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 .
This action is in response to application 19/020,813 filed 1/14/2025.
Claim 1 is presented for examination.
Examiner Initiated Interview
The Examiner called Applicant Paul Otterstedt (Reg. No 37411) 1/20/2026 to inquire if the one claim submittal (1/14/2025) was in error. The Applicant informed Examiner that the submittal was initially a placeholder, but not needed now. The Applicant requested a non-final office action with rejection be submitted, later they may choose to abandon.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation " An apparatus, method, and/or computer program product, substantially as shown and described herein.” The claim fails to recite any structural or functional limitations whatsoever and therefore does not particularly point out or distinctly claim the subject matter regarded as the invention. The language “substantially as shown and described herein” constitutes an improper omnibus claim and renders the scope of the claim entirely unclear. Such omnibus claiming is expressly not permitted in U.S practice. See MPEP §2173.05(r). Furthermore, claim 1 improperly attempts to cover multiple statutory categories (apparatus, methos, and computer program product) within a single claim. This internal inconsistency further obscures the scope of the claim and independently renders it indefinite. As presently drafted, claim 1 is wholly noncompliant with 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) and cannot be examined for patentability. Applicant must rewrite the claim to clearly define the invention using concrete limitations and must present separate claims for each statutory category if protection for multiple categories is sought. The claim is so indefinite that meaningful examination is not possible. The Examiner cannot examine novelty (§102) or obviousness (§103) yet because there is no legal cognizable claim scope to examine.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADIL OCAK whose telephone number is (571) 272-2774. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached on 571-272-4195. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system; contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ADIL OCAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
Prosecution Insights