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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to claim(s) 1-4, 6-14, 16-20 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Applicant amended representative claim 1 to recite “wherein the recommendation for the action corresponding to the determined location changes according to a change in at least one of the acquired device state information or the acquired user action information”
Flores et al. . (US 2021/0216906 A1) in view of LEE et al. (US 2020/0324074 A1) do not explicitly disclose however Ridgill (US 2020/0324074 A1) discloses wherein the recommendation for the action (see “suggestion” [0041]) corresponding to the determined location (“location” [0041]) changes (“enters the room at location”, [0041]) according to a change in at least one of the acquired device state (see [0041] change in the physical state, wherein device was audibly playing sound in a location outside the room later to be entered) information or the acquired user action information (see music or sound being played allowed that, represented by para mentioning need to mute [0041]).
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 submission filed on 12/19/2025 has been entered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in the Republic of Korea on 9/29/2022.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
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, 3-4, 6, 8-11, 13-14, 16 & 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Flores et al. (US 2021/0216906 A1) in view of LEE et al. (US 2020/0324074 A1) in view of Ridgill, II et al (US 2021/0044929 A1) (hereinafter, just Ridgill).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Flores discloses an electronic device and a method of operating an electronic device comprising: communication circuitry;
at least one sensor (sensor [0022]);
a memory storing instructions (see memory [0034]); and
at least one processor (processor [0034]) comprising processing circuitry,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor,
cause the electronic device to:
obtain one or more communication signals from at least one external electronic device in an indoor space (see [0042] “environment may be an indoor…space”) through the communication circuitry;
determine a location (see “determining, estimating, predicting, or otherwise identifying the location of a user or user device” [0021]) of the electronic device in the indoor space based on the obtained communication signals;
Flores does not specifically disclose however Lee discloses acquire (see “detect’ [0049]), through the at least one sensor (see sensor [0049]), device state (see detect by a sensor, operational state, [0049]) information at the determined location (see [0071] which pairs state with location to make recommendations), the device state information including information related to a state of the electronic device (see “state”, [0071], inter alia) at the determined location and information (“based on location information of the user”, [0071]) related to a time (see [0073], which further elaborates on “time” as part of the context along with location and state) when the electronic device is in the state at the determined location (see [0073], “include location information”);
acquire user action information at the determined location (see user’s movement [0073]), the user action information including information related to an application executed (see “executed application”) at the determined location and information related to a time (see “time of or just before”, regarding executed application; [0073]) when the application is executed at the determined location (see include location information [0073]); and
provide information related to a recommendation for an action corresponding to the determined location based on the acquired device state information and the acquired user action information (see “recommendation”, “based on location”, “state”, and if user movement, [0071]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Lee with that of Flores. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention;
Flores et al. in view of LEE et al. do not disclose however Ridgill discloses wherein the recommendation for the action (see “suggestion” [0041]) corresponding to the determined location (“location” [0041]) changes (“enters the room at location”, [0041]) according to a change in at least one of the acquired device state (see [0041] change in the physical state, wherein device was audibly playing sound in a location outside the room later to be entered) information or the acquired user action information (see music or sound being played allowed that, represented by para mentioning need to mute [0041]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Flores and Lee with that of Ridgill. Doing so would conform to well-known conventions in the field of technology.
Regarding claims 3 & 13, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill discloses the electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to determine (see Flores, “determining” [0021]) the location in the indoor space based on at least one of a type, number, or signal strength of the obtained communication signals (see Flores, signal strength and location [0021]).
Regarding claims 4 & 14, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill discloses the electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
Flores does not specifically disclose however Lee discloses to acquire device configuration information configured in the electronic device or device connection information regarding connection to the electronic device (may identify and authenticate the electronic device 101 in a communication network, such as the first network 198 or the second network 199, using subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module 196, [0056]); and
learn at least one of the device configuration information or the device connection information (see [0056], “may identify and authenticate the electronic device 101 in a communication network, such as the first network 198 or the second network 199, using subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module 196.”);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Lee with that of Flores. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Regarding claims 6 & 16, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill discloses the electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein
the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device
to guide at recommended action and execute the recommended action based on an input to the electronic device (see [0132], “the user may relieve stress by listening to music. When a starting menu 701b is selected (e.g., touched), the electronic device may output a breathing guide screen as shown in the drawing of reference numeral 720. The breathing guide screen may guide an inhalation time and an exhalation time.”);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Lee with that of Flores. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Regarding claims 8 & 18, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill discloses the electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to, as at recommended action, perform connection to an external device or execute an configured application (see [0137], “ the electronic device may output a breathing recommendation screen on a display”, therefore and App);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Lee with that of Flores. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Regarding claims 9 & 19, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill discloses the electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11;
Instructions (see [0034] instructions stored on memory and executed by a processor), when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
Flores and Lee do not explicitly disclose however Ridgill discloses:
obtain the one or more communication signals for a specified period of time (see polling sampling at “set times”, “periodic intervals”, etc.);
store the obtained communication signals in the memory(see RAM storage [0028] for short term memory tasks as known in the art) ; and
determine the location in the indoor space (invention of Ridgill relates to indoor spaces like “conference room” [0014]) by learning of the stored communication signals (see “store specific GPS coordinates”, therefore stored location information is retrieved).
Regarding claims 10 & 20, Flores in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill disclose electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein the instructions (see [0034] instructions stored on memory and executed by a processor), when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
Flores and Lee do not specifically however Ridgill discloses store the acquired device state information (see [0005], “ detecting a change in the physical state ”, therefore previous device state must be known which requires some form of storage) and the acquired user action information in the memory (if a user is required to “mute” there is stored information regarding device user action to play something aloud, same for screen brightness, see [0016] then user action to play aloud or have bright screen is acquired by device); and
perform learning (see [0016], “determining when a predetermined portion of similarly situated mobile devices uniformly exhibit a specific setting”) of the stored acquired device state information and the stored acquired user action information (if a user is required to “mute” there is stored information regarding device user action to play something aloud, same for screen brighness, see [0016]).
Claim(s) 2 & 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Flores et al. in view of Lee in further view of Ridgill in further view of Tadayon (US 2022/0109950 A1).
Regarding claim 2 & 12, Flores discloses an electronic device of claim 1 and method of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
Flores does not specifically disclose however Tadayon discloses collect fingerprints of each communication signal (see fingerprints); and determine the location in the indoor space based on the collected fingerprints (prediction with use of fingerprints [0059]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Flores with that of Tadayon. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to K. WILFORD SHAHEED whose telephone number is (469) 295-9175. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9 am-6pm; CST; ALT Friday. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. The examiner’s Supervisor, Jinsong Hu, can be reached at (571)272-3965, where attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful.
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/K WILFORD SHAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
/KHALID W SHAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643