Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more. The claims (1,11) recite(s) a monitoring system, that obtains connection data, assign itself a sink node role if the obtained connection data indicates a connection to a gateway device or otherwise provide the obtained connection data to the gateway device, assign an operation role to the node device based on the obtained connection data, wherein the assigned role is: a sensor node role, if the data indicates a connection to people or a router node, if data indicates that not connected to any peripheral device.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining data, using obtained connection data to indicate assigning a sink node or assigning a sensor or router node, can be done by any general computer system. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the monitoring system with wireless mesh network with sink node, sensor node and router nodes, using assigning connection data to determine path/connection are just merely mathematical relationship.
Prior Art below is applied as best understood by examiner at time of examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being taught by Sarjanen (PGPUB 2013/0153339).
With respect to claim 1, Sarjanen teaches a monitoring system for monitoring a people conveyor system, wherein the monitoring system comprises a wireless mesh network comprising a plurality of node devices and one or more peripheral devices of the people conveyor system,
wherein a node device joining to the wireless mesh network is configured to: obtain connection data representing a connection of the node device to a peripheral device of the people conveyor system (paragraph 0028), and
assign itself a sink node role, if the obtained connection data indicates a connection to a gateway device, wherein the gateway device is arranged to the people conveyor system (paragraph 0025), or
otherwise provide the obtained connection data to the gateway device, wherein the gateway device is configured to: assign an operation role to the node device based on the obtained connection data, wherein the assigned role is: a sensor node role, if the obtained connection data indicates a connection to a people conveyor related sensor device, wherein the people conveyor related sensor device is configured to obtain sensor data representing condition of the people conveyor system; or a router node role, if the obtained connection data indicates that the node device is not connected to any peripheral device of the people conveyor system.
With respect to claim 11, Sarjanen teaches a method for monitoring a people conveyor system, wherein the method comprises:
obtaining connection data representing a connection of a node device joining to a wireless mesh network to a peripheral device of the people conveyor system (paragraph 0028), and
assigning an operation role based on the obtained connection data, wherein the assigned role is:
a sink node role, if the obtained connection data indicates a connection to a gateway device, wherein the gateway device is arranged (paragraph 0025) to the people conveyor system;
a sensor node role, if the obtained connection data indicates a connection to a people conveyor related sensor device, wherein the people conveyor related sensor device is configured to obtain sensor data representing condition of the people conveyor system; or
a router node role, if the obtained connection data indicates that the node device is not connected to any peripheral device of the people conveyor system.
Conclusion
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/ERICK D GLASS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837