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 following is a non-final office action in response to the RCE filed 06/08/26. Amendments received on 06/08/2026 have been entered. Claims 1-20 are pending. foll
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Galera et al. (US Pub 2019/0147655) in view of VAN Betsbrugge et al. (US Pub 2019/0098504).
As of claims 1 and 11, Galera discloses a method within a computer system connected within a network for controlling access to information about one or more assets or locations within a premises (via controlling access to information about one or more industrial devices 120/industrial controller 118; see fig. 1) comprising:
receiving within a premises management system (via presentation system 302; see fig. 3; also see paragraph [0068]) operating on the network a user identifier associated with an individual user from a user device (via receiving user identity data from user device 206; see paragraph [0070], [0092] and [0127]);
authenticating access rights of the user to connect with the premises management system based upon the user identifier (via authenticating the user identity data; see paragraphs [0092] and [0127]);
identifying a role of the user based upon the user identifier (via determining a defined role associated with the user identity data; see paragraph [0070]);
receiving a unique identifier from a scan by the user device of a smart code physically associated with one of the assets or locations (via receiving industrial device information from a scan of a QR code 1306 associated with the industrial device; see paragraph [0127]);
identifying permissions held by the user to access information related to the one of the assets or locations based upon a combination of both the role and the unique identifier associated with the one of the assets or locations (see paragraph [0128], “Based on the identity of the device or system that the user is requesting to view, as well as the identity or role of the user, presentation system 302 can determine whether the user is authorized to receive a virtual or augmented reality interface for the device or system, as well as a degree of control privilege for which the user is authorized based on either the user's identity or the user's role);
requesting information related to the one of the assets or locations from a data storage device connected to the network, wherein a storage location of the information on the data storage device is associated with the unique identifier (via requesting information from memory 322 which is selected by the system based on the identity of the industrial device; see paragraph [0129]), wherein the information comprises real-time operation status data (via receiving status information of devices; see paragraph [0065], [0129]-[0130]) and service or maintenance history data (via disclosing that displayed asset (machine) information includes current operating mode of the machines, a date on which maintenance was most recently performed on the machines, information regarding maintenance actions performed on the machine or other such information (see paragraph [0107]);
receiving a subset of the information about the one asset or location from the data storage device limited to information authorized for release to the user based upon the permissions (via industrial device information limited to information that the user is authorized to view; see paragraph [0129]); and
transmitting the subset of the information about the one asset or location to the user device (via transmitting the industrial device information to the user device 206; see paragraph [0130]).
Galera further discloses a local area network associated with the premises; a proxy computer communicatively connected to the local area network (via industrial network; see fig. 2; also see paragraph [0063]); a data storage device communicatively connected to the local area network; an access control device, including a computing processor and a memory device, connected to the local area network and configured to securely manage access to and communication within and across the local area network (via presentation system 302 performing the function of data storage device and access control device; see fig. 3; also see paragraphs [0047], [0067]-[0068]) as claimed in claim 11).
However, Galera does not explicitly disclose establishing, during a setup protocol prior to a scan by the user device, an association between a smart code physically associated with the one f the assets or locations and a record storage location on a data storage device by scanning the smart code to associate the smart code to the one of the assets or locations.
Van discloses that a scannable characterizing parameter (smart code) is attached to an asset (see paragraph [0009]). Van discloses that the scannable characterizing parameter is a QR code or RFID tag (see paragraph [0015]). Van further discloses that during registration (setup), a computer system stores the scanned scannable characterizing parameter, as well as a plurality of asset working parameters of the predetermined asset, in an asset database in communication with the computer system (see paragraph [0017], [0238]-[0240] and [0272]).
From the teaching of Van it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Galera to include the function of tagging and storing asset information in a database as taught by Van in order to register the asset.
As of claims 2 and 12, Galera discloses that the smart code is a quick-response code image and the unique identifier is encoded within the quick-response code image (via QR code 1306; see fig. 13; also see paragraph [0127]).
As of claims 3 and 13, Van discloses that the smart code is a near field communication tag and the unique identifier is stored as data within the near field communication tag (via RFID tag; see paragraph [0015]).
As of claims 4 and 14, Galera discloses transmitting a notification to the user device including a request to the user of the user device to perform a service with respect to another of the one more asserts or locations based upon the identified role of the user and, optionally, the identified permissions held by the user (via transmitting a workflow to user device 206 based upon the identified role of the user; see paragraphs [0066] and [0157]).
As of claims 5 and 15, Galera discloses providing direction to the user to physically locate the another asset or location within the premises (via providing direction to the affected machine or industrial device; see paragraph [0066]).
As of claims 6 and 16, Galera discloses receiving a request for the service of the another asset or location at the premises management system from another user device, wherein the request for service includes the unique identifier associated with the another asset or location (in the system of Galera multiple personnel are working at the industrial site and when the presentation system 302 will receive identifier of a second industrial device from a second worker it will present the information based on the user role and the device identifier to the second user as explained in claim 1 also see paragraph [0129]-[0131] and [0170]-[0172]).
As of claims 7 and 17, Galera discloses assigning a work order to the another user based further upon the request for service from the another user device (via assigning work order to the second user; see paragraph [0172]-[0173]).
As of claims 8 and 18, Galera discloses receiving sensor data from respective assets among the one or more assets or location within the premises management system over the network; and storing the sensor data as the information associated with the respective assets within the data storage device (via receiving and storing sensor data from industrial devices; see paragraph [0054] and [0181]).
As of claims 9 and 19, Galera discloses receiving task log information from the user device documenting a service performed with respect to the one of the assets or locations; and storing the task log information in the data storage device as part of the information associated with the one of the assets or locations (via receiving information that user performed the workflow on the industrial device and recording the information; see paragraph [0165].
As of claims 10 and 20, Galera discloses establishing, upon completion of the authenticating, a secure communication connection between the user device and the data storage device for real-time transmission of the subset of the information to the user device and receipt of related data from the user device (via establishing a secure connection to the user device 206 to retrieve industrial device information from the memory of the presentation system, in the system of Galera the memory is part of the presentation system, since a secure connection is made to the presentation system 302 the connection is securely made to the memory of the presentation system 302; see paragraph [0084].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Murphay (US Pub 2015/0332073) discloses a system of attaching tags to machines and the system also includes a computing device including a processor and a memory storing a database, the database associating the tag ID of each of the plurality of RFID tags with the one of the plurality of machines to which it is attached (see fig. 4).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NABIL H SYED whose telephone number is (571)270-3028. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00 M-F.
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/NABIL H SYED/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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