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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-4, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Behlen et al. (US 2024/0219215 A1).
With regards to Claim 1, Behlen teaches a level measurement system, for measuring the level of a product in a tank being monitored by an asset management system, the level measurement system comprising:
level sensing circuitry for measuring the level of the product (Abstract, “monitor a level”);
wirelesss communication circuitry for wireless communication (Paragraph 25, “wireless communication”); and
a controller for controlling operation of the level measurement system (Paragraph 31, 35 and 54, “smart tank monitoring system,” “intelligent management of liquid assets”,
the controller being configured to:
control the sensing circuitry to periodically measure the level of the product with a first measurement frequency (Paragraph 31);
transmit a signal indicative of the measured level of the product using the wireless communication circuitry (Paragraph 38, Figure 1A, 112);
receive, from the asset management system using the wireless communication circuitry, an indication of a work order for filling a neighboring tank within a predefined distance from the tank (Figure 5A and 5B, Paragraph 105, 106, 109, 110, depicts multiple liquid measurements for multiple tanks, operator may make adjustments) ; and
control, after received the indication of the work order, the level sensing circuitry to periodically measure the level of the product with a second measurement frequency, higher than the first measurement frequency (Paragraph 25, all measurements are provided in real time).
With regards to Claim 2, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to provide a response to a detection of an increasing level of product in the tank, a signal indicative thereof (Paragraph 109, 110).
With regards to Claim 3, Behlen teaches wherein the wireless communication circuitry comprises: first wireless communication circuitry configured to implement a first communication architecture adapted for relatively long range wireless communication (Paragraph 90, GPS) ; and second wireless communication circuitry configured to implement a second communication architecture adapted for relatively short range wireless communication (Paragraph 90, WiFi).
With regards to Claim 4, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to: receive the indication of the work order for filling the neighboring tank using the first wireless communication circuitry (Paragraph 81, 82, 90).
With regards to Claim 10, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to:
receive, from the asset management system using wireless communication circuitry, an indication of a work order for filling the tank; (Paragraph 105); and
control, after having received the indication of the work order, the level sensing circuitry to periodically measure the level of the product with a third measurement frequency, higher that the first measurement frequency (Paragraph 25, all measurements are provided in real time).
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.
Claim(s) 5-9, 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Behlen et al. (US 2024/0219215 A1) in view of Kleman (US 2018/0348040 A1).
With regards to Claim 5, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to: control the second wireless communication circuitry to participate in a pairing procedure with wireless communication circuitry comprised in a wireless operator device of an operator tasked by the asset management system to fulfill the work order, to establish communication between the level measurement system and the wireless operator device (Paragraph 81, 82, 90).
Behlen is silent with regards to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state.
Kleman teaches to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state (Paragraph 11).
It would have been obvious at the time of filing to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state as taught by Kleman in view of Behlen for the purpose of conserving power.
With regards to Claim 6, 8, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to: control the sensing circuitry to periodically measure the level of the product with the second measurement frequency after initiation of the pairing procedure (Paragraph 25, all measurements are provided in real time).
With regards to Claim 7, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to: control the second wireless communication circuitry to participate in a pairing procedure with wireless communication circuitry comprised in the neighboring tank, to establish communication between the level measurement system and the neighboring tank (Paragraph 71, 72, 81 82);
Behlen is silent with regards to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state.
Kleman teaches to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state (Paragraph 11).
It would have been obvious at the time of filing to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state as taught by Kleman in view of Behlen for the purpose of conserving power.
With regards to Claim 9, Behlen teaches wherein the controller is configured to: receive a signal indicating that a level of product in the neighboring tank has increased; and control, after having received the signal indicating that the level of product in the neighboring tank has increased, the level sensing circuitry to go back to periodically measuring the level of the product with the first measurement frequency (Paragraph 105, 109-111, Figure 5A, 5B, 5D);
Note: All measurements in Behlen are done in real-time.
Behlen is silent with regards to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state.
Kleman teaches to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state (Paragraph 11).
It would have been obvious at the time of filing to transition the level sensing circuitry from an inactive to an active state as taught by Kleman in view of Behlen for the purpose of conserving power.
With regards to Claim 11, Behlen teaches communication circuitry and a device controller configured to: control the wireless communication circuitry of the wireless operator device to participate in a pairing procedure with the second wireless communication circuitry comprised in the level measurement system (Paragraph 90, 95).
With regards to Claim 12, Behlen teaches wherein the device controller is configured to: control the wireless communication circuitry of the wireless operator device to transmit a pairing request to the level measurement system (Paragraph 90, 95).
With regards to Claim 13, Behlen teaches wherein the device controller is configured to: receive, from the level measurement system, a sequence of signals, each signal being indicative of a measured level of the product in the tank being provided with the level measurement system (Paragraph 25, Paragraph 97, 98, 108, 109).
Pertinent Art Cited
Gonia et al. (US 2011/0161885)
Conclusion
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/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471 January 27, 2026