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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment to claims 8,16 and 24 have overcome each and every rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) in the previous office action mailed on 02/13/2025. Therefore the rejections made under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) are withdrawn.
Applicant’s argument for claim 1 that neither in combination nor individually Ackmann et al. and Macgregor teach a respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device and a respective occupancy indicator with each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device have been fully considered but in moot in view of newly cited reference Coates et al. in combination of cited prior arts of record Ackmann et al. and Macgregor. Newly cited prior art Coates et al. explicitly teaches in Fig.4, [0049], [0058],[0060] and [0068], that using user interface 114, the user can view the status of each of the lighting control devices (IoT devices) in different places inside the house. Each lighting control device has respective icon and location which are presented to the user in one screen via user interface 114 as shown in Fig.4. The user can view the status of the lighting control devices that is either ON or OFF and control the settings of the lighting control devices resident of different places within the house. Therefore it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of displaying and controlling the lights and occupancy in first and second location as taught by Ackmann et al. by applying the known technique of replacing the lighting icons with respective lighting icons stating location and state for each of the lighting control devices located in different places within the house as taught by Coates et al. as an improvement to the display of lighting control devices to the user yield predictable results for providing user with a clear view of all the lighting control devices within an environment or house.
Applicant’s argument regarding neither of the previously cited prior arts teach a respective occupancy indicator with each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device have been considered but not found persuasive because cited prior art of record, Ackmann et al. explicitly teaches in annotated Fig.7 and [0233] and [0264] that when occupancy is sensed in a room, an occupancy indicator is displayed in addition to the light bulb icon indicating light on status for that room in the user interface. As such Ackmann et al. teach the details of respective occupancy indicator with each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device. The claim does not recite how each occupancy indicator is associated with each respective lighting icon for each room and how each occupancy indicators are displayed while being associated with each respective lighting icons.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4,6,8-12,14,16-20, 22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.103 as being unpatentable over Ackmann et al.1 (US 20180220513 A1) in view of Coates et al. (US 20170126525 A1).
For claim 1, Ackmann et al. teaches, a method (method for a scalable building control system, [0007]) comprising:
receiving, by at least one processor, information via a communications circuit from a communications network (scalable lighting control system comprises a
control processor for transmitting centralized control messages over the wireless central
network. The messages are received from the user interface or remote server, [0017]),
wherein the information is associated with control devices located within an environment (receiving control messages from the user to control one or more in room devices such as light, [0019] and [0017]),
wherein the control devices comprise lighting control devices that are each
configured to control a respective lighting load located within the environment (the room has lighting load controlled by the load controller which receives command/ messages from a user interface, [0023],[0024] and [0017]),
wherein the control devices further comprise a first occupancy sensor and a second occupancy sensor (each of the room has occupancy sensor in communication with the scalable lighting control system, [0021] and [0201]),
wherein the first occupancy sensor and a first plurality of the lighting control devices are located within a first location (room 1 of rooms 101) of the environment (in the Room 1, light control devices and occupancy sensor are installed, [0195] and annotated FIG.7, [0245]), and
wherein the second occupancy sensor and a second plurality of the lighting control devices are located within a second location of the environment (in Room 2 of rooms 101, lighting control device and occupancy sensor are installed and in communication with the scalable lighting control system, [0195], [0264] and FIG.7);
determining, by the at least one processor, from the received information whether each lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices has its respective lighting load in an on state or an off state, and whether each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices has its respective lighting load in an on state or an off state (the light control device in each room can sense whether light is on or off in the room and display that information with a light bulb icon. For example Room 1 has light on, so the light bulb icon is displayed to the user whereas in Room 4, the light is off that is why no light bulb icon is displayed to the user, [0264],[0265] and annotated FIG.7);
determining, by the at least one processor, from the received information that the first occupancy sensor detected an occupancy event that indicates the first location is occupied (in Room 1 when the occupancy sensor senses occupancy,
an occupancy icon is displayed to indicate occupancy in Room 1 as shown in annotated FIG.7, [0264], [0233] and [0265], see also [0260] and [0261] for processor receiving and
executing instructions), and
that the second occupancy sensor detected a vacancy event that indicates the second location is unoccupied (the occupancy sensor in Room 3 senses no
occupancy and therefore no occupancy icon is displayed for Room 3, [0233],[0264] and
annotated FIG.7);
displaying, by the at least one processor, on a display screen a graphical user interface that comprises:
based at least in part on determining that the first occupancy sensor detected the occupancy event that indicates the first location is occupied, displaying, by the at least one processor, within the graphical user interface a respective occupancy indicator with each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state (display screen showing multiple panes for Room 1, Room 2 and so on. For each pane, each room has corresponding status displayed in real time, for example a light bulb and occupancy indicator are displayed for Room 1 since Room 1 has lights ON and occupancy detected by the occupancy sensor whereas for Room 3, light ON is sensed but no occupancy is sensed, so only a light bulb icon is displayed but no occupancy indicator is displayed indicating unoccupancy for Room 3, [0264], [0233] and FIG. 7), wherein the respective occupancy indicators2 indicate to a user that the first location is occupied (in Room 1 when the occupancy sensor senses occupancy, an occupancy icon is displayed to indicate occupancy in Room 1 as shown in annotated FIG.7, [0264], [0233] and [0265]); and
based at least in part on determining that the second occupancy sensor detected the vacancy event that indicates the second location is unoccupied (the occupancy sensor in Room 3 senses no occupancy and therefore no occupancy icon is displayed for Room 3, [0233],[0264] and annotated FIG.7),
displaying, by the at least one processor, within the graphical user interface in a manner that indicates to the user that the second location is unoccupied (in Room 4 when the occupancy sensor senses no occupancy, no occupancy icon is displayed indicating unoccupancy in Room 4 as shown in annotated FIG.7, [0233] and [0264]).
Ackmann et al. does not explicitly teach the details of a respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices within the first location that has its respective lighting load in the on state together with, respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the
second plurality of lighting control devices within the second location that has its
respective lighting load in the on state and each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state. However Ackmann et al. explicitly teaches in annotated FIG.7, [0195] and [0264], a display displaying individual rooms Room 1 – Room 6. Each room has respective rows and in each row indicators for light ON status, occupancy and related matters are displayed. If no light is on, no light bulb icon is displayed. If no occupancy is detected for a room such as Room 4, no occupancy indicator/icon is displayed. In Ackmann only one light bulb icon is displayed when determined the room has light/s on instead listing each individual light for that room. There are 5 ways the light control devices statuses can be shown, just one icon to display light is ON, multiple icons with respective locations to show which particular lights are on ON or OFF on the room and no icons displayed since detected no lights are ON or display OFF lights icon. Someone of ordinary skill in the art can choose from above identified list finite number of identified, predictable ways/solutions to display light icon with reasonable expectation of success.
On the other Coates et al. teaches, a respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices within the first location that has its respective lighting load in the on state together with, respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices within the second location that has its
respective lighting load in the on state (the user configures private IoT devices which include lights as taught in [0043]. During configuration, the user provides location or place of the IoT device, names and icons of the IoT devices as taught in [0058]. So using the user interface 114, the user can view the states of the lights. Each light icon indicates its location and state. That is, lights all around the house are displayed in one window/screen to the user including both ON and OFF lights and the user can control the lights using the user interface, [0060], [0068] and Fig.4) ;
each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state3 (That is, lights all around the house are displayed in one window/screen to the user including both ON and OFF lights and the user can control the lights using the user interface, [0060], [0068] and Fig.4).
Therefore it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of displaying and controlling the lights and occupancy in first and second location as taught by Ackmann et al. by applying the known technique of replacing the light bulb icons with respective lights icons stating location and state for each of the lighting control devices located in different places within the house as taught by Coates et al. as an improvement to the display of lighting control devices to the user to yield predictable results for providing user with a clear view of all the lighting control devices within an environment or house. Both the references are directed to display information to the user via user interface.
Ackmann et al. teach:
Annotated FIG.7
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Coates et al. teach:
[0043] The IoT devices 110, 112 may be categorized as private IoT devices 110 and public IoT devices112. The private IoT devices 110 are selectively recognizable by the user interface device 114, via the networked communication, when granted permission. The private IoT devices 110 may be, but should not be limited to, home accessories, such as lights, ovens, heaters, dishwashers, thermostats, humidifiers, switches, motion sensors, flood sensors, heater-ventilation (“HVAC”) system, television, home entertainment system, security cameras, the like.
[0058] The private IoT devices 110 may be configured and/or otherwise setup prior to being linked with the system 100 over the network 108. For instance, a user may utilize a separate application, e.g., an app provided by the manufacturer of the private IoT device 110, to configure the private IoT device 110to communicate with the network 108 and/or receive commands from the network 108. However, it should be appreciated that private IoT devices 110 may be linked to the system 100 without being setup beforehand. By way of a non-limiting example, the user may use the user interface device 114to configure the system 100 to recognize the private IoT device 110. Additionally, the user may add information regarding the private IoT device 110 to the database. This data may include, but is not limited to, names, icons, and which place(s4) associated with the private IoT device 110. Referring now to FIG. 2, exemplary naming conventions for a variety of private IoT devices 110 associated with the first place are shown.
[0060] In the exemplary embodiments, the first permissions classification is associated with allowing full control of one or more private IoT devices 110, regardless of the location of the user interface device 114, relative to a place 120 surrounding the private IoT device 110. As such, users having a first permissions classification may utilize the user interface device 114 to turn on lights, turn off a fan, etc., and the like, from any location. Furthermore, with the first permissions classification, a user may exert additional controls over the one or more private IoT devices 110. For instance, a user associated with a first permissions classification of a private IoT device 110 may change the name of the device110, assemble rules, and/or change the settings of the device 110.
[0068] FIG. 4 shows another exemplary screen 400 displayed on the user interface device 114. This screen 400 displays a plurality of private IoT devices 110. This screen 400 displays the state of each private IoT device 110, e.g., on or off. This screen 400 further accepts an input, via a touchscreen interface, to command each private IoT device 110 to operate, i.e., turn on or off. Of course, numerous variations of this screen 400 may be utilized in alternate embodiments5. Further, it should be appreciated that other remote control functions of the private IoT devices 110 may be commanded, such as changing the color of a light, changing the temperature of the thermostat, and the like.
Regarding claim 2, combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the method of claim 1. In addition Ackmann et al. teaches, wherein the method further comprises: detecting, by the at least one processor, within the graphical user interface a selection of an icon corresponding to one of the lighting control devices of the first plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state6 (the user can select any of the rooms displayed on the screen to control the lights of the selected room using the settings option displayed by a gear shaped icon, [0266] and [0268] and FIG.7);
responsive to detecting the selection of the icon corresponding to the one lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state, displaying, by the at least one processor, on the display screen a control interface to control the one lighting control device, wherein the control interface comprises an actuator (dimmer) (using the gear icon for a room, the user can control the light and the intensity of the light using the dimmer (actuator) with the help of control buttons since each of the lights can be controlled remotely by a user as taught in [0019], [0266],[0268] and FIG.7);
determining, by the at least one processor, actuation of the actuator (lighting control device receiving from the user, dimmer settings including settings for day scene, night scene, also lighting load which will affect the illuminance of the light, [0197]); and
responsive to determining actuation of the actuator, communicating, by the at least one processor, via the communications circuit one or more messages to control the one lighting control device (the user selected dimmer settings are sent to the lighting control device via the central wireless network to control the light on the corresponding room, [0196],[0197], [0202], [0203], [0266]).
Regarding claim 3, combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the method of claim 1. In addition Ackmann et al. teaches, the method of claim 2, further comprising:
based at least in part on communicating the one or more messages, receiving, by the at least one processor, information indicating that the one lighting control device has its respective lighting load in an off state (the light control device in each room can sense whether light is on or off in the room and display that information with a light bulb icon. For example Room 1 has light on, so the light bulb icon is displayed to the user whereas in Room 4, the light is off that is why no light bulb icon is displayed to the user, [0264],[0265] and annotated FIG.7); and
responsive to the information indicating that the one lighting control device has its respective lighting load in the off state, removing7 from the graphical user interface by the at least one processor, the icon corresponding to the one lighting control device to indicate the one lighting control device has its respective lighting load in the off state (For Room 4, when no occupancy is sensed, no light bulb icon is displayed or the light bulb icon is removed from the screen, [0233] and [0266]).
Regarding claim 4, combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the method of claim 1. In addition Ackmann et al. teaches, wherein displaying each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state in a manner that indicates to the user that the second location is unoccupied comprises displaying each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second plurality of lighting control devices8 without the occupancy indicator (in Room 3 the occupancy sensor senses no occupancy and
therefore no occupancy icon is displayed on the user screen but light is on, therefore a light bulb icon is shown, FIG.7 and [0233]).
Regarding claim 6, combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the method of claim 1. In addition Ackmann et al. teaches, further comprising:
receiving, by the at least one processor, information that indicates the first occupancy sensor detected a vacancy event that indicates the first location is unoccupied (in Room 3 the occupancy sensor senses no occupancy and
therefore no occupancy icon is displayed on the user screen but light is on, therefore a light bulb icon is shown, annotated FIG.7 and [0233]); and
based at least in part on the information that indicates the first occupancy sensor detected the vacancy event that indicates the first location is unoccupied, updating, by the at least one processor, the graphical user interface to remove the respective occupancy indicator from each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the first plurality of lighting control devices8 that has its respective lighting load in the on state first pane to indicate to the user that the first location is unoccupied (" ... In response to receiving a room vacancy signal from all the occupancy sensors 104 that previously reported a room occupied state, the load controller 102 may turn its respective lighting load 106 off ... ", [0233], that is when it is detected the room has changed from occupied to unoccupied state, the light bulb icon and the occupancy icon will be removed from the display for the corresponding room since the control information and status information are displayed to the user in real time as taught in [0252], [0254], [0247], see also [0264] and [0266]).
Regarding claim 8 Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the method of claim 1. In addition Ackmann et al. teaches, receiving, by the at least one processor, information that indicates the second occupancy sensor detected an occupancy event that indicates the second location is occupied (the occupancy sensor in each room detects/senses the occupancy status of each and send the information over the central wireless network as the lighting control device keeps track of the room statuses, [0233],[0264] and [0266]); and
based at least in part on the information that indicates the second occupancy sensor detected the occupancy event that indicates the second location is occupied, updating, by the at least one processor, the another graphical user interface to display a respective occupancy indicator with each respective icon corresponding to each lighting control device of the second
plurality of lighting control devices that has its respective lighting load in the on state (when occupancy for a room is detected, the display will be updated to show an occupancy indicator in addition to light bulb if it is determined that the room has lights on, annotated Fig.4, [0233], [0264] and [0266]. As explained in foot note 8 above, the light bulb will be modified to specific icons for each light in the room).
Regarding claim 9, combination of Ackmann et al and Coates et al. teach the claimed method determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second Therefore together they teach the apparatus implementing the functional steps of determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location as discussed in claim 1. Claim 9 has additional claimed limitations which are taught by Ackmann et al. those are, a display screen (dashboard screen 701 /user interface, [0264] and [0017]);
a communications circuit ( centralized wireless network having the hardware
and software for wireless transmission of comm ands and statuses, [0017]);
at least one processor (home automation device with a processor, [0016]). In
addition Ackmann et al. teaches, at least one memory device communicatively
coupled to the at least one processor and having instructions stored thereon that
when executed by the at least one processor, direct the at least one processor to
(control processor for executing instructions stored in the non-volatile memory, [0243]
and [0017]).
Regarding claims 10-12,14 and 16, combination of Ackman et al. and Coates et al. teach the claimed method determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location. Therefore, together they teach the apparatus implementing the functional steps of determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location as discussed in claims 2-4,6 and 8.
Regarding claim 17 combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the claimed method determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location. Therefore, together Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the processor implementing the functional steps of determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location as discussed in claim 1. Claim 17 has additional claimed limitation which is taught by Ackmann et al. that is, a tangible non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by at least one processor, direct the at least one processor to (nonvolatile memory storing instructions to be carried by processor, [0243] and [0017]).
Regarding claims 18-20,22 and 24, combination of Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the claimed method determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location. Therefore, together Ackmann et al. and Coates et al. teach the processor implementing the functional steps of determining and displaying lighting control device status and occupancy status for a first and a second location as discussed in claims 2-4, 6 and 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 10268354 B2) teaches a light control apparatus where in a user display a screen displaying exact location and states of lights in addition to other devices in a room is displayed to the user. The user can control and view the states of the devices on the room.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANZUMAN SHARMIN whose telephone number is (571)272-7365. The examiner can normally be reached M and Th 7:00am - 3:00pm and Tue 8:00am-12:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, THOMAS LEE can be reached at (571)272-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANZUMAN SHARMIN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2115
/THOMAS C LEE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2115
1 Cited prior art of record.
2 The claim does not recite how each respective lighting control device icon has been associated respective occupancy icons in one window. Examiner looked at Figures 9A-9C of application drawings where lighting control devices icons for each room are listed in one window. One occupancy icon for each room in addition to lighting control device icons is displayed instead of multiple occupancy icons for each room in one window as claimed. The other Figures 9D-9G show occupancy for each room but in a different window not in the same window where lighting control devices icons for each room are listed.
3 There are 5 ways the light control devices statuses can be shown, just one icon to display light is ON, multiple icons with respective locations to show which particular lights are on ON or OFF on the room and no icons displayed since detected no lights are ON or display OFF lights icon. Someone of ordinary skill in the art can choose from the above identified list finite number of identified, predictable ways/solutions to display light icon with reasonable expectation of success. Also the claim does not recite how only listing the lights with ON statuses solve any problem. For each room, only the lights with ON status can be displayed or lights having ON and lights having OFF status can be displayed together. These options are obvious variations of each other which are predictable.
4 For each lighting icon, its respective location is specified and displayed to the user as shown in Fig.4. So the user knows which light belongs to which place (not in one location instead the lights are on several locations) and in what state the light is that is either ON or OFF as displayed in Fig,4 and taught in [0068].
5 Someone of ordinary skill in the art can arrange the lights icons in nay way that is desirable to the user.
6 Also in view of Coates et al., the can select any one of the lights icon displayed on the user interface to turn it OFF from ON state or turn it ON from OFF state as taught in
7 In view of Coates et al., if a light is turned off by user through the user interface or manually, on the user interface, the corresponding light icon will become gray as shown in Fig.4 and in [0068]. An obvious variation is to entirely remove the icon from display which lists all the light icons in different places within the house.
8 In view of Coates et al., the user can view all the lights icon for each room in one place and in view of Ackmann et al. the use can view in addition to light status, the occupancy/vacant status of the room. Someone of ordinary skill in the art can modify the screen with occupancy indicator and light bulb icon for each room as taught by Ackmann et al. by applying the known technique of plurality light icons for each room as taught by Coates et al. as an improvement to user display to yield predictable results of viewing which lights are ON/Off in a room and whether the room is occupied or not. See MPEP.2143.I.(D).