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 .
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed 06/15/2026 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/29/2026 has been entered.
The following action is in response to the amendment/remarks of 05/29/2026.
By the amendment of 05/29/2026, claims 21, 36 and 40 were amended.
Claims 21-40 are pending and have been considered below.
Response to Arguments/Amendment
The double patenting rejection of claims 21-40 over claims 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 11,874,635 in view of Ambuhl have been updated to reflect the amendment to the claims.
Regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of claims 21-24, 26 and 28-40 over Jacobi in view of Ambuhl, Applicant argues that neither Jacobi or Ambuhl teach or suggest at least: “responsive to a request to display the graphic representation, retrieve the identifier stored in the attribute of the collection of attributes of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment stored in the one or more databases” and “read one or more values of the point from the piece of building equipment over a building network using the identifier” as now required by amended claims 21, 36 and 40; particularly that Ambuhl teaches that active values for various points of the building equipment systems are stored in the database is not the same as the claimed the values being read are read after retrieving the identifier in response to a request to display the graphic representation (Remarks pages 12-13). The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
On a closer inspection of Jacobi, it is found that Jacobi teaches most of these features. Jacobi teaches, in at least Fig. 11, that responsive to a request to display the graphic representation (Fig. 11 1112-1118), retrieve the identifier stored in the attribute of the collection of attributes of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment stored in the one or more databases (Fig. 11 1120, pp. 60: fetch information for uniquely identified component Y in CMMS); and read one or more values of the point of the piece of the piece of building equipment over a building network using the identifier (Fig. 11 1122, pp. 60: following request, return point information for component Y); this information is then displayed in the graphical representation (Fig. 11 1112, pp. 60: display the information for component Y on the client device).
Regarding amended claims 21, 36 and 40, Jacobi fails to teach wherein the plurality of points represent one or more sensors configured to measure conditions for the building equipment and one or more adjustable operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment. These features are taught by Ambuhl as previously relied on the rejection of claims 21, 36 and 40; Ambuhl is relied on to disclose utilizing sensors to monitor and measure conditions of building equipment (¶5, ¶9) which can be represented by point values that further represent adjustable operating settings (¶53, ¶118) which are displayed in the GUI for user interaction (¶202, ¶220). The argument is not persuasive.
Regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of claim 27 over Jacobi in view of Ambuhl and in further view of Sullivan and the 35 USC 103 rejection of claim 25 over Jacobi in view of Ambuhl in further view of Sullivan and in further view of Lagnelov, Applicant submits that Sullivan does not cure the deficiencies of Ambuhl and Jacobi regarding parent claim 21 (Remarks page 14-15). The Examiner notes that parent claim 21 remains rejected over Jacob and Ambuhl for at least the reasons set forth above.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 21-40 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 11,874,635 [‘635] in view of Ambuhl et al., US 2013/0086497 A1 [AMBUHL].
Regarding instant claims 21, claim 1 of ‘635 discloses at least a building system of a building comprising one or more storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (“1. A building system of a building comprising one or more storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:”):
store a plurality of collections of attributes in one or more databases, the plurality of collections of attributes corresponding to at least one of a graphic representation of the building and a plurality of graphic representations of a plurality of pieces of building equipment of the building (“store a plurality of collections of attributes in one or more databases, at least some of the plurality of collections of attributes corresponding to the building or a plurality of pieces of building equipment of the building;”);
receive a plurality of points of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of points representing one or more conditions measured by the plurality of pieces of building equipment or operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (“receive a plurality of points of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of points representing one or more conditions measured by the plurality of pieces of building equipment or operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment;”);
update the one or more databases to store an attribute including an identifier of a point of the plurality of points mapped to a graphic representation of a piece of building equipment within a collection of attributes of the plurality of collections of attributes for a graphic representation of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (“update, based on the plurality of mappings, the one or more databases to store an attribute including an identifier of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within a collection of attributes of the plurality of collections of attributes for the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment;”);
responsive to a request to display the graphic representation, retrieve the identifier stored in the attribute of the collection of attributes of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment stored in the one or more databases (“receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface; retrieve, based on the attribute including the identifier of the point, a plurality of values of the point responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment;”);
read one or more values of the point from the piece of building equipment over a building network using the identifier (“receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface; retrieve, based on the attribute including the identifier of the point, a plurality of values of the point responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment;”); and
generate user interface data causing a graphic building interface to include one or more values of the point (“and generate user interface data causing the graphic building interface to include a user interface element comprising one or more trends for the point based on the plurality of values of the point.”).
Claim 1 of ‘635 fails to disclose wherein the plurality of points representing one or more conditions measured by the plurality of pieces of building equipment or operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment represent one or more sensors configured to measure the conditions and one or more adjustable operating settings.
AMBUHL discloses methods for monitoring and controlling building automation systems using user interfaces (¶2). In particular, AMBUHL discloses utilizing sensors to monitor and measure conditions of building equipment (¶5, ¶9) which can be represented by point values that further represent adjustable operating settings (¶53, ¶118) which are displayed in the GUI for user interaction (¶202, ¶220). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the teachings of claim 1 of ‘635 and AMBUHL before them before the effective filing of the claimed invention to combine utilizing a plurality of points representing sensors configured to measure conditions at the plurality of pieces of building equipment and one or more adjustable operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to generating user interface data, as taught by AMBUHL, with the received plurality of points representing measured conditions and operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to generate the user interface data of claim 1 of ‘635. One would have been motivated to make this combination in order to provide intuitive control functions to a user of a multi subsystem building automation system, as suggested by AMBUHL (¶5, ¶10).
Regarding instant claim 22, claim 1 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 1 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate the graphic building interface based on a graphic building model of the building and the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the graphic building interface comprises the plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment within the graphic representation of the building generated using the plurality of collections of attributes (“generate a graphic building interface based on a graphic building model of the building and the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the graphic building interface comprises a plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment within a graphic representation of the building generated using the plurality of collections of attributes;”).
Regarding instant claim 23, claim 1 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 1 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate a plurality of mappings between the plurality of points and the plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the plurality of mappings map the point of the plurality of points of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (“generate a plurality of mappings between the plurality of points and the plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the plurality of mappings map a point of the plurality of points of a piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to a graphic representation of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of graphic representations; ”); and
generate the one or more databases based on the plurality of mappings (“update, based on the plurality of mappings, the one or more databases”).
Regarding instant claim 24, claim 1 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 1 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface (“receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface;”);
retrieve, based on the attribute including the identifier of the point, a plurality of values of the point responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (“retrieve, based on the attribute including the identifier of the point, a plurality of values of the point responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment; ”); and
generate user interface data causing the graphic building interface to include one or more trends of the point based on the plurality of values responsive to receiving the selection (“and generate user interface data causing the graphic building interface to include a user interface element comprising one or more trends for the point based on the plurality of values of the point.).
Regarding instant claim 25, claim 2 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 2 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the graphic building interface includes a graph with a vertical axis indicating a plurality of values and a horizontal axis indicating time (“2. The building system of claim 1, wherein the user interface element is a graph with a vertical axis indicating the plurality of values and a horizontal axis indicating time;”);
wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate a window comprising one or more trends of the point responsive to receiving a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment, the window further comprising:
a time range element providing a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time;
receive, via the time range element of the window, a particular time range including a particular starting time and a particular ending time;
cause the graphic building interface to display the one or more trends from the particular starting time to the particular ending time;
receive an interaction with a trend of the one or more trends at a time between the particular starting time and the particular ending time; and
generate a second window and display the second window within the graphic building interface in a location associated with the time, wherein the second window comprises:
an indication of the time;
an indication of a particular value of the plurality of values associated with the time; and
an indication of a unit of measure of the particular value (“wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: generate a window including the user interface element comprising the one or more trends responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment, the window further comprising: a time range element providing a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time; receive, via the time range element of the window, a particular time range including a particular starting time and a particular ending time; cause the user interface element to display the one or more trends from the particular starting time to the particular ending time; receive an interaction with a trend of the one or more trends at a time between the particular starting time and the particular ending time; and generate a second window and display the second window within the user interface element in a location associated with the time, wherein the second window comprises: an indication of the time; an indication of a particular value of the plurality of values associated with the time; and an indication of a unit of measure of the particular value.”).
Regarding instant claim 26, claim 3 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 3 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“3. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
receive a selection of the point of the plurality of points via the graphic building interface;
select a trend of one or more trends of the graphic building interface for the point responsive to the selection of the point; and
cause the graphic building interface to include the trend (“receive a selection of the point of the plurality of points via the graphic building interface; select a trend of the one or more trends for the point responsive to the selection of the point; and cause the user interface element to include the trend.”).
Regarding instant claim 27, claim 4 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 4 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“4. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
receive a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time; and
cause one or more trends of the graphic building interface to trend the point from the starting time to the ending time (“receive a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time; and cause the one or more trends to trend the point from the starting time to the ending time.”).
Regarding instant claim 28, claim 5 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 5 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“5. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
store technical detail information for the piece of building equipment in the one or more storage media; and
cause the graphic building interface to include the technical detail information in a particular location within the graphic building interface associated with the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment responsive to a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (“store technical detail information for the piece of building equipment in the one or more storage media; and cause the graphic building interface to include the technical detail information in a particular location within the graphic building interface associated with the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment responsive to the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment.”).
Regarding instant claim 29, claim 8 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 8 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“8. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
store a building information model (BIM) database of the building in the one or more storage media, the BIM database comprising a plurality of BIM objects, wherein at least some of the plurality of BIM objects represent the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of pieces of building equipment located within the building and the plurality of BIM objects comprising the plurality of collections of attributes that define properties of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (“store a building information model (BIM) database of the building in the one or more storage media, the BIM database comprising a plurality of BIM objects, wherein at least some of the plurality of BIM objects represent the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of pieces of building equipment located within the building and the plurality of BIM objects comprising the plurality of collections of attributes that define properties of the plurality of pieces of building equipment.”).
Regarding instant claim 30, claim 7 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 7 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“7. The building system of claim 6, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
generate an alarm for the piece of building equipment based on a plurality of values of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment and an alarm rule for the piece of building equipment (“generate, based on at least the portion of the plurality of mappings, the alarm for the piece of building equipment further based on the one or more configurations of the alarm rule.”).
Regarding instant claim 31, claim 7 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 30, and claim 7 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“7. The building system of claim 6, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
receive, via a user device, one or more configurations of the alarm rule, the alarm rule and the one or more configurations defining the generation of the alarm for the piece of building equipment; and
generate the alarm for the piece of building equipment further based on the one or more configurations of the alarm rule (“receive, via the user device, one or more configurations of the alarm rule, the alarm rule and the one or more configurations defining the generation of the alarm for the piece of building equipment; and generate, based on at least the portion of the plurality of mappings, the alarm for the piece of building equipment further based on the one or more configurations of the alarm rule.”).
Regarding instant claim 32, claim 10 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 21, and claim 10 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“10. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
generate an alarm for the piece of building equipment based on a plurality of values of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment; and
cause the graphic building interface to include a representation of a work order for the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface (“generate, based on at least a portion of the plurality of mappings, an alarm for the piece of building equipment based on the plurality of values of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment by the portion of the plurality of mappings; and cause the graphic building interface to include a representation of a work order for the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface.”).
Regarding instant claim 33, claim 10 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 32, and claim 10 of ‘635 further discloses, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“10. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
cause the graphic building interface to include the representation of the work order in response to a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (“cause the graphic building interface to include a representation of a work order for the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface.”, parent claim 1: “receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface;”).
Regarding instant claim 34, claim 12 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 33, and claim 12 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“12. The building system of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:”):
collect a history of work orders for the piece of building equipment, the history of work orders including a plurality of work orders for the piece of building equipment including the work order; and
cause the graphic building interface to include a list including the history of work orders for the piece of building equipment in the graphic building interface (“collect a history of work orders for the piece of building equipment, the history of work orders including a plurality of work orders for the piece of building equipment including the work order; and cause the graphic building interface to include a list including the history of work orders for the piece of building equipment in the graphic building interface.”).
Regarding instant claim 35, claim 13 of ‘635 and AMBUHL disclose at least the building system of instant claim 33, and claim 13 of ‘635 further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to (“13. The building system of claim 10,”) cause the graphic building interface to include the representation of the work order in a location within the graphic building interface associated with a location of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (“cause the graphic building interface to include the representation of the work order in a location within the graphic building interface associated with a location of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment.”).
Regarding instant claim 36-39, instant claims 36-39 recite limitations similar to instant claims 21-24 and are similarly rejected over claim 1 of ‘635.
Regarding claim 40, claim 40 recites limitation similar to claim 21 and is similarly rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
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.
Claims 21-24, 26 and 28-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JACOBI, US 2012/0310602 A1 [previously presented], in view of AMBUHL, US 2013/0086497 A1 [previously presented].
Regarding claim 21, JACOBI discloses a building system of a building comprising one or more storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
store a plurality of collections of attributes in one or more databases (¶50: model data, ¶29), the plurality of collections of attributes corresponding to at least one of a graphic representation of the building and a plurality of graphic representations of a plurality of pieces of building equipment of the building (¶31: identifier of component in model data);
receive a plurality of points of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of points representing one or more conditions measured by the plurality of pieces of building equipment or operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (¶31: maintenance data of the components, ¶50: maintenance data);
update the one or more databases to store an attribute including an identifier of a point of the plurality of points mapped to a graphic representation of a piece of building equipment within a collection of attributes of the plurality of collections of attributes for a graphic representation of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (¶31: identifier of same asset number between model data and maintenance information, ¶50: mapping attributes and points);
responsive to a request to display the graphic representation, retrieve the identifier stored in the attribute of the collection of attributes of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment stored in the one or more databases (Fig. 11, ¶60: request information for a component, fetch maintenance data of the identified component based on model identifier data); and
read one or more values of the point of the piece of the piece of building equipment over a building network using the identifier (Fig. 11, ¶60: following request, transmit read maintenance data of the identified component based on model identifier data); and
generate user interface data causing a graphic building interface to include one or more values of the point (¶31: interactive user display).
While JACOBI discloses wherein the plurality of points representing one or more is information of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (¶31, ¶50), JACOBI fails to disclose wherein the plurality of points represent one or more sensors configured to measure the conditions of the plurality of pieces of building equipment and one or more adjustable operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment.
AMBUHL discloses methods for monitoring and controlling building automation systems using user interfaces (¶2). In particular, AMBUHL discloses utilizing sensors to monitor and measure conditions of building equipment (¶5, ¶9) which can be represented by point values that further represent adjustable operating settings (¶53, ¶118) which are displayed in the GUI for user interaction (¶202, ¶220). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the teachings of JACOBI and AMBUHL before them before the effective filing of the claimed invention to combine utilizing a plurality of points representing sensors configured to measure current conditions at the plurality of pieces of building equipment and one or more adjustable operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to generating user interface data, as taught by AMBUHL, with the received plurality of points representing measured conditions and operating settings of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to generate the user interface data of JACOBI. One would have been motivated to make this combination in order to provide intuitive control functions to a user of a multi subsystem building automation system, as suggested by AMBUHL (¶5, ¶10).
Regarding claim 22, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate the graphic building interface based on a graphic building model of the building and the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the graphic building interface comprises the plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment within the graphic representation of the building generated using the plurality of collections of attributes (¶31: interactive display, ¶36, Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 23, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate a plurality of mappings between the plurality of points and the plurality of graphic representations of the plurality of pieces of building equipment, wherein the plurality of mappings map the point of the plurality of points of the piece of building equipment of the plurality of pieces of building equipment to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶50: mapping between components in the model and components maintenance information); and
generate the one or more databases based on the plurality of mappings (¶50).
Regarding 24, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive, via a user device, a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface (¶36);
retrieve, based on the attribute including the identifier of the point, a plurality of values of the point responsive to receiving the selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶36); and
generate user interface data causing the graphic building interface to include one or more values of the point based on the plurality of values responsive to receiving the selection (¶36-37, Fig. 3-4);
AMBUHL further discloses wherein the included values are trends (¶45).
Regarding claim 26, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive a selection of the point of the plurality of points via the graphic building interface (¶37);
AMBUHL further discloses selecting a trend of one or more trends of the graphic building interface for the point responsive to the selection of the point (¶45, ¶94, ¶123); and causing the graphic building interface to include the trend (¶45, ¶94, ¶123).
Regarding claim 28, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
store technical detail information for the piece of building equipment in the one or more storage media (¶50); and
cause the graphic building interface to include the technical detail information in a particular location within the graphic building interface associated with the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment responsive to a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (Fig. 3-4, ¶36).
Regarding claim 29, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
store a building information model (BIM) database of the building in the one or more storage media, the BIM database comprising a plurality of BIM objects, wherein at least some of the plurality of BIM objects represent the plurality of pieces of building equipment, the plurality of pieces of building equipment located within the building and the plurality of BIM objects comprising the plurality of collections of attributes that define properties of the plurality of pieces of building equipment (¶27-30).
Regarding claim 30, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate an alarm for the piece of building equipment based on a plurality of values of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment and an alarm rule for the piece of building equipment (¶47-48: generating a maintenance alert for a selected part, Fig. 7-8).
Regarding claim 31, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 30, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive, via a user device, one or more configurations of the alarm rule, the alarm rule and the one or more configurations defining the generation of the alarm for the piece of building equipment (¶47-48: generate a maintenance alert based on input information regarding the component); and
generate the alarm for the piece of building equipment further based on the one or more configurations of the alarm rule (¶47-48, Fig. 7-8).
Regarding claim 32, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
generate an alarm for the piece of building equipment based on a plurality of values of the point of the plurality of points mapped to the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶47-49); and
cause the graphic building interface to include a representation of a work order for the piece of building equipment within the graphic building interface (¶49, Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 33, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 32, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
cause the graphic building interface to include the representation of the work order in response to a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶49, Fig.8).
Regarding claim 34, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 33, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
collect a history of work orders for the piece of building equipment, the history of work orders including a plurality of work orders for the piece of building equipment including the work order (¶47, Fig. 7 710e); and
cause the graphic building interface to include a list including the history of work orders for the piece of building equipment in the graphic building interface (¶47, Fig. 7 710e).
Regarding claim 35, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 33, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to cause the graphic building interface to include the representation of the work order in a location within the graphic building interface associated with a location of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶49, Fig. 8).
Regarding claims 36-38, claims 36-38 recite limitations similar to claims 21-23, respectively, and are similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 39, claim 39 recites limitations similar to claim 26 and is similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 40, claim 40 recites limitations similar to claim 21 and is similarly rejected.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JACOBI in view of AMBUHL and in further view of SULLIVAN, US 2009/0057425 A1 [previously presented].
Regarding claim 27, JACOBI and AMBUHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and AMBUHL further discloses wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time (¶95); and
cause one or more trends of the graphic building interface to trend (¶45, ¶94, ¶123).
JACOBI and AMBUHL fail to disclose wherein the trend is from the starting time to the ending time.
SULLIVAN discloses methods for controlling and interacting with a building automation system using an interface (¶4). In particular, SULLIVAN discloses selecting a component in the GUI and displaying values including a trend of the values for a selected time range from a starting to ending time for the selected component (Fig. 7A-7B, ¶37, ¶44, ¶101-105). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the teachings of JACOBI, AMBUHL and SULLIVAN before them before the effective filing of the claimed invention to combine the generating and displaying of trends in a selected time range for a selected building component of a building GUI, as taught by SULLIVAN, with the displaying of trends a selected component in the building GUI of JACOBI and AMBUHL. One would have been motivated to make this combination in order to provide expanded access to different applications and information regarding a large control system in a way that is cost-effective and easy to use, as suggested by SULLIVAN (¶3-4, ¶44).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JACOBI in view of AMBUHL in view of SULLIVAN and in further view of LAGNELOV, US 2010/0175015 A1 [previously presented].
Regarding claim 25, JACOBI and AMBULHL disclose the building system of claim 21, and JACOBI further discloses wherein the graphic building interface includes a pane including additional information regarding the selected piece of building equipment (¶37, Fig. 4);
AMUBHUL further discloses generating a window comprising one or more trends of the point responsive to receiving a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶45, ¶94, ¶123).
JACOBI and AMBUHL fail to disclose wherein the building interface pane includes graph with a vertical axis indicating a plurality of values and a horizontal axis indicating time;
wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
the generated window further comprising:
a time range element providing a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time;
receive, via the time range element of the window, a particular time range including a particular starting time and a particular ending time; and
cause the graphic building interface to display the one or more trends from the particular starting time to the particular ending time.
SULLIVAN discloses methods for controlling and interacting with a building automation system using an interface (¶4). In particular, SULLIVAN discloses displaying additional information regarding a selected building equipment in the interface, including a graph with a vertical axis indicating a plurality of values and a horizontal axis indicating time (Fig. 7A); generate a window comprising one or more trends of the points of a selected equipment responsive to receiving a selection of the graphic representation of the piece of building equipment (¶103), the window further comprising: a time range element providing a selection of a time range from a starting time to an ending time (Fig. 7A-7B, ¶105); receive, via the time range element of the window, a particular time range including a particular starting time and a particular ending time (Fig. 7A-7B, ¶105); and cause the graphic building interface to display the one or more trends from the particular starting time to the particular ending time (Fig. 7A, ¶104). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the teachings of JACOBI, AMBUHL and SULLIVAN before them before the effective filing of the claimed invention to combine the generating and displaying and interacting with trends for a selected building component of a building GUI, as taught by SULLIVAN, with the displaying of trends of a selected component in the building GUI of JACOBI and AMBUHL. One would have been motivated to make this combination in order to provide expanded access to different applications and information regarding a large control system in a way that is cost-effective and easy to use, as suggested by SULLIVAN (¶3-4, ¶44).
JACOBI, AMBUHL and SULLIVAN fail to further disclose receiving an interaction with a trend of the one or more trends at a time between the particular starting time and the particular ending time; and
generating a second window and display the second window within the graphic building interface in a location associated with the time, wherein the second window comprises:
an indication of the time;
an indication of a particular value of the plurality of values associated with the time; and
an indication of a unit of measure of the particular value.
LAGNELOV discloses methods for monitoring and controlling control systems of industrial buildings (¶3-4). In particular LAGNOLEV discloses receiving an interaction with a trend of the one or more trends at a time between the particular starting time and the particular ending time (Fig. 1, ¶34-35); and generating a second window and display the second window within the graphic building interface in a location associated with the time (Fig. 2 11, Fig. 3 12, ¶36: display tooltip about point on trend graph, ¶47), wherein the second window comprises: an indication of the time (Fig. 3 12); an indication of a particular value of the plurality of values associated with the time (Fig. 3 12); and an indication of a unit of measure of the particular value (Fig. 3 12). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the teachings of JACOBI, AMBUHL, SULLIVAN and LAGNELOV before them before the effective filing of the claimed invention to combine the displaying of a second window tooltip for a selected point on a trend graph, wherein the tooltip displays an indication of time, value and unit of measure for the selected point, as taught by LAGNELOV, for the trend graph display of the selected building equipment in the building GUI of JACOBI, AMBUHL and SULLIVAN. One would have been motivated to make this combination to provide a simplified way for an operator to investigate points on a trend graph, as suggested by LAGNELOV (¶7-8, ¶10-11).
Conclusion
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/ANDREW L TANK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2141
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