DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Remarks
2. Claims 1-2 and 4-13 have been examined and rejected. This Office action is responsive to the amendment filed on June 3, 2025, which has been entered in the above identified application.
Specification
3. The correction to the title has been approved, and the objection to the specification is withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. The corrections to claims 1, 4, and 5 have been approved, and the rejections to claims 1-2 and 4-6 are withdrawn.
Claim Objections
5. Applicant is advised that should claim 1 be found allowable, claim 6 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-2 and 4-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Asari (JP 2018180651).
7-1. Regarding claims 1, 4, and 5, Asari teaches the claim comprising a plurality of engineering apparatuses to support system design, and a server configured to communicate with the plurality of engineering apparatuses, the design support system configured to transmit and receive, between the plurality of engineering apparatuses and the server, device information specifying devices to be set in a device configuration designed in the system design, by disclosing an engineering support device 1 that is a cloud server and is communicably connected to terminal devices 21, 22, 8 via network 6 [paragraph 18]. The terminal devices 21, 22 are connected to monitoring control systems 31, 32 respectively via an intranet 4 [paragraph 16]. A plurality of devices constitutes the monitoring control system 3 according to a setting file of a common software module [paragraph 99]. The engineering support device comprises a communication unit that receives system information from the terminal device 2 and the terminal device 8 via the network 6 [paragraphs 23, 26] and transmits a setting file from the engineering support device 1 to the terminal device 2 [paragraph 28]. The monitoring control system operates the OS and the middleware in accordance with the setting file and operates the application module on the OS and the middleware [paragraph 96].
Asari teaches wherein each of the plurality of engineering apparatuses is configured to set a different one of the devices in the system design and holds a configuration information file including configuration information that is information on the device configuration created using the device information, by disclosing that the terminal device provides system information defining the configuration of the monitoring control system to the engineering support device for use in creating a setting file [paragraphs 24, 26-27], and receives the created setting file from the engineering support device for use by the monitoring control system [paragraphs 19, 25].
Asari teaches the server includes: a configuration information master file in which the configuration information file output from each of the plurality of engineering apparatuses is reflected, by disclosing a setting file storage unit 22 on the engineering support device that stores a file containing information associating a user ID with a module ID, version, and setting file [paragraphs 37-39]. The setting file is created based on received system information from the terminal device [paragraphs 82-83].
Asari teaches a filter file including an extraction condition for extracting the device information that is desired, by disclosing conversion rule information of a common software (SW) module that is used to create the setting file [paragraphs 17, 33, 36].
Asari teaches an extraction circuitry to extract the device information using the filter file from the configuration information file output from each of the engineering apparatuses or the configuration information master file, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83].
Asari teaches an output circuitry to output, to the engineering apparatuses, the device information extracted by the extraction circuitry using the filter file, by disclosing that a setting file output unit outputs the setting file to the terminal device via the network [paragraph 84, lines 3-4].
Asari teaches a reflection circuitry to reflect, in the configuration information master file, the device information extracted by the extraction circuitry using the filter file from the configuration information file output from each of the engineering apparatuses, by disclosing that the generated setting file is added to the setting file table stored in the setting file storage unit in association with the user ID, the module ID, and the version included in the input information notified from the system information input unit [paragraph 84, lines 1-3].
Asari teaches wherein in the filter file used when the device information is output from the server to the engineering apparatuses, the extraction condition is described under which the device information of the devices is not extracted, the devices being not settable in system design in the engineering apparatuses as output destinations to which the device information is output, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. The system information is input by the user [paragraphs 75-80] and thus, certain device information that has not been entered as part of the system information will not be extracted when the conversion rule information is used to generate the setting file.
7-2. Regarding claim 2, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the reflection circuitry adds, to the configuration information master file, a piece of the device information that is not included in the configuration information master file among pieces of the device information extracted by the extraction circuitry using the filter file from the configuration information file output from each of the engineering apparatuses, by disclosing that the generated setting file is added to the setting file table stored in the setting file storage unit in association with the user ID, the module ID, and the version included in the input information notified from the system information input unit [paragraph 84, lines 1-3].
7-3. Regarding claim 6, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 2, wherein in the filter file used when the device information is output from the server to the engineering apparatuses, the extraction condition is described under which the device information of the devices is not extracted, the devices being not settable in system design in the engineering apparatuses as output destinations to which the device information is output, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. The system information is input by the user [paragraphs 75-80] and thus, certain device information that has not been entered as part of the system information will not be extracted when the conversion rule information is used to generate the setting file.
7-4. Regarding claim 7, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the extraction condition is vendor information to be extracted, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. This includes a user ID [paragraphs 82, 38].
7-5. Regarding claim 8, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the extraction condition is device information to be extracted, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. This includes information regarding a device name, a dual system, an object, a sensor use, and a time reference [paragraphs 77-79].
7-6. Regarding claim 9, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the extraction condition is element information to be extracted, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. This includes information regarding a device name, a dual system, an object, a sensor use, and a time reference [paragraphs 77-79].
7-7. Regarding claim 10, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 7, wherein the vendor information is a company name, by disclosing that user ID is a representative of a company [paragraph 38].
7-8. Regarding claim 11, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 8, wherein the device information is a name of a device or a product number of the device, by disclosing that device name is a name of a constituent device or the identification information of the constituent device [paragraph 78].
7-9. Regarding claim 12, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the extraction circuitry is configured to discard a piece of the device information that does not correspond to filter information included in the configuration information master file, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. The system information is input by the user [paragraphs 75-80] and thus, certain device information that has not been entered as part of the system information will be discarded (i.e. rejected) when the conversion rule information is used to generate the setting file.
7-10. Regarding claim 13, Asari teaches all the limitations of claim 2, wherein the extraction circuitry is configured to discard a piece of the device information that does not correspond to filter information included in the configuration information master file, by disclosing that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information notified from the system information input unit into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. The system information is input by the user [paragraphs 75-80] and thus, certain device information that has not been entered as part of the system information will be discarded (i.e. rejected) when the conversion rule information is used to generate the setting file.
Response to Arguments
8. The Examiner acknowledges the Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 4, and 5, the cancellation of claim 3, and the addition of claims 7-13.
Regarding independent claim 1, Applicant alleges that Asari (JP 2018180651) fails to teach “wherein in the filter file used when the device information is output from the server to the engineering apparatuses, the extraction condition is described under which the device information of the devices is not extracted, the devices being not settable in system design in the engineering apparatuses as output destinations to which the device information is output” because in the filter file of claim 1, the filter details (i.e. specifies) an extraction condition in which the device information of the devices is not extracted.
Examiner has a different interpretation of the claim language based on Applicant’s specification. [Paragraphs 34-35] of Applicant’s specification, presented below, appears to be the only section describing a condition where device information is not extracted.
[0034] The filter file 180 is a filter file in which extraction conditions for extracting device information from the configuration information master file 170 or the configuration information file 250 are described. The filter file 180 is used to extract desired device information desired to be reflected in the database 160 when the configuration information file 250 output by the engineering apparatus 20 is reflected in the configuration information master file 170 held in the database 160. The filter file 180 is used to extract only device information required by the user from the configuration information master file 170 when only the device information required by the user is output from the configuration information master file 170 held in the database 160 to the engineering apparatus 20 as an output destination designated by the user.
[0035] Accordingly, in the filter file 180 used when the device information is output from the server 10 to each engineering apparatus 20, extraction conditions are described under which device information of a device is not extracted, the device being not settable in the system design in the engineering apparatus 20 as an output destination to which the device information is output.
[Paragraph 34] recites, “The filter file 180 is used to extract only device information required by the user from the configuration information master file 170 when only the device information required by the user is output from the configuration information master file 170 held in the database 160 to the engineering apparatus 20 as an output destination designated by the user” (emphasis added). This is interpreted as the user being able to designate an output destination such that a filter file will be used to extract particular device information from the configuration information master file based on the designated output destination. [Paragraph 35] then goes on to recite, “Accordingly, in the filter file 180 used when the device information is output from the server 10 to each engineering apparatus 20, extraction conditions are described under which device information of a device is not extracted, the device being not settable in the system design in the engineering apparatus 20 as an output destination to which the device information is output” (emphasis added). Use of the term “accordingly” in [paragraph 35] appears to refer back to the situation in [paragraph 34] and use of the term “under which” introduces a condition or situation. Thus, under the condition specified in [paragraph 34] where the user designates an output destination device such that a filter file will be used to extract particular device information from the configuration information master file based on the designated output destination, only the device information corresponding to the designated output destination will be extracted, and other device information related to other devices will not be extracted because the user did not set those other devices as an output destination. Nowhere in [paragraphs 34-35] state that the filter file details (i.e. specifies) a specific extraction condition regarding what device information should not be extracted. Accordingly, the claim limitation only requires the filter file to contain an extraction condition for extracting device information from the configuration information master file, such that only certain device information is extracted and other device information pertaining to other devices will not be extracted because the user did not set those other devices as an output destination.
Contrary to Applicant’s arguments, and based on the interpretation of the claim limitation above, Asari discloses that a setting file creation unit reads the conversion rule information, associated with the module ID and the version of the common SW module included in the input information notified from the system information input unit, from the conversion rule storage unit and generates the setting file by converting the system information included in the input information, notified from the system information input unit, into the setting file on the basis of the conversion rule information read from the conversion rule storage unit [paragraph 83]. The system information is input by the user [paragraphs 75-80] and thus, certain device information that has not been entered as part of the system information will not be extracted when the conversion rule information is used to generate the setting file.
Similar arguments have been presented for independent claims 4 and 5 and thus, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive for the same reasons.
Applicant states that dependent claims 2 and 6-13 recite all the limitations of the independent claims, and thus, are allowable in view of the remarks set forth regarding independent claim 1. However, as discussed above, Asari is considered to teach claim 1, and consequently, claims 2 and 6-13 are rejected.
Conclusion
9. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALVIN H TAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8595. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM.
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/ALVIN H TAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118