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 1-15 filed on 12/20/2023 have been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2021-0080274, filed on 6/21/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 12/20/2023 has been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 12/20/2023 have been reviewed and are considered acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 12/20/2023 has been reviewed and is considered acceptable.
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (US PGPUB 20160105331) in view of Baek (KR20110080705A).
Regarding Claims 1 and 12; Han teaches; A home appliance control device comprising: a communication interface; and (Han; at least Fig. 4; paragraph [0101]; disclose a gateway (420) for communicating control messages from a portable terminal to a smart device)
at least one processor configured to transmit, based on a message output standby request being received from a mobile device, the message output standby request to at least one home appliance via the communication interface, (Han; at least Fig. 17; paragraphs [0139]-[0142]; disclose receiving a request signal (i.e. execution instruction) from a user’s portable terminal wherein the terminal then subsequently sends the received request signal to at least one network device (i.e. smart appliance)
determine whether a user exists within a first distance from at least one of the at least one home appliance, and (Han; at least Fig. 17; paragraphs [0139]-[0142]; disclose determining a user’s position information to determine a user’s location with relation to a plurality of devices)
control, based on determining that the user exists within the first distance from a first home appliance from among the at least one home appliance, the first home appliance to output a message corresponding to the message output standby request. (Han; at least Fig. 17; paragraphs [0139]-[0142]; disclose wherein the system determines that a user’s position is adjacent to a specific network device, and subsequently controls the network device based on the request signal and position information).
Han appears to be silent on; control, based on determining that the user exists within the first distance from a first home appliance from among the at least one home appliance, the first home appliance to output a message corresponding to the message output standby request.
However, Baek teaches; control, based on determining that the user exists within the first distance from a first home appliance from among the at least one home appliance, the first home appliance to output a message corresponding to the message output standby request. (Baek; at least paragraph [0077]; disclose a system and method for controlling appliances with a mobile terminal device based upon being within a predetermined distance from the devices, wherein the system further receives an output message from the mobile device that is then transmitted and subsequently output by a target appliance as a text or image).
Han and Baek are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor or problem solving area of, smart appliance message control systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the disclosed invention to have incorporated the known method of sending and outputting a message from a mobile terminal as taught by Baek with the known system of a smart appliance communication and control system as taught by Han in order to provide a method in which the user can selectively choose which device plays back a specific message provided by the user’s mobile device (see paragraphs [0077]-[0078]).
Regarding Claims 2 and 13; the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine, based on detecting an operation of a user using the first home appliance, that the user exists within the first distance from the first home appliance. (Han; at least paragraph [0141]).
Regarding Claims 3 and 14; the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a distance between the mobile device and each of the at least one home appliance, based on a strength of a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication signal between the mobile device and each of the at least one home appliance, and when a calculated distance between the mobile device and the first home appliance is within the first distance, determine that the user exists within the first distance from the first home appliance. (Han; at least paragraphs [0139]-[0142]).
Regarding Claim 4; the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, based on a distance between the mobile device and a third home appliance, the distance being calculated with respect to the third home appliance having same space information as a second home appliance and comprising a BLE communication module, calculate a distance between the mobile device and the second home appliance not comprising a BLE communication module from among the at least one home appliance. (Han; at least paragraphs [0139]-[0142]).
Regarding Claim 10; the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, based on receiving a first message output standby request from a first mobile device and receiving a second message output standby request from a second mobile device, obtain a distance between the first mobile device and each of the at least one home appliance, and obtain a distance between the second mobile device and each of the at least one home appliance, and when it is identified that the first mobile device and the second mobile device exist within the first distance from the first home appliance, outputting, via the first home appliance, a message corresponding to a message output standby request transmitted from a mobile device which is closer to the first home appliance from among the first mobile device and the second mobile device. (Han; at least paragraphs [0139]-[0142] and [0152]-[154]).
Regarding Claim 11; the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, based on receiving selection information about a home appliance set to output a message, transmit the message output standby request to the home appliance selected from the selection information from among the at least one home appliance, and not to transmit the message output standby request to a home appliance that is not selected from the selection information. (Baek; at least paragraph [0078]).
Regarding Claim 15; the combination of Han and Baek teach; A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing, on a computer, the home appliance control method of claim 12. (Han; at least paragraphs [0139]-[0142]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (US PGPUB 20160105331) in view of Baek (KR20110080705A) in further view of Kim et al. (US PGPUB 20070157244).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Han and Baek teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, when the message output standby request is an urgent type, control a home appliance to output a message as an audio signal corresponding to the message output standby request, the home appliance comprising a speaker and being from among the at least one home appliance. (Han; at least paragraphs [0114], [0117], and [0139]-[0142]).
The combination of Han and Baek appear to be silent on; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, when the message output standby request is an urgent type, control a home appliance to output a message as an audio signal corresponding to the message output standby request, the home appliance comprising a speaker and being from among the at least one home appliance.
However, Kim teach; The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, when the message output standby request is an urgent type, control a home appliance to output a message as an audio signal corresponding to the message output standby request, the home appliance comprising a speaker and being from among the at least one home appliance. (Kim; at least Fig. 5; paragraphs [0053]-[0055]; disclose determining whether an incoming message is an urgent type, and outputting the urgent message to a user device based on programmed settings (i.e. the output priority as taught by Han and Baek)).
Han, Baek, and Kim are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor or problem solving area of, appliance message control systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the disclosed invention to have incorporated the known method of outputting urgent messages as taught by Kim with the known system of a smart appliance communication and control system as taught by Han and Baek in order to provide a method which improves a user’s convenience while still alerting them to urgent situations as taught by Kim (see paragraph [0003]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 5 recites: “The home appliance control device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to broadcast the message output standby request to the at least one home appliance via the communication interface, based on determining that the mobile device is in a use state, and
receive, after broadcasting the message output standby request, distance information indicating whether a user exists within the first distance, from each of the at least one home appliance.”
The present application is directed towards improvement in smart appliance communication and control technologies. In particular, as a user’s smart phone becomes increasingly integrated with home appliances, resulting in automated actuation and annunciation of various preprogrammed situations, there exist times when a user might not wish to have an automated actuation occur such as a speaker reading a newly received message that might include sensitive information. Further, if the user is engaged in an activity on their mobile device, it might disrupt what they are doing and cause inconvenience to the user. The present application seeks to improve upon this, and specifically within the breadth of this claim by monitoring the active state of the user’s device as well as distance information prior to engaging in actuating any devices. This prevents inconvenient situations that can possibly occur while a person is engaged in a video/phone call.
The closes prior art is Han (US PGPUB 20160105331) in view of Baek (KR20110080705A). Han discloses a position based actuation and control system and method in which a user’s distance is measured based upon a desired actuation of a smart device, and in response to the user being within a proximity of a device, actuating said device. Baek, similarly discloses a system and method for providing distance based control of appliances in which a user’s distance can be measured within proximity of various smart appliance, and in response to being within a certain distance, access to control of various appliances within a zone can be controlled. However, neither include monitoring the state of the user’s device before consideration of actuation and thus are silent on, “wherein the at least one processor is configured to broadcast the message output standby request to the at least one home appliance via the communication interface, based on determining that the mobile device is in a use state, and
receive, after broadcasting the message output standby request, distance information indicating whether a user exists within the first distance, from each of the at least one home appliance.”
Dependent claims 6-8 all depend upon objected to claim 5, and thus, if incorporated into independent form with the entirety of claim 5, would thus be considered allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Park et al. (US PGPUB 20160006864): disclose a system and method for allowing a user to connect with various smart devices within a given zone and subsequently provide and display messages on the given devices.
Wakefield et al. (US PGPUB 20080180228): disclose a proximity based appliance messaging and control system and method in which a user’s location is monitored and determined using sensors, and based on a detected location, actuating devices to operate within given settings automatically.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER W CARTER whose telephone number is (469)295-9262. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER W CARTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2117