DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to applicant’s Amendment which is filed on June 26, 2026.
An amendment to amend the claims 1, 4, 6, 14, 17-18, 21 and 24 has been entered and made of record on the application of Wechsler et al. for a “premises access system” filed January 11, 2024.
Claims 9-13 are cancelled.
Claims 1-8 and 14-25 are now pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
In view of applicant’s amendment to amend the Specification for the Cross-Reference section, therefore, examiner has withdrawn the objection of the Specification.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-8 and 14-25, filed on June 26, 2026, have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 1-8 and 14-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over High et al. (Pub. No. US 2018/0096270) in view of Lindbo (US# 11,375,838).
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 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).
However, High et al. did not explicitly disclose based on an indication of a package for delivery to a premises, determining an environmental condition of the premises.
In the same field of endeavor of a storage container system, Lindbo teaches that based on an indication of a package for delivery to a premises (2) (a locker housing), determining an environmental condition (i.e. a temperature) of the premises (i.e. the locker housing 2 and/or the environmental control unit 10 may also include one or more control systems that are configured to provide various intelligent functionality, such as the automatic engaging of a latch, control of the locking of the environmental control unit, the automatic reporting of a door not being shut for a period of time, the automatic reporting of temperatures above/beyond a predefined range, the automatic reporting of an environmental control unit 10 not being properly disposed within a locker housing 2, the automatic reporting of the efficiency of operation of an environmental control unit 10, the automatic reporting of the sealing status of refrigerator compartments 6 and freezer compartments 7, the automatic tracking of maintenance schedules, the automatic reporting of maintenance problems, the automatic control of humidity, the automatic reporting of unauthorized access, and/or the automatic adjustment of temperatures based on predefined factors (e.g., season, external temperature, maximum power consumption) (column 8 lines 25 to 63; see Figures 1 to 5) in order to store room temperature controlled item into the compartment.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for a method of automatic reporting of temperature above/beyond the predefined range to store the large thermal capacity is expected to be placed into the compartment taught by Lindbo in the methods of enable the delivery of retail product to store in the temperature control system associated with the package compartments of High et al. because having automatic reporting of temperature above/beyond the predefined range to store the large thermal capacity is expected to be placed into the compartment would provide a flexible and appropriate way to store products in the temperature control systems.
Referring to claim 2, High et al. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose 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. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose 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. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, Lindbo discloses wherein the environmental condition comprises weather information associated with the premises, and wherein the selecting the first portion of the premises is based on the weather information. (i.e. the one or more control systems may be configured to automatically adjust various features associated with the locker housing 2 and/or the environmental control unit 10. For example, where the outside temperature is expected to fall below freezing, the one or more control systems may be configured to automatically prepare a number of environmental control units 10 to initiate warming functions in anticipation of the requirements of customer orders. Conversely, where the outside temperature is high, a number of environmental control units 10 may initiate cooling functions in anticipation of higher demand for cooler compartments) (column 8 lines 52 to column 9 line 11).
Referring to claim 5, High et al. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose 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. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose wherein the access device (104) comprises an electronic lock (308) of the premises, 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. 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. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose 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. in view Lindbo disclose the method of claim 1, High et al. disclose 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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
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