DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submissions filed on 6/10/26 and 6/16/26 have been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/10/26 and 6/16/26 were filed after the mailing date of the Notice of Allowance on 3/10/26. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 3, “at least one another one” seems to be missing an “of”. As best understood by the Examiner, similar language to line 3 of claim 16 (“at least one of another one”) should be used in order to improve clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 10 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.
The terms “large”, “smooth” and “intricate” in claims 1 and 10 are relative terms which render the claim indefinite. The terms “large”, “smooth” and “intricate” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The Specification does not provide a standard for measuring the degree of a “large smooth surfaces of the spatial neighborhood” or “intricate details of the spatial neighborhood”.
Dependent claims 5-9 and 14-18 are also rejected as a result of including the limitations of claims 1 and 10.
Remarks
After further search and consideration of the claims after RCE, the Examiner has determined that there is a claim objection and a 112 issue with certain language in the independent claims (see above). The Examiner requests that the Applicant provide an explanation, evidence and/or cite support in the Specification for the standard for measuring the degree of the terms “large”, “smooth” and “intricate” when discussing “large smooth surfaces of the spatial neighborhood” or “intricate details of the spatial neighborhood” to ensure that one of ordinary skill in the art could ascertain the scope of the claim. See MPEP § 2173.05(b)(I).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW KWAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7073. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chris Kelley can be reached at (571)272-7331. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW K KWAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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