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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16-22 and 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being taught by Troesch (WO 2019/121336).
With respect to claim 16, Troesch teaches a building system for a building in which an elevator system (fig. 1) is installed and encompassed by the building system, wherein a first waiting zone and a second waiting zone accessible from the first waiting zone for users of the elevator system are specified for the building, and wherein the second waiting zone is located in an access region to an elevator of the elevator system, the building system comprising:
a call input apparatus (fig. 1, 6) configured to receive an elevator call from a user (fig. 1, 2) located in the first waiting zone (fig. 1, 10) or located in a specified environment of the first waiting zone;
a control apparatus (fig. 1, 1) communicatively connected to the call input apparatus (paragraph 0064; mobile device automatically communicates); and
wherein the control apparatus is configured to register the elevator call from the user received by the call input apparatus (paragraph 0064; register user with info),
to generate a first notification to inform the user (paragraph 0051; releases barrier), wherein the first notification prompts the user to enter the second waiting zone (fig. 1, 8) from the first waiting zone, and
to determine an elevator to serve the registered elevator call and to cause the determined elevator to move (paragraph 0067; assigned/then moved to floor).
With respect to claim 17, Troesch teaches wherein the first notification generated by the control apparatus includes information about the determined elevator (paragraph 0033).
With respect to claim 18, Troesch teaches wherein the control apparatus is configured to generate a second notification that requests the user to wait in the first waiting zone or in the specified environment of the first waiting zone, and wherein the control apparatus generates the (paragraph 0112; assigns elevator at entrance, tell user to get ready to enter from first to second) second notification before generating the first notification.
With respect to claim 19, Troesch teaches wherein the call input apparatus includes at least one of a radio device (paragraph 0062) for receiving the elevator call input by a mobile communication device of the user, a reading device for reading an electronic or optical code (paragraph 0112) and an input device for manually inputting the elevator call.
With respect to claim 20, Troesch teaches wherein the radio device is configured to transmit the first notification to the mobile communication device of the user, or wherein the call input apparatus is configured to communicate the first notification by a display (paragraph 0112) and/or a voice message.
With respect to claim 21, Troesch teaches including a communication device (fig. 1, 14) arranged in the second waiting zone or in an access entry to the second waiting zone and being communicatively connected to the control apparatus, wherein the control apparatus is configured to control the communication device to communicate the determined elevator to the user.
With respect to claim 22, Troesch teaches including an access gate (fig. 1, 36) communicatively connected to the control apparatus, the access gate being provided at a transition between the first waiting zone and the second waiting zone, wherein the access gate is configured to unblock or block the transition, and wherein the access gate is part of an access control system of the building system.
With respect to claim 26, Troesch teaches a method for operating a building system of a building, wherein a first waiting zone and a second waiting zone that is accessible from the first waiting zone for passengers of an elevator system installed in the building and encompassed by the building system are specified, wherein the second waiting zone is located in an access region to an elevator of the elevator system, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving, by a control apparatus (fig. 1, 1), an elevator call from a user (fig. 1, 2), the elevator call being input by a call input apparatus located in the first waiting zone (fig. 1, 10) or in a specified environment of the first waiting zone, and the control apparatus being communicatively connected to the call input apparatus (paragraph 0064; mobile device automatically communicates);
generating, by the control apparatus, a first notification to inform the user (paragraph 0051; releases barrier), wherein the first notification prompts the user to enter the second waiting zone (fig. 1, 8) from the first waiting zone;
determining, by the control apparatus, an elevator of the elevator system to serve the received elevator call (paragraph 0067; assign); and
causing, by the control apparatus, the determined elevator to move (paragraph 0067; moved to floor).
With respect to claim 27, Troesch teaches wherein the first notification generated by the control apparatus includes information about the determined elevator (paragraph 0033).
With respect to claim 28, Troesch teaches including generating a second notification by the control apparatus, wherein the second notification prompts the user to wait in the first waiting zone or in the specified environment of the first waiting zone, and wherein the control apparatus generates (paragraph 0112; assigns elevator at entrance, tell user to get ready to enter from first to second) the second notification before generating the first notification.
With respect to claim 29, Troesch teaches including transmitting the first notification to the call input apparatus that displays the first notification, or to a mobile communication device of the user, which mobile communication device displays (paragraph 0112) the first notification.
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) 23-25 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Troesch (WO 2019/121336).
With respect to claim 23, Troesch does not teach wherein the control apparatus is configured to allocate a ticket to the input elevator call and to cause the ticket to be transmitted to the user, and wherein the control apparatus controls the call input apparatus for the ticket transmission.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for elevator to have ticket reader, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 24, Troesch does not teach wherein the access gate includes a reading device for detecting the ticket allocated by the control apparatus, and wherein the control apparatus is configured to control the access gate such that the transition is unblocked when the detected ticket corresponds to the ticket allocated to the elevator call.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for elevator to have ticket reader, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 25, Troesch does not teach wherein the call input apparatus is configured to print the ticket, display the ticket, announce the ticket, or transmit the ticket as a radio signal to be received by a cell phone of the user.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for elevator to have ticket communication/display, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 30, Troesch does not teach including generating a ticket allocated to the input elevator call and transmitting the ticket to the user, and wherein the control apparatus controls the call input apparatus for transmission of the ticket.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for elevator to have ticket reader, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Conclusion
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/ERICK D GLASS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846