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
This communication is in response to the RCE amendments filed on 06/04/2026.
Claims 1-3, and 19-20 have been amended.
Claims 4-7 and 21-26 have been cancelled.
Claims 27-30 have been newly added.
Claims 1-3, 8-20 and 27-30 are currently pending and have been examined.
Claim Objections
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not).
Misnumbered claims newly added 22-25 been renumbered 27-30.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rongley “US 2022/009715 A1” (Rongley) in view of Enssle et al. “US 2018/0225612 A1” in further view of Chanduri et al. “US 2021/0117911 A1” (Chanduri).
Regarding Claims 1 and 19-20: A non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer instructions which when executed by one or more processors of a device cause the computing device to:
sense the at least one signal emitted by the electronic device in the defined pattern, using the at least one sensor (at least see Rongley Abstract; Figs. 3-4; [0098]-[0099]);
determine a actual geographical location of the electronic device, based on the sensed at least one signal (at least see Rongley Abstract; Figs. 1-3; [0008]);
detect a discrepancy between the geographical location of the electronic device and a specified geographical location of the electronic device recorded in an inventory management system (at least see Rongley Abstract; Figs. 1-3; [0009]); and
perform at least one action to handle the discrepancy (at least see Rongley Abstract; Fig. 4; [0101]),
Rongley disclose the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose including one of: updating the inventory management system to record the actual geographical location of the electronic device, causing the electronic device to be re-located back to the specified geographical location that is recorded in the inventory management system. However, (at least see Enssle Abstract; Figs. 1-4; [0035])
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA FITF) to use Enssle’s teachings in Rongley’s enabled, for the advantage of replenishment needs of specific retail stores, to help inventory by increase profit margins for retailers.
Rongley disclose the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose send a command over a network to an electronic device, the command instructing the electronic device to emit at least one signal in a defined pattern capable of being sensed by at least one sensor external to the electronic device, wherein the command causes creation of a workload on the electronic device which when executed by the electronic device causes the electronic device to emit the at least one signal. However, (at least see Chanduri Abstract; Figs. 1-2; [0003]-[0005])
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA FITF) to use Chandur’s teachings in Rongley’s enabled, for the advantage of replenishment needs of specific retail stores, to help inventory by increase profit margins for retailers in controlling the electronic device.
Regarding Claim 2: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a second computing device (at least see Rongley Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 3: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein the second computing device is a server (at least see Rongley Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 8: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is triggered to emit a single signal capable of being sensed by a single sensor (at least see Rongley [0044]).
Regarding Claim 9: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is triggered to emit a plurality of different signals capable of being sensed by a plurality of different sensors (at least see Rongley [0102]).
Regarding Claim 10: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is triggered to emit the plurality of different signals in a defined sequence (at least see Rongley [0079]).
Regarding Claim 11: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein triggering the electronic device to emit the plurality of different signals includes: triggering the electronic device to emit a first signal capable of being sensed by a first sensor, determining whether the first signal emitted by the electronic device has been sensed, triggering the electronic device to emit a second signal capable of being sensed by a second sensor, when the first signal emitted by the electronic device has been sensed, and triggering the electronic device to emit a third signal capable of being sensed by a third sensor, when the first signal emitted by the electronic device has not been sensed (at least see Rongley [0044]).
Regarding Claim 12: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is a camera (at least see Rongley [0087]).
Regarding Claim 13: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is an audio sensor (at least see Rongley [0091]).
Regarding Claim 14: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is a thermal sensor (at least see Rongley [0058]).
Regarding Claim 15: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the physical location is determined by processing the sensed at least one signal using a machine learning model (at least see Rongley [0095]).
Regarding Claim 16: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the machine learning model further processes the sensed at least one signal to determine availability of space for locating one or more additional electronic devices (at least see Rongley [0107]).
Regarding Claim 17: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one action includes updating the inventory management system to record the actual geographical location of the electronic device (at least see Rongley Abstract; Figs. 1-3; [0008]).
Regarding Claim 18: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one action includes causing the electronic device to be re-located back to the specified geographical location that is recorded in the inventory management system (at least see Rongley [0009]-[0010]).
Regarding Claim 27: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes a thermal sensor and wherein the defined pattern is a thermal pattern of generating by the electronic device heating and cooling itself (at least see Rongley [0037]).
Regarding Claim 28: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes an audio sensor and wherein the defined pattern is an audio pattern generated by the electronic device turning its disk on and off (at least see Rongley Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 29: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes a camera and wherein the defined pattern is a light pattern generated by the electronic device turning its light on and off (at least see Rongley [0100]).
Regarding Claim 30: The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein triggering the electronic device to emit the plurality of different signals includes: trigger the electronic device to emit a first signal capable of being sensed by a first sensor configured to sense signals within a first region, determine that the actual geographical location of the electronic device is within the first region when the first sensor senses the first signal, responsive to determining that the actual geographical location of the electronic device is within the first region, trigger the electronic device to emit a second signal capable of being sensed by a second sensor configured to sense signals within a second region that is a subset of the first region, and determine that the actual geographical location of the electronic device is within the second region when the second sensor senses the second signal (at least see Rongley [0012] and [0033]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3, 8-20 and 27-30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FATEH M OBAID whose telephone number is (571)270-7121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M to 4:30 P.M.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan Zeender can be reached at (571) 272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FATEH M OBAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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