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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 2, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendments
This office action responds to the amendments filed on July 2, 2025 for application 17/771,540. Claims 1, 10-11, and 19 are amended, and claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
The Examiner has fully considered the Applicant’s arguments filed on July 2, 2025, and the Examiner responds as provided below.
Regarding the Applicant’s response at page 9 of the Remarks that concerns the § 112(a) rejection, the amendments to claims cures the issue of new matter and the corresponding rejection is withdrawn.
Regarding the Applicant’s response at page 9 of the Remarks that concerns the § 103 rejection of independent claim 1, and by inference independent claims 10 and 19, the Applicant’s arguments in conjunction with the claim amendments are persuasive, and consequently the Examiner conducted a new prior art search. The Applicant’s arguments are now moot with respect to the pending claims because the arguments do not apply to one of the references currently used in the rejection of the aforementioned claims as detailed below.
Interview Request
Applicant submitted an interview request with the filing of the RCE. MPEP § states, “Examiners should inspect all incoming papers. See MPEP § 714.05. Where a complete reply to a first action includes a request for an interview, the examiner, after consideration of the reply, should grant such an interview request if it appears that the interview would result in expediting the allowance of the application.” After conducting the latest prior art search, it appears that “the allowance of the application” is not relevant. Additionally, Applicant’s reply overcame the § 112(a) and § 103 rejections, thus making the need for an interview moot. Accordingly, the interview request is denied.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 patent for 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 before the 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.
The following conventions apply to the mapping of the prior art to the claims:
Italicized text – claim language.
Parenthetical plain text – Examiner’s citation and explanation.
Quotation marks – language quoted from a prior art reference.
Underlining – language quoted from a claim.
Brackets – material altered from either a prior art reference or a claim, which includes the Examiner’s explanation that relates a claim limitation to the quoted material of a reference.
Braces – a limitation taught by another reference, but the limitation is presented with the mapping of the instant reference for context.
Numbered superscript – a first phrase to be moved upwards to the primary reference analysis.
Lettered superscript – a second phrase to be moved after the movement of the first phrase from which it was lifted, or more succinctly, move numbered material first, lettered material last.
A. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foster (US 2013/0017812, “Foster”) in view of Musabeyoglu et al. (US 2020/0294338, “Musabeyoglu”), and further in view of Klein et al. (US 2016/0284140, “Klein”).
Regarding Claim 1
Foster discloses
A computer-implemented method (abstract, Fig. 1), comprising:
processing, by a smart building system (Fig. 1, ¶ [0044], “Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 [as a smart building system that includes all of the components illustrated to enable a system, noting the extreme breadth of this limitation that limits its effectiveness in establishing patentability] suitable for implementing methods for remote access [via smart devices] control to a building,” with the smart building system including “control system 160”; see also Musabeyoglu Fig. 3, ¶ [0048], “FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative example of a [smart building] system or architecture 300 for a remote server that provides support for a universal access control device that may be implemented in accordance with at least some embodiments.”),
1 …,
2 … and
3 …;
4 …;
5 …;
determining, by the smart building system, whether to grant or deny access to the space based on the information (¶ [0049], “As will be described below with greater details, the control system 160 [as a part of the smart building system] may facilitate the way how a decision whether the visitor 110 may enter [or grant access] the building or not is made. In certain embodiments, this decision [as a determination] can be made automatically (or in a semi-automatic manner) [by the smart building system] based upon one or more predetermined criteria and data obtained [as information as taught by Musabeyoglu ¶ [0047]] from one or more of the following: the intercom station 130, the resident mobile device 150A, the visitor mobile device 150B, the one or more video cameras, such as the video camera 140A, and an input of the operator 155 or resident 115. The control system 160 may also trigger one or more actuators (not shown) to open or unlock the one or more doors 145A-145C, maintain a database with visitor and resident profiles, employ automatic security algorithms, such as calling police or emergency, and so forth.”); and
in response to determining to grant the access to the space (¶ [0049]), causing, by the smart building system, the smart device to grant access to the space using the predetermined destination (¶ [0077], “Similarly, the resident 115 may ascertain that the visitor 110 is an expected visitor and he or she may enter the building 105 or the apartment 120. The resident 115 may provide [or grant] access to the building for the visitor 110 by triggering one or more actuators 410 [as a smart access control device that is coupled to the control system 160].”);
in response to determining to deny access to the space, causing, by the smart building system, the smart device to deny access to the space (¶ [0077], i.e., if the resident elects not to grant access via the use of their mobile phone, then the control system 160 as the smart building system does not allow the “actuators 410” to operate to grant access, and thus the smart access control device denies access to the space).
Foster doesn’t disclose
1 an indication based on a detection made by a smart device of the smart building system, the indication indicating a presence of a person attempting to gain access to a space,
2 the indication including a credential being transmitted from a mobile device associated with the person to the smart device using a proximity-based wireless communication protocol, the credential being a time-limited credential that is valid during a predetermined period of time…
3 defining a predetermined destination in the space using one or more devices that can be accessed using the mobile device, the one or more devices are associated with the space and provide access to the space in the smart building system;
4 communicating, by the smart building system, the indication to the one or more devices associated with the space;
5 receiving, by the smart building system, information from a first device in the one or more devices, the information indicating whether to grant or deny the access to the space;
Musabeyoglu, however, discloses
1 an indication based on a detection made by a smart device of the smart building system (Fig. 8, ¶ [0075], “Process 800 may begin at 802, when a credential [of an indication] is received [and thereby detected] by a universal access control device (e.g., from a reader device of an access control system). The universal access control device may store an indication of the credential and subsequently relay that credential to an access control board of the access control system at 804.”; Fig. 2, ¶ [0033], “FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative example of a system or architecture 200 [with all of the elements forming a smart device that includes the “universal access control device” that receives the “credential”/indication] for a universal access control device that may be implemented in accordance with at least some embodiments.”; and ¶ [0034], “In some examples, the user device 204 may be in communication with a universal access control device UACD 206 [as part of the smart device] via a wireless communication means [to receive the “credential”/indicator].”),
the indication indicating a presence of a person attempting to gain access to a space (¶ [0044], “For example, the universal access control device 206 may be installed between a reader device [also interpreted as part of the smart device] 234 and an access control board 236 within an access control system 208. When the reader device 234 receives an access credential [that indicates a presence of a person], it may relay that access credential to the access control board 236 via the universal access control device 206.”; and “…and determine whether an operator of the user device 204 should be granted access [to a person attempting to gain access] to an access control point.” ),
2 the indication including a credential being transmitted from a mobile device associated with the person to the smart device (Fig. 2, ¶ [0044], “When the reader [as part of the smart] device 234 receives an access credential [from a mobile device/“user device 204”; see also Foster Fig. 1, ¶ [0049] that teaches “mobile device 150B”], it may relay that access credential to the access control board 236 [also part of the smart device] via the universal access control device 206.”) using a proximity-based wireless communication protocol (¶ [0019], “The user is then able to use his or her user device to communicate the access token to the universal access control device (e.g., via a Bluetooth® [that employs a proximity-based wireless communication protocol] receiver).”),
the credential being a time-limited credential that is valid during a predetermined period of time… (¶ [0054], “The access token may be associated with an [predetermined] expiration date that may be a numeric value (e.g., a 4-digit numeric value). In some embodiments, the token expiry date can be expressed as a [predetermined] time duration [and be time-limited] as measured from the time of issuance.”; i.e., the credential leads to the issuance of an “access token” that effectively limits the effectiveness of the credential to being a time-limited credential)
a …the {one or more devices are associated with the space (Klein ¶¶ [0045], [0023]-[0024])} and provide access to the space in the smart building system (Fig. 1, ¶ [0023], “The universal access control device 108 may be configured to receive a wireless communication from a user device 112 and cause the access control system to allow access to the access control point [and associated space in the smart building system] 104.”; and Fig. 2, ¶¶ [0040]-[0044], i.e., similarly the “UACD 206” and architecture system 200 as the smart device its one or more devices are associated with a space in the smart building system);
4 communicating, by the smart building system, the indication to the one or more devices associated with the space (Figs. 1 & 2, ¶ [0047], “The reader device 234 may be an example of the access control reader 102 depicted in FIG. 1. Upon receiving an access credential [indication] from an access control mechanism, the reader device 234 may relay [communicate] the access credential [indication] to the universal access control device 206 [and the one or more devices contained therein] and subsequently to the access control board [as a first device] 236.”);
5 receiving, by the smart building system, information from a first device in the one or more devices, the information indicating whether to grant or deny the access to the space (¶ [0047], “The access control board 236 [first device] may compare the access credential to entries on a control list stored within access control data 238. In some embodiments, the access control data 238 may be stored locally in the access control system 208. In some embodiments, the access control data 238 may be stored on a remote server in communication with the access control board 236. Upon determining that the access credential is valid (e.g., matches an entry in the access control data 238), the access control board 236 [first device] may grant access [via transmitted information] to an access control point (e.g., cause an electronic lock [that receives information to grant access] to open).”);
Regarding the combination of Foster and Musabeyoglu, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the security system of Foster to arrive at the claimed invention. KSR establishes that a rationale for obviousness is proven by showing a “use of [a] known technique to improve similar devices in the same way.” See MPEP § 2143(I)(C).
To substantiate the conclusion of obviousness under this KSR rationale, the Examiner finds pursuant to MPEP § 2143(I)(C):
1) the prior art contained a base system, namely the security system of Foster, upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” through the use of a credential access feature;
2) the prior art contained a “comparable” feature, namely the building access system of Musabeyoglu, that has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention through the credential access feature; and
3) one of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known improvement technique of applying the credential access feature to the base security system of Foster, and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Klein, however, discloses
3 defining a predetermined destination in the space using one or more devices that can be accessed using the mobile device) …a (see Musabeyoglu above) (Fig. 15, ¶ [0045], “As the visitor walks the corridors of the building, the visitor's smartphone 32 may continually, periodically, and/or randomly report its current location 172. FIG. 15 illustrates the smartphone [mobile device] 32 reporting its current location 172 into the [accessible] wireless network [and associated one or more devices] 40, which the access [accessible] device [one device] 100 may forward to the security server 42.”; and ¶¶ [0023]-[0024], “That is, if the visitor's smartphone 32 is recognized, then exemplary embodiments may permit entry of the visitor 20 to the secure areas [predetermined destination] within the building [space] 24. However, if the visitor's smartphone 32 is unrecognized, then exemplary embodiments may require more authentication credentials or additional measures, as later paragraphs will explain.”; and “If an entry in the database 44 of personnel matches the unique identifier of the visitor's smartphone 32, then the corresponding visitor 20 is authorized to enter the building 24.”),
Regarding the combination of Foster-Musabeyoglu and Klein, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the security system of Foster-Musabeyoglu to arrive at the claimed invention. KSR establishes that a rationale for obviousness is proven by showing a “use of [a] known technique to improve similar devices in the same way.” See MPEP § 2143(I)(C).
To substantiate the conclusion of obviousness under this KSR rationale, the Examiner finds pursuant to MPEP § 2143(I)(C):
1) the prior art contained a base system, namely the security system of Foster-Musabeyoglu, upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” through the use of a predetermined destination feature;
2) the prior art contained a “comparable” feature, namely the building access system of Klein, that has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention through the predetermined destination feature; and
3) one of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known improvement technique of applying the predetermined destination feature to the base security system of Foster-Musabeyoglu, and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 2
Foster in view of Musabeyoglu, and further in view of Klein (“Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein”), discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, and Foster further discloses
further comprising capturing, by the smart building system (Fig. 1, ¶ [0044]), video data, audio data, or combination thereof by the smart device (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 can be also performed by the resident 115. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile device 150A to speak to the visitor 110 [employing audio data], review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540, watch streaming video captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth;” and Fig. 1, ¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 [as a smart device] to call the resident 115;” and ¶ [0056], “The interface of intercom station 130 [as a smart device may further include a microphone 230 for capturing visitor's voice [as audio data], a video camera 240 for capturing images [as video data] of the intercom station surroundings, and a speaker 250 to generate audio messages such as operator or resident voice.”); and
communicating, by the smart building system (Fig. 1, ¶ [0044]), the video data and/or audio data captured by the smart device to the first device (¶ [0049], “The control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] may also communicate [audio/video] data, voice, and video streams to the operator station 165, the mobile [first] device 150A of the resident 115 and/or one or more mobile devices 150B of the visitor 110,” i.e., the audio/video data captured via the smart device is communicated via the control system 160/smart building system to the first device).
Regarding Claim 3
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, and Foster further discloses
further comprising receiving, by the smart building system, video data, audio data, or combination thereof from the first device (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 can be also performed by the resident 115 [via receiving video or audio data by the control system 160/smart building system from the resident’s mobile device]. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile device 150A to speak to the visitor 110, review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540 [that is a component of the control system 160/smart building system], watch streaming video captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth.”); and
presenting, by the smart building system, the video data on a display, the audio data through a speaker, or a combination thereof (Fig. 1, ¶ [0057], “The communication device 135 [as part of the smart building system] may also comprise one or more speakers 340 to provide audio related to the voice of the visitor 110 or the operator 155.”).
Regarding Claim 4
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, and Foster further discloses
wherein the smart device (Fig. 1, ¶ [0045]) further comprising
a smart intercom device comprising one or more input devices, a camera, and a microphone (Fig. 2, ¶ [0056], “With reference now to FIG. 2, as mentioned, there is shown an example interface of the intercom station 130. The term ‘intercom station’, as used herein, refers to a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings;” and ¶ [0056], “The interface of intercom station 130 may further include a microphone 230 for capturing visitor's voice, a video camera 240 for capturing images of the intercom station surroundings, and a speaker 250 to generate audio messages such as operator or resident voice.”), and
the method (abstract, Fig. 1) comprising:
detecting, by the smart intercom device (Fig. 2, ¶ [0056]), the presence of the person attempting to gain access to the space via one or more of the camera, the microphone, or a combination thereof (¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 [as a person attempting to gain access] comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 to call the resident 115,” i.e., the “call” is detected by the microphone of the smart intercom device);
generating, by the smart intercom device, the indication based on the presence of the person detected (Fig. 1, ¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 [as a smart intercom] to call the resident 115 [whose presence is detected and an indication of the presence of a person is generated upon the voice of the visitor being transmitted to the resident].”); and
sending, by the smart intercom device, the indication to a server of the smart building system (¶ [0047], “With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, when the resident 115 is not located at the apartment 120 or has no availability or wiliness to use the communication device 135, the call [that serves as an indication of their presence] initiated by the visitor 110 via the intercom station 130 may be forwarded [via the control system 160/ smart building system] to one or more mobile devices 150A of the resident 115;” and Fig. 5, ¶ [0067], “FIG. 5 shows an example control system 160 [as a portion of a smart building system] suitable for implementing methods for providing remote access control to one or more buildings. The control system 160 may be resided at one or more servers, such as one or more web servers, one or more computers, and may comprise multiple software implemented modules.”).
Regarding Claim 5
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 4, and Foster further discloses
comprising:
detecting, by the smart intercom device, an input by a first input device in the one or more input devices to indicate the presence of the person (Fig. 1, ¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 [as a smart intercom device] to call the resident 115. In this case, the visitor 110 may press a corresponding button [as an input for detecting the presence of a person] on a keypad or graphical interface [as an input device] (i.e., when a touchscreen is used) associated with an apartment number or resident name.”);
determining, by the smart building system, the first device to communicate the indication based on the input (¶ [0047], “With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, when the resident 115 is not located at the apartment 120 or has no availability or wiliness to use the communication device 135, the call initiated by the visitor 110 [as an indication of their presence based on the input] via the intercom station 130 may be forwarded [after determining by smart building system the proper device by which the resident of the building can be notified about the visitor’s presence] to one or more mobile devices 150A [as a device of one or more devices] of the resident 115;” and ¶ [0048], “The mobile device 150A may refer to a cellular phone, smart phone, computer (e.g., a desktop computer, laptop computer, and tablet computer), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or any other wired or wireless electronic device.”); and
communicating, by the smart building system, the indication to the first device (¶ [0047], “With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, when the resident 115 is not located at the apartment 120 or has no availability or wiliness to use the communication device 135, the call initiated by the visitor 110 [as an indication of their presence] via the intercom station 130 may be forwarded [via the smart building system/control system 160 to thereby establish communicating the indication] to one or more mobile devices 150A of the resident 115;” and ¶ [0048], “The mobile device 150A may refer to a cellular phone, smart phone, computer (e.g., a desktop computer, laptop computer, and tablet computer), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or any other wired or wireless electronic device.”).
Regarding Claim 6
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 5, and Foster further discloses
wherein the input is a selection of a button, the button associated with the first device (¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 to call the resident 115 [who possesses an associated device]. In this case, the visitor 110 may press [and thereby select] a corresponding button [associated with the mobile device of the resident] on a keypad or graphical interface (i.e., when a touchscreen is used) associated with an apartment number or resident name”).
Regarding Claim 7
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 5, and Foster further discloses
wherein the input is a selection of an item in a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display (¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 to call the resident 115 [who possesses an associated device]. In this case, the visitor 110 may press [and thereby select] a corresponding button [associated with the mobile device of the resident] on a keypad or graphical [user] interface (i.e., when a touchscreen [display] is used) associated with an apartment number or resident name [presented as an item].”),
the item comprising one or more of a name, an address, a phone number of a combination thereof, and the item associated with the first device (¶ [0045], “In this case, the visitor 110 may press a corresponding button on a keypad or graphical interface (i.e., when a touchscreen is used) associated with an apartment number or resident name [presented as an item that is associated with the device of the resident that receives the indication that a visitor is present].”).
Regarding Claim 8
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 4, and Foster further discloses
further comprising applying, by the smart building system, an object recognition to detect the presence of the person in the video data captured by the camera of the smart intercom device (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 can be also performed by the resident 115. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile device 150A to speak upon the visitor answering the resident] to the visitor 110, review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540, watch streaming video [that applies object recognition to detect the presence of the person] captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth;” and ¶ [0078], “The identification of the visitor 110 [via can be also performed with the help of the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system],” and “For example, the control system 160 may identify the user by face recognition [via a camera of the smart intercom and as object recognition to detect the presence of a person], voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, retina/iris recognition, and so forth;” and ¶ [0056], “The interface of intercom station 130 may further include a microphone 230 for capturing visitor's voice, a video camera 240 for capturing images of the intercom station surroundings, and a speaker 250 to generate audio messages such as operator or resident voice.”);
applying, by the smart building system, another object recognition to determine text data in the video data, the text data comprising a name, a phone number, an address, or a combination thereof (¶ [0052], “Furthermore, once the deliveryman enters the mail room, the deliveryman can make a photo [via a camera to create video data] or scan the parcels, letters or packages [that possess at least a name and address presented as text data] he or she leaves in the mail room 125. … The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising text data] can be created [based upon applying optical character recognition as another object recognition to determine text data] and stored in storage of the control system 160.”);
determining, by the smart building system, the first device to communicate the indication based on the text data (¶ [0052], “The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising the text/resident name] can be created and stored in storage of the control system 160. Moreover, a corresponding message [by determining the device associated with the text/name of the resident] can be sent [as an indication] to the mobile device 150A of a particular resident 115.”); and
communicating, by the smart building system, the indication to the first device (¶ [0052], “The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising the text/resident name] can be created and stored in storage of the control system 160. Moreover, a corresponding message [comprising the indication] can be sent [and thereby communicated] to the mobile device 150A of a particular resident 115.”).
Regarding Claim 9
Foster-Musabeyoglu-Klein discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, and Foster further discloses
further comprising receiving, by the smart building system, video data from a camera of the smart building system (¶ [0052], “Furthermore, once the deliveryman enters the mail room, the deliveryman can make a photo [via a camera to create video data] or scan the parcels, letters or packages he or she leaves in the mail room 125;” and “The captured images are then transmitted to [and thereby received by] the control system 160 [as part of the smart building system] for further processing.”);
applying, by the smart building system, an object recognition to detect the presence of the person in the video data (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 can be also performed by the resident 115. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile device 150A to speak upon the visitor answering the resident] to the visitor 110, review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540, watch streaming video [that applies object recognition to detect the presence of the person] captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth;” and ¶ [0078], “The identification of the visitor 110 [via can be also performed with the help of the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system],” and “For example, the control system 160 may identify the user by face recognition [as object recognition to detect the presence of a person], voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, retina/iris recognition, and so forth.”);
applying, by the smart building system, another object recognition to determine text data in the video data, the text data comprising a name, a phone number, an address, or a combination thereof (¶ [0052], “Furthermore, once the deliveryman enters the mail room, the deliveryman can make a photo or scan the parcels, letters or packages [that possess at least a name and address] he or she leaves in the mail room 125. … The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising text data] can be created [based upon applying optical character recognition as object recognition to determine text data] and stored in storage of the control system 160.”);
determining, by the smart building system, the first device to communicate the indication based on the text data (¶ [0052], “The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising the text/resident name] can be created and stored in storage of the control system 160. Moreover, a corresponding message [by determining the device associated with the text/name of the resident] can be sent to the mobile device 150A of a particular resident 115.”); and
communicating, by the smart building system, the indication to the first device (¶ [0052], “The captured images are then transmitted to the control system 160 [as a portion of the smart building system] for further processing. In result, a corresponding log entry [comprising the text/resident name] can be created and stored in storage of the control system 160. Moreover, a corresponding message [comprising the indication] can be sent [and thereby communicated] to the mobile device 150A of a particular resident 115.”).
Regarding Independent Claim 10
Noting that the amendments to claim 10 are substantially similar to those of claim 1, and that the Applicant’s arguments for claim 1 are adopted for claim 10, the Examiner simply notes that a corresponding reasoning as given earlier for independent claim 1 applies, mutatis mutandis, to the subject matter of claim 10. Therefore, claim 10 is rejected, for similar reasons, under the grounds set forth for claim 1. The rejection of claim 10 provided in the previous office action is provided below, again noting the mapping of claim 1 would be similar for claim 10.
Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi-Trani discloses
A computer-implemented system (abstract, Fig. 1), comprising:
1 …; and
a first computing device coupled with the {plurality of smart devices (Marcinkowski)} (¶ [0049], “The control system 160 [as a first computing device] may also communicate [and is thereby coupled] data, voice, and video streams to the operator station 165, the mobile device 150A of the resident 115 and/or one or more mobile devices 150B of the visitor 110,” i.e., the control system can be coupled to the plurality of smart devices of Marcinkowski in multi-family residential area as taught by Marcinkowski),
the first computing device (¶ [0049]) including at least one processor (¶ [0114], “The example computer system 1300 includes a processor or multiple processors 1305…”), and at least one non-transitory storage media storing instructions (¶ [0117], “While the computer-readable [storage] medium 1350 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term ‘computer-readable medium’ should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions.”), that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
2 …,
3 …;
determine a second computing device based on the indication (¶ [0047], “With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, when the resident 115 is not located at the apartment 120 or has no availability or wiliness to use the communication device 135, the call initiated by the visitor 110 [as an indication of their presence] via the intercom station 130 may be forwarded [after determining the proper second device by which the resident can be notified about the visitor’s presence] to one or more mobile devices 150A [as a second computing device] of the resident 115;” and ¶ [0048], “The mobile [second computing] device 150A may refer to a cellular phone, smart phone, computer (e.g., a desktop computer, laptop computer, and tablet computer), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or any other wired or wireless electronic device.”);
communicate the indication to the second computing device (¶ [0047], “With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, when the resident 115 is not located at the apartment 120 or has no availability or wiliness to use the communication device 135, the call initiated by the visitor 110 [as an indication of their presence] via the intercom station 130 may be forwarded [to thereby establish communicating the indication] to one or more mobile [second] devices 150A of the resident 115;” and ¶ [0048], “The mobile [second] device 150A may refer to a cellular phone, smart phone, computer (e.g., a desktop computer, laptop computer, and tablet computer), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or any other wired or wireless electronic device.”);
establish a connection with the second computing device (¶ [0047], “In an example, the apartment 120 may lack the communication device 135, and in this case, similarly, all calls may be forwarded [via an established connection] to the mobile [second computing] device 150A right after they are initiated.”);
communicate at least one of a video data, an audio data, or a combination thereof to the second computing device, at least one of the video data, the audio data, or the combination thereof being associated with the detection (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 [associated with the detection] can be also performed by the resident 115. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile [second computing] device 150A to speak [and communicate audio data upon the visitor answering the resident] to the visitor 110, review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540, watch streaming video [of communicated video data] captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth.”);
receive a second indication from the second computing device, the second indication indicating whether to grant or deny the access to the space (¶ [0077], “The identification of the visitor 110 can be also performed by the resident 115. In general, in this case, the resident 115 uses his or her mobile device 150A to speak to the visitor 110, review a corresponding visitor profile as downloaded from the storage 540, watch streaming video captured by one or more video cameras 140A-140C, review data measured by one or more sensors 170, and so forth. Similarly, the resident 115 may ascertain that the visitor 110 is an expected visitor and he or she may enter the building 105 or the apartment 120. The resident 115 may provide [or grant] access to the building for the visitor 110 by triggering [via sending a second indication via their mobile device as the second computing device that is received by the control system 160 to process to make a determination about unlocking the door] one or more actuators 410;” and ¶ [0061], “The one or more actuators 410 are configured to open/close or lock/unlock one or more doors 145A-145D of the building 105 based upon a command [as a second indication as to grant or deny access] received from the control system 160 [as the computing device] or one or more mobile devices 150A. The actuators 410 may refer to electrical motors, inductive based actuators, or electromagnetic actuators used for moving or controlling various types of mechanisms or systems, locking or unlocking doors, or opening/closing doors.”);
grant or deny access to the space based on the second indication (¶ [0077], “Similarly, the resident 115 may ascertain that the visitor 110 is an expected visitor and he or she may enter the building 105 or the apartment 120. The resident 115 may provide [or grant] access [via the second indication sent from the second computing device/mobile phone] to the building for the visitor 110 by triggering [via sending information via their mobile device to the control system 160] one or more actuators 410.”).
Foster doesn’t disclose
1 a plurality of smart devices;
2 receive and process an indication based on a detection made by a smart device in the plurality of smart devices, the indication indicating a presence of a person attempting to gain access to a space,
3 the indication including a credential being transmitted from a mobile device associated with the person to the smart device using a proximity-based wireless communication protocol, the credential being a time-limited credential that is valid during a predetermined period of time;
Marcinkowski, however, discloses
2 receive and process an indication based on a detection (Fig. 1, ¶ [0026], “For example, when a resident places a [mobile] device having the resident's access credential in proximity to a sensor [to detect an indication] (e.g., a near field communication (NFC) device, a Bluetooth device, etc.) of the offline door lock, access credential [incorporated within an indication] may be received by the logic [the first computing device] for processing,…”) made by a smart device in the plurality of smart devices (¶ [0030]),
the indication indicating a presence of a person attempting to gain access to a space (¶ [0026], “For example, credential management interface 137 may be configured to generate access credentials that enable a resident [person] to access one or more areas of a multi-family residential property, such as the resident's apartment, a workout facility, a pool, a parking garage, and the like.”),
3 the indication including a credential being transmitted from a mobile device associated with the person to the smart device using a proximity-based wireless communication protocol,…a, see Trani below (Fig. 1, ¶ [0026], “For example, when a resident places a [mobile] device having the resident's access credential in proximity to a sensor (e.g., a near field communication (NFC) device, a Bluetooth device, etc.) of the offline door lock [or the smart device/doorbell as disclosed by Scalisi], access credential may be received by the logic for processing, which may include applying a hash function or other data processing technique;” and ¶ [0027], “Where the access credential is to be utilized by a user device, such as a smart phone [as a mobile device],…”);
Regarding the combination of Foster and Marcinkowski, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the security system of Foster to arrive at the claimed invention. KSR establishes that a rationale for obviousness is proven by showing a “use of [a] known technique to improve similar devices in the same way.” See MPEP § 2143(I)(C).
To substantiate the conclusion of obviousness under this KSR rationale, the Examiner finds pursuant to MPEP § 2143(I)(C):
1) the prior art contained a base system, namely the security system of Foster, upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” through the use of a wireless protocol credential feature;
2) the prior art contained a “comparable” feature, namely the wireless protocol credential of Marcinkowski, that has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention through the wireless protocol credential feature; and
3) one of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known improvement technique of applying the wireless protocol credential feature to the base security system of Foster, and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Scalisi, however, discloses
1 a plurality of smart devices (Fig. 4, ¶ [0080], “FIG. 4 illustrates an internal view of the doorbell 202. Doorbells 202 can include a chip 480 (e.g., integrated circuits, microprocessor, computer) and a memory 492 [to implement a smart device]. Doorbells 202 can also include a microphone 484 and a speaker 488,” i.e., the doorbell 202 substitutes for or incorporates the smart hub as disclosed by Marcinkowski and the telecom as disclosed by Foster; see also Marcinkowski ¶ [0030], “As described in more detail below, smart hub 110 may be deployed within an area of a multi-family residential property, such as an apartment, a gym, a game room, etc. and may be utilized to facilitate remote access to, and control of, [a plurality of] smart devices in proximity to smart hub 110.”);
Regarding the combination of Foster-Marcinkowski and Scalisi, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the security system of Foster-Marcinkowski to arrive at the claimed invention. KSR establishes that a rationale for obviousness is proven by showing a “simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.” See MPEP § 2143(I)(B).
To substantiate the conclusion of obviousness under this KSR rationale, the Examiner finds pursuant to MPEP § 2143(I)(B):
1) the prior art contained a device that differed from the claimed system by the substitution of some component, and more specifically, Foster-Marcinkowski discloses a security system that differs from the claimed invention that possesses a smart device, where the smart device substitutes for the smart hub-door lock of Foster-Marcinkowski;
2) the substituted component of the smart device/doorbell was known in the art, as demonstrated by Scalisi; and
3) one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element (the smart device/doorbell of Scalisi) for another (the smart hub-door lock of Foster-Marcinkowski) and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Trani, however, discloses
a …, the credential being a time-limited credential that is valid during a predetermined period of time (Col. 4:7-22, “The issued security tokens [credential] are usually time-limited, i.e., expire after a certain [predetermined] period of time or at a particular [predetermined] date and time. If the users are still validated, then new tokens will be issued as part of a rotation.”);
Regarding the combination of Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi and Trani, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the security system of Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi to arrive at the claimed invention. KSR establishes that a rationale for obviousness is proven by showing a “use of [a] known technique to improve similar devices in the same way.” See MPEP § 2143(I)(C).
To substantiate the conclusion of obviousness under this KSR rationale, the Examiner finds pursuant to MPEP § 2143(I)(C):
1) the prior art contained a base system, namely the security system of Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi, upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an “improvement” through the use of a time-limited credential;
2) the prior art contained a “comparable” feature, namely the security system of Trani, that has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention through the time-limited credential; and
3) one of ordinary skill in the art could have applied the known improvement technique of applying the time-limited credential to the base security system of Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi, and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 11
Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi-Trani discloses the system of claim 10, and Foster further discloses
wherein the first computing device (¶ [0049]) is configured to
in response to the second indication indicating a grant of the access to the space (possibly ¶¶ [0047]-[0048], [0077], noting this limitation is indefinite because this step is not recited in claim 10), cause the smart device to grant the access to the space (¶ [0077], “Similarly, the resident 115 may ascertain that the visitor 110 is an expected visitor and he or she may enter the building 105 or the apartment 120. The resident 115 may provide [or grant] access to the building for the visitor 110 by triggering one or more actuators 410 [as a smart device that is coupled to the control system 160 that is a partial source of the causation].”); or
in response to the second indication indicating a denial of the access to the space, prevent the smart device from granting the access to the space (¶ [0077], i.e., if the resident elects not to grant access via the use of their mobile phone, then the control system 160 does not allow the “actuators 410” to operate to grant access, and thus the smart device prevents access to the space).
Regarding Claim 12
Foster-Marcinkowski-Scalisi-Trani discloses the system of claim 10, and Foster further discloses
wherein the first computing device (¶ [0049]) is configured to receive at least one of the video data, the audio data, or the combination thereof from the smart device (Fig. 1, ¶ [0045], “When the visitor 110 comes to the building, he or she may use an intercom station 130 [as a smart device] to call the resident 115. In this case, the visitor 110 may press a corresponding button on a keypad or graphical interface (i.e., when a touchscreen is used) associ