DETAILED ACTION
This final Office action is responsive to Applicant’s amendment filed August 20, 2025. Claims 1-2 and 4-17 have been amended. Claim 18 has been added. Claims 1-18 are presented for examination.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed August 20, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101, Applicant submits that the integration of a control device to determine a priority of performing work on lavatory equipment “constitutes a practical application of any abstract idea at least by enabling an improvement to the technological field of IOT-enabled lavatory monitoring technology.” (Page 15 of Applicant’s response) The control device operates as a general-purpose processing device. Applicant does not explain how any improvement is made to the technology itself. The additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic processing elements performing generic computer functions) such that the incorporation of the additional processing elements amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the judicial exception(s) using generic computer components. There is no indication in the Specification that the steps/functions of the claims require any inventive programming or necessitate any specialized or other inventive computer components (i.e., the steps/functions of the claims may be implemented using capabilities of general-purpose computer components). Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claims are directed to an abstract idea(s).
Applicant additionally states, “The claims include a practical application of any abstract idea recited therein by reciting the generation of a priority of performing work on a particular piece of lavatory equipment identified as needing work from among a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment using hierarchical network of sensors. The combination of these claim features enables the generation of a meaningful output from disparate information received from the hierarchical network of sensors, which was not possible in previous arrangements.” (Pages 15-16 of Applicant’s response) Applicant does not explain why collecting the data from lavatory equipment (as currently claimed) “was not possible in previous arrangements.” The claims recite that lavatory equipment information is acquired through controllers and sensors; however, no specific technical details are presented and the data acquisition is presented in the claims only at a high level of generality.
Regarding the art rejection, Applicant argues that MacDonald does not address the current claim amendments (pages 16-18 of Applicant’s response). The rejection has been revised, responsive to Applicant’s claim amendments.
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 6-7, 14, and 17 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.
There is no antecedent basis for “the output unit” in the “determine a work” limitation of claim 6. Dependent claim 7 inherits this rejection. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a control device to perform the recited functions and an output unit that outputs the determined priority. It is not clear how the “output unit that outputs the determined priority” is related to the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a control device to perform the recited functions. The output unit seems to be outside of the scope of the computer-readable storage medium; therefore, it is not clear how it is meant to limit the scope of claim 14. Additionally, it is not clear if the “output unit that outputs the determined priority” is meant to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) since this limitation technically meets the three-prong test under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), but the focus of the claim is on presenting the metes and bounds of an article of manufacture. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a terminal device to present, to a person in charge of work, a priority output from a management apparatus, the management apparatus comprising a control device configured to perform the recited operations. The stored management program controls the terminal device; however, the terminal device only presents output from the management apparatus. It is not clear that the stored management program actively controls the management apparatus and its control device; therefore, the management apparatus and its control device appear to be outside of the scope of the article of manufacture claim. Additionally, it is not clear if the “management apparatus” and “control device” are meant to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) since these limitations technically meet the three-prong test under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), but the focus of the claim is on presenting the metes and bounds of an article of manufacture. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“control device” configured to perform various functions in claims 1-13, 15-16, 18
“terminal device” configured to present the display information output in claim 15
“management apparatus” in claims 15, 16
[Support for a “control device” is found in ¶ 31 of Applicant’s Specification:
[0031] The control device 60 includes an information acquirer 61, a work necessity determination unit 62, a priority calculator 63, a generator 64, an output unit 65, a work record information acquirer 66, and a work record information presenter 67. These components are realized by a CPU, a memory, another LSI, or the like of any computer in terms of hardware, and are realized by a program loaded in the memory or the like in terms of software. Here, functional blocks realized by cooperation of the hardware and the software are illustrated. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms such as only hardware or a combination of hardware and software.
Support for the “terminal device” is found in ¶¶ 9 and 39 of Applicant’s specification:
“The terminal device includes a presenter that presents the display information output from the management apparatus, to the person in charge.”(Spec: ¶ 9)
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the person-in-charge terminal 90 according to some embodiments. The person-in-charge terminal 90 includes a communication device 91, a display device 92, an input device 93, a storage device 94, and a control device 95. The person-in-charge terminal 90 may be a device such as a personal computer, or may be a portable terminal such as a portable phone terminal, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. (Spec: ¶ 39)
Support for the “management device” is found in the follow excerpt from Applicant’s Specification:
[0026] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the management apparatus 50 according to some embodiments. The management apparatus 50 includes a communication device 51, a display device 52, an input device 53, a storage device 80, and a control device 60. The management apparatus 50 may be a server device, a device such as a personal computer, or a portable terminal such as a portable phone terminal, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.
]
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claimed invention is directed to “managing work on lavatory equipment” (Spec: ¶ 2) without significantly more.
Step
Analysis
1: Statutory Category?
Yes – The claims fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter. Apparatus (claims 1-13, 15-16, 18), Article of Manufacture (claims 14, 17)
Independent Claims:
Step
Analysis
2A – Prong 1: Judicial Exception Recited?
Yes – Aside from the additional elements identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below, the claims perform the following:
[Claim 1] acquire information from a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment;
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment;
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space;
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space; and
generate an output comprising the determined priority.
[Claim 14] acquire information from a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment;
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment;
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space;
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space; and
output the determined priority.
[Claim 15] manages the work on the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment,
acquire information from a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment,
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment,
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space;
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space;
generate display information for displaying a set of the lavatory equipment determined to require the work and the priority based on the determined priority, and
provide an output comprising the generated display information, and
present the display information output to the person in charge.
[Claim 16] acquire information from a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment,
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment,
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined that requires the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space;
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space; and
generate the priority output, the priority output comprising the determined priority.
[Claim 17] acquire information from a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment,
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment,
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined that requires the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space;
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space; and
generate the priority output, the priority output comprising the determined priority.
Aside from the additional elements, the aforementioned claim details exemplify the abstract idea(s) of a mental process (since the details include concepts performed in the human mind, including an observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion). As explained in MPEP § 2106.04(a)(1)(III), “[t]he courts consider a mental process (thinking) that ‘can be performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper’ to be an abstract idea. CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366, 1372, 99 USPQ2d 1690, 1695 (Fed. Cir. 2011).” The limitations reproduced above, as drafted, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting the additional elements identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below, nothing in the claim elements precludes the steps from practically being performed in the mind and/or by a human using a pen and paper. For example, but for the recitations of generic computer and other processing components (identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below), the respectively recited steps/functions of the claims, as drafted and set forth above, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind and/or with the use of pen and paper. A human user can gather information, make certain observations, perform calculations, present information, etc. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind (and/or with pen and paper) but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea.
Aside from the additional elements, the aforementioned claim details exemplify a method of organizing human activity (since the details include examples of commercial or legal interactions, including advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, and/or business relations and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). More specifically, the evaluated process is related to “managing work on lavatory equipment” (Spec: ¶ 2), which (under its broadest reasonable interpretation) is an example of managing work to be performed by humans (i.e., organizing human activity); therefore, aside from the recitations of generic computer and other processing components (identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below), the limitations identified in the more detailed claim listing above encompass the abstract idea of organizing human activity.
2A – Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application?
No – The judicial exception(s) is/are not integrated into a practical application.
Claim 1 recites a management apparatus comprising: a control device configured to generally implement the recited operations. Claim 1 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claim 14 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a control device to perform the recited functions and an output unit that outputs the determined priority. Claim 14 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claim 15 recites a management system comprising: a terminal device that is used by a person in charge of work on a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment installed in a plurality of lavatory spaces; and a management apparatus that manages the work on the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment, wherein the management apparatus includes a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 15 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors. Claim 15 further provides an output comprising the generated display information to the terminal device, wherein the terminal device is configured to present the display information output from the management apparatus, to the person in charge.
Claim 16 recites a terminal device configured to present, to a person in charge of work, a priority output from a management apparatus, the management apparatus comprising a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 16 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claim 17 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a terminal device to present, to a person in charge of work, a priority output from a management apparatus, the management apparatus comprising a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 17 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
The claims as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the abstract idea(s) in a computer environment. The claimed processing elements are recited at a high level of generality and are merely invoked as a tool to perform the abstract idea(s). Simply implementing the abstract idea(s) on a general-purpose processor is not a practical application of the abstract idea(s); Applicant’s specification discloses that the invention may be implemented using general-purpose processing elements and other generic components (Spec: ¶ 31).
The use of a processor/processing elements (e.g., as recited in all of the claims) facilitates generic processor operations. The use of a memory or machine-readable media with executable instructions facilitates generic processor operations.
The additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic processing elements performing generic computer functions) such that the incorporation of the additional processing elements amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the judicial exception(s) using generic computer components. There is no indication in the Specification that the steps/functions of the claims require any inventive programming or necessitate any specialized or other inventive computer components (i.e., the steps/functions of the claims may be implemented using capabilities of general-purpose computer components). Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claims are directed to an abstract idea(s).
The processing components presented in the claims simply utilize the capabilities of a general-purpose computer and are, thus, merely tools to implement the abstract idea(s). As seen in MPEP § 2106.05(a)(I) and § 2106.05(f)(2), the court found that accelerating a process when the increased speed solely comes from the capabilities of a general-purpose computer is not sufficient to show an improvement in computer-functionality and it amounts to a mere invocation of computers or machinery as a tool to perform an existing process (see FairWarning IP, LLC v. Iatric Sys., 839 F.3d 1089, 1095, 120 USPQ2d 1293, 1296 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).
There is no transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing recited in the claims.
Additionally, even when considering the operations of the additional elements as an ordered combination, the ordered combination does not amount to significantly more than what is present in the claims when each operation is considered separately.
2B: Claim(s) Provide(s) an Inventive Concept?
No – The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception(s). As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea(s) into a practical application, the use of the additional elements to perform the steps identified in Step 2A – Prong 1 above amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exceptions using a generic computer component(s). Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component(s) cannot provide an inventive concept. The claims are not patent eligible.
Dependent Claims:
Step
Analysis
2A – Prong 1: Judicial Exception Recited?
Yes – Aside from the additional elements identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below, the claims perform the following:
[Claim 2] generate display information for displaying a set of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work and the priority, based on the calculated priority,
outputs the priority by outputting the display information used by a person in charge of the work on the lavatory equipment.
[Claim 3] wherein the display information is configured to display the set side by side in descending order of priority.
[Claim 4] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require work of at least one of the replenishment of the consumable and the removal of the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the cleaning work.
[Claim 5] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of removing the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of replenishing the consumable.
[Claim 6] determine a work order of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work based on the priority output; and
generate display information for displaying a set of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work and the work order based on the work order, wherein
outputs the display information to a person in charge of the work on the lavatory equipment.
[Claim 7] determine the work order based on the priority and at least one of a movement distance, a movement time, presence or absence of floor movement, a number of floor movements, and means for floor movement when movement is performed from a current position of the person in charge to the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work, an elapsed time after the piece of lavatory equipment is determined to require the work, and a dirt degree, a number of times of use, and a use state of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work.
[Claim 8] wherein the type of the piece of lavatory equipment includes a toilet, a urinal, and a washbasin,
wherein the threshold value includes a threshold value for the toilet, a threshold value for the urinal, and a threshold value for the washbasin which are different each other.
[Claim 9] determine the priority based on a necessity of work on an installation disposed outside the corresponding lavatory space in a facility in which the plurality of lavatory spaces are provided.
[Claim 10] determine the priority based on at least one of a movement distance, a movement time, presence or absence of floor movement, a number of floor movements, and means for floor movement when movement is performed from a current position of a person in charge of the work to the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work, an elapsed time after the piece of lavatory equipment is determined to require the work, and a dirt degree, a number of times of use, and a use state of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work.
[Claim 11] wherein upon receiving an input indicating that the work is suspended for the piece of lavatory equipment among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work,
generate the display information in which the set of the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment related to the piece of lavatory equipment is deleted.
[Claim 12] generate the display information to re-display the deleted set, when a predetermined re-display condition is satisfied.
[Claim 13] generate the display information to automatically transmit a message that the work on the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work has been completed, to the management apparatus when a predetermined work completion condition is satisfied.
[Claim 18] determine a work necessity indicating a degree of necessity of work on the piece of lavatory equipment.
The dependent claims further present details of the abstract ideas identified in regard to the independent claims above.
Aside from the additional elements, the aforementioned claim details exemplify the abstract idea(s) of a mental process (since the details include concepts performed in the human mind, including an observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion). As explained in MPEP § 2106.04(a)(1)(III), “[t]he courts consider a mental process (thinking) that ‘can be performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper’ to be an abstract idea. CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366, 1372, 99 USPQ2d 1690, 1695 (Fed. Cir. 2011).” The limitations reproduced above, as drafted, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting the additional elements identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below, nothing in the claim elements precludes the steps from practically being performed in the mind and/or by a human using a pen and paper. For example, but for the recitations of generic computer and other processing components (identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below), the respectively recited steps/functions of the claims, as drafted and set forth above, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind and/or with the use of pen and paper. A human user can gather information, make certain observations, perform calculations, present information, etc. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind (and/or with pen and paper) but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea.
Aside from the additional elements, the aforementioned claim details exemplify a method of organizing human activity (since the details include examples of commercial or legal interactions, including advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, and/or business relations and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). More specifically, the evaluated process is related to “managing work on lavatory equipment” (Spec: ¶ 2), which (under its broadest reasonable interpretation) is an example of managing work to be performed by humans (i.e., organizing human activity); therefore, aside from the recitations of generic computer and other processing components (identified in Step 2A – Prong 2 below), the limitations identified in the more detailed claim listing above encompass the abstract idea of organizing human activity.
2A – Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application?
No – The judicial exception(s) is/are not integrated into a practical application.
The dependent claims incorporate the additional elements of the independent claim from which they depend.
Claim 1 recites a management apparatus comprising: a control device configured to generally implement the recited operations. Claim 1 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claims 2, 6, 7, 9-13, and 18 further recite that the control device is configured to generally implement the additionally recited operations.
Claim 2 recites that the control device outputs the priority by outputting the display information to an external terminal device.
Claim 6 recites that the control device is further configured to determine a work order of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work based on the priority output from the output unit and that the control device outputs the display information to an external terminal device.
Claim 11 recites, upon receiving an input indicating that the work is suspended for the piece of lavatory equipment among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work from the terminal device, the control device is configured to generate the display information in which the set of the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment related to the piece of lavatory equipment is deleted.
Claim 12 recites wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to re-display the deleted set.
Claim 13 recites wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to automatically transmit a message that the work on the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work has been completed, to the management apparatus when a predetermined work completion condition is satisfied.
Claim 14 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a control device to perform the recited functions and an output unit that outputs the determined priority. Claim 14 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claim 15 recites a management system comprising: a terminal device that is used by a person in charge of work on a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment installed in a plurality of lavatory spaces; and a management apparatus that manages the work on the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment, wherein the management apparatus includes a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 15 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors. Claim 15 further provides an output comprising the generated display information to the terminal device, wherein the terminal device is configured to present the display information output from the management apparatus, to the person in charge.
Claim 16 recites a terminal device configured to present, to a person in charge of work, a priority output from a management apparatus, the management apparatus comprising a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 16 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
Claim 17 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a terminal device to present, to a person in charge of work, a priority output from a management apparatus, the management apparatus comprising a control device configured to perform the recited operations. Claim 17 also acquires information from a plurality of controllers and a plurality of sensors.
The claims as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the abstract idea(s) in a computer environment. The claimed processing elements are recited at a high level of generality and are merely invoked as a tool to perform the abstract idea(s). Simply implementing the abstract idea(s) on a general-purpose processor is not a practical application of the abstract idea(s); Applicant’s specification discloses that the invention may be implemented using general-purpose processing elements and other generic components (Spec: ¶ 31).
The use of a processor/processing elements (e.g., as recited in all of the claims) facilitates generic processor operations. The use of a memory or machine-readable media with executable instructions facilitates generic processor operations.
The additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic processing elements performing generic computer functions) such that the incorporation of the additional processing elements amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the judicial exception(s) using generic computer components. There is no indication in the Specification that the steps/functions of the claims require any inventive programming or necessitate any specialized or other inventive computer components (i.e., the steps/functions of the claims may be implemented using capabilities of general-purpose computer components). Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claims are directed to an abstract idea(s).
The processing components presented in the claims simply utilize the capabilities of a general-purpose computer and are, thus, merely tools to implement the abstract idea(s). As seen in MPEP § 2106.05(a)(I) and § 2106.05(f)(2), the court found that accelerating a process when the increased speed solely comes from the capabilities of a general-purpose computer is not sufficient to show an improvement in computer-functionality and it amounts to a mere invocation of computers or machinery as a tool to perform an existing process (see FairWarning IP, LLC v. Iatric Sys., 839 F.3d 1089, 1095, 120 USPQ2d 1293, 1296 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).
There is no transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing recited in the claims.
Additionally, even when considering the operations of the additional elements as an ordered combination, the ordered combination does not amount to significantly more than what is present in the claims when each operation is considered separately.
2B: Claim(s) Provide(s) an Inventive Concept?
No – The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception(s). As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea(s) into a practical application, the use of the additional elements to perform the steps identified in Step 2A – Prong 1 above amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exceptions using a generic computer component(s). Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component(s) cannot provide an inventive concept. The claims are not patent eligible.
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 1-2, 6-10, and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa et al. (WO 2020/105241 A1, published May 28, 2020, with page references made to the English Translation of WO-2020105241-A1) in view of Setchell et al. (US 2018/0341891).
[Claim 1] Ogawa discloses a management apparatus (p. 3 – “FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the information providing system according to the embodiment. The information providing system 10 includes a plurality of toilet devices 30 installed in the toilet room 21 of the facility 20, an information providing device 50 that provides information about the usage status of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and a usage status of the plurality of toilet devices 30. A communication device 22 that transmits information about the information to the information providing device 50, a management subject terminal 40 that manages the facility 20 in which the toilet room 21 is installed, and a cleaner terminal 42 that is a cleaner who is in charge of cleaning the toilet room 21. A user terminal 44 of a user who uses the toilet room 21, a maintenance subject terminal 46 that is in charge of maintenance of the toilet device 30 or equipment or equipment installed in or around the toilet room 21, and The internet 12 is an example of communication means for communicating between the devices.”) comprising:
a control device (p. 3; p. 4 -- “The control device 60 includes a usage status information acquisition unit 61, a usage status prediction unit 62, a required time estimation unit 63, a usage status information provision unit 64, a cleaning order provision unit 65, a cleaning status information acquisition unit 66, a status information acquisition unit 67, A cleaning plan generation unit 68 and a cleaning device control unit 69 are provided. These configurations are realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, other LSI, etc. of an arbitrary computer, and in terms of software by a program loaded in the memory, etc. It depicts the functional blocks realized by. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms such as only hardware or a combination of hardware and software.”) configured to:
acquire information from a plurality of controllers of a plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment and a plurality of sensors installed in a plurality of lavatory spaces (p. 4 – “The usage status information acquisition unit 61 acquires usage status information of the toilet device 30 installed in the toilet room 21 of the facility 20 from the communication device 22, and stores it in the usage status information holding unit 73. The usage status information acquisition unit 61 includes information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30, information indicating the operation status of the controller 31, a door detected by an opening / closing sensor installed on the door 23 of the toilet room 21 or the door 25 of the private room 24. Information indicating the opening / closing status of the toilet, information indicating the usage status or state of equipment or equipment such as lighting, ventilation fans, paper holders installed inside or outside the toilet room 21, persons installed inside or outside the toilet room 21. Information detected by sensors such as a feeling sensor, a temperature sensor, an odor sensor, information detected by sensors such as a seating sensor provided in the toilet device 30, a temperature sensor, and a water level sensor, installed inside or outside the toilet room 21. The image captured by the captured image capturing device, the voice captured by the microphone installed inside or outside the toilet room 21, and the like are acquired as the usage status information of the toilet device 30. The usage status information acquisition unit 61 determines whether or not the toilet device 30 is in use based on the acquired usage status information, and when it is determined that the toilet apparatus 30 is in use, the usage status information is used from the start of usage. Calculate duration.”);
determine, based on the acquired information, a piece of lavatory equipment from among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment that requires work, a corresponding lavatory space from among the plurality of lavatory spaces that requires work, a type of the work required including cleaning and at least one of replenishment of a consumable and removal of an abnormality, a type of the piece of lavatory equipment, a type of the corresponding lavatory space, and a degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”);
determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”; A suggested cleaning order is indicative of a recommended priority of work.);
generate an output comprising the determined priority (p. 3 – “The information providing device 50 further provides the cleaner terminal 42 with information indicating the order of cleaning the plurality of toilet devices 30, information indicating whether cleaning of the toilet devices 30 has been completed, and the like. The information providing device 50 further provides the user terminal 44 with information indicating the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned during cleaning or within a predetermined time.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the output information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).).
Ogawa determines a timing and frequency of cleaning based on a usage status of the toilet and current and predicted degree of dirt (Ogawa: p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”).
Ogawa does not explicitly determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space,
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space.
Setchell discloses that a sink may include sensors such as an overflow sensor that determines “if the water level in the sink has exceeded a predetermined threshold” (Setchell: ¶ 34). A toilet may also be equipped with various sensors that detect when certain threshold scenarios have been met to identify situations in need of more immediate attention (Setchell: ¶ 36 – “The toilet 352 may include a sensor 354 which may be used to determine the activation or flush of the toilet as such, the sensor 354 may be used to determine the number of flushes and/or the frequency of the flushing of the toilet. In addition, the sensor 354 may be used to determine if the toilet 352 is continuously flushing due to a stuck handle and/or other defective mechanism. Further, a fill sensor 356 may measure the water level in the toilet bowl and/or tank to determine whether an overflow scenario has occurred.”).
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Ogawa to determine a priority of the work for the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work at least in part by:
comparing the degree of use of the piece of lavatory equipment to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is selected based on at least one of the type of the piece of lavatory equipment and the type of the corresponding lavatory space,
wherein the priority of the work is based on the type of work required, the result of the comparison of the degree of use to the threshold value, and a location of the corresponding lavatory space
in order to provide more comprehensive management of common maintenance and specific emergency situations that are most likely to occur in a building, including scenarios related to bathrooms, so that emergencies may be prevented and/or mitigated as quickly as possible.
[Claim 2] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is further configured to:
generate display information for displaying a set of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work and the priority, based on the calculated priority (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the display information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).), wherein
the control device outputs the priority by outputting the display information to an external terminal device used by a person in charge of the work on the lavatory equipment (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the display information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).).
[Claim 6] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is further configured to:
determine a work order of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work based on the priority output from the output unit (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the output information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).); and
generate display information for displaying a set of the pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work and the work order based on the work order (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the display information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).), wherein
the control device outputs the display information to an external terminal device used by a person in charge of the work on the lavatory equipment (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 of the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned next by the cleaner is installed to present that the cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 presents the toilet room 21 in which the toilet device 30 is installed when it is confirmed that the cleaner accepts the proposal of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned next provided to the cleaner terminal 42. The device 27 may be made to present that cleaning is scheduled. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may cause the presentation device 27 to present the scheduled cleaning start time and the estimated required time. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may instruct not to use the toilet device 30 scheduled to be cleaned within a predetermined time, or lock the door 25 of the private room 24 or the door 23 of the toilet room 21 scheduled to be cleaned within the predetermined time. You may. The presentation device 27 may further present information indicating the position of the surrounding toilet room 21, the usage status of the toilet device 30 in the surrounding toilet room 21, and the like.”; Additionally noted is that the content of the output information is non-functional descriptive material. Any output content differences would only be found in the non-functional descriptive material and would not functionally be involved in any manipulative steps of the invention nor do would they alter any recited structural elements; therefore, such differences would not effectively serve to patentably distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art. Any manipulative steps of the invention would be performed the same regardless of the specific data. Further, any structural elements remain the same regardless of the specific data. Thus, this descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability as the claimed invention fails to present a new and unobvious functional relationship between the descriptive material and the substrate, see In re Gulack, 703 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401, 404 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862, 1863-64 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Another indication of the existence of non-functional descriptive material is that the content of the material is merely “directed towards conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the supporting product.” Please see MPEP § 2111.05(I)(B).).
[Claim 7] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is configured to determine the work order based on the priority and at least one of a movement distance, a movement time, presence or absence of floor movement, a number of floor movements, and means for floor movement when movement is performed from a current position of the person in charge to the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work, an elapsed time after the piece of lavatory equipment is determined to require the work, and a dirt degree, a number of times of use, and a use state of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”).
[Claim 8] Ogawa discloses wherein the type of the piece of lavatory equipment includes a toilet, a urinal, and a washbasin (p. 3 – “FIG. 1 schematically shows how a cleaner cleans a plurality of toilet devices. In the example of this figure, the cleaner went around to clean the toilet rooms installed on each floor from the basement floor to the third floor of the facility. The cleaner who started the cleaning service at 12:00 first cleaned one of the three toilet bowls in the men's toilet room on the third floor, and then the remaining two toilet bowls were in use. I moved to the toilet room and cleaned three toilet bowls. After that, I returned to the men's toilet room on the 3rd floor, cleaned the urinals and washbasins, and waited for two uncleaned urinals to become available, but since they were still in use, I went to the women's toilet room on the 2nd floor. I moved and cleaned three toilet bowls. Next, I moved to the men's toilet room on the 2nd floor and cleaned the urinals and washbasins, but all 3 urinals were in use, so I was waiting for one to open It was free, so I cleaned it. After that, since the remaining two toilet bowls were in use, I returned to the men's toilet room on the third floor and cleaned one of the empty toilet bowls that had not been cleaned.”).
Ogawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the threshold value includes a threshold value for the toilet, a threshold value for the urinal, and a threshold value for the washbasin which are different each other. Setchell discloses that a sink may include sensors such as an overflow sensor that determines “if the water level in the sink has exceeded a predetermined threshold (Setchell: ¶ 34). A toilet may also be equipped with various sensors that detect when certain threshold scenarios have been met to identify situations in need of more immediate attention (Setchell: ¶ 36 – “The toilet 352 may include a sensor 354 which may be used to determine the activation or flush of the toilet as such, the sensor 354 may be used to determine the number of flushes and/or the frequency of the flushing of the toilet. In addition, the sensor 354 may be used to determine if the toilet 352 is continuously flushing due to a stuck handle and/or other defective mechanism. Further, a fill sensor 356 may measure the water level in the toilet bowl and/or tank to determine whether an overflow scenario has occurred.”).
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Ogawa wherein the threshold value includes a threshold value for the toilet, a threshold value for the urinal, and a threshold value for the washbasin which are different each other
in order to provide more comprehensive management of common maintenance and specific emergency situations that are most likely to occur in a building, including scenarios related to bathrooms, so that emergencies may be prevented and/or mitigated as quickly as possible.
[Claim 9] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is configured to determine the priority based on a necessity of work on an installation disposed outside the corresponding lavatory space in a facility in which the plurality of lavatory spaces are provided (p. 4 – “The usage status prediction unit 62 predicts the future usage status of the toilet device 30. The usage status prediction unit 62 determines the type (facility, commercial facility, stadium, accommodation, etc.) of the facility in which the toilet device 30 is installed, the scale, the area, the floor area, or the density of the toilet device 30 with respect to the number of users, and the facility. Male / female ratio of users, age distribution, type of toilet room 21 (for boys, girls, multipurpose, with or without local cleaning device, with or without baby seats and cots), type of facility or store around toilet room 21 The time change of the congestion status of the toilet device 30 and the usage time of the toilet device 30 are predicted according to the number (restaurants, clothing stores, etc.) and the number. The usage status prediction unit 62 predicts the time change of the congestion status of the toilet device 30 and the usage time based on the past usage record of the toilet device 30, the current usage status of the toilet device 30 and the usage status of the facility. May be. For example, by calculating the congestion degree of the toilet device 30 in the past, the average value of the usage time, the weighted average value, the median value, the median value, etc., the time change of the congestion status of the toilet device 30 and the usage time are predicted. Good. The usage status prediction unit 62 may learn the past usage record of the toilet device 30 using artificial intelligence. For example, the weight of the middle layer of the neural network having the identification information of the toilet device 30, the time zone, and the above parameters as the input layer and the congestion level and the usage time of the toilet device 30 as the output layer is set to the weight of the past toilet device 30. You may make it learn using a use record.”; p. 5 -- “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the order in which the cleaner cleans the plurality of toilet devices 30 based on the duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, and provides the cleaner terminal 42 with the order. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may determine the cleaning order based only on the current duration of use of each of the plurality of toilet devices 30, or the cleaning device of the past toilet devices 30 stored in the usage status information holding unit 73. The cleaning order may be determined based on the usage record such as the number of times of use. When the cleaner is in the toilet room 21 and is waiting until the toilet device 30 in use is empty, the cleaning order providing unit 65 determines whether to wait as it is or move to another toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet. It may be determined whether to wait as it is or to move to another toilet room 21 based on whether or not the toilet device 30 in the room 21 has been cleaned and the time required to move to another toilet room 21. When the cleaner is not in the toilet room 21, the cleaning order providing unit 65 acquires the information indicating the current position of the cleaner from the cleaner terminal 42, and selects the current toilet device 30 in the vicinity of the current position of the cleaner. It provides information on an empty toilet device 30 or on the toilet device 30 that is expected to be used up by the time the cleaner reaches the toilet room 21. The cleaning order providing unit 65 may give priority to the toilet room 21 in which the total number of the toilet apparatus 30 currently vacant and the toilet apparatus 30 expected to be vacant by the arrival is large. Further, the cleaning order providing unit 65 may prioritize the toilet room 21 in which all the installed toilet bowl devices 30 are currently vacant or are expected to be vacant by arrival. Thereby, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.”).
[Claim 10] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is configured to determine the priority based on at least one of a movement distance, a movement time, presence or absence of floor movement, a number of floor movements, and means for floor movement when movement is performed from a current position of a person in charge of the work to the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work, an elapsed time after the piece of lavatory equipment is determined to require the work, and a dirt degree, a number of times of use, and a use state of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work (p. 5 – “The cleaning order providing unit 65 determines the time required until the use of the toilet device 30 is completed, the number of times the toilet device 30 in the other toilet room 21 has been used in the past predetermined period, the current usage status, the future expected usage status, and another toilet.”; p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”).
[Claim 18] Ogawa discloses wherein the control device is configured to determine a work necessity indicating a degree of necessity of work on the piece of lavatory equipment (p. 5 – “The cleaning plan generating unit 68 may determine the timing and frequency of cleaning based on the information indicating the usage status of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present. This makes it possible to improve the cleaning efficiency while maintaining the toilet device 30 in an appropriate state. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 uses the frequency of use of the toilet device 30 from the time of the previous cleaning to the present (the number of times of washing, the number of times of sitting and the time, the number of times of using a hot water washing toilet seat, the amount of toilet paper used, the number of times the private room 24 is opened and closed 25 Etc.), the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 obtained from the cleaner during the previous cleaning, the information indicating the state of the toilet device 30 acquired from the user since the last cleaning, etc. The degree may be indexed and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the indexed degree of dirt. Further, based on attribute information such as the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of the toilet device 30 and the time zone, and the degree of soiling of the toilet device 30 in the past, the toilet device 30 may become dirty in the future. May be predicted, and the cleaning plan may be generated based on the predicted degree of dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 maintains the required cleanliness according to the type of facility, the attribute of the user of the toilet device 30, the type of toilet device 30, an instruction from the administrator of the facility, and the like. The cleaning plan may be generated based on the latest usage status of the toilet device 30 and prediction of the degree of future dirt. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 provides the generated cleaning plan to the cleaner. The cleaning plan generation unit 68 may provide the cleaning person who is performing the cleaning with the information of the toilet device 30 to be cleaned, may suggest the order of cleaning in one cleaning operation, or perform the cleaning. The frequency of may be suggested. Accordingly, the cleaner can perform appropriate cleaning according to the usage status, and thus the cleaning efficiency can be improved while keeping the toilet device 30 clean.”).
[Claim 14] Claim 14 recites limitations already addressed by the rejection of claim 1 above; therefore, the same rejection applies. Furthermore, Ogawa and Setchell each disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a management program causing a control device to perform the respectively disclosed operations (Ogawa: p. 4 -- “The control device 60 includes a usage status information acquisition unit 61, a usage status prediction unit 62, a required time estimation unit 63, a usage status information provision unit 64, a cleaning order provision unit 65, a cleaning status information acquisition unit 66, a status information acquisition unit 67, A cleaning plan generation unit 68 and a cleaning device control unit 69 are provided. These configurations are realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, other LSI, etc. of an arbitrary computer, and in terms of software by a program loaded in the memory, etc. It depicts the functional blocks realized by. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms such as only hardware or a combination of hardware and software.”; Setchell: ¶¶ 99-100).
[Claim 15] Claim 15 recites limitations already addressed by the rejections of claim 1, 2, and 14 above; therefore, the same rejections apply.
[Claim 16] Claim 16 recites limitations already addressed by the rejection of claim 1 above; therefore, the same rejection applies.
[Claim 17] Claim 17 recites limitations already addressed by the rejections of claim 1 and 14 above; therefore, the same rejections apply.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa et al. (WO 2020/105241 A1, published May 28, 2020, with page references made to the English Translation of WO-2020105241-A1) in view of Setchell et al. (US 2018/0341891), as applied to claims 1-2 above, in view of Aston et al. (US 2020/0090089).
[Claim 3] Ogawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the display information is configured to display the set side by side in descending order of priority. Aston ranks tasks to be performed in a building (e.g., a hospital) by descending order of priority in a side by side manner (Aston: figs. 7A, 8A, 9, ¶¶ 87, 92, 96). Like Ogawa, Aston’s tasks may involve equipment in a bathroom (such as a sink handle, as seen in ¶ 82 of Aston). Ogawa acknowledges that certain areas of concern in a building may be addressed based on a priority order (Ogawa: p. 5 – See citations from the independent claim above). The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Ogawa wherein the display information is configured to display the set side by side in descending order of priority so that people assigned various tasks have a clearer idea of what is expected of them and which tasks are of greater urgency, thereby ensuring that all tasks get completed in a more time-appropriate and time-sensitive manner.
Claims 4-5 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa et al. (WO 2020/105241 A1, published May 28, 2020, with page references made to the English Translation of WO-2020105241-A1) in view of Setchell et al. (US 2018/0341891), as applied to claims 1-2 above, in view of Adato et al. (US 2019/0236531).
[Claims 4-5] Ogawa does not explicitly disclose:
[Claim 4] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require work of at least one of the replenishment of the consumable and the removal of the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the cleaning work;
[Claim 5] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of removing the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of replenishing the consumable.
Adato is analogous to Ogawa in that a facility is maintained and various maintenance tasks may be prioritized. Adato prioritizes more pressing maintenance tasks over more routine tasks, like restocking items, as seen in the following excerpt:
[0672] The processor may also pull one or more employees from their currently assigned product-related tasks and re-assign those employees to new product-related tasks. The new assignments, for example, may be made based on a determination that a new product-related task has a higher priority than a product-related task being addressed by an employee. In one example, an employee may be working on restocking canned goods on a certain shelf in response to a service-improvement condition indicating that the shelf contained fewer than a planogram-specified minimum number of products or minimum product density, etc. While the employee is restocking the shelf another service-improvement condition may be detected. The new service-improvement condition may involve a glass jar of pasta sauce that has fallen from the shelf and broken within an aisle. The processor may determine (e.g., based on a predetermined, stored hierarchy of expected service-improvement conditions) that required clean-up of the broken pasta jar is more important to complete than restocking of canned goods on a shelf. As a result, the processor may issue an instruction for the employee working on the restocking task to suspend that task and go to the aisle to complete the new task of cleaning up the broken jar of pasta sauce. Upon completion of the new clean-up task, the employee may be reassigned to complete the task of restocking the shelf.
In Ogawa, bathroom maintenance-related tasks may include addressing an abnormality and cleaning the toilet area (Ogawa: p. 5 – “The status information acquisition unit 67 acquires information indicating the status of the toilet device 30 from the cleaner terminal 42 or the user terminal 44 and stores it in the toilet information database 71. The state information acquisition unit 67 may acquire information such as the degree of contamination of the toilet device 30 and the presence / absence of a defect. When the state information acquisition unit 67 acquires information indicating that the toilet device 30 needs to be repaired or replaced, the state information acquisition unit 67 manages the terminal 40 of the manager of the facility manager in which the toilet device 30 is installed, or The maintenance subject terminal 46 of the maintenance subject may be notified.”; pp. 5-6 – Cleaning and maintenance tasks are described.). Adato’s restocking of items is analogous to a refilling of materials and Adato’s cleaning up of a broken jar is akin to a repair and both may be seen as an unexpected task to be addressed with greater urgency than more routine tasks. Additionally (more specifically regarding claim 4), Adato describes another scenario in which certain types of cleaning events are deemed to be another example of more routine, lower-priority types of tasks (Adato: ¶ 230 – “Typical in-store execution may involve dealing with ongoing service events, such as a cleaning event, a restocking event, a rearrangement event, and more.”; ¶ 676 – “In another non-limiting example, the processing device 202 may also prioritize the service-improvement conditions based on importance of the at least two service-improvement events. In such a case, a need for cleaning near a high traffic area of the store (e.g. the cashier) may be more important than a need for cleaning in a lower-traffic area of the store (e.g. near the bathroom).”). In other words, Adato allows for task prioritization to be customized and Adato suggests that task prioritization is based on which task is deemed to be more important to complete under current circumstances. Claims 4 and 5 simply define which types of tasks may be deemed relatively more urgent to complete than others.
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Ogawa:
[Claim 4] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require work of at least one of the replenishment of the consumable and the removal of the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the cleaning work;
[Claim 5] wherein the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of removing the abnormality is higher than the priority of the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work of replenishing the consumable
in order to allow for more efficient assignment of more routine tasks and unexpected tasks in a way that addresses more urgent issues in a more time-sensitive manner and in accordance with predefined goals and rules, when deemed relevant for a given situation.
[Claims 11-13] Ogawa outputs work to be performed (Ogawa: p. 5 – See citations from the independent claim above). Ogawa does not explicitly disclose:
[Claim 11] wherein upon receiving an input indicating that the work is suspended for the piece of lavatory equipment among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work from the terminal device, the generator generates control device is configured to generate the display information in which the set of the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment related to the piece of specific lavatory equipment is deleted;
[Claim 12] wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to re-display the deleted set, when a predetermined re-display condition is satisfied;
[Claim 13] wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to automatically transmit a message that the work on the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work has been completed, to the management apparatus when a predetermined work completion condition is satisfied.
However, Adato is analogous to Ogawa in that a facility is maintained and various maintenance tasks may be prioritized. Adato prioritizes more pressing maintenance tasks over more routine tasks, like restocking items, as seen in the following excerpt:
[0672] The processor may also pull one or more employees from their currently assigned product-related tasks and re-assign those employees to new product-related tasks. The new assignments, for example, may be made based on a determination that a new product-related task has a higher priority than a product-related task being addressed by an employee. In one example, an employee may be working on restocking canned goods on a certain shelf in response to a service-improvement condition indicating that the shelf contained fewer than a planogram-specified minimum number of products or minimum product density, etc. While the employee is restocking the shelf another service-improvement condition may be detected. The new service-improvement condition may involve a glass jar of pasta sauce that has fallen from the shelf and broken within an aisle. The processor may determine (e.g., based on a predetermined, stored hierarchy of expected service-improvement conditions) that required clean-up of the broken pasta jar is more important to complete than restocking of canned goods on a shelf. As a result, the processor may issue an instruction for the employee working on the restocking task to suspend that task and go to the aisle to complete the new task of cleaning up the broken jar of pasta sauce. Upon completion of the new clean-up task, the employee may be reassigned to complete the task of restocking the shelf.
As seen in ¶ 672 of Adato (reproduced above), Adato can also take an employee off of a more routine task like restocking, reassign the employee to a more urgent task like cleaning up a broken jar, and then return the employee to the original restocking task upon completion of the more urgent task. Since Ogawa can inform users of assigned tasks by sending task information for users to view, it stands to reason that removal of a user from one task and reassignment to another task would likely update the displayed task information accordingly. In effect, the scenario described in ¶ 672 of Adato would be an example of assigning a more routine task to a user, deleting the more routine task temporarily when a more urgent task needs to be performed by the user, and then re-assigning the more routine task once the condition of completion of the more urgent task is met. Ogawa assigns tasks related to a lavatory (as discussed in the rejection of the independent claim). The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Ogawa:
[Claim 11] wherein upon receiving an input indicating that the work is suspended for the piece of lavatory equipment among the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment determined to require the work from the terminal device, the generator generates control device is configured to generate the display information in which the set of the plurality of pieces of lavatory equipment related to the piece of specific lavatory equipment is deleted;
[Claim 12] wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to re-display the deleted set, when a predetermined re-display condition is satisfied;
[Claim 13] wherein the control device is configured to generate the display information to automatically transmit a message that the work on the piece of lavatory equipment determined to require the work has been completed, to the management apparatus when a predetermined work completion condition is satisfied
in order to keep Ogawa’s staff more appropriately and accurately apprised of current task expectations and priority for the completion of various tasks.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Saruta et al. (US 2020/0392710) – Describes a toilet management system that detects an abnormality with a toilet bowl and/or facility in which equipment is installed.
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 SUSANNA M DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-6733. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am-4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Epstein can be reached at (571) 270-5389. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUSANNA M. DIAZ/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3625A
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