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 .
Claims 1-7 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1- 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 5 each recite the limitation "an input part accepting selection of a user for a case" as written would appear to indicate a user being selected, for a case. The examiner is interpreting the limitation as "an input part accepting a selection from a user for a case". The meaning of the term is not clear from the claims or specification.
Dependent claims 2-4, 6-7 are rejected based on dependence on claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sasaki et al, US Patent Pub US 20140082116 A1 (hereinafter Sasaki).
Claim 1
Sasaki discloses a system configuration proposal device (Sasaki, para 32-33 – A design assistance device.), comprising: an input part accepting selection of a user for a case (Sasaki, para 27, 33-36 - The information of the network configuration created by the user by using the design assistance device is referenced when assembling an actual machine and utilized in the design and developments of a program to be executed in the master device to perform desired functions by selecting certain slave devices.); a comparison part comparing an existing system configuration of the user including a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) with a system configuration corresponding to the case selected (Sasaki, para 24, 39 - The comparison portion compares the design information and the actual configuration information of the PLC and extract their commonalities and differences.); and a proposal part proposing to the user a new system configuration including a device required for realizing the case based on a comparison result. (Sasaki, para 39 - Based on the results of comparison by the comparison portion, a comparison screen indicating the designed network configuration and the actual machine's network configuration along with their commonalities and differences and outputs the comparison screen to the display.)
This rejection also applies to claim 5.
Claim 2
Sasaki discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Sasaki further discloses the proposal part proposes to the user the device that is included in the system configuration corresponding to the case and not included in the existing system configuration. (Sasaki, para 39, 48-54, 67, 70, Fig. 7 refs(10-30) - Based on the results of comparison by the comparison portion, a comparison screen indicating the designed network configuration and the actual machine's network configuration along with their commonalities and differences, and making comparison results from slave devices that are and are not in the design configuration where commonalities and differences between the design network configuration and the actual machine's network configuration are shown graphically.)
Claim 3
Sasaki discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Sasaki further discloses the proposal part displays the existing system configuration and the device required for realizing the case in association with each other on a screen. (Sasaki, para 39, 48-54, 70 - A comparison screen indicating the commonalities and differences between the design network configuration and the actual machine's network configuration are shown graphically.)
This rejection also applies to claim 6.
Claim 4
Sasaki discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Sasaki further discloses the proposal part displays by visually distinguishing each device included in the existing system configuration from the device required for realizing the case. (Sasaki, para 67 – Visually highlighting differences between design and the actual machine along with comparison results.)
This rejection also applies to claim 7.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shirane et al, US Patent Pub US 20050144271 relates to claims regarding an input device operated to select a network and a component to be used, and displaying the selected network as well as a figure showing the component selected and permitted to be used.
Kuroda, WIPO Patent Num WO2016117079A1 relates to claims regarding a programmable logic controller that generates a programmable logic controller configuration file used by a programmable logic controller in a supervisory control system to control the operation of a control device through a network based on input of a programmable logic controller configuration by a user, and a device configuration input unit that receives the input.
Yang et al, "Development of a product configuration system with an ontology-based approach", 2008, Computer-Aided Design 40, pp 863-878 relates to claims regarding modeling product configuration satisfying individual needs of customers without violating all constraints imposed on components where configuration engines perform actual inference processes with both configuration models and user requirements as the inputs and then generate a configuration as the output.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID E OGG whose telephone number is (469) 295-9163. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Thurs 7:30 am - 5:00 pm CT.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on 571-272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAVID EARL OGG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119
Prosecution Insights