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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/30/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 14-26 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 23 recites the limitation "the positive energy density S+ and negative energy density S-“. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding Claim 14, the claim recites “defining at least one first energy density S (205) from the at least one portion of the angularly resampled normalized wheel-turn signal SigTdR, S+ when the at least one portion of the angularly resampled normalized wheel-turn signal SigTdR is greater than a threshold A or S-“ which is unclear. It is unclear, as written if S- is an alternative threshold for A. Furthermore, it is unclear whether S- the symbol after S corresponds to a superscript minus sigh, or that it is a hyphen in which case it is grammatically incorrect.
The claim will be examined as best can be understood to recite “defining at least one first energy density S (205) from the at least one portion of the angularly resampled normalized wheel-turn signal SigTdR as a positive energy density S+ or a negative energy density S-; wherein the at least one first energy density S is defined as S+ when the at least one portion of the angularly resampled normalized wheel-turn signal SigTdR is greater than a threshold A; and wherein the at least one first energy density S is defined as S-“. This interpretation will also resolve the antecedent basis issue in claim 23.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J BOLDUC whose telephone number is (571)270-1602. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 10am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay, Jr. can be reached at (571) 272-1672. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID J BOLDUC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Prosecution Insights