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 . All the claims have been examined on the basis of the merit of the claims.
Priority
The present application is a continuation of application 18/614638 filed 03/23/2024 now patent 12379816. Application 18/614,638 is a continuation of 17/641,444 filed 03/09/2022 now patent 11995256. Application 17/641,444 is a 371 of PCT/CN2021/088322 filed 04/20/2021. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Double Patenting
The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) 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 non-statutory 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 non-statutory 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 non-statutory 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 e-Terminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An e-Terminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about e-Terminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent No. 12379816-B2 as outlined in the table below. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the combination or the claims of the patent as outlined anticipate the claims of the present application.
Present application
Patent No.: US12379816B2
Claim 1
Claim 1 and claim 2
Claim 2
Claim 1
Claim 3
Claim 2
Claim 4
Claim 3
Claim 5
Claim 4
Claim 6
Claim 5
Claim 7
Claim 6
Claim 8
Claim 7
Claim 9
Claim 8
Claim 10
Claim 9
Claim 11
Claim 9
Claim 12
Claim 10
Claim 13
Claim 11
Claim 14
Claim 12
Claim 15
Claim 13
Claim 16
Claim 14
Claim 17
Claim 15
Claim 18
Claim 16
Claim 19
Claim 17
Claim 20
Claim 19
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 1, LEE (US-20230111028-A1, hereinafter as LEE) discloses the invention except for the limitations of “a grounding wire and an auxiliary grounding wire are arranged in the border region; and the auxiliary grounding wire is connected to the grounding wire to form a branched structure with the grounding wire.”
Accordingly, the independent claim 1 would be allowable. The dependent claims 2-20 are also allowed based on their respective dependencies from the independent claim 1.
Conclusion
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/DEEPROSE SUBEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627