CLAIMS 1-12 AND 21-28 ARE PRESENTED FOR EXAMINATION
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 .
Applicant’s amendment, remarks and Information Disclosure Statement filed July 01, 2026 have been received and entered into the application. As reflected by the attached, completed copies of form PTO/SB/08, the cited references have been considered by the Examiner. Also, the application papers have been amended as directed.
Claim Rejection - 35 USC § 112
Claims 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for the reasons of record as set forth in the previous Office action dated April 01, 2026 as applied to claims 13-20, which reasons are here incorporated by reference.
The cancellation of claims 13-20 is noted, however the Examiner inadvertently failed to include claim 12 in the previously rejected claim grouping, i.e., the sub-grouping of claims 13-20 should have correctly read as “12-20”. However, for the reasons previously set forth, it is believed that this claim is also properly rejected.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-12 and 21-28 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-28 of U.S. Patent No. 12,268,688, (cited by Applicant) in view of Sinha, (U.S. 2024/0474594, (effective 09/29/21 via Prov. Application 63/250,009) and Jordan, (U.S. Patent No. 6,448,323), both cited by the Examiner OR provisionally rejects claims 1-20 on the grounds of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of US Application No. 19/420,555 or claims 1-11 and 21-29 of U.S. Application No. 19/424,027, (now allowed and soon to be patented), for the reasons of record as set forth in the previous Office action, as applied to claims 1-20, which reasons are here incorporated by reference.
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully considered, but fail to persuade the Examiner of error. In particular, rather than pointing to any supposed error in the Examiner’s reasons for rejection, Applicant has merely point to that claim 1 has been amended. However, the amendment to claim was formal in nature and did not change the scope thereof.
Thus, the claims are deemed properly rejected and none of the claims are currently in condition for allowance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND J HENLEY III whose telephone number is (571)272-0575. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-2:30pm EST.
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/RAYMOND J HENLEY III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1629
August 14, 2026
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