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 .
Introduction
This is a first action on the merits. Claims 1-7, 9, and 11-22 are pending.
Examiner' s Note
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs / columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants' definition which is not specifically set forth in the disclosure.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed October 25, 2024 and October 22, 2025 has been received and considered.
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 sign(s) mentioned in the description:
Step S401 as detailed in paragraph 0054.
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraphs 0008, 0066, 0067, 0097, 0098, and 0108, it is unclear what "according to timing" means as there is no further detail given.
In paragraphs 0010, 0016, 0037, 0043, 0077, and 0104, it is unclear what "a control range of the cloud control unit increases in turn" means as there is no further detail given.
Paragraph 0052 appears to be out of place.
In paragraph 0068, "road condition information can be learn" should read "road condition information can be learned".
In paragraph 0100, "road condition information can be learn" should read "road condition information can be learned".
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-7, 9, and 11-22 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.
In claim 1, line 8, claim 7, line 12, and claim 9, line 10, the limitation "control range of the cloud control unit increases in turn" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear what it means or what is referring to. The specification does not provide any further detail on what it could represent and merely repeats the claim language.
In claim 4, line 5, and claim 16, line 4, the limitation "the position information" renders the claim indefinite because it lacks antecedent basis and it is unclear what position information is being referred to as there has been no position information received to determine a path from.
In claim 5, line 7, claim 13, line 7, claim 17, line 6, and claim 21, line 6, the limitation "according to timing" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear what it means or what it is referring to. The specification does not provide any further detail on what it could represent and merely repeats the claim language.
Claims 2-6 and 11-22 are also rejected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim as they do not clear the deficiencies of the claims from which they depend.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 7, 9, 14, 16, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Toward Automated Vehicle Teleoperation: Vision, Opportunities, and Challenges) in view of Kim (US 2023/0251652).
Regarding claims 1, 7, and 9, Zhang discloses a vehicle remote control method, applied to a cloud control unit, electronic device, and non-transitory storage medium comprising:
the vehicle control mode comprises a remote driving vehicle control mode, a remote navigation vehicle control mode, or a remote monitoring vehicle control mode (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving assistance, cloud-based guidance, and cloud-based driving), and a control range of the cloud control unit increases in turn among the remote driving vehicle control mode, the remote navigation vehicle control mode, and the remote monitoring vehicle control mode (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle, cloud-based guidance being the cloud service issuing guidance or commands to instruct a car to perform specified maneuvers, and cloud-based driving assistance being cloud services to assist drivers and in-car automated driving systems (i.e., cloud-based driving requiring more control than the cloud-based guidance which requires more control than the cloud-based driving assistance)); and
performing control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding the vehicle performing the control tasks sent from the cloud service based on which mode is being used).
Zhang does not explicitly disclose acquiring network status information and running status information of a vehicle; and
in a case that the network status information indicates that the vehicle meets a remote control requirement, determining a vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information.
Kim teaches acquiring network status information and running status information of a vehicle (Kim, [0097] regarding checking a communication state between the vehicle and the remote control system & [0098] regarding transmitting vehicle state information according to a signal protocol with the control system); and
in a case that the network status information indicates that the vehicle meets a remote control requirement, determining a vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information (Kim, [0086] regarding determining remote control is possible based on the information received from the vehicle and generating a remote control command to transmit it to the vehicle (i.e., the control system is connected to the vehicle and the control system has received information from the vehicle for remote control)).
Zhang and Kim are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang to incorporate determining remote control is possible, as disclosed by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of ensuring the vehicle is in a able to begin being controlled remotely to prevent a period of time when the vehicle is not being controlled or being controlled both locally and remotely.
Regarding claims 2, 14, and 22, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method, electronic device, and non-transitory storage medium as claimed in claims 1, 7, and 9, respectively, wherein
the running status information comprises driving status information, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: in response to a case that the driving status information meets a driving need, determining the remote driving vehicle control mode as the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.)
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 1 and 7, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote navigation vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
determining a planning path according to the position information; and
sending a second vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to the planning path, so as to control the vehicle to travel along the planning path, wherein the second vehicle control instruction comprises coordinate information characterizing being used to indicate the planning path (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based guidance being the cloud service issuing guidance or commands to instruct a car to perform specified maneuvers, such as crossing solid yellow lines to the other side of the road to go around an obstacle. By issuing guidance for the vehicle to go around an obstacle, the cloud service would have to know the location of the vehicle and then generate coordinates which make up the path for the vehicle to use to maneuver around the obstacle.).
Claims 3, 11, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Kim, and further in view of Santoni (US 2020/0017114).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 1 and 7, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote driving vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
controlling travelling action of the vehicle through sending a first vehicle control instruction to the vehicle (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle).
Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the first vehicle control instruction comprises an accelerator opening-degree instruction, a brake opening-degree instruction or a steering angle instruction.
Santoni teaches wherein the first vehicle control instruction comprises an accelerator opening-degree instruction, a brake opening-degree instruction or a steering angle instruction (Santoni, [0064] regarding driving tasks including steering, accelerating, and decelerating).
Zhang and Santoni are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate steering, accelerating, and decelerating the vehicle, as disclosed by Santoni, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of steering the vehicle, braking and accelerating the vehicle.
Regarding claims 11 and 19, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 2 and 14, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote driving vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
controlling travelling action of the vehicle through sending a first vehicle control instruction to the vehicle (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle).
Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the first vehicle control instruction comprises an accelerator opening-degree instruction, a brake opening-degree instruction or a steering angle instruction.
Santoni teaches wherein the first vehicle control instruction comprises an accelerator opening-degree instruction, a brake opening-degree instruction or a steering angle instruction (Santoni, [0064] regarding driving tasks including steering, accelerating, and decelerating).
Zhang and Santoni are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate steering, accelerating, and decelerating the vehicle, as disclosed by Santoni, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of steering the vehicle, braking and accelerating the vehicle.
Claims 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Kim, and further in view of Weslosky (US 2021/0149389).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 1 and 7, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote monitoring vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving assistance being cloud services to assist drivers and in-car automated driving systems).
Zhang does not explicitly teach acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle; and
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle according to the travelling image information, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction.
Kim teaches acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle (Kim, [0086] regarding the control system receiving vehicle information and the vehicle information including vehicle surrounding state information & [0055] regarding the vehicle surrounding information including image data captured through a camera).
Zhang and Kim are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate receiving image data from the vehicle, as disclosed by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of the cloud service having information required to remotely control the vehicle.
Weslosky teaches performing monitoring operation on the, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction (Weslosky, [0089] regarding a remote operations subsystem monitoring an autonomous vehicle operating autonomously using information collected from the autonomous vehicle, [0091] regarding the remote operations subsystem detecting activation of a pull over remote assistance button, & [0092] regarding the remote operations subsystem assists and observes the autonomous vehicle in pulling over).
Zhang and Weslosky are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate remotely pulling the vehicle over, as disclosed by Weslosky, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of assisting the in-car automated driving systems in pausing the autonomous control of the vehicle.
Zhang, as modified, teaches acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle; and
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle according to the travelling image information, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction.
Claims 6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Kim, and further in view of Keith (US 2022/0394023).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 1 and 7, respectively, but does not disclose wherein
the network status information and the running status information are transmitted to the cloud control unit through a network connection, the network connection further transmits time information and encryption information corresponding to the running status information, and the cloud control unit determines accuracy of the running status information through the time information and the encryption information.
Kim teaches wherein
the network status information and the running status information are transmitted to the cloud control unit through a network connection (Kim, [0097] regarding checking a communication state between the vehicle communication device and the remote control system, [0098] regarding transmitting vehicle state information according to a signal protocol with the control system & [0053] regarding the vehicle communication device communicating with the remote control system using wireless internet or short range communication).
Zhang and Kim are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate using wireless internet or short range communication to communicate with the cloud services, as disclosed by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of the vehicle being able to communicate with the remote server.
Keith teaches the network connection further transmits time information and encryption information corresponding to the running status information, and the cloud control unit determines accuracy of the running status information through the time information and the encryption information (Keith, [0030] regarding the communication including an encrypted message and information that changes each communication, such as a date/time stamp to prevent a third party from copying the communication and so that the device is able to determine if the identifier is the same as a previous identifier and that the communication is a duplicate).
Zhang and Keith are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of communication. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate encrypting and time stamping the data sent, as disclosed by Keith, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of ensuring that only the remote server is able to read the message transmitted and that it is not a duplicate message.
Claims 2, 12, 14, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Kim, and further in view of Choi (US 2022/0413484).
Regarding claims 2, 14, and 22, in a different interpretation from above, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method, electronic device, and non-transitory storage medium as claimed in claims 1, 7, and 9, respectively, wherein
the running status information comprises driving status information of the vehicle, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: that the driving status information meets a driving need (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.).
Choi teaches wherein
the running status information comprises position information of the vehicle, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: that the position information meets a positioning accuracy requirement (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.) (Choi, [0116] regarding determining that remote control of the autonomous vehicle is required when reliability of current position information of the vehicle is low).
Zhang and Choi are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate determining remote control is required when position information reliability is low, as disclosed by Choi, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of starting remote driving when the vehicle is unsure of where it is.
Zhang, as modified, teaches wherein
the running status information comprises driving status information and position information of the vehicle, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: in response to a case that the driving status information meets a driving need and the position information meets a positioning accuracy requirement, determining the remote navigation vehicle control mode as the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information.
Regarding claims 12 and 20, Zhang in view of Kim and Choi teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 2 and 14, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote navigation vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
determining a planning path according to the position information; and
sending a second vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to the planning path, so as to control the vehicle to travel along the planning path, wherein the second vehicle control instruction comprises coordinate information characterizing being used to indicate the planning path (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based guidance being the cloud service issuing guidance or commands to instruct a car to perform specified maneuvers, such as crossing solid yellow lines to the other side of the road to go around an obstacle. By issuing guidance for the vehicle to go around an obstacle, the cloud service would have to know the location of the vehicle and then generate coordinates which make up the path for the vehicle to use to maneuver around the obstacle.).
Regarding claim 2, 14, and 22, in a different interpretation from above, Zhang in view of Kim teaches the method, electronic device, and non-transitory storage medium as claimed in claims 1, 7, and 9, respectively, wherein
the running status information comprises driving status information of the vehicle, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: that the driving status information meets a driving need (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.).
Choi teaches wherein
the running status information comprises position information of the vehicle, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: that the position information meets a positioning accuracy requirement (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.) (Choi, [0116] regarding determining that remote control of the autonomous vehicle is required when reliability of current position information of the vehicle is low).
Zhang and Choi are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate determining remote control is required when position information reliability is low, as disclosed by Choi, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of starting remote driving when the vehicle is unsure of where it is.
Kim teaches wherein
the running status information comprises path planning algorithm configuration information, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: the path planning algorithm configuration information indicates that the vehicle supports a path planning algorithm (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving being the cloud service taking over some or all driving tasks of a vehicle. By having the cloud service take over driving tasks of the vehicle, there must be a driving need.) (Choi, [0116] regarding determining that remote control of the autonomous vehicle is required when reliability of current position information of the vehicle is low) (Kim, [0087] regarding the vehicle processor being able to generate a detailed path).
Zhang and Kim are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate the vehicle being able to follow a path, as disclosed by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of enabling the remote system to provide the vehicle a path to follow.
Zhang, as modified, teaches wherein
the running status information comprises driving status information, position information of the vehicle and path planning algorithm configuration information, and the determining the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information comprises: in response to a case that the driving status information meets a driving need, the position information meets a positioning accuracy requirement, and the path planning algorithm configuration information indicates that the vehicle supports a path planning algorithm, determining the remote monitoring vehicle control mode as the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information.
Claims 13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Kim and Choi, and further in view of Weslosky.
Regarding claims 13 and 21, Zhang in view of Kim and Choi teaches the method and electronic device as claimed in claims 2 and 14, respectively, wherein in a case that the vehicle control mode adapted to the running status information is the remote monitoring vehicle control mode, the performing the control operation on the vehicle based on the vehicle control mode comprises:
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle (Zhang, Cloud Driving, regarding cloud-based driving assistance being cloud services to assist drivers and in-car automated driving systems).
Zhang does not explicitly teach acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle; and
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle according to the travelling image information, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction.
Kim teaches acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle (Kim, [0086] regarding the control system receiving vehicle information and the vehicle information including vehicle surrounding state information & [0055] regarding the vehicle surrounding information including image data captured through a camera).
Zhang and Kim are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate receiving image data from the vehicle, as disclosed by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of the cloud service having information required to remotely control the vehicle.
Weslosky teaches performing monitoring operation on the, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction (Weslosky, [0089] regarding a remote operations subsystem monitoring an autonomous vehicle operating autonomously using information collected from the autonomous vehicle, [0091] regarding the remote operations subsystem detecting activation of a pull over remote assistance button, & [0092] regarding the remote operations subsystem assists and observes the autonomous vehicle in pulling over).
Zhang and Weslosky are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of remote vehicle control. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang, as modified, to incorporate remotely pulling the vehicle over, as disclosed by Weslosky, with a reasonable expectation of success because doing so would yield the predictable result of assisting the in-car automated driving systems in pausing the autonomous control of the vehicle.
Zhang, as modified, teaches acquiring travelling image information of the vehicle; and
performing monitoring operation on the vehicle according to the travelling image information, and sending a third vehicle control instruction to the vehicle according to timing, wherein the third vehicle control instruction comprises a start instruction, a pause instruction or a stop instruction.
Conclusion
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/ALEX B GRIFFIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/Erin D Bishop/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665