DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 25-39 are 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.
Claims 25, 30, and 35 describe tracking one or more calls previously associated with the TPM or the operation, but the specification does not appear to describe the concept of tracking at all. The examiner notes that figure 5 and the associated description includes identifying whether or not the current call is an initial request, but that is not the same as the claimed tracking. Identifying whether something is an initial request does not explicitly or implicitly require tracking of prior calls. As an example, an initial request may simply take a specific form or be a specific command and non-initial requests may be identified simply by having a different form or being a different command, neither of which require any tracking of prior calls. Since the originally filed specification fails to detail how this tracking works or is integrated into the base system, the applicant’s claims fail to comply with the written description requirement. For the purposes of examination, the claimed tracking will be given its common and usual meaning which is to follow and note the course or progress of.
Claims 26-29, 31-34, and 36-39 are rejected as being dependent from, but failing to cure the deficiencies of, a rejected base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 25-39 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, consistent with the interpretation provided by the examiner, set forth in this Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 27APR2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant’s request to withdraw the 35 USC 112 rejection is unsupported by amendment or argument. For at least these reasons, in addition to those provided in the explanation above, the rejection will be maintained.
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 Gary W Cygiel whose telephone number is (571)270-1170. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 11am-3pm PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arpan P Savla can be reached at (571) 272-1077. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Gary W. Cygiel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2137
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