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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 12/27/2024 has been considered and made of record by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the labeling of FIG. 1, (a), (b) is improper. According to 37 CFR 1.84(u)(1), the different views must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals, starting with 1, independent of the numbering of the sheets and, if possible, in the order in which they appear on the drawing sheet(s). Partial views intended to form one complete view, on one or several sheets, must be identified by the same number followed by a capital letter (e.g. FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B). View numbers must be preceded by the abbreviation "FIG." 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraph [0012] “(a) is” should be replaced by FIG. 1A is. In paragraph [0012] “(b) is” should be replaced by FIG. 1B is
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 1, line 1, “transmission system comprising” should be replaced by transmission system, comprising:. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 1, lines 5, 8, 9, and 12 in all the instances “the remote stations” should be replaced by the plurality of remote stations. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 1, line 11, “the data range” should be replaced by a data range. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 1, line 14, “is executed,” should be replaced by is executed, and. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 1, line 16, “when the operation” should be replaced by when an operation. 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the own station" in lines 11-12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the remote station" in lines 15 and 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There are a plurality of remote stations in the system. The Applicant needs to specify to which one of those remote stations this limitation is referring back to.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objections and the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in this Office action. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: As to claim 1, a comprehensive search of prior art of record failed to show either alone or in combination, a control and monitoring signal transmission system, comprising: a master station that transmits and receives data to and from a control part, and a plurality of remote stations that transmit and receive data to and from the master station by a transmission synchronization method via a common transmission line, wherein: transmitting and receiving data between the master station and the remote stations is performed by superimposing data on a frame repeatedly transmitted from the master station, the frame is time divided, control and monitoring data range wherein the transmission direction of the data is determined and allocated to each of the remote stations is provided, management data range for use in data transfer with all of the remote stations is provided separately from the control and monitoring data range, numerical value as an address for obtaining the timing of the data range allocated to the own station in the control and monitoring data range is set for each of the remote stations, the master station transmits a comparison identifier using the management data range at timing when a process for recognizing the address is executed, the remote station enables data transfer using the control and monitoring data range when receiving the comparison identifier, stores the comparison identifier, and when the operation identifier is transmitted from the master station, the remote station enables or disables data transfer using the control and monitoring data range basing on a result of comparison between the operation identifier and the comparison identifier.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (WO 2019/202667, This reference discloses a control and monitoring signal transmission system, comprising: a master station that transmits and receives data to and from a control part, and a plurality of remote stations that transmit and receive data to and from the master station by a transmission synchronization method via a common transmission line, wherein: transmitting and receiving data between the master station and the remote stations is performed by superimposing data on a frame repeatedly transmitted from the master station (see paragraph 0001 and claim 1 of the reference), the frame is time divided, control and monitoring data range management data range for use in data transfer with all of the remote stations is provided separately from the control and monitoring data range, (see Fig. 6) numerical value as an address for obtaining the timing of the data range allocated to the own station in the control and monitoring data range is set for each of the remote stations (see paragraph 0003). However, it fails to disclose the rest of the limitations underlined above).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEILA MALEK whose telephone number is (571)272-8731. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm.
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, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LEILA . MALEK
Examiner
Art Unit 2632
/LEILA MALEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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