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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/08/2025 and 10/20/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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) 1-5, 7-9, 11-13, 15-17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vancraybex et al. (US 2020/0019791 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 12 and 20, Vancraybex discloses a method (e.g. Abstract), a computer program product (e.g. [0148]) comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising an executable portion configured to: and an apparatus (e.g. Figs. 1-4: 108) comprising at least one processor (e.g. Fig. 4: 408), and at least one memory (e.g. Fig. 4: 406) including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
access multipoint location gas indication data (e.g. [0083]: measurements from gas detectors);
generate a multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component (e.g. Figs. 7A-7B & [0095]): first row of 702 & Fig. 13F & Fig. 13G) based at least in part on the multipoint location gas indication data;
output the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component for rendering to a multipoint location gas indication status interface of a computing device (e.g. Fig. 7A & [0095]: user interface 700) associated with the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component;
generate a point location alert gas interface component based at least in part on point location alert gas data (e.g. Fig. 13G: alarm setting data);
generate an adjusted multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component (e.g. [0102]: the displayed monitoring data is continually updated); and
output the point location alert gas interface component and the adjusted multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component for rendering to the multipoint location gas indication status interface of the computing device associated with the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component (e.g. Figs. 13F & 13G: continually monitored gas data at different point locations are displayed, and alarm level/setting and indication are displayed).
Regarding claim 2, Vancraybex discloses the multipoint location gas indication status interface comprises a first multipoint location gas indication status portion and a second multipoint location gas indication status portion (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13: multiple windows for multiple gas data display).
Regarding claim 3, Vancraybex discloses the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component is configured to be rendered to the first multipoint location gas indication status portion and the second multipoint location gas indication status portion of the multipoint location gas indication status interface (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13: multiple windows for multiple gas data display).
Regarding claim 4, Vancraybex discloses the adjusted multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component is configured to be rendered to the first multipoint location gas indication status portion of the multipoint location gas indication status interface and the point location alert gas interface component to be rendered to the second multipoint location gas indication status portion of the multipoint location gas indication status interface (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13 & [0102]: continually monitored and updated gas data is displayed).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Vancraybex discloses the program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: generate a point location service status interface component, a point location maintenance fault interface component, a point location instrument fault interface component, or a point location event interface component (e.g. Fig. 13F: service status: “Flow rate: Normal”).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Vancraybex discloses the multipoint location gas indication data is indicative of at least one of a plurality of point location site identifiers, a plurality of point location unique identification identifiers, a plurality of point location gas type identifier, a plurality of point location gas concentration indicators, or a plurality of point location status indicators (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13: gas concentration data).
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Vancraybex discloses the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component comprises a plurality of point location gas indication interface components (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13: plurality of display window correspond to different sensors and sensor data).
Regarding claims 9 and 17, Vancraybex discloses each of the plurality of point location gas indication interface components is configured to display at least one of a point location site interface component, a point location unique identification interface component, a point location gas type interface component, a point location gas concentration interface component, or a point location status interface component (e.g. Figs. 7 & 13: gas concentration data).
Regarding claims 11 and 19, Vancraybex discloses the point location alert gas interface component is configured to display at least one of a point location alert gas subsidiary interface component or a point location alert action gas interface component (e.g. Fig. 13G: alarm and other settings).
20. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising an executable portion configured to: access multipoint location gas indication data; generate a multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component based at least in part on the multipoint location gas indication data; output the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component for rendering to a multipoint location gas indication status interface of a computing device associated with the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component; generate a point location alert gas interface component based at least in part on point location alert gas data; generate an adjusted multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component; and output the point location alert gas interface component and the adjusted multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component for rendering to the multipoint location gas indication status interface of the computing device associated with the multipoint location gas indication aggregation interface component.
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) 6 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vancraybex et al. (US 2020/0019791 A1) in view of Rutherford (US 7,075,653 B1).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Vancraybex discloses the program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: generate the point location alert gas data (e.g. Fig. 13G: alarm setting data).
Vancraybex fails to explicitly disclose how to determine a gas anomaly;
However, wherein generating the multipoint location gas indication data comprises: determining that a point location site is associated with a gas anomaly event using an optical analysis technique (e.g. Abstract & col 5 line 62 to col 6 line 25).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vancraybex with teachings of Rutherford to detect gas leak by well-known in the art optical leak detection method. The modification would have yielded only predictable results to one skilled in the art since it is merely simple substitutions of one known technique with another according to KSR (i.e. replacing gas leak detection method of Vancraybex with gas leak detection method of Rutherford).
Claim(s) 10 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vancraybex et al. (US 2020/0019791 A1) in view of Anders et al. (US 2019/0166343 A1).
Regarding claims 10 and 18, Vancraybex fails to disclose, but Anders teaches at least a portion of the point location alert gas interface component is associated with a deuteranopia type configuration, a protanopia type configuration, a tritanopia type configuration, or a monochromacy type configuration (e.g. Abstract & [0069]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vancraybex with teachings of Anders to utilize known data setting configurations (e.g. protanopia, deuteranopia and/or tritanopia) to optimized computer display rendering. The modification would have yielded only predictable results to one skilled in the art since Anders teaches the claimed setting configurations are well-known in the art for display rendering, and it is merely simple substitutions one known display rendering configuration with another (i.e. replacing configuration of Vancraybex with display configuration of Anders) according to KSR.
Conclusion
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/KAM WAN MA/Examiner, Art Unit 2688