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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to applicant’s filing on May 27, 2025. Claims 1-20 have been canceled by the applicant. Claims 21-37 are pending.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 21-37 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 3 11-12 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,366,460 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the scope of the claims significantly overlap as can be seen below.
Current Application
US 12,366,460 B2
21. A system for displaying wayareas on a screen of a marine electronic device, the system comprising:
1. A system for forming wayareas for a watercraft, the system comprising:
the screen;
a screen;
a processor; and
a processor; and
a memory including computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
a memory including computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
retrieve one or more wayareas from the memory, wherein each of the one or more wayareas is associated with a location area and one or more wayarea characteristics, and wherein the one or more wayarea characteristics include at least one of:
retrieve a plurality of waypoints from the memory, wherein each of the plurality of waypoints is associated with a location and one or more waypoint characteristics, wherein the one or more waypoint characteristics comprise at least one of:
weather data corresponding to weather conditions associated with the wayarea,
weather data corresponding to weather conditions associated with the waypoint,
season data corresponding to a season associated with the wayarea
season data corresponding to a season associated with the waypoint,
time of day data corresponding to one or more times of day associated with the wayarea,
time of day data corresponding to one or more times of day associated with the waypoint,
tide data corresponding to tide conditions associated with the wayarea, or
tide data corresponding to tide conditions associated with the waypoint, or
depth data corresponding to a depth of a bottom surface at the location area of the wayarea; and
depth data corresponding to a depth of a bottom surface at the location of the waypoint; (… other claim limitations)
cause presentation of the one or more wayareas on the screen overtop a chart, wherein each of the one or more wayareas is displayed as a highlighted shape overtop the chart at positions on the chart that correspond to the relative location areas of each of the one or more wayareas.
cause the wayarea to be displayed overtop a chart on the screen, wherein the wayarea is presented as a highlighted section of the chart in replacement of the determined set of waypoints, wherein the highlighted section of the chart corresponds to the location area that had included all of the locations of each of the waypoints within the determined set of waypoints.
While the claims are not identical, the claims would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and are therefore not patentably distinct.
Claim 21 is rejected in view of claim 1.
Claim 22 is rejected in view of claim 1.
Claim 23 is rejected in view of claim 3.
Claim 25 is rejected in view of claim 11.
Claim 29 is rejected in view of claim 12.
Claim 30 is rejected in view of claim 17.
Claim 31 is rejected in view of claim 17.
Claim 32 is rejected in view of claim 3.
Claim 34 is rejected in view of claim 11.
Claim 36 is rejected in view of claim 11.
Claims 24, 36-28, 33 and 37 are rejected as being dependent on a rejected base claim.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wang et al., US 2019/0251719 A1, teaches systems and methods of augmented reality mapping are disclosed. Tags associated with collections of interest, areas of interest, and/or points of interest may be superimposed over a video feed of a user device. In response to movement of the user device a single tag associated with a collection of interest may replace a plurality of tags associated with a plurality of points of interest within the collection of interest.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21, 29 and 30 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under Double Patenting set forth in this Office action.
Claims 22-28 and 31-37 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under Double Patenting set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN P SWEENEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4906. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30AM to 5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James J. Lee, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-5965. 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 Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/BRIAN P SWEENEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668
Prosecution Insights