DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/28/2023 and
06/17/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, each IDS is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 13. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance.
The primary reason for allowance of claims 1 - 12 is the prior art made of record neither shows or discloses the claim language found in claim 1, for a method of identifying at least one critical location on a physical structure, the method comprising:
receiving operational information, the operational information being information related to an operation of the physical structure, the operational information including different time instances of the operation of the physical structure and the operation of the physical structure at different operational levels, the operational levels relating to levels of output from the physical structure, at least a portion of the operational information being received from sensors sensing a condition of the physical structure;
predicting damage to the physical structure based on the operational information, predicted operation of the physical structure with at least one of the different operational levels, and at least one model of the physical structure such that initiation of the damage at a plurality of locations of the physical structure is predicted independent of a proximity of the sensors to each of the plurality of locations.
Most notably, for a method of identifying at least one critical location on a physical structure, the method, further comprising identifying the at least one critical location on the physical structure based on the predicted damage, in combination with all of the other claim limitations presented, in total.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. The limitation “processing circuit” lacks the element of a non-transitory computer readable medium, as recited in lines 1 and 2 of claim 20.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14 - 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 14 - 19, the prior art made of record neither shows nor suggests the claimed limitations.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WARREN K FENWICK whose telephone number is (571)270-3040. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
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, Walter L. Lindsay, Jr. can be reached at 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
WKF