DETAILED NON-FINAL OFFICE 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 .
Comments
The drawings of September 10, 2024 are hereby accepted as FORMAL.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) of September 10, 2024 has been considered during examination.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
The use of the term Blu-Ray disk (i.e., assuming “disk” should be spelled “disc”), which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks. This is not an objection to the specification.
Here is the listing for the trademark BLU-RAY DISC in the database for the Trademark Office of the USPTO.
BLU-RAY DISC
Wordmark
Wordmark BLU-RAY DISC
Status
LiveRegistered
Goods & services
IC 009: Optical and magneto-optical disc players and recorders for...
outbound
Class
009
Serial
76421367
Owners
BLU-RAY DISC ASSOCIATION (NONPROFIT MUTUAL BENEFIT CORPORATION; CALIFORNIA, USA)
Please note that any mention of a line number of a claim in this office action refers to the claims as they appear in the official claim listing in the image file wrapper (IFW), not to any claim as it may be reproduced below.
Claim Interpretation
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 1-5 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.
Throughout independent claim 1 and independent claim 5, each and every use of the term, “positioning antenna” is indefinite and unclear in context in that these uses cannot be understood in the ordinary and customary meaning of the term. Particularly, the term is used in the phrases, “position measured by the first positioning antenna,” position measured by the second positioning antenna,” and, “position measured by the third positioning antenna,” but, an “antenna” or a “positioning antenna” in the ordinary and customary meaning cannot “measure” a “position.” Applicant may only use a sense of a term that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning “so long as any special meaning assigned to a term is clearly set forth in the specification.” Quoting MPEP 2173.01. No special meaning of the term, “antenna” or “positioning antenna” is “clearly set forth in the specification.”
Each of dependent claims 2-4 is unclear, at least, in that it depends from unclear, independent claim 1.
On line 1 of independent claim 5, the term, “non-transitory storage medium” is unclear in that it lacks clear, antecedent basis in the specification. Particularly, the specification refers to a “non-transitory computer-readable [sic] storage medium,” but claim 5 refers to a “non-transitory storage medium.” This term could be taken to mean almost any material medium on which code/program/data could be stored, such as a sheet of paper. Please see 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1).
Potentially-Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 5 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, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Prior Art of General Interest
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Feller et al (‘956) is of general interest for Figure 2 and the related disclosure.
Whitehead et al (‘896) is of general interest for Figure 1 and the related disclosure.
Fan et al (‘827) is of general interest for Figure 1 and the related disclosure.
De Lorenzo et al (‘574) is of general interest for the multi-antenna arrangement, and, for the mentions of reference vectors in paragraphs [34] and [41].
Wellington (‘971) is of general interest for Figure 1A and the related disclosure.
Pratt (‘921) is of general interest for Figure 1 and the related disclosure.
Sato et al (‘531) is of general interest for the disclosed computations of the outputs of items 26a and 26b.
Sheikh et al (‘653) is of general interest for Figure 1 and the related disclosure.
Diefes et al (‘875) is of general interest for Figure 2 and the related disclosure.
Diefes et al (‘588) is of general interest for Figure 2 and the related disclosure.
Timothy et al (‘356) is of general interest for Figure 2 and the related disclosure.
Brown et al (‘280) is of general interest for the use of the disclosed “error signals.”
Frericks et al (‘923) is of general interest for the disclosed channels in Figure 14, and, for the disclosed optimization techniques.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BERNARR E GREGORY whose telephone number is (571)272-6972. The examiner can normally be reached on Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm eastern time.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vladimir Magloire, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/BERNARR E GREGORY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights