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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is responsive to communication filed on 2/2/2026.
Claims 2 and 14 are canceled.
Claims 1, 3 and 11 are amended.
Claims 1, 3-13 and 15-19 are pending and presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Claim Amendments/35 U.S.C. §103 Rejections
Applicant Argues
The Ha-Belveal combination does not disclose or suggest every element of claim 1 or claim 11.
Examiner Responds
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 have been fully considered but are moot because Applicant’s arguments are over amended features.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1
Claim 1 recites “potentially”. However, this is a subjective term. MPEP 2173.05(b)(IV).
Claim 1 recites “determining a component of the laundry appliance is potentially operating other than as expected based on the fault code”. However, this is unclear. Is the component of the laundry appliance operating other than as expected because of the fault code or because of the laundry machine?
Dependent claims 3-10 are likewise rejected.
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.
Claims 1, 3-13 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HA in view of BELVEAL.1
Regarding claim 1
HA teaches a method comprising:
activating the laundry appliance[0052]: home appliance 10 includes laundry appliance such as washing machine; [0053]: “self-diagnosis program incorporated in the home appliance 10 self-diagnoses an operation state and a problem state of the home appliance 10 occurring during operation of the home appliance 10.”; [0107]: “Upon determining at Operation 104 that the home appliance 10 has a problem, the controller 22 encodes self-diagnosis information based on the received sensor information to generate 7-segment image information as shown in FIG. 4”);
receiving an image of the display, the image comprising the fault code, from the remote user interface device associated with the user account after generating the fault code ([0112]: “device 50 recognizes self-diagnosis information displayed on the display unit 16 of the home appliance 10 as 7-segment images by way of the camera”; [0114]: “Subsequently, device 50 transmits the extracted 7 segment self-diagnosis information to the service server 60”; [0117]: “upon receiving self-diagnosis information of the home appliance 10 through the device 50, the service server 60 also receives information regarding a user who uses the device 50 (114) and analyzes the received user information to extract user-tailored information”, i.e., device 50 is associated with a user account);
determining a component of the laundry appliance is potentially operating other than as expected based on the fault code ([0115]: “service server 60 analyzes the self-diagnosis information transmitted from the device 50 and transmits diagnosis result information regarding a problem state of the home appliance 10”); and
sending a notification to the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to the image comprising the fault code ([0119]: “Upon determining at Operation 116 that the user is capable of or interested in performing repair, the service server 60 transmits service information, i.e. diagnosis result information regarding a problem state of the home appliance 10, to the device 50 (118)”).
HA does not explicitly teach wherein the notification comprises a prompt to obtain one or more images of the determined component of the laundry appliance.
PNG
media_image1.png
399
703
media_image1.png
Greyscale
HA, Fig. 1
However, HA is teaches a self-diagnosis system of an appliance, such as a washing machine, wherein proper service information is provided to a user such that the problem can be easily checked (Abstract). Fig. 1 shows a user device configured to take images of an appliance and communicate diagnostic and repair information with a service server. As such, HA teaches the concept of an automated troubleshooting system ([0006]: “To check a state of the home appliance using the displayed error code, however, the user may need to have in-depth knowledge of a user manual or may need to contact a service center to ask advice on a state of the home appliance or to to reserve a visit from a service technician. Generally, the error code is displayed as a code value, which may not be familiar to the user”, [0008]: “an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a self-diagnosis system of a home appliance […] having a self-diagnosis function, recognize and analyze the displayed self-diagnosis information, and provide proper service information corresponding to the state of the home appliance”). Moreover, HA teaches that in order to properly diagnosis a faulted appliance, information in addition to the error code may be needed ([0006]: “the displayed information is limited with the result that, although the service center is contacted, the user may have difficulty in correctly explaining a state of the home appliance”, [0007]: “service technician may need to visit the user to to determine the cause of the problem with the home appliance”).
HA also teaches determining if a user of the appliance is capable of or interested in repairing the appliance ([0015]: “service server may receive information regarding a user who uses the device and analyze the received user information to determine whether the user is capable of repairing the home appliance”, [0118]: “When the user-tailored information is extracted, the service server 60 determines whether the user of the device 50 is capable of performing repair or interested in performing repair”).
In summary, HA teaches system comprising a laundry appliance, a user device, and a service server. The user device is configured to take images of the laundry appliance and transmit those images to the service server wherein in response to the received images the service server transmits diagnosis information to the user device. HA also teaches that additional information may be needed to make a proper diagnosis. HA also teaches determining if a user is capable of repairing a home appliance. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to recognize that HA’s service server could include a subroutine configured to prompt a user using a user device to obtain one or more images of the faulted (i.e., determined) component of the laundry appliance such that the information contained in the one or more images could be used in making the determination that a user would be capable of repairing the laundry appliance.
HA is not relied on for:
receiving an access request for the laundry appliance from a remote user interface device associated with a user account;
reserving the laundry appliance in response to the access request; and
activating the laundry appliance after reserving the laundry appliance.
However, BELVEAL in analogous art teaches these claim limitations. BELVEAL teaches:
receiving an access request for the laundry appliance from a remote user interface device associated with a user account ([0035]: “The customer application may enable a user to create a user account with the laundry service. The user may login to the laundry service, using the UI of the customer application, and request availability information describing one or more laundry machines (e.g., washers, dryers, and so forth) that are currently available for use at one or more laundromat facilities. The availability information may also indicate machine(s) which are currently unavailable, e.g., in use or reserved for use”, [0036]: “On receiving the reservation request, one or more management modules executing on the management server device(s) may reserve one or more available laundry machines in the user-selected laundromat”);
reserving the laundry appliance in response to the access request ([0036]: “On receiving the reservation request, one or more management modules executing on the management server device(s) may reserve one or more available laundry machines in the user-selected laundromat”)
activating the laundry appliance after reserving the laundry appliance ([0036]: “The management server device(s) may also send a reservation response to the user device to inform the user that the requested number of laundry machines have been reserved at the user-selected laundromat”, implicit to the management server reserving the laundry appliance and informing a user that it has been reserved is activating the laundry appliance after reserving).
HA and BELVEAL are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are both directed to systems and methods of operating laundry appliances. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of BELVEAL to the teachings of HA such that HA’s fault diagnosis routine could be used with BELVEAL’s laundromat management server for the purposes of allowing a user at a laundromat to either perform remedial action to the appliance and/or to notify laundromat personnel of a faulted appliance.
Regarding claim 3
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above.
HA also teaches providing remediating guidance on the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to the one or more obtained images ([0119]: “server 60 may provide the service information to the device 50 in the form of a video so that the user may easily deal with the problem of the home appliance 10. Consequently, the user may repair the home appliance 10 based on the diagnosis result information of the home appliance 10 transmitted to the device 50”).
Regarding claim 4
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches wherein the notification comprises a prompt to input a description of the at least portion of the laundry treatment option ([0160]: “UI may also include feature(s) to enable the user 102 to report a problem with a laundry machine 112 […] Selection of one of these features (e.g., through selection of the disclosure indicator arrow of a feature) may result in the UI presenting an additional screen to enable the user 102 to enter details regarding the problem. For example, selecting the “There's a problem with my machine” feature may cause the presentation of a screen that enables the user 102 to select from a list of more specific problems, such as the machine not working, the machine door not opening, the washer not filling with water, and so forth […] screen(s) may also enable the user 102 to enter a free form text message describing the issue, or other information”).
Regarding claim 5
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 4 as outlined above.
HA also teaches providing remediation guidance on the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to the description of the at least portion of the laundry treatment operation ([0119]: server may provide server information to device so user can remedy problem).
Regarding claim 6
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a notification to a remote user interface device associated with an owner account of the laundry appliance, the notification to the remote user interface device associated with the owner account comprising a user report ([0091]: “attendant application executing on the attendant’s mobile device”; [0162]: “Operational data may be analyzed to generate analytics output that is presented on a management console or other UI […] is presented by the management module(s)
206 executing on the management server device(s) 204. Analytics information may also be presented on a UI on an attendant's mobile device 104, or on other device(s).”; [0163]: “example of an analytics UI 1902 that may include the results of analyzing operational data collected within the laundry service. In the example of FIG. 19, the analytics UI 1902 is presenting a list of issues (e.g., problems) reported at a particular laundromat 100. The list may include one or more of the following: the user 102 who reported the issue (e.g., reporter); a category of the issue, such as whether the issue was with payment, machine, or facility; the reporting method, such as whether the issue was reported through the customer application 310 (e.g., as shown in FIG.18), through a web site, or through a telephone support line; the laundry service personnel who answered the issue; the amount of time before responding to the issue (e.g., support time); a feedback rating received from the user 102; a date and time when the issue was reported; or other information”).
Regarding claim 7
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 6 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches disabling the laundry appliance in response to an input from the remote user interface device associated with the owner account ([0091]: “attendant may use the attendant application executing on the attendant's mobile device 104 […] and use the attendant application to stop the laundry machine 112”).
Regarding claim 8
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 6 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches generating a service request in response to an input from the remote user interface device associated with the owner account ([0091]: “attendant application may provide a wider range of privileges to the attendant than those provided to a customer”, i.e., attendant/owner app includes all functionality of user app and more; [0160]: user app “includes feature(s) to enable the user 102 to report a problem with a laundry machine 112”).
Regarding claim 9
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 6 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a request for additional information to the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to an input from the remote user interface device associated with the owner account ([0089]: “attendant application may be configured to […] send a message to a customer”).
Regarding claim 10
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a reward prompt to a remote user interface device associated with an owner account of the laundry appliance, receiving a positive response to the reward prompt, and applying a credit to the user account based on the positive response to the reward prompt ([0089]: “attendant application may be configured to perform operations including but not limited to the following: authenticate the attendant to the laundry service; present a current number of customers in the laundromat 100; present a status summary of the laundry machine(s) 112 in the laundromat 100; present additional information regarding the laundry machine(s) 112; process refunds to customers; present notification(s) of additional service(s) to be performed; present information regarding reservation(s) at the laundromat 100; send a message (e.g., text message) to a customer”; [0125]: “laundry service provides bonuses, discounts, or other types of rewards to users 102 who are repeat customers, refer other customers, or otherwise display loyalty”).
BELVEAL teaches a user interface for an attendant (i.e., owner) configured to communicate and interact with a user interface of a customer (i.e., appliance user). BELVEAL also teaches providing rewards to customers. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a confirmation step by an attendant before applying a reward credit to a user’s account based on the confirmation.
Regarding claim 11
HA teaches a method comprising:
activating the laundry appliance [0052]: home appliance 10 includes laundry appliance such as washing machine; [0053]: “self-diagnosis program incorporated in the home appliance 10 self-diagnoses an operation state and a problem state of the home appliance 10 occurring during operation of the home appliance 10.”; [0107]: “Upon determining at Operation 104 that the home appliance 10 has a problem, the controller 22 encodes self-diagnosis information based on the received sensor information to generate 7-segment image information as shown in FIG. 4”);
receiving an image of the display, the image comprising the fault code, from the remote user interface device associated with the user account after generating the fault code ([0112]: “device 50 recognizes self-diagnosis information displayed on the display unit 16 of the home appliance 10 as 7-segment images by way of the camera”; [0114]: “Subsequently, device 50 transmits the extracted 7 segment self-diagnosis information to the service server 60”; [0117]: “upon receiving self-diagnosis information of the home appliance 10 through the device 50, the service server 60 also receives information regarding a user who uses the device 50 (114) and analyzes the received user information to extract user-tailored information”, i.e., device 50 is associated with a user account); and
sending a notification to the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to the image comprising the fault code, ([0119]: “Upon determining at Operation 116 that the user is capable of or interested in performing repair, the service server 60 transmits service information, i.e. diagnosis result information regarding a problem state of the home appliance 10, to the device 50 (118)”).
HA is not relied on for activating the laundry appliance in response to an input received from a remote user interface device associated with a user account. HA is also not relied on for wherein the notification comprises a prompt to input a text response comprising a narrative description of the at least portion of the laundry treatment operation.
However, BELVEAL in analogous art teaches these claim limitations. BELVEAL teaches:
activating the laundry appliance in response to an input received from the remote user interface device associated with a user account ([0079]: “user 102 may login to the customer application 310 by entering one or more credentials”; [0082]: “control signal(s) 314 may instruct the microcontroller 302 to alter an operational state […] altering the operational state of the machine 112 may include enabling or disabling a control panel and/or one or more controls of the machine 112. The microcontroller 302 may send other instruction(s) to the control module(s) 306 to enable the use of the laundry machine 112” [0085]: “microcontroller 302 […] has been incorporated into the laundry machine 112 to enable the control of the laundry machine 112 from the management server device(s) 204 or the mobile device 104”); and
sending a notification to the remote user interface device associated with the user account [0160]: “UI may also include feature(s) to enable the user 102 to report a problem with a laundry machine 112 […] Selection of one of these features (e.g., through selection of the disclosure indicator arrow of a feature) may result in the UI presenting an additional screen to enable the user 102 to enter details regarding the problem. For example, selecting the “There's a problem with my machine” feature may cause the presentation of a screen that enables the user 102 to select from a list of more specific problems, such as the machine not working, the machine door not opening, the washer not filling with water, and so forth […] screen(s) may also enable the user 102 to enter a free form text message describing the issue, or other information”).
HA and BELVEAL are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are both directed to systems and methods of operating laundry appliances. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of BELVEAL to the teachings of HA such that HA’s fault diagnosis routine could be used with BELVEAL’s laundromat management server for the purposes of allowing a user to report an issue with a laundry machine to the laundromat manager.
Regarding claim 12
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 11 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches receiving an access request for the laundry appliance from the remote user interface device associated with the user account and reserving the laundry appliance in response to the access request ([0035]: “The customer application may enable a user to create a user account with the laundry service. The user may login to the laundry service, using the UI of the customer application, and request availability information describing one or more laundry machines (e.g., washers, dryers, and so forth) that are currently available for use at one or more laundromat facilities. The availability information may also indicate machine(s) which are currently unavailable, e.g., in use or reserved for use”, [0036]: “On receiving the reservation request, one or more management modules executing on the management server device(s) may reserve one or more available laundry machines in the user-selected laundromat”).
Regarding claim 13
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above.
HA also teaches to obtain one or more images of a component of the laundry appliance ([0060]: “device 50 may collect self-diagnosis images information images displayed on the display unit”).
Regarding claim 15
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 11 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a notification to a remote user interface device with an owner account of the laundry appliance, the notification to the remote user interface device associated with the owner account comprising a user report ([0091]: “attendant application executing on the attendant’s mobile device”; [0162]: “Operational data may be analyzed to generate analytics output that is presented on a management console or other UI […] is presented by the management module(s)
206 executing on the management server device(s) 204. Analytics information may also be presented on a UI on an attendant's mobile device 104, or on other device(s).”; [0163]: “example of an analytics UI 1902 that may include the results of analyzing operational data collected within the laundry service. In the example of FIG. 19, the analytics UI 1902 is presenting a list of issues (e.g., problems) reported at a particular laundromat 100. The list may include one or more of the following: the user 102 who reported the issue (e.g., reporter); a category of the issue, such as whether the issue was with payment, machine, or facility; the reporting method, such as whether the issue was reported through the customer application 310 (e.g., as shown in FIG.18), through a web site, or through a telephone support line; the laundry service personnel who answered the issue; the amount of time before responding to the issue (e.g., support time); a feedback rating received from the user 102; a date and time when the issue was reported; or other information”).
Regarding claim 16
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 15 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches disabling the laundry appliance in response to an input from the remoter user interface device associated with the owner account ([0091]: “attendant may use the attendant application executing on the attendant's mobile device 104 […] and use the attendant application to stop the laundry machine 112”).
Regarding claim 17
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 15 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches generating a service request in response to an input from the remoter user interface device associated with the owner account ([0091]: “attendant application may provide a wider range of privileges to the attendant than those provided to a customer”, i.e., attendant/owner app includes all functionality of user app and more; [0160]: user app “includes feature(s) to enable the user 102 to report a problem with a laundry machine 112”).
Regarding claim 18
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 15 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a request for additional information to the remote user interface device associated with the user account in response to an input from the remote user interface device associated with the owner account ([0089]: “attendant application may be configured to […] send a message to a customer”).
Regarding claim 19
HA-BELVEAL teaches the elements of claim 11 as outlined above.
BELVEAL also teaches sending a reward prompt to a remote user interface device associated with an owner account of the laundry appliance, receiving a positive response to the reward prompt, and applying a credit to the user account based on the positive response to the reward prompt ([0089]: “attendant application may be configured to perform operations including but not limited to the following: authenticate the attendant to the laundry service; present a current number of customers in the laundromat 100; present a status summary of the laundry machine(s) 112 in the laundromat 100; present additional information regarding the laundry machine(s) 112; process refunds to customers; present notification(s) of additional service(s) to be performed; present information regarding reservation(s) at the laundromat 100; send a message (e.g., text message) to a customer”; [0125]: “laundry service provides bonuses, discounts, or other types of rewards to users 102 who are repeat customers, refer other customers, or otherwise display loyalty”).
BELVEAL teaches a user interface for an attendant (i.e., owner) configured to communicate and interact with a user interface of a customer (i.e., appliance user). BELVEAL also teaches providing rewards to customers. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a confirmation step by an attendant before applying a reward credit to a user’s account based on the confirmation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Kruckenberg (DE102010050192A1) teaches automating an instruction manual of an appliance.
Beifuss (DE102012015893A1) teaches providing additional technical support and/or direction to narrow down a fault associated with an error code of an appliance.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Michael V Farina whose telephone number is (571)272-4982. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 8:00-6:00 EST.
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, Kamini Shah can be reached at (571) 272-2279. 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.
/M.V.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2115
/KAMINI S SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2115
1 HA and BELVEAL are prior art references cited in the previous office action.
Prosecution Insights