) and fixed electric vehicle charging devices (412). (See FIGS. 1 and 8; see also ¶34 for “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported” and ¶44 for “mStations 408 operated by mOperators” and “fixed EV Charging Stations 412”.)
As to claim 18,
the Goei publication discloses the central charger controller monitoring charging demand distribution across each of the plurality of electric vehicle charging networks and dispatches mobile charging devices of the plurality of charging devices to locations responsive to the monitored load distribution. (See ¶4 for “[a]n artificial intelligence controller generates the control data to schedule the meeting location between the mobile charging platform and the electric vehicle responsive to first position data received from the mobile charging platform application, second position data received from the electric vehicle, the mobile charging platform data and the electric vehicle data”; see also ¶34 for “a mobile EV charging system 102 (“MEC”) for the reservation of, and the deployment and use of chargers that are incorporated into a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session”; see also ¶47, where “an artificial intelligence module (“AI”) and the EV charging system module (“EVCS”) within the MEC 402 will manage the protocols associated with the various charging parameters and driver needs”; see also ¶67, where “the user may elect to allow the system to select one of the many available 806 chargers pursuant to preset user preferences or to a system provided artificial intelligence system (AIS) which makes the election for them.”)
As to claim 19,
the Goei publication discloses the charging event comprises dispatching a mobile electric vehicle charging device to the first vehicle. (See ¶34, where “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported, and which can then be dispatched on an “as-needed” basis to meet a requesting driver of an electric vehicle 106 (“EV”) at a pre-arranged location for a charging session.”)
As to claim 21,
the Goei publication discloses an artificial intelligence system for controlling the operation of the central charger controller. (See Abstract, ¶40, ¶49, ¶67 and ¶69.)
As to claim 22,
the Goei publication discloses the plurality of charging devices comprises both mobile electric vehicle charging devices (104, 408) and fixed electric vehicle charging devices (412). (See FIGS. 1 and 8; see also ¶34 for “a mobile charging platform 104 such as a truck or van, or a container module that can be transported” and ¶44 for “mStations 408 operated by mOperators” and “fixed EV Charging Stations 412”.)
Conclusion
Examiner's Note(s): The Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested of the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. SEE MPEP 2141.02 [R-07.2015] VI. PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS: A prior art reference must be considered in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions that would lead away from the claimed invention. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 220 USPQ 303 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert, denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984). See also MPEP §2123.
In addition, disclosures in a reference must be evaluated for what they would fairly teach one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Snow, 471 F.2d 1400, 176 USPQ 328 (CCPA 1973) and In re Boe, 355 F.2d 961, 148 USPQ 507 (CCPA 1966). Specifically, in considering the teachings of a reference, it is proper to take into account not only the specific teachings of the reference, but also the inferences that one skilled in the art would reasonably have been expected to draw from the reference. See In re Preda, 401 F.2d 825, 159 USPQ 342 (CCPA 1968) and In re Shepard, 319 F.2d 194, 138 USPQ 148 (CCPA 1963). Likewise, it is proper to take into consideration not only the teachings of the prior art, but also the level of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Luck, 476 F.2d 650, 177 USPQ 523 (CCPA 1973). Specifically, those of ordinary skill in the art are presumed to have some knowledge of the art apart from what is expressly disclosed in the references. See In re Jacoby, 309 F.2d 513, 135 USPQ 317 (CCPA 1962).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODNEY A. BUTLER whose telephone number is (313)446-6513. The examiner can normally be reached on weekdays, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anne M. Antonucci can be reached on weekdays, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (313) 446-6519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Electronic Communications
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/RODNEY A BUTLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666