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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in Chinese parent Application No. CN202310587431.1, filed on May 23, 2023.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for international priority under 35 U.S.C. 371. The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/CN2024/087111 filed on April 11, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on July 25, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
As a result of the Preliminary Amendment filed on July 25, 2025, claims 15-28 are pending. Claims 1-14 are canceled. New claims 15-28 are added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 15-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Specifically, claims 15-28 contain numerous features which are not described with adequate written description to enable of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention without further undue experimentation.
For example, claims 15-28 recite “the SDK interface of the smart device” which was not properly described in the Specification on what an SDK interface is and how it applies to the smart device and what such an interface would entail.
Claims 15-28 also recite “the application software” which was not properly described in the Specification on what such an application software would be. Furthermore, there is no Figures showing what such an application software would look like or operate.
Claims 15-28 recite the functional feature of “uniquely determine” which is indefinite and vague, and does not adequately set forth under plain meaning how such a determination would be unique.
Claims 15-28 recite “positioning device” and “with help of the positioning device, the user…”. Although there is some description in the Specification that the positioning device can be a touch-sensitive embossed point, and that the embossed point can be Braille, there is inadequate support on how such a positioning device (i.e. touch sensitive braille) is made or used. For example, there is no support on how such tactile braille is formed, what material it is constructed from, and how it is implemented and installed within the smart device.
Claims 15-28 recite “repeating steps 2-4 above” which does not adequately set forth how steps 2-4 would be repeated and in what particular order/manner. The Specification merely states the same clause as the claims of “repeating steps 2-4 above until…” and Figures also do not show a sequence or ordering of the repeating nature of steps 2-4.
Claims 15-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without undue experimentation and making numerous assumptions on the operation of the smart device, which are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). For example, the Instant Figures including Fig. 1-4 shows the general structure of the smart device but not the claimed operations such as (but not limited to) touch slides, inputting information, perception signals, feedback operations, repeating steps etc. All of the above element’s are critical and essential to the practice of the Invention. In addition, based on the written description issues in Paragraph 9 above, there is also a lack of enablement on how to make, use or operate such a device as a whole.
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.
Claims 15-28 are 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. Solely as examples, a non-comprehensive list is given below--
Claims 15-28 include numerous indefinite elements that do not adequately set the metes and bounds of all pending claims. For example, claims 15-28 recite “the SDK interface of the smart device” which was not properly introduced nor described and cannot be interpreted solely under plain meaning.
For example, claims 15-28 recite “smart device in normal use” which is vague and indefinite on what constitutes normal use.
Claims 15-28 also recite “the application software” which was not properly introduced.
Claims 15-28 recite the functional feature of “uniquely determine” which is indefinite and vague on how such a determination would be unique.
Claims 15-28 recite “repeating steps 2-4 above” which does not adequately set forth how steps 2-4 would be repeated and in what particular order/manner.
Due to the numerous rejection grounds above, reasonable interpretations cannot be made for purposes of examination. No art rejections are made at this time due to the rejection grounds made under 35 USC 112(a) and 35 USC 112(b) as a whole.
Other References
The references cited on the PTO-892 are relevant to Applicant’s disclosure but are not used in art rejections due to the rejection grounds made under 35 USC 112.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KWIN XIE whose telephone number is (571)272-7812. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Temesghen Ghebretinsae can be reached at (571)272-3017. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KWIN XIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
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