DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 13-24 are pending.
Claims 13-24 are rejected below.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 13-14, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Williams (U.S. PG Pub. 20230366579).
As to claim 13, Williams teaches a method for monitoring an environment, the method comprising: emitting, by means of wireless transmission, a presence code indicative of a user in the environment through a transmitter of the environment [0009, 0045 The method includes operating the air conditioner unit in the occupancy mode, initiating an occupancy countdown timer, identifying a first trigger event associated with at least one of the plurality of occupancy indication devices]; intercepting said presence code by means of a user interface device[0052 Notably, in order to facilitate improved determination of the room occupancy status, air conditioner system may include various devices that are intended to provide data or information indicative of room occupancy status, e.g., referred to herein generally as occupancy indication devices 120. In general, controller 64 of air conditioner unit, thermostat 112, etc. may be in communication with each of the occupancy indication devices 120 for obtaining data indicative of room occupancy.]; detecting an opening and subsequent closing event of an access door of the environment[0062 For example, step 230 may include identifying a first trigger event associated with at least one of the plurality of occupancy indication devices. For example, the trigger event may include the opening or closing of a door as detected by door sensors 122,]; adjusting an environmental control system if, after said detected event, said presence code is not intercepted by said user interface device after a preset time interval [ 0062 In this regard, for example, if the first trigger event is generally indicative of the absence of an occupant within room 102 (e.g., a negative indicator of occupancy), the occupancy countdown timer may be reduced or may be zeroed out, 0064 Method 200 may further include, at step 250, determining that the occupancy countdown timer has expired. Step 260 may include operating air conditioner unit in a vacancy mode in response to determining that the occupancy countdown timer has expired].
As to claim 14, Williams teaches wherein said preset time interval is reset if a further opening and subsequent closing event of the door is detected and/or said presence code is again intercepted by means of the user interface device[0062].
As to claim 18, Williams teaches further comprising detecting a user by means of a detection system and wherein said adjustment step is further carried out after the preset time interval if said detection system does not detect said user in the environment[0062].
As to claim 19, Williams teaches system for monitoring an environment for carrying out a method according to claim 13, the system comprising: a transmitter configured to emit a presence code[0062]; software installed or installable in a user interface device and configured to intercept said presence code[0062]; a detection device configured to detect an opening and closing event of an access door of the environment[0062]; an environmental control system, a control unit and at least one remote server configured to adjust said environmental control system if, after said detected event, said presence code is not intercepted by said user interface device after a preset time interval[0056, 0062].
As to claim 21, Williams teaches wherein said control unit and said at least one remote server are configured to adjust said air conditioning system after a first preset time interval and said lighting system after a second preset time interval subsequent to said first preset time interval[0056, 0062].
As to claim 22, Williams teaches further comprising a detection system for detecting the presence of said user in the environment[0062].
As to claim 24, Williams teaches, further comprising a detection system for detecting the presence of said user in the environment[0062].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 15-17, 20 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams (U.S. PG Pub. 2023/0366579) in view of Krasnoff (U.S. PG Pub. 2025/0301045).
As to claim 15, 16 and 20, Williams teaches wherein said adjusting an environmental control system includes adjusting an air conditioning system[0064].
As to claim 17, Willams teaches wherein said adjusting the environmental control system occurs with a first step of adjusting the air conditioning system carried out after a first preset time interval[0062]
As to claim 23, Williams teaches further comprising a detection system for detecting the presence of said user in the environment[0062].
Williams teach most of the claimed invention, but fails to explicitly teach all of the claimed invention, however, these are obvious variation as taught by
As to claim 15, 16 and 20, Kransoff teaches wherein said adjusting an environmental control system includes adjusting a lighting system[0051].
As to claim 17, wherein said adjusting the a second step of adjusting the lighting system carried out after a second preset time interval subsequent to said first preset time interval[0051 long delay such as the 10 minute example].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to include the teachings of Kransoff into the system and methods of Williams. The motivation to combine is that Kransoff teaches dimming or turning off a light when the occupant is not home thereby saving energy [0051].
Other Prior art of record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Johns (U.S. PG Pub. 2022/0354982) teaches occupancy control of lights and HVAC unit.
Aggarwal (U.S. PG Pub. 2018/0255627) teaches determining user occupancy based on lights.
Mairs (U.S. PG Pub. 2014/0059464) teaches scheduling building automation procedures
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN L LAUGHLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1042. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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/NATHAN L LAUGHLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119