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 .
In response to applicant’s amendment dated February 04, 2026. The following action is taken:The claims are rejected using the same prior art cited in the first office action dated 11/4/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(A)(1) as being anticipated by Ellis et al (9070411).
Claims 1 and 11 merely read on first and second servo patterns written on a boundary area between a first and second zones on a disk wherein the first and second servo pattern are offset based on a timing correction data. The reference shows in fig 5a A manufacturing method for a disk device column 2 line 46, comprising: in a first case in which a disk device includes a head (fig 1 element 120 see column 2 line 63) and a disk medium including multiple zones concentrically provided (fig 5a elements 508; 506 and 504 see column 2 ;lines 48-50) , and two servo patterns (fig 5a element 502 and 510 see column 3 lines 23-35) corresponding to two adjacent zones are written column 3 line 33, by the head, on a track of a boundary area between the two adjacent zones of the multiple zones in the disk medium, generating timing correction data (see fig 4 having eccentricity correction 234 and 228 204 ) according to a radial position of the boundary area; writing one servo pattern of the two servo patterns on the track of the boundary area, in the first case; and writing the other servo pattern at a position circumferentially shifted from the one servo pattern on the track of the boundary area, according to the timing correction data, in the first case see fig 5b a first and second servo pattern overlapping in the boundary area based on a “timing” signal.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-10 and 12-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The cited prior art does not show or teach wherein the timing correction data correspond tot eh offset between a read head and write head as in claims 2 and 12. The writing of an erasing pattern immediately after the one servo pattern as in claims 8 and 18. The writing of the first and second servo pattern at a circumferentially continued from a one servo pattern as in claims 9 and 19. The specific or timing correction data based on radial position of the boundary zone and the offset information as in claims 10 and 20.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments are centered around the prior art not showing or teaching any aspects of measurements of a radial rea-write-offset of a head. Such limitation merely read on the inherent “tracking error signal” or a positional error signal between the read information and the write information such as servo on a medium or eccentricity offset between a written tracks and a read signal. The claims do not define the limitation, therefore, the reference discloses in column 5 lines 16-32 “positional error signal” interpreted as a read signal based on a write data offset and in column 13 lines 13-34.
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 NABIL Z HINDI whose telephone number is (571)272-7618. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI from 5:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NABIL Z HINDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688