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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference signs mentioned in the description: “terminal 320” and “server 330,” both mentioned in paragraph 0042 of Applicant’s specification. Examiner notes it appears these reference signs should likely appear in figure 3.
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. 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 Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informality: there should only be a single space in between the words “the” and “animation” in line 7.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea(s) without significantly more.
Regarding Claim 1, analyzed as the representative claim:
[Step 1] Claim 1 recites “A vehicle interaction method…” which falls within the “process” statutory category of invention under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
[Step 2A – Prong 1] Claim 1 recites “A vehicle interaction method, comprising:
displaying, by a first terminal, a first virtual character in a virtual scene, the first virtual character is a virtual character controlled by the first terminal, and the virtual scene includes a second virtual character; displaying, by the first terminal, a vehicle interaction interface when a vehicle interaction condition is met between the first virtual character and a virtual vehicle; and transmitting a vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character and displaying, by the first terminal, an animation of a first interaction between the first virtual character and the virtual vehicle in response to a vehicle trigger operation received by the first terminal on the vehicle interaction interface.” The bolded limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, encompass methods of organizing human activity (managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people – including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea(s).
[Step 2A – Prong 2] The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. Specifically, the claim recites the additional element of a terminal used for performing the method steps, wherein the terminal is recited at a high level of generality and merely automates the displaying, controlling, transmitting, and receiving steps. Therefore, this additional element amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computing device, which does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea(s). Thus, the claim is directed to an abstract idea(s).
Additionally and/or alternatively, the limitations of displaying and transmitting, italicized above, are directed to insignificant extra-solution activity (data gathering/transmission and data display). See MPEP § 2106.05(g).
Accordingly, the claim is directed to the abstract ideas.
[Step 2B] The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea(s) into a practical application, the additional element of a terminal being used for performing the method steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computing device and/or insignificant extra-solution activity, which cannot provide an inventive concept. Additionally, Applicant’s own specification describes the computing device to include generic computing components (Specification, par. 0048). Accordingly, representative claim 1 is not patent eligible.
Claims 2-10 are dependent on representative claim 1 and include all of the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, the dependent claims recite the same abstract idea(s) as those recited in the independent claim or contain limitations drawn to generic computer components and/or reciting insignificant extra-solution activities. While the dependent claims may have a narrower scope than the representative claim, no claim contains an additional element to integrate the abstract idea(s) into a practical application or to render an inventive concept that transforms the corresponding claim into a patent eligible application of the otherwise ineligible abstract idea(s). Thereby, claims 2-10 are also patent ineligible.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8, 11-13, 15-16, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2019/0118078 (hereinafter “Li”) in view of a 2016 YouTube video entitled “All Battlefield 1 Vehicle Animations…” (hereinafter “Terrier”).
Regarding Claims 1, 11, and 20, Li discloses displaying, by a first terminal, a first virtual character in a virtual scene (par. 0023: “Contents displayed by the graphical user interface at least partially include a game scene and a virtual character;” figs. 2-3), the first virtual character is a virtual character controlled by the first terminal (par. 0007: “providing a motion control on the graphical user interface, detecting a first touch operation acting on the motion control, and controlling the virtual character to move in the game scene according to a movement of a touch point of the first touch operation;” figs. 1-3), and the virtual scene includes a second virtual character (par. 0083: “a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters;” Examiner notes the virtual scene comprises a first character and a vehicle with at least a second character inside; par. 0026: “real-time positions of ally virtual characters controlled by teammates, real-time positions of enemy virtual characters”);
displaying, by the first terminal, a vehicle interaction interface (par. 0082: “the virtual target may include… at least one vehicle;” par. 0083: “when there is the virtual target at the preset position, a preset type of the virtual target is determined, at least one interaction control corresponding to the preset type is provided within a preset area… and each interaction control may provide different instructions… if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters), and paying attention to an enemy vehicle”) when a vehicle interaction condition is met between the first virtual character and a virtual vehicle (par. 0083: “when there is the virtual target at the preset position;” par. 0086: “a virtual target 301 is detected at a preset position (a position of a crosshair in the present embodiment) on the graphical user interface;” Examiner notes the interaction condition would at least comprise when the crosshair lines up over the target/vehicle); and
transmitting a vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character (pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience”).
Li does not explicitly disclose any animation. However, Terrier discloses displaying, by the first terminal, an animation of a first interaction between the first virtual character and the virtual vehicle in response to a vehicle trigger operation received by the first terminal on the vehicle interaction interface (fig. 2 and 1:21-1:26 of video: pursuant to the user’s input, virtual character approaches driver’s side of vehicle and an interaction animation of the character getting into the driver’s seat is shown).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the interaction animation of Terrier with the processing method and interaction menu of Li in order to enhance the appearance and realism of the virtual game (Terrier, figs. 1-3; video description).
Further regarding Claim 11, Li discloses processing circuitry of a first terminal (par. 0110: “an information processing apparatus is also applied to a mobile terminal having at least one processor”).
Further regarding Claim 20, Li discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which are executed by a processor of a first terminal (par. 0119: “the electronic device includes: a processing component and a display apparatus, which may further include at least one processor, and a memory resource represented by a memory and configured to store at least one instruction executable by the processing component, such as at least one application program. The at least one application program stored in the memory may include one or more components each corresponding to a set of instructions. In addition, the processing component is configured to execute instructions to perform the above-described information processing method”).
Regarding Claims 2 and 12, Li further discloses the vehicle interaction interface includes a state switching interface, the state switching interface is to switch a vehicle carrying state of the virtual vehicle (par. 0083: “providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)”); and
transmitting the vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character in response to the vehicle trigger operation (pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate. For example, prompt information “find at least one enemy virtual character and attack” is sent”).
Li modified by Terrier further discloses the vehicle interaction condition includes a distance requirement between the first virtual character and the virtual vehicle (Terrier, figs. 2-3: virtual character cannot enter vehicle from very far away and must approach vehicle before entering); and
the method further comprises: displaying a first animation of the first virtual character switching from a first state of being outside the virtual vehicle to a second state of being inside the virtual vehicle (Terrier, fig. 2 and 1:21-1:26 of video: pursuant to the user’s input, virtual character approaches driver’s side of vehicle and an interaction animation of the character getting into the driver’s seat is shown).
Regarding Claims 3 and 13, Li modified by Terrier further discloses in response to the vehicle trigger operation, displaying a second animation of the first virtual character switching from the first state of being outside the virtual vehicle to a state of driving the virtual vehicle (Terrier, fig. 2 and 1:21-1:26 of video: pursuant to the user’s input, virtual character approaches driver’s side of vehicle and an interaction animation of the character getting into the driver’s seat is shown), and transmitting the vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character (Li, pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate. For example, prompt information “find at least one enemy virtual character and attack” is sent”); or
in response to the vehicle trigger operation, displaying a third animation of the first virtual character switching from the first state of being outside the virtual vehicle to a state of riding in the virtual vehicle (Terrier, fig. 3 and 1:09-1:14 of video: pursuant to the user’s input, virtual character approaches passenger’s side of vehicle and an interaction animation of the character getting into the passenger’s seat is shown), and transmitting the vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character (Li, pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate. For example, prompt information “find at least one enemy virtual character and attack” is sent”).
Regarding Claims 5 and 15, Li further discloses receiving the vehicle trigger operation on the vehicle interaction interface (par. 0084: “according to the interaction control selected by the… touch operation, an instruction corresponding to the interaction control is determined;” par. 0083: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters), and paying attention to an enemy vehicle;” figs. 2-3).
Regarding Claims 6 and 16, Li further discloses the receiving the vehicle trigger operation comprises:
receiving a slide operation on the vehicle interaction interface, the slide operation is an operation of sliding the vehicle interaction interface to a preset distance threshold; or receiving a drag operation on the vehicle interaction interface, the drag operation is an operation of dragging the vehicle interaction interface to a designated region; or receiving a gravitational pressing operation on the vehicle interaction interface (par. 0084: “according to the interaction control selected by the… touch operation, an instruction corresponding to the interaction control is determined;” par. 0083: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters), and paying attention to an enemy vehicle;” figs. 2-3).
Regarding Claims 8 and 18, Li further discloses the virtual scene includes a plurality of candidate virtual vehicles that meet the vehicle interaction condition with the first virtual character (par. 0083: virtual scene may comprise both an ally vehicle and an enemy vehicle, implying at least two vehicles); and
the method further comprises: displaying the vehicle interaction interface respectively corresponding to each of the candidate virtual vehicles when the vehicle interaction condition is met, wherein the displaying of the vehicle interaction interface corresponds to an arrangement relationship of the candidate virtual vehicles in the virtual scene (par. 0083: when the vehicle meeting the interaction condition is an ally vehicle, “instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as taking (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)” and when the vehicle is an enemy vehicle “instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as… paying attention to an enemy vehicle”); and
receiving the vehicle trigger operation on the vehicle interaction interface corresponding to a designated virtual vehicle from the plurality of candidate virtual vehicles (par. 0084: “according to the interaction control selected by the… touch operation, an instruction corresponding to the interaction control is determined;” par. 0083: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters), and paying attention to an enemy vehicle;” figs. 2-3).
Claims 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Terrier as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of WO 2021/155694 (hereinafter “Liu”).
Regarding Claims 4 and 14, Li further discloses transmitting the vehicle interaction message to the second virtual character (pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate. For example, prompt information “find at least one enemy virtual character and attack” is sent”).
Li does not disclose any horn control. However, Liu discloses the vehicle interaction condition includes a vehicle carrying requirement of the first virtual character on the virtual vehicle, and the vehicle interaction interface includes a horn control (par. 0004: “Users need to control the virtual vehicle through driving controls, which include… horn controls;” par. 0039: “when driving a vehicle, the user interface displays driving controls;” Examiner notes the horn control appears when the user is driving a vehicle, which requires the user to be within the vehicle, which further equates to a vehicle carrying requirement); and
displaying the horn control of the first virtual character for the virtual vehicle (par. 0004: “Users need to control the virtual vehicle through driving controls, which include… horn controls;” par. 0039: “when driving a vehicle, the user interface displays driving controls”); and
expressing a honking effect of the virtual vehicle in response to the vehicle trigger operation (par. 0004: “Users need to control the virtual vehicle through driving controls, which include… horn controls;” Examiner notes any effect of activating the horn control could be considered a honking effect).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the horn of Liu with the processing method and virtual vehicle of Li in order to enhance the realism of the virtual vehicle (Liu, pars. 0004, 0041, 0048).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Terrier as applied to claims 6 and 16 above, and further in view of US 2018/0028907 (hereinafter “Weng”).
Regarding Claims 7 and 17, Li does not explicitly disclose a message interaction interface. However, Weng discloses a message interaction interface is displayed in a terminal interface (figs. 3-6: message interaction interface 700, 400); and
the designated region is a preset region that includes the message interaction interface (par. 0064: “By means of operation 303 and operation 304, the SMS message object 200 is slid and held. To send one piece of shortcut instruction information, the SMS message object 200 is slid to corresponding shortcut instruction information and then is released, so that corresponding shortcut instruction information in a text and/or voice form in the wheel information interface 400 shown in FIG. 3 can also be rapidly sent”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the message interaction interface of Weng with the control method and virtual scene of Li in order to ensure consistency by designating a specific place for message interaction (Weng, par. 0091; figs. 3-6) and to allow for rapid discussion between teammates (Weng, pars. 0052, 0067).
Claims 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Terrier as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of a 2017 YouTube video entitled “The Crew 2 Gameplay Shows You Switching Vehicles On The Fly…” (hereinafter “GameSpot”).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Li further discloses the virtual scene includes a first virtual vehicle and a second virtual vehicle (Li, par. 0083: virtual scene may comprise both an ally vehicle and an enemy vehicle, implying at least two vehicles), the vehicle interaction condition is met between either of the first virtual vehicle and the second virtual vehicle and the first virtual character (Li, par. 0083: when the vehicle meeting the interaction condition is an ally vehicle, “instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as taking (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)” and when the vehicle is an enemy vehicle “instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as… paying attention to an enemy vehicle”); and
the method further comprises: receiving the vehicle trigger operation on the vehicle interaction interface corresponding to the first virtual vehicle (Li, par. 0084: “according to the interaction control selected by the… touch operation, an instruction corresponding to the interaction control is determined;” par. 0083: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters), and paying attention to an enemy vehicle;” figs. 2-3); and
transmitting the vehicle interaction message corresponding to the second virtual vehicle to the second virtual character (Li, pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate”).
Modified Li does not explicitly disclose a fourth animation of the character switching from a first virtual vehicle to a second virtual vehicle. However, GameSpot discloses in response to receiving the vehicle trigger operation on the vehicle interaction interface corresponding to the second virtual vehicle, displaying a fourth animation of the first virtual character switching from a state of being inside the first virtual vehicle to a state of being inside the second virtual vehicle (figs. 1-2; 7:11-7:16 of video: user enters vehicle trigger operation corresponding to a boat from a vehicle interaction interface, and a fourth animation occurs which depicts the virtual character switching from a state of being in an airplane to a state of being in a boat).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the vehicle selection and transitioning of GameSpot with the control method and vehicle interaction of Li in order to allow user to play in whichever vehicle they prefer, thereby improving enjoyment, and to allow for efficient transitions with smooth animations (GameSpot, figs. 1-3; 2:29-3:04 and 7:11-7:16 of video).
Claims 10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Terrier as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of US 2005/0181878 (hereinafter “Danieli”).
Regarding Claims 10 and 19, Li modified by Terrier further discloses displaying the animation of the first interaction between the first virtual character and the virtual vehicle (Terrier, fig. 2 and 1:21-1:26 of video: pursuant to the user’s input, virtual character approaches driver’s side of vehicle and an interaction animation of the character getting into the driver’s seat is shown); and
transmitting the vehicle interaction message to another virtual character (pars. 0083-0085: “if the type of the virtual target is determined to be a vehicle, instructions for providing multiple interaction controls may be instructions such as [riding/entering] (a vehicle carrying a few virtual characters)… instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is sent to clients of teammates, and displayed on the graphical user interfaces of the clients… the user does not need to enter a chat page, and may quickly provide information prompts for the teammates by selecting a control, thereby greatly shortening the quick information interaction process with the teammates during battle, and effectively improving the smoothness of the game experience;” par. 0086: “When a… touch operation… is detected, according to the interaction control selected by the touch operation, for example, an interaction control making an instruction of attack, instruction prompt information corresponding to the interaction control is generated and sent to the client of the teammate. For example, prompt information “find at least one enemy virtual character and attack” is sent”).
Li does not explicitly disclose a virtual character list. However, Danieli discloses displaying a virtual character list, the virtual character list includes character options respectively corresponding to a plurality of candidate virtual characters (figs. 8-9: list of characters/users, including characters 57, 58, and 64);
receiving a character selection operation on one of the character options corresponding to a third virtual character in the plurality of candidate virtual characters (fig. 9: context menu 45 displaying character options corresponding to selected virtual character from plurality of candidate characters; par. 0060: “bringing up a context menu 45, as shown in FIG. 9, from which the player can select to invite the player to join the chat session by choosing a ‘Invite player to chat’ option 75”); and
in response to the character selection operation, transmitting a message to the third virtual character (fig. 9: chat window 72 for transmitting messages to selected character(s)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the character selection of Danieli with the vehicle interaction messaging of Li in order to allow the user to quickly send that message only to a selected user of their choice (Danieli, pars. 0011, 0060; figs. 8-9).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIE DOSHER whose telephone number is (571) 272-4842. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET.
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, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. 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.
/J.G.D./Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/DMITRY SUHOL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715