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
This Office action is in response to application filed on June 26, 2025. Claims 1-6 are currently pending in the application.
Continuity/Priority Information
This application is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 18/534,938, filed on December 11, 2023 (now U.S. Patent No. 12,354,469).
Drawings
The drawings filed on 06/26/2025 are acknowledged and are acceptable.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 6 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation “the first controllable appliance” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is presumed to recite "the first target appliance".
Appropriate correction or clarification is requested.
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b). The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form 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 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1-6 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5 and 7 of U.S. Patent Number 12,354,469. The claims are not patentably distinct because they recite the same invention using the same means, differing only by minor variations in claim language. Although the patent claims are directed to a non-transitory computer readable media and the instant claims are directed to a method, the difference in statutory category does not make them nonobvious over each other.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 would be allowable if the nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is overcome and the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action is overcome with respect to dependent claim 6.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not disclose the combination of limitations presented in the claimed invention. Similar to the explanation of reasons for allowance in the parent (PAT 12,354,469), the closest prior art references—Huang et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2009/0254778), Negron et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2009/0239587), and Kummer (U.S. Publication No. 2015/0162006)—either alone or in combination, do not teach or suggest all of the limitations of independent claim 1. Accordingly, pending claims 1-6 are considered to define over the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and are cited in the attached PTO-892, Notice of References Cited form.
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/ADNAN AZIZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685 adnan.aziz@uspto.gov
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