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 .
Detailed Action
This office action is in response to the amendment filed on April 20, 2026. Claims 11-13 and 20 are cancelled and claims 1-2, 8-10, 14-19 are currently amended. Claims 1-10 and 14-19 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-10 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Amended claims 1 and 14 recite a number of relationships to an “input/output (I/O) sub-system”. While the specifications mention input or output, they do not support and do not recite the claimed I/O sub-system. Note, a sub-system is subcomponent of a larger system. The specifications do not provide support for a sub-system even.
When considering the claims, this issue becomes apparent. The amended claim 1 for instance claims “coding clusters operably coupled to the I/O sub-system”. This is not the same as reciting a coding cluster can input and output to a network. Instead I/O sub-system implies there is a system and a subsystem wherein, the subsystem is coupled/connected to the coding cluster (group of coding nodes). This claimed layout is not supported by the specifications.
Claims 2-10 and 15-19 depend from independent claims 1 and 14 respectively and as a result incorporate the amended I/O subsystem. As such, claims 1-10 and 14-19 are all subject to the 112 1st paragraph rejection.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10 and 14-19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant contends that the amended claims overcome the previously applied double patenting rejections. This argument is moot since the amended claim limitations are deemed to be new matter that are not supported by the present specifications. As such a new 112 1st paragraph rejection has been issued.
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 AZIZUL Q CHOUDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-3909. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/AZIZUL CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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