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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 defines a “one-way slot” and further claims “the slot”. “the slot” should be amended to be --the one-way slot-- for consistency. Claims 2-14 are further objected to because of their dependency on claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-14 and 19 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.
Claim 1 recites “wherein the comprising a first end attached to the housing and a second end opposite the first end”. It is unclear as to what “wherein the comprising” is referring. For purposes of examination only, “wherein the comprising” is interpreted as --the strap comprising--. Claims 2-14 are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, because of their dependency on claim 1.
The term “gradually” in claims 6 and 19 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “gradually” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. What is gradually to one of ordinary skill in the art may not be gradually to another of ordinary skill in the art, and the claims do not define the metes and bounds of such a term.
Double Patenting
The Examiner notes that claims 1-20 are examined in light of claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent 12,400,529. More specifically with respect to claims 17-30 of the U.S. Patent, claims 1-20 of the present invention and claims 17-30 of the U.S. Patent are both drawn to a single-use sealing device comprising a strap, a processor, a circuit, a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver configured to communicate with a global positioning system (GPS), memory, and the steps of obtaining a current geographic location and transmitting the current geographic location. Claims 1-20 of the present invention further claim a housing having a one-way slot, with claims 1-14 further defining that the one-way slot extends through the housing and defining a channel between a first side of the housing and a second side of the housing opposite the first side. Claims 1-20 of the present invention further claim a strap attached to and extending away from the housing, wherein the strap comprises a free end configured to irreversibly engage with the one-way slot of the housing, with claims 1-14 further defining the strap having a first end and a second end, wherein the second end of the strap being inserted into the slot. Claims 1-20 of the present invention further claim the housing containing the electronics, wherein the electronics is defined as the processor, the wireless transmitter, the wireless receiver, and the memory. Claim 17 of the U.S. patent, in contrast, defines the strap having a first free attachment end and a second free attachment end, wherein the engagement of the first free attachment end and the second free attachement end closes the circuit. Furthermore, claim 17 of the U.S. Patent further claims transmitting a unique identifier of the sealing device, the current geographic location of the sealing device, and a current date and a current time. Because of the differences between the claims of the present invention and the U.S. Patent, the inventions are determined to not be obvious variants of each other. Additionally, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the claims of the U.S. Patent to conclude at the claims of the present invention, without using improper hindsight reasoning.
The Examiner further notes that claims 1-20 are examined in light of claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 19/299030. Claims 1-20 of the present invention and claims 1-20 of the copending application are both drawn to a single-use sealing device comprising a strap, a circuit, a processor, a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver configured to communicate with a global positioning system (GPS), memory, and the steps of obtaining indication of a current geographic location and transmitting the indication of the current geographic location. Claims 1-20 of the copending application further define that the strap comprises first and second free attachment ends, wherein the first free attachment end is configured to irreversibly engage with the second free attachment end, and further claims a housing attached to the strap between the first free attachment end and the second free attachment end that contains the processor, the wireless transmitter, the wireless receiver, and the memory. Claims 1-20 of the current application, however, specifically claims a housing comprising a one-way slot that defines a channel between a first side and the second side of the housing, which the current invention does not claim. Additionally, the current application claims that the strap is attached to and extending away from the housing, wherein the first end is attached to the housing, wherein the strap is configured to extend through the channel and irreversibly engage with the one-way slot of the housing based on the second end of the strap being inserted into the slot, which is functionally different than claims 1-20 of the copending invention. Because of the differences between the claims of the present invention and the copending application, the inventions are determined to not be obvious variants of each other. Additionally, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the claims of copending application to conclude at the claims of the present invention, without using improper hindsight reasoning.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-18 and 20 are allowed.
Claims 1-14 and 19 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest related prior art to the Applicant’s claimed invention are Mills (U.S. 2012/0144885 A1), Tester et al. (U.S. 2005/0231365 A1), and Brown (U.S. 2013/0091905 A1). Mills discloses a cable alarm system having first and second ends (see Mills, Paragraph [0033]), wherein the alarm system is able to determine a severing of the cable which triggers the transmitting of a message which includes GPS location information (see Mills, Paragraph [0049]). Tester separately discloses an electronic security seal that transmits date and time data (see Tester, Paragraph [0145]). Brown separately teaches an anti-theft device having a strap that is affixed in an irreversible manner, i.e. to prevent reengagement (see Brown, Figs. 32 and 35, Paragraphs [0070-0071]). Mills discloses the ends of the cable 16 having a free end inserted into an opening of the lock casing (see Mills, Paragraph [0033]), however, Mills does not explicitly disclose that the cable is fully embedded into the strap such that both ends of the strap include free ends and additionally the embedded cable, wherein the first free attachment end and the second attachment end with a first terminal end of the conductive element. The cited reference further fail to teach the step of beginning monitoring for a break in the conductive element based on the first free attachment end of the strap engaging the second free attachment end (by the processor), and additionally the step of obtaining an indication of current geographic location of the single-use sealing device based on a break in the conductive element. Additionally, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the separate teachings of the cited prior art to conclude at the Applicant’s claimed invention without using improper hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5170. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00p M-F.
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/JAMES J YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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