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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 5, 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Claims 11-15 have been newly added.
Applicant’s amendment filed June 4, 2026 overcomes the following objection/rejection(s) from the last Office Action of March 9, 2026:
Rejection of the claims under 35 USC § 112(b)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The argument the examiner disagrees with is, “WO 2013129098 fails to anticipate the claimed invention because WO 2013129098 fails to teach or suggest each and every feature of the claimed invention. That is, WO 2013129098 fails to teach or suggest "providing the stack and arranging the stack in the measuring device, wherein a connecting straight line between the light source and the camera is parallel to the planes" as recited in exemplary independent claim 1 (Page 7).”
The examiner respectfully disagrees. As seen in WO ‘098, Figure 1B, the light source and camera are depicted at an angle that wouldn’t be substantially parallel. However, this diagram is read as exemplary with respect to the angle. Further, WO ‘098 discloses, “The light source unit is A first principal surface side incident angle (α1) inclined to the first principal surface side with respect to the observation optical axis connecting the observation part and the observation region is arranged to irradiate the light. A first light source unit (page 2).” The incident angle, α1, is read to be able to range. Had the angle been 0 or 1 degree, the line connecting the light source and the camera would then be substantially parallel to the planes of the stack. Based on this interpretation that α1 can range, and at its smallest range, the line between the camera and source would be substantially parallel, WO ‘098 does read on the claimed limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 7, 9 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2013129098 (a Google Patents translation has been provided, hereinafter WO ‘098).
Regarding independent claim 1, WO ‘098 discloses A method (page 2, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode;” the apparatus is read as executing the method) for determining a deposition accuracy (page 2, “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for detecting a minute core material burr buried in an active material or the like on a cut surface of a sheet material for a secondary battery electrode with high accuracy.”) of at least two electrode sheets, each of the at least two electrode sheets comprising at least one anode sheet, a cathode sheet and a separator sheet (page 2, “In addition, in the case of a secondary battery having a laminated structure, a thin plate or sheet material used as an electrode for a positive electrode and a negative electrode is an electrode material (hereinafter referred to as an active material) made of a carbon material or a material called an active material on the front and back surfaces of a metal foil. Etc.) are applied and dried (so-called coating), and each electrode material is formed by alternately laminating positive and negative electrodes, and an insulating sheet material called a separator between the positive and negative electrode materials. Is sandwiched between.”), wherein the at least two electrode sheets extend in mutually parallel planes and are arranged stacked on top of each other to form a stack (Figure 6B), the deposition accuracy representing a respective position of at least boundary edges of the anode sheet, the cathode sheet or the separator sheet in the stack (page 4, “Then, the ridge line position detection unit 51 detects the position of the boundary portion between the light gray and the dark gray of the read observation image, and performs an averaging process and a multi-point fitting process in the y direction. The position of the ridge line 10f is detected. Further, in the protrusion tip position detection unit 52, a light gray portion, a dark gray portion, or a black color that are located outside the ridge line 10f (on the first main surface 10a side and the second main surface 10b side with respect to the core material 10c). The tip positions of the burrs B1 and B2 are detected by detecting the boundary position with the part, determining that the core part is a rectangle fitting as a normal core part, and performing a difference process therewith.”), the method being performed with a measuring device having at least a camera (page 3, “The observation unit 2 includes an imaging camera 21”) and a light source (page 2, “A light source unit that irradiates light toward the observation region of the end surface;”), the method comprising:
providing the stack and arranging the stack in the measuring device, wherein a connecting straight line between the light source and the camera is substantially parallel to the planes (see Figure 1B; the camera is in the same plane as the layers; page 3, “FIG. 1A shows an observation unit 2, a light source unit 3 and a laminated sheet material 10n constituting the present invention. It is the top view seen from the 1st main surface 10a side of the lamination sheet material 10n, FIG.1 (b) is the side view which looked at them from the cross-sectional direction of the lamination sheet material 10n.” );
illuminating the stack with the light source so that light passes through at least a region of the stack or is reflected from the region, the light being detected by the camera (page 2, “A light source unit that irradiates light toward the observation region of the end surface;” Figure 1B; page 5, “The housings 31a and 31b of the light source unit 3 are arranged at different angles by a configuration in which the irradiation optical axes 35a and 35b are fixed to the observation region 10v so as to have predetermined incident angles α1 and α2 or by manual work. ”);
capturing an image of at least the region of the stack with the camera (page 2, “A light source unit that irradiates light toward the observation region of the end surface; An image recording unit for recording the observed region observed by the observation unit as an observation image;” page 4, “The image recording unit 4 is connected to the imaging camera 21 and records the observed region observed by the observation unit 2 as an observation image.”); and
evaluating the image (page 2, “An image recording unit for recording the observed region observed by the observation unit as an observation image;An image processing unit that reads out the observation image recorded in the image recording unit and performs image processing;”) and determining the position of the boundary edges arranged in the region of at least the anode sheet, the cathode sheet or the separator sheet (page 2, “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for detecting a minute core material burr buried in an active material or the like on a cut surface of a sheet material for a secondary battery electrode with high accuracy.;” page 4, “Then, the ridge line position detection unit 51 detects the position of the boundary portion between the light gray and the dark gray of the read observation image, and performs an averaging process and a multi-point fitting process in the y direction. The position of the ridge line 10f is detected. Further, in the protrusion tip position detection unit 52, a light gray portion, a dark gray portion, or a black color that are located outside the ridge line 10f (on the first main surface 10a side and the second main surface 10b side with respect to the core material 10c). The tip positions of the burrs B1 and B2 are detected by detecting the boundary position with the part, determining that the core part is a rectangle fitting as a normal core part, and performing a difference process therewith.”).
Regarding dependent claim 5, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses wherein at least the positions of the boundary edges of the anode sheet and the cathode sheet are determined (page 4, “ ridge line 10f indicating the boundary with the layer 10d of low reflectivity material and a background 10g are included. The ridge line 10f is on the first main surface 10a side and the second main surface 10b side of the core material 10c, and the distance between the ridge lines 10f is observed as the thickness t1 of the core material 10c.”).
Regarding dependent claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses wherein the light is at least coherent or collimated (page 3, “The light source unit 3 includes a first light source unit 3a and a second light source unit 3b. The first light source unit 3a includes a housing 31a and a light emitting unit 32a incorporated in the housing 31a. A light amount adjusting unit 33a is connected to the light emitting unit 32a to adjust the amount of light emitted from the light emitting unit 32a.;” a light source that is either coherent or collimated is a well-known alternative to using artificial light sources) and runs substantially parallel to the planes (See figure 6B).
Regarding dependent claim 9, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses A measuring device to perform the method according to claim 1 (page 2, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode;” see claim 1), the measuring device comprising:
a first camera (page 3, “The observation unit 2 includes an imaging camera 21;”Figure 6B); and
a first light source (page 3, “An inspection apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes an observation unit 2 and a light source unit 3.”),
wherein a stack of electrode sheets, which extend in mutually parallel planes, are arranged relative to the camera and the light source such that a connecting straight line between the light source and the camera runs essentially parallel to the planes (See figure 6B).
Regarding dependent claim 11, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses wherein said evaluating the image and determining the position of the boundary edges arranged in the region of at least the anode sheet, the cathode sheet or the separator sheet comprises evaluating only one image for the stack (page 8, “The image recording unit 4 is connected to the imaging camera 21 and records the observed region observed by the observation unit 2 as an observation image. The image processing unit 5 is connected to the image recording unit 4 and reads out an observation image recorded in the image recording unit 4 to perform image processing.” The observation image is read as one image).
Regarding dependent claim 12, the rejection of claim 11 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses wherein the only one image comprises an image generated by recording another region (page 8, “The image recording unit 4 is connected to the imaging camera 21 and records the observed region observed by the observation unit 2 as an observation image. The image processing unit 5 is connected to the image recording unit 4 and reads out an observation image recorded in the image recording unit 4 to perform image processing.” The image is read as imaging the entire stack, not specifically only one of the cathode/anode/separator)
Regarding dependent claim 13, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 further discloses wherein said capturing the image of at least the region of the stack with the camera comprises capturing only one image (page 8, “The image recording unit 4 is connected to the imaging camera 21 and records the observed region observed by the observation unit 2 as an observation image. The image processing unit 5 is connected to the image recording unit 4 and reads out an observation image recorded in the image recording unit 4 to perform image processing.” The observation image is read as one image).
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.
Claim(s) 2-4, 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘098 as applied to claim 1 and 9 respectively above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 9,046,352 to Aramaki et al. (hereinafter Aramaki).
Regarding dependent claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the stack has a plurality of side surfaces formed by the at least two electrode sheets, wherein the stack is arranged between the light source and the camera such that the connecting straight line passes through a first side surface and a second side surface that are arranged at a smallest first angle of less than 180 angular degrees to each other.
However, Aramaki discloses wherein the stack has a plurality of side surfaces formed by the at least two electrode sheets (column 8, line 44, “On the stacking stage 140, the packaged positive electrodes 20 and the negative electrodes 30 are alternately stacked by the sheet stacking device 100. ”), wherein the stack is arranged between the light source and the camera (column 8, line 56, “The cameras 84 receive the reflected light through the negative electrode 30. ”) such that the connecting straight line passes through a first side surface and a second side surface that are arranged at a smallest first angle of less than 180 angular degrees to each other (being that the layers are stacked, and the light passes through the layers, the entities are parallel; column 8, line 56, “The cameras 84 receive the reflected light through the negative electrode 30;” column 5, line 21, “The camera 84 takes an image of the position of the positive electrode 24 by receiving light projected from the light source 70 and transmitted through the separator 40 while being blocked by the positive electrode 24. In other words, the camera takes an image of the position of the positive electrode 24 based on the shadow of the positive electrode 24. Based on the position of the positive electrode 24 whose image has been taken by the camera 80, the horizontal position of the positive electrode 24 (the packaged positive electrode 20) is adjusted.”).
WO ‘098 is directed toward, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode.” and “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy (page 2).” Aramaki is directed toward, “An electrode position detection device detects a relative positional relationship between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, when a packaged electrode having the positive electrode disposed inside a bag-shaped separator and the negative electrode are alternately stacked (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘098 and Aramaki are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of electrode analysis. Additionally, Aramaki allows for imaging multiple electrode sheets at once. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand the increased efficiency of imaging multiple layers at one time as opposed to individually. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Aramaki in order to ensure the imaging is as efficient as possible to increase overall throughput.
Regarding dependent claim 3, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated herein. Additionally, Aramaki further discloses wherein the first side surface and the second side surface are arranged adjacent to each other (column 8, line 44, “On the stacking stage 140, the packaged positive electrodes 20 and the negative electrodes 30 are alternately stacked by the sheet stacking device 100. ”).
Regarding dependent claim 4, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated herein. Additionally, Aramaki further discloses wherein the region comprises an edge of the stack formed by the adjacent side surfaces (Figure 9B; a next layer is being placed on the stack plate, as more get stacked the outer surfaces form a side surface).
Regarding dependent claim 10, the rejection of claim 9 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 discloses further comprising:
wherein the stack has a plurality of side surfaces formed by the plurality of electrode sheets (See Figure 6B; as things are stacked there are inherently sides formed by stacking),
wherein the first camera and the first light source are arranged such that a first connecting straight line between the first camera and the first light source passes through a first side surface and a second side surface of the stack, which are arranged at a first angle of less than 180 angular degrees to each other (See figure 6B; page 2, “the negative electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are alternately stacked is more suitable,”), and
However, WO ‘098 fails to explicitly disclose as further recited. Aramaki discloses further comprising:
a second cameras (column 8, line 57, “The four cameras 84 take images of regions”); and
a second light source (column 8, line 52, “The electrode position detection device 200 projects light from the light sources 76”),
WO ‘098 and Aramaki in the combination as a whole fail to explicitly disclose wherein the second camera and the second light source are arranged such that a second connecting straight line between the second camera and the second light source passes through a third side surface and a fourth side surface of the stack, which are arranged relative to one another at a second angle of less than 180 angular degrees.
However, as noted above WO ‘098 discloses the arrangement as claimed of the light source and camera relative to the stack (See Figure 6B; as things are stacked there are inherently sides formed by stacking). Further, Aramaki allows for the utilization of multiple cameras to obtain more data. Thus, had one of ordinary skill in the art combined the inventions of WO ‘098 and Aramaki having multiple cameras in the claimed configuration, one would realize to ensure different sides are captured, as to capture data that isn’t redundant. Being that a rectangular prism is formed by stacking the layers, each side could be relevant to a user. Thus it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to ensure all sides of the prism are imaged, providing the most data to the reviewer.
WO ‘098 is directed toward, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode.” and “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy (page 2).” Aramaki is directed toward, “An electrode position detection device detects a relative positional relationship between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, when a packaged electrode having the positive electrode disposed inside a bag-shaped separator and the negative electrode are alternately stacked (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘098 and Aramaki are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of electrode analysis. Additionally, Aramaki allows for imaging multiple electrode sheets at once. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand the increased efficiency of imaging multiple layers at one time as opposed to individually. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Aramaki in order to ensure the imaging is as efficient as possible to increase overall throughput.
Regarding dependent claim 14, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 fails to explicitly discloses wherein said determining the position of the boundary edges arranged in the region of at least the anode sheet, the cathode sheet or the separator sheet comprises determining the position of at least the anode sheet and the cathode sheet. However, Aramaki discloses wherein said determining the position of the boundary edges arranged in the region of at least the anode sheet, the cathode sheet or the separator sheet comprises determining the position of at least the anode sheet and the cathode sheet (column 10, line 9, “To be more specific, the control unit 160 identifies the positions of the sides of the positive electrode 24 and the negative electrode 30 and checks if the corresponding sides are within a predetermined range.”).
WO ‘098 is directed toward, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode.” and “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy (page 2).” Aramaki is directed toward, “An electrode position detection device detects a relative positional relationship between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, when a packaged electrode having the positive electrode disposed inside a bag-shaped separator and the negative electrode are alternately stacked (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘098 and Aramaki are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of electrode analysis. Additionally, Aramaki allows for detecting specific regions within the images. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would easily understand segmenting images is often relevant for downstream analysis. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Aramaki in order to ensure the imaging is segmented into various sections for downstream processing.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘098 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 2021/0265673 to Jordan et al. (hereinafter Jordan).
Regarding dependent claim 6, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the light source generates visible light. However, Jordan discloses wherein the light source generates visible light (paragraph 0042, “As an alternative to the imaging method using a camera system, the detection can be carried out with other systems, such as systems that work with visible or invisible light, radar, laser or ultrasound, in order to check the quality of the connection between the functional layers.”).
WO ‘098 is directed toward, “The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an end face of a laminated sheet material, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting a cut surface after cutting a sheet for a secondary battery electrode.” and “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy (page 2).” Jordan is directed toward, “The present invention relates to a method for inspection of a multilayer electrode sheet for a battery cell (abstract).” As can be easily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘098 and Jordan are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of analysis of battery cells. Further, Jordan allows for utilizing visible light, which is known to be a common light source. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Jordan in order to ensure the system of WO ‘098 is flexible, and applicable to multiple different light sources, thus not requiring administrators to buy expensive alternatives.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO ‘098 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WO 2019148435 (a machine translation obtained from Google Patents provided, hereinafter WO ‘435).
Regarding dependent claim 8, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Additionally, WO ‘098 fails to explicitly disclose wherein artificial intelligence is used at least for evaluating the image.
However, WO ‘435 discloses wherein artificial intelligence is used at least for evaluating the image (page 7, “Specifically, in an application example, after the detection circuit 102 acquires the image of the battery pole piece 201 under the illumination of the light source 104 from the image acquisition device 101, and performs image processing on the image, an edge detection algorithm such as a differential operator method may be utilized. , a template matching method, a wavelet detection method, a neural network method, etc., identifying the contour of the battery pole piece 201 in the image, thereby determining the position of the battery pole piece 201 in the image”).
WO ‘098 is directed toward, “Therefore, the present invention inspects the end face of the laminated sheet material by detecting even the minute protrusions of the core material between the core material and the material having low surface reflectance laminated on both surfaces thereof with high accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for detecting a minute core material burr buried in an active material or the like on a cut surface of a sheet material for a secondary battery electrode with high accuracy (page 2).” WO ‘435 is directed toward, “A device (10) for detecting a battery electrode plate, a system electrode plate stacking machine (20) and a stacking method (abstract).” As can be seen by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, WO ‘098 and WO ‘435 are directed toward similar methods of endeavor of battery analysis and construction. Further, WO ‘435 allows for the use of neural networks to perform image processing (page 7, “Specifically, in an application example, after the detection circuit 102 acquires the image of the battery pole piece 201 under the illumination of the light source 104 from the image acquisition device 101, and performs image processing on the image, an edge detection algorithm such as a differential operator method may be utilized. , a template matching method, a wavelet detection method, a neural network method, etc., identifying the contour of the battery pole piece 201 in the image”). It would be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize image processing neural networks to increase accuracy and efficiency of the image processing tasks. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of WO ‘435 to ensure accurate and efficient outputs.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 15:
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior arts of record teach methods of imaging electrode sheets and analyzing the stack. However, none of them alone or in any combination teaches only detecting the light that passes through the free spaces between the electrode sheets.
The closest prior art WO ‘098 discloses at page 2, “A light source unit that irradiates light toward the observation region of the end surface; An image recording unit for recording the observed region observed by the observation unit as an observation image” and at page 4, “The image recording unit 4 is connected to the imaging camera 21 and records the observed region observed by the observation unit 2 as an observation image.” However, these images are of the stack themselves, not of the space between.
However, WO ‘098 fails to disclose only detecting the light that passes through the free spaces between the electrode sheets.
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.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Courtney J. Nelson whose telephone number is (571)272-3956. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00.
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/COURTNEY JOAN NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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