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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/23/26 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-13, 15-17, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasusato et al. (JPH1079987A).
Regarding claim 1, Yasusato discloses a computer-implemented method for finding a remote control (200), comprising:
in response to the remote control receiving (213) a modulated radio frequency signal through a tuned passive radio circuit integrated within the remote control, waking the remote control from a sleep cycle during which the remote control consumes less power than the remote control being in an awake state (the remote control 200 consumes less power when the receiving circuit (213-215) is not activated), the remote control being configured to control a media system (100) comprising a display device (115) to select and consume media content, wherein the tuned passive radio circuit includes Resistance, Inductance and Capacitance (RLC) components configured to pass a band of frequencies inclusive of at least a carrier frequency of the modulated radio frequency signal (the radio wave processing circuit 214 inherently includes the RLC components as claimed);
demodulating, by an envelope detector, the modulated radio frequency signal to extract, based on removing one or more high frequency components of the modulated radio frequency signal, an encoded radio frequency signal from the carrier frequency (the signals in the system are formatted in AM as indicated in page 7, 4th paragraph of the translated text);
decoding the encoded radio frequency signal to generate a message, wherein the message comprises a request to locate the remote control (note page 9, 2nd paragraph of the translated text); and
responsive to the request to locate the remote control, generating an indicator external to the remote control to assist a user in finding the location of the remote control (note speaker 203).
However, Yasusato does not specify that the generated message is in digital format.
In paragraph 10, last paragraph, Yasusato teaches that multiple identification signals are needed in order to identify multiple remote controls. One of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that the identification signals can be represented by using digital words.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize digital signals to represent the generated message so that multiple identification signals could be readily generated.
Regarding claim 2, Yasusato does not explicitly disclose that a modulation scheme of the modulated radio frequency signal comprises any of:
On-Off Keying (OOK);
Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK);
Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK);
Amplitude-Shift Keying (ASK); or
Wireless Fidelity (WiFi).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to recognize that the claimed schemes would have been a matter of obvious design choice since digital signals have to be modulated in some conventional protocols.
Regarding claim 3, similar to the similar motivation as set forth above, it would have been obvious to recognize that the digital message is based on a patterned representation of the request to locate the remote control. That is, the different digital words represent different digital messages or identification signals.
Regarding claim 5, Yasusato discloses the indicator external to the remote control comprises:
an aural indicator 203; except that the aural indicator is a sound generated by the remote control and wherein the sound may be varied in volume or frequency of repetition. The examiner takes Official Notice that using audio volume and frequency parameters as an audio indicator is well known in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the volume and frequency of the audio signals 203 so that the audio indication could be more distinctive.
Regarding claim 6, Yasusato does not disclose the indicator external to the remote control comprises: a visual indicator, wherein the visual indicator is a flashing light generated by the remote control and wherein the light may be varied in intensity or frequency of repetition. However, the examiner takes Official Notice that using visual indicator, such as a LED or a light bulb, as a location indicator is well known in the art. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a visual indicator into Yasusato so that the remote control could be located visually, which further increases the convenience.
Regarding claim 7, Yasusato discloses the receiving a modulated radio frequency signal is based on any of:
a manually activated push button (note switch 104);
a motion of a user proximate to a television;
a presence of the user proximate to the television;
a request from a mobile device;
television software;
media device software, or
a request from a voice assistant.
Regarding claim 8, see rejection to claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, the radio wave processing circuit 214 in Yasusato inherently includes the BPF as claimed.
Regarding claim 10, see Fig. 4.
Regarding claim 11, Yasusato discloses an antenna 213 but without specify that a passive Printed Circuit Board (PCB) trace antenna to receive the modulated radio frequency signal as claimed. The examiner takes Official Notice that using a PCB trace antenna to receive the modulated radio frequency signal in a receiver is well known in the art. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the well known PCB trace antenna as the antenna 213 so that the system could be made more compact.
Regarding claims 12-13, 15-17, and 19-20, see similar rejections as set forth above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LEE whose telephone number 571-272-7349. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, John Miller, can be reached on 571-272-7353. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL LEE/ Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2422
Prosecution Insights