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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 20 April 2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 20 April 2026 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Non-patent literature references 3-9: The listing of "All office actions" in the IDS is incorrect because MPEP 609.04(a) states, in part: "If applicant seeks consideration of documents other than the specification (including the claims) and drawings of an application, for example, Office actions, applicant must list such documents separately under the non-patent literature section or in a new section appropriately labeled. The USPTO would be understood to be the publisher/place of publication for a listed U.S. Office action or a U.S. application." Not only does "all office actions" not concretely list the pertinent actions that Applicant would like considered, it also cites office actions which may be published in the future. An Examiner could not reasonably sign off on having considered something which has not already occurred.
Non-patent literature references 12 & 15: no date has been provided for a complete IDS.
Foreign references 21-23, 38, 41, 57, 96, 104, 118, 127, 134, 135, 141: the translation is illegible.
Foreign references 67, 68, 70: no translation has been provided.
It is noted that the file wrapper of this family of applications has become a repository on its own; Applicant is reminded that the “duty to disclose” outlined in MPEP § 2001 specifically states “There is no duty to submit information which is not material to the patentability of any existing claim.” In effect, there is no need to repeat information on IDS’s which is not pertinent to the current application.
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 1-20 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 & Claim 16 each recites the limitation “the electronically conductive prongs” in lines 7-8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, is this the same or distinct from “electr[[on]]ically conductive prongs” introduced earlier in the claim?
Claims 2-15 & 17-20 are rejected as ultimately dependent from claim 1 or 16, rejected above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Morgan T. Jordan whose telephone number is (571)272-8141. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, PETER POON can be reached at 571-272-6891. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MORGAN T JORDAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3643
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