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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 11/05/2025 with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Abrams et al disclose a computing device (Abrams et al; Fig 2), comprising: a microphone (Abrams et al; Fig 2; Para [0021]; microphone array 40): a first wireless receiver (Abrams et al; Fig 2; Para [0021]) and a second wireless receiver (Abrams et al; Fig 2; Para [0021]), and a processor (Abrams et al; Fig 2; Para [0021]), wherein the processor is for: receive a wireless signal from an external peripheral device (Abrams et al; Para [0023][0090]; peripheral device 90): determine a location of the peripheral device (Abrams et al; Para [0023][0026]), and cause, based on the location of the peripheral device, the microphone to adjust a beamforming direction of the microphone (Abrams et al; Para [0022]), but do not expressly disclose determine a location of the peripheral device based on a first signal strength between the peripheral device and the first wireless receiver and a second signal strength between the peripheral device and the second wireless receiver. However, in the same field of endeavor, Yong et al disclose a device comprising determine a location of the peripheral device based on a first signal strength between the peripheral device and the first wireless receiver and a second signal strength between the peripheral device and the second wireless receiver (Yong et al; Para [0080]-[0086]; detect location of wearable device based on antenna array received signal of the mobile device from the wearable device). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Yong as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the accuracy of positioning the wearable electronic device (Yong et al; Para [0083]).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Altman et al (US 2016/0031087 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al disclose the computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is to adjust the beamforming direction towards the location of the peripheral device (Abrams et al; Para [0022]), but do not expressly disclose wherein the peripheral device is a stylus. However, in the same field of endeavor, Altman et al disclose a device based on a signal strength between the peripheral device and the wireless receiver (Altman et al; Para [0360]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the stylus taught by Altman as peripheral for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a plurality of options of peripherals to the user of the computing device.
Claim(s) 3-5, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Bonanno et al (US 2018/0359609 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al disclose the computing device of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the wireless signal is a keepalive packet. However, in the same field of endeavor, Bonanno et al disclose a device wherein the wireless signal is a keepalive packet (Bonanno et al; Para [0053]; keep alive signal interpreted as keepalive packet). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the packet taught by Bonanno as wireless packet for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the device location (Bonanno et al; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 4, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al and further in view of Bonanno et al disclose the computing device of claim 3, but do not expressly disclose wherein the signal strength is a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the keepalive packet. However, in the same field of endeavor, Bonanno et al disclose a device wherein the signal strength is a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the keepalive packet (Bonanno et al; Para [0053]; keep alive signal interpreted as keepalive packet). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the packet taught by Bonanno as wireless packet for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the device location (Bonanno et al; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 5, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al and further in view of Bonanno et al disclose the computing device of claim 4, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to determine the location of the peripheral device in response to the RSSI exceeding a threshold amount. However, in the same field of endeavor, Yong et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to determine the location of the peripheral device in response to the RSSI exceeding a threshold amount (Yong et al; Para [0057]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Yong as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the accuracy of positioning the wearable electronic device (Yong et al; Para [0083]).
Regarding claim 19, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al and further in view of Bonanno et al disclose the computing device of claim 4, but do not expressly disclose wherein the second signal strength is a received second RSSI associated with the keepalive packet; and wherein the processor is to determine the location of the peripheral device based on a comparison of the first RSSI to a threshold amount and a comparison of the second RSSI to the threshold amount. However, in the same field of endeavor, Bonanno et al disclose a device wherein the second signal strength is a received second RSSI associated with the keepalive packet (Bonanno et al; Para [0053]; keep alive signal interpreted as keepalive packet). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the packet taught by Bonanno as wireless packet for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the device location (Bonanno et al; Para [0007]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, Yong et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to determine the location of the peripheral device based on a comparison of the first RSSI to a threshold amount and a comparison of the second RSSI to the threshold amount (Yong et al; Para [0080]-[0086]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Yong as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the accuracy of positioning the wearable electronic device (Yong et al; Para [0083]).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Mincher et al (US 10,282,697 B1).
Regarding claim 6, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al disclose the computing device of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to adjust the beamforming direction via a daemon. However, in the same field of endeavor, Mincher et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to adjust the beamforming direction via a daemon (Mincher et al; col 25; lines 5-15; col 11; lines 10-25). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamforming taught by Mincher as beamforming for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to enhance the experience of the user (Mincher et al; col 7; lines 35-38).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Kurtz et al (US 2020/0342871 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al disclose the computing device of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to cease adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone in response to not receiving motion data from the peripheral device within a threshold of time, indicating the peripheral device is stationary. However, in the same field of endeavor, Kurtz et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to cease adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone in response to not receiving motion data from the peripheral device within a threshold of time, indicating the peripheral device is stationary (Kurtz et al; Para [0029][0056][0059]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the adaptive beamforming taught by Kurtz as beamforming for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Kurtz et al; Para [0002]).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Kurtz et al (US 2020/0342871 A1) and further in view of Ferdman et al (US 2017/0324861 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al and further in view of Kurtz et al disclose the computing device of claim 16, but do not expressly disclose wherein the peripheral device comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer and a gyroscopic sensor to provide the motion data. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ferdman et al disclose a device wherein the peripheral device comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer and a gyroscopic sensor to provide the motion data (Ferdman et al; Para [0016]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the sensor taught by Ferdman as location sensor for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a plurality of position sensor options to the user of the device.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Yong et al (WO 2022/247407 A1) and further in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Abrams et al in view of Yong et al disclose the computing device of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to determine whether a virtual meeting has been initiated; and receive the wireless signal from the peripheral device in response to the virtual meeting being initiated. However, in the same field of endeavor, Takahashi et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to determine whether a virtual meeting has been initiated (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]); and receive the wireless signal from the peripheral device in response to the virtual meeting being initiated (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the peripheral activation taught by Takahashi as peripheral activation for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to activate a peripheral device even without a user's input of an operation (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]).
Claim(s) 7, 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michels (US 2018/0082263 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Alex et al (US 2022/0303819 A1) and further in view of LaBosco (US 2020/0275203 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Michels discloses a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that when executed cause processor of a computing device to (Michels; Para [0075]): determine whether a virtual meeting has been initiated by the computing device (Michels; Para [0033][0034): monitor, by a wireless receiver of the computing device (Michels; Para [0033]; monitor for wireless signal from Bluetooth beacon interpreted as peripheral device); but do not expressly disclose in response to the virtual meeting being initiated, for a wireless signal from an external peripheral device; determine, in response to the wireless signal being received, whether motion data is in the wireless signal, the motion data describing motion of the peripheral device; determine, in response to motion data being received with the wireless signa, a location of the peripheral device relative to the computing device based on a signal strength between the peripheral device and the wireless receiver, and cause, based on the location of the peripheral device, a microphone to adjust a beamforming direction of the microphone towards the location of the peripheral device. However, in the same field of endeavor, Takahashi et al disclose a device comprising determine, monitor, by a wireless receiver of the computing device in response to the wireless signal being received (Takahashi et al; Para [0022][0023][0042]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the peripheral detection taught by Takahashi et al as peripheral detection for the device taught by Michels. The motivation to do so would have been to activate a peripheral device even without a user's input of an operation (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, Alex et al disclose a device comprising determine, in response to the wireless signal being received, whether motion data is in the wireless signal, the motion data describing motion of the peripheral device (Alex et al; Para [0032][0033][0038][0071]); determine, in response to motion data being received with the wireless signal a location of the peripheral device (Alex et al; Para [0033][0038]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Alex et al as location detector for the device taught by Michels. The motivation to do so would have been to provide low power, cost, and latency, increased security by way of enhanced precision ranging (Alex et al; Para [0028]). Furthermore, in the same field of endeavor, LaBosco disclose a device comprising and cause, based on the location of the peripheral device, a microphone to adjust a beamforming direction of the microphone towards the location of the peripheral device (LaBosco; Para [0012][0013][0025]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamformer adjuster taught by LaBosco as conference resource in the conference device taught by Michels. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize operation of a beamforming microphone array (LaBosco; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 9, Michels et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Alex et al and further in view of LaBosco disclose the non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, but do not expressly disclose including instructions for cause the microphone to update the beamforming direction towards the new location of the peripheral device. However, in the same field of endeavor, LaBosco disclose a device comprising including instructions for cause the microphone to update the beamforming direction towards the new location of the peripheral device (LaBosco; Para [0012][0013][0025]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamformer adjuster taught by LaBosco as conference resource in the conference device taught by Michels. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize operation of a beamforming microphone array (LaBosco; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 10, Michels et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Alex et al and further in view of LaBosco disclose the non-transitory storage medium of claim 7, including instructions to cease, in response to the virtual meeting ending, adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone (Michels; Para [0036]; connected resources of the virtual meeting are disconnected when the meeting ends).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michels (US 2018/0082263 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Alex et al (US 2022/0303819 A1) and further in view of LaBosco (US 2020/0275203 A1) and further in view of Jampani et al (US 2017/0026806 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Michels et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Alex et al and further in view of LaBosco disclose the non-transitory storage medium of claim 7, but do not expressly disclose including instructions to determine, in response to a further wireless signal being received, a new location of the peripheral device based on a new signal strength between the peripheral device and the wireless receiver. However, in the same field of endeavor, Jampani et al disclose a device comprising including instructions to determine, in response to a further wireless signal being received, a new location of the peripheral device based on a new signal strength between the peripheral device and the wireless receiver (Jampani et al; Para [0020]-[0022][0027]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Jampani et al as location detector for the device taught by Michels. The motivation to do so would have been to improve confidence in the location detection (Jampani et al; Para [0038]).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michels (US 2018/0082263 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Alex et al (US 2022/0303819 A1) and further in view of LaBosco (US 2020/0275203 A1) and further in view of Kurtz et al (US 2020/0342871 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Michels et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Alex et al and further in view of LaBosco disclose the non-transitory storage medium of claim 7, but do not expressly disclose including instructions to cease, in response to not receiving the motion data from the peripheral device in a further wireless signal within a threshold amount of time, adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone. However, in the same field of endeavor, Kurtz et al disclose a method including instructions to cease, in response to not receiving the motion data from the peripheral device in a further wireless signal within a threshold amount of time, adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone (Kurtz et al; Para [0029][0056][0059]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the adaptive beamforming taught by Kurtz as beamforming for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Kurtz et al; Para [0002]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Kaye et al (US 2015/0110259 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Abrams et al disclose a computing device (Abrams et al; Fig 2; computing device 20), comprising: a microphone (Abrams et al; Fig 2; microphone array 30): a first wireless receiver (Abrams et al; Fig 2; transceiver 130) and a second wireless receiver (Abrams et al; Fig 2; transceiver 250); and a processor (Abrams et al; Para [0021]), and cause, based on the location of the peripheral device, the microphone to adjust a beamforming direction of the microphone (Abrams et al; Para [0022]); but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to: determine whether a virtual meeting has been initiated by the computing device: monitor, by the first wireless receiver and the second wireless receiver in response to the virtual meeting being initiated, for a wireless signal from an external peripheral device, wherein the wireless signal includes a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value with the first wireless receiver, a second RSSI value with the second wireless receiver, and motion data from the peripheral device: determine, in response to receiving the motion data, a location of the peripheral device based on the first RSSI value and the second RSSI value. However, in the same field of endeavor, Takahashi et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to: determine whether a virtual meeting has been initiated by the computing device: (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]); monitor, by the first wireless receiver and the second wireless receiver in response to the virtual meeting being initiated (Takahashi et al; Para [0022][0023][0042]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the peripheral detection taught by Takahashi as peripheral detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to activate a peripheral device even without a user's input of an operation (Takahashi et al; Para [0053]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, Kaye et al disclose a device comprising wherein the wireless signal includes a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value with the first wireless receiver, a second RSSI value with the second wireless receiver, and motion data from the peripheral device (Kaye et al; Para [0016]-[0017][0047]): determine, in response to receiving the motion data, a location of the peripheral device based on the first RSSI value and the second RSSI value (Kaye et al; Para [0016]-[0017][0047]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Kaye et al as location detector for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the level of noise (Kaye et al; Para [0038]).
Claim(s) 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Kaye et al (US 2015/0110259 A1) and further in view of Zhu et al (US 2014/0087752 A1) and further in view of LaBosco (US 2020/0275203 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Abrams et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Kaye et al disclose the computing device of claim 11, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to: determine the location to be a first location in response to the first RSSI value exceeding a threshold value and the second RSSI value not exceeding the threshold value; and cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the first location. However, in the same field of endeavor, Zhu et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to: determine the location to be a first location in response to the first RSSI value exceeding a threshold value and the second RSSI value not exceeding the threshold value (Zhu et al; Para [0035]-[0036]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Zhu as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Zhu et al; Para [0029]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, LaBosco disclose a device cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the first location (LaBosco; Para [0012][0013][0025]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamformer adjuster taught by LaBosco as conference resource in the conference device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize operation of a beamforming microphone array (LaBosco; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 13, Abrams et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Kaye et al and further in view of Zhu et al and further in view of LaBosco et al disclose the computing device of claim 12, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to: determine the location to be a second location in response to the first RSSI value not exceeding the threshold value and the second RSSI value exceeding the threshold value; and cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the second location. However, in the same field of endeavor, Zhu et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to: determine the location to be a second location in response to the first RSSI value not exceeding the threshold value and the second RSSI value exceeding the threshold value (Zhu et al; Para [0035]-[0036]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Zhu as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Zhu et al; Para [0029]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, LaBosco disclose a device and cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the second location (LaBosco; Para [0012][0013][0025]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamformer adjuster taught by LaBosco as conference resource in the conference device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize operation of a beamforming microphone array (LaBosco; Para [0007]).
Regarding claim 14, Abrams et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Kaye et al disclose the computing device of claim 11, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to: determine the location in response to the first RSSI value exceeding a threshold value and the second RSSI value exceeding the threshold value: and cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the location. However, in the same field of endeavor, Zhu et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to: determine the location in response to the first RSSI value exceeding a threshold value and the second RSSI value exceeding the threshold value (Zhu et al; Para [0035]-[0036]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the location detection taught by Zhu as location detection for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Zhu et al; Para [0029]). Moreover, in the same field of endeavor, LaBosco disclose a device and cause the microphone to adjust the beamforming direction toward the location (LaBosco; Para [0012] [0013] [0025]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the beamformer adjuster taught by LaBosco as conference resource in the conference device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize operation of a beamforming microphone array (LaBosco; Para [0007]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abrams et al (US 2019/0069080 A1) in view of Takahashi et al (US 2019/0386844 A1) and further in view of Kaye et al (US 2015/0110259 A1) and further in view of Kurtz et al (US 2020/0342871 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Abrams et al in view of Takahashi et al and further in view of Kaye et al disclose the computing device of claim 11, but do not expressly disclose wherein the processor is to cease, in response to not receiving the motion data from the peripheral device within a threshold amount of time, adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone. However, in the same field of endeavor, Kurtz et al disclose a device wherein the processor is to cease, in response to not receiving the motion data from the peripheral device within a threshold amount of time, adjustment of the beamforming direction of the microphone (Kurtz et al; Para [0029][0056][0059]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the adaptive beamforming taught by Kurtz as beamforming for the device taught by Abrams. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce power consumption (Kurtz et al; Para [0002]).
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.
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/KUASSI A GANMAVO/Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692