DETAILED ACTION
This non-final office action is in response to amendments filed on 10/8/25.
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 .
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-11, 13-18 and 20-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stubben, US Patent Application Publication no. 2009/0299689 and Tsai et al., US Patent Application Publication no. 2017/0052517 [Tsai]1, in view of Knapp et al., US Patent Application Publication no. 2020/0170404 [Knapp].
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Stubben discloses a table apparatus comprising:
a tabletop [table top 100 in Figure 1 and paragraph 0011];
a plurality of expandable legs configured to support the tabletop [legs 101 in Figure 1 and paragraph 0011];
a plurality of motors, wherein each motor of the plurality of motors is configured to alter a length of a respective expandable leg of the plurality of expandable legs [motors 207-210 in Figure 2 and paragraph 0012];
a plurality of position sensors, wherein each sensor is configured to identify a current position of a respective expandable leg of the plurality of expandable legs [each leg is controlled to extend or retract to a desired position to control tilt of the table, paragraph 0015. A position sensor for each leg is necessary in order to perform the extension or retraction of each leg to a desired position];
a processor in signal communication with the plurality of motors and the plurality of position sensors [microprocessor, paragraph 0012]; and
a memory configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor [microprocessor inherently includes a memory for storing instructions] to:
receive a first signal [reading an accelerometer to determine if the table is level, paragraph 0015];
determine a second signal indicating a current position of each expandable leg of the plurality of expandable legs, based on signals received from the plurality of position sensors [tracking a position of each leg is necessary in order to perform the extension or retraction of each leg to a desired position];
determine a respective projected length value for each expandable leg in the plurality of expandable legs responsive to receiving the first signal [computing leg extension or retraction requirements to cause the table to be level, paragraph 0015]; and
command one or more motors of the plurality of motors to adjust a length of its associated first particular expandable leg based on the projected length value for one or more expandable legs of the plurality of expandable legs and the current position of each expandable leg of the plurality of expandable legs [legs are extended or retracted to the computed position, paragraph 0015].
Stubben discloses a table with a plurality of legs that are each automatically extended or retracted to computed positions in order to control height and tilt of a tabletop. Stubben does not disclose that the table automatically controls the height and tilt of the tabletop based on identified physical characteristics of a user of the table apparatus. Like Stubben, Tsai disclose a table that may automatically control the height and tilt of a table top. Tsai further discloses sensing user physical characteristic data to determine user identity and user height and controlling the height and tilt of the tabletop based on the user identity and user height determined from the sensed user physical characteristics [paragraphs 0023-0025, 0039-0042, 0059-0067]. Since it was known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to automatically adjust a tabletop height and tilt based on identified physical characteristics of a user of a table, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the Tsai automatic adjustment teachings into the Stubben table in order to improve the convenience of use of the desk by eliminating the need to manually adjust the tabletop height and tilt for different users [Tsai, paragraphs 0004-0005].
Stubben and Tsai do not disclose that sensing user physical characteristic data includes sensing a user height value in real time. Like Stubben and Tsai, Knapp discloses a height adjustable table in which table height is set according to sensed user physical characteristic data. Specifically, Knapp discloses analyzing a data stream from a camera to detect position of a current user’s face in order to detect the user’s current height and adjusting the table height based on the detected height of the user [paragraphs 0081-0085]. Since it was known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to automatically adjust table height based on real time detected user height data, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the Knapp teachings into the Stubben and Tsai table in order to improve the accuracy of table height adjustment decisions by performing real time determinations of a current user’s height.
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Stubben further discloses a level sensor configured to generate the sensor signal, the sensor signal comprises a level value of the tabletop, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine the projected length value based on the level value and a predefined level value [a tilt of the table is measured based on accelerometer readings to determine leg extension or retraction requirements to level the table, paragraph 0015].
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Stubben further discloses a level sensor configured to generate the sensor signal, the sensor signal comprises a level value of the tabletop, the instructions are further configured to: sense an unstable condition based on the level value; and adjust a length of one or more legs to counter the unstable condition [a tilt of the table is measured based on accelerometer readings to determine leg extension or retraction requirements to place the table in a level position, paragraph 0015].
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Tsai further discloses automatically adjusting a drafting table level to an inclination based on the identified physical characteristics of the user of the table [paragraphs 0059-0067].
Regarding claims 5, 14 and 20, Tsai further discloses a communication device configured to receive the first signal from a proximate user device [input module, paragraph 0068].
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Knapp further discloses an image sensor configured to: generate, in real time, an image of the user in an area proximate the table apparatus, determine height value of the user from the generated image, generate the first signal including the height value of the user, and transmit, in real time, the first signal including the height value of the user to the processor [analyzing a data stream from a camera to detect position of a current user’s face in order to detect the user’s current height and adjusting the desk height based on the detected height of the user, paragraphs 0081-0085].
Regarding claims 21-23, Stubben further discloses that the plurality of expandable legs comprises four expandable legs [Figure 1 and paragraph 0011].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/PAUL B YANCHUS III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115 November 14, 2025
1 Stubben and Tsai were previously cited.