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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 20-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on October 09, 2025.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 3-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-2, 4-5 and 7-19 of U.S. Patent No. 11,792,283. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they all disclosed the same subject matter. The corresponding claims that contain the same subject matter are mapped below:
Patent No. 11,792,283
Application No. 18/487,381
1.A method comprising:
receiving, at a docking station, a status of an authentication device associated with a firearm;
receiving a registration, at an enrollment module, of one or more users associated with the firearm, wherein the enrollment module is separate from the docking station; and
managing, via a management station, access to the firearm through the authentication device, wherein the management station:
is configured to run a secure software application on a secured and locked down operation system to facilitate management of the authentication device associated with the firearm;
is separate from the firearm; and is in communication with at least one of the docking station and the enrollment station.
3. A method comprising:
receiving, at a docking station, a status of an authentication device associated with a firearm;
receiving a registration, at an enrollment module, of one or more users associated with the firearm, wherein the enrollment module is separate from the docking station; and
managing, via a management station, access to the firearm through the authentication device, wherein the management station
is separate from the firearm and is in communication with at least one of the docking station and the enrollment module.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
globally managing a plurality of firearms in which each respective firearm is associated with a respective authentication device and wherein each respective firearm provides a status of its respective authentication device to a respective docking station and wherein one or more respective users associated with each respective firearm is registered with the enrollment station.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
globally managing a plurality of firearms in which each respective firearm is associated with a respective authentication device and wherein each respective firearm provides a status of its respective authentication device to a respective docking station and wherein one or more respective users associated with each respective firearm is registered with the enrollment module.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
communicating, from the docking station, one or more of a battery status of the authentication device, an operable status of the authentication device, a docking status, or a health status of the firearm to a network-based server.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
communicating, from the docking station, one or more of a battery status of the authentication device, an operable status of the authentication device, a docking status, or a health status of the firearm to a network-based server.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
docking, via the docking station, a firearm grip associated with the authentication device.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
docking, via the docking station, a firearm grip associated with the authentication device.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
registering, via the management station, a profile of a firearm user to access the authentication device when coupled to the firearm; and
tracking usage by a firearm user of the firearm coupled to the authentication device via the profile of the firearm user.
7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
registering, via the management station, a profile of a firearm user to access the authentication device when coupled to the firearm; and
tracking usage by a firearm user of the firearm coupled to the authentication device via the profile of the firearm user.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
determining, via the management station, credentials of each profile of one or more firearm users and allocate the credentials to predetermined firearms.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
determining, via the management station, credentials of each profile of one or more firearm users and allocate the credentials to predetermined firearms.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
grouping, via the management station, one or more user profiles into one or more groups.
9. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
grouping, via the management station, one or more user profiles into one or more groups.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
assigning, via the management station, each of the one or more user profiles a ranking level within the one or more groups.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
assigning, via the management station, each of the one or more user profiles a ranking level within the one or more groups.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
assigning, via the management station, one or more firearms to the one or more groups.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
assigning, via the management station, one or more firearms to the one or more groups.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
tracking, via the management station, at least one of a location, discharge, battery, and usage statistics of the firearm.
12. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
tracking, via the management station, at least one of a location, discharge, battery, and usage statistics of the firearm.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining, via the management station, a geographical location of the firearm.
13. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
determining, via the management station, a geographical location of the firearm.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
defining, via the management station, a predetermined usage boundary for the firearm and disabling, automatically, the firearm when the firearm violates the predetermined usage boundary.
14. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
defining, via the management station, a predetermined usage boundary for the firearm and disabling, automatically, the firearm when the firearm violates the predetermined usage boundary.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined usage boundary comprises one or more of a geographical boundary, an unauthorized user of the firearm, a predetermined number of discharges from the firearm, and a predetermined type of ammunition.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined usage boundary comprises one or more of a geographical boundary, an unauthorized user of the firearm, a predetermined number of discharges from the firearm, and a predetermined type of ammunition.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, usage data about the firearm;
analyzing the usage data to yield analyzed usage data; and
generating a report detailing the analyzed usage data.
16. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, usage data about the firearm;
analyzing the usage data to yield analyzed usage data; and
generating a report detailing the analyzed usage data.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a discharge notification when the firearm discharges and to generate a discharge alert when the discharge notification is received.
17. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a discharge notification when the firearm discharges and to generate a discharge alert when the discharge notification is received.
18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a docking notification when the firearm is docked and generating a docking alert when the docking notification is received.
18. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a docking notification when the firearm is docked and generating a docking alert when the docking notification is received.
19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a firearm profile of the firearm and to register the authentication device to the firearm profile.
19. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, via the management station, a firearm profile of the firearm and to register the authentication device to the firearm profile.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 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.
Claim(s) 39, 11-15 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schumacher et al. (US 2007/0180749).
As per claim 3, Schumacher et al. disclose a method (weapon safety system, figure 1) comprising:
receiving, at a docking station (8 and 9, figure 1), a status (weapon identification, 7) of an authentication device (10) associated with a firearm (6, paragraphs 0012 and 0018);
receiving a registration (user identification, 11), at an enrollment module (12), of one or more users associated with the firearm, wherein the enrollment module is separate from the docking station (figure 1, paragraphs 0013 and 0020); and
managing, via a management station (1, figure 1), access to the firearm through the authentication device, wherein the management station being separate from the firearm and is in communication with at least one of the docking station and the enrollment module (figure 1, paragraphs 0012, 0018 and 0020).
As per claim 4, Schumacher et al. further disclose globally managing a plurality of firearms in which each respective firearm being associated with a respective authentication device and wherein each respective firearm provides a status of its respective authentication device to a respective docking station and wherein one or more respective users associated with each respective firearm is registered with the enrollment module (paragraph 0012, 0018 and 0033).
As per claim 5, Schumacher et al. further disclose communicating, from the docking station, one or more of a battery status of the authentication device, an register operable status of the authentication device, a docking status, or a health status of the firearm to a network-based server (1, paragraph 0018).
As per claim 6, Schumacher et al. further disclose docking, via the docking station, a firearm grip associated with the authentication device.
As per claim 7, Schumacher et al. further disclose registering, via the management station, a profile of a firearm user (3, 4) to access the authentication device when coupled to the firearm; and tracking usage by a firearm user of the firearm coupled to the authentication device via the profile of the firearm user (paragraph 0011 and 0025-0028).
As per claim 8, Schumacher et al. further disclose determining, via the management station, credentials of each profile of one or more firearm users and allocate the credentials to predetermined firearms (paragraphs 0025-0028).
As per claim 9, Schumacher et al. further disclose grouping, via the management station, one or more user profiles into one or more groups (paragraphs 0012, 0018 and 0033).
As per claim 11, Schumacher et al. further disclose assigning, via the management station, one or more firearms to the one or more groups (paragraphs 0012, 0018 and 0033).
As per claim 12, Schumacher et al. further disclose tracking, via the management station, at least one of a location, discharge, battery, and usage statistics of the firearm (paragraphs 0022 and 0034).
As per claim 13, Schumacher et al. further disclose determining, via the management station, a geographical location of the firearm (paragraphs 0022 and 0034).
As per claim 14, Schumacher et al. further disclose defining, via the management station, a predetermined usage boundary for the firearm and disabling, automatically, the firearm when the firearm violates the predetermined usage boundary (paragraphs 0022-0023 and 0025).
As per claim 15, Schumacher et al. further disclose the predetermined usage boundary comprises one or more of a geographical boundary, an unauthorized user of the firearm, a predetermined number of discharges from the firearm, and a predetermined type of ammunition (paragraphs 0022-0023 and 0025).
As per claim 19, Schumacher et al. further disclose receiving, via the management station, a firearm profile of the firearm and to register the authentication device to the firearm profile (figure 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAI T. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2961. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm.
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/TAI T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685 December 3, 2025