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 .
Election/Restrictions
Groups I-II and IV-VII are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being for the nonelected design. Election of Group III was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 26, 2026.
Drawing Objections
With the above election of Group III, the remaining figures must be renumbered consecutively, beginning with 1. See 37 CFR 1.84(U)(1).
Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as amended. If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. If all the figures on a drawing sheet are canceled, a replacement sheet is not required. A marked-up copy of the drawing sheet (labeled as "Annotated Sheet") including an annotation showing that all the figures on that drawing sheet have been canceled must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change to the drawings. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either "Replacement Sheet" or "New Sheet" pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action.
When preparing new or replacement drawings, be careful to avoid introducing new matter. New matter is prohibited by 35 U.S.C. 132 and 37 CFR 1.121(f).
Specification Objections
1) With the above election of Group 3, the figure descriptions should be renumbered commensurate with the figure labels.
2) The incorporated by reference statement in the Specification is objected to due to its improper location within the Specification. 37 C.F.R. 1.154(b). The specification should include the following sections in order:
(1) Preamble, stating the name of the applicant, title of the design, and a brief description of the
nature and intended use of the article in which the design is embodied.
(2) Cross-reference to related applications (unless included in the application data sheet).
(3) Statement regarding federally sponsored research or development.
(4) Description of the figure or figures of the drawing.
(5) Feature description.
(6) A single claim.
In order to overcome this objection, the incorporated by reference statement should be located before the figure descriptions.
Rejection under 35 USC § 112(b)
The claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 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. The claim is indefinite because of the use of the phrase “or the like” following the title. Cancellation of said phrase in the claim and each occurrence of the title throughout the papers, except the oath or declaration, will overcome the rejection. See Ex parte Pappas, 23 USPQ2d 1636 (Bd. App. & Inter. 1992) and 37 CFR 1.153.
Conclusion
The claim stands rejected under 35 USC 112(b).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLIVIA B EL-NEMRI whose telephone number is (703)756-1585. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.
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, Wendy Arminio can be reached at (571) 270-0221. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/O.B.E./Examiner, Art Unit 2923
/CATHERINE S POSTHAUER/Primary Examiner of Art Unit 2922
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