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 .
Response to Arguments
Claim objections
Examiner notes that the previously set forth claim objections are withdrawn in view of the amendments to the claims.
Regarding 35 U.S.C. 112(a)
Examiner notes that the 112(a) rejections previously set forth are withdrawn in view of the amendments to the claims.
Regarding 35 U.S.C. 112(b)
Examiner notes the previously set forth 112(b) rejections are withdrawn in view of the amendments to the claims.
Regarding prior art
Applicant's arguments filed 09/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. For example, applicant argues “Figures 13A and 13B show laterally extending lines parallel to the S-S axis. The central line contains imaging transducers 550, while the separate flanking lines contain localization transducers 551. Thus, none of the laterally extending rows includes both an imaging transducer and a localization transducer. Although the Office identifies transverse groupings extending perpendicular to the S-S axis as rows containing both types of elements, those groupings extend in the elevation dimension, not the lateral dimension recited in amended claim 1. See OA at pp. 15-16; Desjardins at 0131-0133 and FIGS. 13A-13B” and “Desjardins accordingly discloses two different groupings, neither of which satisfies the amended language: (1) lines extending laterally and parallel to the S-S axis, which are segregated by element type; and (2) transverse groupings containing both element types, which extend in the elevation dimension. Desjardins does not disclose at least two rows that each extend in the lateral dimension and are offset from one another in the elevation dimension, with at least one such row including both a beacon element and an imaging element” (REMARKS pg. 15).
Examiner respectfully disagrees in that lateral and elevation dimensions are relative terms which do not have any explicit nor implicit specificity so as to preclude specific dimensions/axes from reading on the lateral/elevation dimensions, thus do not preclude the S-S axis from reading on the elevation dimension and rows extending across the S-S axis from reading on extending in the lateral dimension. Such an interpretation of the lateral and elevation dimension is demonstrated by annotated fig. 13A below. Furthermore, even if the S-S axis were interpreted to be along the lateral dimension, it is noted that Desjardins discloses in [0181] that the imaging elements may also produce localization transmissions, thus it is noted that elements along the central axis as shown in fig. 13A are considered to include at least one imaging element (e.g. 550-1) and at least one beacon element (e.g. 550-2). Such an interpretation of the elevation and lateral dimension and rows thereof is demonstrated in annotated fig. 13A alternative below.
Thus regardless of which axis/dimension are considered the lateral and elevation dimension respectively, it is noted that Desjardins reads on the amended language of the independent claims and applicant’s arguments are not found persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Vignon have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendment as Vignon is no longer relied upon.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 7-9, 12, 14, 19-21, 24-26, 32-35, 39-42, and 52-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Desjardins (US 20160038119 A1 and included in Applicant’s IDS filed 10/03/2025), hereinafter Desjardins.
Regarding claims 1 and 32,
Desjardins discloses a system (at least fig. 2 and corresponding disclosure in at least [0067]) for localisation transducer visualizing a position of an object (at least fig. 2 (70 and/or 70, 65 and 55 in combination) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0067]), comprising:
An ultrasound array (at least fig. 2 (55) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0067] and at least fig. 13A-13B (550-1 through 550-8 and 551-1a through 551-2g) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0131]). See also fig. 6 (U1, F, and U2) as disclosed in at least [0081]) comprising:
A plurality of transducers (550-1 through 550-8 and 551-1a through 551-2g) including beacon elements 551-1a through 551-2g. Additionally/alternatively, transducer elements 550-1-550-8 are also considered beacon elements in view of [0181]) configured to emit acoustic beacon pulses (at least fig. 5 (unfocused imaging transmission) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0015] see also [0123] which discloses the ultrasound probe 55 further includes at least two localisation transducer elements 551A, 551B, which are separated along the Z-axis, to produce the localisation transmissions 220 (i.e. acoustic beacon pulses and [0181] which discloses the imaging transducer elements may also be able to produce localisation ultrasound transmissions (i.e. acoustic beacon pulses), for example, interspersed with the imaging transmissions) and imaging elements (551-1a through 551-2g) configured to emit acoustic beamforming pulses (see at least fig. 5 (focused imaging transmission) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0015]. Examiner notes that such focused imaging transmissions are considered beamforming pulses) and acoustic beacon pulses (at least fig.5 (unfocused imaging transmission) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0015]) and to receive acoustic beamforming signals corresponding to the acoustic beamforming pulses;
Wherein the beacon elements and the imaging elements are collectively arranged in at least two rows that each extend in a lateral dimension of the ultrasound array, the at least two rows are offset from one another in an elevation dimension of the ultrasound array and at least one row of the at least two rows includes at least one of the beacon elements and at least one of the imaging elements (see annotated fig. 13A below. Alternatively, considering the transducers 550-1-550-8 as beacon elements as well see annotated fig. 13A alternative below. Examiner notes that the middle row includes at least one of the beacon elements (e.g. 550-1) and at least one of the imaging elements (e.g. 550-2));
At least one optical sensor (at least fig. 3 (123) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0072]-[0073]) arranged on the object (70) and configured to detect acoustic beacon signals corresponding to the acoustic beacon pulses ([0085] which discloses Accordingly, as the acoustic transducer 123 receives the localisation transmissions and forwards them to console 65, the console (or some other processing device) is able to analyze the timings of the received signals to determine the location of the transducer 123 on the basis of these timings); and
At least one processor (at least fig. 2 (65) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0077]) configured to generate an ultrasound image based on the acoustic beamforming signals received by the imaging elements (see at least fig. 2 depicting an ultrasound image and [0018] which discloses the method comprises the first set of imaging transducer elements producing ultrasound imaging transmissions into the human body, wherein the ultrasound imaging transmissions are focussed into an image scan plane, and receiving reflections of the ultrasound imaging transmissions for generating a two-dimensional anatomical image corresponding to the image scan plane) and to generate an object indicator (at least fig. 2 (75A and 75B) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0071]) based on the acoustic beacon signals received by the at least one optical sensor ([0077] which discloses (b) transmissions which are weakly focussed or unfocussed (or focussed out of the scan plane) for performing instrument localisation are referred to herein as “localisation transmissions”. See also [0086] which discloses the signals from the transducing elements U1 and U2 provide ultrasound signals that ultimately give the location of the transducing element 123 and such a determination might be made by the processor to allow the location of the transducer element 123 to be displayed on screen 68).
PNG
media_image1.png
770
470
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Annotated fig. 13A
PNG
media_image2.png
515
749
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Annotated fig. 13A alternative
Regarding claim 2,
Desjardins further teaches wherein:
The emitting of the acoustic beacon pulses comprises emitting a first acoustic beacon pulse (see at least fig. 12 and [0122]) from a first beacon element (551-1a) (see at least fig. 12 and [0122]) of the beacon elements and emitting a second acoustic beacon pulse (see at least fig. 12 and [0122]) from a second beacon element (551-1b or 551-2a) of the beacon elements.
Regarding claim 3,
Desjardins further teaches wherein the second beacon element (551-1b or 551-2a) is offset from the first beacon element (551-1a) in the elevation dimension of the ultrasound array (see annotated fig. 13A and annotated fig. 13A alternative above depicting the elevation dimension and offset between the elements accordingly)
Regarding claim 4,
Desjardins further discloses wherein receiving the acoustic beacon signals comprises receiving an acoustic signal corresponding to the first acoustic beacon pulse and an acoustic signal corresponding to the second acoustic beacon pulse, with a single optical sensor (123) of the at least one optical sensor (123) ([0085] The transducer elements U1, U2 producing the localisation transmissions are controlled so that the temporal pattern of the received ultrasound signal varies with location. Accordingly, as the acoustic transducer 123 receives the localisation transmissions and forwards them to console 65).
Regarding claim 7,
Desjardins further discloses further comprising emitting the first acoustic beacon pulse from the first beacon element at a first time and emitting the second acoustic beacon pulse from the second beacon at a second time subsequent to the first time ([0085] which discloses in other embodiments, the localization transducer elements transmit the same or similar signals, but the transducer elements are operated in turn, so that at any given time it is known which transducer element is currently transmitting)
Regarding claim 8,
Desjardins further discloses further comprising substantially simultaneously emitting the first acoustic beacon pulse from the first transducer and emitting the second acoustic beacon pulse from the second transducer ([0085] which discloses in other embodiments, individual transducer elements (or groups of transducer elements that are close together and function in effect as a single unit) transmit a signal having a unique identifier for that particular transducer element, so that the instrument transducer 123 can discriminate between the signals from the different transducers. [0096] which discloses as another example of each transducer element generating a unique (individual) transmission, the three imaging transducer elements E1, E2 and E3 may simultaneously emit a short burst of ultrasound. Each burst is allocated a different frequency band within the overall bandwidth (B) of the ultrasound probe 55. For example, if the imaging transducer has an operating frequency from F1 up to F2, where F=F2−F1, then E1, E2 and E3 can be assigned bursts within the frequency bands F1 to F1+(F/3), F1+(F/3) to F2−(F/3), and F2−(F/3) to F2 and [0098] which discloses in a CDMA scheme signals are transmitted simultaneously from different transducer elements and are then separated using the code allocated to each transmitting element)
Regarding claim 9,
Desjardins further discloses wherein the first acoustic beacon pulse has a first transmit frequency and the second acoustic beacon pulse has a second transmit frequency different from the first transmit frequency ([0096] which discloses as another example of each transducer element generating a unique (individual) transmission, the three imaging transducer elements E1, E2 and E3 may simultaneously emit a short burst of ultrasound. Each burst is allocated a different frequency band within the overall bandwidth (B) of the ultrasound probe 55. For example, if the imaging transducer has an operating frequency from F1 up to F2, where F=F2−F1, then E1, E2 and E3 can be assigned bursts within the frequency bands F1 to F1+(F/3), F1+(F/3) to F2−(F/3), and F2−(F/3) to F2))
And wherein generating the object indicator comprises:
Filtering the received acoustic beacon signals into a first acoustic beacon signal corresponding to the first acoustic beacon pulse, based on the first transmit frequency; and
Filtering the received acoustic beacon signals into a second acoustic beacon signal corresponding to the second acoustic beacon pulse, based on the second transmit frequency ([0095] which discloses in processor 201 (or some other portion of the receiving system), the signals from the different transducer elements are separated using band-pass filters centered on the respective frequency ranges for the different transducer elements, and hence the timing of the individual acoustic emissions for E1, E2 and E3 can be recovered)
Regarding claim 12,
Desjardins further discloses further comprising exciting the first and second beacon elements with different coded excitation parameters ([0097] which discloses another possibility is to use a code division multiple access (CDMA) scheme, in which different sets of localisation elements are assigned different sequences. CDMA schemes generally use sequences in the form of pseudo-random noise (PRN) codes, which are chosen to have low mutual cross-correlations and good auto-correlation properties (ideally zero for any non-zero offset). Well-known examples of PRN sequences used for CDMA schemes are Golay codes, Gold codes and Kasami codes), wherein generating the object indicator comprises applying a matched filter to decode the received acoustic beacon signals into a first acoustic beacon signal corresponding to the first acoustic beacon pule and a second acoustic beacon signal corresponding to the second acoustic beacon pulse ([0098] which discloses a CDMA scheme, signals are transmitted simultaneously from the different transducer elements, and are then separated (discriminated) using the code allocated to each transmitting element. For example, the processor 201 performs a cross-correlation of the (overall) received signal with all the codes for the different localisation transducer elements for all possible timing offsets (delays). When the correct timing delay for a given transducer element is used, this results in an auto-correlation peak that reveals the presence (and timing) of the signal from that transducer element. The timing delays for the different localization transducers are then used to determine the estimated location of the instrument transducer by the process illustrated in FIG. 7, [0099] In embodiments where different transducer elements are assigned different identifying codes, the transducer elements may transmit the codes directly using a transmission scheme such as pulse code modulation (PCM). Alternatively, the codes may be used to perform phase or frequency modulation of an ultrasound carrier wave, such as by phase-shift keying (PSK) or some form of frequency modulation. The skilled person will be aware of various other mechanisms by which the transducer elements can transmit the codes, either directly or via some modulation scheme and finally, [0101] which discloses in embodiments which generate pulses form the localization transducer elements, pulse conversion techniques may be used to enhance the localization accuracy. this is sometimes referred to as a chirp, because the frequency rises during the pulse. One benefit of this approach is that a suitably matched filter at a receiver, for example on or linked to the instrument transducer 123, can determine the timing of the pulse with greater accuracy than the timing of pulse at constant frequency).
Regarding claim 14,
Desjardins further discloses wherein the coded excitation parameters comprise parameters forming orthogonal code pairs, orthogonal golay code pairs ([0097] Another possibility is to use a code division multiple access (CDMA) scheme, in which different sets of localisation elements are assigned different sequences. CDMA schemes generally use sequences in the form of pseudo-random noise (PRN) codes, which are chosen to have low mutual cross-correlations and good auto-correlation properties (ideally zero for any non-zero offset). Well-known examples of PRN sequences used for CDMA schemes are golay codes, Gold codes and Kasami codes).
Regarding claim 19,
Desjardins further discloses further comprising alternating between emitting acoustic beamforming pulses and emitting acoustic beacon pulses ([0083] which discloses Another possibility is to intersperse the imaging transmissions and the localisation transmissions in quick succession in order to prevent interference between the two, but while still providing a physician with real-time feedback as to the position of the instrument relative to the scan plane).
Regarding claim 20,
Desjardins further teaches further discloses alternating between generating the ultrasound image based on the acoustic beamforming signals and generating the object indicator based on the acoustic beacon signals ([0065] which discloses this then allows the position of the medical device to be determined and shown on an ultrasound imaging display in real-time and [0067] which discloses and real-time ultrasound image display 68 and The console 65 measures the time taken for various acoustic transmissions to reach the sensor from the ultrasound probe 55, and thereby determines the position of the needle tip relative to the ultrasound imaging plane. This then allows position information to be shown in real-time on the ultrasound imaging system display 68. Examiner notes that such real-time ultrasound image generation and needle-tip position indicator means there is alternating between generating an ultrasound image and generating an object indicator (i.e. images/object indicators which are offset in time over the course of the real-time image display/generation))
Regarding claim 21,
Desjardins further teaches further discloses further comprising substantially simultaneously emitting the acoustic beamforming pulses and the acoustic beacon pulses ([0083] which discloses FIG. 6 illustrates the imaging transmissions and the localisation transmissions occurring at the same time, i.e. simultaneously), wherein the acoustic beamforming pulses have a third transmit frequency and the acoustic beacon pulses have a fourth transmit frequency different from the third frequency ([0084] which discloses the imaging transmissions have a frequency above 4 MHz while the localization transmissions have a frequency below 4 MHz)
Filtering the received acoustic beamforming signals based on the third transmit frequency; and filtering the received acoustic beacon signals based on the fourth transmit frequency ([0096] which discloses as another example of each transducer element generating a unique (individual) transmission, the three imaging transducer elements E1, E2 and E3 may simultaneously emit a short burst of ultrasound. Each burst is allocated a different frequency band within the overall bandwidth (B) of the ultrasound probe 55. For example, if the imaging transducer has an operating frequency from F1 up to F2, where F=F2−F1, then E1, E2 and E3 can be assigned bursts within the frequency bands F1 to F1+(F/3), F1+(F/3) to F2−(F/3), and F2−(F/3) to F2. In processor 201 (or some other portion of the receiving system), the signals from the different transducer elements are separated using band-pass filters centered on the respective frequency ranges for the different transducer elements, and hence the timing of the individual acoustic emissions for E1, E2 and E3 can be recovered)
Regarding claim 24,
Desjardins further teaches wherein generating the object indicator comprises resolving the received acoustic beacon signals into a current object position ([0086] which discloses the signals from the transducing elements U1 and U2 provide ultrasound signals that ultimately give the location of the transducing element 123 and such a determination might be made by the processor to allow the location of the transducer element 123 to be displayed on screen 68).
Regarding claims 25 and 39,
Desjardins further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to combine the ultrasound image and the object indicator (see at least fig. 2)
Regarding claims 26 and 35,
Desjardins further teaches wherein the at least one optical sensor comprises an interference-based optical sensors or an optical interferometer (at least figs. 15-16 and corresponding disclosure in at least [0141])
Regarding claim 33,
Desjardins further discloses wherein:
a first beacon element (551-1a) of the beacon elements is configured to emit a first acoustic beacon pulse (See at least fig. 12 and [0122]. See also [0082] which discloses the lightly shaded region of FIG. 6 represents localisation transmissions from transducing element(s) U1) and a second beacon element of the beacon elements (551-1b or 551-2a) is configured to emit a second acoustic beacon pulse (See at least fig. 12 and [0122]. See also [0082] which discloses the dashed line represents the envelope of localisation transmissions from transducing element(s) U2)), where the second beacon element (551-1b or 551-2a) is offset from the first transducer (551-1a) in the elevation direction of the ultrasound array (see annotated fig. 13A or annotated fig. 13A alternatively above).
Regarding claim 34,
Desjardins further discloses wherein the plurality of transducers comprises a third beacon element (551-1f or 551-2f) configured to emit a third acoustic beacon pulse ([0081] which discloses as with the imaging transducer elements F, U1 and U2 may each represent multiple localization transducer elements extending in a line parallel to the line S-S in fig. 1), wherein a distance between the first beacon element and the second beacon element in a lateral dimension of the array is different from a distance between the third beacon element and the second beacon element in the lateral dimension of the array (see at least fig. 13A).
Regarding claim 40,
Desjardins further discloses further comprising a display (at least fig. 2 (68) and corresponding disclosure in at least [0067]) configured to display one or more of the ultrasound image and the object indicator (see at least fig. 2 and [0067]-[0068]).
Regarding claim 41,
Desjardins further discloses wherein the ultrasound array is arranged on the object (see at least fig. 2 in which the array is integrated into the ultrasound probe (where the object is considered to be the needle, console and probe in combination))
Regarding claim 42,
Desjardins further discloses wherein the at least one optical sensor is coupled to the object (see at least fig. 4 depicting the optical sensor 123 coupled to the probe 55 via at least the console).
Regarding claim 52,
Desjardins further discloses wherein: emitting acoustic beacon pulses comprises emitting a first acoustic beacon pulse from a first beacon element (551-1a), emitting a second acoustic beacon pulse from a second beacon element offset (551-2a or 551-1b) from the first beacon element in the elevation dimension of the ultrasound array, and emitting a third acoustic beacon pulse from a third beacon element (551-1b or 551-2a) offset from the first beacon element in the lateral dimension of the ultrasound array
Regarding claim 53,
Desjardins further discloses wherein: emitting acoustic beacon pulses comprises emitting a first acoustic beacon pulse from a first beacon element (551-1a), emitting a second acoustic beacon pulse from a second beacon element (551-2a or 551-1b) offset from the first beacon element in the elevation dimension of the ultrasound array, and emitting a third acoustic beacon pulse from a third beacon element (551-2b) offset from the second beacon element in the lateral dimension of the ultrasound array.
Regarding claim 54,
Desjardins further teaches wherein the acoustic beamforming signals and the acoustic beacon signals are distinguished based on at least one of frequency or coding ([0084] which discloses the imaging transmissions have a frequency above 4 MHz, for example in the approximate range 5-15 MHz, while the localisation transmissions have a frequency below 4 MHz, for example, in the approximate range 1-2 MHz) and are processed along separate signal paths (see at least fig. 4 in which the beamforming signals are received by the ultrasound probe 55 and is processed through the path to processor 202 and the beacon signals received by the optical fiber are processed in a separate signal path towards the processor 201).
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.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Desjardins in view of Bandy et al. (US 20080114224 A1), hereinafter Bandy.
Regarding claim 11,
Desjardins teaches the elements of claim 9 as previously stated. Desjardins further teaches wherein filtering the received acoustic beacon signals into the first and second acoustic beacon signals comprises applying to the received acoustic beacon signals a bandpass filter having a first filtering band centered around the first transmit frequency and a second filtering band centered around the second transmit frequency.
Desjardins fails to explicitly teach wherein the bandpass filter is or includes a comb filter.
Nonetheless, Bandy, in a similar filed of endeavor involving medical procedures, teaches a bandpass filter may be implemented as a comb filter In [0274].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified Desjardins to include a comb filter as taught by Bandy in order to provide a band pass filter accordingly. Such a modification merely amounts to a simple substitution of one known filter for another yielding predictable results with respect to frequency filtering thereby rendering the claim obvious (MPEP 2143).
Examiner notes that in the modified method, the comb filter would have a first filtering band centered around the first transmit frequency and a second filtering band centered around the second transmit frequency in order to accomplish the same effect of separating the first and second acoustic beacon signals.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Adoram et al. (US 20040131299 A1) teaches an ultrasound array (20) configured to transmit beams towards an object (12) comprising a sensor (130) configured to receive beams from the ultrasound array and a processor configured to generate an object indicator based on the received beams from the ultrasound array ([0046] which discloses in response to detected incident ultrasound signals (by sensor 130) the processor provides excitation signals to produce acoustic signals from the indicator 18 and [010] which discloses applying first ultrasound signals to a region of the subject, detecting reflected and scattered ultrasound signals from the region of the subject in response to the applied first ultrasound signals, producing a subject image of the region of the subject from the reflected signals, transmitting an excitation signal into the region of the subject to the position indicator to produce another ultrasound signal at a location associated with the position indicator, determining a position of the position indicator from second ultrasound signals related to the other ultrasound signal, producing a position-indicator image from the second ultrasound signals, and superimposing the subject image and the position-indicator image)
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BROOKE L KLEIN whose telephone number is (571)270-5204. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-4.
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, Anne Kozak can be reached at 571-270-0552. 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.
/BROOKE LYN KLEIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
