DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. This communication is in response to the amendment filed on 10/29/2025. The Examiner has acknowledged the amended Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15, 17-18 and 20. Claim 7 has been cancelled.
Claims 1-6, 8-15, 17-18, and 20 are pending, and Claims 1-6, 8-15, 17-18, and 20 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant's arguments (Remarks: Pages:7-9) filed on 10/29/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive and/or now moot in view of the new ground of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
4. The objection to the Claim 3, 9, 10 and 14 has been withdrawn in view of the amended corrections.
5. The rejections of Claims 11-15, 17-18 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter have been withdrawn in view of the amended corrections.
6. The rejection of Claims 5, 7 and 17 under 35 U.S.C 112 (b) has been withdrawn in view of the amended corrections and the cancellation of Claim 7. However, a new 35 USC 112 (b) rejection has been issued for Claim 13 based on the applicant’s amendment.
7. Applicant’s arguments (Remarks: Pages: 8-9) with respect to 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive and/or now moot in view of the new ground of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
Applicant argues in Remarks [Pages 8-9]:
“Applicant has amended independent claim 1 to recite:
identifying, to a client application of a separate computing device, a plurality of targeted end devices of an IoT located in one or more targeted geographical areas and a plurality of available radio broadcast stations available for transmitting a message in a radio broadcast signal to the plurality of targeted end devices of the loT, the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas.
Rl and R2, whether considered alone or in combination, fail to provide for such features of claim 1.
The Office Action states that Rl discloses "identifying one or more available radio broadcast stations available for transmitting a message in a radio broadcast signal to one or more end devices of an IoT." (see Office Action, pg. 7). In particular, the Office Action appears to equate "the terminal" of Rl with "the end devices" recited in claim 1, and "the network service programs" with the "radio broadcast stations" of claim 1. However, paragraph [0120] of Rl explicitly states that the broadcast station only serves as the information intermediary of the terminal and the network service program. Because the radio broadcast station merely acts as an intermediary, the reference to the "network service program" in Rl cannot reasonably be interpreted as referring to the radio broadcast station as recited in claim 1.” And
“Moreover, Rl discloses only a single radio broadcast station and does not teach or suggest "a plurality of available radio broadcast stations available for transmitting a message in a radio broadcast signal to the plurality of targeted end devices of the IoT, the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas," as recited in amended claim 1.
R2 fails to cure these deficiencies. Claim 11 has been similarly amended and thus is patentable over R l and R2 for at least similar reasons.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. R1 discloses both the IOT devices and radio broadcast stations. For example, R1 teaches that the data broadcasting cloud platform creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast (R1: ¶ [0186]), and IoT base stations, providing two-way communication capabilities between the location service cloud platform and IoT terminals (R1: ¶ [0160]). R1 further teaches that each broadcast station is created as a downlink publish and subscribe channel to form a distributed publish and subscribe overlay network based on spatial location information. The IoT service provides an operating environment based on regional location (broadcast station signal coverage area) (R1: ¶ [0104]), the spatial position parameter is an expression of geographic space (R1: ¶ [0157]), and the routing engine in the present invention uses a location-based routing mechanism to divide the target service content according to the local location parameters. The broadcast station will send these target service content data to all subscribers in the signal coverage area (Internet of Things terminals) (R1: ¶ [0132]). Therefore, R1 discloses the features applicant is arguing about and thus, applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Further, applicant’s arguments with respect to the dependent claims are based on their dependency and are rejected using similar rationales discussed above with respect to the independent claims and their dependency.
Applicant's amendment necessitated a new ground of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
8. 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.
9. Claim 13 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites in a limitation “sending a second message to the network server, wherein the message identifies a geographical target for the message” (emphasis added). Claim 13 is dependent on Claim 11, and it is unclear whether “the message” recited in Claim 13 refers to the message recited in Claim 11 or the applicant is trying to refer to the immediate “second message” recited in Claim 13. Therefore, Claim 13 fails to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
12. 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.
13. Claims 1-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 110 460 958 A, hereinafter R1) [As Disclosed in IDS] in view of XPED HOLDINGS PTY LTD (WO 2014/134670 A1, hereinafter R2) [As Disclosed in IDS].
Regarding Claim 1,
R1 discloses a server (R1: ¶ [080] the broadcasting station may be a digital
broadcasting base station or a digital server device, ¶ [084] the network interface 1004 is mainly used to connect to the background server and perform data communication with the background server) comprising:
a communication port connected to an internet of things (IoT) cloud (R1: ¶ [081] the broadcasting station may include: a processor 1001, such as a CPU, a network interface 1004, ¶ [0160] IoT base stations, providing two-way communication capabilities between the location service cloud platform and IoT terminals);
at least one hardware processor connected to the communication port (R1: ¶ [081] the broadcasting station may include: a processor 1001, such as a CPU, a network interface 1004, a user interface 1003, a memory 1005, and a communication bus 1002); and
memory including instructions that, when performed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the at least one hardware processor to perform operations comprising (R1: ¶ [081] the broadcasting station may include: a processor 1001, such as a CPU, a network interface 1004, a user interface 1003, a memory 1005, and a communication bus 1002, ¶ [0235]):
identifying, to a client application of a separate computing device, a plurality of targeted end devices of an IoT located in one or more targeted geographical areas and a plurality of available radio broadcast stations available for transmitting a message in a radio broadcast signal to the plurality of targeted end devices of the IoT (R1: ¶ [0186] The data broadcasting cloud platform creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast. The location service cloud platform uses the network interface provided by the data platform to call the publish and subscribe channel that it implements, and pushes the location service information frame to the IoT terminal in a specific area, which can realize rich location service applications, ¶ [0100] In step S30, broadcast station sends the target subscription service to a network service program, ¶ [0114] Referring to FIG. 3, C of the service subscription table CT represents a terminal identifier, and T represents a service. A value of 1 indicates that the terminal corresponding to the column is subscribed to the service corresponding to the row, and 0 indicates that the terminal is not subscribed. The subscription table CT in the figure above shows the subscription of m services from T1 to Tm by n terminals C1 to Cn. For a service Tj, as long as one terminal subscribes to the service, the corresponding channel Bi needs to subscribe to the service, ¶ [0120] broadcasting station only serves as the information intermediary of the terminal and the network service program, ¶[0157] spatial position parameter is an expression of geographic space, ¶¶ [0101, 0131, 0160, 0235]), the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas (R1: ¶ [0186] The data broadcasting cloud platform creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast. The location service cloud platform uses the network interface provided by the data platform to call the publish and subscribe channel that it implements, and pushes the location service information frame to the IoT terminal in a specific area, which can realize rich location service applications, ¶ [0104] Each broadcast station is created as a downlink publish and subscribe channel to form a distributed publish and subscribe overlay network based on spatial location information. The IoT service provides an operating environment based on regional location (broadcast station signal coverage area), ¶ [0157] spatial position parameter is an expression of geographic space, ¶¶ [0113, 0131-0132, 0139, 0185]);
receiving an encrypted message from the client application (R1: ¶ [0101] In step S40, if the broadcast station receives the target service content fed back by the network service program based on the target subscription service, it sends the target service content to a terminal in the preset area in the form of digital broadcasting, ¶ [0117] send the remote call parameters and the service subscription request to the network service program, and obtain the network service program based on the remote call parameters and remote service content that is fed back in the form of digital broadcast with the service subscription request, ¶ [0175]), and receiving an indication from the client application of the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations for transmitting the encrypted message (R1: ¶ [0029] the broadcast station receives the target service content fed back by the network service program based on the target subscription service, sending the target service content to a terminal in the preset area, ¶ [0104] Each broadcast station is created as a downlink publish and subscribe channel to form a distributed publish and subscribe overlay network based on spatial location information, ¶ [0186] creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast, ¶¶ [0114, 0117]); and
sending the encrypted message via the IoT cloud to one or more other servers included with radio broadcast automation equipment of the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations (R1: ¶ [0101] In step S40, if the broadcast station receives the target service content fed back by the network service program based on the target subscription service, it sends the target service content to a terminal in the preset area in the form of digital broadcasting ¶ [0125] broadcast station pushes the data content to the subscription of the service according to the target service content in the target subscription service and the channel subscription table BT, ¶¶ [080, 0103, 0114, 0126, 0162]).
It is noted that R1 does not explicitly disclose:
identifying, to a client application of a separate computing device, a plurality of targeted end devices of an IoT located in one or more targeted geographical areas and a plurality of available radio broadcast stations available for transmitting a message in a radio broadcast signal to the plurality of targeted end devices of the IoT, the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas;
receiving an encrypted message from the client application, and receiving an indication from the client application of the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations for transmitting the encrypted message; and
sending the encrypted message via the IoT cloud to one or more other servers included with radio broadcast automation equipment of the plurality of available radio broadcast stations.
However, R2 from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses a vendor of goods and/or services and their many customers and potential customers, a vendor is provided with the ability to post content data such as offers and coupons, determining the one or more destinations of the content and associating with the content data (R2: [Abstract]), the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), Devices can be addresses through a series of "device data fields". Device data fields can be used to form an addressing scheme to determine the delivery of content data to one or more devices (R2: ¶ [0179]), Feature class: This could represent a class of device, such as devices equipped with 802.15.4 or Wi-Fi radios (R2: ¶ [0186], also see ¶ [0461]), and well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfers (R2: ¶ [0612]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize man in the middle attacks, hackers trying to intercept data or publish malware causing undesirable results (R2: ¶ [0611]).
Regarding Claim 2,
Claim 2 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the memory stores a radio station database of the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations available to transmit the message as an encrypted message in a digitally modulated subcarrier of the radio broadcast signal of the radio broadcast station (R1: ¶ [0061] the broadcasting station includes: a memory, a processor, and an Internet of Things broadcasting program stored on the memory and operable on the processor, ¶ [0161] digital broadcasting base station receives data (such as differential data) pushed by a cloud platform, modulates and transmits the digital broadcasting signal, ¶ [0183] obtaining the mapping relationship between the current location service information frame and the digital broadcast base station, ¶ [0114] the channel subscription table BT, ¶ [0168]) .
R1 does not explicitly disclose wherein the memory stores a radio station database of the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations available to transmit the message as an encrypted message in a digitally modulated subcarrier of the radio broadcast signal of the radio broadcast station.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), and well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfers (R2: ¶ [0612]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize man in the middle attacks, hackers trying to intercept data or publish malware causing undesirable results (R2: ¶ [0611]).
Regarding Claim 3,
Claim 3 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor to: establish a secure connection with the client application (R1: ¶ [081] the broadcasting station may include: a processor 1001, such as a CPU, a network interface 1004, a user interface 1003, a memory 1005, ¶ [084] the user interface 1003 is mainly used to connect to the client (user) and perform data communication with the client, ¶ [0100] broadcast station sends the target subscription service to a network service program, ¶¶ [0120, 0231]); and
establish secure connections with the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment (R1: ¶ [080] the broadcasting station may be a digital broadcasting base station or a digital server device, ¶ [0156] output management module takes the service content from the output queue, reads the channel ID array Gdest in its spatial position parameter, and sends it to the specified channel, ¶ [0163] build a publish and subscribe channel between the location service cloud platform and digital broadcast base stations, implement a routing mechanism based on location information, and allocate the location service information frames (see below) issued by the location service cloud platform to the corresponding numbers Broadcast base station, ¶ [0186]).
R1 does not explicitly disclose:
establish a secure connection with the client application; and
establish secure connections with the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), and well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfers (R2: ¶ [0612]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so as a secure channel needs to be established to minimize man in the middle attacks, hackers trying to intercept data or publish malware causing undesirable results (R2: ¶ [0611]).
Regarding Claim 4,
Claim 4 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor of the server to: receive encrypted messages from multiple client applications (R1: ¶ [0151] receives the service content and selects the target input queue cache according to the real-time parameters. The contents of real-time application services (such as differential data) are placed in the first priority queue, ¶ [0114] the subscription of m services from T1 to Tm);
schedule sending of the encrypted messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment (R1: ¶¶ [0180-0182] High-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for real-time application services; Low-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for nonreal-time application services; Priority scheduling module, which can be configured with multiple scheduling methods such as absolute priority, scheduled polling, and weight allocation, ¶¶ [0152, 0154]); and
initiate sending the encrypted messages according to the scheduling (R1: ¶ [0228] send the target service content to a terminal in the preset area in the form of digital broadcasting in order according to the first priority queue and the second priority queue, ¶[0185] output management module extracts the location service information frame from the output queue buffer, and sends the location service information frame to the corresponding digital broadcast base station according to the digital broadcast base station mapping information therein, ¶ [059]).
R1 does not explicitly disclose:
receive encrypted messages from multiple client applications;
schedule sending of the encrypted messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment; and
initiate sending the encrypted messages according to the scheduling.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB)
(R2: ¶ [0108]), system allows for vendors to post and deliver multiple types of content data (R2: ¶ [0157]), and well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfers (R2: ¶ [0612]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize man in the middle attacks, hackers trying to intercept data or publish malware causing undesirable results (R2: ¶ [0611]).
Regarding Claim 5,
Claim 5 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor of the server to: receive multiple messages from the client application and time requirements for sending of the multiple messages by the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations (R1: ¶ [0175] automatically search and access CDRadio broadcasting signals, obtain the broadcasting station identification and broadcasting service data, and provide it to the MCU microprocessor, ¶ [0142] broadcast station receives the target service content based on the target subscription service feedback from the network service program);
schedule sending of the messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment according to the received time requirements (R1: ¶¶ [0180-0182] High-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for real-time application services; Low-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for nonreal-time application services; Priority scheduling module, which can be configured with multiple scheduling methods such as absolute priority, scheduled polling, and weight allocation, ¶¶ [0152, 0154]); and
initiate sending the messages according to the scheduling (R1: ¶ [0228] send the target service content to a terminal in the preset area in the form of digital broadcasting in order according to the first priority queue and the second priority queue, ¶[0185] output management module extracts the location service information frame from the output queue buffer, and sends the location service information frame to the corresponding digital broadcast base station according to the digital broadcast base station mapping information therein, ¶ [059]).
R1 does not explicitly disclose receive multiple messages from the client application and time requirements for sending of the multiple messages by the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations; and
schedule sending of the messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment according to the received time requirements.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), and a vendor can specify by entering parameters into an input device; validity dates and times associated with the content; delivery dates and times; and trigger dates and times. The triggering of the content data can be nominated by the vendor to be displayed in the display area of the screen of a destination device (R2: ¶ [0532]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because devices such as IOT devices can save power by waking up at specific receiving times, and it further helps balancing heavy traffic volumes by distributing data evenly at different time slots.
Regarding Claim 6,
Claim 6 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor of the server to: receive multiple messages from multiple client applications and time requirements for sending of the multiple messages by the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations (R1: ¶ [0175] automatically search and access CDRadio broadcasting signals, obtain the broadcasting station identification and broadcasting service data, and provide it to the MCU microprocessor, ¶ [0142] broadcast station receives the target service content based on the target subscription service feedback from the network service program);
schedule sending of the messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment according to the received time requirements (R1: ¶¶ [0180-0182] High-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for real-time application services; Low-priority input queue buffer to store location service information frame data for nonreal-time application services; Priority scheduling module, which can be configured with multiple scheduling methods such as absolute priority, scheduled polling, and weight allocation, ¶¶ [0152, 0154]).
R1 does not explicitly disclose:
receive multiple messages from multiple client applications and time requirements for sending of the multiple messages by the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations;
schedule sending of the messages to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment according to the received time requirements;
identify a conflict in the scheduling; and
select one or more radio broadcast stations among the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations for sending a message in response to the identified conflict.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), system allows for vendors to post and deliver multiple types of content data (R2: ¶ [0157]), a vendor can specify by entering parameters into an input device; validity dates and times associated with the content; delivery dates and times; and trigger dates and times. The triggering of the content data can be nominated by the vendor to be displayed in the display area of the screen of a destination device (R2: ¶ [0532]), and whether a single or multiple vendor system is used for time slots, a system is needed to present to vendors when a slot is available or not available…, Fully booked time slots could be marked red, or crossed out to show they are not available, while available slots may be vacant or green for example. The vendor then simply selects the most appropriate available time slot (R2: ¶ [0241], also see ¶ [0240]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because devices such as IOT devices can save power by waking up at specific receiving times, and it further helps balancing heavy traffic volumes by distributing data evenly at different time slots.
Regarding Claim 8,
Claim 8 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor to: receive registration of one or more radio broadcast stations (R1: ¶ [0112] Determine a channel subscription table of the broadcasting station according to the service subscription table, and determine a target subscription service of the broadcasting station according to the channel subscription table, ¶ [0114] the channel subscription table BT); and
identify the one or more registered radio broadcast stations to the client application as the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations (R1: ¶ [0114] as long as one terminal subscribes to the service, the corresponding channel Bi needs to subscribe to the service, and the i-th column and the j-th column of the channel subscription table BT need to be set to 1. The number of columns k (the number of broadcasting stations) of the channel subscription table BT, ¶ [0125] When the network service program generates the corresponding data content according to the target subscription service of the broadcast station, the routing engine in the broadcast station pushes the data content to the subscription of the service according to the target service content in the target subscription service and the channel subscription table BT. Channel (broadcasting station), ¶ [0163]).
Regarding Claim 9,
Claim 9 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor to send a software update for the plurality of the targeted end devices of the IoT to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment (R1: ¶ [0096] Through the digital broadcast channel, the multi-terminal-oriented homogeneous control data is issued (such as traffic light control in a certain urban area), which can well solve the real-time and synchronization problems of many terminal operations, ¶ [0186] The data broadcasting cloud platform creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast. The location service cloud platform uses the network interface provided by the data platform to call the publish and subscribe channel that it implements, and pushes the location service information frame to the IoT terminal in a specific area, which can realize rich location service applications, ¶ [0100] In step S30, broadcast station sends the target subscription service to a network service program).
R1 does not explicitly disclose send a software update for the plurality of the targeted end devices of the IoT to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment.
R2 further discloses the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) (R2: ¶ [0108]), and system can also be used for manufacturers to deliver content data and firmware updates to devices (R2: ¶ [0178], see also ¶ [0189]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R2 in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to allow additional services and functionality to be offered to the users of their equipment post sale (R2: ¶ [0178]).
Regarding Claim 10,
Claim 10 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and R2 discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the at least one hardware processor to send a message including control data for control of the plurality of the targeted end devices of the IoT to the one or more other servers of the radio broadcast automation equipment (R1: ¶ [0130] broadcasting station sends the local target service content to a terminal in the preset area in the form of digital broadcasting, ¶ [0131] target service contents naturally have location attributes, such as weather forecast, real-time traffic conditions, differential data, street light control,…, When the broadcasting station routing engine publishes the data content of the weather forecast service, it is allocated to the specific publish and subscribe channel (broadcast station) according to the local location parameters (such as the city) of the broadcast station, so that the terminals within the signal coverage area of the broadcast station can obtain Local weather information, ¶ [0132] the routing engine in the present invention uses a location-based routing mechanism to divide the target service content according to the local location parameters. The broadcast station will send these target service content data to all subscribers in the signal coverage area (Internet of Things terminals), ¶¶ [0186, 0096, 0100]).
14. Claims 11-15, 17-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XPED HOLDINGS PTY LTD (WO 2014/134670 A1, hereinafter R2) [As Disclosed in IDS] in view of Zhang et al. (CN 110 460 958 A, hereinafter R1) [As Disclosed in IDS].
Regarding Claim 11,
R2 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions of a client application that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, configure the machine to perform operations comprising (R2: ¶ [0089] a "vendor" is represented by at least an "input device" containing a processor and memory, running software or capable of performing digital forms of algorithms to process "input data", where the input data includes at least "data representative of content data" and "data representative of one or more trigger conditions, ¶¶ [0027, 0038]):
identifying a plurality of targeted end devices of Internet of Things (IoT) in one or more targeted geographical areas and a plurality of available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas (R2: ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote,
television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like, ¶ [0134] The vendor can then use the data input mechanism on the input device to input vendor data,
content data and delivery parameters which can include one or more of:, ¶ [0145] Destination geographic and demographic details, ¶[0146] Destination device parameters,¶ [0097]);
presenting, using a display of the machine, the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations to a user, wherein the presenting comprises presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) using the display of the machine (R2: ¶ [0089] a "vendor" is represented by at least an "input device" containing a processor and memory, running software or capable of performing digital forms of algorithms to process "input data", ¶ [0090] input device can be a computer, server, tablet, mobile phone, remote control, gateway device or some other form of electronic digital device. The input device may also interface and communicate to one or more of a server or other data retrieval mechanism, or an "operator" which can be represented by an individual, company, device manufacturer, retailer, distributor, service provider, establishment or the like. The operator of the input device can be also referred to as a vendor), wherein the GUI includes the one or more targeted geographical areas to indicate the plurality of available radio broadcast stations targeted for a message (R2: ¶ [0091] The input device is equipped with a "data input mechanism" such as a web page or form, software application ("app")…, to determine delivery conditions and destinations of the data representative of the content data and data representative of one or more trigger conditions, ¶ [0223] server can be connected to a broadcast transmitter for content data transmission over the air. The destination device will receive the content data using the broadcast receiver and store it in memory for processing, ¶ [0134] The vendor can then use the data input mechanism on the input device to input vendor data, content data and delivery parameters which can include one or more of:, ¶ [0145] Destination geographic and demographic details, ¶[0146] Destination device parameters);
receiving, via a user interface of the machine, a selection of one or more radio broadcast stations among the plurality of available radio broadcast stations for transmitting the message (R2: ¶ [0091] The input device is equipped with a "data input mechanism" such as a web page or form, software application ("app")…,to determine delivery conditions and destinations, ¶ [0433] an operator of an input device/vendor would enter data fields into a data entry form where the form is customized to receive data and parameters associated with delivering content data to an end device using device addressing, ¶ [0223] server can be connected to a broadcast transmitter for content data transmission over the air. The destination device will receive the content data using the broadcast receiver and store it in memory for processing, ¶ [0187] Using device data fields, a manufacturer or device developer can refine and target the delivery scope of the content data to devices, ¶¶ [0179, 0186]);
sending the message to a network server, wherein the message identifies the plurality of the targeted end devices of the IoT (R2: ¶ [0095] the input data can include "delivery parameters" which can be used to determine how the content data is made accessible by the destination device and can include destination or device addresses, demographics data, delivery times, text messages, icons, call to action directives, content data action to signal synchronization details, content data validity times, message dwell times, ¶ [0134] The vendor can then use the data input mechanism on the input device to input vendor data, content data and delivery parameters which can include one or more of:, ¶[0146] Destination device parameters, ¶ [0351] input device A 701 that has been adapted to input and store data representative of content data and data representative of one or more trigger conditions associated with the content data and communicate that data using a communication channel 702 using the Internet 703 connecting server 710. Server 710 stores this input data in memory and runs processes on the data representative of content data and data representative of one or more trigger conditions to determine the trigger conditions, ¶ [0433] an operator of an input device/vendor would enter data fields into a data entry form where the form is customized to receive data and parameters associated with delivering content data to an end device using device addressing, ¶ [0130] trigger data can be communicated from the input device to the destination device, or to a server which can then forward the trigger data to the destination device or process the trigger data which then causes the content data to be triggered in the destination device, ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote, television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like, ¶ [0278]); and
indicating the selected one or more radio broadcast stations for sending the message using a radio broadcast signal (R2: ¶ [0020] data representative of content data delivery time or date, content data valid times, geographic data, demographic data, ¶ [0223] destination device may not need to be Internet connected if it is equipped with a wireless receiver. This could be in the form of a broadcast receiver such as FM RDS (FM Radio Data Service), DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) or DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) receiver or the like. The server can be connected to a broadcast transmitter for content data transmission over the air. The destination device will receive the content data using the broadcast receiver, ¶ [0420] various parameters entered define the geographic destination of the content data where the
content data is delivered only to destination devices with matching geographic data, ¶¶[0145, 0179, 0186, 0417-0419]).
R2 does not explicitly disclose:
identifying a plurality of targeted end devices of Internet of Things (IoT) in one or more targeted geographical areas and a plurality of available radio broadcast stations covering the one or more targeted geographical areas;
presenting, using a display of the machine, the plurality of the available radio broadcast stations to a user, wherein the presenting comprises presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) using the display of the machine, wherein the GUI includes the one or more targeted geographical areas to indicate the plurality of available radio broadcast stations targeted for a message; and
receiving, via a user interface of the machine, a selection of one or more radio broadcast stations among the plurality of available radio broadcast stations for transmitting the message.
However, R1 from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses provide an Internet of Things broadcasting method, device, broadcasting station and storage medium, which aim to solve the technical problem that the Internet of Things terminal equipment cannot obtain an effective location service function in the communication network of an existing base station (R1: ¶ [06]), the broadcasting station may include: a processor 1001, such as a CPU, a network interface 1004, a user interface 1003 (R1: ¶ [081]), Each broadcast station is created as a downlink publish and subscribe channel to form a distributed publish and subscribe overlay network based on spatial location information. The IoT service provides an operating environment based on regional location (broadcast station signal coverage area) (R1: ¶ [0104]), determine a channel subscription table of the broadcasting station according to the service subscription table, and determine a target subscription service of the broadcasting station according to the channel subscription table (R1: ¶ [0112], ¶[0114] the channel subscription table BT), when the network service program generates the corresponding data content according to the target subscription service of the broadcast station, the routing engine in the broadcast station pushes the data content to the subscription of the service according to the target service content in the target subscription service and the channel subscription table BT (R1: ¶ [0125]), provides an input interface for location service information frames to third-party cloud platforms or network users (R1: ¶ [0179]), and the data broadcasting cloud platform creates a publish-subscribe channel for digital broadcasting base stations to facilitate the push of location service data for the Internet of Things. It uses a location-based routing mechanism internally to allocate location service information frames to corresponding digital broadcast base stations for broadcast. The location service cloud platform uses the network interface provided by the data platform to call the publish and subscribe channel that it implements, and pushes the location service information frame to the IoT terminal in a specific area, which can realize rich location service applications (R1: ¶ [0186], also see ¶¶ [0101, 084, 0109, 0113, 0131-0132, 0160, 0164, 0190-0191]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of R1 in the teachings of R2. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so as content can be delivered from a radio broadcast station closer to an IOT device reducing the latency, and further the network can dynamically choose from different available radio broadcast stations based on the demand and network traffic conditions.
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including:
sending an encrypted message to the network server, wherein the encrypted message identifies the plurality of targeted end devices of the IoT (R2: ¶ [0612] well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfers, ¶ [0108] the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), ¶ [303] establish links to content data, process data associated with demographics, location, data associated with end devices, etc., to determine destination addresses of the one or more destination devices, ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote,
television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like, ¶ [0290]); and
indicating the selected one or more radio broadcast stations for sending the encrypted message (R2: ¶ [0108] the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), ¶ [0179] Devices can be addresses through a series of "device data fields". Device data fields can be used to form an addressing scheme to determine the delivery of content data to one or more devices…, examples of device data fields are: ¶ [0186] Feature class: This could represent a class of device, such as devices equipped with 802.15.4 or Wi-Fi radios, ¶ [0223] destination device may not need to be Internet connected if it is equipped with a wireless receiver. This could be in the form of a broadcast receiver such as FM RDS (FM Radio Data Service), DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) or DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) receiver or the like. The server can be connected to a broadcast transmitter for content data transmission over the air. The destination device will receive the content data using the broadcast receiver).
Regarding Claim 13,
Claim 13 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: sending a second message to the network server, wherein the message identifies a geographical target for the message (R2: ¶ [0108] the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), ¶ [0179] Devices can be addresses through a series of "device data fields". Device data fields can be used to form an addressing scheme to determine the delivery of content data to one or more devices…, ¶ [0418] an operator of an input device/vendor would enter data fields into a data entry form where the form is customized to receive data and parameters associated with geographic data, ¶¶ [0134-0149]).
Regarding Claim 14,
Claim 14 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: establishing a secure channel with the network server (R2: ¶ [0612] well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfer, ¶ [0108]); and
sending the message to the network server using the secure channel (R2: ¶ [0612] well known and standard security methods should be used to secure data over communication channels, secure server log in and memory data integrity. However, additional security elements might also be employed such as ensuring devices are equipped with a secure element that can be used to authenticate a device or server identity, hash or encrypt data files, data transfer, ¶ [0108]).
Regarding Claim 15,
Claim 14 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: sending multiple messages to the network server, wherein the multiple messages indicate the plurality of targeted end devices of the IoT (R2: ¶ [0532] a vendor can specify by entering parameters into an input device; validity dates and times associated with the content; delivery dates and times; and trigger dates and times. The triggering of the content data can be nominated by the vendor to be displayed in the display area of the screen of a destination device, ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote, television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like); and
indicating time requirements for sending the multiple messages by the selected one or more radio broadcast stations (R2: ¶ [0108] the content data can be delivered over a wireless broadcast channel if the device is equipped with a suitable broadcast receiver, such as television, radio, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), FM Radio Data Service(FMRDS) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), ¶ [0532] a vendor can specify by entering parameters into an input device; validity dates and times associated with the content; delivery dates and times; and trigger dates and times. The triggering of the content data can be nominated by the vendor to be displayed in the display area of the screen of a destination device, ¶¶ [0408-409]).
Regarding Claim 17,
Claim 17 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: receiving a status of sending of the message from the network server (R2: ¶ [0329] The server then runs processes to moderate the content data at step 503. This step involves a decision box 504 to test if the content data stored in memory passes a moderation test. If it does not, path 505 is taken which halts any content data progress to the destination device. At this point the content data may be flagged as failed, stored in a separate memory and the vendor who input the content data can be notified of the non-delivery status and the reasons for the content moderation failure); and
presenting, using the display of the machine, the message status to the user (R2: ¶ [0329] The server then runs processes to moderate the content data at step 503. This step involves a decision box 504 to test if the content data stored in memory passes a moderation test. If it does not, path 505 is taken which halts any content data progress to the destination device. At this point the content data may be flagged as failed, stored in a separate memory and the vendor who input the content data can be notified of the non-delivery status and the reasons for the content moderation failure).
Regarding Claim 18,
Claim 18 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: encoding the message to include control data for controlling the plurality of targeted end devices (R2: ¶ [0109] vendor can specify under what conditions the sleeper content data is activated, or triggered. At the point of activation, the sleeper content data is processed by the microprocessor of the destination device and the sleeper content data is executed to perform the function it was originally designed to perform, ¶ [0150] the vendor content data is delivered along with the triggers for the content data activation, ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote,
television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like,).
Regarding Claim 20,
Claim 20 is dependent on Claim 11, and the combination of R2 and R1 discloses all the limitations of Claim 11. R2 further discloses further including instructions that configure the machine to perform operations including: presenting a payload management field of the GUI to configure a payload of the message to the plurality of target end devices of the IoT (R2: ¶ [0385] an operator of an input device/vendor, would enter data fields into a data entry form where the form is customized to receive data and parameters associated with delivering message type of content data, ¶ [0388] The banner message 1005 is a short message that is entered into the banner message field 1006 and is displayed in a visible area of the display of the destination device to convey to a user of the device the content of the main or offer message that will be revealed when the user selects the banner message, ¶ [0389] The offer message 1007 is entered into the offer message field 1008, ¶ [0098] a "destination device" will represent one or more delivery destinations which may be an Internet destination such as a web site, email, drop box, etc. or an electronic device such as a computer, tablet, mobile phone, server, smart remote, television, set top box, air conditioner, light switch, sensor, router, or the like,).
Conclusion
15. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-20180324740-A1
US-20200008044-A1
US-20180270895-A1
US-20210067958-A1
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMEERA WICKRAMASURIYA whose telephone number is (571)272-1507. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:45am - 6:15pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung W. Kim can be reached on 571-272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMEERA WICKRAMASURIYA/
Examiner, Art Unit 2494
/JUNG W KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2494