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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) is submitted on 2/19/2026 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. According, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 11/20/2025 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1, 3, 4, 8, 10 and 14-20 are amended, and claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Applicant’s amendment to drawings have been entered and fully considered, therefore drawing objection has been withdrawn.
Applicant's amendments with respect to claims 1 and 14-16 have been entered and fully considered, thus claim objections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to claims 3 and 17 have been entered and fully considered, therefore claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been fully considered but are moot based upon the new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
Applicant respectfully requests withdrawn of the objection to the specification since Applicant notes that these terms refer to underlying wireless standards and not necessarily to the particular source offerings. Examiner respectfully disagrees. When a term such as WirePas or Bluetooth is used in commerce, the terms should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term, because the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks. Therefore the specification objection has been maintained.
Further, Applicant argues that Keller’s controller 409 is not a gateway device. Notably, Keller’s controller 409 actually requires a number of other interfaces 1001 for communication with various aspects such as its cameras and lights. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Firstly even interfaces 1001 are illustrated as separate boxes separate from controller 409, it does not necessarily mean that these interfaces are not part of controller 409. Further, even if the interfaces 1001 are separated separately from the controller 409, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to place controller 409 and interfaces 1001 separately, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In addition, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the controller 409 and interfaces 1001 into one piece, since it has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces and put together involves only routine skill in the art.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The use of the terms WirePas, Bluetooth, which are trade name or mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 16 recites “transmitting the control signal to the unit device” on line 8. Examiner suggest changing the limitation to “transmitting the control signal to [[the]] each unit device”, so the amendment is in similar language based on the amendment.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 1, 2, 4-14, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keller, Jr, et al. (US 20090231093 A1), in view of Howard et al. (US 20220141624 A1 and Howard hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Keller teaches a method for locating a unit within a storage facility (Paragraph0118; automatically identifying a particular one of the self-storage units to provide an identified self-storage unit) comprising:
receiving, by a gateway device (Figure 10 and Paragraph 0067; controller 409 [interpreted as a gateway device] that places the control of some or all of the facility components), a request generated by the mobile device to locate one or more specified units of the plurality of units within the storage facility (Figure 18 and Paragraphs 0116 and 0117; detecting the presence of a particular end user of the self-storage facility, this can comprise receiving at least one credential as corresponds to this particular end user. Examiner asserts that entering credential may be interpreted a request to locate the user’s storage unit. Figure 20 and Paragraph 0123; an end user has presented themselves at the self-storage facility point-of-entry movable barrier 104 and has presented their identifying credentials at an access-control user interface 105. In this illustrative example, the controller determines that this end user corresponds to self-storage unit number 10), wherein each of the plurality of units is co-located with a unit device (Figure 13 and Paragraph 0051; a self-storage facility that includes at least some facility components that are selected from the categories of area lighting 401. Paragraph 0124 and 0126; light that denotes a path to user’s storage unit, and the light corresponding to the end user’s unit 2001);
generating, based on the request and by the gateway device, a control signal to activate notification in each unit device associated with the specified units (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0124; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. Paragraph 0126; as the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights); and
transmitting, by the gateway device, the control signal to each unit device associated with the specified unit to cause each unit device to emit an audio and/or visual indication of a physical location of the one or more specified units (Figure 20 and Paragraphs 0124 and 0126; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. As the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights. Examiner asserts the particular light 2010 that correspond to end user’s unit 2001 is interpreted as the gateway control the unit device [light 2010 for unit 2001] to blink to indicate the physical location).
Keller does not explicitly teach presenting, via a user interface of a mobile device, a plurality of units for user selection; and generating a control signal to active notification in each unit device based on the user selection. In an analogous art, Howard teaches presenting, via a user interface of a mobile device, a plurality of units for user selection (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0054 and 0056; while particular user interface devices are shown, the wireless device can similarly include other devices such as a touch screen and/or other input or output devices. The wireless device 120 [interpreted as mobile device] may include user interface to generate a location request signal in response to an indication from a user by pushing one of the push buttons 10. Examiner asserts each push button 10 (or other input method for touch screen) represents an adjunct device 100 that is coupled to handheld wireless communication device 110, wherein each adjunct device is interpreted as one of a plurality of units. Figure 18 and Paragraph 0185; selection may be associated different devices); and generating a control signal to active notification in each unit device based on the user selection (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0055 and 0056; the wireless device transmit an RF paging signal [interpreted as a control signal] to adjunct device. Paragraph 0057; adjunct device includes sound emitter 22 and light emitter 24 that emits audio and/or visual alert signal in response to the paging signal 16 to assist the user in locating the handheld wireless communication device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Keller and Howard because it would provide plethora of functions associated with navigational systems, social networking, or the like, that enable users to have the ability to choose a wireless telephone and associated applications that meet the particular needs of that user (Howard, Paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 16, Keller teaches a storage facility system (Figure 20) comprising:
a plurality of unit devices (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0126; corridor light is employed to lead the end user into and down the corridor to the end user’s unit. In addition, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user’s unit 2001 is blinking to indicate the end user’s unit), wherein each of the plurality of unit devices is co-located with a unit of the storage (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0126; each unit storage has an associated light that blinks to indicate the location of the unit storage); and
a gateway device (Figure 10 and Paragraph 0067; controller 409 [interpreted as a gateway device] that places the control of some or all of the facility components) configured for receiving request to locate one or more specified unit of a storage facility (Figure 18 and Paragraphs 0116 and 0117; detecting the presence of a particular end user of the self-storage facility, this can comprise receiving at least one credential as corresponds to this particular end user. Examiner asserts that entering credential may be interpreted a request to locate the user’s storage unit. Figure 20 and Paragraph 0123; an end user has presented themselves at the self-storage facility point-of-entry movable barrier 104 and has presented their identifying credentials at an access-control user interface 105. In this illustrative example, the controller determines that this end user corresponds to self-storage unit number 10), for generating responsive to the request, a control signal to activate notification in each unit device associated with the specified unit (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0124; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. Paragraph 0126; as the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights), and for transmitting the control signal to the unit device associated with the specified unit to cause each unit device to emit an audio and/or visual indication of a physical location of the one or more specified units (Figure 20 and Paragraphs 0124 and 0126; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. As the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights. Examiner asserts the particular light 2010 that correspond to end user’s unit 2001 is interpreted as the gateway control the unit device [light 2010 for unit 2001] to blink to indicate the physical location).
Keller does not explicitly teach receiving request to locate a unit in response to user selection of one or more units via user interface; and generate a control signal to activate notification in each unit device based on the user selection. In an analogous art, Howard teaches
receiving request to locate a unit in response to user selection of one or more units via user interface (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0054 and 0056; while particular user interface devices are shown, the wireless device can similarly include other devices such as a touch screen and/or other input or output devices. The wireless device 120 [interpreted as mobile device] may include user interface to generate a location request signal in response to an indication from a user by pushing one of the push buttons 10. Examiner asserts each push button 10 (or other input method for touch screen) represents an adjunct device 100 that is coupled to handheld wireless communication device 110, wherein each adjunct device is interpreted as one of a plurality of units. Figure 18 and Paragraph 0185; selection may be associated different devices); and generate a control signal to activate notification in each unit device based on the user selection (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0055 and 0056; the wireless device transmit an RF paging signal [interpreted as a control signal] to adjunct device. Paragraph 0057; adjunct device includes sound emitter 22 and light emitter 24 that emits audio and/or visual alert signal in response to the paging signal 16 to assist the user in locating the handheld wireless communication device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Keller and Howard because it would provide plethora of functions associated with navigational systems, social networking, or the like, that enable users to have the ability to choose a wireless telephone and associated applications that meet the particular needs of that user (Howard, Paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the facility is a self-storage facility (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0123; self-storage facility).
Regarding claims 4 and 18, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 16, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein transmitting the control signal includes transmitting an indication of a device ID representative of each unit device associated with the one or more specified units to units devices located within a network proximity (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components).
Regarding claims 5 and 19, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claims 4 and 18, as described above. Further, Keller teaches further comprising determining whether the indication of the device ID is representative of a specific unit device which received the control signal (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 5, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein transmitting includes activating emission of the audio and/or visual indication from the specific unit device responsive to determination that the indication of device ID is representative of the specific unit device (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components. Figure 20 and Paragraph 0124; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. Paragraph 0126; as the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 5, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein determining is performed at least partially by the specific unit device (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components. Paragraphs 0116-0117, 0124 and 0126; a facility controller 409 that operably couples to the lighting fixtures 1901, 1902 via, for example, a lighting control interface 1903. By one approach, this lighting control interface 1903 can be realized via the communication interfaces described earlier. So configured, the controller 409 is able to control the illumination state of these lighting fixtures 1901, 1902 in support of these teachings).
Regarding claims 8 and 20, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claims 5 and 19, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein transmitting includes further transmitting an indication of each device ID representative of the unit device associated with the one or more specified unit to other units devices located within another network proximity (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components. Paragraph 0075; in some cases these communications interfaces 1001 may comprise short-range platforms. It is therefore possible that such an interface 1001 may be positioned within a facility 100 at a location that is too far from the controller 409 to ensure reliable reception. In such a case, the data communications path elements 406 for a given self-storage facility 100 can also comprise one or more wireless repeaters. By one approach, this capability can be built into the communications interfaces 1001 themselves. So configured, such an interface 1001 can serve to transmit both the messages that are sourced by their corresponding facility component as well as messages that are received from other communications interfaces 1001 for other facility components).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 8, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the further transmitting is conducted in response to determination that the indication of device ID is not representative of a specific unit device (Paragraph 0075; in some cases these communications interfaces 1001 may comprise short-range platforms. It is therefore possible that such an interface 1001 may be positioned within a facility 100 at a location that is too far from the controller 409 to ensure reliable reception. In such a case, the data communications path elements 406 for a given self-storage facility 100 can also comprise one or more wireless repeaters. By one approach, this capability can be built into the communications interfaces 1001 themselves. So configured, such an interface 1001 can serve to transmit both the messages that are sourced by their corresponding facility component as well as messages that are received from other communications interfaces 1001 for other facility components).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 9, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the further transmitting includes repeating the indication of device ID by the one or more specific unit devices to the other unit devices (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components. Paragraph 0075; in some cases these communications interfaces 1001 may comprise short-range platforms. It is therefore possible that such an interface 1001 may be positioned within a facility 100 at a location that is too far from the controller 409 to ensure reliable reception. In such a case, the data communications path elements 406 for a given self-storage facility 100 can also comprise one or more wireless repeaters. By one approach, this capability can be built into the communications interfaces 1001 themselves. So configured, such an interface 1001 can serve to transmit both the messages that are sourced by their corresponding facility component as well as messages that are received from other communications interfaces 1001 for other facility components).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 10, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the network proximity is defined relative to the specific unit device (Paragraph 0075; in some cases these communications interfaces 1001 may comprise short-range platforms. It is therefore possible that such an interface 1001 may be positioned within a facility 100 at a location that is too far from the controller 409 to ensure reliable reception. In such a case, the data communications path elements 406 for a given self-storage facility 100 can also comprise one or more wireless repeaters. By one approach, this capability can be built into the communications interfaces 1001 themselves. So configured, such an interface 1001 can serve to transmit both the messages that are sourced by their corresponding facility component as well as messages that are received from other communications interfaces 1001 for other facility components).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 9, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein determining is performed at least partially by the specific unit device (Paragraph 0074; communicating operational data 1002 between the controller 409 and individual ones of the facility components. This can comprise individually-directed communications (using, for example, a unique address identifier for each of the individual facility components), group-directed communications (where, for example, a category or group identifier is used to permit all lights to be activated with a single broadcast command), or general broadcasts that are directed to all of the facility components. Paragraphs 0116-0117, 0124 and 0126; a facility controller 409 that operably couples to the lighting fixtures 1901, 1902 via, for example, a lighting control interface 1903. By one approach, this lighting control interface 1903 can be realized via the communication interfaces described earlier. So configured, the controller 409 is able to control the illumination state of these lighting fixtures 1901, 1902 in support of these teachings).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the request includes a request to locate more than one specified unit (Paragraph 0129; the predetermined event can comprise the arrival of public safety personnel at the facility. In this case, the process 1800 may provide for identifying each self-storage unit that corresponds to an end user who is presently visiting the self-storage facility to thereby provide a plurality of identified self-storage units. This process 1800 can then provide for automatically controlling the lighting to uniquely denote particular paths (at the same time or in seriatim fashion as desired) that will direct the public safety personnel to these self-storage units).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the visual indication of the physical location includes directions from a known location and/or the mobile device location (Figure 20 and Paragraphs 0124 and 0126; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. As the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights).
Claims 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keller in view of Howard, as applied to claims above, further in view of Guzelgunler (US 20240005769 A1).
Regarding claims 3 and 17, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 16, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the gateway device transmits the control signal to the plurality of units via a Bluetooth communication protocol (Paragraph 0071; communications interfaces 1001 can connect to the controller 409 via Bluetooth).
The combination of Keller and Howard does not explicitly teach transmits via a low power wireless communication protocol. In an analogous art, Guzelgunler teaches transmits via a low power wireless communication protocol (Figure 2B and Paragraph 0037; wireless connectivity may be achieved by Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, however, it is not limited to these two methods of wireless communication, which can include other wireless network methods such as Thread, ZigBee, ZWave, and Wirepas). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Keller, Howard and Guzelgunler because it would provide alternative paths of communications that bypass cellular network (Guzelgunler, Paragraph 0037).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kelly in view of Howard, as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Shoen et al. (US 20060206342 A1 and Shoen hereinafter).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Keller and Howard teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Keller teaches wherein the visual indication of the physical location includes a lighted path and blinking light indicating the physical location within the storage facility (Figure 20 and Paragraph 0124; to uniquely denote this particular path 2002 [to the user’s storage unit], the controller causes the three lights denoted by reference numeral 2003 to begin blinking intermittently in a sequential pattern that “points” or leads to the left. Paragraph 0126; as the end user follows this particular path 2005 and reaches the corridor 2008 that includes self-storage unit 10, sequentially blinking lights 2009 are again employed to lead the end user into and down this corridor 2008. In addition, in this illustrative example, the particular light 2010 that corresponds to the end user's unit 2001 is blinking at a different rate than the other blinking lights).
The combination of Keller and Howard does not explicitly teach a map indicating the physical location within the storage facility. In an analogous art, Shoen teaches a map indicating the physical location within the storage facility (Paragraphs 0086 and 0087; the location finder feature is in the form of an interactive map that indicating the location of each rental unit on the map). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Keller, Howard and Shoen because it is desirable to provide a comprehensive self-storage reservation and management system that enables the user to access information regarding storage units and customers (Shoen, Paragraph 0002).
Pertinent Prior Arts
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Reynolds (US 20160090774 A1) discloses a portable self-storage system that comprise processor to control and operate portable container, fence and light of the self-storage system.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jing Gao/
Examiner, Art Unit 2647