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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the amendment filed on 08/08/2025.
Claims 1, 8, 10-12, and 18 have been amended and are hereby entered.
Claims 21-23 have been added.
Claims 5, 7, and 16 have been canceled.
Claims 1-4, 6 , 8-15, and 17-23 are currently pending and have been examined.
This action is made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 2 and 11, filed 08/08/2025, with respect to the specification objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The specification objection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 11, filed 08/08/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation of “management entity” in claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 have added sufficient structure for performing the claimed functions, namely reciting that the management entity includes a processor, a memory, and a network interface. The 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation of “management entity” in claim 1 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 11, filed 08/08/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections of claims 1-11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 have clarified that the recited method steps are being performed by the recited management entity device. Additionally, Applicant has amended claim 8 to restore proper antecedent basis. The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections of claims 1-11 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 11-12, filed 08/08/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections of claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Applicant’s amendments to the independent claims positively recite the control of the operational configuration of a device to change the operational configuration to the determined more energy efficient configuration. This positive control of a device’s configuration using a control command integrates the abstract idea of the claims (calculating the sustainability gains of changing the configurations of devices) into a practical application (controlling devices to enact the calculated energy efficient configurations). Therefore, Examiner agrees that the claims integrate the abstract idea of the claims into a practical application at Step 2A Prong 2 of eligibility analysis. The dependent claims are patent eligible by virtue of their dependence on their respective independent claims. Accordingly, the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections of claims 1-20 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 13-14, filed 08/08/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of claims 1-20 have been fully considered but are either unpersuasive or 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. Accordingly, claims 1-4, 6, 8-15, and 17-23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Specifically, Applicant argues that none of the previously cited references teach the limitation of “determining that the utilization of the device is greater than a utilization threshold for one of the utilization rules that is mapped to a device command to configure the device into a more energy efficient mode”. In the rejection below, new reference Chong et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2019/0115756, hereafter known as Chong) is used to teach this new limitation as necessitated by Applicant’s amendment. Applicant’s arguments regarding this limitation are moot.
Applicant also argues that none of the cited references teach “configuring the device using the command”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Takayama teaches in [0164] "a new control program is executed (P 46), and the control command for each of the apparatuses A to C is transmitted through the control unit 162 (P 47 to P 49). With this control command, each of the devices A to C operates in an operation mode contributing to energy saving" which is sending a control command out to a plurality of devices in order to configure the devices into an operation mode that conserves energy. Accordingly, Applicant’s argument is unpersuasive.
Accordingly, claim 1 now stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayama, Chang, and Chong as necessitated by Applicant’s amendments. The other independent claims stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 for similar reasoning. Applicant’s arguments that the respective dependent claims are distinct over the art for similar arguments as claim 1 are not persuasive for the reasons discussed above and because the prior art teaches the limitations introduced by the dependent claims as is shown below. Regarding new claims 21-23, Applicant’s arguments that they are distinguished over the prior art based on dependency from claim 1 are moot, as claim 1 is not distinguished over the prior art for the reasons discussed above. The prior art also teaches the limitations introduced in these new claims as is shown below. Therefore, claims 1-4, 6, 8-15, and 17-23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
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, 11-14, and 18-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayama (WIPO Publication No. 2011/052696, hereafter known as Takayama) in view of Chang et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2024/0320688, hereafter known as Chang, with an effective filing date of 03/23/2023) and Chong et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2019/0115756, hereafter known as Chong).
Regarding claim 1, Takayama teaches:
A method comprising: by a management entity device that includes a processor, memory, and a network interface to communicate with a network: (see Figs. 2-4 for overall method. See Fig. 1 energy saving server 100 and [0056] and [0061] for a management entity server configured to transmit information over a network. See [0178] for the server 100 being a computer with a storage device as a hard disk device)
storing vendor device information that maps vendor devices to replacement devices for the vendor devices, and that includes utilization (see [0056] "the energy saving server 100 includes: an equipment specification information database 111 that stores data of specifications and characteristics related to equipment that can be used in the house internal system 150 including the current apparatuses 153 a to 153 c" and [0064] "In addition to data (hereinafter referred to as "specification information") stored in the equipment specification information database 111, the specification of the equipment, that is, type (category), rating (rated voltage, rated current, rated current, rated power consumption, etc.), size, communication interface standard, control interface standard, and the like, the energy consumption amount corresponding to the operating state of the apparatus, the life of the apparatus (durable use time or durable use frequency) are stored" for the storing of device specification information including rated power consumption. See [0079]-[0082] and [0088] for the mapping of devices to currently used devices that they could replace, particularly [0088] mapping of device A1 as a replacement for device A. See [0090]-[0091] for specification information of devices comprising two operation modes that the apparatuses can operate in. See [0034] “The control unit 162 includes a non-volatile memory (not shown), and sends a control command for each of the apparatuses 153 a to 153 c to the internal network NT 1 in accordance with a control program set in the non-volatile memory” for the commands to actuate the operation modes of each device being stored. Examiner is interpreting Takayama as storing multiple possible operating states of each device, not device utilization rules)
obtaining, from a deployed number of units of a device over the network, telemetry records that indicate an energy consumed by, (see [0037] "The monitoring unit 163 acquires a current amount and a gas flow rate consumed by each of the devices 153 a to153 c, and calculates a power consumption amount and a consumption gas flow rate for each unit time as a consumption energy amount for each of the devices 153 a to 153 c. That is, the monitoring unit 163 requests notification of the operation information to each of the apparatuses 153 a to 153 c for each unit time, and collects the operation information from each of the apparatuses 153 a to 153 c. The collected operation information is transmitted to the energy saving server 100 after the predetermined period is stored in the monitoring unit 163,and updates the operation information of the devices 153 a to 153 c of the device operation information database113. The energy consumption amount includes not only the use of the devices 153 a to 153 c but also the power consumption amount and the consumption gas flow rate consumed during the standby" and [0031] "The monitoring unit 163 monitors the operating state of each of the devices153 a to 153 c and the amount of consumed or generated amount of the energy medium in each of the devices 153a to 153 c via the internal network NT 1. Hereinafter, information obtained by combining the operation state and the amount of the energy medium is referred to as "operation information"" for the obtaining of energy consumption and operating state of a number of devices (the utilization of the devices) over an internal network. As [0038] teaches that these measurements can be received from flow sensors remotely placed at each of the devices, Examiner is interpreting the measurements received from remote sensors as "telemetry" records.)
identifying, in the vendor device information, a replacement device for the device and a replacement energy consumed by the replacement device (see [0079] "when the apparatus that can be changed with respect to the current apparatuses 153 a to 153 c is stored in the apparatus specification information database 111, the apparatus that is energy saving among the apparatuses that can be changed with respect to the current apparatuses 153 a to 153 c is extracted, and the configuration of the in-house system 150 (the combination of apparatuses 153 a to 153 c) when the current apparatuses 153 a to153 c are changed to the extracted apparatus (S 1)" for identifying an energy saving apparatus in the information database that can be substituted in for one of the current devices. See [0080]-[0082] and [0088] for selecting a replacement device that has the minimum energy consumption amount of the potential devices that could replace a current device)
computing sustainability gains using a replacement number of units of the replacement device in place of the deployed number of units of the device at least based on the energy consumed, the replacement energy consumed, (see [0116] "Next, in the energy saving server 100, as described above, simulation is performed in the simulation execution unit 105 to generate energy saving information including information indicating the reduction plan (P 32)" and [0097]-[0105] for the performance of the simulation of the apparatus replacement and configuration determination, particularly [0104] "The plan evaluation unit 132 calculates the cost when the combination of the configuration of the apparatus selected in step S 3 and the control pattern is applied to the in-house system 150 from the calculated environmental load amount and the purchase price of the apparatus to be replaced and added by the configuration of the new apparatus. The cost includes the charge of the energy medium associated with the use of the apparatus and the expense associated with the introduction of the apparatus (the price of the apparatus, the construction cost, the removal cost of the previous apparatus, the auxiliary money, and the like)". See [0107] for the reduction plans being determined based on the replacement energy consumption meeting a reduction target and [0055] for the reduction target being determined based on the current energy consumption of the devices)
determining a change to the operational configuration that would result in improved operating energy efficiency, (see [0089] "when the apparatus to be changed with respect to the configuration of the current apparatuses 153 a to 153 c is selected, the plan generation unit 131 generates a combination of the operation modes of each apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a "control pattern") for each selected configuration" and [0093]-[0096] for determining the control pattern of operation modes of the apparatuses. See [0100] for varying the control pattern during simulations, and [0106] for selection of a control pattern that satisfies the reduction target in the simulations. See [0121] -[0126] for determining a control mode for the apparatuses that are then displayed. See [0164] "a new control program is executed (P 46), and the control command for each of the apparatuses A to C is transmitted through the control unit 162 (P 47 to P 49). With this control command, each of the devices A to C operates in an operation mode contributing to energy saving" for commanding the devices to execute the energy saving configuration)
While Takayama teaches the calculation of energy savings as discussed above, Takayama does not explicitly teach storing energy provider information that maps unit energy costs to geolocations, receiving a location of the devices as part of the telemetry data, and using the location-specific energy costs of the devices to compute the sustainability gains. Takayama also does not explicitly teach storing vendor device information including utilization rules and utilization thresholds and determining an improved operational condition by determining that the utilization of the device is greater than a utilization threshold for one of the utilization rules that is mapped to a device command to configure the device into a more energy efficient state. Chang teaches:
storing energy provider information that maps unit energy costs to geolocations (see [0049] "The cost importing module 214 accepts user's operation through the human-machine interface of the intelligent building system 21 to receive and import multiple replacement costs of multiple new devices being estimated. In one embodiment, the multiple replacement costs include an average electricity cost...It is to say, the multiple new devices face the same fundamental rule of electricity fee and carbon-emission fee (based on the rule of the current country or geographic area)" and [0099] "the replacement costs may be, for example but not limited to, the average cost of electricity in the current country or geographic area (such as the cost per kilowatt-hour ($/kWh))")
obtaining, from a deployed number of units of a device over the network, telemetry records that indicate an energy consumed by, and a geolocation of, the deployed number of units (see [0042] "the present disclosure uses the operating condition of the current existing energy-consumption device 3 in the environment (i.e., the actual operating time, locations, and conditions of the energy-consumption device 3)" for the operating condition of each energy-consuming device including the devices location. In combination with Takayama, the operating conditions received over the telemetry feed would also include each device's location)
computing sustainability gains using a replacement number of units of the replacement device in place of the deployed number of units of the device at least based on the energy consumed, the replacement energy consumed, and the geolocation (see [0099] "the replacement costs may be, for example but not limited to, the average cost of electricity in the current country or geographic area (such as the cost per kilowatt-hour ($/kWh))" and [0100] "the estimating system 1 may perform the simulation and calculate the power-consumed amount and/or carbon-emitted amount of each new device as if each new device were operated in the environment within the specific historical time-period. Therefore, the estimating system 1 may calculate the energy-saving amount and/or emission-reduction amount of each new device with respect to the current energy-consumption device 3 and also calculate the energy-saving fee, emission-reduction fee" for calculating the energy and emission reductions and cost savings based on the geographically specific energy rates)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of storing energy pricing based on geographic area and computing sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing of Chang to the system of Takayama would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. It would have been recognized that applying the technique of Chang to the teaching of Takayama would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such storing energy pricing based on geographic area and computing sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing. Further, applying storing energy pricing based on geographic area and computing sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing to Takayama would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow more accurate energy savings calculations and consequently a more accurate device replacement decision. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that energy costs vary by geographic area, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that accounting for the geographic fluctuations in energy prices would result in the combined system providing more accurate sustainability information to its users than Takayama alone.
The combination of Takayama and Chang teaches the monitoring of utilization and the storing of commands for particular operating configurations of devices as discussed above. However, the combination of Takayama and Chang still does not explicitly teach storing vendor device information including utilization rules and utilization thresholds and determining an improved operational condition by determining that the utilization of the device is greater than a utilization threshold for one of the utilization rules that is mapped to a device command to configure the device into a more energy efficient state. Chong teaches:
storing vendor device information…that includes utilization rules, utilization thresholds (see [0082] “Power controller module receives power policy through communication module 151 at step 501. It then determines a power threshold in step 502 based on the power policy. The power threshold is used to restrict the maximum total amount of power that can be provided to all power ports 130”. See [0083]-[0087] for various redundancies (utilization rules) used to calculate and determine a power threshold (utilization thresholds) including an embodiment in which the utilization rules is a set value for a utilization threshold. See [0069] “a server, reachable through the Internet, stores power policies. When there is a change of power policies, the remote server will notify PBPSD 101 through the Internet, a network or a connection using Internet Protocol (IP)” for the server storing the power policy and threshold)
determining includes determining that the utilization of the device is greater than a utilization threshold for one of the utilization rules that is mapped to a device command to configure the device into a more energy efficient mode (see [0088] “At step 503, power port priority is determined based on the power policy… For illustration purpose, power port 130a has a higher priority than power port 130b… When the total amount of power consumed by appliances connected to power ports 130a and 130b is more than the power threshold, power controller module 102 stops providing electricity to power port 130b in order to conserve power for power port 130a” for determining that a device utilization has exceeded a threshold outlined in a utilization rule and is mapped to command to cut power to a lower priority power port to more efficiently use available power to power the higher priority port. In combination with Takayama, the control mode is maintaining power to a higher priority port)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of storing utilization rules and thresholds of a power device and determining a change to an operational configuration when the utilization of the device exceeds a threshold in order to configure the device into a more energy efficient mode of Chong to the combination of Takayama and Chang would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. It would have been recognized that applying the technique of Chong to the teaching of the combination of Takayama and Chang would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such storing utilization rules and thresholds of a power device and determining a change to an operational configuration when the utilization of the device exceeds a threshold in order to configure the device into a more energy efficient mode. Further, applying storing utilization rules and thresholds of a power device and determining a change to an operational configuration when the utilization of the device exceeds a threshold in order to configure the device into a more energy efficient mode to the combination of Takayama and Chang would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow more efficient prioritization of power usage under reduced overall power supply. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the self-imposed posed energy consumption reduction targets of Takayama would work in a similar manner to the power policies limiting the power draw of a device in Chong. In other words, the power policy of Chong can be used with a power reduction target of Takayama to route the reduced power consumption to prioritized ports/devices. In the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong, the Chong power supply device policy allows for an efficient routing of power to hit the reduction target of Takayama while maintaining power supply to priority devices.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
computing the sustainability gains includes computing (see [0104] citation above and [0076] for calculating the simulated costs of the various simulation configurations. See [0140] citations above for the results including a reduction in footprint and reduction in energy costs)
and reporting includes reporting (see [0140] "The supplementary information displayed in the field F 23 includes the reduction rate (in the example, 33.1%) of the environmental load amount with respect to the target reference value (see FIG. 5) when the reduction plan 1 is adopted, and the saving amount of the annual cost (in the example, 91,179 [yen]). Further, since the replacement(replacement) of the apparatus is performed, the approximate value of the cost associated with purchase and installation (in the example, 265, 000 [yen]), the reduction rate of the annual cost and the purchase cost of the apparatus A 1 are included in the supplementary information (in the example, about 2 years 11 months)" for the reporting including the reduced footprint and the reduced energy cost)
As discussed above, Takayama teaches calculating and displaying the reduced energy costs based reduced energy and a cost of that energy. However, while Takayama implies the calculation of the reduced energy itself, Takayama does not explicitly teach calculating and displaying the reduced energy as its own value. Takayama, also as discussed above, does not teach a store of geolocation specific energy costs. Therefore, Takayama also does not explicitly teach calculating the reduced energy cost based on the location-specific unit energy cost stored in the provider information. Chang further teaches:
computing the sustainability gains includes computing a reduced energy, a reduced energy cost based on the reduced energy and a unit energy cost at the geolocation as indicated in the energy provider information, and a reduced carbon footprint based on the reduced energy cost (see [0100] "the estimating system 1 may perform the simulation and calculate the power-consumed amount and/or carbon-emitted amount of each new device as if each new device were operated in the environment within the specific historical time-period. Therefore, the estimating system 1 may calculate the energy-saving amount and/or emission-reduction amount of each new device with respect to the current energy-consumption device 3 and also calculate the energy-saving fee" for the calculation of the reduced energy consumed, the energy savings based on the geographic region's power costs, and reduced emissions footprint)
and reporting includes reporting the reduced energy, the reduced energy cost, and the reduced carbon footprint (see [0101] "the estimating system 1 shows at least one of the energy-saving amount (i.e., benefit of energy-saving), the emission-reduction amount (i.e., benefit of emission-reduction), the energy-saving fee (i.e., benefit of electricity fee), the emission-reduction fee (i.e., benefit of carbon weight), and the investment payback period length (i.e., benefit of total savings), so that the user may determine about how to select the required new device(s) and the required improving approach(es)" and [0102] "the user may inquire an analyzing result that he or she wants through the human-machine interface. According to the selection made by the user, the estimating system 1 may output a best sorting result of energy-saving or a best sorting result of investment returns corresponding to the multiple new devices (step S56)" for outputting the reduced energy, reduced energy cost, and reduced emissions footprint via a human-machine interface)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of computing energy reduction and sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing of Chang to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. It would have been recognized that applying the technique of Chang to the teaching of the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such computing energy reduction and sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing. Further, applying computing energy reduction and sustainability gains of replacement devices using received device geolocation information and location-specific energy pricing to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow more accurate energy savings calculations and consequently a more accurate device replacement decision. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that energy costs vary by geographic area, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that accounting for the geographic fluctuations in energy prices would result in the combined system providing more accurate sustainability information to its users than Takayama alone.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
determining the replacement number of units by reducing the deployed number of units by a workload ratio that equates one unit of the replacement device to multiple units of the device (see [0084] "The reduction of the apparatuses 153 a to 153 c will examine the propriety of deletion if there are apparatuses 153a to 153 c that are not substantially used with reference to the apparatus operation information database 113.Alternatively, the apparatus 153 a to 153 c may be reduced by replacing the plurality of apparatuses with one apparatus. For example, when two air conditioners are used in the present state, one air conditioner can also be selected" for replacing two devices with one device when only one device is needed to be used)
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
establishing a telemetry feed with the deployed number of units of the device over the network, wherein obtaining includes receiving the telemetry records from the deployed number of units of the device over the telemetry feed (see [0113] "the monitoring unit 163 provided in the home gateway 152 periodically performs polling foreach of the devices A to C constituting the in-house system 150, and sequentially transmits the device operation information request (P 11, P 14, P 17)" and [0114] "the operation information accumulated in the monitoring unit 163 is transmitted to the energy saving server 100 at appropriate timing via the gateway unit 161 and the external network NT 2 (P 20). The timing at which the operation information is transmitted from the monitoring unit 163 to the energy saving server 100 is desirable to be one day or one week according to the capacity of the storage unit provided in the monitoring unit163. In the energy saving server 100 that has received the operation information from the in-house system 150, the content of the apparatus operation information database 113 is updated by the apparatus operation information update unit 123 (P 21)" for establishing a telemetry feed with the devices over a network in which telemetry records are obtained over the established feed)
Regarding claim 12, Takayama teaches:
An apparatus comprising: one or more network processor units to communicate over a network (see [0178] "Note that the energy saving server 100 and the equipment specification information distribution server 170 used in the above-described embodiment are implemented by executing a program that performs the above operation by a computer" and [0024] for the server being a computer configured to communicate over the internet)
and a processor coupled to the one or more network processor units and configured to perform (see [0178] "Note that the energy saving server 100 and the equipment specification information distribution server 170 used in the above-described embodiment are implemented by executing a program that performs the above operation by a computer". See Fig. 1 and [0063] for the program generation unit, simulation execution unit, and guidance information unit being coupled together)
Regarding the remaining limitations of claim 12, see the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 12 above. Regarding the limitations introduced in claim 13, see the rejection of claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 12 above. Regarding the limitations introduced in claim 14, see the rejection of claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 18, Takayama teaches:
A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform (see [0178] "Note that the energy saving server 100 and the equipment specification information distribution server 170 used in the above-described embodiment are implemented by executing a program that performs the above operation by a computer. Although the configuration of the computer is not particularly limited, it is necessary to store a large amount of data. Therefore, it is desirable for the storage device to use a large-capacity hard disk device, and it is desirable to use a wide-band communication function" for a hard-disk device comprising a program that can be executed on a server computer to perform the functions of the invention)
Regarding the remaining limitations of claim 18, see the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 18 above. Regarding the limitations introduced in claim 19, see the rejection of claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 18 above. Regarding the limitations introduced in claim 20, see the rejection of claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama considers dimming of lighting apparatuses in [0067] and altering the operation of a variety of other device types in [0026]. However, the combination of Takayama and Chang does not explicitly teach the configuration of subsystems of device into a more energy efficient mode by one or more of putting the subsystem into a sleep mode or enabling/disabling the subsystem at times of low/high subsystem utilization, respectively. Chong teaches:
wherein the device command is configured to configure a subsystem of the device into a more energy efficient mode by one or more of: placing the subsystem into a sleep mode; or enabling and disabling the subsystem at times that coincide with low and high subsystem utilization, respectively (see [0088] “power port 130a has a higher priority than power port 130b. When the total amount of power consumed by appliances connected to power ports 130a and 130b is less than the power threshold, both power ports 130a and 130b will receive electricity. When the total amount of power consumed by appliances connected to power ports 130a and 130b is more than the power threshold, power controller module 102 stops providing electricity to power port 130b in order to conserve power for power port 130a” for disabling power port 130b at a time coincident with port utilization that is higher than the allowable power threshold and enabling power port 130b at a time coincident to port utilization below a power threshold. See [0090] for the enabling and disabling of ports according to the priority order)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of configuring a subsystem of a device into a more energy efficient mode of Chong to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. It would have been recognized that applying the technique of Chong to the teaching of the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such configuring a subsystem of a device into a more energy efficient mode. Further, applying configuring a subsystem of a device into a more energy efficient mode to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow more precise control over devices to enact the power consumption reduction goals of Takayama. Particularly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the ability afforded by Chong to prioritize particular ports of a power supply device and the devices connected to those ports over others allows the precise control over a power supply device to keep high importance devices powered while cutting power to lower priority devices. This allows the user to be more selective in where available power is routed and does not force the user to make all-or-nothing choice of sending power to all ports of a power supply device or none.
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 21 above. As discussed above regarding claim 21, the combination of Takayama and Chang does not explicitly teach the configuration of subsystems of device into a more energy efficient mode by one or more of putting the subsystem into a sleep mode or enabling/disabling the system at times of low/high subsystem utilization, respectively. Accordingly, the combination of Takayama and Chang also does not explicitly teach the device including a router and the command configuring an interface port of the router into a more efficient energy mode including sleep mode or enabling/disabling at times that coincide with low and high interface port utilization, respectively. Chong further teaches:
wherein the device includes a router (see [0074] “In one variant, PBPSD 101 is an Internet router that is capable of receiving Internet protocol (IP) packets that are encapsulated in Ethernet frames. The Ethernet frames are received and transmitted through the power ports” for the device with ports being controlled being an Internet router)
and the device command configures an interface port of the router into the more energy efficient mode including the sleep mode or enabling and disabling the interface port at the times that coincide with low and high interface port utilization, respectively (see [0088] “power port 130a has a higher priority than power port 130b. When the total amount of power consumed by appliances connected to power ports 130a and 130b is less than the power threshold, both power ports 130a and 130b will receive electricity. When the total amount of power consumed by appliances connected to power ports 130a and 130b is more than the power threshold, power controller module 102 stops providing electricity to power port 130b in order to conserve power for power port 130a” for disabling power port 130b at a time coincident with port utilization that is higher than the allowable power threshold and enabling power port 130b at a time coincident to port utilization below a power threshold. See [0090] for the enabling and disabling of ports according to the priority order)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of the device command configuring an interface port of a router into a more energy efficient mode of Chong to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. It would have been recognized that applying the technique of Chong to the teaching of the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such a device command configuring an interface port of a router into a more energy efficient mode. Further, applying a device command configuring an interface port of a router into a more energy efficient mode to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow more precise control over devices to enact the power consumption reduction goals of Takayama. Particularly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the ability afforded by Chong to prioritize particular ports of a power supply device and the devices connected to those ports over others allows the precise control over a power supply device to keep high importance devices powered while cutting power to lower priority devices. This allows the user to be more selective in where available power is routed and does not force the user to make all-or-nothing choice of sending power to all ports of a power supply device or none.
Regarding the device being a router, since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, albeit shown in separate references, the difference between the claimed subject matter and the prior art rests not on any individual element or function but in the very combination itself. That is in the substitution of an Internet router with power ports of Chong for the power supply device of the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong.
Thus, the simple substitution of one known element for another producing a predictable result renders the claim obvious.
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
reporting the sustainability gains and the change to the operational configuration (see Figs. 5 and 6 as well as [0124]-[0125] "FIG. 5 illustrates a typical five-type reduction plan...The reduction plan 2 is an example in which at least a part of the current devices 153 a to 153 c is replaced(replacement of the apparatus), and the control mode adopts the "balance energy saving" similarly to the plan 1" and [0136] "In the screen illustrated in FIG. 5, an example of the detailed information when clicking is performed in a region where the reduction plan name is "plan 2" is illustrated in FIG. 6.", [0138] "the model number of the apparatus used in the selected reduction plan 1, the environmental load amount for each apparatus, the annual cost, the control mode for each apparatus, the replacement, and the necessity of additional purchase are displayed in a list. The environmental load amount and the annual cost in the field F 21 indicate a result of performing simulation for each apparatus in the energy saving server 100", and [0140] "The supplementary information displayed in the field F 23 includes the reduction rate (in the example, 33.1%) of the environmental load amount with respect to the target reference value (see FIG. 5) when the reduction plan 1 is adopted, and the saving amount of the annual cost (in the example, 91,179 [yen]). Further, since the replacement(replacement) of the apparatus is performed, the approximate value of the cost associated with purchase and installation (in the example, 265,000 [yen]), the reduction rate of the annual cost and the purchase cost of the apparatus A 1 are included in the supplementary information (in the example, about 2 years 11 months)" for the display of the sustainability gains of the energy reduction plan of replacing a device and changing the operational configurations of the devices)
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayama in view of Chang, Chong, and Bocchino (“6 REASONS TO REPLACE OLD HARDWARE”, published 04/13/2023, accessed as of 05/29/2023).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
wherein the replacement devices are more energy (see [0088] "it is assumed that the energy consumption amount of the apparatus A is the maximum. In addition, the apparatus A 1 is a device in which the energy consumption amount among the apparatuses that can be replaced with the apparatus A is minimum. That is, the apparatus A 1 is a candidate of the apparatus to be changed" for replacement device A1 being more energy efficient than current device A, and apparatus A1 being one of multiple replacement devices whose energy consumption is the least)
Takayama [0064] teaches the storing of the useful life of each device. While Takayama teaches that the replacement devices are more energy efficient as discussed above, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong does not explicitly teach that the replacement devices are more computationally efficient. However, Bocchino teaches:
wherein the replacement devices are more energy and computationally efficient than the vendor devices, and the replacement device is more energy and computationally efficient than the device (see Page 2 "1. Older hardware becomes slower and more unreliable: As computers age, their inner components wear out. This will cause the device to run more slowly overtime and may also cause glitching. As computers are used, their functionality slowly diminishes. Unfortunately, you may not immediately notice or recognize how slow or unreliable an old computer has become until you get another new computer. In that case, you see the stark difference" and Page 4 "Solutions for old hardware: Unfortunately, the only solution to fix old hardware is to purchase new hardware. During onboarding and quarterly risk assessments, your IT provider should identify aging, risky hardware and recommend possible solutions within your budget" for replacement devices being more computationally efficient than the devices they are replacing. See Page 3 Step 4. for older hardware designs being unable to computationally keep up with programs designed for newer hardware. In combination with Takayama, computing devices near end of life are replaced with more energy and computationally efficient replacements)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include replacing old computing devices with more computationally efficient hardware as taught by Bocchino in the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Particularly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that modifying the replacement device(s) of Takayama to be more computationally efficient as well as more energy efficient would have had predictable results, as quicker run times on the replacement devices can correlate with needing less energy than the current, older device that is to be replaced.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 12 above. Regarding the limitations introduced in claim 15, see the rejection of claim 4 above.
Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayama in view of Chang, Chong, and Zhang et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2024/0169409, hereafter known as Zhang).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. Takayama further teaches:
wherein the vendor device information further maps the device to a retirement age for the device (see [0064] "In addition to data (hereinafter referred to as "specification information") stored in the equipment specification information database 111, the specification of the equipment, that is, type (category), rating (rated voltage, rated current, rated current, rated power consumption, etc.), size, communication interface standard, control interface standard, and the like, the energy consumption amount corresponding to the operating state of the apparatus, the life of the apparatus (durable use time or durable use frequency) are stored" for storing a life/durable use time, which Examiner is interpreting as a retirement age of the device)
While Takayama stores a retirement age for the devices, the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong does not explicitly teach an activation date as part of the telemetry data and computing sustainability gains upon determining the device is due to retire based on the activation date and retirement age. Zhang teaches:
the telemetry records further indicate an activation date of the device (see [0061] "the home energy management system 904 may store an age of a device, such as an installed date of the device in a home and/or an average lifespan of the device" for the telemetry data including the data the device was installed. Also see [0037] for calculating the device’s age based on device data)
and the method further comprises: upon determining that the device is due to retire based on the activation date and the retirement age, performing computing the sustainability gains (see [0061] "the home energy management system 904 may store an age of a device, such as an installed date of the device in a home and/or an average lifespan of the device, and trigger an output embodying a recommendation to replace the device upon reaching a certain age" for evaluating for replacement devices when the system determines that the device is nearing end of life. See [0024] for the device being a more energy efficient device)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of checking the energy savings of a replacement device upon determining that a device to be replaced is due to retire based on its activation date and retirement age of Zhang to the combination of Takayama, Chang, and Chong w