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 .
The application of Wechsler et al. for a “premises access system” filed January 11, 2024 has been examined.
This application is a CON of 17/529,865, filed on November 18, 2021, now US# 11,908,257,
which is a CON of 16/242,605, filed on January 18, 2019, now US# 11,210,878.
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application number 62/614,968, which is filed on January 8, 2018.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, claims 1-9, and 14-20 in the reply filed on 1/5/2026 is acknowledged.
A preliminary amendment to the claims 9-13 has been entered and made of record. Claims 9-13 are cancelled.
The new set of claims 21-25 are introduced.
Claims 1-8 and 14-25 are pending.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Under cross references to related applications CON status needs to be updated. Serial number 17/529,865, filed on November 18, 2021, now US# 11,908,257.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 and 14-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by High et al. (Pub. No. US 2018/0096270).
Referring to claim 1, High et al. disclose a method (100) (a product delivery system) (page 1 paragraph 0012; see Figures 1 to 4) comprising:
based on an indication of a package for delivery to a premises (i.e. a building) (page 2 paragraph 0013; see Figure 1), determining an environmental condition (i.e. the product receiving systems 104 include one or more temperature control systems 316 associated with one or more package compartments, which are configured to maintain the package compartment at desired temperature and/or temperature threshold associated with one or more products placed within that package compartment) (page 3 paragraph 0023; see Figures 1 to 3);
based on the environmental condition, selecting a first portion of the premises, of a
plurality of portions of the premises, to which access is controlled by an access device (104) (i.e. the control circuit 210 is further configured to receive one or more customer specified delivery restrictions. These restricts can be set by customers regarding delivery parameters, such as but not limited to timing, mode of delivery, types of products, sources of products, delivery services, weight, delivery location, proximity of customer, other such parameters, and often two or more of such parameters. A customer may restrict whether and/or when products that have to be temperature controlled can be delivered, and these times may be different for products that are to be kept cold, versus products that are to be kept warm) (page 3 paragraphs 0023 and 0025; page 5 paragraphs 0032 and 0035; see Figure 3); and
causing the access device (104) to perform an action to provide access to the first portion of the premises (i.e. In step 408, an access door 304 can be authorized to be unlocked when the delivery corresponds with the one or more delivery restrictions (e.g., when the time that the delivery vehicle intends to deliver the package corresponds with the delivery time delivery restriction, when a type of product being delivered is consistent with a product restriction, when a customer or a customer's smartphone is within a threshold distance of the product receiving system, when a product is at a temperature that is within a threshold of a temperature restriction, when a weight of the product corresponds with a weight restriction, and other such restrictions). Some embodiments may consider a combination of two or more of such restrictions, and in some instances one or more restrictions may be dependent on one or more other restrictions) (page 3 paragraph 0023; page 6 paragraph 0038; see Figures 3 and 4).
Referring to claim 2, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the package indicates a physical characteristic of the package (i.e. the weight of the package), and wherein the selecting the first portion of the premises is further based on the physical characteristic of the package (i.e. the control circuit is further configured to receive one or more customer specified delivery restrictions. These restricts can be set by customers regarding delivery parameters, such as but not limited to timing, mode of delivery, types of products, sources of products, delivery services, weight, delivery location, proximity of customer, other such parameters, and often two or more of such parameters) (page 3 paragraph 0025; page 6 paragraph 0038; see Figure 3).
Referring to claim 3, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the package indicates at least one of: a size of the package, a fragility of the package, or a perishability of the package (i.e. alcoholic beverages), and wherein the selecting the first portion of the premises is further based on the at least one of the size of the package, the fragility of the package, or the perishability of the package (i.e. a customer setting limits on whether alcoholic beverages and/or prescription medications can be delivered and/or when alcoholic beverages and/or prescription medications can be delivered. In some instances, the central control system may learn over time based on customer actions (e.g., failure to retrieve items, complaints, returns, etc.). Similarly, some restrictions may be temporary restrictions, such as when a customer is on vacation, while kids are on break from school, etc. In some embodiments, the customer specified delivery restrictions can include alternate delivery options in the event that a delivery does not comply with one or more other delivery restrictions. For example, an alternate option may direct the delivery to a different product receiving system) (page 4 paragraph 0025).
Referring to claim 4, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the determining the environmental condition comprises determining the environmental condition based on weather information (i.e. some embodiments determine a temperature threshold (i.e. weather information) associated with a product. An access door can be unlocked and/or opened based on temperature threshold associated with the product, and enabling the first product to be deposited through the access door and into the package compartment based on the temperature threshold. A temperature is controlled within the package compartment based on the temperature threshold) (page 7 paragraph 0045).
Referring to claim 5, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the premises comprises at least one of: a door (304) (page 3 paragraph 0022; page 6 paragraph 0038; see Figures 3 and 4).
Referring to claim 6, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the access device (104) comprises an electronic lock (308), and wherein the causing the access device to perform the action comprises sending a signal configured to cause the electronic lock (308) to unlock (i.e. (i.e. the control circuit can activate at least one locking system 308 to unlock an access door of the multiple access doors as a function of the delivery vehicle being the first type of delivery vehicle and enabling the one or more packages to be received through the access door.) (page 3 paragraph 0023; page 5 paragraph 0033; page 6 paragraph 0038; see Figures 3 and 4).
Referring to claim 7, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting a first video camera (226), of a plurality of video cameras of the premises, based on the selected first portion of the premises; and sending a control signal to the first video camera (i.e. The one or more sensors may include an RFID tag reader, a camera and text capture system, measurement devices to measure dimensions of a product and/or package, a scale or weight detector, and/or other such sensors. Further, in some applications, the control circuit can confirm a complete order and/or communicate product identifier information to have the central control system confirm one or more products and/or a complete order. Similarly, the control circuit can confirm that an unexpected or extra product was not included in the delivery) (page 2 paragraph 0018; page 4 paragraph 0031; see Figure 2).
Referring to claim 8, High et al. disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on the environmental condition, the action (i.e. a customer may enter a user access code into a key pad 310 or other interface of the product receiving system, communicate an access code from a user interface unit, or the like, and the control circuit can activate the locking system to unlock in response to confirming the accuracy of the access code, authenticating a user interface unit, and/or taking other such security actions. In some embodiments, the product receiving systems include one or more temperature control systems 316 associated with one or more package compartments, which are configured to maintain the package compartment at desired temperature and/or temperature threshold associated with one or more products placed within that package compartment.) (page 3 paragraph 0023; page 6 paragraph 0038; see Figures 3 and 4).
Referring to claims 14-25, High et al. disclose a computing device and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, although different in scope from the claims 1-8, the claims 14-25 contains similar limitations in that the claims 1-8 already addressed above therefore claims 14-25 are also rejected for the same reasons given with respect to claims 1-8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to the enclosed PTO-892 for details.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAM V NGUYEN whose telephone number is 571-272-3061. Fax number is (571) 273-3061. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM Monday to Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached on 571-272-3114. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications.
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/NAM V NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685