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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to amendment/reconsideration filed on 12/23/2025, the amendment/reconsideration has been considered. Claims 1, and 11 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending for examination as cited below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In remarks applicant argues:
(a) In remarks applicant argues, that cited references does not teach, “displaying a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented, the second home appliance being selected among a plurality of home appliances, wherein the second home appliance is selected by comparing location measurement values of the plurality of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances.”
Examiner respectfully disagree because the cited reference specifically “KO” discloses, the above limitations e.g. Ko discloses in [0152], fig.6, The controller 58 may control the communication unit 51 to process an input/output signal, data, information, etc. or to communicate with the mobile terminal 10 or the reference devices 30. The controller 58 may compare location information about the electronic device 50 received from the mobile terminal 10 or the server 70 with a location of the electronic device 50 measured by the electronic device 50 and respond to the mobile terminal 10 or the server 70 according to a comparison result.
Ko further discloses in reference to fig.8 and [0155], When the mobile terminal 10 approaches the electronic device 50, the controller 18 can display a list of pre-registered electronic devices and other communicable/controllable electronic devices on the display unit 15. Herein, the mobile terminal 10 may list the electronic devices by identifying them by their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or Quick Response (QR) codes, by NFC, or by their received signal indication proximity.
(b) Applicant further argues that there is no motivation to combine the cited references.
Examiner respectfully disagree because, In order for a reference to be proper for use in an obviousness rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 , the reference must be analogous art to the claimed invention. In re Bigio, 381 F.3d 1320, 1325, 72 USPQ2d 1209, 1212 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The examiner must determine what is "analogous prior art" for the purpose of analyzing the obviousness of the subject matter at issue. "Under the correct analysis, any need or problem known in the field of endeavor at the time of the invention and addressed by the patent [or application at issue] can provide a reason for combining the elements in the manner claimed. " KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 420, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (2007). This does not require that the reference be from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, in light of the Supreme Court's instruction that "[w]hen a work is available in one field of endeavor, design incentives and other market forces can prompt variations of it, either in the same field or a different one." Id. at 417, 82 USPQ2d 1396. Rather, a reference is analogous art to the claimed invention if: (1) the reference is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (even if it addresses a different problem); or (2) the reference is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (even if it is not in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention). See Bigio, 381 F.3d at 1325, 72 USPQ2d at 1212.
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.
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 non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammerschmidt et al. (Pub. No.: US 2022/0137177 A1), hereinafter “Ham” in view of Wu et al. (Pub. No.: US 2023/0024254 A1), hereinafter “Wu” and further in view of Ko et al. (Pub. No.: US 2015/0326704 A1), hereinafter “Ko”.
As to claim 1. Ham discloses a method of controlling a user equipment (UE) (Ham, Abstract, fig.1) the method comprising:
receiving a user input for a control graphical user interface (GUI) request through a device registration GUI displayed on the UE (Ham, fig.1, [0077], a handheld device 110 communicates with other handheld, stationary, or Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices to measure distances or other positioning metrics such as directions of appearance of devices with respect to each other.);
transmitting, to a first home appliance having an ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna embedded therein, a location identification request signal (Ham, fig.3, [0079], to enable a determination of a mutual range or position of devices, a technique used by wireless systems such as UWB is to compute a Channel Impulse Response (CIR) 306. A CIR 306 may represent a profile of direct and indirect (reflected) wireless propagation paths between two devices such as station A 302 and station B 304,).
Ham however is silent to disclose explicitly, based on user input locating a home appliance using UWB signal; displaying a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented, the second home appliance being selected among a plurality of home appliances, wherein the second home appliance is selected by comparing location measurement values of the plurality of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances.
Wu discloses a similar concept in the same field of endeavor e.g. based on user input locating a home appliance using UWB signal (Wu, fig.5, [0047], The user 550 may be wearing one or more wearable electronic devices, such as a smartwatch, smartglasses, earbuds, pendant, ring, smart cloth clothing, etc. UWB sensors in the first and second smart home devices 560, 565 may detect a relative proximity of the user 550 to each device.).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wu into those of Ham to provide a device localization using ultrawide band (UWB) detection and gesture detection using inertial measurement units (IMUs) on one or more wearable devices to control smart devices, such as home assistants, smart lights, smart locks, etc.
Ham and Wu however are silent to disclose explicitly, displaying a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented the second home appliance being selected among a plurality of home appliances, wherein the second home appliance is selected by comparing location measurement values of the plurality of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances.
Ko discloses a similar concept in the same field of endeavor including, displaying a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented, wherein the second home appliance is determined by comparing location measurement values of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal (Ko, [0152], The controller 58 may compare location information about the electronic device 50 received from the mobile terminal 10 or the server 70 with a location of the electronic device 50 measured by the electronic device 50 and respond to the mobile terminal 10 or the server 70 according to a comparison result and fig.10, [0160], if the user directs the mobile terminal 10 toward an intended electronic device 50 or applies a touch input (dragging or flicking) to the display unit 15, the controller 18 determines whether the direction of the mobile terminal 10 or the direction of the touch input matches the location of the electronic device 50 registered on a map),
transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances (Ko, fig.8, [0155], When the mobile terminal 10 approaches the electronic device 50, the controller 18 can display a list of pre-registered electronic devices and other communicable/controllable electronic devices on the display unit 15. Herein, the mobile terminal 10 may list the electronic devices by identifying them by their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or Quick Response (QR) codes, by NFC, or by their received signal indication proximity.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Ko into those of Ham and Wu to provide a method for controlling a mobile terminal, and which includes establishing communication connections, via a communication unit of the mobile terminal, with a plurality of reference devices, for a location-based service to calculate a current location of the mobile terminal; displaying a list of controllable devices on a display unit of the mobile terminal based on the calculated current location of the mobile terminal; receiving, via a controller of the mobile terminal, a selection of a specific device from displayed list of controllable devices.
As to claim 2. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance includes information related to other peripheral devices of the UE (Ko, fig.13, [0164], the controller 18 can provide a UI for setting the length of the virtual straight line. If one or more registered electronic devices 50 are located on the virtual straight line, the controller 18 displays a list of the electronic devices 50 on the display unit 15, as illustrated in FIG. 13. The list may include identification information about the electronic devices 50. The controller 18 can arrange the identification information about the electronic devices 50 in order of the distances between the mobile terminal 10 and the electronic devices 50.).
As to claim 3. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the information related to other peripheral devices of the UE includes at least one of a test or an image indicating a device name or a device type (Ko, fig.13, [0164], the controller 18 can provide a UI for setting the length of the virtual straight line. If one or more registered electronic devices 50 are located on the virtual straight line, the controller 18 displays a list of the electronic devices 50 on the display unit 15, as illustrated in FIG. 13. The list may include identification information about the electronic devices 50. The controller 18 can arrange the identification information about the electronic devices 50 in order of the distances between the mobile terminal 10 and the electronic devices 50.).
As to claim 4. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the information related to other peripheral devices of the UE is determined based on location measurement values of the other peripheral devices measured with respect to the first home appliance (Ko, fig.13, [0164]).
As to claim 5. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance includes an icon for a UWB mode or an icon for a fixed mode (Ko, fig.48, [0263)].
As to claim 6. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein in case that the control GUI includes the icon for the UWB mode, a to-be-controlled home appliance of the control GUI changes based on a direction in which the UE is oriented (Ko, fig.15-17, [0167]).
As to claim 7. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein in case that the control GUI includes the icon for the UWB mode, the icon for the UWB mode is changed to the icon for the fixed mode upon receiving at least one of a gesture, a voice command, and a user input to touch the icon for the UWB mode (Ko, fig.54, [0273]).
As to claim 8. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein in case that the control GUI includes the icon for the fixed mode and a direction in which the UE is oriented is changed, a list of home appliances included in information related to other peripheral devices of UE displayed on the control GUI is changed (Ko, fig.54, [0273]).
As to claim 9. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the displaying of the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance comprises: displaying the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance and a control GUI for controlling a third home appliance toward which the UE is oriented (Ko, fig.53, [0272]).
As to claim 10. The combined system of Ham, Wu and Ko discloses the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein the displaying of the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance comprises: in case that the UE receives a user input of dragging an icon associated with a third home appliance from the information related to other peripheral devices of the UE, displaying the control GUI for controlling the second home appliance and a control GUI for controlling the third home appliance (Ko, fig.19,20 [0172]. Furthermore, the various function as recited in the claims are merely an intended use, obvious variations and design choices which can be tailored according the situation or the liking).
Claims 11-20 are rejected for same rationale as discussed above in reference to claims 1-10.
Double Patenting
The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non-statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on non-statutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a non-statutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1 and 11 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, and 10 of U.S. Patent No. 11,863,340. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because see the table below:
Instant Application: 18/398,282 U.S. Patent No.: 11,863,340
1. (currently amended): A method of controlling a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
receiving a user input for a control graphical user interface (GUI) request through a device registration GUI displayed on the UE;
based on the user input, transmitting, to a first home appliance having an ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna embedded therein, a location identification request signal; and
displaying a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented, the second home appliance being selected among a plurality of home appliances, wherein the second home appliance is selected by comparing location measurement values of the plurality of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and
the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances.
1. A method, performed by a server device, of controlling a home appliance, the method comprising:
receiving a distance measurement request signal from a user equipment; transmitting,
based on the received distance measurement request signal, an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication module activation signal to the user equipment and a second home appliance that includes a UWB antenna; receiving, from the second home appliance, a location measurement value of the user equipment measured with respect to the second home appliance, the location measurement value being based on a UWB signal between the user equipment and the second home appliance; determining location information about the user equipment, based on the location measurement value of the user equipment;
receiving, from a first home appliance that does not include a UWB antenna, information about the first home appliance; and
registering the first home appliance in the server device, based on the received information about the first home appliance and the location information about the user equipment.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a control graphical user interface (GUI) request signal from the user equipment; based on the received control GUI request signal, transmitting the UWB communication module activation signal to the user equipment and the second home appliance; receiving, from the second home appliance, the location measurement value of the user equipment measured in response to the location identification request signal transmitted from the user equipment; determining a third home appliance toward which the user equipment is oriented, based on the location measurement value of the user equipment; and providing a GUI for controlling the determined third home appliance to the user equipment.
11. (currently amended): A user equipment (UE) comprising: a communication module configured to communicate with a server device and at least one home appliance; an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication module configured to perform short-range wireless communication with the at least one home appliance; a memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor connected to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, by executing the one or more instructions: receive a user input for a control graphical user interface (GUI) request through a device registration GUI displayed on the UE; based on the user input, transmit, to a first home appliance having an ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna embedded therein, a location identification request signal; and display a control GUI for controlling a second home appliance toward which the UE is oriented, the second home appliance being selected among a plurality of home appliances, wherein the second home appliance is selected by comparing location measurement values of the plurality of home appliances registered in a server with a location measurement value of the UE measured by the first home appliance based on the location identification request signal transmitted by the UE to the first home appliance, and the selected second home appliance has location measurement value corresponding to the location measurement value of the UE among the plurality of home appliances.
10. A server device comprising: a communication interface configured to communicate with a user equipment and at least one home appliance; a memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the one or more instructions to: receive, via the communication interface, a distance measurement request signal from a user equipment; control the communication interface to transmit, based on the received distance measurement request signal, an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication module activation signal to the user equipment and a second home appliance that includes a UWB antenna; receive, from the second home appliance via the communication interface, a location measurement value of the user equipment measured with respect to the second home appliance, the location measurement value being based on a UWB signal between the user equipment and the second home appliance; determine location information about the user equipment, based on the location measurement value of the user equipment; receive, from a first home appliance that does not include a UWB antenna, information about the first home appliance; and register the first home appliance in the server device, based on the received information about the first home appliance and the location information about the user equipment.
18. The server device of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to: receive, via the communication interface, a control graphical user interface (GUI) request signal from the user equipment; control the communication interface to transmit the UWB communication module activation signal to the user equipment and the second home appliance, based on the received control GUI request signal; receive, from the second home appliance via the communication interface, the location measurement value of the user equipment measured in response to a location identification request signal transmitted from the user equipment; determine a third home appliance toward which the user equipment is oriented, based on the location measurement value of the user equipment; and control the communication interface to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling the determined third home appliance to the user equipment.
From the above table it can be seen, although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both set of claim compliment and encompasses the invention as a whole and intended to solve the same issue/problem.
Both the inventions describes a server device, a control method of the server device, and a control method of a user equipment to address a difficulty caused by failing to accurately measure a location of a home appliance that does not include a ultra-wideband (UWB) communication module, and to solve a problem in terms of user convenience in a process of connecting a home appliance in a state of a new product before network connection to a network and registering the home appliance in a server.
The dependent claims 2-10 and 12-19 carry the deficiencies from the base claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTO-892.
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/Tauqir Hussain/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446