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 .
Claims 1 – 21 are pending for examination.
Examiner’s Note
The prior art rejection below cites particular paragraphs, columns, and/or line numbers in the references for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 04/29/24, 06/12/24, 10/16/24, 04/11/25, 01/21/26, & 04/15/26 is compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 9, and 17 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 11 and 16 of U.S. Patent No. 11,972,307 (hereinafter 307) in view of Sen et al., (US PUB 2020/0105286 hereafter Sen).
Claim 1 of current application 18/648,842 (hereafter 842)
Claim 1 of Patent No. 11,972,307 (hereinafter 307)
1.A method implemented by one or more processors of a client device, the method comprising:
receiving, by an automated assistant application of the client device, audio data captured by one or more microphones of the client device, wherein the audio data captures a spoken utterance of a user; processing, by the automated assistant application using an on-device speech recognition engine, the audio data to generate textual data that corresponds to the spoken utterance;
processing, by the automated assistant application using an on-device natural language understanding (NLU) engine, the textual data to generate NLU data that indicates the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for content that is provided by one or more other applications that are different from automated assistant application;
in response to the NLU data indicating that the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for the automated assistant application to interact with the given application using the content that is provided by one or more of the other applications, selecting a subgroup of applications installed on the client device, wherein selecting the subgroup is based on comparison of locally stored attributes for the applications to the textual data and/or the NLU data;
generating, based on the textual data and/or the NLU data, an application data request for retrieving the content from applications of the subgroup; providing the application data request to only the applications of the subgroup;
receiving, from two or more of the applications of the subgroup, corresponding responsive data that is responsive to the application data request; and
causing, based on receiving the corresponding responsive data, one or both of graphical output and audible output to be rendered via the automated assistant application and/or a separate application.
1. A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising:
receiving, by an automated assistant application of a computing device, audio data captured by one or more microphones of the computing device, wherein the audio data captures a spoken utterance of a user who is accessing a given application at the computing device, the given application being accessible separate from the automated assistant application;
processing, by the automated assistant application using an on-device speech recognition engine, the audio data to generate textual data that corresponds to the spoken utterance;
processing, by the automated assistant application using an on-device natural language understanding (NLU) engine, the textual data to generate NLU data that indicates the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for the automated assistant application to interact with the given application using content that is provided by one or more other applications that are different from the given application and different from the automated assistant application;
in response to the NLU data indicating that the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for the automated assistant application to interact with the given application using the content that is provided by the one or more other applications:
generating, based on the textual data and/or the NLU data, an application data request for retrieving the content from the one or more other applications;
providing the application data request to the one or more other applications, wherein the one or more other applications are a subset of a group of applications installed on the computing device, and wherein the one or more other applications include a first application and a second application that are accessible separate from the automated assistant application and the given application, receiving, from one or more of the other applications, corresponding responsive data that is responsive to the application data request, generating, by the automated assistant application and based on the responsive data from one or more other applications, content for interacting with the given application, and providing, by the automated assistant application to the given application, an application command that includes the content and that causes the given application to perform one or more actions based on the content.
9. A client device, comprising: one or microphones; one or more processors, and memory configured to store instructions that, when executed one or more of the processors, cause one or more of the processors to: receive, by an automated assistant application of the client device, audio data captured by the one or more microphones of the client device, wherein the audio data captures a spoken utterance of a user; process, by the automated assistant application using an on-device speech recognition engine, the audio data to generate textual data that corresponds to the spoken utterance; process, by the automated assistant application using an on-device natural language understanding (NLU) engine, the textual data to generate NLU data that indicates the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for content that is provided by one or more other applications that are different from automated assistant application; in response to the NLU data indicating that the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for the automated assistant application to interact with the given application using the content that is provided by one or more of the other applications, one or more of the processors are to select a subgroup of applications installed on the client device, wherein selecting the subgroup is based on comparison of locally stored attributes for the applications to the textual data and/or the NLU data; generate, based on the textual data and/or the NLU data, an application data request for retrieving the content from applications of the subgroup;
provide the application data request to only the applications of the subgroup; receive, from two or more of the applications of the subgroup, corresponding responsive data that is responsive to the application data request; and
cause, based on receiving the corresponding responsive data, one or both of graphical output and audible output to be rendered via the automated assistant application and/or a separate application.
11. A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: receiving, via an automated assistant interface of a computing device, a spoken utterance from a user who is accessing an application via the computing device, wherein the spoken utterance corresponds to a request from the user for an automated assistant to insert field content into one or more application fields being rendered at a graphical user interface of the application; accessing, in response to receiving the spoken utterance via the automated assistant interface, application data in furtherance of retrieving field content for the one or more application fields, wherein the application data is provided by one or more other applications of the computing device, including by a first application of the one or more applications and a second application, that is different from the first application, of the one or more applications; generating, based on accessing the application data, responsive data for providing the content for the one or more application fields, wherein generating the responsive data includes retrieving data of the application data that is associated with application content being rendered at the graphical user interface of the application and natural language content embodied by the spoken utterance; providing, based on generating the responsive data, the field content into one or more fields of the application; and causing, subsequent to providing the field content into the one or more fields of the application, the application to perform one or more actions using the field content.
17. A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: receiving a request provided by a user to an automated assistant application of a client device; identifying one or more applications that are installed on the client device and that are related to the request; generating, based on the request and the identified applications, an application data request for retrieving the content from one or more of the applications; providing the application data request to at least a given application of the applications; receiving, from the given application, one or more instances of application data that are responsive to the application data request, wherein the one or more instances of application data are based on past interactions with the given application; determining, based on the request and the one or more instances of application data, a relevancy measure for each of the one or more instances of application data;
selecting at least a given instance, of the one or more instances, based on the relevancy measure;
generating responsive data based on the given instance, wherein generating the responsive data based on the given instance is responsive to selecting the given instance based on the relevancy measure; and
causing the responsive data to be rendered via the automated assistant application and/or a separate application.
16. A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: receiving, at a selected application from an automated assistant that is provided at a computing device, a request to provide responsive data in furtherance of assisting the automated assistant with providing content to a foreground application executing at the computing device, wherein the request identifies one or more properties of content that is being requested by the automated assistant, and wherein the request is also provided to an additional selected application accessible separate from the automated assistant application and the foreground application; determining, in response to receiving the request to provide responsive data, whether application data corresponding to the selected application correlates to one or more of the properties of content that is being requested by the automated assistant; when the application data corresponding to the selected application is determined to correlate to one or more of the properties of content: generating, based on the application data correlating to one or more of the properties of content, the responsive data for use by the automated assistant when providing content to the foreground application, providing, in response to the automated assistant providing the request to the selected application, the responsive data to the automated assistant, and wherein, in response to receiving the responsive data, the automated assistant provides the content to the foreground application using at least the responsive data, wherein the foreground application, in response to receiving the content from the automated assistant, performs one or more actions using the content from the automated assistant.
307 does not but Sen teaches selecting a subgroup of applications installed on the client device, wherein selecting the subgroup is based on comparison of locally stored attributes for the applications to the textual data and/or the NLU data (“In some situations, control circuitry 140 will determine that there is a match between words spoken by user 130 and the dialogue track of the movie, as illustrated in FIG. 2. When there is a match, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track such that only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device…” para. 0020. Note: select a subgroup of applications when suppresses the dialogue track for output) and (“…In some embodiments, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track by switching output from a first audio file comprising both background audio track 115 and a dialogue track to a second audio file comprising only background audio track 115. The aforementioned first and second audio files may be stored remotely on cloud-based storage or on device 110…” para. 0020) and (“…Storage 308 may be used to store various types of content described herein, including, for example, different versions of content having specific audio tracks suppressed, as well as content data described above including dialogue transcripts that can be used for matching…” Para. 0024).
It 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 was made to modify 307 by applying the teaching of Sen because Sen teaches the same field of the invention of translating spoken utterance to text for processing (abstracta and para. 0020).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 - 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sen et al., (US PUB 2020/0105286 hereinafter Sen) in view of Napolitano, (US PUB 2017/0068423 hereinafter Napolitano).
As to claim 1, Sen teaches a method implemented by one or more processors of a client device, the method comprising:
receiving, by an automated assistant application of the client device audio data captured by one or more microphones of the client device, wherein the audio data captures a spoken utterance of a user (“…a content application that suppresses vocal tracks in content upon detection of a user uttering the corresponding words. In some embodiments, the application detects during output of content (e.g., a movie), an utterance of the user, where the content includes a vocal track and at least one additional audio track. The application determines at least one first word in the detected utterance of the user.…” para. 0004) and (“…In some embodiments, control circuitry 140 is included in a voice assistant device. For example, as user 130 watches a movie on a tablet, the voice assistant device, which includes a microphone, picks up the user's audible reactions to the movie…” para. 0018);
processing, by the automated assistant application using an on-device speech recognition engine, the audio data to generate textual data that corresponds to the spoken utterance (“…For example, control circuitry 140 may be instructed to translate speech to text…” para. 0017);
processing, by the automated assistant application [using an on-device natural language understanding (NLU) engine, the textual data to generate NLU data] that indicates the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for content that is provided by one or more other applications that are different from automated assistant application (“… match the resulting text to a database of movie scripts or song lyrics. In some embodiments, control circuitry 140 may be communicatively linked to the data repository of a content provider to receive the dialogue track of the movie or the transcription of the audio content…” para. 0017);
in response to the NLU data indicating that the spoken utterance corresponds to a request for the automated assistant application to interact with the given application using the content that is provided by one or more of the other applications, selecting a subgroup of applications installed on the client device, wherein selecting the subgroup is based on comparison (“In some situations, control circuitry 140 will determine that there is a match between words spoken by user 130 and the dialogue track of the movie, as illustrated in FIG. 2. When there is a match, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track such that only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device…” para. 0020. Note: select a subgroup of applications when suppresses the dialogue track for output) of locally stored attributes for the applications to the textual data and/or the NLU data (“…In some embodiments, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track by switching output from a first audio file comprising both background audio track 115 and a dialogue track to a second audio file comprising only background audio track 115. The aforementioned first and second audio files may be stored remotely on cloud-based storage or on device 110…” para. 0020) and (“…Storage 308 may be used to store various types of content described herein, including, for example, different versions of content having specific audio tracks suppressed, as well as content data described above including dialogue transcripts that can be used for matching…” Para. 0024);
generating, based on the textual data and/or the NLU data, an application data request for retrieving the content from applications of the subgroup (“…Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on each one of device 300 and user equipment system 301 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to each one of device 300 and user equipment system…” para. 0026) and (“…or example, a first device can monitor a user's sounds and instruct a second device to suppress audio content when the user's sounds match the sounds of content being presented on the second device.” Para. 0034);
providing the application data request to only the applications of the subgroup (“…content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track such that only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device 110…” para. 0020. Note: only applications of subgroup/background audio track);
receiving, from two or more of the applications of the subgroup (“…only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device 110…” para. 0020) corresponding responsive data that is responsive to the application data request (“…In response to a request from user equipment, etc.). Content data source 418 may provide devices 402, 404, and 406 the application itself or software updates for the application.” para. 0040); and
causing, based on receiving the corresponding responsive data, one or both of graphical output and audible output to be rendered via the automated assistant application and/or a separate application (“Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of such circuits …” para. 0025) and (“…A video card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312. The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors….” para. 0026).
While Sen teaches converting speech to text, Sen does not but Napolitano teaches using an on-device natural language understanding (NLU) engine, the textual data to generate NLU data (“…interprets natural language input in spoken and/or textual form to infer user intent…” para. 0034 and 0214).
It 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 was made to modify Sen by applying the teachings of Napolitano because Napolitano would teaches the same field of the invention of processing and response to user audio input which causes the digital assistant to perform a respective action, and thus enables to access the services of the digital assistant and reduces the undesirable disruption during consumption of media content, which improves overall user experience with the digital assistant (para. 0031, 0117 - 0119).
As to claim 2, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches further comprising:
generating, based on receiving the responsive data, other data that is responsive to the request from the user and is different from the responsive data, wherein one or both of the graphical output and the audible output is based on the responsive data and the other data (“…modify content in response to user engagement…” para. 0044).
As to claim 3, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein generating the application data request further comprises determining a particular type of data that should be provided by applications of the subgroup in response to the request subgroup (“…content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track such that only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device 110…” para. 0020. Note: only applications of subgroup/background audio track).
As to claim 4, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein providing the application data request to only the applications of the subgroup comprises providing the application data request to an operating system of the client device along with one or more identifiers of the applications of the subgroup (identification is inherent of the application), and wherein the operating system of the client device directly provides the application data request to each of the applications of the subgroup based on the one or more identifiers (“…When there is a match, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track such that only background audio track 115 (e.g., sound effects, soundtrack music, and other background sounds) is output by device 110. In some embodiments, content output system 100 suppresses the dialogue track by applying a filter to remove the dialogue track from the movie's audio track (e.g., using a least mean squares adaptive filter, a median filtering of the spectrogram of the audio content at different frequency resolutions, etc.)…” para. 0020).
As to claim 5, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein causing one or both of the graphical output and the audible output to be rendered further comprises filtering at least a portion of the received responsive data (“…he system may use adaptive filtering or noise cancellation by treating the dialogue file as noise to remove from the content audio track that has both the background audio file and the dialogue file…” para. 0059).
As to claim 6, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein one or more particular applications of the subgroup of applications can communicate with a connected IoT device (element 402 of figure 4 “User Television Equipment”).
As to claim 7, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein selecting the subgroup of the applications is based on the subgroup of the applications each being assigned, in storage locally at the client device, to an application type determined to correspond to the textual data and/or the NLU data (“…In such an approach, instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage 308…” para. 0027).
As to claim 8, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 1, Sen teaches wherein the audio data captures the spoken utterance being received simultaneously to the user accessing a graphical user interface being rendered in a foreground of a display panel that is connected to the client device (“At step 504, the system detects an utterance of a user. An utterance of a user can include any sounds made by the user, including words spoken by the user. For example, the user may recite memorable lines of a movie while the movie is being played …” para. 0054).
As to claim 9, this is a system claim of claim 1. See rejection for claim 1 above.
Further, Napolitano teaches one or microphones (“microphone” para. 0054 and element 318 of figure 3) one or more processors (“…speech-to-text processor…” para. 0068), and memory (“…storage (e.g., RAM, ROM, Hard Disk, Removable Disk, etc.)….” Para. 0021).
As to claims 10 - 16, these claims recite similar scope of claims 2 – 8. See rejection for claims 3 - 8 above.
As to claim 17, this is a method claim of claim 1. See rejection for claim 1 above
As to claims 18, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 17, Sen teaches wherein determining relevancy measure for each of the one or more instances of application data comprises ranking each of the one or more instances of application data based on the relevancy measure for each of the one or more instances of application data (“At step 512, the system determines if the words of the user and the words of the content match. Determining a match may refer to determining equivalence, a value greater or less than a predefined comparator value or threshold, an analogous equivalence, any other suitable determination of a match, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the system determines that the frequency signature of the voice over time matches the dialogue track presented by a movie…” para. 0058).
As to claims 19, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches the method of claim 17, Sen teaches wherein selecting at least the given instance, of the one or more instances, based on the relevancy measure comprises filtering, based on the relevancy measure for each of the one or more instances of application data, one or more of the instances of corresponding application data (“…the system may use adaptive filtering or noise cancellation by treating the dialogue file as noise to remove from the content audio track that has both the background audio file and the dialogue file….” Para. 0059).
As to claims 20, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 17, Sen teaches wherein identifying one or more of the applications installed on the computing device that are related to the request comprises: identifying one or more intents in the request; and identifying the one or more applications based on the one or more intents (“Applications may be, for example, stand-alone applications implemented on devices. For example, the application may be implemented as software or a set of executable instructions which may be stored in storage 308 and executed by control circuitry 304 of each one of device 300 and user equipment system 301….” Para. 0042).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sen in view of Napolitano, as applied to claim 20, and further in view of Watkins et al., (US PUB 2019/0156251 hereinafter Watkins).
As to claims 21, Sen modified by Napolitano teaches The method of claim 20, wherein identifying one or more of the applications installed on the computing device that are related to the request further comprises: Sen and Napolitano do not but Watkins teaches identifying one or more parameters for one or more slot values based on the one or more intents in the request; and identifying the one or more applications based on one or more of the parameters for one or more of the slot values (“…The application may receive the data and use that data to find one or more matching movies based on a user's desired parameters…” para. 0014).
It 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 was made to modify Sen and Napolitano by applying the teachings of Watkins because Watkins would provide parameters for the system to recognize request of particular application and process (para. 0014).
Conclusion
The prior made of record but not relied upon request is considered to be pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Li, (US PUB 20190087149), discloses a method for processing sound effect configuration of a mobile terminal (title, abstract and figures 1 – 6).
KOH, (US PUB 2017/0171609), discloses a method for processing output content of audio content (title, abstract and figures 1 – 6).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUONG N HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3763. The examiner can normally be reached 9:5-30.
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, KEVIN YOUNG can be reached at 571-270-3180. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PHUONG N HOANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2194 /KEVIN L YOUNG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2194
Prosecution Insights