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 .
Claims 1-13 are currently pending. Claims 1-9, 11-13 are allowed. Claim 10 is rejected.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pg. 6 of the remarks, filed June 01, 2026, with respect to the objections of Claims 7-8, 10, 13, and rejections of Claims 1-13 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive in light of amendments. The objections of Claims 7-8, 10, 13, and rejections of Claims 1-13 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn.
It is noted the amendment made in an attempt to resolve the objection of Claim 10 resulted in a new issue as detailed below. The note referring to Claim 9 provided was to remark why previous recitations of the limitations do not provide proper antecedent basis due to being in different dependent branches, not to suggest changing dependency. The claim now lacks antecedent basis for what was introduced in Claim 5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claim 10 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.
Regarding Claim 10, Lines 1-2 recite “the blocking element”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since it has not been introduced. The phrasing of “wherein the blocking element is…” suggests the claimed element already requires some structure, but it is unclear what structure this is. Note that Claim 9 does not recite a blocking element. At least one blocking element is introduced in Claims 5 and 8. Applicant is suggested to check proper antecedent basis for all limitations after amending if dependency is changed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9, 11-13 are allowed.
Claim 10, as far as it is definite and understood, would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Regarding Claim 1, the claim remains allowable for the same reasons set forth on Pg. 6-8 of the Non-Final Rejection filed April 01, 2026.
Claims 2-13 subsequently depend upon Claim 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELTON K WONG whose telephone number is (408)918-7626. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00AM - 5:00PM PST.
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, Court Heinle can be reached at (571)270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ELTON K WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
Prosecution Insights