www.uspto.gov
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and TrademarkOffice
`Address; COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`
`15/644,275
`
`07/07/2017
`
`ATSUTO SHIMADA
`
`PIPMM-57758
`
`3503
`
`miseml
`
`ORI
`PEA
`PEARNE & GORDON LLP
`1801 EAST 9TH STREET
`SUITE 1200
`CLEVELAND,OH 44114-3108
`
`MAITHIEN T
`
`2887
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`03/15/2021
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e-mail address(es):
`
`patdocket@ pearne.com
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`Office Action Summary
`
`Application No.
`15/644,275
`Examiner
`THIEN MAI
`
`Applicant(s)
`SHIMADA, ATSUTO
`Art Unit
`AIA (FITF) Status
`2887
`Yes
`
`-- The MAILING DATEofthis communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLYIS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available underthe provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply betimely filed after SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing
`date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133}.
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, evenif timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
`
`
`
`1) Responsive to communication(s) filed on 9/19/20.
`C} A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/werefiled on
`
`2a)L) This action is FINAL. 2b)¥)This action is non-final.
`3)02 An election was madeby the applicant in responseto a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`4\0) Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`1-10 is/are pending in the application.
`)
`Claim(s)
`5a) Of the above claim(s) ___ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`C} Claim(s)
`is/are allowed.
`Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected.
`S)
`) © Claim(s)____is/are objected to.
`Cj) Claim(s
`are subjectto restriction and/or election requirement
`)
`S)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you maybeeligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPHfeedback@uspto.gov.
`
`) )
`
`Application Papers
`10)() The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)[¥) The drawing(s) filed on 7/7/17 is/are: a) accepted or b)CJ objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12) Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d)or (f).
`Certified copies:
`_—_c)L) None ofthe:
`b)L) Some**
`a)¥) All
`1.4) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.2) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`3.2.) Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been receivedin this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`2)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date 9/17/20.
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3) (J Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`(Qj Other:
`
`4)
`
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mail Date 20210304
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/644,275
`Art Unit: 2887
`
`Page 2
`
`Notice of Pre-AlA 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 requestfor continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in
`
`37 CFR 1.17(e), wasfiled in this application afterfinal rejection. 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
`
`beentimely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37
`
`CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/16/2020 has been entered.
`
`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-AlA), second paragraph:
`The specification shall conclude with one or moreclaims particularly pointing out and distinctly
`claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
`
`Claim 4 line 2: “the registered componentreel” lacks antecedentbasis.
`
`Claim 4 line 4: “the storage unit” lacks antecedent basis.
`
`It is unclear whetherthis
`
`storage unit is referred to as the main storage unit or a storage unit (removed by
`
`1.
`
`2.
`
`amendment) only usedto store first and second id codes.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`1.
`
`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 patentfor a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed
`invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the
`claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have
`been obvious beforethe 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.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/644,275
`Art Unit: 2887
`
`Page 3
`
`1.
`
`Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
`
`Jakobsson (US 20170027091) in view of JP’245 (JP2015012245, available in IDS 9/17/20)
`
`Jakobsson teaches
`
`1. Amanagement system which manages componentinformation from a plurality of
`
`identification codes attached to a component reel which houseselectronic components,
`
`comprising:
`
`a componentstorage device (SMD warehouse 93) including:
`
`a recognizer (Jakobsson,par. 221, 228, 230, 235, 254) which scans a first
`
`identification code attached to the component reel and a second identification code attached to
`
`the componentreel (i.e. 620) and recognizes a code recordedin eachofthe first and second
`
`identification codes (Jakobssonis silent to a second id code attached to the reel; JP’245
`
`teachesit is well known for a reel to have two labels containing at least two barcodes; JP’245,
`
`Fig. 4, par. 45-46; it would have been obvious to one of ordinaryskill in the art before the
`
`effective date the invention was made to incorporate JP’245’s teachings for the operator to
`
`verify and ensure appropriate reel is being used)
`
`an information decoderthat decodesfirst component information from the code
`
`recordedin the first identification code and second componentinformation recordedin the
`
`secondidentification code, the first and second componentinformation including at least one of
`
`item name information, order information, serial number, number of components, and vendor
`
`information (Jakobsson, par. 129-132, 221, 228, 230, 254; JP’245, par. 45-46);
`
`an automatic housing unit (actuator 250, 2030, Fig. 2, 20) transports and stores the
`
`component reel with the first and secondidentification codes recognized (Jakobsson,Fig. 2,
`
`par. 114, 129-132):
`
`a host system (95) in communication with the component storage device (warehouse
`
`93), the decodedfirst and second component information transmitted from the component
`
`storage device to the host system and stored in a main storage unit (SMT database 92);
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/644,275
`Art Unit: 2887
`
`Page 4
`
`a tape feeder(i.e. 630-650) in which the componentreelis installed (Jakobsson,Fig. 6,
`
`par. 118); and
`
`wherein the automatic housing unit carries out the componentreel which is specified by
`
`the host system, wherein the tape feeder supplies the electronic components to a component
`
`mounting mechanism (91) from the componentreel, and wherein the component mounting
`
`mechanism mounts the electronic components onto a board (Fig. 4, 19, Jakobsson, par. 81,
`
`128-135, .
`
`Re claim 2.1 Jakobsson teachesthat different types of codes including barcodes,
`
`dotcode, and RFID are known and can be used (par. 143). Jakobsson/JP’245is silent to the
`
`reel id including these type of code, digits, ... However, it is considered an obvious extension of
`
`Jakobssor’s teachings asit is well knownin the art that the types of codes in Jakobsson
`
`including barcodes, RFID, and dot-codes are capable of storing different types of data including
`
`alphanumeric characters. One ofordinary skill in the art would be encouraged to encode these
`
`data types and character types so as to assign different types of environment, manufacturing
`
`processes, chip types....
`
`Re claim 3.1, wherein when collating the stored componentreel, the recognizer does not
`
`cancel scanning until a specified identification code among the identification codes which are
`
`stored is recognized (once the code is scanned, recognized, and stored, the code has been
`
`scanned therefore scanning is not cancelled).
`
`Re claim 4.1, Jakobssonis silent to the case in whichthe third code is different;
`
`however, it would have been obvious that the third label being different from the first and second
`
`codes could be a numberof reasons including the first/second codes being generated at
`
`different times. Thus the decision could be madeto accept the number/quantity of components
`
`Re claim 9.1, Jakobsson teaches a portable scanner (Fig. 30) for scanning barcodes
`
`and RFID tags on the reels, work order, pallets, ... (par. 109, 228, 299-301) and for checking
`
`quantity, tracing, verifying, and guidance through at least a display based on data retrieved from
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/644,275
`Art Unit: 2887
`
`Page 5
`
`the system database and the scanned barcode (par. 404-412, 432-434). Thus although silent to
`
`displaying a collation result, this feature is considered an obvious extension of Jakobsson’s
`
`teachings.
`
`Re claims 5-8, 10, see discussion regarding claims above.
`
`Remarks
`
`Applicant's arguments have been considered but are mootin view of the new ground(s)
`
`of rejection.
`
`Conclusion
`
`Anyinquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
`
`should be directed to Thien T. Mai whose telephone numberis 571-272-8283. The examiner
`
`can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00pm.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
`
`supervisor, Steve S. Paik can be reached at 572-272-2404. The fax phone numberfor the
`
`organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
`
`Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent
`
`Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications
`
`may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished
`
`applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR
`
`system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on accessto the Private
`
`PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you
`
`would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the
`
`automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA)or 571-272-1000.
`
`/Thien T Mai/
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2887
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/644,275
`Art Unit: 2887
`
`Page 6
`
`