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 .
Applicant’s Representative, Mr. Kin-Wah Tong, Reg. No, 39,400, was contacted on 01/16/2026, and requested to file a Terminal Disclaimer to overcome the Nonstatutory Double Patenting rejections of claim 1-20. Applicant requested an Office action.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if a Terminal Disclaimer is filed to overcome the Nonstatutory Double Patenting rejections of claim 1-20 and approved by the Office.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Boss (US 2014/0077952 A1), in view of Klitsgaard (US 2002/0014955 A1), in view of Crider (US 2007/0222587 A1), in view of Lee (US 2007/0182565 A1), in view of Myers (US 2011/0311052 A1), and further in view of Podnar (US 2018/0111698 A1), and reduce to practice the claimed subject matter; therefore, it is Examiner's opinion that claims 1-9, 11, 15, and 17-25 shall be allowed. See prosecution history of US application 17/330,766.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. US 12,143,170 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because subject claims are slightly broader in the terminology, it would have been obvious for the luggage item to be a cargo item to be place in any stowage location of the carrier transport vehicle, See analysis below.
Subject claim
Patented claims
1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instruction that, when executed by the processor when deployed in a carrier transport vehicle, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a notification of a cargo item to be placed in a stowage location of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the cargo item; detecting, via the identifier of the cargo item, that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the identifier of the cargo item is obtained via a wireless signal from the cargo item; and presenting at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage location, in response to the detecting that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage location via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the cargo item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage location that is reserved for the cargo item, wherein the stowage location comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage location.
1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instruction that, when executed by the processor when deployed in a carrier transport vehicle, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a notification of a luggage item to be placed in a stowage bin of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the luggage item; detecting, via the identifier of the luggage item, that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the identifier of the luggage item is obtained via a wireless signal from the luggage item; and presenting at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage bin, in response to the detecting that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage bin via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the luggage item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage bin that is reserved for the luggage item, wherein the stowage bin comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage bin.
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14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a carrier transport vehicle, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a notification of a cargo item to be placed in a stowage location of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the cargo item; detecting, via the identifier of the cargo item, that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the identifier of the cargo item is obtained via a wireless signal from the cargo item; and presenting at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage location, in response to the detecting that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage location via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the cargo item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage location that is reserved for the cargo item, wherein the stowage location comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage location.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a carrier transport vehicle, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a notification of a luggage item to be placed in a stowage bin of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the luggage item; detecting, via the identifier of the luggage item, that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the identifier of the luggage item is obtained via a wireless signal from the luggage item; and presenting at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage bin, in response to the detecting that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage bin via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the luggage item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage bin that is reserved for the luggage item, wherein the stowage bin comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage bin.
15. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processor of a carrier transport vehicle, a notification of a cargo item to be placed in a stowage location of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the cargo item; detecting, by the processor via the identifier of the cargo item, that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the identifier of the cargo item is obtained via a wireless signal from the cargo item; and presenting, by the processor, at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage location, in response to the detecting that the cargo item is proximate to the stowage location, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage location via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the cargo item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage location that is reserved for the cargo item, wherein the stowage location comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage location.
15. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processor of a carrier transport vehicle, a notification of a luggage item to be placed in a stowage bin of the carrier transport vehicle, the notification including an identifier of the luggage item; detecting, by the processor via the identifier of the luggage item, that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the identifier of the luggage item is obtained via a wireless signal from the luggage item; and presenting, by the processor, at least one visual indicator associated with the stowage bin, in response to the detecting that the luggage item is proximate to the stowage bin, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises projecting the at least one visual indicator as a visual overlay on the stowage bin via an augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the presenting the at least one visual indicator comprises transmitting an instruction to the augmented reality endpoint device, wherein the luggage item comprises an electronic identification tag, wherein the electronic identification tag is provided, via a wireless transceiver of the electronic identification tag, with an additional notification of an identifier of the stowage bin that is reserved for the luggage item, wherein the stowage bin comprises at least one of: a wireless beacon or an augmented reality marker, wherein the electronic identification tag presents at least a second visual indicator on a display of the electronic identification tag in response to the electronic identification tag detecting the stowage bin.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Omer S. Khan whose telephone number is (571)270-5146. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am to 8:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian A. Zimmerman can be reached at 571-272-3059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Omer S Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686