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 .
General Information
The merits of this case have been carefully reconsidered considering applicant’s response received 5/14/2025. It is the examiner's position that the rejection of record under 35 USC 112 has not been overcome by applicant's amendment and is forth again and made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (a) & (b)
The claim is AGAIN AND FINALLY REJECTED under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) as the claimed invention is not described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the same and fails to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The scope of a claim is definite only when it is supported by an enabling disclosure. When the scope of protection sought exceeds what is enabling in the disclosure, the claim is indefinite. MPEP 2164.
The claim scope must be less than or equal to the scope of the enablement. National Recovery Technologies Inc. v. Magnetic Separation Systems Inc., 49 USPQ2d 1671 (Fed. Cir. 1999) See Goodman, 11 F.3d at 1050, 29 USPQ2d at 2013 ("the specification must teach those of skill in the art how to make and how to use the invention as broadly as it is claimed"’) (citing Vaeck, 947 F.2d at496); In re Fisher, 427 F.2d 833,839, 166 USPQ 18, 24 (CCPA 1970). The scope of enablement, in turn, is that which is disclosed in the specification and is understandable to a designer of ordinary skill in the art without resorting to conjecture.
The claim is indefinite and non-enabling because:
The metes and bounds of the claimed design are unclear because the quality of amended Fig. 2.2 is still poor and there is still no corroborating disclosure in the instant application to understand the depth and contours of the bottom, amended Figs. 1.4 and 2.2 views without resorting to conjecture. Specifically, the depth and spatial relationships of the portions within the gray areas in Fig. 1.4 and all but the wheels in Fig. 2.2 cannot be determined without the benefit of across sectional or perspective view. To overcome this rejection, Figs. 1.4 and 2.2 may be cancelled or revised to convert the indefinite elements to broken lines in Fig. 1.4, lighten the unclaimed areas in Fig.2.2 and remove them from the claim by inserting the following statement into the specification preceding the claim (MPEP 1503.02, subsection Ill): --The broken lines in Fig. 1.4 and lightened areas in Fig. 2.2 depict portions of the autonomous industrial robot which form no part of the claimed design. -- See the drawings that follow for specific examples of problem areas.
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[AltContent: textbox (The surface configurations of the elements within the areas in gray cannot be determined without a corroborating view. Only the wheels are enabled. See the arrows for some examples of non-enabling areas.)]
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[AltContent: textbox (This view is too dark to determine the surface configurations of all details, and the spatial relationships are unable to be determined without a corroborating view. Only the wheels are enabled.)]
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The applicant argues that the amended drawings overcome the 35 USC § 112 rejection. The examiner disagrees and the amended drawings remain rejected to because of the poor quality and that without a corroborating view for Figs 1.4 and 2.2 they still do not clearly define the claimed subject matter. For these reasons the rejection remains and is final.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Patricia Palasik whose telephone number 571-272-2638. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, from 7:00 to 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, Lilyana Bekic can be reached on 571-272-7425. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICIA A PALASIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2918
July 23, 2025
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