William WhiteDownload PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardNov 5, 202011951555 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Nov. 5, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 11/951,555 12/06/2007 William Collins White III 104721.000006 8597 23377 7590 11/05/2020 BakerHostetler Cira Centre 12th Floor 2929 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-2891 EXAMINER TURNER, SHELBY AUBURN ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3624 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 11/05/2020 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): eofficemonitor@bakerlaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte WILLIAM COLLINS WHITE III ____________ Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 Technology Center 3600 ____________ Before NINA L. MEDLOCK, PHILIP J. HOFFMANN, and KENNETH G. SCHOPFER, Administrative Patent Judges. MEDLOCK, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s final rejection of claims 1, 6–13, and 16–25. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM. 1 We use the term “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Our decision references Appellant’s Appeal Brief (“Appeal Br.,” filed October 14, 2019) and the Examiner’s Answer (“Ans.,” mailed January 27, 2020), Advisory Action (“Adv. Act.,” mailed March 5, 2019), and Final Office Action (“Final Act.,” mailed December 14, 2018). Appellant identifies Action Airgun, LLC as the real party in interest (Appeal Br. 1). Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 2 CLAIMED INVENTION The claimed invention relates to “a process and system for distributing information to and processing results from geographically diverse participants in an airgun shooting sport,” and also relates to “the standard equipment and rules associated with an airgun shooting sport that enables geographically diverse participants to compete against each other” (Spec. ¶ 2). Claims 1, 16, and 21 are the independent claims on appeal. Claim 1, reproduced below with bracketed notations added, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. A computer-implemented method of enabling a real-life, physical activity for a plurality of geographically diverse participants including a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, the method comprising: [(a)] a computing system, in response to user requests, presenting information identifying at least a first common rule set and a second common rule set, each of the first common rule set and the second common rule set: 1) defining a portion of the real-life, physical activity, 2) requiring an item for participation in the real-life, physical activity, 3) being associated with a particular week of a competition season, and 4) requiring completion by a specified time, wherein participation in the real- life, physical activity by a participant generates metrics indicative of an objective level of performance in completing the real-life, physical activity, wherein the real-life, physical activity comprises an airgun shooting competition including the first participant’s interaction with a first airgun isolated over a distance from a first airgun target and the second participant’s interaction with a second airgun isolated over a distance from a second airgun target; Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 3 [(b)] the computing system receiving requests for the first common rule set from a first plurality of participants, and in response to the requests, transmitting the first common rule set to the first plurality of participants at geographically distant locations; [(c)] the computing system maintaining and displaying a first time counter showing time left available to complete the portion of the real-life, physical activity defined in the first common rule set; [(d)] the first participant shooting the first airgun at the first airgun target at the first location; [(e)] the second participant shooting the second airgun at the second airgun target at the second location; [(f)] the computing system receiving until the specified time a plurality of metrics associated with the first common rule set from each of the first plurality of participants; [(g)] the computing system receiving requests for the second common rule set from a second plurality of participants, and in response to the requests, transmitting the second common rule set to the second plurality of participants at geographically distant locations; [(h)] the computing system maintaining and displaying a second time counter showing time left available to complete the portion of the real-life, physical activity defined in the second common rule set; [(i)] the computing system receiving until the specified time a plurality of metrics associated with the second common rule set from each of the second plurality of participants; and [(j)] the computing system generating a ranking associated with at least one of the first plurality of participants and the second plurality of participants, wherein the ranking is indicative of a relative level of performance in completing the airgun shooting competition. REJECTIONS Claims 1, 6–13, and 16–25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as directed to a judicial exception without significantly more. Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 4 Claims 1, 6–13, and 21–25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over International Shooting Sport Federation, “Rifle Rules for 300 m Rifle, 300 m Standard Rifle, 50 m Rifle, 10 m Air Rifle” (Jan. 1, 2005) (available at www.issf-shooting.org) (“ISSF”) and Abe (US 2003/0228557 A1, published Dec. 11, 2003). Claims 16–20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over ISSF, Berry et al. (US 2002/0115488 A1, published Aug. 22, 2002) (“Berry”), and Abe. ANALYSIS Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, a claim is patent eligible if it claims a “new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Supreme Court, however, has long interpreted § 101 to include an implicit exception: “[l]aws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas” are not patentable. Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014). The Supreme Court, in Alice, reiterated the two-step framework previously set forth in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566 U.S. 66 (2012), “for distinguishing patents that claim laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas from those that claim patent-eligible applications of those concepts.” Alice Corp., 573 U.S. at 217. The first step in that analysis is to “determine whether the claims at issue are directed to one of those patent-ineligible concepts.” Id. If the claims are not directed to a patent-ineligible concept, e.g., an abstract idea, the inquiry ends. Otherwise, the inquiry proceeds to the second step where the elements of the claims are considered “individually and ‘as an ordered combination’” Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 5 to determine whether there are additional elements that “‘transform the nature of the claim’ into a patent-eligible application.” Id. (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 79, 78). This is “a search for an ‘inventive concept’ — i.e., an element or combination of elements that is ‘sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the [ineligible concept] itself.’” Id. at 217–18 (alteration in original). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) published revised guidance on January 7, 2019 for use by USPTO personnel in evaluating subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. 2019 REVISED PATENT SUBJECT MATTER ELIGIBILITY GUIDANCE, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 57 (Jan. 7, 2019) (the “2019 Revised Guidance”).2 That guidance revised the USPTO’s examination procedure with respect to the first step of the Mayo/Alice framework by (1) “[p]roviding groupings of subject matter that [are] considered an abstract idea”; and (2) clarifying that a claim is not “directed to” a judicial exception if the judicial exception is integrated into a practical application of that exception. Id. at 50. The first step, as set forth in the 2019 Revised Guidance (i.e., Step 2A), is, thus, a two-prong test. In Step 2A, Prong One, we look to whether the claim recites a judicial exception, e.g., one of the following three groupings of abstract ideas: (1) mathematical concepts; (2) certain methods of organizing human activity, e.g., fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions; and (3) mental 2 The USPTO issued an update on October 17, 2019 (the “October 2019 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility,” available at https://www.uspto.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/peg_oct_2019_update.pdf) clarifying the 2019 Revised Guidance in response to public comments. Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 6 processes. 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 54. If so, we next determine, in Step 2A, Prong Two, whether the claim as a whole integrates the recited judicial exception into a practical application, i.e., whether the additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception, apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the judicial exception. Id. at 54–55. Only if the claim (1) recites a judicial exception and (2) does not integrate that exception into a practical application do we conclude that the claim is “directed to” the judicial exception, e.g., an abstract idea. Id. If the claim is determined to be directed to a judicial exception under revised Step 2A, we next evaluate the additional elements, individually and in combination, in Step 2B, to determine whether they provide an inventive concept, i.e., whether the additional elements or combination of elements amounts to significantly more than the judicial exception itself. Only then, is the claim patent eligible. 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 56. Here, the Examiner determined that the claims recite facilitating competition between participants performing a physical activity at different geographical locations, i.e., managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, which is a method of organizing human activities, and, therefore, an abstract idea (Adv. Act. 2; see also Final Act. 7– 8), and that the abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application (Adv. Act. 2). The Examiner also determined that the claims do not include additional elements sufficient to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself (id.; see also Final Act. 8–9). Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 7 Independent Claim 1 and Dependent Claims 6–13 Step One of the Mayo/Alice Framework (2019 Revised Guidance, Step 2A) We are not persuaded by Appellant’s argument that the Examiner erred in determining that claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea (Appeal Br. 11–18, 22–24). The Federal Circuit has explained that “the ‘directed to’ inquiry applies a stage-one filter to claims, considered in light of the specification, based on whether ‘their character as a whole is directed to excluded subject matter.’” Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (quoting Internet Patents Corp. v. Active Network, Inc., 790 F.3d 1343, 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2015)). It asks whether the focus of the claims is on a specific improvement in relevant technology or on a process that itself qualifies as an “abstract idea” for which computers are invoked merely as a tool. See id. at 1335–36. Here, as discussed below, it is clear from the Specification (including the claim language) that claim 1 focuses on an abstract idea, and not on any improvement to technology and/or a technical field. The Specification is titled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR ORGANIZING AND IMPLEMENTING A REAL- LIFE, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY,” and describes, in the Background section, that although console-based computer gaming networks enable geographically diverse members to play virtual games with one another, real-life, physical activities, such as shooting sports, by their nature, present a problem for geographically diverse participants, i.e., “[b]ecause of the geographic distance between the players, it may be difficult for them to participate and/or compete in such real-life, physical activities together” (Spec. ¶¶ 3–4). The Specification describes that the claimed invention Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 8 addresses this issue by providing systems and methods that “combine real- life players engaged in physically playing a sport using standard equipment and rules with online community/internet usage aspects” (Spec. ¶ 8). The invention, thus, enables geographically diverse users to participate in a recreational and/or sporting activity, e.g., an airgun shooting sport, under a uniform set of rules and/or conditions (id. ¶ 32). Consistent with this disclosure, claim 1 recites a method of enabling a real-life, physical activity for a plurality of geographically diverse participants, including a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising: (1) in response to user requests, identifying at least a first common rule set and a second common rule set for an airgun competition, i.e., a computing system, in response to user requests, presenting information identifying at least a first common rule set and a second common rule set, each of the first common rule set and the second common rule set: 1) defining a portion of the real-life, physical activity, 2) requiring an item for participation in the real-life, physical activity, 3) being associated with a particular week of a competition season, and 4) requiring completion by a specified time, wherein participation in the real- life, physical activity by a participant generates metrics indicative of an objective level of performance in completing the real-life, physical activity, wherein the real-life, physical activity comprises an airgun shooting competition including the first participant’s interaction with a first airgun isolated over a distance from a first airgun target and the second participant’s interaction with a second airgun isolated over a distance from a second airgun target (step (a)); (2) in response to user requests, distributing the first common rule set to a first plurality of the geographically diverse participants and Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 9 maintaining and displaying a first time counter showing the time available to complete the physical activity defined in the first common rule set, i.e., the computing system receiving requests for the first common rule set from a first plurality of participants, and in response to the requests, transmitting the first common rule set to the first plurality of participants at geographically distant locations; [and] the computing system maintaining and displaying a first time counter showing time left available to complete the portion of the real-life, physical activity defined in the first common rule set (steps (b) and (c)); (3) receiving, until the specified time, a plurality of metrics based on performance of the physical activity, i.e., shooting a first airgun at a first airgun target, from each of the first plurality of participants, i.e., the first participant shooting the first airgun at the first airgun target at the first location; [and] the computing system receiving until the specified time a plurality of metrics associated with the first common rule set from each of the first plurality of participants (steps (d) and (f)); (4) in response to user requests, distributing the second common rule set to a second plurality of the geographically diverse participants and maintaining and displaying a second time counter showing the time available to complete the physical activity defined in the second common rule set, i.e., the computing system receiving requests for the second common rule set from a second plurality of participants, and in response to the requests, transmitting the second common rule set to the second plurality of participants at geographically distant locations; [and] the computing system maintaining and displaying a second time counter showing time left available to complete the Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 10 portion of the real-life, physical activity defined in the second common rule set (steps (g) and (h)); (5) receiving, until the specified time, a plurality of metrics based on performance of the physical activity, i.e., shooting a second airgun at a second airgun target, from each of the second plurality of participants, i.e., the second participant shooting the second airgun at the second airgun target at the second location; [and] the computing system receiving until the specified time a plurality of metrics associated with the second common rule set from each of the second plurality of participants (steps (e) and (i)); and (6) ranking at least one of the first and second plurality of participants based on their relative level of performance in completing the airgun shooting competition, i.e., “the computing system generating a ranking associated with at least one of the first plurality of participants and the second plurality of participants, wherein the ranking is indicative of a relative level of performance in completing the airgun shooting competition” (step (j)). Appellant argues that the rejection of claim 1 cannot be sustained because the claim does not recite subject matter that falls within any of the three enumerated groupings of abstract ideas (Appeal Br. 14–16). Yet, by Appellant’s own characterization, the claimed invention involves “providing a fair and economical way for geographically separated competitors to compete on a level playing field” (Appeal Br. 24). And, Appellant cannot reasonably deny that, as recited in claim 1, distributing a common set of rules to participants to govern their participation in an airgun shooting competition, and thereby provide a “level playing field,” constitutes “managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 11 (including . . . following rules or instructions).” As such, we agree with the Examiner that claim 1 recites a method of organizing human activity and, therefore, an abstract idea. See 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 52.3 We also are not persuaded that claim 1 recites additional elements that integrate the judicial exception, i.e., the recited abstract idea, into a practical application under Step 2A, Prong Two (Appeal Br. 6). The 2019 Revised Guidance references MANUAL OF PATENT EXAMINING PROCEDURE, Ninth Edition (rev. Jan 2018) (available at https://mpep.uspto.gov/RDMS/MPEP/E9_R-08.2017.) § 2106.05(a)–(c) and (e) in non-exhaustively listing considerations indicative that an additional element or combination of elements may have integrated the recited judicial exception into a practical application. 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55. In particular, the Guidance describes that an additional element may have integrated the judicial exception into a practical application if the additional element (1) reflects an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to other technology or technical field; (2) applies or uses the judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition; (3) implements the judicial exception with, or uses the judicial exception with, a particular machine or manufacture integral to the claim; (4) effects a transformation or reduction 3 Claim 1 also recites “receiving . . . metrics” and “generating a ranking” indicative of a relative level of performance of the first and second plurality of participants in completing the airgun shooting competition — acts that, as the Examiner observes (Adv. Act. 2), can be performed by a human either mentally or manually using pen and paper. As such, we agree with the Examiner that claim 1 also can be characterized reasonably as reciting “mental processes,” and, therefore, an abstract idea. See 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 52. Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 12 of an article to a different state or thing; or applies; or (5) applies or uses the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. Id. Appellant maintains here that claim 1 “represents a ‘practical application’ under Step 2A and is therefore eligible for patent protection under Section 101” because “the computer system itself, as distinguished from the participants, performs a number of the recited method steps,” and further because the first and second airguns and first and second airgun targets are “central and necessary limitations on the scope of protection” (Appeal Br. 16–17). Yet, neither of these “considerations” is indicative of an integration of the recited abstract idea into a practical application. Indeed, the 2019 Revised Guidance makes clear that merely using a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea or only generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular environment or field, e.g., a shooting competition involving airguns and airgun targets, is not sufficient for a practical application. 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55. Appellant further argues that claim 1 is not directed to an abstract idea, and is patent eligible, because the claimed invention “provides a fair and economical way for geographically separated competitors to compete on a level playing field without having to travel to a common venue”; and Appellant lists a number of Federal Circuit and Board decisions that allegedly support its position (Appeal 22–24). Appellant asserts that these decisions are relevant because the present invention, like the claimed Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 13 inventions at issue in the decisions, “relate[s] to improvements in the manner in which a computer is used or operates” (id.). Appellant’s argument is not persuasive at least because there is a fundamental difference between computer functionality improvements, on the one hand, and uses of existing computers as tools to perform a particular task, on the other — a distinction that the Federal Circuit applied in Enfish, in rejecting a § 101 challenge at the first stage of the Mayo/Alice framework because the claims at issue focused on a specific type of data structure, i.e., a self-referential table, designed to improve the way a computer stores and retrieves data in memory, and not merely on asserted advances in uses to which existing computer capabilities could be put. See Enfish, 822 F.3d at 1335–36. The alleged improvement that Appellant touts, i.e., “provid[ing] a fair and economical way for geographically separated competitors to compete on a level playing field without having to travel to a common venue,” does not concern an improvement to computer capabilities. Instead, it, at best, relates to an improvement to the abstract idea of facilitating competition between or among participants performing a physical activity at different geographical locations, which is not enough for patent eligibility. See SAP Am., Inc. v. InvestPic, LLC, 898 F.3d 1161, 1170 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (“[P]atent law does not protect such claims[, i.e., claims to an asserted advance in the realm of abstract ideas], without more, no matter how groundbreaking the advance.”). This is particularly so, where, as here, we find no indication in the Specification that the operations recited in claim 1 require any specialized computer hardware or other inventive computer components, invoke any allegedly inventive programming, or that the claimed invention is implemented using other than a generic computer Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 14 component as a tool operating in its normal, routine, and ordinary capacity for receiving, storing, and processing information. We conclude, for the reasons outlined above, that claim 1 recites a method of organizing human activity, i.e., an abstract idea, and that the additional element recited in the claim beyond the abstract idea is no more than a generic computer component used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea. As such, it does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. See Alice Corp., 573 U.S. at 223–24 (“[W]holly generic computer implementation is not generally the sort of ‘additional featur[e]’ that provides any ‘practical assurance that the process is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the [abstract idea] itself.’” (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 77)). Accordingly, we agree with the Examiner that claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea. Step Two of the Mayo/Alice Framework (2019 Revised Guidance, Step 2B) Having determined under step one of the Mayo/Alice framework that claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea, we next consider under Step 2B of the 2019 Revised Guidance, the second step of the Mayo/Alice framework, whether claim 1 includes additional elements or a combination of elements that provides an “inventive concept.” 2019 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 56. We conclude that it does not. And Appellant offers no arguments to the contrary. We are not persuaded, on the present record, that the Examiner erred in rejecting independent claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Therefore, we sustain the Examiner’s rejection of claim 1. We also sustain the Examiner’s rejection of dependent claims 6–13, which are not argued separately. Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 15 Independent Claims 16 and 21 and Dependent Claims 17–20 and 22–25 Appellant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 16 and 21 (Appeal Br. 18–22) are substantially similar to Appellant’s arguments with respect to independent claim 1, and are similarly unpersuasive of Examiner error. Therefore, we sustain the Examiner’s rejection of independent claims 16 and 21 for the same reasons set forth above with respect to claim 1. We also sustain the Examiner’s rejection of dependent claims 17– 20 and 22–25, which are not argued separately. Obviousness Appellant argues that the Examiner erred in rejecting independent claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 because the combined disclosures of ISSF and Abe fail to disclose or suggest a computer-implemented method comprising maintaining and displaying first and second time counters showing time left for completing a real-life, physical activity defined in first and second common rule sets; receiving a plurality of metrics associated with the first and second common rule sets from each of the plurality of participants; and generating a ranking associated with the plurality of participants, where the ranking is indicative of a relative level of performance in completing the activity (Appeal 27). Appellant notes that the Examiner takes the position that “Abe describes maintaining and displaying time counters for the time remaining in the competition to complete an activity and thus the combined disclosures of ISSF and Abe render Applicant’s invention obvious” (id. at 28). Appellant asserts that this is “a hindsight-based analysis since ISSF does not contemplate a method or system that would actually be used to enable a live competition between groups of users at geographically-diverse locations” (id.). But, Appellant does not adequately explain why ISSF’s disclosure Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 16 (i.e., of a website for providing “Technical Rules for the sport of shooting to govern the conduct of shooting events . . . to achieve uniformity in the conduct of the shooting sport throughout the world”) cannot be combined with Abe’s disclosure (i.e., of an electronic competition network for transmitting, via the Internet, the progress and results of a competition held at each of a plurality of competition sites and managing the exchange of information such that a completion held at a plurality of competition site can be held as though it were being held at a single competition site), as the Examiner proposes (Final Act. 10–22), to arrive at the claimed invention. We are not persuaded on the present record that the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Therefore, we sustain the Examiner’s rejection of claim 1. We also sustain the Examiner’ rejection of dependent claims 6–13, which are not argued separately except based on their dependence from claim 1 (Appeal Br. 28). Appellant argues that claims 16 and 21 are not obvious for the same reasons set forth with respect to claim 1, which we found unpersuasive. Therefore, we also sustain the Examiner’s rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 of independent claims 16 and 21, and claims 17–20 and 22–25, which depend therefrom, for the same reasons set forth above with respect to claim 1. CONCLUSION In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1, 6–13, 16–25 101 Eligibility 1, 6–13, 16–25 Appeal 2020-004548 Application 11/951,555 17 Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1, 6–13, 21–25 103 ISSF, Abe 1, 6–13, 21–25 16–20 103 ISSF, Berry, Abe 16–20 Overall Outcome 1, 6–13, 16–25 No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). AFFIRMED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation