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 is the first non-final office action on the merits. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 11-20 in the reply filed on 09/02/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/12/2026 has been received and considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are accepted.
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 5 and 8 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 5 recites “the pipe segment” in lines 5-6. However, this limitation lacks antecedent basis because claim 1 never mentions “a pipe segment”. For examination purposes, “the pipe segment” has been construed as “a pipe segment”.
Claim 8 recites “the change event is at least one selected from a group consisting of: (1) a service outage, (ii) a product return, and (iii) a local equipment failure”. However, this limitation lacks antecedent basis because claim 1 never mentions a “change event”. For examination purposes, “the change event” in claim 8 is construed as “a change event”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-7, and 9-10 are allowed.
Claims 5 and 8 are rejected in view of 35 USC § 112 second paragraph but will be allowable if the rejections are overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1 and its depending claim(s) 2-10, the closest prior art reference Allen et al. (US 20230271775 A1) teaches (Fig. 1-9 and 14): A delivery system (Title), comprising: a commodity-based pipe network (network of pipes; para. 0042) configured to provide a transit for delivery pods (transportation units 100)(Figs. 1 and 4A); a portal (dock or transfer station having gantry system 200a; para. 0090) configured to enable insertion and removal of removable totes (container 900) from pods (100)(Fig. 14; para. 0093); an active pod (100) comprising: a cargo module comprising a removable tote comprising a first payload (shipping container 900; para. 0007).
While Allen teaches: a portal (dock or transfer station having gantry system 200a; para. 0090) configured to enable insertion and removal of removable totes (container 900) from pods (100)(Fig. 14; para. 0093); and a control module (control system) for instructing pods to move at the mounting site (para. 0073), Allen does not teach the portal (dock/transfer station) has a wireless navigation beacon configured to provide navigation data to pods as they traverse the pipe network within proximity of the portal, wherein a wireless communication module configured to obtain a set of navigation data from the wireless navigation beacon as the active pod approaches a location of the portal, wherein the set of navigation data comprises an identifier that may be utilized to identify the portal; and the control module is configured to: (i) record the set of navigation data along with a timestamp indicating a traversal time, and (ii) dynamically update an intended route through the pipe network based on the set of navigation data to generate a modified route.
Another reference Williams (US 11466997 B1) teaches an alternate delivery vehicle along a network, wherein (Fig. 1-3): a wireless navigation beacon (VRA computing device 130 with transceivers; col. 7, lines 50-58) configured to provide navigation data to pods as they traverse a transportation network (Fig. 2; col. 27, line 59- col. 28, line 3), wherein a wireless communication module (in-vehicle communication device 102) configured to obtain a set of navigation data from the wireless navigation beacon (130)(Fig. 2); an identifier that may be utilized to identify the portal (identifier specific to the vehicle routing system; col. 13, lines 30-39); and the method of dynamically updating the overall route via one or more processors and/or servers (col. 53, lines 54-62).
However, the secondary reference Williams also fails to teach a wireless navigation beacon that provides navigation data to pods as they traverse within proximity of the portal; and as the active pod approaches a location of the portal, wherein the set of navigation data comprises an identifier that may be utilized to identify the portal; and recording the set of navigation data along with a timestamp indicating a traversal time, and dynamically update an intended route through the pipe network based on the set of navigation data to generate a modified route. Such modifications would require improper hindsight reasoning and modifications to a modifying reference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure of a pipe-based delivery network for pods carrying containers with payload; and its communication/control apparatus for dynamically updating a route: US-20160229420-A1, US-20180003792-A1, US-20190056752-A1, US-10639509-B2, US-11466998-B1, US-20230399030-A1, US-12020148-B1, US-20240249233-A1, US-12124989-B1, US-20250276809-A1, US-20250368241-A1, DE-2151543-A1, CN-106364526-A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHENG XI LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6102. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. through Fri. 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
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/CHENG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
