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 .
The instant application having application No. 18/551,424 of FOMIN et al. for “METHOD FOR ELECTRONICALLY DOCUMENTING A CLEANING PROCESS” filed September 20, 2023 with a preliminary amendment has been examined.
Drawings
Drawings Figures 1-3 submitted on September 20, 2023 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.121(d).
Information Disclosure Statements
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted September 02, 2024 September 19, 2024 are being considered by the examiner.
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 not directed to patent eligible subject matter. Based upon consideration of all of the relevant factors with respect to the claim as a whole, claim(s) 1-18 are determined to be directed to an abstract idea. The rationale for this determination is explained below: The entire claimed limitations of claims 1-18 are organizing human activity; mental processes; data gathering/storage and does not integrate them into a practical application. The recited elements do not amount to “significantly more.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-9 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Applicant Submitted Prior Art of LI et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2018/0122215 A1) hereinafter “Li”.
As to claim 1, Li discloses a method for electronically documenting a cleaning process, in which data of the cleaning process is captured and written to an electronic database (described in Paragraphs 0028 and 0062-0063), comprising: capturing preparation data in connection with preparing for the cleaning process (described in Paragraphs 0039, 0041-0042, 0054, 0058 and 0062); capturing performance data in connection with performing the cleaning process (described in Paragraphs 0040, 0049, 0054, 0058, 0062 and 0064-0065); capturing post-processing data in connection with following up on the cleaning process (described in Paragraphs 0043, 0049, 0054, 0058, 0062 and 0064-0065).
As to claim 2, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 1, further Li discloses wherein, for the preparation data, a date, time and location of the preparation for the cleaning process, a manner of the preparation, a cleaner, a cleaning plan, cleaning locations and/or cleaning utensils are captured (described in Paragraph 0041).
As to claim 3, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 2, further Li discloses wherein the cleaning plan specifies an assembly of the cleaning utensils to be used (described in Paragraph 0041).
As to claim 4, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 2, further Li discloses wherein, the cleaning plan is provided on an electronic device(described in Paragraph 0042).
As to claim 5, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 2, further Li discloses wherein, in accordance to the cleaning plan, cleaning detergents are assigned to the cleaning utensils, including cleaning textiles (described in Paragraphs 0041 and 0062).
As to claim 6, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 1, further Li discloses wherein, for the performance data, a record of a cleaner, a date and start time of performing the cleaning process, a room to be cleaned, used cleaning utensils, an area cleaned by a cleaning process and/or a date and time of end of the cleaning process are captured (described in Paragraph 0062).
As to claim 7, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 6, further Li discloses wherein the room to be cleaned and/or the area cleaned by the cleaning process are captured wirelessly (The hygiene management and monitoring system can monitor and manage multiple tags, which can be placed on objects or personnel. Wi-Fi based RTLS technology can accurately locate devices within 1 meter and less, described in Paragraphs 0026-0027).
As to claim 8, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 6, further Li discloses wherein the cleaning utensils used are captured wirelessly (described in Paragraphs 0026-0027).
As to claim 9, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 7, further Li discloses wherein the room to be cleaned and/or the cleaning utensils are equipped with at least one identification tag (described in Paragraph 0031).
As to claim 14, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 6, further Li discloses wherein a state of the areas of a room which are to be cleaned according to the cleaning plan is captured before and/or after the cleaning, by an electronic device or by a further electronic device (described in Paragraph 0062).
As to claim 15, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 1, further Li discloses wherein, for the post-processing data, a record of cleaner, date, time and location of the post-processing on the cleaning process, a type of returned cleaning utensils, a number of the returned cleaning utensils and/or a state of the returned cleaning utensils are captured (described in Paragraphs 0043, 0049, 0058 and 0062).
As to claim 16, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 4, further Li discloses wherein the electronic device is fixed to a cleaning utensil.
As to claim 17, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 1, further Li discloses wherein the data captured during preparation, performance and post-processing, are captured electronically in an electronic database (described in Paragraphs 0043, 0049, 0058 and 0062).
As to claim 18, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 17, further Li discloses wherein the captured data is stored in a central storage unit (described in Paragraphs 0043, 0049, 0058 and 0062).
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating
obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by the Applicant Submitted Prior Art of LI et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2018/0122215 A1) hereinafter “Li” in view of the Applicant Submitted Prior Art of BRUCKNER et al. (WO Publication No. 2018/019366 A1) hereinafter “Bruckner”.
As to claim 10, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 9, but Li does not expressly disclose wherein the room to be cleaned is equipped with one or more identification tags distributed in the room.
Bruckner disclose a method comprising: a room to be cleaned that is equipped with one or more identification tags distributed in the room (In a cleaning system 150, the localization device 48 includes a sensor unit 152 integrated into the cleaning device 20. The sensor unit 152 is, for example, a wireless sensor unit and is configured, for instance, as an RFID reader. Position landmarks 154 are provided, for example, in the form of RFID tags [i.e. one or more identification tags distributed in the room], described in Page 36).
Thus, given the method of Li and having the teaching of Bruckner disclosing a method a room to be cleaned that is equipped with one or more identification tags that is also well-known and conventional in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Li by incorporating the teaching of Bruckner such that the method of Li to provide, wherein the room to be cleaned is equipped with one or more identification tags distributed in the room, for the obvious advantage of providing a substitution of one conventional access point receiver by another conventional which is a an RFID tag to achieve the same or similar result, which is providing a means to determined cleanliness of room by the determining of movement of the cleaning means/ utensil by the detecting tags that are distributed in the room.
As to claim 11, Li’s disclosure as set forth above in claim 9, but Li does not expressly disclose wherein the data transmitted by the identification tags are captured by a mobile reader.
Bruckner disclose a method comprising: a data transmitted by an identification tags are captured by a mobile reader (In a cleaning system 150, the localization device 48 includes a sensor unit 152 integrated into the cleaning device 20. The sensor unit 152 is, for example, a wireless sensor unit and is configured, for instance, as an RFID reader [i.e. mobile reader]. Position landmarks 154 are provided, for example, in the form of RFID tags, described in Page 36).
Thus, given the method of Li and having the teaching of Bruckner disclosing a method a room to be cleaned that is equipped with one or more identification tags that is also well-known and conventional in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Li by incorporating the teaching of Bruckner such that the method of Li to provide, wherein the room to be cleaned is equipped with one or more identification tags distributed in the room, for the obvious advantage of providing a substitution of one conventional access point receiver by another conventional which is a an RFID tag to achieve the same or similar result, which is providing a means to determined cleanliness of room by the determining of movement of the cleaning means/ utensil by the detecting tags that are distributed in the room.
As to claim 12, the combination of Li and Bruckner as set forth above in claim 11, further Bruckner discloses wherein at least one mobile reader is assigned to a cleaning utensil (sensor unit 152 integrated into the cleaning device 20 [i.e. mobile reader is assigned to a cleaning utensil], described in Page 36).
As to claim 13, the combination of Li and Bruckner as set forth above in claim 12, further Bruckner discloses wherein the cleaning utensil forms a mopping device (mop 26 [i.e. mopping device], shown in Figure 1 and described in Page 36).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following cited arts are further to show the state of related art.
U.S. Publication No. 2006/0140703 A1 of SACKS, discloses an intelligent cleaning mop is disclosed, which includes a support shaft, a flat mophead connected to the support shaft, a cleaning pad detachably secured to the mophead, a reservoir, a sprayer for spraying cleaning fluid from the reservoir, a power supply device, a sensor for counting the number of times that the mophead oscillates, and a controller which enables deactivation of the sprayer when a predetermined criterion is meet. The intelligent cleaning mop further includes a port for downloading data and a key adaptor for local activation of the mop. The cleaning pad includes one or more microchips for providing ID and recording usage cycles. Further disclosed is an advanced data controlled cleaning system including a plurality of the intelligent mops and information-technology (IT) system. The IT system includes monitoring stations and/or central station, which communicates with the controllers and monitors usage of the intelligent mops and cleaning activities.
U.S. Publication No. 2005/0186015 A1 of SACKS, discloses an advanced data controlled cleaning system that consists of cleaning tools, cleaning mops and information-technology (IT) solutions. The system uses sensors to detect the presence of a cleaning mop in a room. The sensors communicate with an IT system which monitors the rooms in which the cleaning mop is used, the time that the cleaning mop entered the room, and the length of time that the cleaning mop remained in the room. The cleaning mop includes a motion sensor to monitor how often the mop head is swept back and forth across the floor. This motion information is used to ensure that the proper amount to work is performed in each room. The system also ensures that the mophead is itself cleaned at the proper time by counting the number of times the mophead is swept across the floor. The system provides cleaning fluid to the mophead based on usage, and stops application of cleaning fluid when the mophead itself requires service.
U.S. Publication No. 2003/0209263 A1 of BELL et al, discloses an advanced cleaning system having a handle portion with a proximal end and a distal end, a cleaning head portion, the cleaning head portion adapted for use with a removable cleaning pad, and a cleaning fluid reservoir fluidically coupled to the cleaning head portion such that cleaning fluid is controllably allowed to flow via gravity onto the surface to be cleaned adjacent the cleaning head portion.
U.S. Publication No. 2003/0095826 A1 of POLICICCHIO et al, discloses a cleaning compositions, pads, sheets, wipes, and implements useful in removing soils from hard surfaces. The cleaning pads and/or sheets contain improved structure comprising apertured formed films, functional cuffs, density gradients, adhesive scrubbing strips, and/or perfume carrier complex. The cleaning sheets are designed so as to provide functional cuffs. The present invention also relates to a cleaning implement comprising a handle and, preferably, an improved removable absorbent cleaning pad. The present invention further relates to methods of using cleaning compositions, pads, sheets, wipes, and implements to clean hard surfaces.
Correspondence
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/SISAY YACOB/ January 12, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686