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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 12 objected to because of the following informalities: on line 3 of the claim “and” should be deleted. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 10-12, 15-16, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ayoub, US Patent Application Publication Number 2019/0340719 (hereinafter Ayoub).
Regarding claim 1, Ayoub discloses a commercial equipment tracking system, comprising: a tracking pod [fig. 2: ref. 200], comprising:
a pod body, configured to be coupled to commercial equipment [fig. 3: refs. 40, 200];
a first communications module, disposed within the pod body and configured to connect with a user device to provide equipment data to the user device, wherein the first communications module comprises an ultra-wideband (UWB) module [paragraph 0023];
a near-field communications module, disposed within the pod body and configured to communicatively couple with the user device when the user device is disposed within a short range of the tracking pod [paragraph 0023]; and
a battery configured to power the first communications module and/or the near-field communications module [paragraph 0024].
Regarding claim 2, Ayoub discloses wherein the pod body is configured to couple to the commercial equipment via a pod housing [paragraph 0019].
Regarding claim 3, Ayoub discloses wherein the pod body is configured to be disposed within a cavity of the pod housing [fig. 2; paragraph 0019].
Regarding claim 4, Ayoub discloses the pod housing [fig. 2: housing 210; paragraph 0019].
Regarding claim 5, Ayoub discloses wherein the pod housing is configured to fully surround a perimeter of the pod body [fig. 2: housing 210; paragraph 0019].
Regarding claim 7, Ayoub discloses wherein the equipment data is configured to allow the user device to identify the commercial equipment [paragraph 0018].
Regarding claim 10, Ayoub discloses wherein the equipment data is configured to cause a user interface of the user device to provide information associated with the commercial equipment [paragraph 0018].
Regarding claim 11, Ayoub discloses wherein the first communications module further comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module [paragraph 0023].
Regarding claim 12, Ayoub discloses a sensor, configured to provide sensor data [fig. 2: ref. 258]; and a memory, configured to receive and store the sensor data [fig. 2: refs. 260, 262; paragraph 0017].
Regarding claim 15, Ayoub discloses wherein the tracking pod further comprises: a global-positioning system (GPS) module, configured to receive location data from one or more GPS satellites [paragraph 0017].
Regarding claim 16, Ayoub discloses wherein the tracking pod further comprises:
a cellular module, configured to provide the location data to the user device [fig. 4: ref. 264; paragraph 0017].
Regarding claim 18, Ayoub discloses a server device, configured to receive equipment data associated with a plurality of commercial equipment from a plurality of user devices associated with a plurality of tracking pods [paragraph 0017-0018].
Regarding claim 19, Ayoub discloses wherein the server device is further configured to: determine, based on the equipment data, current locations for each of the commercial equipment [paragraph 0017].
Regarding claim 20, Ayoub discloses wherein the server device is further configured to: determine, based on the current locations of the commercial equipment, an equipment schedule [paragraph 0018].
Claim(s) 1, 6, 8-9, and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Daoura et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2024/0362994 (hereinafter Daoura).
Regarding claim 1, Daoura discloses a commercial equipment tracking system, comprising: a tracking pod comprising: a pod body, configured to be coupled to commercial equipment [paragraph 0013]; a first communications module, disposed within the pod body and configured to connect with a user device to provide equipment data to the user device, wherein the first communications module comprises an ultra-wideband (UWB) module [paragraph 0015]; a near-field communications module, disposed within the pod body and configured to communicatively couple with the user device when the user device is disposed within a short range of the tracking pod [paragraphs 0014, 0017]; and a battery configured to power the first communications module and/or the near-field communications module [paragraph 0013].
Regarding claim 6, Daoura discloses wherein the equipment data is configured to cause the user device to provide location data to a server device [paragraph 0204].
Regarding claim 8, Daoura discloses wherein the first communications module is configured to connect to a plurality of user devices to provide equipment data to each of the plurality of user devices [paragraph 0142].
Regarding claim 9, Daoura discloses wherein the providing the equipment data to each of the plurality of user devices allows triangulation to be performed to determine a location of the tracking pod [paragraph 0015].
Regarding claim 13, Daoura discloses wherein the near-field communications module is configured to provide equipment data to the user device [paragraphs 0014, 0018].
Regarding claim 14, Daoura discloses wherein the equipment data is configured to cause the user device to communicate device information [paragraph 0204].
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) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ayoub in view Brys et al., US Patent Number 10,162,401 (hereinafter Brys).
Regarding claim 17, Ayoub does not specifically disclose a battery voltage monitor, configured to determine a state of charge of the battery based on: a voltage change of the battery during a communications event of the first communications module; a current of the battery during the communications event of the first communications module; and a temperature of the battery. However, Brys teaches this limitation [col. 21: lines 47-55]. Before the effective filing of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ayoub to include the teaching of Brys. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Leslie et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2013/0342394, disclose an apparatus and system for tracking packaging including bit packaging.
Loda, US Patent Application Publication Number 2024/0056772, discloses a digital asset location system.
Daoura et al., US Patent Number 12,412,465, disclose XCB tracking devices, methods, and systems.
Yang et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2013/0151227, disclose an apparatus for simulating a battery system.
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/EAW/
December 4, 2025
/ERIKA A WASHINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644