DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claim 8 is directed to a “a computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable program codes embodied in the medium”. Based upon consideration of all the relevant factors with respect to the claim as a whole, claim 8 is held to claim including ineligible transitory signals due to the fact that the specification is silent with regarding the definition of a “computer program product”, and is therefore rejected as ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101. The rational for this finding is explained below:
The specification does not provide clear definition of “computer program product”. In particular, the specification is silent about the possible transitory medium in the embodiments. For instance, Figures 1 and 2 disclose a block diagram of a system configuration including an AIRPRINT PRITER communicates with external apparatuses, e.g., PCs, Public Lines, and Outside apparatus, etc., via a network. A computer-program product, e.g., signal is transmitted by a medium, or a carrier such a transitory medium, which captures and propagates signals in the network. Thus, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, a “computer program product” does include a transitory medium and a transitory medium does not fall within the statutory categories of 35 USC 101 (i.e., process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter), so the claims are ineligible.
The sections of the Office Notice, recites:
“When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility Under 35 U.S.C. §101, Aug. 24, 2009; p. 2.” “. . . . . . A claim drawn to such a computer readable medium that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §101 by adding the limitation “non-transitory” to the claim. Cf. Animals - Patentability, 1077 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 24 (April 21, 1987) (suggesting that applicants add the limitation “non-human” to a claim covering a multi-cellular organism to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §101) . . .. .”
As indicated in the Office Gazette notice, the term “non-transitory” can be used in the claim to exclude ineligible signal embodiments and make the claim eligible under 101.
3. Claims 9-14, owing to their dependence upon claim 8, thus inherit the deficiency.
4. Claims 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention isdirected to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 15 is directed to data structures embodied on a computer readable medium. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium includes forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media. See Subject Matter Eligibility of Computer Readable Medium, Jan. 26, 2010. The Applicant's specification does not limit computer-readable medium to non-transitory embodiments, and therefore claim 15 is non-statutory. The Examiner suggests amending the claims to include "non-transitory computer readable medium" or similar language.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-7 are allowed.
Information Disclosure Statement
6. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/18/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Cited Art
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Krzyzanowski et al. (US 2004/0133704) discloses a method in a legacy device bridge for controlling a consumer electronic device via a network that communicates information in accordance with a packet-based communication protocol, wherein the consumer electronic device does not communicate in accordance with the packet-based communication protocol, comprising: receiving in the legacy device bridge one or more infrared or serial control codes for communicating with the consumer electronic device from a device that is not connected to the network or to the consumer electronic device; storing said one or more infrared or serial control codes in a memory accessible to the legacy device bridge; receiving a command in the legacy device bridge from a device communicatively coupled to the network, wherein said command is formatted in accordance with the packet-based communication protocol; converting said command in the legacy device bridge into a format suitable for communication with the consumer electronic device, wherein said converting said command into a format suitable for communication with the consumer electronic device comprises converting said command into one of said infrared or serial control codes stored in said memory accessible to the legacy device bridge; and transmitting said converted command from the legacy device bridge to the consumer electronic device, further comprising: acquiring a network address for communication with the consumer electronic device; and providing said network address to one or more devices communicatively coupled to the network, further comprising: providing a command set to said one or more devices communicatively coupled to the network, wherein said command set comprises a plurality of commands for controlling the consumer electronic device, wherein said providing a command set comprises providing a plurality of commands that comply with the Universal Plug and Play protocol.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 am-4 pm.
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/ALLEN H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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