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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the application filed on 06/27/2025.
Claims 1-2, 4-21 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-7, 9-13, 15-16, 18-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ramani et al. (US 2021/0312715 A1) hereinafter Ramani in view of Lang (US 2021/0192759 A1) and further in view of McKee et al. (US 2021/0225083 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ramani discloses
A system for developing a mixed reality application in a virtual development environment, the system comprising:
one or more memories configured to collectively store computer instructions (Ramani Fig. 3, Memory 116); and
one or more processors configured to collectively execute the stored computer instructions to perform a method (Ramani Fig. 3, Processor 114), the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of mixed reality steps indicating the one or more actions to be taken with respect to the physical reference object (Ramani [0022], [0043] and [0057] discloses a user defining interaction events between the physical device and the subject 522 which may be an interactive physical device. Thus, receiving mixed reality events/actions programmed including user-defined actions, operations, or functions to perform during the interaction event);
receiving second input specifying, for one or more mixed reality steps of the plurality of mixed reality steps, (Ramani [0057] discloses “If an interactive physical device is chosen as the Subject 522, users can select one of the previously programed user-defined actions, operations, or functions (“Subject Function”) of the interactive physical device that triggers the interaction event or for the interactive physical device to perform during the interaction event.” The examiner is interpreting the limitation to include only one step due to the “or” language. Ramani [0059] discloses “The user may select the virtual direction pad, for example, to control interactive physical devices having wheels, such as the vehicle 150. The user may select the virtual slider, for example, to control interactive physical devices having servo motors. The user may select the virtual toggle button, for example, to toggle between two different user-defined actions, operations, or functions of interactive physical devices. The user may select an action button, for example, to initiate one of the user-defined actions, operations, or functions of the interactive physical devices.”) a corresponding animation to apply to the virtual artifact (Ramani [0075] teaches “Next, processor 210 executes the AR storytelling application of the storytelling system to display a graphical user interface via which the user can select a set of interaction events that he or she would like use in his or her storytelling experience.” Ramani [0092] teaches “Based on the control of the first interactive physical device, a Physical-Virtual interaction event may be initiated with respect to a second interactive physical device”. Thus, in a different event triggered by the physical-physical interaction events, Lang [0084] a jump animation of an avatar may be applied.);
constructing, for each of the one or more mixed reality steps, an animated mixed reality step based on the corresponding [animation] (Ramani Fig. 8 indicates in the event planner the subject function to be taken with respect to the subject 522 which may be created for Physical-Physical interaction events to author augmented reality storytelling); and
constructing, using the one or more animated mixed reality steps, a mixed reality application usable to (Ramani [0084] discloses updating AR storytelling application):
Ramani lacks explicitly
receiving reference data corresponding to a physical modeled environment that includes a physical reference object with respect to which one or more actions are to be taken;
generating, based on the reference data, a reference environment for the virtual development environment;
displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment;
receiving first input distinguishing from the reference environment a virtual artifact corresponding to the physical reference object;
automatically arranging, based on the reference data, an anchor with the reference environment and the virtual artifact in the virtual development environment;
display, in response to detecting an instance of the anchor in a physical environment, the virtual artifact in accordance with the arrangement; and
indicate the one or more actions to be taken with respect to the physical reference object by sequentially displaying each animated mixed reality step in the one or more animated mixed reality steps
Lang teaches
receiving reference data corresponding to a physical modeled environment (Lang [0239] teaches “One or more optical imaging systems or 3D scanners can, for example, be used to image and/or monitor, e.g. the coordinates, position, orientation, alignment, direction of movement, speed of movement of, [0240] Anatomic landmarks, patient surface(s), organ surface(s), tissue surface(s), pathologic tissues and/or surface(s), e.g. for purposes of registration, e.g. of the patient and/or the surgical site, e.g. one or more bones or cartilage, and/or one or more OHMDs, e.g. in a common coordinate system”) that includes a physical reference object with respect to which one or more actions are to be taken (Lang [0242] teaches “When the 3D scanner system detects a particular hand and/or finger movement, it can trigger the display of the corresponding surgical step or the next surgical step, e.g. by displaying a predetermined virtual axis, e.g. a reaming, broaching or drilling axis, a virtual cut plane, a virtual instrument, a virtual implant component etc”);
generating, based on the reference data, a reference environment for the virtual development environment (Lang Figs. 43-45 illustrate the reference environment based on the scanned reference data, thus the generated reference environment for guiding users on performing different actions);
displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment (Lang [0091]-[0094] teach augmented reality display for guiding and performing different actions where Figs. 43-45 illustrate the reference environment based on the scanned reference data);
receiving first input distinguishing from the reference environment a virtual artifact corresponding to a physical reference object (Lang [0314] teaches “The virtual data can also include a medical device, such as a pedicle screw, wherein the virtual data of the pedicle screw shows its intended location, orientation or path in relationship to the spine, and/or a pedicle, and/or a vertebral body” as illustrated in Figs. 43-45);
display, in response to detecting an instance of the anchor in a physical environment, the virtual artifact in accordance with the arrangement (Lang [1473] teaches “A computer processor can track the physical awl 1015, for example using direct video detection or one or more markers, e.g. navigation markers or optical markers (not shown), e.g. with a navigation system and/or image capture system, and can track the percentage superimposition 1018 of the physical awl 1015 with the virtual path 996. The superimposition can be indicated as a percent volume superimposition between the physical awl and the virtual path, percent surface superimposition, percent area superimposition, percent superimposition in a first, second, and/or third direction, e.g. x-, y- and z-, e.g. in mm, percent superimposition with regard to angular alignment, e.g. in x-, y-, and z-direction, e.g. in degrees, percent coordinate superimposition, e.g. in mm (all optionally indicated in graphical, color coded and/or numerical form). The superimposition can be visualized using color coding, for example from red (e.g. “poor”), to orange (e.g. “medium”) to green (e.g. “good”). When the physical awl 1015 is completely superimposed onto the virtual path 996 (e.g. 100% match or >95% match or >90% match, or any other amount), the physical awl can be advanced, for example to a predetermined endpoint (not shown).” As illustrated in Fig. 45C); and
indicate the one or more actions to be taken with respect to the physical reference object by sequentially displaying each animated mixed reality step in the one or more animated mixed reality steps (Lang [0098] teaches “Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a device comprising at least one optical head mounted display, the device being configured to generate a virtual surgical guide. In some embodiments, the virtual surgical guide is a three-dimensional representation in digital format which corresponds to at least one of a portion of a physical surgical guide, a placement indicator of a physical surgical guide, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the at least one optical head mounted display is configured to display the virtual surgical guide superimposed onto a physical joint based at least in part on coordinates of a predetermined position of the virtual surgical guide, and the virtual surgical guide is configured to align the physical surgical guide or a physical saw blade with the virtual surgical guide to guide a bone cut of the joint. In some embodiments, the device comprises one, two, three or more optical head mounted displays.” As illustrated in Figs. 44-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of Lang to “receiving reference data corresponding to a physical modeled environment; generating, based on the reference data, a reference environment for the virtual development environment; displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment; receiving first input distinguishing from the reference environment a virtual artifact corresponding to a physical reference object; display, in response to detecting an instance of the anchor in a physical environment, the virtual artifact in accordance with the arrangement; indicate the one or more actions to be taken with respect to the physical reference object by sequentially displaying each animated mixed reality step in the one or more animated mixed reality steps” in order to improve training and education through immersive user experience which permits users to interact with objects as if it was real. Further, advantages of individual registration of the first articular surface and/or or associated bones and/or structures and the second articular surface and/or or associated bones and/or structures can be advantageous for other joint surgeries, e.g. joint replacement in the knee, hip, shoulder and/or ankle and/or other joints, by allowing movement of the first articular surface and/or or associated bones and/or structures and the second articular surface and/or or associated bones and/or structures without losing registration and/or superimposition of virtual data on the corresponding live data and/or anatomy and/or surgical site of the patient. Someone skilled in the art can recognize that individual registration of articular surface(s) and/or associated bones and/or structures can be expanded to joints that have three or more articular surfaces and or associated bone and/or structures (Lang [1802]).
McKee teaches
automatically arranging, based on the reference data, an anchor with the reference environment and the virtual artifact in the virtual development environment (McKee [claim 16] teaches “updating the position and orientation of the computing device within the virtual 3D model of the real-world environment in order to align the virtual 3D model with the real-world environment comprises: causing the display screen to present a virtual anchor that is overlaid onto a view of the real-world environment surrounding the computing device, wherein the virtual anchor corresponds to a given physical element in the real-world environment”);
instance of the anchor in the physical environment (McKee [claim 16] teaches “causing the display screen to present a virtual anchor that is overlaid onto a view of the real-world environment surrounding the computing device” where the real-world environment is similar to the physical environment)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of McKee to “automatically arranging, based on the reference data, an anchor with the reference environment and the virtual artifact in the virtual development environment and instance of the anchor in the physical environment” in order to increase precise positioning and stability, permit shared experiences across users, efficiently save anchors across sessions, and enhance real-world interactions.
Regarding claim 2, Ramani further discloses The system of claim 1, wherein the mixed reality application is usable to sequentially display the one or more animated mixed reality steps in accordance with actions taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience based on the mixed reality application (Ramani [0055]-[0056] disclose “As another example, interaction events can also be defined that incorporate virtual representations of other objects such as (1) a virtual object representing a bomb that can be virtually moved around the environment by the user and “detonated” to initiate a physical response from the interactive physical device or (2) a virtual object representing a projectile (e.g., a dart, arrow, missile, etc.) that can be virtually launched across the environment by the user to “collide” with the interactive physical device and initiate a corresponding physical response from the interactive physical device”. See 112(b) rejection).
Regarding claim 4, Ramani further discloses The system of claim 1, wherein an animated mixed reality step in the one or more animated mixed reality steps demonstrates an action to be taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience displayed using the mixed reality application (Ramani [0055] discloses a user virtually moving virtual objects to initiate a physical response from the interactive physical device as illustrated in the viewer of the mixed reality experience illustrated in Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 5, it’s directed to a method having similar limitations cited in claim 1. Thus claim 5 is also rejected under the same rationale as cited in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 6, Ramani in view of NPL1 and further in view of McKee combination teach The method of claim 5,
Ramani lacks explicitly
wherein the anchor is coupled to the reference model such that a transformation applied to the reference model in the virtual development environment causes the anchor to be arranged such that the anchor maintains its position relative to the reference model.
McKee further teaches
wherein the anchor is coupled to the reference model such that a transformation applied to the reference model in the virtual development environment causes the anchor to be arranged such that the anchor maintains its position relative to the reference model (McKee [claim 16] teaches “wherein updating the position and orientation of the computing device within the virtual 3D model of the real-world environment in order to align the virtual 3D model with the real-world environment comprises: causing the display screen to present a virtual anchor that is overlaid onto a view of the real-world environment surrounding the computing device, wherein the virtual anchor corresponds to a given physical element in the real-world environment; detecting user input, wherein the detected user input indicates a modification to one or more of a position of the virtual anchor, an orientation of the virtual anchor, or a size of the virtual anchor; and based on the received user input, updating one or more of a position, an orientation, or a presentation of the virtual 3D model of the real-world environment in order to align the virtual 3D model with the real-world environment.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of McKee to “wherein the anchor is coupled to the reference model such that a transformation applied to the reference model in the virtual development environment causes the anchor to be arranged such that the anchor maintains its position relative to the reference model” in order to increase precise positioning and stability, permit shared experiences across users, efficiently save anchors across sessions, and enhance real-world interactions.
Regarding claim 7, Ramani further discloses The method of claim 5, further comprising causing a mixed reality experience based on the mixed reality application to be presented to a viewer (Ramani Fig. 10 illustrates mixed reality experience based on the AR storytelling application to be presented in AR graphical user interfaces/viewer 700 and 710).
Regarding claim 9, the combination teaches The method of claim 5,
Ramani lacks explicitly
wherein the anchor is based on the reference model and the instance of the anchor in the physical environment is the physical reference object
McKee teaches
wherein the anchor is based on the reference model and the instance of the anchor in the physical environment is the physical reference object (McKee [claim 16] teaches “causing the display screen to present a virtual anchor that is overlaid onto a view of the real-world environment surrounding the computing device, wherein the virtual anchor corresponds to a given physical element in the real-world environment;”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of McKee to “wherein the anchor is based on the reference model and the instance of the anchor in the physical environment is the physical reference object” in order to increase precise positioning and stability, permit shared experiences across users, efficiently save anchors across sessions, and enhance real-world interactions.
Regarding claim 10, it’s directed to a method having similar limitations cited in claim 9. Thus claim 10 is also rejected under the same rationale as cited in the rejection of claim 9 above.
Regarding claim 11, Lang teaches The method of claim 5, wherein the reference data is based on a scan of the physical reference object (Lang [0239] teaches “One or more optical imaging systems or 3D scanners can, for example, be used to image and/or monitor, e.g. the coordinates, position, orientation, alignment, direction of movement, speed of movement of, [0240] Anatomic landmarks, patient surface(s), organ surface(s), tissue surface(s), pathologic tissues and/or surface(s), e.g. for purposes of registration, e.g. of the patient and/or the surgical site, e.g. one or more bones or cartilage, and/or one or more OHMDs, e.g. in a common coordinate system”).
Regarding claim 12, the combination teaches The method of claim 5, further comprising:
Ramani lacks explicitly
receiving a reference environment corresponding to a physical environment and displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment
Lang teaches
receiving a reference environment corresponding to a physical environment and displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment (Lang [0239] teaches “One or more optical imaging systems or 3D scanners can, for example, be used to image and/or monitor, e.g. the coordinates, position, orientation, alignment, direction of movement, speed of movement of, [0240] Anatomic landmarks, patient surface(s), organ surface(s), tissue surface(s), pathologic tissues and/or surface(s), e.g. for purposes of registration, e.g. of the patient and/or the surgical site, e.g. one or more bones or cartilage, and/or one or more OHMDs, e.g. in a common coordinate system” Lang [0091]-[0094] teach augmented reality display for guiding and performing different actions where Figs. 43-45 illustrate the reference environment based on the scanned reference data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of NPL1 to “receiving a reference environment corresponding to a physical environment and displaying the reference environment in the virtual development environment” in order to improve operations, ease development, and understanding for a user related to work, learning, and collaboration projects.
Regarding claim 13, the combination teaches The method of claim 5,
Ramani lacks explicitly
wherein the virtual development environment emulates a view through a mixed reality device of a physical modeled environment.
Lang teaches
wherein the virtual development environment emulates a view through a mixed reality device of a physical modeled environment (Lang Figs. 43-45 illustrates a snapshot of the emulated view with the mixed reality device of a physical modeled environment).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of Lang to “wherein the virtual development environment emulates a view through a mixed reality device of a physical modeled environment” in order to improve operations, ease development, and understanding for a user related to work, learning, and collaboration projects.
Regarding claim 15, The method of claim 5, wherein the mixed reality application is constructed for use with a type of mixed reality device not used in performing the arrangement (Ramani [0077] Fig. 10 illustrates the mixed reality application used in AR graphical user interface of the AR device 200 not used for performing the arrangement).
Regarding claim 16, the combination teaches The method of claim 5,
Ramani lacks explicitly
wherein the virtual artifact includes text corresponding to an action to be taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience displayed using the mixed reality application
Lang teaches
wherein the virtual artifact includes text corresponding to an action to be taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience displayed using the mixed reality application (Lang Figs. 43-45 teaches text to align physical screw and screw driver in the augmented reality application to guide users in performing procedures).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ramani to incorporate the teachings of Lang to “wherein the virtual artifact includes text corresponding to an action to be taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience displayed using the mixed reality application” in order to efficiently guide a user on actions to be performed and improve user satisfaction.
Regarding claim 18, Ramani further discloses The method of claim 5, wherein the animation demonstrates an action to be taken by a viewer of a mixed reality experience displayed using the mixed reality application (Ramani [0084] discloses “Particularly, in response to the predetermined movement of the virtual AR avatar in the real-world environment, the processor 210 executes the graphics engine of the AR storytelling application to update, and display on the display screen 240, the AR graphical user interface such that the virtual AR avatar is animated to perform an action (e.g., a jump animation), as defined by the Virtual-Physical interaction event.” Where the jump animation illustrated in Fig. 8 Event Planner would be performed in mixed reality application illustrated in Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 19, Ramani further discloses The method of claim 5, wherein soliciting the animation to apply to the virtual artifact comprises presenting, by the graphical user interface, one or more indications of animations; receiving a selection of an indication in the one or more indications; and applying the animation corresponding to the indication to the virtual artifact (Ramani [0084] discloses “Particularly, in response to the predetermined movement of the virtual AR avatar in the real-world environment, the processor 210 executes the graphics engine of the AR storytelling application to update, and display on the display screen 240, the AR graphical user interface such that the virtual AR avatar is animated to perform an action (e.g., a jump animation), as defined by the Virtual-Physical interaction event.” Where the jump animation illustrated in Fig. 8 Event Planner would be performed in mixed reality application illustrated in Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 20, it’s directed to a memory having similar limitations cited in claim 1. Thus claim 20 is also rejected under the same rationale as cited in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 21, The one or more memories of claim 20, wherein the animation to apply to the reference model indicates a condition present in the one or more mixed reality steps (Ramani [0066] In the programming of the sensor triggering function, the user selects the sensor that is to trigger the transmitting of the command to the AR device 200. Additionally, the user selects and/or defines a condition of the sensor data from the sensor that is to trigger the transmitting of the command to the AR device 200.)
Claims 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ramani et al. (US 2021/0312715 A1) hereinafter Ramani in view of Lang (US 2021/0192759 A1) and further in view of McKee et al. (US 2021/0225083 A1).and further in view of Urs et al. (US 2023/0059793 A1) hereinafter Urs.
Regarding claim 8, Ramani in view of Lang and further in view of McKee combination teach The method of claim 5,
the combination lacks explicitly
wherein the virtual development environment is provided in the form of a software as a service.
Urs teaches
wherein the virtual development environment is provided in the form of a software as a service (Urs [0017] teaches virtual software development system, tools, and methods used as part as software as a service computing platform).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination to incorporate the teachings of Urs to “wherein the virtual development environment is provided in the form of a software as a service” in order to allow for expedited design and deployment of large scale e-commerce storefronts having robust customization as well as controls over data element of larger data sets (Urs [0017]).
Claims 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ramani et al. (US 2021/0312715 A1) hereinafter Ramani in view of Lang (US 2021/0192759 A1) and further in view of McKee et al. (US 2021/0225083 A1) and further in view of Robbe et al. (US 2021/0056762 A1) hereinafter Robbe.
Regarding claim 14, the combination teaches The method of claim 5,
the combination lacks explicitly
wherein the arranging comprises specifying one or more coordinates in the virtual development environment at which to position the anchor in the virtual development environment.
Robbe teaches
wherein the arranging comprises specifying one or more coordinates in the virtual development environment at which to position the anchor in the virtual development environment (Robbe [0107] teaches anchors having a 3-axis position, 3-axis rotation, and a scaling factor for being positioned in world space).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination to incorporate the teachings of Robbe to “wherein the arranging comprises specifying one or more coordinates in the virtual development environment at which to position the anchor in the virtual development environment” in order to improve accuracy during development and maintain consistent correspondence between virtual objects and the environment.
Claims 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ramani et al. (US 2021/0312715 A1) hereinafter Ramani in view of Lang (US 2021/0192759 A1) and further in view of McKee et al. (US 2021/0225083 A1) and further in view of Kohlhoff (US 2019/0266804 A1).
Regarding claim 17, the combination teaches The method of claim 5,
the combination lacks explicitly
wherein the virtual artifact is a component in an assembly including the reference model.
Kohlhoff teaches
wherein the virtual artifact is a component in an assembly including the reference model (Kohlhoff [0016] teaches “the animations including sequence of continuous visual motion signals are shown in window 214 as sequence 1, sequence 2, etc. In one embodiment, the animations per installed components may be stored in AR/VR application as an animation assembly file and sent to the visual enterprise application 202 using interfaces such as application programming interfaces (API's).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination to incorporate the teachings of Kohlhoff to “wherein the virtual artifact is a component in an assembly including the reference model” in for the “following advantages. Based on the animation assembly file including the sequence of installation of the components of a product, the process of manufacturing the product is efficient. The animation assembly file provides a user/operator with information on how to install. This planned sequence of assembly, i.e. the planned order in which the components are being assembled makes the virtual prototype build very efficient, which otherwise would be very cumbersome and time consuming. This also implies that the user does not have to choose and pick the components in the right order. Only in case of incorrect order/sequence, the user interference is required to adjust the order appropriately. The shop floor operator would receive the sequence of assembly as work instructions from the ME system. If the product is a relatively large product like aircraft, augmenting and virtualizing the components of the aircraft reduces the challenges faced by operators in real time work benches since they are guided precisely with the animation file. The assembly of the components in the product is dynamically validated on the fly saving time and human resource. The AR/VR application has the capability to provide information on the correct sequence of assembly and provide specific correction information when the operator goes wrong. AR/VR application is a sophisticated virtual prototyping and a guided assembly validation application” (Kohlhoff [0024]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 4-20 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 or has been modified by an additional reference.
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).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references include Berkebile (US 11,494,995 B2) which discloses methods, systems, and computer program products for mixed-reality systems. These methods or systems determine a three-dimensional model for at least a portion of a physical environment in which a user is located; and present, by a spatial computing system, a mixed-reality representation to the user. In addition, these methods or systems determine a first object model for a first object in the mixed-reality representation and update, by the spatial computing system, the mixed-reality representation into an updated mixed-reality representation that reflects an interaction pertaining to the first object.
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 Noor Alkhateeb whose telephone number is (313)446-4909. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00AM ET to 5:00PM ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chat do, can be reached at telephone number (571) 272-3721. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NOOR ALKHATEEB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2193