Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/397,086

Method and Apparatus for Event Triggered Positioning of Enterprise Premises Equipment in a Wireless Network

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Dec 27, 2023
Examiner
PHUNKULH, BOB A
Art Unit
2412
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Celona Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allow Rate
835 granted / 935 resolved
+31.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
962
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.1%
-34.9% vs TC avg
§103
40.4%
+0.4% vs TC avg
§102
32.9%
-7.1% vs TC avg
§112
8.8%
-31.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 935 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . DETAILED ACTION Claim Objections Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the subject claimed matter in the preamble of the claim “including” is transitional term or phase should be change to well-known term -comprising— (see MPEP 2111.03(I)). Appropriate correction is required. 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) 1-5, 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CANNELL et al. (US 10,488,910 A1), hereinafter CANNELL. Regarding claim 1, CANNELL discloses a method of determining the position of an EPE (Enterprise Premises Equipment) (tracking assets in an environment, see col. 5 lines 15-23), including establishing a DLS (Device Location Service) service for EPEs in an enterprise network (an RTLS server the monitors and/or reports tracking location and interactions between people and assets in an environment (eg. the hospital), see col. 5 lines 15-23). Regarding claim 2, CANNELL discloses the EPEs (Enterprise Premises Equipment) have states including Dormant State, Active Normal State, and Active Emergency State (the device 200 can operate in one of a plurality of modes including a shipping mode, a sleep mode, a configuration mode, an operating or normal mode, etc.., see col. 15 lines 36-60). Regarding claim 3, CANNELL discloses learning and maintaining list of available networks in the vicinity of the EPE, in the EPE or the DLS (the RTLS sever is in communication with the reader badge 125 via one or more wireless networks, see col. 9 lines 26-40). Regarding claim 4, CANNELL discloses the EPE makes measurements including at least one of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE, NR, and Camera feeds, and reports the measurements to the DLS (the RTLS server 155 utilizes the signal strength information 145 included in the first subset of reader messages 430 to determine a nearest fixed-location asset. For example, a relatively stronger RSSI value may indicate that the broadcasting beacon tag 105 is closer in proximity to the reader badge 125 than a beacon tag 105 associated with a relatively weaker RSSI value, see col. 9 lines 41-63; the RSSI value is measured based on beacon message according to Bluetooth, see col. 8 lines 49- col. 9 line 5). Regarding claim 5, CANNELL discloses the EPE optimizes measurements of cells in the LTE/NR private network, and macro neighbors (the RTLS server 155 utilizes the signal strength information 145 included in the first subset of reader messages 430 to determine a nearest fixed-location asset, see col. 9 lines 41-63; where the RTLS server 155 is in communication with the reader badge 125 via one or more wireless networks represented by example network 160. Example network 160 may be implemented using any suitable wireless network(s) including, for example, one or more data busses, one or more wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), one or more cellular networks, the Internet, etc, see col. 9 lines 26-40). Regarding claim 7, CANNELL discloses the EPE includes a light source that generates a light beam to aid in visually spotting the EPE (a peripheral such as an LED and/or other light/visual indicator positioned on and/or in a housing for the device 200 can indicate whether the device 200 is turned on/off, in a particular mode, etc. For example, the device 200 can operate in one of a plurality of modes including a shipping mode, a sleep mode, a configuration mode, an operating or normal mode, etc. The indicator and/or the device 200 can act differently depending on in which mode the device 200 is operating, see col. 15 lines 36-60). Regarding claim 8, CANNELL discloses the light source generates infrared radiation (the device 200 can operate in one of a plurality of modes including a shipping mode, a sleep mode, a configuration mode, an operating or normal mode, etc. The indicator and/or the device 200 can act differently depending on in which mode the device 200 is operating. For example, the indication provided by the indicator can be a different color, different pattern, flashing, etc., based on the mode, see col. 15 lines 36-60). 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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CANNELL in view of PERKINS (US 2013/0257614 A1). Regarding claim 6, CANNELL fails to disclose the EPE locally specific markers in the building and/or uses the DLS to perform the image recognition to determine location. In the same field of endeavor, PERKINS discloses the system 50 is preferably employed at a facility 70 such as a business office, factory, home, hospital and/or government agency building… The real-time location information for each of the objects is preferably displayed on an image of a floor plan of the facility 70, or if the facility 70 has multiple floors, then on the floor plan images of the floors of the facility 70. The floor plan image may be used with a graphical user interface of a computer, personal digital assistant, or the like so that an individual of the facility 70 is able to quickly locate objects 100 within the facility 70 (see ¶ 0066). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PERKINS’s teaching in the network taught by CANNELL able to quickly locate medical equipment(s) within the facility having multiple floors and buildings to use in emergency events. Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CANNELL in view of MEDEMA et al. (US 2003/0025602 A1), hereinafter MEDEMA. Regarding claim 9, CANNELL fails to disclose EPE sends text message(s) to notify specific individuals in the event of an emergency. In the same field of endeavor, MEDEMA discloses a medical device of the ALI-capable system is configured to transmit various information to the remote locating service over the network, such as the status or condition of the medical device (battery level, etc.), self-test results, or even physiological data of a patient being treated with the medical device. This may be performed upon inquiry from the remote locating service, periodically, or even automatically... This feature allows an operator at the remote locating service to not only identify the location of the medical device but also monitor the medical device itself or events occurring in association with the medical device at the remote emergency site. A user of the medical device and an operator of the remote locating service can also communicate with each other verbally, via text messaging, and/or graphical messaging in conventional manners (see ¶ 0007). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement MEDEMA’s teaching of the medical device transmitting text messaging in an event of emergency in the device taught by CANNELL for reliably locating a portable medical device, such as an AED, by utilizing wireless automatic location identification (ALI) technologies in event of emergency. Conclusion Any response to this action should be mailed to: The following address mail to be delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) only: Mail Stop _____________ Commissioner for Patents P. O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 or faxed to: (571) 273-8300, (for formal communications intended for entry) Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bob A. Phunkulh whose telephone number is (571) 272-3083. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (first week of the bi-week) and Monday-Friday (for second week of the bi-week). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor CHARLES C. JIANG can be reach on (571) 270-7191. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /BOB A PHUNKULH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 27, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
89%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+9.4%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 935 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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