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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office action is in response to amendment filed 1/9/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/24/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final Rejection on 10/9/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 1/9/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Application Number 18/396,990 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of U.S. Application Number 18/396,888.
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.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-12 of copending Application No. 18/396,888 (US PGPub 2024/0135642 A1). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all the claimed limitations are transparently found in copending Application No. 18/396,888 with obvious wording variations. Take an example to compare claim 1 of pending Application and claims 1, 4 and 5 of copending Application No. 18/396,888 in the following table.
Pending Application 18/559,088
Copending Application No. 18/396,888
1. An endoscopic examination support apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: generate a three-dimensional model of a luminal organ in which an endoscope camera is placed, based on endoscopic images obtained by imaging an interior of the luminal organ with the endoscope camera; detect an area estimated not to be observed by the endoscope camera, as an unobserved area, based on the three-dimensional model; and generate a display image including an unobserved area mask to be superimposed on the endoscopic image when the unobserved area exists in the endoscopic image and an indicator indicating a direction of the unobserved area when the unobserved area exists outside the endoscopic image, wherein when detecting that the unobserved area in the endoscopic image has been imaged continuously for a predetermined time or more, the processor changes the display of information indicating a position of the unobserved area in the endoscopic image from ON to OFF.
1. An endoscopic examination support apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: estimate a depth from endoscopic images obtained by imaging an interior of a luminal organ with an endoscope camera; estimate a relative posture change of the endoscope camera from two endoscopic images successive in time; generate a three-dimensional model of the luminal organ in which an endoscope camera is placed, by performing a three-dimensional restoration process on a basis of the depth and the relative posture change of the endoscope camera; detect an area estimated not to be observed by the endoscope camera, as an unobserved area, based on the three-dimensional model; and generate a display image including an information indicative of a direction of an unobserved area existing outside the endoscopic image, which can be changed ON-OFF depending on a position and/or direction of the endoscope camera.
4. The endoscopic examination support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to generate the display image including an unobserved area mask displayed in a display manner so as to cover the unobserved areas in the endoscopic image.
5. The endoscopic examination support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to change the display of the unobserved area mask in the endoscopic image from ON to OFF, when detecting that the unobserved area in the endoscopic image has been imaged continuously for a predetermined time or more.
As shown in table above, claims 1, 4 and 5 of copending Application No. 18/396,888 cover all the claimed limitations as recited in claim 1 of pending Application (see underlined portions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that they are not patentably distinct from each other.
The following table is the general claims correspondence between pending Application and copending Application No. 18/396,888.
Pending Application 18/559,088
Claim 2
Claim 3
Claim 4
Claim 6
Claim 7
Claim 8
Claim 9
Copending Application 18/396,888
Claim 6
Claim 7
Claim 8
Claim 9
Claim 10
Claims 11, 4 and 5
Claims 12, 4 and 5
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4 and 6-9 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.
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 GEORGE ENG whose telephone number is (571)272-7495. The examiner can normally be reached Flex M to F, 7 am to 3 pm.
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, Alford Kindred can be reached at 571-272-4037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEORGE ENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2699