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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 28 January 2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 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 nonstatutory 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 nonstatutory 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 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/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 14-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 of U.S. Patent No. 12,495,171 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the ‘171 are narrower in scope and clearly anticipate the claim limitations of the instant Application.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 14-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-16 of U.S. Patent No. 11,910,036 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the '036 Patent are narrower in scope and clearly anticipate the claim limitations of the instant Application. It is noted that the '171 Patent is subject to a Terminal Disclaimer with respect to claimed subject matter of the '036 Patent.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 14-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-16 of U.S. Patent No. 11,589,086 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the '086 Patent are narrower in scope and clearly anticipate the claim limitations of the instant Application. It is noted that the ‘171 and '036 Patents are subject to a Terminal Disclaimer with respect to claimed subject matter of the '086 Patent.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 14-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 11,082,724 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the '724 Patent are narrower in scope and clearly anticipate the claim limitations of the instant Application. It is noted that both the ‘171, '036, and '086 Patents are subject to a Terminal Disclaimer with respect to claimed subject matter of the '724 patent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stettner et al. (US 2011/0078723 A1) (as provided by the IDS submitted on 28 January 2026, hereinafter Stettner), in view of Phillips et al (US 2013/0091521 A1) (as provided by the IDS submitted on 28 January 2026, hereinafter Phillips), and further in view of Cheng et al. (US 2014/0328570 A1) (as provided by the IDS submitted on 28 January 2026, hereinafter Cheng).
Regarding Claim 1, Stettner discloses a computer implemented method for targeted ad insertion into a program content stream, comprising:
receiving, by a computerized system for targeted ad insertion, [Figs. 1-6; 0015-16, 0019: content delivery systems 110 with content analyzers 112 and content sources 160, where the various components may be distributed and performed by any permutation of the various components] the program content stream; [0017-19: content analyzer will receive linear content stream for keyword analysis]
detecting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, images in the content stream; [0013, 0019, 0035, 0051-53, 0061, 0066, 0076, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream]
recognizing at least one keyword within the images; [0013, 0019, 0035, 0051-53, 0061, 0066, 0076, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream]
matching, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, the recognized at least one keyword within the images to an advertisement that correlates with the recognized at least one keyword; [0011-12: selected advertisement for a product related to the media content may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break (where it is readily understood that advertisements typically advertise products and/or services offered by a particular advertiser); 0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements] and
in response to the matching the recognized at least one keyword within the images to an advertisement that correlates with the recognized at least one keyword, inserting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, the matched advertisement at an insertion point into the program content stream indicated by an existing advertisement insertion cue, [0011-12: selected advertisement for a product related to the media content may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break (where it is readily understood that advertisements typically advertise products and/or services offered by a particular advertiser); 0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements for insertion into upcoming programming breaks] the inserting of the matched advertisement updating the program content stream enabling playback of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the matched advertisement. [Figs. 7, 9; 0011-12: selected advertisement may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break; 0023: advertisements may be associated with a unique identifier associated with keywords, as well as a specific time of day; 0025: where commercials may be linear advertisement content; 0035: retrieving advertisements for inserting in an upcoming programming break; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: selected advertisements are associated with unique identifiers, and specific timeslot assignments and retrieved for playback]
Stettner fails to explicitly disclose inserting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, an identifier of the matched advertisement at an insertion point into the program content stream indicated by an existing advertisement insertion cue, the inserting of the identifier of the matched advertisement updating the program content stream enabling playback of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement. (Emphasis on the particular elements of the limitations not explicitly disclosed by Stettner– namely that the identifier of the matched advertisement modifies an existing ad insertion cue, and the identifier that has already been inserted into the ad insertion cue is directly utilized by the playback device to retrieve the matched advertisement)
Phillips, in analogous art, teaches inserting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, an identifier of the matched advertisement at an insertion point into the program content stream indicated by an existing advertisement insertion cue, the inserting of the identifier of the matched advertisement updating the program content stream enabling playback of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement. [Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0061: server 106 may receive client-requested media from content provider 104 that includes advertising markers 125 and may have some advertising decision system (such as those of Stettner above) to select specific advertisements to be assigned to each advertising marker to generate a manifest 132 that includes references to each media segment and selected/matched advertisements (such as those of Stettner above)]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to modify the method of Stettner with the teachings of Phillips to modify existing advertisement insertion cues with identifiers of the matched ads and subsequently utilizing these pre-inserted identifiers to retrieve and playback the matched advertisements in order to provide content streams that may be pre-populated with advertisements in real time while allowing video providers to use existing infrastructure to provide targeted ad systems. [Phillips – 0014-6]
Stettner and Phillips fail to explicitly disclose recognizing at least one visual object within the images. (Emphasis on the particular elements of the limitations not explicitly disclosed by Stettner and Phillips). [0015, 0063: wherein system may generate description of content/scenes that may be utilized to retrieve and linking to other electronic content, such as advertisements (such as the keyword matching of Stettner and Phillips above); 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48: where various detection modules may analyze video/image data to detect visual features with the video, such as actors/objects/scenes/actions, to classify activities/events that occur within a given scene (i.e., the system may analyze visual objects within the video to semantically describe what is occurring in a given scene such as determining a person is making a sandwich, or any other such activity of a person performing some action on an object/other person)]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to modify the method of Stettner and Phillips with the teachings of Cheng to detect visual objects that represents an action sequence within the video in order to automatedly detect and identify features within the video in order to generate a description of the video for search, retrieval, and linking the video with various other electronic content, such as advertisements. [Cheng – 0015, 0063]
Regarding Claim 2, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner and Phillips disclose playing, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, the content of the matched advertisement during the playback of the program content stream at a time during playback of the program content stream that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement. [Stettner – Figs. 7, 9; 0011-12: selected advertisement may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break; 0023: advertisements may be associated with a unique identifier associated with keywords, as well as a specific time of day; 0025: where commercials may be linear advertisement content; 0035: retrieving advertisements for inserting in an upcoming programming break; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: selected advertisements are associated with unique identifiers, and specific timeslot assignments and retrieved for playback; Phillips – Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0042-44]
Regarding Claim 4, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 2, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner and Phillips disclose playing the content of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time during playback of the program content stream that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement by a receiving device at a customer premises. [Stettner – Figs. 1-7; 0012, 0015-16, 0086-88: various components may be performed by any on or other components of the network; 0029-30: where client device may retrieve and display advertising content within displayed program content stream; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: selected advertisements are associated with unique identifiers, and specific timeslot assignments and retrieved for playback; Phillips – Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0042-44; see MPEP 2144.04(V)-(VI)]
Regarding Claim 5, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose wherein the receiving the program content stream; the detecting images in the content stream; the recognizing at least one visual object within the images; the matching the recognized at least one visual object within the images to an advertisement that correlates with the recognized at least one visual object; and the inserting, the identifier of the matched advertisement at an insertion point into the program content stream, enabling playback of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement are performed by a content server outside a customer premises. [Stettner – Figs. 1-7; 0012, 0015-16, 0086-88: various components may be performed by any on or other components of the network; Phillips – Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0042-44; see MPEP 2144.04(V)-(VI); Cheng – 0015, 0063; 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48]
Regarding Claim 6, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner and Cheng disclose wherein the recognizing the at least one visual object within the images includes: detecting a plurality of visual object candidates within the images; determining at least one of the visual object candidates is a type of visual object associated with one or more of a plurality of advertisements; and recognizing the at least one of the visual object candidates as the at least one visual object within the images based on the determination. [Stettner – 0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements; Cheng – 0015, 0063: wherein system may generate description of content/scenes that may be utilized to retrieve and linking to other electronic content, such as advertisements; 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48: where various detection modules may analyze video/image data to detect visual features with the video, such as actors/objects/scenes/actions, to classify activities/events that occur within a given scene]
Regarding Claim 7, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner and Cheng disclose wherein the matching the recognized at least one visual object within the images to an advertisement that correlates with the recognized at least one visual object includes: accessing a plurality of stored advertisement data corresponding to a plurality of different advertisements; determining which advertisement of the plurality of advertisements advertises a product or service that correlates with the recognized at least one visual object within the images based on the accessing of the plurality of stored advertisement data; and matching the recognized at least one visual object within the images to the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements. [Stettner – Figs. 7, 9; 0011-12: selected advertisement for a product related to the media content may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break; 0023: advertisements may be associated with a unique identifier associated with keywords, as well as a specific time of day; 0025-26: where commercials may be linear advertisement content that may be stored in some advertising content database; 0035: retrieving advertisements for inserting in an upcoming programming break; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: selected advertisements are associated with unique identifiers, and specific timeslot assignments and retrieved for playback; Cheng – 0015, 0063: wherein system may generate description of content/scenes that may be utilized to retrieve and linking to other electronic content, such as advertisements; 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48: where various detection modules may analyze video/image data to detect visual features with the video, such as actors/objects/scenes/actions, to classify activities/events that occur within a given scene]
Regarding Claim 8, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose detecting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, audio in the content stream; recognizing, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, at least one characteristic of the audio; matching, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, the recognized at least one characteristic of the audio to an advertisement that correlates with the recognized at least one characteristic of the audio; and inserting, by the computerized system for targeted ad insertion, an identifier of the matched advertisement at an insertion point into the program content stream, enabling playback of the matched advertisement during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the matched advertisement. [Stettner – Figs. 7, 9; 0011-12: selected advertisement for a product related to the media content may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break; 0023: advertisements may be associated with a unique identifier associated with keywords, as well as a specific time of day; 0025-26: where commercials may be linear advertisement content that may be stored in some advertising content database; 0035: retrieving advertisements for inserting in an upcoming programming break; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements; Phillips – Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0042-44; Cheng – 0015, 0063: wherein system may generate description of content/scenes that may be utilized to retrieve and linking to other electronic content, such as advertisements; 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48: where various detection modules may analyze video/image data to detect visual features with the video, such as actors/objects/scenes/actions, to classify activities/events that occur within a given scene]
Regarding Claim 14, Stettner discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, [Figs. 1-5; 0037-38: memory 220; 0042, 0087: Memory that may store instruction to be executed by the processors] cause the at least one processor to:
access a plurality of stored advertisement data corresponding to a plurality of different advertisements; [0025-26: where commercials may be linear advertisement content that may be stored in some advertising content database; 0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements]
determine which advertisement of the plurality of advertisements advertises a product or service that correlates with at least one keyword recognized within images of a program content stream based on the accessing of the plurality of stored advertisement data; [0011-12: selected advertisement for a product related to the media content may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break (where it is readily understood that advertisements typically advertise products and/or services offered by a particular advertiser); 0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements]
match the at least one keyword recognized within the images to the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements; [0013, 0023, 0035, 0055, 0062, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: content analyzer may use speech, audio, and image analysis to identify keywords of detected items in the video stream, and decision manager may receive keywords from content analyzer to a set of advertising rules to select an advertisement from a group of available advertisements] and
enabling playback of the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements during playback of the program content stream at a time that correlates to the insertion point into the program content stream of the identifier of the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements. [Figs. 7, 9; 0011-12: selected advertisement may be displayed to the user device during a commercial break; 0023: advertisements may be associated with a unique identifier associated with keywords, as well as a specific time of day; 0025: where commercials may be linear advertisement content; 0035: retrieving advertisements for inserting in an upcoming programming break; 0055-56, 0064, 0068, 0078, 0080-81: selected advertisements are associated with unique identifiers, and specific timeslot assignments and retrieved for playback]
Stettner fails to explicitly disclose to insert an identifier of the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements at an insertion point into the program content stream.
Phillips, in analogous art, teaches to insert an identifier of the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements at an insertion point into the program content stream. [Figs. 1-5; 0016-18; 0027-28, 0061: server 106 may receive client-requested media from content provider 104 that includes advertising markers 125 and may have some advertising decision system (such as those of Stettner above) to select specific advertisements to be assigned to each advertising marker to generate a manifest 132 that includes references to each media segment and selected/matched advertisements (such as those of Stettner above)]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to modify the CRM of Stettner with the teachings of Phillips to modify existing advertisement insertion cues with identifiers of the matched ads and subsequently utilizing these pre-inserted identifiers to retrieve and playback the matched advertisements in order to provide content streams that may be pre-populated with advertisements in real time while allowing video providers to use existing infrastructure to provide targeted ad systems. [Phillips – 0014-6]
Stettner and Phillips fail to explicitly disclose to determine which advertisement of the plurality of advertisements advertises a product or service that correlates with at least one visual object recognized within images of a program content stream based on the accessing of the plurality of stored advertisement data; match the at least one visual object recognized within the images to the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements. (Emphasis on the particular elements of the limitations not explicitly disclosed by Stettner and Phillips)
Cheng, in analogous art, teaches to determine which advertisement of the plurality of advertisements advertises a product or service that correlates with at least one visual object recognized within images of a program content stream based on the accessing of the plurality of stored advertisement data; match the at least one visual object recognized within the images to the determined advertisement of the plurality of advertisements. [0015, 0063: wherein system may generate description of content/scenes that may be utilized to retrieve and linking to other electronic content, such as advertisements (such as the keyword matching of Stettner above); 0016-17, 0019-20, 0022-23, 0039-43, 0046-48: where various detection modules may analyze video/image data to detect visual features with the video, such as actors/objects/scenes/actions, to classify activities/events that occur within a given scene (i.e., the system may analyze visual objects within the video to semantically describe what is occurring in a given scene such as determining a person is making a sandwich, or any other such activity of a person performing some action on an object/other person)]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to modify the CRM of Stettner and Phillips with the teachings of Cheng to detect visual objects that represents an action sequence within the video in order to automatedly detect and identify features within the video in order to generate a description of the video for search, retrieval, and linking the video with various other electronic content, such as advertisements. [Cheng – 0015, 0063]
Regarding Claim 15, Claim 15 recites a system that performs the method of Claim 1. As such, Claim 15 is analyzed and rejected similarly as Claim 1 above, mutatis mutandis. (See also Stettner [Figs. 1-5] and [0037-38], and [0042])
Regarding Claim 16, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 15, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 16 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 2 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Regarding Claim 17, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 16, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 17 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 4 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Regarding Claim 18, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 15, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 18 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 5 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Regarding Claim 19, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 15, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 19 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 6 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Regarding Claim 20, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 15, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 20 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 7 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Regarding Claim 21, Stettner, Phillips, and Cheng disclose all of the limitations of Claim 15, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Claim 21 recites nearly identical limitations as Claim 8 above and is rejected similarly as that claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM J KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-2767. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am - 5:30pm.
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/WILLIAM J KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
