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 the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This office action is in response to the application filed on 09/16/2024.
Drawing
The drawings filed on 09/16/2024 are acceptable.
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS/s) submitted on 09/16/2024, 09/04/2025, 02/18/2026 and 06/10/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F.R. § 1.97. Accordingly, the IDSs have been considered by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. (102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nerheim (US 2017/0241753 A1).
In re to claim 12, Nerheim discloses a conducted electrical weapon (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see par. [0024]) comprising: a signal generator (i.e. 118, see par. [0024]) configured to generate a stimulus signal (i.e. see par. [0065]); a plurality of wire-tethered electrodes (i.e. 242/244, 246/248, 252/254 and 256/258, fig. 2 see pars. [0025, 0068]); and a processing circuit (i.e. 114, fig. 1) for deploying the plurality of wire-tethered electrodes (i.e. 242/244, 246/248, 252/254 and 256/258, fig. 2 see pars. [0025, 0068]) from the conducted electrical weapon and providing the stimulus signal across the plurality of wire-tethered electrodes (i.e. 244, 248, 254 and 258, fig. 2 see pars. [0025, 0068]), wherein the processing circuit (i.e. 114, fig. 1) is configured to: deploy a single first electrode (i.e. 242/244, fig. 2) of the plurality of wire-tethered electrodes (i.e. 242/244, 246/248, 252/254 and 256/258, fig. 2 see pars. [0025, 0068]) in response to a first activation signal (i.e. see pars. [0071-0072]) of a sequence of activation signals (i.e. see para. [0078]); deploy a second electrode (i.e. 246/248, fig. 2) of the plurality of wire-tethered electrodes (i.e. 242/244, 246/248, 252/254 and 256/258, fig. 2 see pars. [0025, 0068]) in response to a second activation signal (i.e. see para. [0067,0078]); of the sequence of activation signals (i.e. see par. [0067, 0078]); and couple the signal generator across the single first electrode (i.e. 242/244, fig. 2) and the second electrode (i.e. 246/248, fig. 2) to provide the stimulus signal (i.e. also see electrodes 244, 248, 258 and 258, fig. 2, pars. [0035, 0065,0067, 0078]).
In re to claim 13, Nerheim discloses the conducted electrical weapon (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see par. [0024]) of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit (i.e. 114, fig. 1) is further configured to receive the first activation signal (i.e. see pars. [0071-0072]), and wherein the first activation signal comprises a single first activation signal (i.e. see pars. [0041, 0071-0072]).
In re to claim 14, Nerheim discloses the conducted electrical weapon (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see par. [0024]) of claim 13, further comprising a user control interface (i.e. 112, fig. 1, see pars. [0024, 0029]), wherein the single first activation signal is received (i.e. from 116, fig, 1) by the processing circuit (i.e. 114, fig. 1) via the user control interface (i.e. via 112, fig. 1, see pars. [0024-0025]).
In re to claim 15, Nerheim discloses the conducted electrical weapon (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see par. [0024]) of claim 12, further comprising an automatic control interface, wherein the automatic control interface automatically generates the second activation signal in accordance with an external event detected by the automatic control interface independent of a user of the conducted electrical weapon (i.e. see pars. [0029-0033]).
In re to claim 17, Nerheim discloses the conducted electrical weapon (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see par. [0024]) of claim 12, further comprising a wireless communication circuit (i.e. see par. [0061]), wherein the first activation signal is received from a remote-control device in wireless communication with the processing circuit of the conducted electrical weapon via the wireless communication circuit (i.e. see par. [0061]),
In re to claims 1-11 and 18-20, method claims 1-11 and 18-20 are rejected based on the following case law, note that under MPEP 2112.02, the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device inherently performs the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed Cir. 1986). Therefore, the previous rejections based on the apparatus will not be repeated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 16 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claims but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In re to claim 16, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “wherein the single first electrode is configured to launch from the conducted electrical weapon at a first angle relative to the conducted electrical weapon, wherein the second electrode is configured to launch from the conducted electrical weapon at a second angle relative to the conducted electrical weapon, and wherein the first angle is parallel to the second angle”.
The art of record does not disclose the above limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify the art of record to include either of the above limitations.
Remarks
The examiner has cited columns, line numbers, paragraph numbers, references, or
figures in the references applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses to fully consider the reference in entirety, as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2141.02 and § 2123.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEMANE MEHARI whose telephone number is (571)270-7603. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM TO 6 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thienvu V. Tran can be reached at 5712701276. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YEMANE MEHARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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