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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/27/2026 has been entered. Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 9 and 13 have been amended.
For further details see rejections/objections for claim(s) 1-16 herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 08/27/2026 have been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites a phrase “the underground line locator” in line 5. Examiner suggests amending the phrase to recite “the underground line locator system” to restore clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. The rationale for this finding is explained below:
Claim(s) 9 and 13 recite a limitation "the underground line locator" in lines 4-5 before introduction. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim(s).
Dependent Claim(s) 10-12 and 14-16 not specifically addressed share the same 112(b) rejection as the rejected base Claim(s). Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 1-8 are objected to as pending formal matter of claim objection(s), but would be allowable if rewritten to overcome formality issues including all of the limitations of the claims.
Claim(s) 9-16 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reason for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Independent claim(s) 1, 9 and 13 have been amended to overcome prior art rejection, which was presented in the Office Action mailed.
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record alone or in combination fail to anticipate or make obvious the specific limitations of An underground line locator system comprising: “a processor coupled to receive data from the one or more sensors, the processor configured to generate locate vectors from the data that includes a timestamp, a measured depth of the buried utility based on the magnetic signals, a measured determination of current in the underground line determined from the magnetic signals, and an event log determined from the locate signals, and generate isomorphic data from the locate vectors; and
a communication system coupled to the processor that provides communications with a cloud-based platform using one of a plurality of transmission media, the communication system being configured to receive and store the isomorphic data, wherein transmission of the data is an isomorphic data transmission that allow communications method overlay such that the isomorphic data transmission is capable of starting transmission of the isomorphic data in a first transmission medium and be continued in a second transmission medium when the first transmission medium fails.” in combination with all the other limitations as claimed.
Regarding claim 9, the prior art of record alone or in combination fail to anticipate or make obvious the specific limitations of A method of transmitting data from a line location receiver comprising: “determining a locate vector from the data, the locate vector including a timestamp, a measured depth of the buried utility based on the magnetic signals, a measured determination of current in the underground line determined from the magnetic signals, and an event log determined from the locate signals;
determining isomorphic data from the locate vector; and transmitting the isomorphic data, wherein the isomorphic data allows communications method overlay such that transmitting the isomorphic data is capable of starting in a first transmission medium and be continued in a second transmission medium when the first transmission medium fails.” in combination with all the other limitations as claimed.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art of record alone or in combination fail to anticipate or make obvious the specific limitations of A locate receiver comprising: “determine a locate vector from the data, the locate vector including a timestamp, a measured depth of the buried utility based on the magnetic signals, a measured determination of current in the underground line determined from the magnetic signals, and an event log determined from the locate signals,
determine isomorphic data from the locate vector, and transmit the isomorphic data through the communications interface, wherein the isomorphic data allows communications method overlay such that transmitting the isomorphic data is capable of starting in a first transmission medium and be continued in a second transmission medium when the first transmission medium fails.” in combination with all the other limitations as claimed.
Upon conclusion of a comprehensive search of the pertinent prior art, the Office indicates that the claims are allowable.
Other claim(s) 2-8, 10-12 and 14-16 that depend on the independent claim(s) are allowable for the same reasons.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKM ZAKARIA whose telephone number is (571)270-0664. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-5 PM (PST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached on (571) 272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AKM ZAKARIA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
Prosecution Insights