Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for domestic benefit based on a series of provisional applications the earliest which is filed on January 22, 2016
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1 – 10, 26 – 38, and 40 - 44 are pending in the application.
Claims 1 and 26 are independent.
Claims 11 - 25 and 39 were subject to an election/restriction requirement and are withdrawn by applicant. Claims 26 – 38, and 40 – 44 are restricted.
This action is Final based on the same 35 U.S.C. §103 prior art references that were not necessitated by the applicant’s amendment; see MPEP §706.07(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1 – 3, 5, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macey (PG Pub. No. 20120078426), herein “Macey” in view of Uy et al. (PG Pub. No. 20150362925), herein “Uy.”
Regarding claim 1,
Macey teaches a control system for a pool or a spa device, comprising: (Par. 0007, first sentence: “In an illustrative embodiment, a spa controller is configured to control operation of a plurality of spa components and to generate data regarding the status and/or performance of such components.”)
a controller in communication with a pool or spa device, said controller monitoring operational parameters of said pool or spa device and controlling operation of said pool or spa device; (Par. 0007, second sentence: “The controller comprises part of a spa node further comprising a power sense adapter configured to compute power being drawn by selected spa components; a spa network adapter, and a home network adapter, each of the three adapters including a wireless transceiver. The spa network adapter is configured to receive power data transmitted over a wireless link by the power sense adapter and to further receive status/performance data from the spa controller. The home network adapter is configured to receive power and status data transmitted by the spa network adapter over a wireless link and to convert that data to a form suitable for transmission to an Internet access point. The home network adapter is further linkable over the Internet to a central server, a dealer computer and/or spa owner or user computer.”)
and a wireless transceiver (spa network adapter (SNA)) in communication with the controller, said wireless transceiver capable of establishing: (1) a first wireless communications link between said wireless transceiver and a mobile device, (Par. 0027 “FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an Internet based system for storing and distributing status information which has been sent by the SNA 23 to the HNA 25. This system comprises a central server 111, a spa dealer computer 113, a homeowner computer 115, a home network adaptor (HNA) 25 and a spa network adapter (SNA) 23. In the system of FIG. 3, each spa has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, as does each dealer computer and homeowner computer. In one embodiment, there would be many homeowner computers and dealer computers. In various embodiments, the homeowner and dealer may access the system using any one of many known access devices such as personal computers or handheld devices.”) and
(2) a second wireless communications link to a second wireless transceiver, (home network adaptor (HNA) 25) said second wireless transceiver establishing a communications link between said second wireless transceiver and a remote computer system over the Internet; (Par. 0021: “…the HNA 25 then converts the data to a format such as Fast Ethernet suitable for communication to a device adapted for Internet transmission, e.g., such as a home computer, telephone modem or router.”)
wherein said wireless transceiver transmits said operational parameters of said pool or spa device to at least one of said mobile device or said remote computer system, (Par. 0025: “The SNA 23 may then signal the controller 13 that "Heater Off" power data has been acquired in step 45 and that signal is received by the controller 13 at step 46. In the steps 47 and 48, the controller 13 turns on the heater 33 and signals the SNA 23 that it has turned on the heater 33. The SNA 23 then obtains the "Heater On" power data and transmits that power data to the HNA 25. In one embodiment, the HNA 25 then transmits the power data to the server/database 111 of FIG. 3, for example, for subsequent display to the spa user or to the dealer who sold the spa to the user, as subsequently discussed in more detail.” Macey claim 1: “…a spa network adapter configured to communicate over a wireless link with said spa controller to receive data from said spa controller and to transmit data and commands to said spa controller…” See also Par. 0026 and paragraphs 0055, 0056, 0057, etc. that teach communication with a handheld device.)
Macey communicates with the mobile device through the HNA (second wireless transceiver as claimed), but does not control the pool or spa device directly through the coupled SNA. However, Uy does teach that the controller receives commands for controlling said pool or spa device from at least one of said mobile device or said remote computer system. (Uy claim 1: “A method of controlling pool or spa equipment, comprising: a. providing a controller configured to communicate wirelessly directly with a mobile device; b. communicatively connecting the controller to pool or spa equipment; and c. transmitting information, from the mobile device to the controller, for further transmission to the pool or spa equipment.” Par. 0015: “At minimum, controller 18 should be able to transmit and receive information wirelessly…”See also Par. 0017)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the control system and controller that is coupled to a first wireless transceiver and a second wireless transceiver (HNA) wherein the first wireless transceiver is able to communicate with a remote computer system through the second wireless transceiver wherein the controller receives operational parameters through the first wireless transceiver (SNA) as in Macey with a pool or spa controller that has a transceiver (transmit and receive wirelessly) directly with a remote user device wherein information (commands or instructions) are communicated from the user device to the controller as in Uy in order to remotely control pool and spa equipment remotely from a user mobile device via the internet. (Par. 0004 and 0005).
Regarding claim 2,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 2 depends. Macey and Uy also teaches that the pool or spa device is a variable speed pump. (Macey: Par. 0044: “…the user may turn that jet on or off, for example, by a point and click operation, or may select the speed of operation of the variable speed Jet 2…” Uy Par. 0006, last sentence: “…variable speed pump…”)
Regarding claim 3,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 3 depends. Macey and Uy also teaches that the wireless transceiver communicates with the controller via an RS-485 communication interface. (See Macey figure 1 that shows the Comm is “RD-485.” See also Uy Par. 0019: “Controller 18 also beneficially may utilize the RS-485 protocol in communicating with equipment 22.”)
Regarding claim 5,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 5 depends. Uy also teaches that the wireless transceiver is communicatively coupled to a user interface device. (Par. 0014: “Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a schematic of an exemplary system 10 consistent . with the invention. System 10 may include device 14, controller 18, router 20, and equipment 22. Preferably, device 14 is a hand-held smart phone, tablet, or other mobile device capable of transmitting and receiving information wirelessly, accessing the Internet (WWW), and executing software programs known as "apps." Device 14 need not necessarily be a hand-held or mobile device, however.”)
Regarding claim 9,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 9 depends. Macey also teaches that the mobile device communicates with the remote computer system. (Macey Par. 0058: “FIG. 31 illustrates the display provided to the user when the user selects the dealer info link on the screen of FIG. 28. The screen provides the handheld device's user with the dealer's contact information and enables the user to contact the dealer by either telephoning the dealer or emailing him from the handheld device. Additionally, the user can access the dealer's website using the web address provided on the display of FIG. 31.” See other paragraphs that teach the handheld device communicating with another computer system. See also figure 33.)
Regarding claim 10,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 10 depends. Macey also teaches that the mobile device is configured to generate a user interface, the user interface of the mobile device displaying one or more of the operational parameters of the pool or spa device. (Par. 0034: “FIG. 5 illustrates the display screen generated when the "my spa" link 141 is selected by the user. The display screen provides display areas 145, 146, 147 which enable the user to view the spa water temperature, set the spa water temperature, view the status of the jets, turn the jets on or off or set jet speed, and control various spa lighting features by either turning them on or off. A spa ready message 144 may also be provided to indicate that the spa is ready for use and add the set temperature.” Par. 0035 and 0037 – 0039.)
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macey in view of Uy in further view of Ribbich et al. (PG Pub. No. 20160327921), herein “Ribbich.”
Regarding claim 4,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 1 which claim 4 depends. Macey and Uy do not teach a wifi hotspot. However, Ribbich teaches that the first wireless communications link is a Wi-Fi hotspot communications link between the wireless transceiver and the mobile device. (Par. 0187: “User control device 100 may operate as a WiFi hotspot (step 4458) or small cell and may bridge communications between the cellular network 4402, the mobile devices 4412, and/or the Ethernet network 4404 (step 4460).” Par. 0034: “Another implementation of the present disclosure is a multi-function user control device for monitoring and controlling building equipment. The user control device includes a touch-sensitive display, a cellular transceiver configured to communicate with a cellular network, a WiFi transceiver configured to communicate with mobile devices, and a processing circuit coupled to the touch-sensitive display, the cellular transceiver, and the WiFi transceiver. The processing circuit is configured to monitor and control the building equipment and to bridge communications between the cellular network and the mobile devices via the cellular transceiver and the WiFi transceiver. In some embodiments, the processing circuit is configured to operate the user control device as a WiFi hotspot to communicate directly with the mobile devices via the WiFi transceiver.” Par. 0195: “Still referring to FIG. 24, BMS controller 4866 is shown to include a communications interface 4807 and a BMS interface 4809. Interface 4807 may facilitate communications between BMS controller 4866 and external applications (e.g., monitoring and reporting applications 4822, enterprise control applications 4826, remote systems and applications 4844, applications residing on user control device 4848, etc.) for allowing user control, monitoring, and adjustment to BMS controller 4866 and/or subsystems 4828. Interface 4807 may also facilitate communications between BMS controller 4866 and user control device 4848.” See also paragraph 0136 that teaches a variety of home devices controlled by the system.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the control system and controller that is coupled to a first wireless transceiver and a second wireless transceiver (HNA) wherein the first wireless transceiver is able to communicate with a remote computer system through the second wireless transceiver wherein the controller receives operational parameters through the first wireless transceiver (SNA) as in Macey with a pool or spa controller that has a transceiver (transmit and receive wirelessly) directly with a remote user device wherein information (commands or instructions) are communicated from the user device to the controller as in Uy with a system that controls a plurality of home systems and appliances wherein a controller communicates with a wireless transceiver such as a user control device that acts as a wifi hotspot as in Ribbich in order to allow other devices to communicate with system via the hotspot bridge and control the system with a mobile device. (Par. 0187).
Claim 6 – 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macey in view of Uy in further view of Ide et al. (WO 2016027863 A1), herein “Ide.”
Regarding claim 6,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 5 which claim 6 depends. Macey and Uy do not teach an LED status light. However, Ide teaches that the user interface device includes one or more LEDs configured to indicate a status of the pool or spa device. (Page 3, Par. 2: “FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of an example of the communication adapter 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication adapter 5 includes a power button 51, two buttons 52 and 53, and three LEDs 54 to 56. An instruction can be input to the communication adapter 5 using the two buttons 52 and 53. Further, the lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56 notifies the user of the activation state of the communication adapter 5, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the home appliance 10, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the cloud server 20, and the like. It has become. In the present embodiment, information on whether or not access restriction described later is applied is also notified (notified) by lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56.” See also Page 4, Par. 4 – 6; Page 7, last paragraph, and figures 1 and 2.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the control system and controller that is coupled to a first wireless transceiver and a second wireless transceiver (HNA) wherein the first wireless transceiver is able to communicate with a remote computer system through the second wireless transceiver wherein the controller receives operational parameters through the first wireless transceiver (SNA) as in Macey with a pool or spa controller that has a transceiver (transmit and receive wirelessly) directly with a remote user device wherein information (commands or instructions) are communicated from the user device to the controller as in Uy with a system that controls a plurality of home systems and appliances, that could be a pool or spa, wherein the system includes a communications device with a status LED showing states of state of the home appliance, the communications device, and the state of the communications as in Ide in order to easily notify the user or status of the communications device. (Page 3, Par. 2)
Regarding claim 7,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 5 which claim 7 depends. Macey and Uy do not teach an LED status light. However, Ide teaches that
the user interface device includes one or more LEDs configured to indicate a status of the wireless transceiver. (Page 3, Par. 2: “FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of an example of the communication adapter 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication adapter 5 includes a power button 51, two buttons 52 and 53, and three LEDs 54 to 56. An instruction can be input to the communication adapter 5 using the two buttons 52 and 53. Further, the lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56 notifies the user of the activation state of the communication adapter 5, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the home appliance 10, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the cloud server 20, and the like. It has become. In the present embodiment, information on whether or not access restriction described later is applied is also notified (notified) by lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56.” See also Page 4, Par. 4 – 6; Page 7, last paragraph, and figures 1 and 2.)
Regarding claim 8,
The previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 7 which claim 8 depends. Macey and Uy do not teach an LED status light. However, Ide teaches that
the one or more LEDs are configured to indicate a status of the first wireless communications link or the second wireless communications link. (Page 3, Par. 2: “FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of an example of the communication adapter 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication adapter 5 includes a power button 51, two buttons 52 and 53, and three LEDs 54 to 56. An instruction can be input to the communication adapter 5 using the two buttons 52 and 53. Further, the lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56 notifies the user of the activation state of the communication adapter 5, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the home appliance 10, the connection state between the communication adapter 5 and the cloud server 20, and the like. It has become. In the present embodiment, information on whether or not access restriction described later is applied is also notified (notified) by lighting of the three LEDs 54 to 56.” See also Page 4, Par. 4 – 6; Page 7, last paragraph, and figures 1 and 2.)
Response to Arguments
The examiner respectfully is not persuaded by applicant’s arguments filed on 07/28/2026 in response to the first office action filed on 01/28/2026. Applicant argues that the claimed invention claims two wireless transceivers wherein one is in communication with the controller; wherein a communication link is established with a mobile device, and a communication link is established with a remote computer system over the internet. In view of these components, Examiner cited Macey and Uy, wherein Macey teaches two wireless transceivers, the first wireless transceiver being the spa network adapter (item 23) and the second transceiver being the home network adapter (item 25). Applicant specifically argues that the “the SNA 23 only communicates with the HNA 25; it does not communicate with any other components, and in particular, it does not establish a wireless link with a mobile communication device, as required by Claims 1 and 26.” Examiner is not persuaded by this argument. The MPEP §2144.04(V)(C) Making Separable is a common practice and held to “require only ordinary skill in the art and hence are considered routine expedients.” In this case, the spa network adapter is coupled to the home network adapter, which communicates with mobile device. The claim states: first wireless communications link between said wireless transceiver and a mobile device…” Macey teaches the wireless transceiver as spa network adapter (item 23) and Macey paragraph 0007 states: “The home network adapter is configured to receive power and status data transmitted by the spa network adapter over a wireless link and to convert that data to a form suitable for transmission to an Internet access point. The home network adapter is further linkable over the Internet to a central server, a dealer computer and/or spa owner or user computer.” Macey paragraph 0028 states: “In the system of FIG. 3, the dealer computer 113 and the homeowner computer 115 each may access the central server 111 to view system status and configuration information. Either the dealer or homeowner computer 113, 111 may transmit commands to the HNA 25 for subsequent transfer to the SNA 23 and then to the spa controller 13.” (See also Par. 0029, 0030, 0060, and claims 1 and 2 of Macey.) Thus the remote homeowner is establishing a link between the controller by way of the Spa Network Adapter, and thus given the MPEP guidance, the argument that the Spa Network Adapter cannot have additional communication with or needs to be separate from the Home Network Adapter is not persuasive. Clearly, Macey teaches two wireless transceivers performing links with a mobile device and the internet and with a pool/spa controller as claimed.
Applicant also argues that HNA 25 does not provide a wireless communication link to a mobile device (such as a smart phone). Par. 0007 states that “a home network adapter, each of the three adapters including a wireless transceiver.” Paragraph 0027 of Macey teaches that the homeowner and dealer may access the system using any one of many known access devices such as personal computers or handheld devices. Clearly Macey at least implies, given the following paragraphs 0028 – 0030 that the homeowner can access the system by both the internet and by wireless means through two transceivers SNA 23 and HNA 25 acting together. However, even if Macey does not teach that the homeowner can access the system wirelessly by either SNA or HNA -providing a second communications link, the cited prior art reference of Uy does teach this element in the previously cited paragraphs and paragraph 0018: “As an example, a pool servicing technician may desire to control equipment 22 on-site temporarily for troubleshooting purposes or to ensure a hardware or software correction has been implemented correctly. Even if the technician is unable to access the Internet or router 20, he or she may use a properly-credentialed device 14 to bypass communications paths Wl, W4, and WS and communicate directly with controller 18 via path W3.” Figure 3 of Uy shows the wireless connection W3 between a user device (item 14) that is defined in paragraph 0014 as a: “..hand-held smart phone, tablet, or other mobile device capable of transmitting and receiving information wirelessly,…” Uy does not teach two wireless links; however, Uy teaches the second wireless communication from a mobile device to the controller. The combination of Macey and Uy would be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and is not considered hindsight reasoning.
Claims 26 – 38 and 40 – 44 were subject to a restriction requirement and not considered in this office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Stephens (US PG Pub. No. 20090025134), teaches a controller coupled to a transceiver (Figure 3, item 54), that communicates wirelessly with a mobile telephone and receives commands from the mobile device. (See paragraph 0024 and figures 2 and 3).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD G ERDMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0177. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 7am - 3pm or 4pm EST..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Lo can be reached at (571) 272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAD G ERDMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
