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 .
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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chae KR-20180056361-A (hereinafter “Chae”, wherein citations refer to the provided English Translation).
Regarding claim 1, Chae discloses an air-conditioning device comprising: an information acquisition unit (e.g. Fig. 1, #100, indoor environment sensor) configured to acquire first information indicating environmental information (e.g. environment data) on an environment in which a target person has been placed in a past or biological information of the target person (e.g. pg. 3, last ¶ - pg. 4, 5th ¶, “Here, the…”); and a control unit (e.g. Fig. 1-2, #200, smart home energy appliance control apparatus 200) configured to grasp a habitual behavior pattern (e.g. life/living pattern) of the target person in the first information (e.g. pg. 3, last ¶ - pg. 4, 5th ¶, “Here, the…”; pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”), wherein the control unit is configured to set a target value of a first index (e.g. comfort index), which is an index related to a thermal environment, based on the first information acquired by the information acquisition unit and the grasped behavior pattern (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”).
Regarding claim 2, Chae discloses the air-conditioning device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to grasp the behavior pattern (e.g. pg. 3, last ¶ - pg. 4, 5th ¶, “Here, the…”; pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”), based on a report from the target person, operation information on an operation performed by the target person on the air-conditioning device, environmental information of a target space (e.g. pg. 3, last ¶ - pg. 4, 5th ¶, “Here, the…”), a behavior of the target person estimated from a camera image of the target space, an amount of clothing of the target person estimated from the camera image of the target space, or a voice of the target person in the target space.
Regarding claim 3, Chae discloses the air-conditioning device according to claim 1, wherein the target value of the first index is in a thermal environment in which a target person group (e.g. residents) corresponding to one behavior pattern among a plurality of classified behavior patterns feels thermally neutral (i.e. feels comfortable) (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”).
Regarding claim 4, Chae discloses the air-conditioning device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes an individual recognition unit configured to recognize an individual and a storage unit (e.g. data collection unit) configured to accumulate a behavior pattern for each recognized individual (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”), and is configured to set the target value of the first index, based on a past behavior pattern of the target person (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”).
Regarding claim 5, Chae discloses the air-conditioning device according to claim 1, wherein the first index is an index based on a temperature in the target space (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”), an index related to a human body exergy balance, a predicted mean vote (PMV), or the thermal environment.
Regarding claim 6, Chae discloses the air-conditioning device according to claim 5, wherein the index related to the human body exergy balance indicates a human body exergy consumption rate (e.g. pg. 5, 7th ¶ - pg. 6, 5th ¶, “In addition, the setting…”; pg. 7, 4th ¶ - pg. 8, 4th ¶, “The data collection unit…”, wherein the index is based on the temperature in the target space).
Regarding claim 11, Chae discloses a control system for an air-conditioning device comprising the control unit according to claim 1 (e.g. Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 7, Chae does not disclose an air-conditioning device wherein the control unit is configured to control, if the first index is the human body exergy consumption rate, a temperature, a humidity, a wind speed, or a radiation temperature of the target space so as to satisfy the target value.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES R KASENGE whose telephone number is (571)272-3743. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30am to 4pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Lo can be reached at (571) 272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CK
February 20, 2026
/CHARLES R KASENGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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