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 on December 29, 2023.
Claims 1 and 3-6 have been amended.
Claims 1-6 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
As required by M.P.E.P. 609(C), the applicant’s submission of the Information Disclosure Statement dated December 29, 2023 is acknowledged by the examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending. As required by M.P.E.P 609, a copy of the PTOL-1449 initialed and dated by the examiner is attached to the office action.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-4 are 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.
Regarding claim 2, the claim recites “the function being disabled and a function being enabled” in lines 3-4. It is unclear if a function being enabled is the same function being disabled. As such, the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite. For the purposes of examination the limitation is interpreted as “the function being disabled and the function being enabled”.
Regarding claim 3, the claim recites “a plurality of the units” in line 4 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. As such, the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite. For the purposes of examination the limitation is interpreted as “a plurality of units”.
Regarding claim 4, the claim recites displaying incompatible information based on if a single retrieved unit identification matches an enabled identification of a unit; however, said displaying is not supported by the instant specification. Instead, the instant specification states a display of incompatible information based on if multiple retrieved identifications match enabled identifications of a controller and units “The determiner 217 determines whether the IDs acquired from the ID information storages 245, 255, and 265 and the IDs for the functional unit 204, the functional unit 205, and the controller 206 set as being enabled by the receiver 212 match. When the determiner 217 determines that these IDs do not match, the determiner 217 causes the display 214 to display incompatible information” ([0078]). As such, it is unclear how the claim should be interpreted; the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite. For the purposes of examination the claim is interpreted as a displaying of incompatible information based on if multiple retrieved identifications match enabled identifications of a controller and units as supported by ([0078]) of the instant specification.
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 1-3 and 5-6 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 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 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 toggled 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 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 the unit in association with a combination of the function being disabled and a function being 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 toggled 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 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 the units 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on form PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant is required under 37 C.F.R. § 1.111(c) to consider the reference fully when responding to this action.
The document cited therein and enumerated below teaches a method and apparatus for monitoring power consumption of subsystem within a system.
US20050240786A1
US20050044429A1
US20080114998A1
US20110148390A1
US7568198B2
US10126808B2
KR101457735B1
The document cited therein and enumerated below teaches a method and apparatus for providing construction assistance of a programmable logic controller.
US20210003986A1
US7062422B2
US10073431B2
JP4490577B2
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YONGJIA PAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118