DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on 01/30/2026
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/19/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/19/2026 on page 10-11 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant in page 11 of remarks argues in part,
“Thus, Douglas described an objective function that indicates energy consumption cost. However, there is no disclosure or suggestion in the relied upon portion of Douglas, or any other description provided by Douglas, of "wherein controlling the one or more components of the HVAC system in accordance with the selected ventilation mode includes controlling the HVAC system to minimize an overall cost function specific to the selected ventilation mode and comprising a plurality of cost function terms specific to that same selected ventilation mode, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode,"⁴ as recited in amended claim 1 of the present application and missing from Nesler.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Nesler in ¶0135 teaches selecting a ventilation mode. ¶0184 teaches controlling a space of a building using one of the modes. Douglas in ¶0110 teaches optimization manager can define an optimization function and minimize the objective function subject to the one or more constraints. It also teaches the optimization manager outputs a optimization result to control signal generator which generates control signals based on optimization results and controls AHU, filter and UV lights. ¶0126 teaches optimization problem is subject to constraints including temperature bounds, humidity bounds, fresh-air ventilation bounds, vav flow bounds, outdoor-air damper bounds and cost bounds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Douglas with Nesler to control the HVAC system to minimize an overall cost function specific to the selected ventilation mode and comprising a plurality of cost function terms specific to that same selected ventilation mode, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode.
The limitation regarding “controlling the HVAC system to minimize an overall cost function” is not limited by steps requiring a selection of mode from a plurality of modes, since during the operation of the HVAC, it is only operated using one ventilation mode.
Examiner would also like to point out that the “cost function terms” in the limitation in question is not limited by the two ventilation modes recited in the prior limitations, since the limitation doesn’t recite any cost function terms that is specific to either of the two modes. Additionally, examiner would like to point out that the transitional phrase used in defining the plurality of ventilation modes is (i.e. comprising) open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements. Therefore, scope of “the selected ventilation mode” is not limited to the two ventilation modes recited in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nesler (US20210356153Al) in view of Douglas (US20220082280Al)
Regarding claim 1,
Nesler teaches, A method for providing dynamic ventilation for a building space serviced by a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HV AC) system with one or more components including an outdoor air ventilation damper, the method comprising: (¶0084-¶0086 teaches a HVAC system 100 including dampers or other flow control elements that can be operated to control an amount of the supply airflow provided to individual zones of building 10)
selecting a ventilation mode from a plurality of ventilation modes, wherein the plurality of ventilation modes comprises: (¶0135 teaches 406 configured to select a mode from the modes 408-452)
a health ventilation mode that when selected attempts to maximize ventilation to the building space subject to one or more constraints including a constraint of maintaining one or more comfort conditions in the building space; (¶0140 teaches, The increasing outdoor air mode 410 can operate to increase outdoor air circulated in a building. The objective of the increasing outdoor air mode 410 can be to provide a set amount of outdoor air to the building while still maintaining comfortable occupant conditions.)
an energy savings ventilation mode that attempts to minimize energy consumed by the HVAC system to condition air supplied to the building space subject to one or more constraints including a constraint of maintaining one or more comfort conditions in the building space and a constraint to maintain IAQ contaminants in the building space below predetermined energy savings limits; and (¶0139 teaches The normal mode 408 can implement temperature control to control the temperature of the building to comfortable and/or energy efficient levels. If temperature and/or humidity sensors of the building report valid readings, the normal mode 408 can activate an economizer of the building. Furthermore, in the normal mode 408, ventilation systems of the building can be controlled with demand controlled ventilation (e.g., the demand controlled ventilation mode 416) based on CO2 readings if the readings of a CO2 sensor are valid.)
controlling one or more components of the HVAC system, including the outdoor air ventilation damper, in accordance with the selected ventilation mode. (¶0184 teaches the operational service 316 can control a space of a building by operating one or more building systems based on the selected modes)
Nesler doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein controlling the one or more components of the HVAC system in accordance with the selected ventilation mode includes controlling the HVAC system to minimize an overall cost function specific to the selected ventilation mode and comprising a plurality of cost function terms specific to that same selected ventilation mode, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode. (Nesler in ¶0184 teaches controlling a space of a building using one of the modes. However it doesn’t teach controlling to minimize an overall cost function comprising a plurality of cost function terms, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode. Douglas in ¶0110 teaches optimization manager can define an optimization function and minimize the objective function subject to the one or more constraints including cost constraints. It also teaches the optimization manager outputs a optimization result to control signal generator which generates control signals based on optimization results and controls AHU, filter and UV lights. ¶0126 teaches optimization problem is subject to constraints including temperature bounds, humidity bounds, fresh-air ventilation bounds, vav flow bounds, outdoor-air damper bounds and cost bounds. One of ordinary skill in the art could combine the teachings of Douglas with Nesler to allow the system to use optimize ventilation to minimize overall cost function of the selected ventilation mode. Examiner would like to point out the cost functions
Regarding claim 2,
Nesler and Douglas teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ventilation modes comprises: a productivity ventilation mode that when selected attempts to control ventilation to the building space to maintain IAQ contaminants in the building space below predetermined productively limits. (Nesler teaches, ¶0152-¶0153 teaches demand control ventilation mode 416 which control ventilation based on a CO2 setpoint)
Regarding claim 4,
Nesler and Douglas teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein when the health ventilation mode is selected, controlling the one or more components of the HV AC system, including the outdoor air ventilation damper, comprises minimizing the overall cost function associated with the health ventilation mode using the plurality of cost function terms including: a ventilation term for maximizing outdoor air ventilation to the building space; an energy term for minimizing energy associated with outdoor air ventilation to the building space; and a comfort term for penalizing a deviation from one or more comfort conditions in the building space. (Nesler in ¶0140 teaches increasing outdoor air mode 410. However it doesn’t teach the minimizing an overall cost associated with the claimed terms. Douglas in ¶0110 teaches an optimization manager to control AHU. Optimization manager 412 can be configured to use the constraints provided by constraint generator 410 and the dynamic models provided by model manager 416 to formulate an optimization problem. Optimization manager 412 can also define an objective function for the optimization problem, and minimize or optimize the objective function subject to the one or more constraints and the dynamic models. ¶0126 teaches optimization manager formulates optimization problem to minimize energy consumption subject to constraints: VAV flow bounds (ventilation term), energy cost (energy term), temperature bounds (comfort term). ¶0129 teaches penalty associated with temperature bounds. ¶0166 teaches optimization manager can determine to increase outdoor air intake)
Regarding claim 5,
Nesler and Douglas teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein when the energy savings ventilation mode is selected, controlling the outdoor air ventilation damper comprises minimizing the overall cost function associated with the energy savings ventilation mode using the plurality of cost function terms including: an energy term for minimizing energy associated with outdoor air ventilation to the building space; a comfort term that penalizes a deviation from one or more comfort conditions in the building space; and an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) term that penalizes violations of one or more predetermined IAQ limits. (Nesler in ¶0140 teaches normal mode 408. However it doesn’t teach the minimizing an overall cost associated with the claimed terms. Douglas in ¶0110 teaches an optimization manager to control AHU. Optimization manager 412 can be configured to use the constraints provided by constraint generator 410 and the dynamic models provided by model manager 416 to formulate an optimization problem. Optimization manager 412 can also define an objective function for the optimization problem, and minimize or optimize the objective function subject to the one or more constraints and the dynamic models. ¶0126 teaches optimization manager formulates optimization problem to minimize energy consumption subject to constraints: temperature boundary constraints (Tt min≤Tt≤Tt max, maintaining Tt between a minimum temperature boundary Tt min and a maximum temperature boundary Tt max) (comfort term), energy cost (energy term), infection probability constraint (IAQ term). ¶0128 teaches penalties associated with violating constraints.)
Regarding claim 6,
Nesler and Douglas teaches, The method of claim 5, wherein the comfort term and the IAQ term each include one or more slack variables. (Douglas in ¶0128 teaches, various constraints generated by constraint generator 410 or other constraints imposed on the optimization problem can be implemented as soft constraints. Conversely, soft constraints may be implemented as penalties that contribute to the value of the objective function (e.g., adding to the objective function if the optimization problem seeks to minimize the objective function or subtracting from the objective function if the optimization problem seeks to maximize the objective function). Soft constraints may be violated when solving the optimization problem, but doing so will incur a penalty that affects the value of the objective function. Accordingly, soft constraints may encourage optimization manager 412 to maintain the values of the soft constrained variables within the limits defined by the soft constraints whenever possible to avoid the penalties, but may allow optimization manager 412 to violate the soft constraints when necessary or when doing so would result in a more optimal solution.)
Claim(s) 3 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nesler (US20210356153Al) in view of Douglas (US20220082280Al) and further in view of Okeya (US20220316742A1)
Regarding claim 3,
Nesler and Douglas teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ventilation modes comprises: a productivity mode that when selected attempts to minimize energy consumed by the HVAC system to condition air supplied to the building space subject to one or more constraints including a constraint of maintaining one or more comfort conditions in the building space and a constraint to maintain IAQ contaminants in the building space below predetermined productively limits. (Nesler in ¶0139 teaches, operating ventilation based on a combination of modes, including a normal mode and a demand control mode. The normal mode 408 can implement temperature control to control the temperature of the building to comfortable and/or energy efficient levels. If temperature and/or humidity sensors of the building report valid readings, the normal mode 408 can activate an economizer of the building. (constraint for maintaining comfort condition). Also teaches, in the normal mode 408, ventilation systems of the building can be controlled with demand controlled ventilation (e.g., the demand controlled ventilation mode 416) based on CO2 readings (IAQ contaminants). ¶0152-¶0153 teaches, a CO2 setpoint (IAQ contaminants limit) for demand control ventilation mode. Therefore Nesler teaches controlling air supplied to the building based on a temperature/humidity (comfort condition) and CO2 setpoint (IAQ contaminants limit).
Nesler and Douglas doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein at least one of the predetermined productively limits is below a corresponding one of the predetermined energy savings limits (Although Nesler teaches CO2 set points (IAQ contaminants level), it doesn’t teach two different CO2 set points. Okeya in ¶0080 teaches plurality of operation modes for ventilation based on different CO2 concentration thresholds. ¶0082 teaches, an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup1 of the first operation mode, an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup2 of the second operation mode, and an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup3 of the third operation mode satisfy a relationship of Cup3<Cup2<Cup1. One of ordinary skill in the art could modify the teachings of Nesler and Douglas to include multiple demand controlled ventilation modes with multiple different CO2 concentration levels)
Okeya is an art in the area of interest as it teaches a ventilation apparatus (see Abstract). A combination of Okeya with Nesler and Douglas will allow controlling ventilation based on plurality of IAQ contaminants level. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Okeya with Nesler and Douglas. Doing so would allow maintaining CO2 concentration based on human activity and will help improve work efficiency of a person who works in the indoor space as taught by Okeya in ¶0013 and ¶0084
Regarding claim 7,
Nesler teaches, A method for providing dynamic ventilation for a building space serviced by a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HV AC) system with one or more components including an outdoor air ventilation damper, the method comprising: (¶0084-¶0086 teaches a HVAC system 100 including dampers or other flow control elements that can be operated to control an amount of the supply airflow provided to individual zones of building 10)
selecting a ventilation mode from a plurality of ventilation modes, wherein the plurality of ventilation modes comprises: (¶0135 teaches 406 configured to select a mode from the modes 408-452)
a first ventilation mode that attempts to minimize energy consumed by the HVAC system to condition air supplied to the building space while maintaining one or more IAQ contaminants in the building space below one or more corresponding first predetermined limits; (¶0139 teaches The normal mode 408 can implement temperature control to control the temperature of the building to comfortable and/or energy efficient levels. If temperature and/or humidity sensors of the building report valid readings, the normal mode 408 can activate an economizer of the building. Furthermore, in the normal mode 408, ventilation systems of the building can be controlled with demand controlled ventilation (e.g., the demand controlled ventilation mode 416) based on CO2 readings if the readings of a CO2 sensor are valid.)
a second ventilation mode that attempts to minimize energy consumed by the HVAC system to condition air supplied to the building space while maintaining one or more IAQ contaminants in the building space below one or more corresponding …limits, ….and (Nesler in ¶0139 teaches, operating ventilation based on a combination of modes, including a normal mode and a demand control mode. The normal mode 408 can implement temperature control to control the temperature of the building to comfortable and/or energy efficient levels. Also teaches, in the normal mode 408, ventilation systems of the building can be controlled with demand controlled ventilation (e.g., the demand controlled ventilation mode 416) based on CO2 readings (IAQ contaminants). ¶0152-¶0153 teaches a CO2 setpoint (IAQ contaminants limit) for demand control ventilation mode. Therefore Nesler teaches controlling air supplied to the building based on a CO2 setpoint (IAQ contaminants limit).
controlling one or more components of the HV AC system, including the outdoor air ventilation damper, in accordance with the selected ventilation mode. (¶0184 teaches the operational service 316 can control a space of a building by operating one or more building systems based on the selected modes)
Nesler doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein controlling the one or more components of the HVAC system in accordance with the selected ventilation mode includes controlling the HVAC system to minimize an overall cost function specific to the selected ventilation mode and comprising a plurality of cost function terms specific to that same selected ventilation mode, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode. (Nesler in ¶0184 teaches controlling a space of a building using one of the modes. However it doesn’t teach controlling to minimize an overall cost function comprising a plurality of cost function terms, each of the plurality of cost function terms associated with a respective one of a plurality of competing requirements specific to operating the HVAC system in the selected ventilation mode. Douglas in ¶0110 teaches optimization manager can define an optimization function and minimize the objective function subject to the one or more constraints including cost constraints. It also teaches the optimization manager outputs a optimization result to control signal generator which generates control signals based on optimization results and controls AHU, filter and UV lights. ¶0126 teaches optimization problem is subject to constraints including temperature bounds, humidity bounds, fresh-air ventilation bounds, vav flow bounds, outdoor-air damper bounds and cost bounds.)
Douglas is an art in the area of interest as it teaches a method for providing filtered air to a zone of a building (see Abstract). A combination of Douglas with Nesler would allow the system to use optimize ventilation to minimize cost associated with the claimed constraints. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Douglas with Nesler. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so would allow achieving ventilation control while minimize energy consumption as taught by Douglas in ¶0126.
Nesler and Douglas doesn’t explicitly teach, second predetermined limits ….wherein at least one of the second predetermined limits is below a corresponding one of the first predetermined limits; (Although Nesler teaches CO2 set points (IAQ contaminants limit), it doesn’t teach two different CO2 set points. Okeya in ¶0080 teaches plurality of operation modes for ventilation based on different CO2 concentration thresholds. ¶0082 teaches, an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup1 of the first operation mode, an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup2 of the second operation mode, and an upper limit CO2 concentration value Cup3 of the third operation mode satisfy a relationship of Cup3<Cup2<Cup1. One of ordinary skill in the art could modify the teachings of Nesler and Douglas to include multiple demand controlled ventilation modes with multiple different CO2 concentration levels)
Okeya is an art in the area of interest as it teaches a ventilation apparatus (see Abstract). A combination of Okeya with Nesler and Douglas will allow controlling ventilation based on plurality of IAQ contaminants level. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Okeya with Nesler and Douglas. Doing so would allow maintaining CO2 concentration based on human activity and will help improve work efficiency of a person who works in the indoor space as taught by Okeya in ¶0013 and ¶0084
Regarding claim 8,
Nesler, Douglas and Okeya teaches, The method of claim 7, wherein the ventilation mode is selected by an operator. (Nesler in ¶0136 teaches, the modes can be selected by the mode selector 406 via user interactions)
Regarding claim 9,
Nesler, Douglas and Okeya teaches, The method of claim 7, wherein the ventilation mode is automatically selected in accordance with a programmed schedule. (Nesler in ¶0136 teaches, the modes can be selected by the mode selector 406 via with automatic selection. ¶0257 teaches schedule of operating modes)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
SOO (KR-20110026580-A- machine translation) in page 3-4 teaches ventilation control variable for which the cost function is minimized based on a cost function with a plurality of variables: where t 1 is the start time, t 2 is the end time, w 1 to w 3 are the weights, E is the energy cost, C is the CO 2 concentration, x is the control variable, and P is the dissatisfaction level (PD, Percentage Dissatisfied,% ) Respectively.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ISTIAQUE AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-7087. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 10AM -6PM and alternate Fridays.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, kenneth M Lo can be reached at (571) 272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ISTIAQUE AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2116
/KENNETH M LO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2116