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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a Final office action on merit. Claim 4 is canceled. Clams 1, 3, 5-9, after amendment, are presently pending and have been considered below.
Request for Continued Examination
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/4/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/21/2022, 8/20/2025, and 2/25/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. DE10 2020 113 810.5, filed on 5/22/2020.
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:
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2013/0172004 A1, Bahl (hereinafter Bahl) in view of US 2008/0025238 A1, Mccown et al. (hereinafter Mccown).
As to claim 1, Bahl discloses a warning system comprising:
at least one mobile notification unit, which optically identifies a boundary of a restricted area, wherein the notification unit has at least one motion sensor which detects movements of objects in the environment of the notification unit (Figs 18-20, 24; pars 0075, 0129-0131, 0133-0136, a mobile device or cellular phone with a passive motion detector to detect an individual in a room and sending a signal to another device), and
wherein the notification unit has at least one signal device which is suitable for outputting an optical or acoustic signal if the motion sensor has detected a movement of an object in the environment of the notification unit (Figs 3-5; pars 0049, 0053-0054, 0060, 0062, 0064, 0129-0130, an audio signal being sent upon motion sensor detecting a movement of an individual); and
a central unit being a cellular phone or being couplable to a cellular phone Figs 8, 22; pars 0074-0075, 0092, 0095-0099, 0129-0130), the central unit comprising a receiver configured to receive a signal sent via radio from the at least one notification unit, wherein the central unit is configured to output a notification to a user of the central unit (pars 0061, 0077, 0082, 0098, 0129-0130, 0166-0167, a mobile device or cellular phone receiving alert/alarm message over the radio),
wherein the notification unit is able to detect whether the object is crossing or has crossed the boundary of the restricted area (Figs 19, 21-26, various detection modules (infrared, passive/active motion detectors, etc.) detecting an object’s or a person’s motion within ranges of detection or a specified proximity of the mobile device; pars 0007, 0009-0012, 0127, 0130, 139, a person entering a room of the house (e.g. crossing the room boundary)), and wherein the signal is changeable when the object is crossing or has crossed the boundary of the restricted area (Figs 2, 4, 22, 0031; pars 0049, 0054, 0120, 0126- 0130, 0138-0139, 0162, the mobile device detects motions (motion signal changes) and generating an audible alarm (e.g. signal change) to alert the user a person or an intruder entering a living room or bedroom).
Bahi does not expressly disclose the at least one mobile notification unit, configured optically identifies a boundary of a restricted area.
Mccown, in the same or similar field of endeavor, further teaches a communication device, configured optically identifies a boundary of a restricted area (Figs 1-3; pars 0006-0009).
Therefore, consider Bahi and Mccown’s teachings as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of skill in the art before the filing date of invention to incorporate Mccown’s teachings in Bahi’s warning system to provide automatic warning system within the boundary of environment with restricted access.
2. (Canceled)
As to claim 3, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein the central unit is couplable to a communication unit disposed within a hearing protection of the user so that the notifications can be output via the hearing protection to the user (Bahi: pars 0095-0086, 0157-0158, using a vibration signal for hearing impaired person).
4. (Canceled)
As to claim 5, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein the cellular phone is equipped with an application indicating on a display of the cellular phone that a movement of an object has been detected in the environment of the notification unit (Bahi: Figs 19, 21-25, presenter module to present movement in a proximity; pars 0007, 0009-0012, 0072, 0075, 0110-0118, 0122, 0158, 0175, presenter module may generates sound, vibration, and/or display to indicate motion being detected).
As to claim 6, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein several notification units are provided and that the type of the notifications output at the central unit depends on which notification unit has sent a signal (Bahi: pars 0117, 0122, 0129, multiple mobile devices/cellular phones may be serving as notification unites).
As to claim 7, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit comprises an identification module which is suitable for detecting at least one property of the object (Bahi: pars 0053, 0065, 0086-0088, speech or voice recognition capability to identify the voice of the person).
As to claim 8, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit comprises a camera (Bahi: pars 0096, 0117, 0122, a camera).
As to claim 9, Bahl as modified discloses the warning system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit comprises a GPS receiver (Bahi: Fig 18; pars 0096, 0062, 0098-0099, 0110, a GPS).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but they are moot in light of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner has cited particular column, line number, paragraphs and/or figure(s) in the reference(s) as applied to the claims for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the reference(s) in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Qun Shen whose telephone number is (571) 270-7927. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Friday from 9:00-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's Supervisor, Amandeep Saini can be reached on (571) 272-3382. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/QUN SHEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2662
Prosecution Insights