FIRST NON-FINAL REJECTION
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 .
Drawings
Figures 4 and 5 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the matched TPMS" in line 5 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the TPMS main control unit" in line 6 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van Wiemeersch et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0225034 in view of Katou U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0153120.
With respect to clams 1 and 5, Van Wiemeersch teaches a car door-triggered tire pressure detection system (figure 1) comprising: an on-board unit including an ECU unit electrically connected to a main high-frequency transceiver module (on-board computing unit 402 connected to high frequency communications module 120, paragraphs 27, 52, and 53, figure 4), a main display (display 418), and a door sensing module (door ajar sensor 110), and multiple TPMS each including a TPMS main control unit electrically connected to a TPMS high-frequency transceiver module (TPMS sensors 118 each having a high frequency antenna, paragraphs 27-28), each TPMS high-frequency transceiver module matching with the main high-frequency transceiver module through high-frequency wireless signals (paragraphs 27-28), when the door sensing module detects an opening of a car door, the main display displays tire pressure values returned by each TPMS (a door open pre-driving event triggers the TPMS sensors to collect tire pressures display a tire pressure to a user, paragraphs, 36 38, 44, figure 5).
Van Wiemeersch fails to teach the on-board unit excluding a vehicle low-frequency circuit and a vehicle low-frequency antenna and each TPMS excluding a TPMS low-frequency circuit and a TPMS low-frequency antenna
Katou teaches a tire condition monitoring apparatus (abstract) having a vehicle 1, four sensor units 3 attached to the four wheels 5 of the vehicle 1, and a control unit 4 mounted on the body of the vehicle 1 (paragraph 33, figure 1), and where each sensor unit 3 includes a pressure sensor 21, a temperature sensor 22, a sensor unit controller 23, an RF transmission circuit 24, and an RF reception circuit 25 (paragraph 39). The pressure sensor 21 measures the internal air pressure of the corresponding tire 6, outputs the air pressure data obtained by the measurement to the sensor unit controller 23 (paragraph 40), and the sensor unit controller 23 generates a tire condition data signal that contains air pressure data, temperature data, and an ID code, and sends the tire condition data signal to the RF transmission circuit 24 (paragraph 41).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the system of Van Wiemeersch and only use high frequency antennas as taught by Katou in order to provide a tire condition monitoring apparatus, while simplifying the structure and reducing costs (Katou, paragraph 7).
With respect to claims 2, 3, 6, and 7, Van Wiemeersch teaches wherein signal transmission methods of the main high-frequency transceiver module and the TPMS high-frequency transceiver module are BLE (Bluetooth low energy), OOK (on-off keying), RFID (radio frequency identification), WI-FI, UWB (ultra-wideband), Zigbee (zonal intercommunication global standard), LPWAN (low-power wide-area network) (the communications module 120 includes Bluetooth communications and UWB communications, paragraphs 27-28), and wherein the main high-frequency transceiver module comprises a main high-frequency antenna and a main high-frequency RF unit (interpreted as the Bluetooth and UWB communications), the TPMS high-frequency transceiver module comprises a TPMS high-frequency antenna and a TPMS high-frequency RF unit (the TPMS has the corresponding communications, paragraphs 34-35).
With respect to claims 4 and 8, Van Wiemeersch teaches wherein the main high-frequency transceiver module matches with a car key using high-frequency signals (The communication module 120 includes hardware and firmware to establish a wireless connection with the mobile device 122 that may also function as a key, paragraph 28), the car key includes a car key display, when the main display displays the tire pressure values returned by each TPMS, the car key display synchronously displays the same tire pressure values (the TPMS controller 130 sends a signal to the mobile device 122 of the user 124, via the communication module 120, to present the tire pressure measurement(s) and/or low-pressure alert to the user 124 via the mobile device 122, paragraph 44).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDDIE KIRKLAND III whose telephone number is (571)272-2232. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Breene can be reached at (571) 272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
FREDDIE KIRKLAND III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
/Freddie Kirkland III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 1/22/2026