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 document is responsive to applicant’s claims filed 3/31/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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. The battery is introduced as “a battery” and the microprocessor is introduced as “a microprocessor”. They are later referred to as “said first battery” and “said first microprocessor”, which lack antecedent basis. See claim 5 for proper claim construction of the limitations. The limitation “a plurality of at least one antenna” is indefinite because it is unclear how a single antenna can be a plurality.
In view of the rejections above under 35 USC § 112, the claims referred to in any and all rejections below are rejected as best understood. Any claims that depend upon claims rejected above are also considered rejected via dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DeLoach (US PG Pub 2021/0141379).
Regarding claim 1, DeLoach discloses:
A self propelled station keeping waterfowl decoy comprising a housing resistant to water entry, with at least a portion of said housing having a form of a waterfowl (see fig 3), a battery (250), a microprocessor (205), a power switch (see paragraph 0089) operably coupled between said first battery and said first microprocessor, a first propulsion motor (225) with a propeller operably coupled thereto, a second rudder motor (230) and a rudder operably coupled thereto (see fig 3), and a plurality of at least one antenna (210, 240), with at least a first antenna from among said plurality configured to receive a GNSS signal (see paragraph 0038).
Regarding claim 2, DeLoach discloses:
The self propelled station keeping waterfowl decoy of Claim 1, further comprising a second antenna for receiving a radio command from a handheld controller (240).
Regarding claim 3, DeLoach discloses:
The self propelled station keeping waterfowl decoy of Claim 2, wherein said handheld controller comprises no more than two command buttons (see fig 8, ref 880C).
Regarding claim 4, DeLoach discloses:
The self propelled station keeping waterfowl decoy of Claim 1, further comprising a status light within said housing and visible from outside said housing (see paragraphs 0068 and 0074).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record, Bruns (US PG Pub 2024/0114892), discloses a similar system. The system of Bruns has a virtual homing buoy (406) and does not have the T-array as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is found in the Notice of Reference Cited (PTO-892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD G DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5005. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8am-6:00pm EST.
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/RICHARD G DAVIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3644