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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed 11/25/2024. Claims 1-10, 12-13, 15-16, 18, 21-22 and 24-27 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 11/25/2024 has been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 05/27/2026 has been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim 3 is 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. Claim 3 recites the limitation "the controlled teleoperation phase" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1 and similarly with respect to claim 27
The recitation “defining a departure region and a reentry region, centered on a current pose of the at least one slave device, wherein the departure region is a first subspace of the rotational space of the at least one slave device, and wherein the reentry region is a second subspace of the rotational space of the at least one slave device; controlling the movement of the at least one slave device so that: a) if the nominal target pose is outside said working region, and the nominal target pose and the modified target pose are inside said departure region, the orientation of the at least one slave device is controlled to converge to the modified target pose; b) if at least one of the nominal target pose and the modified target pose is outside said departure region, rotational movement of the at least one slave device is blocked until both the nominal target pose and the modified target pose enter into said reentry region; c) when, after exiting the working region, both the nominal target pose and the modified target pose return to the reentry region, the orientation of the at least one slave device is controlled to converge to the modified target pose, through a slowed teleoperation phase, the slowed teleoperation phase ending when the orientation of the at least one slave device converges to the modified target pose.” overcomes the art of record, rendering the claims in a manner specific enough to overcome the methods disclosed in the closest prior art Diolaiti et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2019/0110847). The claims specifically overcome the art of record, because of the limitation directed to improving control of a follower robotic manipulator from an exit and re-entry into a working space. For example, Diolaiti discloses commanding the follower robotic manipulator to a retraction pose which is not convergent to the leader manipulator pose for retracting the follower, however the recited method improving control for the specifically recited criteria corresponding to the status of the nominal target pose, for re-entry when the follower is outside of the working region is neither discloses or rendered obvious in view of the art of record. The subject matter of the claims is therefore allowable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. DiMaio et. al (U.S. Publication No. 2020/0360097) discloses master/slave registration and control for teleoperation, including a robotic system for surgical teleoperation with a master/slave configuration for changing the pose of the slave end-effector in response to a change in pose of a master end-effector, see Abstract and [0110]. Xu et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0293252) discloses a master-slave motion control method, robot system, device, and storage medium, including determining a target pose of a slave tool based on the current pose of the master manipulator and a pose relationship between the master manipulator and the slave tool; and generating a control signal for the slave tool based on the target pose of the slave tool, see Abstract and [0029]-[0036].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERROD IRVIN DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)272-7083. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wade Miles can be reached at (571) 270-7777. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JERROD IRVIN DAVIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3656
Prosecution Insights