DETAILED ACTION
Claim Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
2. 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 website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The 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/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-l.jsp.
3. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-26 of U.S. Patent No. US 12/397840. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: the patent claims include all of the limitations of the instant application claims, respectively. The patent claims also include additional limitations. Hence, the instant application claims are generic to the species of invention covered by the respective patent claims. The limitations a method for delivering a pallet using a pallet sled, the pallet sled including a base and a pair of tines extending forward from the base, the method comprising: a) reading an identification tag of a first pallet of a plurality of pallets with an identification reader on the pallet sled, each of the plurality of pallets loaded with a plurality of items, each of the plurality of pallets having an identification tag associating each pallet with a different one of a plurality of stores including a first store; b) determining a current location of the plurality of pallets to be at the first store using a GPS receiver on the pallet sled; c) based upon steps a) and b), determining with a processor on the pallet sled if the identification tag of the first pallet is associated with the first store; and d) based upon a determination that the identification tag of the first pallet is associated with the first store in step c), delivering the first pallet to the first store with the pallet sled by lifting the first pallet with the pair of tines and transporting the first pallet into the first store are conventional prior art features and the use of such features in the claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. US 19/301270would have been obvious and would not have involved a patentable invention. As such, the instant application claims are anticipated by the patent claims and are therefore not patentably distinct therefrom. (See Eli Lilly and Co. v. Barr Laboratories Inc., 58 USPQ2D 1869, "a later genus claim limitation is anticipated by, and therefore not patentably distinct from, an earlier species claim", In re Goodman, 29 USPQ2d 2010, "Thus, the generic invention is 'anticipated' by the species of the patented invention" and the instant “application claims are generic to species of invention covered by the patent claim, and since without terminal disclaimer, extant species claims preclude issuance of generic application claims”).
Claims 1-8 of app 19301270 rejected under the judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 8, 9, 12, and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,397,840. The claims of the instant application are directed to the same inventive concepts or an obvious modification thereof as the claims already patented in US 12,397,840, specifically involving a smart pallet sled equipped with location tracking (GPS), identification tag readers, weight sensors, usage monitoring, and remote server communication. Allowing claims 1-8 in the instant application would improperly extend the patent term for essentially the same invention or obvious variants thereof.
Application 19301270
Claim
Corresponding Patent 12,397,840 Claim(s)
Analysis of Overlap and Obviousness
Claim 1 (Method of delivering a pallet using GPS, ID tag, processor check)
Claim 9 & Claim 12
Patent Claim 12 explicitly claims a method for making a delivery using a delivery sled, including reading an ID tag associated with a store, determining the current location via GPS, and delivering the pallet based on a match. Application Claim 1 is legally co-extensive/obvious.
Claims 2-6 (Weighing, communication circuits, usage monitoring: time, unloading, lift cycles)
Claims 1, 5, 6, & 8
Patent claims 1, 5, 6, and 8 already claim a pallet sled that monitors weight, time spent at each store, unloading time, and lift cycles. Adding these dependent operational features to a method of delivery represents an obvious combination of known elements.
Claim 7 & 8 (Pallet sled with a camera, communication circuit, and remote server ML SKU validation)
Claims 1, 13, & 19
While Patent 12,397,840 does not explicitly recite a "camera," it broadly claims pallet sleds with processors, communication circuits, and sensors (weight, GPS, RFID). Adding an optical sensor (camera) to visually inspect cargo data transmitted to a remote server is an obvious design choice for a telemetry-equipped material handling device.
The method Claims (Claims 1-6) of US Patent 12,397,840 discloses the hardware combination of the delivery sled and the method steps of geolocation delivery (Claim 12). Claim 1 of the application merely recites these exact operational steps. Claims 2 through 6 add routine telemetry parameters (weight checks via sensors, tracking store dwell time, unloading time, and lift cycles) which are explicitly claimed as part of the pallet sled's processing capabilities in Patent 12,397,840 (e.g., Claims 1, 5, 6, and 8). A person of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to apply the tracked metrics of the patented pallet sled within the steps of its delivery method.
Apparatus Claims (Claims 7-8): Patent 12,397,840 covers a pallet sled comprising a base, tines, load wheels, communication circuits, and processors configured to log usage metrics and weight (Claims 1, 13, 21). Application Claims 7 and 8 incorporate a camera and remote machine-learning SKU verification. Although this specific structural addition (the camera) is a new feature, modifying an existing smart logistics platform to include an imaging device for remote verification constitutes an obvious variation of a telemetry-enabled material handling sled.
In view of the above, it is noted that the instant application is broader in every aspect than the US patent document and is therefore an obvious variant thereof, thus, allowing this would result in an unjustified or improper timewise extension of the "right to exclude" granted by a patent.
In view of the above, it is noted that the instant application is broader in every aspect than the US patent document and is therefore an obvious variant thereof, thus, allowing this would result in an unjustified or improper timewise extension of the "right to exclude" granted by a patent.
Allowable Subject Matter
4. As to claims 1-20, there is no prior art to reject claims 1-20. However, applicant should resolve the Obviousness Double Patent rejection to place the application in condition for allowance. An update search needs to be performed after the next response from applicant.
Citation of pertinent Prior Arts
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
i. Theobald (US 11279569 B1) discloses in a method is disclosed for using robots to move items from one container to another. The method includes positioning a source container under a suction robot having two degrees of freedom only, the suction robot having a flexible suction end having a variable suction component that can cause suction to occur within the suction end upon contact with an item in the source container. The contact can be non-orthogonal of an end of the flexible suction and a surface of the item. The robot retrieves the item from the source container with the flexible suction end by lowering the flexible suction end into the source container to retrieve the item and lifts the retrieved item from the source container. The robot then moves the retrieved item horizontally from the source container to a destination container, and
ii. Martin (US 20210403066 A1) discloses in a pallet sled includes a pair of tines extending forward from a base. A load wheel supports each of the pair of tines. The load wheels are each configured to move away from the respective tine to lift the respective tine upward relative to a support surface on which the load wheel is supported. A processor on the pallet sled records usage of the sled, such as lift cycles, location over time, battery condition, lift height, weight lifted, distance traveled, and the like. A communication circuit may be configured to send data from the pallet sled to a remote server. An identification reader may be configured to read an identification tag of an object supported on the pair of tines, such as an rfid tag on a pallet.
Conclusion
6. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fekadeselassie Girma whose telephone number is (571) 270-5886. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins can be reached on (571) 272-2957. 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 the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Fekadeselassie Girma/
Primary Examiner Art Unit 2689
