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 .
This office action is a response to an application filed 10/30/2023, in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has considered the references listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on 06/06/2025, 07/08/2025, and 10/15/2025.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, the claim includes a colon at the end of line 6. It seems that this colon may be a typographical error, where the colon may have been intended to be a semi-colon. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 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, the claim recited the limitations “extracting, by a software application executing on the client device, configuration information for the industrial device via the first channel: ….generating, by the software application, modified configuration information based on the configuration information extracted from the industrial device; “ (Emphasis added by the Examiner). There has been no prior mention of “configuration information extracted from the industrial device,” and it is not clear if this is related to “configuration information for the industrial device.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, the limitation is being broadly interpreted to include any configuration information related to an industrial device.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-9, 12-14, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Publication No. 2015/0287318 to Nair et al., (hereinafter Nair)
Regarding claim 1, Nair discloses a method of establishing a secure session between an industrial device and an end-point device (see Fig. 10, Fig.1, p12, p11, Nair), the method comprising:
establishing, by a client device (Client device such as a mobile device, see p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair), a first channel with an industrial device, wherein the first channel is established using a short-range communication protocol (A first connection communications channel is established between mobile device and industrial device, where the communication can be a short-range communication protocol such as NFC or Bluetooth, see p137, p49, p12, p71, p41, p11, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair);
extracting, by a software application executing on the client device, configuration information for the industrial device via the first channel (A mobile device retrieves (extracts) industrial device information from industrial device via its connection to the industrial device, and where the data can be interpreted as configuration device (e.g. status, device data, parameters, configurations, etc., ), and wherein mobile device runs application software, see p80, p102, p137, p46, p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair):
establishing, by the client device using the software application, a second channel with an end-point device (Client device such as a mobile device connects to an end-point device, such as remote internet based cloud service device, where the communications connection is interpreted as a second channel, see p12, p137, p47, p80, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair);
generating, by the software application, modified configuration information based on the configuration information extracted from the industrial device (Mobile device receives information from industrial device and can modify the data, for example by appending data, translating, performing analysis, processing, filtering, aggregation, etc., see p80-81, p104, p75, p46, 54, 79, p85, p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair);
and transmitting, by the client device, the modified configuration information to the end-point device via the second channel (Mobile device can send collected data from an industrial device to remote cloud based entity device through its connection, and where the data may have been modified, see p104, p80-81, p75, p46, 54, 79, p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair).
Regarding claim 2, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further discloses wherein the method further comprises: establishing, by the software application, the secure session between the industrial device and the end-point device via the first channel and the second channel, wherein the secure session comprises a bridge between the industrial device and the end-point device (Mobile device serves as an interface point (bridge) between industrial device and remote cloud platform, using respective first and second connections, where connection are secure, such as by authorization, see p47, p12, 70-71, 137, p80-81, p104, p75, p46, 54, 79, p85, p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair); and automatically routing, by the software application, updated configuration information from the end-point device via the bridge to the industrial device, wherein the updated configuration information is generated by the end-point device (Remote cloud service can analyze and generate data based on retrieved industrial device data, and which can be used for industrial device via routing through the mobile interface point, see p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, Nair).
Regarding claim 3, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further discloses wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the software application, updated configuration information from the end-point device via the second channel, wherein the updated configuration information is generated by the end-point device (Remote cloud service can analyze and generate data based on retrieved industrial device data, and send to a mobile device via their connection, see p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, Nair); and routing, by the software application, the updated configuration information to the industrial device via the first channel (Remote cloud service can analyze and generate data based on retrieved industrial device data, and which can be used for industrial device via routing through the mobile interface point, thus through a first channel, see p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, Nair).
Regarding claim 6, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further teaches wherein the second channel is established via a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection (A mobile device connects to a remote internet web- based cloud service device, meaning the communications connection is through a wide area network, such as the internet/web, see p137, 149, p12, p137, p47, p80, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair).
Regarding claim 7, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further discloses wherein the end-point device comprises a cloud service (An end-point device, such as remote internet based cloud service device, see p137, p103, 75, p12, p47, p80, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair).
Regarding claim 8, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further teaches wherein the short-range communication protocol includes one of Bluetooth or near-field communication (NFC) (NFC or Bluetooth, see p137, p49, p71, 12, p41, p11, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair).
Regarding claim 9, Nair discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further discloses wherein generating, by the software application, the modified configuration information based on the configuration information extracted from the industrial device further comprises: generating, by the software application, the modified configuration information based on the configuration information (Mobile device receives information from industrial device and can modify the data, for example by translating a current configuration that includes outdated components, communications format, appending data, translating, performing analysis, processing, filtering, aggregation, etc., see 69, 81, 64, 47, 137,p80-81, p104, p75, p46, 54, 79, p85, p12, p11, p41, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair), wherein: the configuration information comprises a first format (Configuration data can have a first format, such as in the form of how a current configuration that includes outdated components or errors is displayed, or in the format that configuration data may be encapsulated in a first communications format such as in an nfc format, etc., see 69, 81, 64, 47, 137, Nair); the modified configuration information comprises a second format (Configuration data can be modified into a second format, such as modifying a first visual format into an electronically transmittable or storable format, or from in a second format encapsulated in a second communications format such as internet based ip protocol, see 69, 81, 64, 47, 137, Nair); and the generating comprises translating the configuration information from the first format to the second format (Configuration data can be translated from a first into a second format, such as modifying a first visual format into an electronically transmittable or storable format, or from a first communications encapsulation (e.g. nfc) to a second format encapsulated in a second communications format such as internet based ip protocol format, see 69, 81, 64, 47, 137, Nair).
Claim 12 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1.
Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 2.
Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 3.
Claim 17 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 9.
Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 6.
Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 8.
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 7.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nair, in view of US Patent Publication No. 2021/0064712 to Xu et al., (hereinafter Xu).
Regarding claim 4, Nair teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further teaches wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by a software application, updated configuration information from an end-point device via a second channel, wherein the updated configuration information is generated by the end-point device (Remote cloud service can analyze and generate data based on retrieved industrial device data, and send to a mobile device via their connection, see p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, p70-79, Nair); determining, by a software application, a command protocol for an industrial device from updated configuration information (A remote cloud service can analyze and determine needed configurations settings according to a protocol that constitute commands for updating an industrial device that meet or enforce desired function, see p75, p79, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, 70-79, Nair); validating, by a software application, a command protocol for an industrial device (A command protocol, such as for making changes, can be verified by determining that the command meets a desired enforceable characteristic, such as safety, etc., see p79, p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, p70-79, Nair); and transmitting, by a client device, a command protocol to an industrial device via a first channel (A remote cloud service can analyze and determine needed configurations settings that constitute command protocol for updating an industrial device, and which are routed to an industrial device via a mobile device communicating with the industrial device, see p75, 70-79, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, Nair).
Nair does not explicitly teach a binary command.
However, Xu from the same or field of industrial devices, teaches a binary command (A command to from a device can be binary command, such as a hart command that comprises binary data, see p114, Xu)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the industrial connection and information method and system as described by Betarbet and incorporating a binary command, as taught by Xu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better proved a command to be written to a device in a form that is for the device, such as in a binary stream (see p114, Xu).
Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 4.
Claims 5 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nair, in view of Xu, and in further view of US Patent Publication No. 2006/0242637 to Betarbet, (hereinafter Betarbet).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Nair and Xu teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair suggests wherein receiving, by a software application, updated configuration information from an end-point device comprises receiving, by an email account associated with a client device, an email comprising the updated configuration information (Remote cloud support service can analyze and generate data based on retrieved industrial device data, and send to a mobile device, including through email, see p106, 102-106, p119, 109, p75, p11-12, p102-105, 85-86, Nair).
However, Betarbet from the same or similar field of modified data, more explicitly teaches updated configuration data received by a short message service (SMS) or an email (A currently changed configuration is sent by electronic format, see p8, Betarbet).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the industrial connection and information method and system as described by the combination that includes Betarbet and incorporating sms or email, as taught by Betarbet.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better provide information to desired parties in a ubiquitous format that can disseminate information (see p8., Betarbet).
Claim 16 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 5.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nair, in view of US Patent Betarbet.
Regarding claim 10, Nair teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair teaches a second format (Configuration data can be modified into a second format, such as modifying a first visual format into an electronically transmittable or storable format, or from in a second format encapsulated in a second communications format such as internet based ip protocol, see 69, 81, 64, 47, 137, Nair), and suggests sending information by SMS or email message format (Sending information, including through email see p106, 102-106, p119, Nair).
However, Betarbet from the same or similar field of modified data, more explicitly teaches wherein a format consists of a short message service (SMS) or an email, within the context of changes to configurations (A currently changed configuration is sent by electronic format, see p8, Betarbet).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the industrial connection and information method and system as described by Betarbet and incorporating a format consisting of sms or email, as taught by Betarbet.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better provide information to desired parties in a ubiquitous format that can disseminate information (see p8., Betarbet).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nair, in further view of US Patent Publication No. 2023/0052998 to Kande et al., (hereinafter Kande).
Regarding claim 11, Nair teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Nair further teaches wherein establishing, by a client device, a first channel with an industrial device (A first connection communications channel is established between mobile device and industrial device, see p137, p49, p12, p71, p41, p11, p46-49, 53-54, 59-61, 69-71, 75, 79, 80-81, 84-86, 102-106, 137, 148, Fig. 10, Fig. 1, Nair)
Nair does not explicitly teach exchanging tokens between a first and second device; validating, by a first device, an exchange of tokens; and establishing, by a first device, a first channel with a second device based on validation of a token exchange.
However, Kande from the same or similar field of industrial devices and communications, teaches exchanging tokens between a first and second device (Tokens are used in establishing communications and authorization between devices, see p29, Kande); validating, by a first device, an exchange of tokens (Tokens may be verified by a device, in establishing communications and authorization between devices, see p44, p29, Kande); and establishing, by a first device, a first channel with a second device based on validation of a token exchange (A message communications channel is established after token verification, see p51, p44, p29, Kande).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the industrial connection and information method and system as described by Betarbet and incorporating tokens and token verification, as taught by Kande.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better add a layer of security that communications are from authorized party or device (see p51, p44, p29, Kande).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Vasko et al., US. Patent Publication No. 2017/0195827 teaches facilitating linking of wireless communications in an industrial automation environment, where a first link is made in a short range manner with communications such as nfc between a mobile device and an industrial asset, and a second link is made with a secondary larger range communications format between the industrial asset and a control device.
Albert et al., US. Patent Publication No. 2019/0146447 teaches connecting to a field device by smart device through a mobile device.
Citrani, III et al., US. Patent Publication No. 2010/0190442 teaches wireless HART, and connecting to a field device by a handheld device via a wireless adapter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMILIO J SAAVEDRA whose telephone number is (571)270-5617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-5:30pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert E Fennema can be reached at (571) 272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMILIO J SAAVEDRA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117