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 .
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 1-21 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.
Claim 1 will be discussed as exemplary, but the reasoning applies to all claims. In claim 1, the step of determining as a first counting value a result obtained by rounding a quotient of dividing the height difference by a first multiple threshold is not properly supported by paragraphs [0071]-[0075] of the specification as claimed by the Applicant’s remarks. The rounded quotient is described as a secondary value in relation to the first counting value, but it is not said to be the actual counting value. The closest mentioning of a value as described is only found in paragraph [0077], wherein the quotient is a second counting value calculated by a determined duration of a jump. For the purpose of prior art consideration, the original claims will be considered on the merit of their previous forms prior to the Applicant’s amendments and remarks until the issue of the unsupported paragraph for the quotient value relating to the first count value has been settled.
Applicant is invited to request an interview to discuss and resolve the issue.
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.
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)(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 1-2, 5-7, 10-11, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang (CN110755798A).
Regarding claim 1, the additional subject matter pertaining to the first counting value being a result of rounding a quotient of dividing the height difference by a first multiple threshold is not allowable for the reasons stated in the 112(a) rejection included herein. With regards to the subject matter of the now-cancelled claim 3 that has been incorporated into claim 1, the grounds for rejection of claim 3 set forth in the last Non-Final Office Action of 07/01/2026 are incorporated herein. Regarding all other subject matter of claim 1, the grounds for rejection set forth in the aforementioned last Non-Final Office Action are incorporated herein.
Regarding claims 2, 5-7, 10-11, and 14-20, the grounds for rejection set forth in the aforementioned last Non-Final Office Action are incorporated herein.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Germiquet (JP6550447B2).
Regarding claim 4, the grounds for rejection set forth in the aforementioned last Non-Final Office Action are incorporated herein.
Claims 8-9, 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Sun (CN110909571A).
Regarding claim 8-9, 13, the grounds for rejection set forth in the aforementioned last Non-Final Office Action are incorporated herein.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Tamoto (US20040096084A1).
Regarding claim 12, the grounds for rejection set forth in the aforementioned last Non-Final Office Action are incorporated herein.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 21 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The subject matter of claim 21 is in alignment with paragraph [0077] of the specification.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW JAMES BODNARK whose telephone number is (703)756-5378. The examiner can normally be reached 8a-5p.
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, Vu Le can be reached at (571) 272-7332. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW JAMES BODNARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2668
/VU LE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2668
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