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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/16/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This office action has been changed in response to the amendment filed on 12/16/2025.
Claims 1 and 10 have been amended. Claims 4 and 13 have been canceled.
The Double Patenting rejection has been withdrawn due to the filing and approval of the Terminal Disclaimer for US-12,326,512.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (US-2014/0187219 hereinafter, Yang).
Regarding claim 19, Yang teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Page 8 [0066]) for classifying a type of calibration or maintenance event (Fig. 4 [410 & 412]) of a phone location unit (PLU) (Fig. 2 [110]) within a defined volume (Page 2 [0020-0021]), based on at least one sensor (Fig. 3 [106]), the computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions that when executed cause at least one computer processor (Fig. 2 [220] ~ memory and Fig. 2 [210] ~ processing device) to:
determine a position of the at least one mobile communication device relative to a frame of reference of the defined volume (Fig. 4 [406]), based on at least one of: angle of arrival, time of flight, or received intensity of radio frequency (RF) signals (Page 7 [0056]) transmitted by the at least one mobile communication device (Fig. 1 [120]) and received by the PLU (Fig. 1 [110]) located within the defined volume (Page 2 [0015]) and comprising a transceiver and antennas (Page 6 [0047] and Fig. 2 [250]) and further configured to wirelessly communicate with the at least one mobile communication device; (Page 2 [0017-0020])
obtain at least one sensor measurement related to the at least one mobile communication device (Fig. 4 [404]), from a sensor located on at least one of: the at least one mobile communication device, within the defined volume or outside of the defined volume; (Fig. 3 [106], Page 3 [0023] and Pages 4-5 [0040] “the user-to-wireless device association module 232 may also receive information from other sources, which may include, but are not limited to, vehicle sensors 106, sensors associated with the wireless device 120”) and
classify the at least one type of calibration or maintenance event of a phone location unit (PLU), within the defined volume into one of a plurality of predefined types of calibration or maintenance event, based on the position and the at least one sensor measurement. (Pages 4-5 [0040-0042] “the user-to-wireless device association module 232 may determine that the driver is using the wireless device 120 while the vehicle 102 is in motion, based upon, at least in part, at least one determined user-to-wireless device association” and “Responsive to the indication, the feature management module 234 may enable, modify, or disable features of the wireless device 120. For example, in some embodiments, the feature management module 234 may disable texting, calling, or web browser capabilities in response to a determination that the user utilizing the wireless device 120 is the driver of the moving vehicle 102” note: the “label” of the classification does not matter until a specific action occurs. These are not found until claim 4)
Regarding claim 20, the limitations of claim 20 are rejected as being the same reasons set forth above in claim 19. See additionally Fig. 2 [250 or 240] ~ network interface, Fig. 2 [220] ~ memory and Fig. 2 [210] ~ processing device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-12, 14-15, 17 and 18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the Examiner was unable to find all of the limitations cited in independent claims 1 and 10.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-2018/0070291 to Breaux et al. which discloses a system and method for detecting the presence and location of a mobile device within a vehicle via measurements from antennas. (Abstract and Claim 1)
US-2019/0182749 to Breaux et al. regarding a context aware mobile device that can determine the location of a mobile device within a vehicle in order to avoid distracting the driver.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW C SAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-8099. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5 EST.
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/Matthew C Sams/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646