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 .
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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of a certified copy of foreign application CN 202410076975.6, as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed inventions are directed to a judicial exception without significantly more, as determined by the Subject Matter Eligibility Test
detailed below.
Step 1
Step 1 of the Subject Matter Eligibility Test entails considering whether the claimed subject matter falls within the four statutory categories of patentable subject matter identified by 35 U.S.C. 101: process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.
Independent claims 1, 6, and 10 are directed towards a method, an apparatus, and another apparatus, respectively. Therefore, each of the independent claims 1, 6, and 10, and the corresponding dependent claims 2-5, 7-9, and 12-13 are directed to a statutory category of invention under step 1.
Examiner notes that claims 2 and 6-13 are not rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the eligibility of claims 2 and 6-13 is self-evident through the control of the drone. Therefor the subject matter eligibility analysis is streamlined for said claims.
Step 2A, Prong 1
If the claim recites a statutory category of invention, the claim requires further analysis in Step
2A. Step 2A of the Subject Matter Eligibility Test is a two-prong inquiry. In Prong 1, examiners evaluate whether the claim recites a judicial exception.
Regarding Prong 1, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether they recite subject matter that falls within one of the following groups of abstract ideas: a) mathematical concepts, b) certain methods of organizing human activity, and/or c) mental processes.
Independent claim A recites abstract limitations, including those shown in bold below.
An unmanned aerial vehicle control method with a headless mode, the unmanned aerial vehicle control method comprising:
receiving a first orientation datum generated by a drone;
acquiring a second orientation datum relevant to a remote controller and provided by an electronic compass;
acquiring an operation angle datum generated by a joystick of the remote controller; and
computing a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone.
These limitations, as drafted, describe a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers mathematical operations and/or performance of the limitations in the mind, or by a human using pen and paper, and therefore recites a judicial exception. For example, “computing a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone” may be interpreted as a simple calculation using mathematical operations which could be performed in the human mind or using pen and paper. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong 2
If the claim recites a judicial exception in Step 2A, Prong 1, the claim requires further analysis in Step 2A, Prong 2. In Step 2A, Prong 2, examiners evaluate whether the claim recites additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application of that exception.
Regarding Prong 2, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether the claim, as a whole, integrates the abstract idea into a practical application. As noted in MPEP § 2106.04(d), it must be determined whether any additional elements in the claim beyond the abstract idea integrate the exception into a practical application in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. The courts have indicated that additional elements merely using a computer to implement an abstract idea, adding insignificant extra-solution activity, or generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use do not integrate a judicial exception into a “practical application”.
Claim 1 recites additional elements including those underlined below.
An unmanned aerial vehicle control method with a headless mode, the unmanned aerial vehicle control method comprising:
receiving a first orientation datum generated by a drone;
acquiring a second orientation datum relevant to a remote controller and provided by an electronic compass;
acquiring an operation angle datum generated by a joystick of the remote controller; and
computing a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone.
The recitation of receiving a first orientation datum generated by a drone; acquiring a second orientation datum relevant to a remote controller and provided by an electronic compass; and acquiring an operation angle datum generated by a joystick of the remote controller amounts to mere data receiving, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity. Accordingly, in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Step 2B
If the additional elements do not integrate the exception into a practical application in step 2A Prong 2, then the claim is directed to the recited judicial exception, and requires further analysis under Step 2B to determine whether it provides an inventive concept (i.e., whether the additional elements amount to significantly more than the exception itself).
As discussed above, receiving a first orientation datum generated by a drone; acquiring a second orientation datum relevant to a remote controller and provided by an electronic compass; and acquiring an operation angle datum generated by a joystick of the remote controller amounts to mere data receiving amounts to insignificant extra-solution activity. MPEP § 2106.05(d)(II), and the cases cited therein, including Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2016), TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2015), indicate that mere collection or receipt of data over a network is a well-understood, routine, and conventional function when it is claimed in a merely generic manner (as it is here).
Thus, even when viewed as an ordered combination, nothing in the claims adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea.
Dependent claims 3-5 do not recite any further limitations that cause the claim(s) to be patent eligible. Rather, the various limitations of dependent claims are directed toward additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine, and conventional additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application (i.e., further characterizing the data acquisition steps). Therefore, dependent claims 3-5 are not patent eligible under the same rationale as provided for in the rejection of independent claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2016183771 A1 SONG, JIANYU (hereinafter Song).
Regarding claim 1, Song discloses: An unmanned aerial vehicle control method with a headless mode (see Song at least [pg. 21, para. 8, beginning with “The method”] The method and device for controlling the UAV based on the headless mode), the unmanned aerial vehicle control method comprising:
receiving a first orientation datum generated by a drone (see Song at least [pg. 4, para. 15, beginning with “a receiver, configured”] a receiver, configured to receive posture information of the drone sent by the drone);
acquiring a second orientation datum relevant to a remote controller and provided by an electronic compass (see Song at least [pg. 7, para. 9, beginning with “For example, in the processor”] the compass is mainly used to obtain direction information of the remote controller);
acquiring an operation angle datum generated by a joystick of the remote controller (see Song at least [pg. 23, para. 16, beginning with “Monitoring the operation”] Monitoring the operation of the rudder rocker of the remote controller by the user, and obtaining the operating angle value of the rudder rocker); and
computing a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 9, beginning with “303.”] Determine a relative position of the UAV and the remote controller according to geographic location information of the UAV, geographic location information of the remote controller, and head orientation in posture information of the remote controller and [pg. 10, para. 11, beginning with “304.”] Determine a target flight direction of the drone according to the relative position and an operating angle value of the rudder rocker of the remote controller and [pg. 10, para. 2, beginning with “It can be seen that”] The direction is the same as the direction of operation of the rudder rocker of the remote control, and then the drone is controlled to fly in the direction of the target).
Regarding claim 2, Song discloses: The unmanned aerial vehicle control method of claim 1, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle control method is applied to the remote controller having the electronic compass (see Song at least [pg. 2, para. 2, beginning with “In order to solve”] a headless operation mode of the remote control operation of the drone), and adapted to control a movement of the drone in the same direction as the operation angle datum (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 2, beginning with “It can be seen that”] The direction is the same as the direction of operation of the rudder rocker of the remote control, and then the drone is controlled to fly in the direction of the target).
Regarding claim 3, Song discloses: The unmanned aerial vehicle control method of claim 1, further comprising: utilizing a wireless transmission module of the remote controller to transmit the fly angle information to the drone (See Song at least [pg. 19, para. 14, beginning with “The transmitter 1004”] The transmitter 1004 is configured to send remote control information to the drone, where the remote control information includes a target flight direction of the drone).
Regarding claim 6, Song discloses: A remote controller of controlling a movement of a drone (see Song at least [pg. 2, para. 6, beginning with “Receiving remote”] remote controller and [pg. 21, para. 8, beginning with “The method”] The method and device for controlling the UAV based on the headless mode), the remote controller comprising:
a wireless transmission module adapted to receive a first orientation datum generated by a drone (see Song at least [pg. 4, para. 15, beginning with “a receiver, configured”] a receiver, configured to receive posture information of the drone sent by the drone);
an electronic compass adapted to provide a second orientation datum of the remote controller (see Song at least [pg. 7, para. 9, beginning with “For example, in the processor”] the compass is mainly used to obtain direction information of the remote controller);
a joystick adapted to generate an operation angle datum according to a user's gesture (see Song at least [pg. 23, para. 16, beginning with “Monitoring the operation”] Monitoring the operation of the rudder rocker of the remote controller by the user, and obtaining the operating angle value of the rudder rocker); and
an operation processor electrically connected to the wireless transmission module (see Song at least [pg. 19, para. 9, beginning with “As shown in”] the processor 1000 comprising and [pg. 19, para. 12, beginning with “a receiver”] a receiver 1003, configured to receive posture information of the drone sent by the drone), the electronic compass (see Song at least [pg. 7, para. 9, beginning with “For example, in the processor”] in the processor provided by the embodiment of the present invention, an attitude sensor such as a compass and an IMU is simultaneously disposed) and the joystick (see Song at least [pg. 13, para. 4, beginning with “The processor”] The processor on the remote controller side monitors the user's operation on the remote controller in real time, including the operation of the remote controller rudder rocker), the operation processor being adapted to compute a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 9, beginning with “303.”] Determine a relative position of the UAV and the remote controller according to geographic location information of the UAV, geographic location information of the remote controller, and head orientation in posture information of the remote controller and [pg. 10, para. 11, beginning with “304.”] Determine a target flight direction of the drone according to the relative position and an operating angle value of the rudder rocker of the remote controller), so as to control the movement of the drone in the same direction as the operation angle datum (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 2, beginning with “It can be seen that”] The direction is the same as the direction of operation of the rudder rocker of the remote control, and then the drone is controlled to fly in the direction of the target).
Regarding claim 7, Song discloses: The remote controller of claim 6, wherein the operation processor utilizes the wireless transmission module to transmit the fly angle information to the drone (See Song at least [pg. 19, para. 14, beginning with “The transmitter 1004”] The transmitter 1004 is configured to send remote control information to the drone, where the remote control information includes a target flight direction of the drone).
Regarding claim 10, Song discloses: An aircraft assembly (See Song at least [pg. 2, para. 1, beginning with “The unmanned aircraft”] unmanned aircraft ) comprising:
a drone adapted to provide and transmit a first orientation datum (see Song at least [pg. 3, para. 19, beginning with “a transmitter”] a transmitter for transmitting posture information of the drone to the remote controller); and
a remote controller of controlling a movement of the drone (see Song at least [pg. 2, para. 6, beginning with “Receiving remote”] remote controller and [pg. 21, para. 8, beginning with “The method”] The method and device for controlling the UAV based on the headless mode), the remote controller comprising:
a wireless transmission module adapted to receive the first orientation datum (see Song at least [pg. 4, para. 15, beginning with “a receiver, configured”] a receiver, configured to receive posture information of the drone sent by the drone);
an electronic compass adapted to provide a second orientation datum of the remote controller (see Song at least [pg. 7, para. 9, beginning with “For example, in the processor”] the compass is mainly used to obtain direction information of the remote controller);
a joystick adapted to generate an operation angle datum according to a user's gesture (see Song at least [pg. 23, para. 16, beginning with “Monitoring the operation”] Monitoring the operation of the rudder rocker of the remote controller by the user, and obtaining the operating angle value of the rudder rocker); and
an operation processor electrically connected to the wireless transmission module (see Song at least [pg. 19, para. 9, beginning with “As shown in”] the processor 1000 comprising and [pg. 19, para. 12, beginning with “a receiver”] a receiver 1003, configured to receive posture information of the drone sent by the drone), the electronic compass (see Song at least [pg. 7, para. 9, beginning with “For example, in the processor”] in the processor provided by the embodiment of the present invention, an attitude sensor such as a compass and an IMU is simultaneously disposed) and the joystick (see Song at least [pg. 13, para. 4, beginning with “The processor”] The processor on the remote controller side monitors the user's operation on the remote controller in real time, including the operation of the remote controller rudder rocker), the operation processor being adapted to compute a difference between the first orientation datum and a sum of the second orientation datum and the operation angle datum for setting as fly angle information of the drone (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 9, beginning with “303.”] Determine a relative position of the UAV and the remote controller according to geographic location information of the UAV, geographic location information of the remote controller, and head orientation in posture information of the remote controller and [pg. 10, para. 11, beginning with “304.”] Determine a target flight direction of the drone according to the relative position and an operating angle value of the rudder rocker of the remote controller), so as to control the movement of the drone in the same direction as the operation angle datum (see Song at least [pg. 10, para. 2, beginning with “It can be seen that”] The direction is the same as the direction of operation of the rudder rocker of the remote control, and then the drone is controlled to fly in the direction of the target).
Regarding claim 11, Song discloses: The aircraft assembly of claim 10, wherein the operation processor utilizes the wireless transmission module to transmit the fly angle information to the drone (See Song at least [pg. 19, para. 14, beginning with “The transmitter 1004”] The transmitter 1004 is configured to send remote control information to the drone, where the remote control information includes a target flight direction of the drone).
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(s) 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song, in view of TW 201810203 A ANDERSON, CHRISTOPHER M. (hereinafter Anderson).
Regarding claim 4, Song discloses: The unmanned aerial vehicle control method of claim 1.
Song does not teach: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone, and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 3, beginning with “The ground console”] The UAV 340 includes an absolute positioning receiver (such as a UAV GPS receiver 342)), and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] the absolute positioning coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates) from the ground console 300).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the headless drone control method disclosed by Song to include the absolute positioning determinations of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because acquiring and then comparing the absolute orientations of the drone and its remote controller allows for maintaining orientation of the drone according to remote controller inputs and orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] Repeating this procedure periodically at appropriate intervals enables the UAV 340 to maintain the desired antenna orientation relative to the ground console 300).
Regarding claim 5, Song discloses: The unmanned aerial vehicle control method of claim 1.
Song does not teach: wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle control method determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle control method determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information (see Anderson at least [pg. 9, beginning with “220”] 220‧‧‧ Azimuth calculation unit and [pg. 6, para. 1, beginning on pg. 5 with “The UAV 250”] From the absolute position of the UAV 250 via the console absolute positioning system receiver (e.g., GPS receiver 204) and its own absolute positioning position, the orientation calculation unit 220 calculates a vector representing the path from the drone to the ground station. A comparison of this vector with the current orientation of the drone based on the digital compass heading allows calculation of the correction command).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the headless drone control method disclosed by Song to include the drone azimuth consideration in direction commands of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because determining a difference between orientation of a controller and the UAV helps determine a correction factor required to adjust positioning according to desired orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 2, para. 4, beginning with “A fixed”] At least one pitch-roll-yaw axis correction command issued to and executed by the flight control system of the vehicle to orient the UAV and its fixed antenna along the desired orientation relative to the ground console).
Regarding claim 8, Song discloses: The remote controller of claim 6.
Song does not teach: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone, and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 3, beginning with “The ground console”] The UAV 340 includes an absolute positioning receiver (such as a UAV GPS receiver 342)), and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] the absolute positioning coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates) from the ground console 300).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified headless drone remote controller disclosed by Song to include the absolute positioning determinations of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because acquiring and then comparing the absolute orientations of the drone and its remote controller allows for maintaining orientation of the drone according to remote controller inputs and orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] Repeating this procedure periodically at appropriate intervals enables the UAV 340 to maintain the desired antenna orientation relative to the ground console 300).
Regarding claim 9, Song discloses: The remote controller of claim 6.
Song does not teach: wherein the operation processor determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the operation processor determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information (see Anderson at least [pg. 9, beginning with “220”] 220‧‧‧ Azimuth calculation unit and [pg. 6, para. 1, beginning on pg. 5 with “The UAV 250”] From the absolute position of the UAV 250 via the console absolute positioning system receiver (e.g., GPS receiver 204) and its own absolute positioning position, the orientation calculation unit 220 calculates a vector representing the path from the drone to the ground station. A comparison of this vector with the current orientation of the drone based on the digital compass heading allows calculation of the correction command).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the headless drone control method disclosed by Song to include the drone azimuth consideration in direction commands of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because determining a difference between orientation of a controller and the UAV helps determine a correction factor required to adjust positioning according to desired orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 2, para. 4, beginning with “A fixed”] At least one pitch-roll-yaw axis correction command issued to and executed by the flight control system of the vehicle to orient the UAV and its fixed antenna along the desired orientation relative to the ground console).
Regarding claim 12, Song discloses: The aircraft assembly of claim 10.
Song does not teach: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone, and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the first orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the drone (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 3, beginning with “The ground console”] The UAV 340 includes an absolute positioning receiver (such as a UAV GPS receiver 342)), and the second orientation datum is an absolute coordinate orientation of the remote controller (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] the absolute positioning coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates) from the ground console 300).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified headless control aircraft assembly disclosed by Song to include the absolute positioning determinations of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because acquiring and then comparing the absolute orientations of the drone and its remote controller allows for maintaining orientation of the drone according to remote controller inputs and orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 6, para. 4, beginning with “Using the absolute”] Repeating this procedure periodically at appropriate intervals enables the UAV 340 to maintain the desired antenna orientation relative to the ground console 300).
Regarding claim 13, Song discloses: The aircraft assembly of claim 10.
Song does not teach: wherein the operation processor determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information.
However, Anderson teaches: wherein the operation processor determines a nose azimuth of the drone by the first orientation datum, and computes a difference between the first orientation datum and the second orientation datum, so as to calibrate the operation angle datum via the difference for acquiring the fly angle information (see Anderson at least [pg. 9, beginning with “220”] 220‧‧‧ Azimuth calculation unit and [pg. 6, para. 1, beginning on pg. 5 with “The UAV 250”] From the absolute position of the UAV 250 via the console absolute positioning system receiver (e.g., GPS receiver 204) and its own absolute positioning position, the orientation calculation unit 220 calculates a vector representing the path from the drone to the ground station. A comparison of this vector with the current orientation of the drone based on the digital compass heading allows calculation of the correction command).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the headless drone control method disclosed by Song to include the drone azimuth consideration in direction commands of Anderson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because determining a difference between orientation of a controller and the UAV helps determine a correction factor required to adjust positioning according to desired orientation, as suggested by Anderson (see Anderson at least [pg. 2, para. 4, beginning with “A fixed”] At least one pitch-roll-yaw axis correction command issued to and executed by the flight control system of the vehicle to orient the UAV and its fixed antenna along the desired orientation relative to the ground console).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 110658853 A WEI, Jian-cang et al. discloses measuring the angles of a remote controller, joystick, and drone in order to provide appropriate drone flying controls.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELLE ROSE KNUDSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1742. The examiner can normally be reached 1000-1700 ET M-F.
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, Hitesh Patel can be reached at (571) 270-5442. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELLE ROSE KNUDSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3667
/Hitesh Patel/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3667
3/20/26