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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the amendment filed 02/20/2026 (claimed foreign priority date 12/30/2021):
Claims 18-35 have been examined.
Claims 1-17 have been canceled by Applicant.
Claims 18, 30 and 33-34 have been amended by Applicant.
Claim 35 newly added.
Legend: “Under BRI” = “under broadest reasonable interpretation;”
“[Prior Art/Analogous/Non-Analogous Art Reference] discloses through the invention” means “See/read entire document;” Paragraph [No..] = e.g., Para [0005] = paragraph 5; P = page, e.g., p4 = page 4; C = column, e.g. c3 = column 3;
L = line, e.g., l25 = line 25; l25-36 = lines 25 through 36.
For the purpose of this examination, in view of the specification, the Examiner will interpret that the claimed “safety depth,” specifically in regards to the term “safety,” is a depth of water at a zone where a potential collision is effectively avoided.
Response to Amendment
Drawings
1. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the a first passive sonar associated with the UV;” “a second passive sonar associated with the UV” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
2. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
1. Applicant’s amendments have overcome the 112(b) or 112 2nd paragraph rejections to claims 18-34 from the previous Office Action.
2. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
2.1 Claim 18-35 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
2.1.1 Claims 18 and 33-34 recite the limitations/features: “a first passive sonar associated with the UV;” “a second passive sonar associated with the UV,” which are not supported or described in the specification. The specification, in numerous paragraphs, specifies “one or more magnetic sensors (plural, emphasis added) associated with the UV;” “an active sonar (single, emphasis added) associated with UV;” “a passive sonar (single, emphasis added) associated with UV;” “ranging (LIDAR) scanner (single, emphasis added) associated with the UV,” BUT, HOWEVER, the specification is silent about any “first passive sonar associated with the UV,” or any “second passive sonar associated with the UV.” Clarification is required, and Applicant is kindly requested to provide detail information on where in the specification, a support for the currently claimed “first passive sonar associated with the UV,” “second passive sonar associated with the UV” can be found.
For the purpose of this examination, in view of the specification, and under BRI, the currently claimed limitations/features: “a first passive sonar associated with the UV;” “a second passive sonar associated with the UV” are not given a patentable weight, and hence the Examiner will interpret scope of the claims similar to how it was interpreted during the previous examination.
2.1.2 Claims 19-32 and 35 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 1st paragraph, because of their dependencies on rejected independent claim 18, and for failing to cure the deficiencies listed above.
3. 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.
3.1 Claim 35 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.
3.1.1 Claim 35 recites the limitation/feature: “second passive sonar that is the first passive sonar,” which is unclear what it is, whether the second passive sonar is of the same type of the first passive sonar, OR whether the second passive sonar and the first passive sonar are the same unit, OR how many passive sonars are there, one or two, OR where and how they are positioned/placed onto the claimed/specified UV, or what, or how, which renders the claim indefinite. Clarification is required.
For the purpose of this examination, in view of the specification, and under BRI, the currently claimed limitation/feature: “second passive sonar that is the first passive sonar” is not given a patentable weight, and withdrawn from consideration.
Allowable Subject Matter
1. Claims 18 and 33-34 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.
2. Claims 19-32 and 35 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
RELEVANT PRIOR ART THAT WAS CITED BUT NOT APPLIED
The following relevant prior art references that were found, by the Examiner while performing initial and/or additional search, cited but not applied:
Booth (US5406488) – (see entire Booth document, particularly abstract – teaching a system that responds to inputs in parallel with a state estimator; the controller that provides the inputs in response to ordered state inputs and state estimator inputs; an external disturbance vector that affects the system so that the observed values of the state variables are not the same as the estimated values; the estimated and measured values compared to give an error signal; the error values fed to an Ordered State Corrector which computes the error that the order state variable would have in the steady and applies it in the opposite sense to increment the input ordered state; if more than one state variable is to be corrected, the correction applied directly to the control inputs using Multi-State Correction, in which the steady state errors are used to find the control inputs which would cause the errors and then a correction is applied to the control inputs; the addition of a term which is the integral of the appropriate state error variable, as in a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller that can overcome the problem; shortcomings of the PID controller that become serious when, for example, a submarine wishes to ascent to a particular depth, e.g. periscope depth, with no or minimal overshoot.
Response to Arguments
1. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 18-35 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner YURI KAN, P.E., whose phone number is 571-270-3978. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by phone are unsuccessful, you may contact the examiner's supervisor, Mr. Jelani Smith, who can be reached on 571-270-3969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YURI KAN, P.E./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662