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
`
`17/553,590
`
`12/16/2021
`
`ChunhuaLI
`
`22773-826.309
`
`3538
`
`Align Technology, Inc. / WSGR
`650 Page Mill Road
`Palo Alto, CA 94304
`
`CHEN,VIVIAN
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`1787
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`02/07/2023
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`Thetime 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):
`
`patentdocket @ wsgr.com
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`Applicant(s)
`Application No.
`LI et al.
`17/553,590
`AIA (First Inventor
`Art
`Examiner
`to File) Status
`Unit
`VIVIAN CHEN
`1787‘|Yes
`
`Applicant-InitiatedInterview Summary —————st—«<—
`
`Mr. Franklin Chuu
`
`|Attorney
`
`Date of Interview: 01 February 2023
`
`Issues Discussed:
`
`Other
`
`Mr. Chuu discussed possible Claim Amendments to address outstanding rejections under 35 USC 103
`in the previous Office Action mailed 10/05/2022 -- e.g., including additional required physical properties
`in the independentclaims.
`
`The Examinerindicated that such additional claim limitations (depending on the numberandthe types of
`additional physical properties required) MAY be sufficient to overcome the outstanding 103 rejections in
`the previous Office Action mailed 10/05/2022.
`
`However, the Examiner indicated that the present application has issues regarding:
`-- (i) the effective priority date of claims 2-33; and/or
`-- (ii) rejections under 35 USC 112(a) and/or USC 112(b);
`because due to:
`— (a) the lack of clarity as to whetherthe layer has the recited physical properties or whetherthe polymer
`itself has the recited physical properties; and
`— (b) the lack of adequate support in the parent applications for requiring the polymeritself to have said
`physical properties.
`
`The Examinerindicated that the effective priority date of the claims in the present application may be
`changedin view of the above issues and furthermore, new groundsof rejection under 35 USC 112(a)
`and/or USC 112(b) related to the above issues may be presented in a future Office Action if said issues
`are not fully addressed in Applicant's next response.
`
`The Examinerrefers Applicant to copending related Application No. 17/858,825, in particular the
`previous Office Action mailed 12/01/2022 and the associated Interview held on 01/19/2023 regarding a
`detailed discussion of substantially similar issues and the Examiner's suggestions regarding possible
`solutions.
`
`No definite agreement on patentability was reached.
`
`ATTACHMENT: 17858825-Examiner-Interview-Summary-Record-PTOL413-2023-JAN-19.pdf
`
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-413/413b (Rev. Oct. 2019)
`
`Interview Summary
`
`Paper No. 20230201
`
`

`

`Application No.
`Applicant(s)
`17/553,590
`LI et al.
`Examiner
`Art
`AIA (First Inventor
`
`Applicant-InitiatedInterview Summary Unit_|to File) StatusVIVIAN CHEN
`
`
`
`Attachment
`
`NIVIAN CHEN/
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
`
`1787~+|Yes
`37 CFR§ 1.2 Businessto be transacted in writing
`
`Applicant is reminded that a complete written statement as to the substanceof the interview must be made of record in
`the application file. It is the applicants responsibility to provide the written statement, unless the interview wasinitiated
`by the Examiner and the Examiner hasindicated that a written summarywill be provided. See MPEP 713.04
`Pleasefurther see:
`MPEP 713.04
`Title 37 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 1.133 Interviews, paragraph (b)
`
`Applicant recordation instructions: The formal written reply to the last Office action must include the substance of the
`interview. (See MPEP section 713.04). If a reply to the last Office action has already been filed, applicant is given a
`non-extendable period of the longer of one monthor thirty days from this interview date, or the mailing date of this
`interview summary form, whichever is later, to file a statement of the substanceofthe interview.
`
`Examiner recordation instructions: Examiners must summarize the substanceof any interview of record. A complete
`and proper recordation of the substance of an interview should include the itemslisted in MPEP 713.04 for complete
`and proper recordation including the identification of the general thrust of each argumentor issue discussed, a general
`indication of any other pertinent matters discussed regarding patentability and the general results or outcome of the
`interview, to include an indication as to whether or not agreement was reached on the issuesraised.
`
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-413/413b (Rev. Oct. 2019)
`
`Interview Summary
`
`Paper No. 20230201
`
`