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 statement filed on 07/13/2026 fails to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.97(c) because it lacks both (one of the two is required): a statement as specified in 37 C.F.R. § 1.97(e); and the fee set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.17(p). Applicant stated under 37 C.F.R. § 1.97(e)(1) that each item of information was first cited from a foreign patent office in a counterpart foreign application not more than three months prior. However, at least one item of information (U.S. Office Action for App. No. 18/687,700) was included that is not a compliant item of information under 37 C.F.R. § 1.97(e)(1). Therefore, a fee in accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 1.17(p) is required. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 C.F.R. § 1.55.
Drawings
Although the drawings are sufficiently clear for examination purposes, they are compromised in terms of clarity. That is, due to the submitted format of the drawings, Figs. 3-5, 10, 15D, and 19-21 are dithered and in grayscale/halftones, where lines intended to be solid, clean, and black appear jagged and grayed. It is Examiner’s understanding that should this application issue as a patent, the drawings published on the issued patent will look exactly like those in the U.S. Patent Application Publication (US 20240148215 A1), unless Applicant resubmits the drawings in a different format.
The drawings are not objected to at this time for clarity. Nevertheless, Examiner suggests submitting clearer drawings for the purpose of proper notice to the general public. Applicant should note the following drawing standards:
Black and white drawings are normally required; India ink, or its equivalent that secures solid black lines, must be used for drawings. 37 C.F.R. § 1.84(a)(1);
Every line, number, and letter must be durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined, and the weight of all lines and letters must be heavy enough to permit adequate reproduction. 37 C.F.R. § 1.84(l);
The clarity of the drawings must be sufficient for clear reproduction to two-thirds size. 37 C.F.R. § 1.84(k).
For examples of acceptable drawing clarity and quality, see US 20220362902 A1, US 20230076152 A1, US 20230286103 A1, and US 20240009795 A1. Examiner suggests outputting and resubmitting the drawings as vector graphics instead of raster images (bitmap) and uploading them to USPTO Patent Center as “Drawings-other than black and white line drawings”, which should cause the filed image file to be stored in the SCORE database without any image conversion.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“wherein” (claim 1, line 10) should be changed to --wherein,--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims, the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Qian1 in view of Ryu and Won
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230389769 A1 (“Qian1”) in view of KR 101412580 B1 (“Ryu”) and US 20090044370 A1 (“Won”).
Qian1 pertains to a base station for a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21). Ryu pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-12) (citations are to the translation filed herewith). Won pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-22B). These references are in the same field of endeavor.
Regarding claim 1, Qian1 discloses a base station for maintaining a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21, base station 100 is for maintaining a cleaning robot), comprising:
a base station body comprising a cleaning basin (Fig. 9, body of base station 100 as shown including cleaning basin 55);
a cleaning assembly, disposed in the cleaning basin, and configured to clean a cleaning pad of the cleaning robot through a relative motion in a substantial horizontal plane between the cleaning assembly and the cleaning pad (Figs. 8-9; ¶ 0101, cleaning assembly (including elements 55, 52, 54, scraper 61, and 63 (cited as element 62 in ¶ 0101)) has a scraper 61 that moves relative to a docked cleaning robot 200 in a horizontal plane located between the cleaning assembly and a cleaning pad 24 of a docked cleaning robot 200),
a liquid storage container, disposed on the base station body and above the cleaning assembly, and configured to supply liquid to a liquid storage tank of the cleaning robot (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, liquid storage container 51 provides clean water to basin 55; Fig. 12; ¶¶ 0149-0151, 0161-0162, liquid storage container 601 is capable of providing liquid to a liquid storage tank of a cleaning robot);
a collection container, disposed on the base station body and above the cleaning assembly, and configured to collect liquid from the cleaning basin (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, collection container 53 is above the cleaning assembly and collects dirty liquid from basin 55),
wherein
the cleaning assembly comprises…a second cleaning member… (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, cleaning assembly has a scraper 61 (“second cleaning member”)),
an extending direction of the…cleaning member being perpendicular to a left-right direction of the cleaning assembly (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, the extending direction of scraper 61 is perpendicular to the left-right direction of the cleaning assembly);
the cleaning assembly further comprises: a cleaning assembly holder on which…the second cleaning member [is] disposed… (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, scraper 61 is attached to the cleaning assembly via a cleaning assembly holder as shown),
and the second cleaning member comprises a cleaning scraper (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, scraper 61 (“second cleaning member”)).
Qian1 does not explicitly disclose:
wherein[,]
the cleaning assembly comprises a first cleaning member and a second cleaning member different from the first cleaning member,
an extending direction of the first cleaning member being perpendicular to a left-right direction of the cleaning assembly;
the cleaning assembly further comprises: a cleaning assembly holder on which the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member are disposed in parallel;
the first cleaning member comprises a cleaning roller arranged to rotate relative to the cleaning assembly holder.
However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination makes obvious this claim.
Ryu discloses:
wherein[,]
the cleaning assembly comprises a first cleaning member… (Fig. 4, cleaning assembly 220 including cleaning roller brush 221; Figs. 10-11, cleaning roller brush 804/805/806),
the first cleaning member comprises a cleaning roller arranged to rotate relative to the cleaning assembly holder (Fig. 4, cleaning roller brush 221; Figs. 10-11, cleaning roller brush 804/805/806).
Won discloses:
wherein[,]
the cleaning assembly comprises a first cleaning member and a second cleaning member different from the first cleaning member (Figs. 8, 18A-D; ¶¶ 0071-0076, cleaning assembly including elements 502, 503, 504, 505, and “first cleaning member” 511/512 including teeth 512, and different “second cleaning member” 511/514 including rakes 514).
an extending direction of the first cleaning member being perpendicular to a left-right direction of the cleaning assembly (Figs. 8, 18B, the extending direction of the “first cleaning member” 511/512 is perpendicular to the left-right direction of the cleaning assembly);
the cleaning assembly further comprises: a cleaning assembly holder on which the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member are disposed in parallel (Fig. 18A, cleaning assembly holder 503 holds “first cleaning member” 511/512 and “second cleaning member” 511/514, which are disposed in parallel as shown in Fig. 18A, where cleaning assembly holder 503 moves “first cleaning member” 511/512 and “second cleaning member” 511/514 relative to a docked cleaning robot in a horizontal plane located between the cleaning assembly and a cleaning element of a docked cleaning robot).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of Ryu and Won with Qian1 by modifying the cleaning assembly of Qian1 to include a rotating roller brush (as taught by Ryu) oriented parallel to scraper 61 and attached to the same cleaning assembly holder as scraper 61 such that they move horizontally together (as taught by Won) relative to the docking station (and a docked robot) via motor 63. This would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art because the two cleaning members (roller brush and scraper) would provide for better cleaning of a robot’s cleaning pads than a single cleaning member configuration. For example, the rotating roller brush (that also moves laterally) may remove more debris from a cleaning robot’s cleaning pad compared to a scraper that only moves laterally. Further, based on the prior art, a person of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to try different numbers and types of cleaning members to obtain an optimal cleaning result, considering the complexity and cost of such implementations (see Ryu Figs. 3-11, showing different types and numbers of cleaning members including a static brush (Fig. 3), rotating roller brush (Fig. 4), air nozzle (Fig. 5), static brush and air nozzle (Fig. 7), a second type of rotating brush (Figs. 8-11); see Won Figs. 18A-D; ¶¶ 0071-0076, referring to other types of cleaning members including “one or more flat, semi-tubular or quarter-tubular tools 511 having teeth 512, dematting rakes 514, combs, or slicker combs.”).
To the extent the embodiment of Qian1 Fig. 12 is different from that of Qian1 Fig. 9, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of these two embodiments and modify the base station of Fig. 9 to have an additional liquid storage container to supply cleaning liquid to a tank of a docked cleaning robot (via nozzle 603), or modify the existing liquid storage container 51 to also supply cleaning liquid to a tank of a docked cleaning robot in addition to supply cleaning liquid to the basin 55. This would have been obvious because this would give the cleaning station of Fig. 9 the additional capability of being able to refill the cleaning liquid supply of a cleaning robot as well refill the cleaning fluid in the basin 55, which would give a docked cleaning robot a clean cleaning pad and a refilled cleaning liquid tank.
Regarding claim 4, the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination makes obvious the base station of claim 1 as applied above. Qian1 further discloses wherein the liquid storage container is further configured to supply liquid for cleaning the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot (Fig. 9; ¶ 0101, liquid storage container 51 provides clean water to basin 55, which is used with cleaning assembly 61 to clean the cleaning pad 24 of a docked cleaning robot 200).
Qian1 in view of Ryu, Won, and Zheng
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230389769 A1 (“Qian1”) in view of KR 101412580 B1 (“Ryu”), US 20090044370 A1 (“Won”), and US 20220211241 A1 (“Zheng”).
Qian1 pertains to a base station for a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21). Ryu pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-12) (citations are to the translation filed herewith). Won pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-22B). Zheng pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-63). These references are in the same field of endeavor.
Regarding claim 2, the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination makes obvious the base station of claim 1 as applied above. Qian1, Ryu, and Won do not explicitly disclose wherein the cleaning assembly is configured to clean the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot when the cleaning pad is in a second position. However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Zheng combination makes obvious this claim.
Zheng discloses wherein the cleaning assembly cleans the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot when the cleaning pad is in the second position (Figs. 24-26; ¶¶ 0182-0190, robot 100 has a cleaning pad (“wiping member”) that is capable of being raised and lowered between a first position and a second position, where when docked and in the second position (Fig. 26), the cleaning pad is replaced with a new cleaning pad (see discussion below re “cleans”)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of Zheng with the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination by modifying the base station and the cleaning robot of Qian1 to have its cleaning pad 24 cleaned when it is docked to the base station and lowered to the second position to make contact with the cleaning apparatus 61. Zheng teaches the analogous lowering motion of the cleaning pad in the context of replacing the cleaning pad. This modification would have been obvious for similar reasons stated for claim 1, because lowering the cleaning pad only when necessary (e.g., to make contact with the cleaning apparatus 61 to be cleaned) results in a more efficient cleaning robot, and also “prevent[s] the dirty wiping unit from polluting the ground” when the robot is returning to the base station (Zhang ¶ 0119).
Regarding claim 3, the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination makes obvious the base station of claim 1 as applied above. Qian1, Ryu, and Won do not explicitly disclose wherein the cleaning assembly is configured to clean the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot when the cleaning pad moves relative to the base station. However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Zheng combination makes obvious this claim.
Zheng discloses wherein the cleaning assembly cleans the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot when the cleaning pad moves relative to the base station (Figs. 24-26; ¶¶ 0182-0190, robot 100 has a cleaning pad (“wiping member”) that is capable of being raised and lowered between a first position and a second position, where when docked and moving relative to the base station (i.e., to the second position (Fig. 26)), the cleaning pad is replaced with a new cleaning pad).
The obviousness rationale for claim 3 is the same as for claim 2.
Qian1 in view of Ryu, Won, and Machida
Claims 5-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230389769 A1 (“Qian1”) in view of KR 101412580 B1 (“Ryu”), US 20090044370 A1 (“Won”), and US 20170196430 A1 (“Machida”).
Qian1 pertains to a base station for a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21). Ryu pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-12) (citations are to the translation filed herewith). Won pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-22B). Machida pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-16). These references are in the same field of endeavor.
Regarding claim 5, the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination makes obvious the base station of claim 1 as applied above. Qian1, Ryu, and Won do not explicitly disclose an arcuate inner bay at least partially housing the cleaning robot during maintenance of the cleaning robot. However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida combination makes obvious this claim.
Machida discloses an arcuate inner bay at least partially housing the cleaning robot during maintenance of the cleaning robot (Figs. 1-7, arcuate inner bay (including surface at reference 58 (Fig. 3)) partially houses a docked cleaning robot).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of Machida with the Qian1/Ryu/Won combination by modifying the base station of Qian1 to have an arcuate inner bay. This would have been obvious because the cleaning robot 200 has an arcuate outer surface, and an arcuate inner bay (e.g., as opposed to a rectangular inner bay) would match the arcuate outer surface of the cleaning robot (due to the proximity of the cleaning robot’s arcuate outer surface to the arcuate inner bay). This would allow for more connections other than at the centerline of the cleaning robot (e.g., connections to the left and right of the centerline, for multiple functions such as cleaning liquid refilling, battery recharging, and electronic interfacing) to be mounted inside the bay sidewall as opposed to outside the bay or on the bottom surface underneath the cleaning robot for a simpler design (Qian ¶ 0172, “The liquid outlet 603 is arranged on the rear side wall 102 in cooperation with the water injection port arranged on the side surface of the framework 2001, thereby making the layout of the liquid outlet 603 more reasonable.”). It is unclear whether Qian1 discloses an arcuate inner bay (see Qian 1 Fig. 17), but Qian1 discloses multiple connections that are needed to be made with the cleaning robot, including liquid supply tube 602, charging electrodes 901, and infrared sensor 801.
Regarding claim 6, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida combination makes obvious the base station of claim 5 as applied above. Qian1 further discloses a liquid injection nozzle, connected to the liquid storage container, and configured to inject the liquid in the liquid storage container to the liquid storage tank of the cleaning robot, wherein the liquid injection nozzle is movably disposed on a side wall of the arc inner bay (Figs. 12, 17; ¶¶ 0161-0162, 0172, as modified in claim 1, liquid injection nozzle 603 is connected to liquid storage container 601 for injecting liquid to the liquid storage tank of the cleaning robot 200, wherein the liquid injection nozzle is movably disposed on a side wall of the arc inner bay (¶ 0172, “The liquid outlet 603 is arranged on a rear side wall 102 and can extend out of or retract into an inner surface of the rear side wall 102.”)).
Regarding claim 10, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida combination makes obvious the base station of claim 5 as applied above. Qian1 further discloses wherein the arcuate inner bay houses a rear portion of the cleaning robot when the cleaning assembly cleans the cleaning pad of the cleaning robot or the liquid storage container supplies the liquid to the liquid storage tank of the cleaning robot (Figs. 8-9, a rear portion of docked robot 200 is housed in the arcuate inner bay (as modified in claim 5) when the cleaning assembly 61 is cleaning the cleaning pad 24 of the robot 200).
Qian1 in view of Ryu, Won, Machida, and Wurm
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230389769 A1 (“Qian1”) in view of KR 101412580 B1 (“Ryu”), US 20090044370 A1 (“Won”), US 20170196430 A1 (“Machida”), and US 20190069749 A1 (“Wurm”).
Qian1 pertains to a base station for a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21). Ryu pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-12) (citations are to the translation filed herewith). Won pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-22B). Machida pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-16). Wurm pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1, 3-4). These references are in the same field of endeavor.
Regarding claim 7, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida combination makes obvious the base station of claim 6 as applied above. Qian1, Ryu, Won, and Machida do not explicitly disclose at least one second guider, disposed on the side wall of the arcuate inner bay, and configured to incorporate to a first guider disposed on the cleaning robot to facilitate a liquid filling port connected to the liquid storage tank aligning to the liquid injection nozzle. However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida/Wurm combination makes obvious this claim.
Wurm discloses at least one second guider, disposed on the side wall of the arcuate inner bay, and configured to incorporate to a first guider disposed on the cleaning robot to facilitate a liquid filling port connected to the liquid storage tank aligning to the liquid injection nozzle (Figs. 1, 3-4; ¶ 106, second guider (outside surfaces of connector body 146 or the fins adjacent to fluid nozzle 94) of base station 14 is configured to unite with first guider (inner surfaces of connector body 82 or the fins adjacent to port 40) of cleaning robot 12 to perform the recited function; “to incorporate” as used in this context is interpreted to include the meaning of to unite, to connect, to mate, or to match (see Spec. Fig. 17)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of Wurm with the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida combination by adding a first guider and second guider to the cleaning robot and base station respectively, as taught by Wurm. This would have been obvious because the first and second guiders allow for an initial misalignment between the liquid nozzle 603 of the base station and the liquid filling port of the cleaning robot 200 when the cleaning robot starts docking with the base station, where the first and second guiders would cause the liquid nozzle 603 and the liquid filling port to properly align as the cleaning robot gets closer to and fully docks with the base station.
Regarding claim 8, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida/Wurm combination makes obvious the base station of claim 7 as applied above. Wurm further discloses wherein in a case that there are two second guiders, the two second guiders are symmetrically disposed on a left side and a right side of the liquid injection nozzle respectively (Figs. 1, 3-4; ¶ 106, there are two second guiders (the fins adjacent to fluid nozzle 94) on base station 14, which are symmetrically disposed on a left side and a right side of the liquid injection nozzle 94).
The obviousness rationale for claim 8 is the same as for claim 7.
Qian1 in view of Ryu, Won, Machida, Wurm, and Ebrahimi
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230389769 A1 (“Qian1”) in view of KR 101412580 B1 (“Ryu”), US 20090044370 A1 (“Won”), US 20170196430 A1 (“Machida”), US 20190069749 A1 (“Wurm”), and US 20210089040 A1 (“Ebrahimi”).
Qian1 pertains to a base station for a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 1-21). Ryu pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-12) (citations are to the translation filed herewith). Won pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-22B). Machida pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1-16). Wurm pertains to a cleaning robot and base station (Abstr.; Figs. 1, 3-4). Ebrahimi pertains to a cleaning robot (Abstr.; Figs. 11A-12C). These references are in the same field of endeavor.
Regarding claim 9, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida/Wurm combination makes obvious the base station of claim 8 as applied above. Qian1, Ryu, Won, Machida, and Wurm do not explicitly disclose wherein the liquid injection nozzle is wrapped with a flexible seal. However, the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida/Wurm/Ebrahimi combination makes obvious this claim.
Ebrahimi discloses wherein the liquid injection nozzle is wrapped with a flexible seal (Figs. 11A-12C; ¶ 0260, water nozzle 402 has gasket 403 (“flexible seal”) wrapped around it).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this application to combine the teachings of Ebrahimi with the Qian1/Ryu/Won/Machida/Wurm combination by adding a gasket to nozzle 603 because this would provide for a fluid seal when the nozzle 603 of the base station is connected to the liquid filling port of the cleaning robot 200, and liquid is allowed to flow therebetween (Ebrahimi ¶ 0260, “the water pump 400 is positioned outside the module 401 and is connected to the module via connecting tube 402 with gasket 403 to seal fluid and prevent it from escaping at the connection point”).
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s Amendment and remarks have been considered.
Specification – The objection to the abstract is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Claims – The objection to claim 5 is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment. Examiner notes that in amended claim 5, the added word “of” was not underlined. Despite this deficiency, Examiner considers the word “of” as part of the amendment.
In light of Applicant’s claim amendments, the § 112(b) rejections are hereby withdrawn.
Claims 1-16 are pending. Claims 10-16 have been withdrawn from further consideration under 37 C.F.R. § 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention. Claims 1-10 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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 arguments.
Applicant does not present any further arguments concerning the remaining claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure:
EP 2436296 B1 (“Kalemba”) discloses a robot cleaner and base station with rotating brushes (Abstr.; Figs. 1-5).
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 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 extension fee pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENT N SHUM whose telephone number is (703)756-1435. The examiner can normally be reached 1230-2230 EASTERN TIME M-TH.
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, MONICA S CARTER can be reached at (571)272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866)217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call (800)786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or (571)272-1000.
/KENT N SHUM/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
Prosecution Insights