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
Status of Claims
This Non-Final Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed 01/28/2026.
In accordance with Applicant’s amendment, claims 1, 10, 27, and 33 are amended and claim 39 is added as a new claim. Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-10, 19, 21-22, and 24-39 are currently pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 submissions filed on 01/28/2026 have been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection set forth in this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Response to §103 arguments: Applicant's arguments with respect to the §103 rejection of independent claims 1/33 (Remarks at pgs. 10-11) and arguments concerning the §103 rejection of claims 10/27 (Remarks at pgs. 11-12) have been considered, but are not primarily raised in support of the new limitations presented in these claims, and therefore the amendments and supporting arguments are believed to be addressed in the new grounds of rejection applied to these claims under §103 in the instant office action.
In response to applicant’s argument in support of new claim 39 (Remarks at pg. 13), the Examiner notes that claim 39 is allowable over the prior art, however this claim is rejected under §112(b) for the reasons provided below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 39 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 39 recites “The method according to claim 10, wherein…,” however the phrase “The method” lacks antecedent basis because parent claim 10 is not directed to a method, but instead is directed to a system. In addition, shifting from a “system” to a “method” crosses statutory categories (from a machine to a process), which creates confusion as to claim scope as well as when direct infringement occurs, i.e. mere possession of the system or only upon execution of steps by the system. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 1318, 97 USPQ2d 1737, 1748-49 (Fed. Cir. 2011). For purposes of examination, the phrase in claim 39 reciting “The method according to claim 10” will be interpreted as “The logistics system according to claim 10.” Appropriate correction is required.
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 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.
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.
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 of this title, 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 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 19, 21-22, 24-26, 28-30, 32-36, and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Mohn et al. (US 2014/0046710, hereinafter “Mohn”) in view of de Oliveira et al. (US 2011/0040440, hereinafter “de Oliveira”) in view of de Moura (US 2018/0158340).
Claims 1/33: As per claim 1, Mohn teaches a logistics system (pars. 2, 44, and Fig. 1: fleet management system; techniques for shipping and fleet management) comprising:
a logistics center that comprises a plurality of logistics handling devices which are present in a logistics site within the logistics center and are operable in the logistics site, wherein at least a first one of the plurality of logistics handling devices is an industrial truck and at least a second one of the plurality of logistics devices is a logistics device that interacts with the industrial truck (pars. 47-55 and Fig. 1: Fleet management system 100 includes a collection of vehicles 102a-102c [i.e., the vehicles are logistics handling devices, e.g., the industrial trucks shown in Fig. 1] equipped with data acquisition devices 106a-106c [i.e., the data acquisition devices are second logistics devices, as shown in Fig. 1] and accompanying portable wireless data transfer and display devices 112a-112c. In particular, examples, portable wireless data transfer and display devices 112a-112c may be cellular phones or other commercially available long-range wireless communication devices [i.e., the portable devices/phones are also second logistics devices, as shown in Fig. 1]. Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles 102a-102c; data acquisition device 106a-106c [which are a second plurality of logistics devices] may be configured to electrically connect with [i.e., interact with] an engine control module (refer to FIG. 2) so as to receive vehicle operation information, e.g., speed, operational parameters, acceleration/braking data, fuel usage, and the like [i.e., the second plurality of logistics devices interact with the industrial truck]);
a fleet management server … (pars. 47, 113, 118, and 138-139: e.g., Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of network devices, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers); and
a plurality of access points … (pars. 57-62: e.g., wireless links 114a-114c may be short-range wireless communications links, such as Bluetooth, wireless Ethernet (WiFi) including WiFi 802.11, ZigBee, near-field communications (NFC), infrared (IrDA), block linear turbo equalization (BLTE) or any other suitable short-range wireless communication link utilized by the short-range wireless communication modules utilized by the data acquisition devices and portable wireless data transfer and display devices; network 130 communicatively connects base station 124 with control center; network 130 may include the Internet or other public or private data networks);
an external server, said external server being external to the logistics center (pars. 49, 66, 111, 113, 118, 138-140, 146, 190, and Figs. 1 and 7: e.g., Portable wireless data transfer and display devices 112a-112c communicate with a remote network device of control center; client and server are generally remote from each other [i.e., external server] and typically interact through a communication network; mobile communication device may communicate electronic files containing vehicle or driver information to other mobile communication devices, remote computer(s), server(s), and other wireless displays; portable wireless data transfer and display devices may further relay information to each other through long-range networks 800a-800c or to control center 104 through long-range network; portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a forwards the vehicle data along with the associated driver identification to a remote network device, such as a device of control center);
wherein the fleet management server is configured to operate, via the plurality of access points, a wireless data connection with the plurality of logistics handling devices (pars. 47, 67, 78, 113, 138-139, and Figs. 1 and 7: e.g., Fleet management system 100 includes a collection of vehicles 102a-102c equipped with data acquisition devices 106a-106c and accompanying portable wireless data transfer and display devices; Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles 102a-102c; real-time or approximately real-time updates of driver and vehicle data at a remote computing device via control center; Computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of network devices, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers; The systems and described here may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server; wirelessly communicate the vehicle data to remote network),
wherein the fleet management server is configured to provide a … interface (pars. 50, 60, 63, 68, 111, 132, 140, 146, 151, and Figs. 8-10: e.g., portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a may establish the wireless connection 120a with transceiver 122, which is in communication with control center 104 through the base station 124 and the network; control center 104 is configured to receive the vehicle data, the driver information, the communication information…through long-range network 120a-120c; vehicle information communications for a single vehicle in system 110a for communicating fleet vehicle information of FIG. 1 in further detail; may utilize a communication module that is configured to send location information to a network device, such as a network device of control center 104, through a long-range wireless network; wireless data transfer and display devices 112a-112c may communicate with at least one control center 104 over a collection of wireless links 120a-120c with one or more transceivers),
wherein the fleet management server and the external server are configured to operate a data connection via the … interface using a network protocol, and, via this data connection, to transmit data relating to at least one of the plurality of logistics handling devices (pars. 62, 65, 78, 113, 132, 138, 192, and Figs. 1 and 7: e.g., Communication interface 766 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 768. In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown); In some examples, network 130 may include the Internet or other public or private data networks; wireless data transfer and display devices may further relay information to each other through long-range networks 800a-800c or to control center 104 through long-range networks 120a-120c; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of network devices, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers; The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), and the Internet; vehicle data may also be transmitted two ways with another electronic device or control center),
wherein the fleet management server is coupled by data technology to a plurality of end points that are data sources (pars. 47, 63, 66-67, 118, 139, and 188-193: e.g., Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles; remote computing device via control center; computing system may include … servers. A data acquisition device mountable in a vehicle and a mobile communication device, e.g., a cellular phone that is configured to provide wireless communication with the data acquisition device. As such, system may include a plurality of separately housed devices that are each configured to output electronic reports in different manner; mobile communication device may communicate electronic files containing vehicle or driver information to other mobile communication devices, remote computer(s), server(s), and other wireless displays; data acquisition device may house one or more accelerometers therein so as to detect particular types of vehicle movement, such as hard brakes, acceleration, and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehicle movement may be recorded by the data acquisition device and communicated to a control center…This information may further be transmitted in real-time; computing device 700 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 720, or multiple times in a group of such servers; See also, Figs. 1 and 7, displaying the infrastructure including the technology coupling end point data sources to the fleet management system that includes a control center that includes a computing device such as a server), and
wherein the fleet management server is configured to transmit data of at least one end point to the external server via a parameter of the …, which is specific to the at least one end point (pars. 21, 23, 47, 63-64, 73, 113, 118, 132, 138-140, 146, 155, 157, 162, 180, 184, 187, and Fig. 1: e.g., Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers; computing system may include clients and servers…are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network [i.e., external server receives the data from remote clients that serve as end points]; network device may be configured to receive vehicle data, driver information, and driver communications through long-range communication network at predetermined times [transmit data of end point to server via a parameter specific to end point]; in other examples, the portable wireless data transfer and display device may calculate the modified route according to updated route parameters and/or input from the driver or another user. The portable wireless data transfer and display device may then present the modified route via its display; may adjust the parameters of limited functionality according to the location or other operational parameter of the vehicle, e.g., in order to comply with local regulations and/or company policies; client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here, or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components; real-time, at a predetermined time, periodically or otherwise, portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a forwards the vehicle data along with the associated driver identification to a remote network device, such as a device of control center [which may include a server as its computing device]; See also, Fig. 1, displaying the infrastructure including a control center that includes a computing device such as a server, and displaying end points for sending/receiving data to/from server, such as vehicles' 102a-102c operating parameters to coordinate repairs or maintenance, as noted in par. 63).
Mohn does not explicitly teach:
server located within the logistics center;
access points located within the logistics center, said plurality of access points being a part of the logistics site;
a programming interface.
de Oliveira teaches:
server located within the logistics center (pars. 33, 36, 137, and 139: each local site may maintain its own industrial vehicle application server 14, or the enterprise 26 may manage each local site 1-m from a centralized location; data processed, gathered, detected, monitored or otherwise wirelessly transmitted by industrial vehicles 12 may be locally maintained, e.g., by an instance of the industrial vehicle application server; local systems to monitor local fleets; vehicle information server 30 at a local site; See also, par. 2: for example, warehousing facilities, distribution centers, retail stores, manufacturing facilities, etc. [i.e., logistics center]);
access points located within the logistics center, said plurality of access points being a part of the logistics site (par. 30: one or more wireless access points 20 are utilized to relay data between a wireless transceiver of each industrial vehicle 12 and one or more wired devices of the computing environment 10, e.g., the industrial vehicle application server 14. The number of access points 20 and the placement thereof may be determined based upon the specific implementation. For example, in a relatively large site, e.g., a large warehouse, distribution facility, retail outlet, etc., numerous access points 20 may be required to provide wireless communications coverage across a designated area in which the industrial vehicles 12 are to be operated);
and although Mohn teaches the following limitation, it is noted that de Oliveira similarly teaches an external server, said external server being external to the logistics center (pars. 33-35: the industrial vehicle application server 14 need not reside in the same physical location as the industrial vehicle; components of the industrial vehicle application server 14 and/or the data resource 16, e.g., software components, data, etc., may be located on the remote server).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Mohn with de Oliveira because the references are analogous since they are each directed to features for managing a fleet of vehicles tasked with shipping/logistics, which is within Applicant’s field of endeavor of logistics and fleet management, and because modifying the teachings of Mohn such that the server and access points are within a logistics site, as claimed, would provide the benefit of controlling/managing the server and access points locally, which one skilled in the art may contribute to increased infrastructure security or accessibility, which may simplify operation, maintenance, or the like; and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Mohn and de Oliveira do not explicitly teach:
a programming interface.
de Moura teaches:
a programming interface (pars. 49-50: For example, Cloud (or a portion thereof) may provide one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) which other devices may use for communicating/interacting with the Cloud).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Mohn/de Oliveira with de Moura because the references are analogous since they are each directed to features for managing a fleet of vehicles tasked with shipping/logistics, which is within Applicant’s field of endeavor of logistics and fleet management, and because modifying the teachings of Mohn such that the interface is in the form of a programming interface, as claimed, would serve the motivation to provide services to a large variety of components/sources over a network (de Moura at par. 49); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 33 is directed to method for performing substantially similar limitations as those recited in claim 1 and discussed above. Mohn, in view of de Oliveira and de Moura, teaches a method for performing the limitations discussed above (Mohn at pars. 14, 113, 118, 128, and 194: computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers; See also, de Oliveira at par. 4: systems, methods and computer program products; See also, de Moura at pars. 13, 49, and Fig. 1: systems and methods; server), and claim 33 is therefore rejected using the same references and for substantially the same reasons as set forth above.
Claims 2/19: Mohn further teaches wherein the external server is configured to transmit a program interface key to the fleet management server, and wherein the fleet management server is configured to allow or deny access of the external server to the programming interface, depending upon an authorization of the program interface key (par. 180: system administrator key or password may be required in order to make changes to the configuration of the system (e.g., to re-configure the scorecard, to reconfigure the messages, to reconfigure the trip schedule, or to reconfigure other selectable and adaptable parameters of the system).
Claims 4/21: Mohn further teaches wherein the fleet management server is further configured to allow the external server to add at least one further parameter to the … interface (pars. 164, 180, 184, and 187: factors used and the importance of each factor may be a customizable parameter in the system; reconfigure other selectable and adaptable parameters of the system; network device may send the modified route itself to the portable wireless data transfer and display device; in other examples, the portable wireless data transfer and display device may calculate the modified route according to updated route parameters and/or input from the driver or another user; See also, pars. 47, 113, 118, and 138-139: e.g., Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of network devices, such as…servers), but does not teach that the interface is a programming interface.
de Moura teaches a programming interface (pars. 49-50: For example, Cloud (or a portion thereof) may provide one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) which other devices may use for communicating/interacting with the Cloud).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Mohn, de Oliveira, and de Moura by including de Moura’s programming interface, as claimed, in order to serve the motivation to provide services to a large variety of components/sources over a network (de Moura at par. 49); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 5/22: Mohn further teaches wherein the fleet management server is further configured to allow the external server to request data of at least one end point via the parameter of the … interface, which is specific to the at least one end point, and wherein the at least one end point is located within one of the plurality of logistics handling devices (pars. 17-18, 21, 66, 81, 106, 123, 157, and Figs. 1-3 and 7: e.g., means for receiving one or more work requests from the network device via the long-range wireless network, a means for receiving an input from a driver responding to the work request, and a means for forwarding the input from the driver responding to the work request to the network device via the long-range wireless network; external computer device 150 may acquire the requested data directly from portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a through network 801, or may receive the information from control center 104 through wireless network connection 802; ata acquisition device 106a-106c may optionally be equipped with an external data port, e.g., a USB port, for exporting driver summary electronic reports or other data, such as vehicle information or driver data, to a temporarily connected external storage device, such as portable computer device 150, portable storage device 152, or the like; network device may then store the vehicle data and driver information in memory 706. To give the network device access to data throughout periods of time, it may then successively store any updates of the vehicle data and the driver information in memory 706 for each of the plurality of portable wireless data transfer and display devices), but does not teach that the interface is a programming interface.
de Moura teaches a programming interface (pars. 49-50: For example, Cloud (or a portion thereof) may provide one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) which other devices may use for communicating/interacting with the Cloud).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Mohn, de Oliveira, and de Moura by including de Moura’s programming interface, as claimed, in order to serve the motivation to provide services to a large variety of components/sources over a network (de Moura at par. 49); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 28/34 Mohn further teaches wherein the industrial truck comprises a position sensor as an end point and determines its position within the logistics site (pars. 51, 76-78, 93 and Fig. 1: data acquisition devices 106a-106c may receive location information such as global positioning system (GPS) signals 108 from GPS satellites 109 to determine the locations of their respective vehicles 102a-102c).
Claims 29/35: Mohn further teaches wherein the industrial truck comprises an acceleration sensor as an end point, wherein the industrial truck is configured to read the acceleration sensor several times during a period of time and to store read acceleration values in an internal data storage location, and wherein the data storage location represents an end point (pars. 51, 76, and 193: data acquisition device may house one or more accelerometers therein so as to detect particular types of vehicle movement, such as hard brakes, acceleration, and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehicle movement may be recorded by the data acquisition device and communicated to a control center, e.g., via the mobile communication device, for purposes of safety monitoring by a fleet manager or other system user. This information may further be transmitted in real-time for better safety).
Claims 30/36: Mohn further teaches wherein the industrial truck is configured to determine a current operating hours value based on a request from a vehicle control system of the industrial truck, and wherein the industrial truck comprises a data storage location for the operating hours value, and this data storage location is an end point (pars. 59-60, 65, 95, 97, and Figs. 4A/B: generated by the system for communication to the network device is driver information, which may include data indicative of the hours of service when the driver is on duty on a particular day. In some implementations, the driver information may be automatically converted into driver summary electronic reports (including hours of service records, driver identification information, etc.) that are readily exportable via the USB port of data acquisition device 106a-106c (FIG. 3) or via wireless link)
Claims 32/38: Mohn further teaches wherein the industrial truck is designed to determine a current operating state based on a request from a vehicle control system of the industrial truck, and wherein the industrial truck comprises a data storage location for the operating state, and this data storage location is an end point (pars. 63, 72-77, and Figs. 1-3: control center 104 may monitor vehicles' 102a-102c operating parameters to coordinate repairs or maintenance, e.g., monitor temperatures of refrigerated cargo, or monitor engine warning signals. Control center 104 may also receive or send information to portable wireless data transfer and display devices 114a-114c, including, but not limited to, vehicle data, driver information, communication information, and driver summary electronic reports, at predetermined times; data acquisition device 106a may detect the particular type of communications protocol employed by ECM 202, and automatically adapt to the detected protocol in order to communicate with ECM 202. In these circumstances, data acquisition device 106a may be installed in any one of a number of different types of vehicles).
Claims 7/24: Mohn further teaches wherein at least one of the plurality of logistics handling devices is configured to transmit data of at least one end point in the form of a push message to the external server via the parameter of the programming interface, which is specific to the at least on end point (pars. 71, 180, and Fig. 1: real-time communications represent data pushed over a communication channel that is active once the data is collected. For example, data acquisition device 106a pushes vehicle data gathered to portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a over a preexisting connection; reconfigure the messages, to reconfigure the trip schedule, or to reconfigure other selectable and adaptable parameters of the system; See also, pars. 47, 113, 118, and 138-139: e.g., Fleet management system 100 further includes control center 104, which facilitates remote monitoring of vehicles; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, either as a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of network devices, such as…servers).
Claims 8/25: Mohn further teaches wherein the at least one of the plurality of logistics handling devices comprises at least one acceleration sensor as an end point and is configured to detect a critical operating state by evaluating data captured by the acceleration sensor (pars. 51, 76, and 193: data acquisition devices 106a-106c are electronic devices that collect vehicle data about vehicles' 102a-102c, such as location, speed, operational parameters, acceleration; detect particular types of vehicle movement, such as hard brakes, acceleration, and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehicle movement may be recorded by data acquisition device 106a may communicated to control center 104 via portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a for purposes of safety monitoring by a fleet manager or other system user), and wherein the at least one of the plurality of logistics handling devices is further configured to send a push message to the external server when a critical operating state is detected (pars. 51, 71, 76, and 193: hard brakes, acceleration, and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehicle movement may be recorded by the data acquisition device and communicated to a control center, e.g., via the mobile communication device, for purposes of safety monitoring by a fleet manager or other system user. This information may further be transmitted in real-time for better safety; As referred to herein, real-time communications represent data pushed over a communication channel).
Claims 9/26: Mohn further teaches wherein the fleet management server is coupled by data technology to a plurality of target points that represent data sinks and is configured to transmit data for at least one of the plurality of target points to the … interface via a parameter specific to the at least one of the plurality of target points (pars. 66, 94, 103, 146, and 150-151: e.g., initiate a transfer of data from the associated data acquisition device 106 (FIG. 3) unit to an external storage device, such as computer device 150 or portable storage device 152 as described previously discussed in the description of FIG. 3A; For example, data acquisition device 106a may collect the vehicle data over a period of time when a particular driver is using vehicle 102a, and data acquisition device 106a may periodically transfer this vehicle data to the corresponding portable wireless data transfer and display device 112a linked thereto via Bluetooth connection; sending the driver input to control center 104 allows control center 104 to populate its database without needing to first associate the driver input with a vehicle; Regarding the process for exporting vehicle data or driver information via the USB port, data acquisition device 106a may be configured to output the driver summary electronic report directly to a temporarily connected external computer device 150, e.g., a notebook computer, or a portable storage device 152, e.g., a USB thumb drive, a portable hard drive, provided by a vehicle inspector 154, e.g., a law enforcement official, a regulatory inspector, or the like. In such circumstances, the vehicle inspector 154 may conveniently plug the external computer device 150 or portable storage device 152 into the USB port provided by data acquisition device 106a to facilitate a transfer of the requested data from data acquisition device 106a. Thus, data acquisition device 106a and portable wireless data transfer and display device 112 are two separately housed instruments that act together as a system to generate and communicate the vehicle data), but does not teach that the interface is a programming interface.
de Moura teaches a programming interface (pars. 49-50: For example, Cloud (or a portion thereof) may provide one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) which other devices may use for communicating/interacting with the Cloud).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Mohn, de Oliveira, and de Moura by including de Moura’s programming interface, as claimed, in order to serve the motivation to provide services to a large variety of components/sources over a network (de Moura at par. 49); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 10 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Mohn et al. (US 2014/0046710, hereinafter “Mohn”) in view of de Oliveira et al. (US 2011/0040440, hereinafter “de Oliveira”) in view of de Moura (US 2018/0158340), as applied to claims 9 and 26 above, and further in view Manci et al. (US 2016/0347248, hereinafter “Manci”).
Claims 10/27: Mohn further teaches wherein the fleet management server is further configured to access a vehicle control system of the first one of the plurality of logistics handling devices, and to define parameters of the vehicle control system as target points (pars. 3, 47-51, 63, 187, and Figs. 1-3 and 7: Fleet vehicles may be equipped with devices that are configured to track the vehicles' geographic locations, speeds, headings, cargo, cargo temperature, engine performance parameters, and other data; center 104 may monitor vehicles' 102a-102c operating parameters to coordinate repairs or maintenance, e.g., monitor temperatures of refrigerated cargo, or monitor engine warning signals. Control center 104 may also receive or send information to portable wireless data transfer and display devices 114a-114c, including, but not limited to, vehicle data, driver information, communication information, and driver summary electronic reports, at predetermined times; adjust the parameters of limited functionality according to the location or other operational parameter of the vehicle; Remote control center 104 is configured to receive the vehicle data, the driver information, the communication information, and the driver summary electronic report, at predetermined times, such as at real-time or at intervals that approximate real-time, from portable wireless data transfer and display devices), but does not teach wherein the fleet management server is configured to define as target points: a maximum lifting height of a mast of the industrial truck and/or a lifting/lowering speed of load-handling attachments to the industrial truck.
Manci teaches wherein the fleet management server is configured to define as target points: a maximum lifting height of a mast of the industrial truck and/or a lifting/lowering speed of load-handling attachments to the industrial truck (par. 103: restriction zone that defines a zone that the industrial vehicle is to stay out of, an idle zone that defines a zone where the industrial vehicle is to remain for less than a predetermined amount of time, a speed zone that defines a zone where the industrial vehicle is to maintain a predetermined maximum speed, a control zone that defines a zone where an automation feature takes control of the industrial vehicle, a height restrict zone that defines a zone where the industrial vehicle is to maintain forks and/or the mast below a predetermined maximum height).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Mohn, de Oliveira, and de Moura with Manci because the references are analogous since they are each directed to features for managing vehicle operation, which is within Applicant’s field of endeavor of logistics and fleet management, and because modifying the teachings of Mohn/de Oliveira/de Moura such that the target points include a maximum lifting height of a mast of the truck, as claimed, would serve the motivation to improve safety monitoring by a fleet manager (Mohn at par. 76) or to implement corporate compliance analysis (Mohn at par. 163); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 31 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Mohn et al. (US 2014/0046710, hereinafter “Mohn”) in view of de Oliveira et al. (US 2011/0040440, hereinafter “de Oliveira”) in view of de Moura (US 2018/0158340), as applied to claims 1 and 33 above, and further in view of Astorg et al. (US 2021/0387541, hereinafter “Astorg”).
Claims 31/37: Mohn, in view of de Oliveira and de Moura, teaches the limitations of claims 1/33 as set forth above, but does not teach the limitations of claims 31/37.
Astorg teaches wherein the industrial truck comprises a traction battery and is configured to determine a current state of charge of the traction battery based on a request from a vehicle control system of the industrial truck, and wherein the industrial truck comprises a data storage location for the state of charge, and this data storage location is an end point (pars. 95-96: E.sub.max is a predetermined constant, which is recorded in the memory of the computer 15 and corresponds to the maximum electrical energy that the traction battery 12 can store, and [0096] SOH is the state of health of the traction battery 12, which is transmitted to the computer 15 by a third-party computer; See also, par. 36: FIG. 1 shows an electric motor vehicle. In the present case, it is a car, but it could be another type of motor vehicle (motorcycle, truck, boat, etc.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Mohn, de Oliveira, and de Moura with Astorg because the references are analogous since they are each directed to features for managing vehicle operation, which is within Applicant’s field of endeavor of logistics and fleet management, and because modifying the teachings of Mohn/ de Oliveira/de Moura such that the industrial truck of Mohn includes a traction battery to determine state of charge and comprises a data storage location that is an end point, as claimed, would serve the motivation to improve transportation management by collecting reliable and accurate vehicle information (Mohn at par. 57); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Allowable over the prior art
Claim 39 is allowable over the prior art, however claim 39 stands rejected under §112(b). Even if the §112(b) rejection is overcome, claim 39 would be objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim and would be allowable only if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims (i.e., parent claims 1, 9, and 10).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Donahue (US 2013/0338874): discloses a system for gathering data from an industrial vehicle, including monitoring maintenance status and operator performance parameters related to fleets of industrial vehicles (par. 8).
Kozlay (US 2011/0046845): discloses features for enforcing vehicle operator compliance policy.
Scharaswak et al. (US 2016/0300186): discloses vehicle fleet control features, including managing shipments based on fleet constraints and real-time fleet parameters obtained from by a carrier server from communication circuitry installed in each vehicle (at least pars. 21-22).
Hsin-Te Wu et al., "General-Purpose Intelligent Management System of Logistics Fleet," 2019 International Conference on Intelligent Computing and its Emerging Applications (ICEA), Tainan, Taiwan, 2019, pp. 92-96: discloses logistics fleet management features, including automatic vehicle identification and driver behavior classification based on sensor-collected information.
Vassilis Kapsalis et al., "A networking platform for real-time monitoring and rule-based control of transport fleets and transferred goods," 2010 13th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Madiera Island, Portugal, September 18-22, 2010: discloses a networking platform for real-time monitoring and control of transport fleets, including automatic vehicle location tracking, location-based services, and resource planning/scheduling.
D. Stojanovic et al., "Web Information System for Transport Telematics and Fleet Management," 2009 9th International Conference on Telecommunication in Modern Satellite, Cable, and Broadcasting Services (2009, Page(s): 314-317): a service-oriented platform for fleet management, including vehicle tracking, diagnostics, movement analysis, etc.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Timothy A. Padot whose telephone number is 571.270.1252. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:30 - 5:30. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Brian Epstein can be reached at 571.270.5389. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571- 273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY PADOT/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625
03/25/2026
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