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 .
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.
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.
Claims 1, 7, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yin et al (US # 6,987,457). The Yin reference discloses a system to monitor and control a water supply, comprising:
a plumbing fixture coupled to a water supply;
a temperature sensor (2) to generate temperature sensor data indicative of an ambient temperature around the plumbing fixture (Col. 5, ll. 20-23); and
a controller (10) including a battery power supply (Col. 4, ll. 41-45), the controller (10) is configured to determine a first battery level of the battery power supply (Col. 5, ll. 15-17), responsive to determining that the first battery level exceeds a first battery level threshold (Col. 5, ll. 14-15; Col. 7, ll. 49-50), the controller (10) is also configured to set a timer to a first time duration; the controller is further configured to determine a first temperature for the one or more temperature sensors based on the temperature sensor data and responsive to determining that the first temperature satisfies a first condition, the controller is also configured to cause a transmission of a first notification corresponding to the first condition to a remote computing device (Col. 6, ll. 17-46).
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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4, 5, 10, 11, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al (US # 6,987,457). With respect to claims 4, 10, & 17, value claims were known, and it would have been obvious to the ordinary practioner to attach the sensor to the pipe using an art recognized means for doing so motivated by its suitability for its intended purpose.
With respect to claims 5, 11, & 18, it would have been obvious to the ordinary practioner to
attach the sensor to any part of the plumbing system that was exposed to the weather.
Conclusion
Claims 2-3,6,8-9,12 and 14-16 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANDY W GIBSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2103. The examiner can normally be reached Tue-Friday 10AM-6PM.
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, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-272-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RANDY W. GIBSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2856
/RANDY W GIBSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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