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 .
This is a final office action on the merits. Claims 1, 14-15, 23-28, and 31-33 are currently pending and are addressed below.
The examiner notes that the fundamentals of the rejection are based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language. Applicant is kindly invited to consider the
reference as a whole. References are to be interpreted as by one of ordinary skill in the art rather than as by a novice. See MPEP 2141. Therefore, the relevant inquiry when interpreting a reference is not what the reference expressly discloses on its face but what the reference would teach or suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 17/689,886 filed on September 10, 2020.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Specifically, it is recited that Burema's assertion of using electricity to "zap insects or weeds" is purely speculative. This is especially so when considering that Burema specifically discloses an aerial farm robot which is likely to be considered by a person skilled in the art as impractical to effectively "zap" insects in any meaningful capacity, and moreover it is highly improbable that an aerial farm robot could carry sufficient electric energy and maneuver such that it would be able to destroy weeds. The aerial robot is explicitly described in [0072] to use a low-voltage battery power source (12V for powering the toolset), and so it is neither disclosed in nor rendered obvious by Burema of the claimed feature of a weeding device that uses a high-power electrical pulse generator coupled to electrode applicators. The examiner has carefully considered this argument and respectfully disagrees. Burema clearly discloses that the aerial farm robot may support toolsets using high voltage localized electricity to zap insects or weeds (see at least Burema, ¶¶ [0070]). The examiner notes that Burema is not relied upon for a generic teaching of electricity, but a specific agricultural pest and weed control toolset using localized high voltage energy applied to the targets. The argument that Burema is purely speculative is not persuasive since the reference explicitly incorporates the use as one of the supported toolsets for the farm robot. Additionally, the assertion regarding the impracticality of an aerial robot carrying sufficient electrical energy to destroy all weeds over an entire field from a single onboard charge is not present in the claim language under broadest reasonable interpretation. The claim recites “at least one tending tool” comprising an electrical weeding device, but does not constraint the claim to any particular robot size, flight duration, configuration, etc. Therefore, applicant’s arguments are not limiting features of the claim. As such, the rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 14-15, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Burema Harm et al. (US2014303814A1), hereinafter referred to as Harm.
Regarding claim 1, Harm discloses: a farming method utilizing autonomous farming robots that operate to monitor and tend to a farm plot, the autonomous farming robots including at least one monitoring robot and at least one tending robot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048] which discloses the aerial farm robot equipped with sensors and toolsets to allow for various tasks to be completed), the method comprising:
monitoring the farm plot with the at least one monitoring robot, the at least one monitoring robot traversing the farm plot and generating, from a sensor set of the at least one monitoring robot, at least one farm plot data set (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [Table 3], “Crop Monitoring,” [0160], [0184] which discloses the farm map corresponding to plots of land in the designated area, this means monitoring the farm plot with the at least one monitoring robot, the at least one monitoring robot traversing the farm plot and generating, from a sensor set of the at least one monitoring robot)
processing the at least one farm plot data set to generate operating instructions for the at least one tending robot, separate from the at least one monitoring robot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [0184], [0188] which discloses the split of the area depending on the task required and the active/inactive paths generated from the control system, this means processing the at least one farm plot data set to generate operating instructions for the at least one tending robot, separate from the at least one monitoring robot)
executing the operating instructions at the at least one tending robot so that the at least one tending robot traverses the farm plot and performs weeding tending tasks on the farm plot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [0061], [0109], which discloses the aerial farm robot with the ability to carry a toolset depending on the task required to be performed, [Table 3] discloses the various tasks such as harvesting, weed control, soil sampling, etc., this means executing the operating instructions at the at least one tending robot so that the at least one tending robot traverses the farm plot and performs weeding tending tasks on the farm plot)
wherein the at least one tending robot comprises a tool system for performing a weeding tending task on the farm plot (see at least Harm, Table 3, ¶¶ [0070], which discloses an example of a tool system for performing a weed tending task on the farm plot that uses lasers and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects or weeds)
wherein the tool system of the at least one tending robot comprises an electrical weeding device that is arranged to apply electrical energy to weed targets, wherein the electrical weeding device comprises a high-power electrical pulse generator coupled to electrode applicators (see at least Harm, Table 3, “Task/Toolset,” ¶¶ [0070], which disclose the task of spot weeding, which uses a weeding device that removes weeds with high voltage localized electricity to zap them, this means that there is a high-power electrical pulse generator coupled to electrode applicators to provide the high voltage required to zap the weeds)
Regarding claim 14, Harm discloses: a farming system for monitoring and tending to a farm plot, the system comprising:
an autonomous monitoring robot for monitoring the farm plot, the autonomous monitoring robot comprising a sensor set (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [Table 3], “Crop Monitoring,” [0160], [0184] which discloses the farm map corresponding to plots of land in the designated area)
an autonomous tending robot for tending to the farm plot, the autonomous tending robot comprising at least one tool for tending to a farm plot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [0061], [0109], and [Table 3])
a server in communication with the autonomous monitoring and tending robots via a network (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0167] which discloses a server in communication with the autonomous monitoring and tending robots via a network)
wherein the autonomous monitoring robot is configured to traverse the farm plot and generate, from the sensor set, at least one farm plot data set (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [Table 3], “Crop Monitoring,” [0160], [0184], which discloses the autonomous robot traversing the farm plot and generating from sensor data, farm plot data)
transmit the at least one farm plot data set to the server; the server is configured to receive and process the at least one farm plot data set to generate operating instructions for the autonomous tending robot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [0061], [0109], and [Table 3], which discloses transmitting the farm plot data to the server)
transmit the tending instructions to the autonomous tending robot (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], ¶¶ [0191] which discloses the splitting of fields into aerial robot missions restricted to the appropriate aerial farm robots, which means transmitting the tending instructions to the autonomous tending robot)
the autonomous tending robot is configured to receive and execute the operating instructions so as to be further configured by the operating instructions to perform tending tasks on the farm plot using its at least one tending tool, including at least one of: seed-planting, weeding, and applying crop treatments (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0048], [0061], [0109], which discloses the aerial farm robot with the ability to carry a toolset depending on the task required to be performed, [Table 3] discloses the various tasks such as harvesting, weed control, soil sampling, etc., this means that the autonomous tending robot is configured to receive and execute the operating instructions so as to be further configured by the operating instructions to perform tending tasks on the farm plot using its at least one tending tool, including at least one of: seed-planting, weeding, and applying crop treatments)
wherein the at least one tending tool comprises an electrical weeding device that is arranged to apply electrical energy to weed targets, wherein the electrical weeding device comprises a high-power electrical pulse generator coupled to electrode applicators (see at least Harm, Table 3, “Task/Toolset,” ¶¶ [0070], which disclose the task of spot weeding, which uses a weeding device that removes weeds with high voltage localized electricity to zap them, this means that there is a high-power electrical pulse generator coupled to electrode applicators to provide the high voltage required to zap the weeds)
Regarding claim 15, Harm discloses: the farming system of claim 14, further comprising:
a servicing station situated on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots including at least one of: replenishing their energy sources, transferring data, refilling consumables, switching tools and switching task configurations (see at least Harm, Table 2 which discloses a base station where maintenance for the aerial robots can be performed after arrival, this means that there is a servicing station situated on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots including at least one of: replenishing their energy sources, transferring data, refilling consumables, switching tools and switching task configurations, specifically see, “Parking,” “Refill,” Change/Recharge” sections of the table for examples incorporating this)
wherein at least one of the server and the autonomous monitoring and tending robots are arranged to:
calculate an operations limit for one of autonomous monitoring and tending robots beyond which the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots requires servicing at the servicing station to continue effective performance of its operations (see at least Harm, Table 5 which discloses the predicted calculated limitations of the aerial farm robots along with threshold values of maintenance to ensure that operations run smoothly, this means that an operations limit is calculated for the monitoring and tending robots beyond which the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots requires servicing at the servicing station to continue effective performance of its operations)
determine the location of the servicing station and the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0053] which discloses determining the location of the servicing station and the robots)
determine a route for the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots that returns the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots to the location of the servicing station before exceeding the operations limit (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0188] which discloses the estimated active path in which an aerial farm robot can cover based on its limitations—the time and resources it takes before it requires maintenance, this means determining a route for the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots that returns the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots to the location of the servicing station before exceeding the operations limit)
guide the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots across the farm plot in accordance with the determined route to return the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending to the servicing station for servicing (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0188]-[0189] which discloses the estimated active path in which an aerial farm robot can cover based on its limitations—the time and resources it takes before it requires maintenance and estimated length of an active run the robot is guided along, this means guiding the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots across the farm plot in accordance with the determined route to return the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending to the servicing station for servicing)
Regarding claim 26, Harm discloses: the farming method of claim 1, further comprising:
situating a servicing station on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous farming robots (see at least Harm, Table 2 which discloses a base station where maintenance for the aerial robots can be performed after arrival, this means situating a servicing station on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous farming robots, specifically see, “Parking,” “Refill,” Change/Recharge” sections of the table for examples incorporating this)
calculating an operations limit for the at least one of the autonomous farming robots beyond which the at least one of the autonomous farming robots requires servicing at the servicing station to continue effective performance of its operations (see at least Harm, Table 5 which discloses the predicted calculated limitations of the aerial farm robots along with threshold values of maintenance to ensure that operations run smoothly, this means that an operations limit is calculated for the monitoring and tending robots beyond which the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots requires servicing at the servicing station to continue effective performance of its operations)
determining the location of the servicing station and the at least one of the autonomous farming robots (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0053] which discloses determining the location of the servicing station and the robots)
determining a route for the at least one of the autonomous farming robots that returns the at least one of the autonomous farming robots to the location of the servicing station before exceeding the operations limit (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0188] which discloses the estimated active path in which an aerial farm robot can cover based on its limitations—the time and resources it takes before it requires maintenance, this means determining a route for the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots that returns the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots to the location of the servicing station before exceeding the operations limit)
guiding the at least one of the autonomous farming robots across the farm plot in accordance with the determined route to the servicing station for servicing (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0188]-[0189] which discloses the estimated active path in which an aerial farm robot can cover based on its limitations—the time and resources it takes before it requires maintenance and estimated length of an active run the robot is guided along, this means guiding the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots across the farm plot in accordance with the determined route to return the one of the autonomous monitoring and tending to the servicing station for servicing)
servicing the at least one of the autonomous farming robots at the servicing station (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0188]-[0189] which discloses the estimated active path in which an aerial farm robot can cover based on its limitations—the time and resources it takes before it requires maintenance and estimated length of an active run the robot is guided along; Table 2 which discloses a base station where maintenance for the aerial robots can be performed after arrival, this means situating a servicing station on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous farming robots, specifically see, “Parking,” “Refill,” Change/Recharge” sections of the table for examples, this means servicing the at least one of the autonomous farming robots at a servicing station)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 23-25 and 27-28, and 31-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harm in view of Van Essen Yahoel et al. (WO20190144231A1), hereinafter referred to as Yahoel.
Regarding claim 23, Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel discloses: the farming method of claim 1, wherein the tending robot is arranged to:
determine a weed to be destroyed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0054]-[0055] which discloses the detection and determination of undesirable plants such as weeds to be destroyed)
guide at least one the applicators towards a location of the determined weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0059]-[0061] which discloses the process of eliminating a detected weed to be destroyed by positioning the applicator (waveguide) to cover or encapsulate a portion of the weed)
enable the electrical pulse generator so that an electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0027]-[0031], [0059]-[0061] which discloses enabling the device to deliver the necessary electrical pulse, radiation, magneton, etc., to destroy/eliminate the weed, this means that the electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Harm to include determine a weed to be destroyed, guide at least one the applicators towards a location of the determined weed, and enable the electrical pulse generator so that an electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed as taught by Yahoel. The examiner would like to note that Harm’s embodiment makes the notion of electrical weeding entirely possible, as in the disclosure, it is recited that, “in addition to the toolsets…it can support other toolsets…from simple localized herbicide to insecticide applicators that use lasers, vision, and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects, or weeds,” [0070], however, the process of zapping the weeds is not as extensive as in Yahoel. Incorporating the teachings of Yahoel would allow for an improvement to the base device of Harm that allows for further maximization of crop growth and yield into the adaptive methods disclosed in Harm.
Regarding claim 24, Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel discloses: the farming method of claim 23, wherein the tending robot is configured to position the electrode applicators at either end of the weed to be destroyed, with one electrode applicator being electrically connected to a lower or root portion of the weed to be destroyed, and the other directed towards an upper part of the weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0027]-[0031], [0059]-[0061] which discloses enabling the device to deliver the necessary electrical pulse, radiation, magneton, etc., to destroy/eliminate the weed, this means that the electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed; positioning the applicator (waveguide) to cover or encapsulate a portion of the weed)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Harm to include position the electrode applicators at either end of the weed to be destroyed, with one electrode applicator being electrically connected to a lower or root portion of the weed to be destroyed, and the other directed towards an upper part of the weed as taught by Yahoel. The examiner would like to note that Harm’s embodiment makes the notion of electrical weeding entirely possible, as in the disclosure, it is recited that, “in addition to the toolsets…it can support other toolsets…from simple localized herbicide to insecticide applicators that use lasers, vision, and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects, or weeds,” [0070], however, the process of zapping the weeds is not as extensive as in Yahoel. Incorporating the teachings of Yahoel would allow for an improvement to the base device of Harm that allows for further maximization of crop growth and yield into the adaptive methods disclosed in Harm.
Regarding claim 25, Harm discloses: the farming method of claim 23, wherein:
the operating instructions comprise task waypoints, each specifying a tending task to be performed at an associated location (see at least Harm, Fig.34, [0086], [0194]-[0197] which discloses a service order associated with the waypoint program, which are operating instructions specifying a tending task to be performed at an associated location and the general waypoint program)
the at least one tending robot receiving executing the operating instructions thereby traversing the farm plot to perform tending tasks at their respective specified locations (see at least Harm, Fig.34, ¶¶ [0085]-[0088], [0194]-[0197] which discloses an instance of the at least one tending robot receiving executing the operating instructions thereby traversing the farm plot to perform tending tasks at their respective specified locations
Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel teaches: wherein task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0022], [0025]-[0029], [0075], which discloses wherein task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Harm to include wherein task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed as taught by Yahoel. The examiner would like to note that Harm’s embodiment makes the notion of electrical weeding entirely possible, as in the disclosure, it is recited that, “in addition to the toolsets…it can support other toolsets…from simple localized herbicide to insecticide applicators that use lasers, vision, and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects, or weeds,” [0070], however, the process of zapping the weeds is not as extensive as in Yahoel. Incorporating the teachings of Yahoel would allow for an improvement to the base device of Harm that allows for further maximization of crop growth and yield into the adaptive methods disclosed in Harm.
Regarding claim 27, Harm discloses: the farming method of claim 26, wherein the servicing station is arranged to provide automatic servicing to the at least one of the autonomous farming robots that includes at least one of: replenishing their energy sources, transferring data, refilling consumables, switching tools, and switching task configurations (see at least Harm, Table 2 which discloses a base station where maintenance for the aerial robots can be performed after arrival, this means that there is a servicing station situated on the farm plot, the servicing station being arranged to provide servicing to at least one of the autonomous monitoring and tending robots including at least one of: replenishing their energy sources, transferring data, refilling consumables, switching tools and switching task configurations, specifically see, “Parking,” “Refill,” Change/Recharge” sections of the table for examples incorporating this)
Regarding claim 28, Harm discloses: the farming method of claim 26, wherein the servicing station comprises a battery-swapping station at which an exhausted battery of the at least one of the autonomous farming robots can be exchanged for a charged battery during a servicing of the at least one of the autonomous farming robots at the servicing station (see at least Harm, ¶¶ [0151]-[0155] which discloses the servicing station comprising a battery-swapping station at which an exhausted battery of the at least one of the autonomous farming robots can be exchanged for a charged battery during a servicing of the at least one of the autonomous farming robots at the servicing station)
Regarding claim 31, Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel discloses: the farming system of claim 14, wherein the tending robot is configured by the operating instructions to:
determine a weed to be destroyed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0054]-[0055] which discloses the detection and determination of undesirable plants such as weeds to be destroyed)
guide at least one the applicators towards a location of the determined weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0059]-[0061] which discloses the process of eliminating a detected weed to be destroyed by positioning the applicator (waveguide) to cover or encapsulate a portion of the weed)
enable the electrical pulse generator so that an electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0027]-[0031], [0059]-[0061] which discloses enabling the device to deliver the necessary electrical pulse, radiation, magneton, etc., to destroy/eliminate the weed, this means that the electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Harm to include determine a weed to be destroyed, guide at least one the applicators towards a location of the determined weed, and enable the electrical pulse generator so that an electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed as taught by Yahoel. The examiner would like to note that Harm’s embodiment makes the notion of electrical weeding entirely possible, as in the disclosure, it is recited that, “in addition to the toolsets…it can support other toolsets…from simple localized herbicide to insecticide applicators that use lasers, vision, and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects, or weeds,” [0070], however, the process of zapping the weeds is not as extensive as in Yahoel. Incorporating the teachings of Yahoel would allow for an improvement to the base device of Harm that allows for further maximization of crop growth and yield into the adaptive methods disclosed in Harm.
Regarding claim 32, Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel discloses: the farming system of claim 31, wherein the tending robot is configured to position the electrode applicators at either end of the weed to be destroyed, with one electrode applicator being electrically connected to a lower or root portion of the weed to be destroyed, and the other directed towards an upper part of the weed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0027]-[0031], [0059]-[0061] which discloses enabling the device to deliver the necessary electrical pulse, radiation, magneton, etc., to destroy/eliminate the weed, this means that the electrical pulse is transmitted through the weed; positioning the applicator (waveguide) to cover or encapsulate a portion of the weed)
Regarding claim 33, Harm discloses: the farming system of claim 31, wherein:
the operating instructions comprise task waypoints, each specifying a tending task to be performed at an associated location (see at least Harm, Fig.34, [0086], [0194]-[0197] which discloses a service order associated with the waypoint program, which are operating instructions specifying a tending task to be performed at an associated location and the general waypoint program)
the at least one tending robot receiving and executing the operating instructions thereby traversing the farm plot to perform tending tasks at their respective specified locations (see at least Harm, Fig.34, ¶¶ [0085]-[0088], [0194]-[0197] which discloses an instance of the at least one tending robot receiving executing the operating instructions thereby traversing the farm plot to perform tending tasks at their respective specified locations)
Harm is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Yahoel teaches: task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed (see at least Yahoel, ¶¶ [0022], [0025]-[0029], [0075], which discloses wherein task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Harm to include wherein task waypoints comprise weeding tending tasks to be performed at the location of weeds to be destroyed as taught by Yahoel. The examiner would like to note that Harm’s embodiment makes the notion of electrical weeding entirely possible, as in the disclosure, it is recited that, “in addition to the toolsets…it can support other toolsets…from simple localized herbicide to insecticide applicators that use lasers, vision, and high voltage localized electricity to zap insects, or weeds,” [0070], however, the process of zapping the weeds is not as extensive as in Yahoel. Incorporating the teachings of Yahoel would allow for an improvement to the base device of Harm that allows for further maximization of crop growth and yield into the adaptive methods disclosed in Harm.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIRSTEN JADE M SANTOS whose telephone number is (571)272-7442. The examiner can normally be reached Monday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, 6:00-8:00 pm (+ with flex).
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, Rachid Bendidi can be reached at (571) 272-4896. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KIRSTEN JADE M SANTOS/Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/RACHID BENDIDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
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