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 .
This office action is in response to amendments filed May 28, 2026.
Claims 1-6 have been amended.
Claims 7-12 have been added.
Claims 1-12 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-8, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii (US20060206217A1) in further view of Nishiuchi (WO2019193752A1) and Ferre et al. (US20140372598A1).
Regarding claim 1, Fujii teaches a system construction assistance device, comprising:
a current consumption information storage to store a value of a current consumed by a unit included in a programmable logic controller … (a PLC tool device used for constructing and designing a PLC system composed of ... a unit information storing section that stores a type information and a current consumption information of all units)([0014]); and
a display to acquire, from the current consumption information storage, the value of the current consumed … (When the processing section 13 of the PLC tool device 10 starts the execution of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, the processing section 13 obtains one by one the information from the unit position ... the processing section 13 jumps to the step S14 so as to access to the unit information storing section 15 for obtaining the current consumption ... add the obtained respective values to the current values ... at S17 the obtained total current consumption is displayed)([0052], [0053], and [0055]; current consumption of units added to a PLC are obtained and total current consumption is displayed).
Although Fujii discloses of displaying total current consumed (This process executes a process for calculating the current consumption ... of various units registered for every rack and displaying the total value)([0051]), Fujii differs from the claim in that Fujii fails to teach displaying current consumed by an individual unit. However, displaying current consumed by an individual unit is taught by Nishiuchi (FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed in the PLC system editing area 13 ... the unit indicated by the unit image 52 includes four analog signal input terminals and consumes 200 mA)([039]).
The examiner notes Fujii and Nishiuchi teach retrieving current consumption of a unit. As such, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujii to include the displaying of Nishiuchi such that an individual unit current consumption is displayed. One would be motivated to make such a combination to provide the advantage of allowing a user to easily grasp the specifications of each unit constituting the system.
The combination of Fujii-Nishiuchi differs from the claim in that Fujii-Nishiuchi fails to teach the unit has a function capable of being selectively enabled and disabled and storing a value of current consumed by the unit when the function is disabled. However, a unit with a function capable of being selectively enabled and disabled and storing a value of current consumed by the unit when the function is disabled is taught by Ferre (Monitoring the power usage in a sub-system may be performed by monitoring the electrical current using an ammeter ... FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a sub-system that comprises a plurality of components each attached to a power consumption measurement device ... A capability 502 may be connected to a meter 506 (e.g., ammeter) that can measure its power consumption. The capability 502 may be turned ON or OFF … the monitoring of power consumption may be performed on an on-going basis)([0026], [0028], and [0046]; capabilities of components within a system are togglable on/off and measured current consumption is logged for monitoring).
The examiner notes Fujii, Nishiuchi, and Ferre teach retrieving current consumption of a unit. As such, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujii-Nishiuchi to include the unit of Ferre such that a unit with a function capable of being selectively enabled and disabled is utilized and a value of current consumed by the unit when the function is disabled is stored. One would be motivated to make such a combination to provide the advantage of saving energy in the system by deactivating unnecessary capabilities.
Regarding claim 2, Fujii-Nishiuchi-Ferre teach the system construction assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the current consumption information storage stores the value of the current consumed by said unit in association with a combination of the function disabled for said unit, the function enabled for said unit, at least one additional function enabled for said unit, and the at least one additional function disabled for said unit (although Fujii fails to teach storing current consumption of a unit with functions being disabled and enabled, said storing is taught by Ferre (Monitoring the power usage in a sub-system may be performed by monitoring the electrical current using an ammeter ... FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a sub-system that comprises a plurality of components each attached to a power consumption measurement device ... A capability 502 may be connected to a meter 506 (e.g., ammeter) that can measure its power consumption. The capability 502 may be turned ON or OFF … the monitoring of power consumption may be performed on an on-going basis)([0026], [0028], and [0046]; capabilities of components within a system are togglable on/off and measured current consumption is logged for monitoring). The examiner notes Fujii, Nishiuchi, and Ferre teach retrieving current consumption of a unit. As such, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujii-Nishiuchi to include the storing of Ferre such that current consumption of a unit with functions being disabled and enabled is stored. One would be motivated to make such a combination to provide the advantage of saving energy in the system by deactivating unnecessary capabilities).
Regarding claim 3, Fujii-Nishiuchi-Ferre teach the system construction assistance device according to claim 2, further comprising: calculating circuitry to acquire values of currents consumed by a plurality of units, including said unit, and add the acquired values to calculate a total value of the currents consumed by the plurality of units, wherein the display acquires the total value calculated by the calculating circuitry and displays the acquired total value (Fujii - Describing in relation to the present invention, the PLC tool device 10 selects units ... creating information of the unit configuration ... calculates ... total current consumption based upon the information of each unit used in the information of the unit configuration, displays the resultant)([0039]).
Regarding claim 5, the claim generally corresponds to device claim 1 and recites similar features in method form; therefore, the claim is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 6, the claim generally corresponds to device claim 1 and recites similar features in computer-readable medium form; therefore, the claim is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, the claims generally corresponds to device claims 2 and 3, respectively, and recites similar features in method form; therefore, the claims are rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 10, Fujii-Nishiuchi-Ferre teach the non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 6, wherein the value of the current consumed by said unit is stored in association with a combination of the function disabled and the function enabled (although Fujii fails to teach storing current consumption of a unit with a function being disabled and enabled, said storing is taught by Ferre (Monitoring the power usage in a sub-system may be performed by monitoring the electrical current using an ammeter ... FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a sub-system that comprises a plurality of components each attached to a power consumption measurement device ... A capability 502 may be connected to a meter 506 (e.g., ammeter) that can measure its power consumption. The capability 502 may be turned ON or OFF … the monitoring of power consumption may be performed on an on-going basis)([0026], [0028], and [0046]; capabilities of components within a system are togglable on/off and measured current consumption is logged for monitoring). The examiner notes Fujii, Nishiuchi, and Ferre teach retrieving current consumption of a unit. As such, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujii-Nishiuchi to include the storing of Ferre such that current consumption of a unit with a function being disabled and enabled is stored. One would be motivated to make such a combination to provide the advantage of saving energy in the system by deactivating unnecessary capabilities).
Regarding claim 11, the claim generally corresponds to device claim 3 and recites similar features in computer-readable medium form; therefore, the claim is rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 9, and 12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection and in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see page 10 of applicant's remarks, filed May 28, 2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. §112 rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. §112 rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed, see pages 9 and 10 of applicant's remarks, filed May 28, 2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. §103 rejection have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 1, 5, and 6, applicant argues the combination of Fujii, Nishiuchi, and Ferre fails to teach “displaying a value of the current consumed by a unit with a function disabled”; the examiner respectfully disagrees.
The examiner notes one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Nishiuchi discloses a programmable logic controller (i.e., device) comprising a plurality of individual units “a PLC system that is composed of a combination of respective units” ([0002]). In particular, Nishiuchi discloses storing current consumption of the individual units within the device “a PLC tool device used for constructing and designing a PLC system composed of ... a unit information storing section that stores a type information and a current consumption information of all units” ([0014]) and displaying a value of current consumed for the device (i.e., total current consumed by adding up consumption of individual units) “When the processing section 13 of the PLC tool device 10 starts the execution of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, the processing section 13 obtains one by one the information from the unit position ... the processing section 13 jumps to the step S14 so as to access to the unit information storing section 15 for obtaining the current consumption ... add the obtained respective values to the current values ... at S17 the obtained total current consumption is displayed” ([0052], [0053], and [0055]).
Fujii similarly discloses a device comprising a plurality of individual units “A programmable logic controller (PLC: Programmable Logic Controller, hereinafter referred to as PLC) system is constructed by combining a plurality of units” ([03]). In particular, Fujii discloses displaying current consumed by the individual units within the device “FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed in the PLC system editing area 13 ... the unit indicated by the unit image 52 includes four analog signal input terminals and consumes 200 mA” ([039]).
Ferre similarly discloses a device (e.g., system) comprising a plurality of individual units (i.e., sub-systems) “a system solution by assembling and integrating a number of devices or sub-systems the overall system” ([0003]). In particular, Ferre discloses selectively enabling and disabling functions (i.e., capabilities of components) of a sub-system and storing a value of current consumed by the sub-system when a capability is turned off “Monitoring the power usage in a sub-system may be performed by monitoring the electrical current using an ammeter ... FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a sub-system that comprises a plurality of components each attached to a power consumption measurement device ... A capability 502 may be connected to a meter 506 (e.g., ammeter) that can measure its power consumption. The capability 502 may be turned ON or OFF … the monitoring of power consumption may be performed on an on-going basis” ([0026], [0028], and [0046]).
As an exemplary example, Ferre discloses a sub-system comprising GPS, compass, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example sub-system with multiple capabilities. This example sub-system may be a smartphone. This sub-system may have the following capabilities: GPS 102 (Capability 1), Compass 104 (capability 2), Accelerometer 106 (Capability 3), Wi-Fi 108 (Capability 4), Bluetooth 110 (Capability 5)” ([0020]) such that current consumed by the sub-system is an aggregation of individual energy consumption of capabilities of components “The total energy consumption (EC1) of sub-system 1 (S1) 122 is the aggregation of each individual energy consumption (112, 114, 116, 118, 120)” ([0020]) which are continually measured and monitored “The power consumption associated each of the capabilities in each of the devices may be measured and monitored” ([0046]). That is, if a capability is turned off the measured energy consumption of the sub-system would be lower and when the capability is turned on the measured energy consumption of the sub-system would be higher.
The examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, Fujii, Nishiuchi, and Ferre teach retrieving current consumption of a unit. As such, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujii to include the displaying of Nishiuchi and the unit of Ferre such that an individual unit current consumption is displayed, a unit with a function capable of being disabled is utilized, and a value of current consumed by the unit when the function is disabled is stored. One would be motivated to make such a combination to provide the advantage of allowing a user to easily grasp the specifications of each unit constituting the system and saving energy in the system by deactivating unnecessary capabilities.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Yongjia Pan whose telephone number is (571)270-1177. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman can be reached at 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YONGJIA PAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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