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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on January 20, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 15 is 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.
Claim 15 contains the trademark/trade names Alexa, Amazon, Sonos, and LIFX lighting. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe terms in the claim and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2013/0338839 (hereinafter “Rogers”).
Regarding claim 1, Rogers teaches: A controller for a smart home, comprising an interaction module and a communication module (e.g., Fig. 18A, 1866, 1864, 1860), wherein the interaction module includes at least one of a button unit and a sliding unit ([0055] FIGS. 1B-1C illustrate the VSCU unit 100 as it is being controlled by the hand of a user according to an embodiment. In one embodiment, for the combined purposes of inspiring user confidence and further promoting visual and functional elegance, the VSCU unit 100 is controlled by only two types of user input, the first being a rotation of the outer ring 106 (FIG. 1B), and the second being an inward push on the outer ring 106 (FIG. 1C) until an audible and/or tactile "click" occurs. For one embodiment, the inward push of FIG. 1C only causes the outer ring 106 to move forward, while in another embodiment the entire cap-like structure, including both the outer ring 106 and the glass covering of the sensor ring 104 and circular display monitor 102, move inwardly together when pushed. Preferably, the sensor ring 104, the circular display monitor 102, and their common glass covering do not rotate with outer ring 106.), and the controller is configured to: obtain a control command based on the interaction module ([0062] FIGS. 3A-3K illustrate user temperature adjustment based on rotation of the outer ring 106 along with an ensuing user interface display according to one embodiment. For one embodiment, prior to the time depicted in FIG. 3A in which the user has walked up to the VSCU unit 100, the VSCU unit 100 has set the circular display monitor 102 to be entirely blank ("dark"), which corresponds to a state of inactivity when no person has come near the unit. As the user walks up to the display, their presence is detected by one or more sensors in the VSCU unit 100 at which point the circular display monitor 102 is automatically turned on. When this happens, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the circular display monitor 102 displays the current set point in a large font at a center readout 304. Also displayed is a set point icon 302 disposed along a periphery of the circular display monitor 102 at a location that is spatially representative the current set point. Although it is purely electronic, the set point icon 302 is reminiscent of older mechanical thermostat dials, and advantageously imparts a feeling of familiarity for many users as well as a sense of tangible control.); and upload the control command to a control server via the communication module, wherein the control command is configured to control a target smart home device ([0171] According to some embodiments, the wireless communications system 1866 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components, which can be peer-to-peer communications, communications through one or more servers located on a private network, or and/or communications through a cloud-based service. [0182], [0202], [0220]).
Regarding claim 2, Rogers teaches: wherein the controller is further configured to: determine operational habit data based on user operation on the interaction module; and upload the operational habit data to the control server ([0145] patterns detected in their particular occupancy history, [0186]).
Regarding claim 3, Rogers teaches: a display module, and the controller is further configured to: display a preferred display configuration issued by the control server on the display module, wherein the preferred display configuration includes one or more graphical elements displayed on the display module (Figs. 3A-3K).
Regarding claim 4, Rogers teaches: wherein the sliding unit is configured as a rotary ring (Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 6, Rogers teaches: a display module, and the controller is further configured to: display status information and/or a monitoring parameter of one or more smart home devices through the display module (Fig. 3A-3K).
Regarding claim 7, Rogers teaches: wherein the display module includes a touchscreen display unit ([0145] Provided according to some embodiments is a gesture-based user interface for the VSCU units. For one embodiment, a touch-sensitive display is provided in which sliding touch controls are enabled, similar to swipe controls and other gestures used by the iPad and iPhone. Alternatively, a small camera can be placed on the VSCU unit, which is programmed with the ability to process the optical input information such that it can recognize hand gestures (clockwise hand rotation to turn up the temperature, counterclockwise to turn down the temperature), similar to the way that the Microsoft Kinect.TM. sensor works in conjunction with the Xbox 360.RTM. video gaming console to provide controller-free, gesture-based user inputs (i.e., inputs based on hand, foot, or body motion without requiring the user to hold a controller device or to otherwise have a hardware input device on their person).).
Regarding claim 8, Rogers teaches: a sensor module, wherein the sensor module includes a photosensitive unit and/or a near-field capacitive sensing unit ([0171], [0229]).
Regarding claim 9, Rogers teaches: A control method for a smart home, performed by a controller, comprising: determining a control command based on operational data of a user, wherein the operational data includes at least one of sliding data and click data (e.g., [0054] receiving user control commands from the user's computer, network-connected television, smart phone, or other stationary or portable data communication appliance (hereinafter collectively referenced as the user's "digital appliance"), and the control command is configured to control a target smart home device ([0174] For example, processing system 1860 is further programmed and configured to maintain and update a thermodynamic model for the enclosure in which the HVAC system is installed, such as described in U.S. Ser. No. 12/881,463, supra. According to some embodiments, the wireless communications system 1866 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components, which can be peer-to-peer communications, communications through one or more servers located on a private network, or and/or communications through a cloud-based service); and uploading the control command to a control server ([0174 or and/or communications through a cloud-based service).
Regarding claim 10, Rogers teaches: determining operational habit data based on the operational data; and uploading the operational habit data to the control server ([0145] patterns detected in their particular occupancy history, [0186]).
Regarding claim 11, Rogers teaches: obtaining and displaying a preferred display configuration issued by the control server, wherein the preferred display configuration includes one or more graphical elements displayed on the display module, and the preferred display configuration is determined based on the operational habit data ([0144] For some embodiments, which are particularly applicable in view of ongoing improvements in automated sensing, a personalized control paradigm is promoted by the VSCU units, that is, the VSCU units function to automatically detect and identify individual users in the home and attempt to identify their current and upcoming individual needs and desires with respect to VSCU-related functionality. For one example, the VSCU units are programmed with a "fingerprinting" functionality to recognize a particular user who is making a current control adjustment at the face of the unit, and then adjusting its response if appropriate for that user. For example, the particular way the user has turned the VSCU unit outer ring, or where they put their fingers on the VSCU unit dial or body (using touch sensors), how much pressure they exert for an inward click, and how close their body is to the VSCU unit dial (using a proximity sensor) can be used as their "fingerprint". In one example, each user can be identified and initially "fingerprinted" in a separate question-and-answer session, and their personal preferences can thereafter be learned by virtue of their control inputs to the VSCU units from both remote locations and on the dial. At first, most of the fingerprinting can be done via user's commands from their mobile phone as well as the web. People will be controlling the thermostat a lot from their phone before getting home, or after they have left. Also, if they are somewhere else with an easier access to a computer (or even at home computer), they will use the web. Personalized control from VSCU units can be based on multiple maps of a "user comfort model" for the identified person. A model is built on what their preference/physical comfort zone is like. But if there are multiple users who have very different preferences, there may be a benefit in building two (or more) different models than to completely average them.).
Regarding claim 12, Rogers teaches: determining the target smart home device based on the operational data; and determining an adjustment range and an adjustment sensitivity of a sliding unit based on the target smart home device (Figs. 3A-3K, [0144]).
Regarding claim 13, Rogers teaches: displaying status information and a monitoring parameter of one or more smart home devices ([0170] According to some embodiments an LED indicator 1880 is positioned beneath portion 1824 to act as a low-power-consuming indicator of certain status conditions. For, example the LED indicator 1880 can be used to display blinking red when a rechargeable battery of the thermostat (see FIG. 4A, infra) is very low and is being recharged. More generally, the LED indicator 1880 can be used for communicating one or more status codes or error codes by virtue of red color, green color, various combinations of red and green, various different blinking rates, and so forth, which can be useful for troubleshooting purposes.).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rogers in view of U.S. Publication No. 2015/0159904 (hereinafter “Barton”).
Regarding claim 5, Rogers does not explicitly teach: wherein the controller is further configured to: determine the target smart home device based on operational data of a user; and determine an adjustment range and an adjustment sensitivity of the sliding unit based on the target smart home device.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Barton teaches: wherein the controller is further configured to: determine the target smart home device based on operational data of a user; and determine an adjustment range and an adjustment sensitivity of the sliding unit based on the target smart home device ([0127] The housing 96 may be fabricated from any suitable material. As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 96 may have a generally circular foot print, but this is not required. In some cases, the housing 96 may be a two-part housing a may include a rotating ring 106 which may form part of the user interface 108, and which may provide another mechanism for accepting input from a user. For example, the user may rotate the ring 106 to increase or decrease an operating parameter (e.g. set point) and/or to change information viewed on the display 94 by advancing from a first screen to a second screen displayed on the display 94. [0261] In some embodiments, the application may present options for the offset in 1 degree increments from 1 degree to 10 degrees, or other convenient range, and allow the user to specify whether the action applies when heating or cooling.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rogers to include the feature of adjustable degree increments and a combination of Rogers with Barton renders the claim prima facie obvious within the described scope of the prior art and any indicated differences within the level of one of ordinary skill in the art (e.g., telecommunications engineer) according to a combination of known prior art elements with known methods to yield predictable results. MPEP 2143(I)(A) (e.g., providing adjustable sensitivity and range).
Claim 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rogers in view of Non-patent Literature entitled “Learn how to control your Nest products with Amazon Alexa” (hereinafter “Amazon”).
Regarding claim 14, Rogers teaches: A control system for a smart home, comprising a controller, a control server, a collaborative server, a smart home cloud server, and a plurality of smart home devices connected sequentially ([0101] Referring now to FIG. 10B, it is often the case that a home or business will have two or more HVAC systems, each of them being responsible for a different zone in the house and being controlled by its own thermostat. Thus, shown in FIG. 10B is a first HVAC system 299 associated with a first zone Z1, and a second HVAC system 299' associated with a second zone Z2. According to an embodiment, first and second primary VSCU units 100 and 100'' are provided for controlling the respective HVAC units 299 and 299'. The first and second primary VSCU units 100 and 100'' are configured to leverage their communication and multi-sensing capabilities such that they jointly, in a cooperative manner, perform many cooperative communication-based VSCU unit functionalities similar or analogous to those described above with respect to FIG. 10A, and still further cooperative VSCU unit functionalities for multi-zone control as described herein. [0174] According to some embodiments, the wireless communications system 1866 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components, which can be peer-to-peer communications, communications through one or more servers located on a private network, or and/or communications through a cloud-based service.), wherein the controller is configured to obtain a control command and upload the control command to the control server ([0220] The primary communications interface is an 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi module based on the TI WLI271 chip, connected via MMC2. Through this interface the VSCU unit can communicate with the server farm and provide secure remote control of the HVAC system in addition to updating temperature and climate models, reporting problems and updating software.); the control server is configured to format the control command to obtain command data and transmit the command data to the collaborative server ([0171] According to some embodiments, the wireless communications system 1866 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components, which can be peer-to-peer communications, communications through one or more servers located on a private network, or and/or communications through a cloud-based service. [0182], [0202], [0203]). the smart home cloud server is configured to, based on the command data, control the plurality of smart home devices to execute a responsive operation ([0206] In one more complex embodiment of the invention, the thermostats can operate according to the following steps: (1) Over a population of different installations, carry out many different visual reinforcement algorithms for many different customers, on a random basis or according to some predetermined distribution scheme; (2) Each time a user is shown a "reward" (or "punishment") according to their particular visual reinforcement algorithm, monitor the customer's inputs (if any) for the first minute (or hour, or day) after showing the "reward" (or "punishment"), and report those inputs to the central Nest server over the Internet; (3) Analyze the collected data to determine correlations between the success of certain visual reinforcement algorithms and the classifications of customers, geographies, etc. for which they are successful; (4) Automatically download the successful visual reinforcement algorithms for the corresponding customers, geographies, etc. for which they are successful. (5) When commissioning new thermostat installations, automatically program in the particular visual reinforcement algorithms most likely to be successful for that particular customer (e.g., based on the setup interview, purchase data, customer address, and so forth).); and the plurality of smart home devices are configured to feedback a control result to the smart home cloud server based on an execution result of the responsive operation ([0205] (4) Analyze the customer's inputs (either separately or in conjunction with a similar group of customers) to determine if the basic "leaf algorithm" was a "success" for that customer (or that group of customers). [0123] For other embodiments, similar automated detection, customer alerting, and maintenance event triggering as described in the preceding paragraph is provided for any type of HVAC system anomaly such as, but not limited to, the general failure of the house to heat or cool to the set point temperature or the clogging of a particular duct in the house (e.g., its airflow readings are grossly different than that of other sensors in other ducts). [0106] an exemplary hotel 1202 (or multi-unit apartment building, etc.) in which each room or unit has a VSCU unit 100, the hotel 1202 further having a computer system 1204 and database 1206 configured for managing the multiple VSCU units and running software programs, or accessing cloud-based services, provisioned and/or supported by the VSCU data service company 1208).
Rogers does not explicitly teach: the collaborative server is configured to transmit the command data to the smart home cloud server.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Amazon teaches: the collaborative server is configured to transmit the command data to the smart home cloud server (p. 2/3 “Or you can tell Alexa that you’re leaving so your thermostat will turn down to your Eco Temperatures.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rogers to include the feature of control through a collaborative server and a combination of Rogers with Amazon renders the claim prima facie obvious within the described scope of the prior art and any indicated differences within the level of one of ordinary skill in the art (e.g., telecommunications engineer) according to a combination of known prior art elements with known methods to yield predictable results. MPEP 2143(I)(A) (e.g., providing collaborative control).
Regarding claim 15, Rogers does not explicitly teach: wherein the collaborative server is an Amazon Alexa cloud server, a Sonos speaker cloud server, or a LIFX lighting cloud server.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Amazon teaches: wherein the collaborative server is an Amazon Alexa cloud server, a Sonos speaker cloud server, or a LIFX lighting cloud server (p. 1/3 “Learn how to control your Nest products with Amazon Alexa).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rogers to include the feature of control through a collaborative server and a combination of Rogers with Amazon renders the claim prima facie obvious within the described scope of the prior art and any indicated differences within the level of one of ordinary skill in the art (e.g., telecommunications engineer) according to a combination of known prior art elements with known methods to yield predictable results. MPEP 2143(I)(A) (e.g., providing collaborative control).
Regarding claim 16, Rogers teaches: wherein the controller is configured to: determine the control command based on operational data of a user, wherein the operational data includes at least one of sliding data and click data, and the control command is configured to control a target smart home device ([0054] receiving user control commands from the user's computer, network-connected television, smart phone, or other stationary or portable data communication appliance (hereinafter collectively referenced as the user's "digital appliance"); [0174] For example, processing system 1860 is further programmed and configured to maintain and update a thermodynamic model for the enclosure in which the HVAC system is installed, such as described in U.S. Ser. No. 12/881,463, supra. According to some embodiments, the wireless communications system 1866 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components, which can be peer-to-peer communications, communications through one or more servers located on a private network, or and/or communications through a cloud-based service.).
Regarding claim 17, Rogers teaches: determine operational habit data based on the operational data; and upload the operational habit data to the control server ([0145] patterns detected in their particular occupancy history, [0186]).
Regarding claim 18, Rogers teaches: wherein the control server is configured to: determine an operational behavior distribution based on the operational habit data uploaded by the controller within a preset period ([0203] In one more complex embodiment of the invention, the thermostats can operate according to the following steps: (1) Over a population of different installations, carry out many different visual reinforcement algorithms for many different customers, on a random basis or according to some predetermined distribution scheme; (2) Each time a user is shown a "reward" (or "punishment") according to their particular visual reinforcement algorithm, monitor the customer's inputs (if any) for the first minute (or hour, or day) after showing the "reward" (or "punishment"), and report those inputs to the central Nest server over the internet;); and determine a preferred display configuration based on the operational behavior distribution and issue the preferred display configuration to the controller, the preferred display configuration including one or more graphical elements to be displayed ([0144], Figs. 3A-3K).
Regarding claim 19, Rogers teaches: wherein the controller is configured to: obtain and display the preferred display configuration issued by the control server ([0144]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Publication No. 2013/0173064 (Fadell) related to user-friendly, network connected learning thermostat and related systems and methods
U.S. Publication No. 2022/0052865 (Zhu) related to interaction control method for smart home based on smart screen, device and smart screen
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN BARRY whose telephone number is (571)272-0201. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am EST to 5:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jinsong HU can be reached at (571) 272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAB/ Examiner, Art Unit 2643
/JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643