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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 9 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim’s computer program product would be considered a transitory signal which does not fall into a statutory category. See MPEP 2160.03 (I-II).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8, 10, and 18 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art of record does not clearly show or suggest the claimed method for producing containers made of thermoplastic material from preforms, especially including the step of modifying electrical power of at least two rows of radiation sources while keeping the sum of electrical power of at least two rows of radiation sources the same (claim 1 and its dependents 2-8 and 10), and the step of increasing, via the control unit, the electrical power on one row by a specific value and reducing the electrical power on remaining rows by the specific value, where the reduction is distributed equally over all remaining rows (claim 18).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 28 April 2026 regarding the rejection under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding Claim 9, which was not amended, this claim is considered to be software per se and not physically embodied (MPEP 2106.03: “Examples of claims that are not directed to any of the statutory categories include -Products that do not have a physical or tangible form, such as information (often referred to as "data per se") or a computer program per se (often referred to as "software per se") when claimed as a product without any structural recitations”).
Regarding Claims 11-17, which were amended, the phrase “computer readable storage medium” is not enough to overcome the rejection under 35 USC 101. The claim should be amended to clarify that the computer readable storage medium is non-transitory.
Applicant’s arguments filed 28 April 2026 regarding the rejection under 35 USC 102 are persuasive, and the rejection is withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 MONICA HUSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p.
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, Christina Johnson can be reached at 571-272-1176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MONICA ANNE HUSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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