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 .
The application of Witty et al. for a “control unit for an access point” filed on July 5, 2024 has been examined.
This application claims foreign priority based on the application 2310446.6, filed on July 6, 2023 and 2409423.7, filed on June 28, 2024 in Great Britian. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C 119(a) – (d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Applicant trying to claim (one or more non-transitory) computer-readable storage medium does not fall into any statutory categories of invention. Applicant trying to claim the (one or more non-transitory) computer-readable storage medium such as a wireless transmission medium (i.e. the medium is a signal) does not fall into any statutory categories of invention. (See Specification page 30 lines 5 to 17).
There is no practical application of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable medium (i.e. the signal) as required under MPEP 2106 IV B 1(c). The only positive limitation associates with the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprises instructions stored thereon that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to execute the instruction. However, as claimed one or more non-transitory computer-readable medium (i.e. the signal) has no practical application.
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 1-4 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kincaid et al. (US# 11,961,344) in view of Troesch et al. (US# 11,551,501).
Referring to Claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose a control unit (102) for an access point (304) via which access to a restricted area can be granted to a subject (column 1 line 26 to column 2 line 56; see Figures 1 to 5), the control unit (102) comprising one or more processors (200) configured to:
determine a positional state of an access device (108) (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 may advertise itself (e.g., via Bluetooth/BLE or another suitable communication protocol) and await a response from a mobile device 108 within communication range of the UWB accessory device 106. In other embodiments, it should be appreciated that the UWB accessory device 106 may monitor for mobile devices 108 within some distance less than the maximum communication range of the relevant protocol (e.g., Bluetooth/BLE)) (column 14 lines 24 to 65; see Figures 1 to 4);
assess whether the subject is in possession of the access device (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 detects the Bluetooth/BLE signal of the nearby mobile device 108, and in block 406, the UWB accessory device 106 receives a credential of the mobile device 108 over a Bluetooth/BLE communication connection established between the UWB accessory device 106 and the mobile device 108)( column 14 line 66 to column 15 line 5; see Figures 3 and 4); and
determine whether the positional state of the subject and/or the access device matches a predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 initializes UWB ranging via the UWB communication circuitry 124, and in block 416, the UWB accessory device 106 determines/monitors the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the UWB accessory device 106 via the UWB communication circuitry 124. It should be appreciated that the UWB accessory device 106 may determine the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the access control device 102 based on the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the UWB accessory device 106 and known, predetermined, and/or determinable geometric relationships between the UWB accessory device 106 and the access control device 102) (column 15 lines 26 to 40; see Figures 3 to 5); and
if (1) the subject is in possession of the access device, (ii) the positional state of the subject and/or the access device matches a predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point and (iii) the subject is authorized to access the restricted area, output a signal to indicate to the access point (304) that access to the subject is to be granted (i.e. If the UWB accessory device 106 determines, in block 420, that the location or movement of the mobile device 108 is indicative of the user's intent to access the passageway, the method 400 advances to block 422 in which the UWB accessory device 106 communicates with the access control device 102 to indicate the intent of the user to access the passageway. Depending on the particular embodiment, the UWB accessory device 106 and/or the access control device 102 may make a relevant access control decision based on the intent of the user. For example, in some embodiments, the UWB accessory device 106 may communicate an indication of intent of the user to access to the access control device 102 for the access control device 102 to ultimately make the access control decision (e.g., using multi-factor authentication), whereas in other embodiments the indication of intent communicated to the access control device 102 may be in the form of an access control command or instruction to the access control device 102 (e.g., to unlock the lock mechanism without further analysis). In block 424, the access control device 102 controls a lock mechanism or other access control mechanism to unlock the lock mechanism and/or otherwise allow access through the passageway) (column 16 lines 10 to 36; see Figures 3 and 5).
However, Kincaid et al. did not explicitly disclose determine a positional state of a subject in dependence on data captured by one or more imaging devices.
In the same field of endeavor of an access control system, Troesch et al. teach that determine a positional state of a subject in dependence on data captured by one or more imaging devices (16) (i.e. the camera 16 may be equipped with a sensor module or connected to a separate sensor module, which activates the camera 16 when it detects the presence of a user 2 in the detection range of the camera 16. For example, the sensor module may comprise a proximity sensor that may be realized in the form of an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor or an optical sensor (e.g. light barrier, brightness sensor)) (column 8 lines 21 to 34; see Figures 2 and 4) in order to obtain the best transmission strategy for transmitting the selective call signal.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for having the camera to detect a user approaching the access point taught by Troesch et al. in the accessory device configured to receive the credential of the mobile device and determined the location of the mobile device intent to access the passageway of Kincaid et al. because having the camera to detect a user approaching the access point would provide another apparatus to detect the user and mobile device approaching the passageway.
Referring to Claim 2, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine that the subject is authorized to access the restricted area if one or more of the following is true: (i) the subject is in possession of the access device and the access device is an authorized access device (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 authenticates the credential of the mobile device 108 received via the Bluetooth/BLE communication to determine whether the mobile device 108 and/or the user thereof is authorized to access the passageway (e.g., whether the user is authorized to control an access control mechanism of the access control device 102) and/or another aspect of the access control device 102 or system 100) (column 14 line 66 to column 15 line 17; see Figure 4).
Referring to Claim 3, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 2, Troesch et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine that the subject (2) is authorized to access the restricted area (8) if identity data stored at the access device (6) (i.e. a reference template) corresponds to the identity of the subject (2) determined from data captured by one or more of the imaging devices (16) (i.e. a real time template) (i.e. it is checked if the real-time template matches a reference template to a defined degree in step S7. In an exemplary embodiment, the real-time template and the reference template respectively comprise a defined number of specific facial parameters and other values (e.g. eye spacing, mouth width, distance between lip top edge and lip bottom edge, distance between nose and lip bottom edge, etc.). The parameter values of the real-time template are compared with the parameter values of the reference template during the search. A match is found if the degree of similarity of the templates corresponds at least to the defined degree) (column 11 lines 1 to 64; see Figure 2 and 3).
Referring to Claim 4, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 2, Troesch et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to raise an alert if identity data stored at the access device does not correspond to the identity of the subject determined from data captured by the imaging device (i.e. In the event of a mismatch, the method contrarily proceeds along the no-branch to step S8, in which a notification is generated. For example, the notification may inform the user 2 that an error has occurred and/or that the user 2 should consult a person responsible for the building (e.g. reception personnel, security personnel). The security personnel may irrespectively also be notified directly in step S8) (column 12 lines 11 to 18; see Figure 3).
Referring to Claim 11, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the control unit is configured to not permit access to the subject if it is determined that the subject is not authorized to enter the restricted area and/or that the positional state of the subject and/or the access device does not match a predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point (i.e. If the UWB accessory device 106 determines, in block 410, that the authentication was not successful (e.g., based on an improper credential), the method 400 advances to block 412 in which the access control system 100 handles the error using any suitable technique or mechanism. For example, in some embodiments, the access control system 100 may generate an audit, alert, and/or alarm related to the unsuccessful authentication) (column 15 lines 18 to 25; column 15 line 58 to column 16 line 9; see Figures 4 and 5).
Referring to Claim 12, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the positional state of the subject in dependence on information indicative of the subject's positional state, wherein the information comprises an indication of one or more of a location of the subject, a speed of the subject, a velocity of the subject, an orientation of the subject, a pose of the subject and a trajectory of the subject, or a change thereof with respect to time (i.e. It should be appreciated that the UWB accessory device 106 may leverage the UWB communication circuitry 124 to perform UWB ranging in order to determine the distance of a person (via their corresponding UWB-enabled mobile device 108) relative to the access control device 102 and/or other reference point (e.g., by virtue of the relative distance to the UWB accessory device 106 and static or predetermined geometric relationships to the access control device 102 or other reference points), determine the speed and/or direction of travel of the person, determine the angle of approach/arrival of the person relative to the access control device 102 and/or other reference (e.g., by virtue of the relative distance to the UWB accessory device 106 and static or predetermined geometric relationships to the access control device 102 or other reference points), and/or perform other UWB ranging functionalities) (column 8 line 54 to column 9 line 5).
Referring to Claim 13, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors as configured to determine the positional state of the access device (108) in dependence on one or more radio frequency signals transmitted by the access device (108) (i.e. e UWB accessory device 106 may monitor for one or more Bluetooth/BLE advertisements, messages, or signals to be received from a mobile device 108 within a communication range of the UWB accessory device 106) (column 14 lines 44 to 65; see Figures 1, 3 and 4).
Referring to Claim 14, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the access device (108) is a fob, a badge or a user device (i.e. a smart phone or a mobile device) (column 9 lines 25 to 41; see Figure 3).
Referring to Claim 15, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point comprises one or more of the following: the location of the subject and/or the access device is within a predetermined distance of the access point, the speed or velocity of the subject and/or the access device is less than a predetermined threshold and the orientation of the subject and/or the access device is within a predetermined angular range with respect to the access point (i.e. In block 418, the UWB accessory device 106 determines whether the user intends to use the access control device 102 and/or otherwise access the passageway controlled by the access control device 102 based on the location and/or movement of the mobile device 108. If the UWB accessory device 106 determines, in block 420, that the location and/or movement of the mobile device 108 is not indicative of the user's intent to access the passageway secured by the access control device 102) (column 15 lines 58 to column 16; see Figure 4).
Referring to Claim 16, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the access point comprises an electrically controlled lock and wherein the control unit is configured to send the signal to the electrically controlled lock and wherein the signal causes the lock to transition from a locked state to an unlocked state (i.e. the access control device 102 controls a lock mechanism or other access control mechanism to unlock the lock mechanism and/or otherwise allow access through the passageway. Further, in block 426, the access control device 102 may automatically open the barrier. In other words, the access control device 102 automatically unlocks the barrier and/or automatically opens the barrier depending on the particular embodiment) (column 16 lines 28 to 36; see Figure 5).
Referring to Claim 17, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive one or more first signals (i.e. BLE signals) comprising information indicative of the subject’s positional state (block 402 and 404) (column 14 line 44 to column 15 line 5; see Figure 4);
determine a first positional state (i.e. a first range) of the subject based on the one or more first signals and/or a first technique (Bluetooth/BLE protocol) (block 402 and 404) (column 14 line 44 to column 15 line 5; see Figure 4);;
if it is determined that the subject's first positional state matches a first predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 may monitor for mobile devices 108 within some distance less than the maximum communication range of the relevant protocol (e.g., Bluetooth/BLE)) (column 14 lines 52 to 65; see Figure 4):
receive one or more second signals (i.e. UWB ranging) comprising information indicative of the subject's positional state (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 determines or monitors the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the UWB accessory device 106 via the UWB communication circuitry 124. It should be appreciated that the UWB accessory device 106 may determine the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the access control device 102 based on the location of the mobile device 108 relative to the UWB accessory device 10 and known, predetermined, and/or determinable geometric relationships between the UWB accessory device 106 and the access control device 102) (column 15 lines 26 to 45; see Figure 5);
determine a second positional state of the subject based on the one or more second signals and/or a second technique (block 418) (column 15 lines 58 to column 16 line 9; see Figure 5);
if it is determined that the subject's second positional state matches a second predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point, and that the subject is authorized to access the restricted area, output the signal (blocks 420 to 424) (column 16 lines 10 to 36; see Figure 5).
Referring to Claim 18, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Kincaid et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to initiate one or more data exchange sessions to acquire information indicative of the subject's positional state, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a time period between the initiation of a first data exchange session and a second data exchange session based on information indicative of the subject’s positional state obtained during the first data exchange session (i.e. the UWB accessory device 106 may monitor the location/movement of the mobile device 108 over time as the mobile device 108 moves relative to the UWB accessory device 106 (e.g., and the access control device 102). In some embodiments, the method 400 may “timeout” if the location of the mobile device 108 does not become an “intent location” before the expiration of a predefined timeout period) (column 15 lines 58 to column 16 line 9; see Figure 5).
Referring to Claims 19-20, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose a method for implementation at a control unit for an access paint via which access to a restricted area can be granted and a computer-readable storage medium, although different in scope from the claim 1, the claims 19-20 contain similar limitations in that the claim 1 already addressed above therefore claims 19-20 are also rejected for the same obvious reasons given with respect to claim 1.
Claims 5-6 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kincaid et al. (US# 11,961,344) in view of Troesch et al. (US# 11,551,501) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Prostko et al. (US# 11,562,609).
Referring to Claim 5, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, however, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose did not explicitly disclose wherein the subject is a first subject and wherein the one or more processors are configured to, if a second subject is detected as being within a predetermined distance of the first subject from one or more images captured by the imaging device, perform a security action.
In the same field of endeavor of an access control system, Prostko et al. teach that wherein the subject is a first subject and wherein the one or more processors are configured to, if a second subject is detected as being within a predetermined distance of the first subject from one or more images captured by the imaging device, perform a security action (i.e. the access control system 100 monitors the passageway for user tailgating. That is, as described above, the access control system 100 may monitor the passageway and/or environment surrounding the passageway (e.g., interior to and/or exterior to the passageway relative to the barrier) to identify if and when tailgating has occurred by which an unauthorized entrant has passed through the passageway following a successful access through the passageway by an authorized entrant. In some embodiments, the access control system 100 may leverage one or more monitoring devices (e.g., cameras, sensors, counters, RADAR, and/or other suitable components) to monitor the number of persons entering the passageway and the number of persons authorized to enter through the passageway to determine whether an unauthorized person has passed (or attempted to pass) through the passageway, for example, by tailgating behind an authorized entrant. If the access control system 100 determines that a tailgate has been detected in block 522, the access control system 100 may provide an audit, alert, and/or alarm identifying the detected tailgating condition in block 524. For example, in some embodiments, an audible or visual alarm may be emitted from an input/output device in the vicinity of the tailgated passageway) (column 17 line 39 to column 18 line 19; see Figure 6) in order to avoid unauthorized entrant to pass through the passageway.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for adding the feature that monitoring the passageway surrounding the passageway to identify if and when tailgating has occurred taught by Prostko et al. in the accessory device configured to receive the credential of the mobile device and determined the location of the mobile device intent to access the passageway of Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. because monitoring the passageway surrounding the passageway to identify if and when tailgating has occurred would increase security by alert authority that tailgating is occurred in the passageway.
Referring to Claim 6, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. and Prostko et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 5, Prostko et al. disclose wherein the security action comprises one or more of the following: raising an alert, reducing the amount of time that the first subject can gain access to the restricted area, permitting access to the first subject only when the first subject is within a predetermined distance of the access point, preventing further access once the first subject has entered the access point and triggering a further layer of verification in order to allow access to the first subject (column 18 lines 13 to 19; see Figure 6).
Referring to Claim 9, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, Prostko et al. disclose wherein the imaging device (16) is configured to capture images independently of the distance of the subject (2) and/or the access device from the access paint (12) (i.e. the camera 16 may be equipped with a sensor module or connected to a separate sensor module, which activates the camera 16 when it detects the presence of a user 2 in the detection range of the camera 16. For example, the sensor module may comprise a proximity sensor that may be realized in the form of an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor or an optical sensor (e.g. light barrier, brightness sensor). In an exemplary embodiment, the presence of a user 2 in the detection range of the camera 16 can be alternatively detected by detecting changes in the detection range. For example, if the user 2 enters the detection range and the camera 16 is continuously in an active state, the camera 16 records changes in front of an essentially static background; these changes are interpreted as a presence) (column 8 lines 21 to 34; column 14 lines 37 to 43; see Figure 1).
Referring to Claim 10, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. and Prostko et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 9, Prostko et al. disclose wherein the imaging device (16) is a closed-circuit television camera installed in a building (i.e. When the visitor subsequently enters the detection range of the camera 16, the camera 16 generates a digital image that shows the face of the visitor. The generation of the digital image by the camera 16 and the subsequent generation of a real-time template take place as described above; this is indicated with a signal DS5 in FIG. 4. The access control system 1 furthermore checks if the visitor requests access within the time window defined in the visitor profile. If both conditions are fulfilled, the visitor is granted access and the building action is initiated; this is indicated with a signal DS6 in FIG. 4) (column 14 lines 37 to 50; see Figures 1 and 4).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kincaid et al. (US# 11,961,344) in view of Troesch et al. (US# 11,551,501) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Bacco et al. (US# 9,552,684).
Referring to Claim 7, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 1, however, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. disclose did not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the subject is in possession of the access device when the access device and the subject are more than the predetermined distance from the access point.
In the same field of endeavor of an access control system, Bacco et al. teach that wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the subject (110) is in possession of the access device (112) when the access device and the subject are more than the predetermined distance from the access point (102) (i.e. user 110 is authorized to access the access location 106, and is associated with mobile device 112. Other individuals, such as individuals 108, may be present in the physical location 104 proximate to the access location. In addition, other individuals 109 having computing devices 111 may also be within the physical location 104 proximate to the access location. In some embodiments, the device location sensors 116 are able to differentiate the authorized computing device 112 in the possession of the authorized user 110 from the unauthorized computing device 111 in the possession of individual 109, and access will be provided to the authorized user 110 and not the unauthorized individual 109) (column 5 line 61 to column 6 line 9; column 8 lines 59 to column 9 line 4; see Figures 1A and 3) in order to avoid unauthorized entrant to pass through the passageway.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for adding the feature that determining the authorized individual has possession the authorized computing device within the access door taught by Bacco et al. in the accessory device configured to receive the credential of the mobile device and determined the location of the mobile device intent to access the passageway of Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. because determining the authorized individual has possession the authorized computing device within the access door would increase security in the passageway to avoid unauthorized individual to enter the access door.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kincaid et al. (US# 11,961,344) in view of Troesch et al. (US# 11,551,501) and in view of Bacco et al. (US# 9,552,684) as applied to claim 7, and further in view of Prostko et al. (US# 11,562,609).
Referring to Claim 8, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. and Bacco et al. disclose the control unit as claimed in claim 7, however, Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. and Bacco et al. did not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to subsequently determine whether the positional state of the subject matches a predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point in dependence on data captured by an imaging device.
In the same field of endeavor of an access control system, Prostko et al. teach that wherein the one or more processors are configured to subsequently determine whether the positional state of the subject matches a predetermined characteristic associated with an intention to enter the access point in dependence on data captured by an imaging device. (i.e. the access control system 100 determines (e.g., by inference) whether the user intends to access the passageway. In doing so, the access control system 100 may receive and process sensor data in block 512 and/or determine the location of the user relative to the passageway, access control device 102, monitoring device 108, and/or other reference point in block 514) (column 15 lines 43 to 55; see Figures 5 and 6) in order to trigger the access control to automatically open the barrier.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for adding the feature that determining whether the authorized individual intends to access the passageway using the position of the authorized individual and the sensor data from the camera at the access door taught by Prostko et al. in the accessory device configured to receive the credential of the mobile device and determined the location of the mobile device intent to access the passageway of Kincaid et al. in view of Troesch et al. and Bacco et al. because determining whether the authorized individual intends to access the passageway using the position of the authorized individual and the sensor data from the camera would provide a convenient way to automatically trigger the barrier for the authorized user to enter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to the enclosed PTO-892 for details.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAM V NGUYEN whose telephone number is 571-272-3061. Fax number is (571) 273-3061. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM Monday to Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached on 571-272-3114. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications.
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/NAM V NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685