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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/15/2024 and 07/25/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or the nonce term) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or the nonce term) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
In claim 1
“reading apparatus” in line 6. While Para. [0054] discloses that the reading apparatus is a tag reader, this disclosure fails to adequately disclose a structure to perform the recited function or algorithm required to transform the processor such that it performs the recited function.
“reading unit” in line 7. Para. [0067] discloses, “the reading unit 110 includes an RF controller 120, a power amplifier 121, a filter 122, a first coupler 123, a second coupler 124, an antenna 125, a power detector 126, and a canceler 127.” Because this claim limitation(s) is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification [0067] as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
“gauging unit” in line 8. Para. [0064] teaches, “The air pressure gauging unit 104 is an air pressure sensor that can gauge atmospheric pressure.” Because this claim limitation(s) is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification [0064] as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
“estimation unit” in line 9. The Specification fails to adequately disclose a structure to perform the recited function or algorithm required to transform the processor such that it performs the recited function.
In claim 5
“communication unit” in line 3. [0063] teaches, "the communication unit 103 may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface that communicates with a WLAN access point, or a cellular communication interface that communicates with a cellular base station. Alternatively, the communication unit 103 may be a connection interface (e.g. a Bluetooth (registered trademark) interface or a universal serial bus (USB) interface) for connection with a relay apparatus." Because this claim limitation(s) is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification [0063] as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
In claim 6,
“measuring unit” in line 2. Para. [0141] teaches, “For example, the measuring unit 157 includes a three-axis acceleration sensor 157a, a gyro sensor 157b, and a geomagnetic sensor 157c.” Because this claim limitation(s) is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification [0141] as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
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 1-13 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.
Claims 1 recites “reading apparatus” and “estimation unit”, which fails to recite essential structural elements or transforming algorithm used to transform a general purpose computer so as to perform the recited function.
Claims 2-13 fail to structurally define these features in a way which would cure the indefiniteness issue and are therefore also rejected on the same grounds, as they depend from independent claim 1.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2) as being anticipated by BARFIELD, Jr. (US Patent 9,967,701).
Regarding claims 1, 14 and 15,
BARFIELD teaches an item management system (as well as its corresponding method of operation and corresponding reading apparatus) comprising:
at least one first wireless device installed at a known position and storing first identification information(col 3:10-22 teaches, with respect to fig. 2A, "Plot 200 represents a set of stored pressure values 205 (referred to plurally as “stored pressure values 205” and specifically as “stored pressure value 205-X” where X=1, . . . , N) that may act as reference pressure values and may be grouped as a set along a route. The stored pressure values 205 may represent discrete pressures ...measured from one or more devices taken at different times, which may be combined (e.g., averaged, filtered, etc.) and placed at predetermined positions along a route.", thus being interpreted as corresponding to wireless devices installed at known position as recited since the disclosure explicitly states that these reference values are "placed at predetermined positions"; additionally, the passage describes these values being received over a "wireless network". Since these devices transmit this data wirelessly, they function as wireless nodes; col. 7:52-col. 8:8 teaches that the system relies on matching "currently measured pressure" to "stored pressure values" that are "placed at predetermined positions along a route". For the system to know which predetermined position a specific stored pressure value belongs to, that data must be uniquely identified, thus corresponding to first identification information);
a second wireless device attached to an item and storing second identification information (col. 2: 55- col. 3:1 teaches "FIG. 2A shows three plots for illustrating an exemplary approach for determining position values using associated pressure measurements. Plot 220 shows pressure measurements 225 (referred to plurally as “pressure measurements 225” and specifically as “pressure measurement 225-X” where X=1, . . . , M) taken along a vehicle's route 227 as a function of time" thus teaching a second wireless device (barometric sensor by which pressure measurements are taken) attached to an item (said vehicle); when a smartphone or vehicle sensor generates "measured pressure values" (225), the mobile device attaches metadata to these samples which shall includes a unique device ID and geotags (latitude and longitude) – corresponding to second identification information);
at least one reading apparatus that moves together with a mobile object and includes a reading unit capable of reading, from a wireless device, identification information stored in the wireless device and a gauging unit configured to gauge air pressure (col. 2:33-35 – teaches that the vehicle (or the user device) may also measure pressure values along route 110 using, for example, a barometric pressure sensor thus teaching that the vehicle include a means for receiving and processing the data received by the onboard pressure sensor; the "reading apparatus" therefore corresponds to Barfield’s mobile interrogation device, such as a handheld RFID reader of the user device or vehicle, that moves with the person or vehicle to interact with wireless tags); and
an estimation unit configured to estimate a position of the item in a height direction based on a first air pressure value gauged when the at least one reading apparatus has read the first identification information from the at least one first wireless device and a second air pressure value gauged when the at least one reading apparatus has read the second identification information from the second wireless device (col. 12:12-16 teaches accessing reference barometric pressure data via a wireless network in one or more locations which may be compared with one or more pressure values measured by the pressure sensor 360; col. 2:44-52 teaches that the accuracy of the pressure measurement may be sufficient to track the height variations, and by using previously stored position and pressure values which have been collected by mobile devices and/or obtained from a networked device (e.g., a server), current measurements of pressure, determined by pressure sensor within a vehicle, may be obtained and used to estimate position values.)
Regarding claim 2,
Barfield teaches that the item management system further comprises a database in which reading results received from each reading apparatus are accumulated, each reading result including read identification information, a reading time (col. 9:66-col.10:3 teaches associating time tags with position values), and an air pressure value gauged when the identification information has been read (col.15:30-34teaches with respect to FIGS. 8A and 8B, network device 400 may collect and process crowdsourced data (which may be provided by other mobile devices) to create and maintain a database of stored position and pressure values 235, 205);
wherein the estimation unit is configured to obtain, from the database, a reading result for the first identification information that indicates a reading time corresponding to a time at which the second identification information has been read from the second wireless device (col.2:28-31 teaches the route may be characterized by a set of position values which represent the latitude and longitude of the vehicle at particular points in time); and
estimate a position of the item in a height direction based on the first air pressure value indicated by the obtained reading result, the second air pressure value, and the known position of the first wireless device corresponding to the obtained reading result (col. 2:44-52 teaches that the accuracy of the pressure measurement may be sufficient to track the height variations).
Regarding claim 3,
Barfield teaches that the item management system includes at least two first wireless devices installed at different heights (see 200 in fig. 2A which illustrates plurality of first wireless device positions; col. 7:52-col. 8:8 teaches that the system relies on matching "currently measured pressure" to "stored pressure values" that are "placed at predetermined positions along a route"), and
the estimation unit is configured to derive a relational expression between an air pressure and a height based on the first air pressure values respectively gauged when the first identification information has been read from the at least two first wireless devices and known heights of the at least two first wireless devices, and estimate a position of the item in a height direction by applying the second air pressure value to the derived relational expression (col. 7:30-51 teach the historical reference data (the "matching data set") incorporates measurements that were originally collected by multiple devices across different times and locations i.e., from values provided by sensor devices which have been placed at predetermined positions along a route, as disclosed in col. 7:52-col. 8:8.)
Regarding claim 4,
Barfield teaches that the estimation unit is configured to derive the relational expression between an air pressure and a height further based on a time difference between a first reading time at which the first identification information was read and a second reading time at which the second identification information was read (col. 7:30-51 teach the historical reference data (the "matching data set") incorporates measurements that were originally collected by multiple devices across different times and locations.)
Regarding claim 5,
Barfield teaches that the item management system further comprises a communication unit configured to communicate with an external apparatus that is capable of providing air pressure information indicating an air pressure value per time frame basis for at least a nearby point from the known position (col. 2:47-52 teaches using previously stored position and pressure values which have been collected by mobile devices and/or obtained from a networked device (e.g., a server), and wherein the estimation unit is configured to receive the air pressure information regarding a first reading time at which the first identification information was read and a second reading time at which the second identification information was read, correct the first air pressure value into a value corresponding to the second reading time based on the received air pressure information, and estimate the position of the item in a height direction based on the corrected first air pressure value and the second air pressure value (col.3:22-26 teaches that variations in sampling rates or phase of the pressure and/or position measurements may be corrected through resampling such that the pressures obtained from a plurality of different devices may be obtained through crowdsourcing. Correction values to compensate for variations in pressure (e.g., due to atmospheric variations, pressure sensor inaccuracies, etc.) may also be collected from a separate source (e.g., weather service) and received over a wireless network; the rejection of claim 1 above address the limitation of second identification information).
Regarding claim 6,
Barfield teaches that the at least one reading apparatus further includes a measuring unit configured to measure a relative amount of movement from a reference position using a self-localization technique (col. 12:10-16 teaches a calibration mode to define or at least bound the accuracy of the pressure measurements. Such calibration modes may include accessing elevation ground truth data and/or reference barometric pressure data via a wireless network in one or more locations which may be compared with one or more pressure values measured by the pressure sensor 360).
Regarding claim 7,
Barfield teaches that the estimation unit is configured to estimate the position of the item in a height direction selectively using a first estimation mode based on the first air pressure value and the second air pressure value (col. 2:44-52 teaches using previously stored position and pressure values which have been collected by mobile devices, and current measurements of pressure, determined by pressure sensor within a vehicle, to estimate position values) and a second estimation mode based on the self-localization technique(col. 12:10-16 teaches a calibration mode to define or at least bound the accuracy of the pressure measurements. Such calibration modes may include accessing elevation ground truth data and/or reference barometric pressure data via a wireless network in one or more locations which may be compared with one or more pressure values measured by the pressure sensor 360).
Regarding claim 8,
Barfield teaches that the estimation unit is configured to select the second estimation mode in a case where it is determined that an estimation accuracy of the first estimation mode is not sufficient (col. 12:10-18 teaches a calibration mode to define or at least bound the accuracy of the pressure measurements, and further that the calibration mode(s) may be used to improving performance and/or determining pressure sensor 360 accuracy).
Regarding claim 10,
Barfield teaches a case where a relative amount of movement in a height direction of the reading apparatus between a point in time at which the reading apparatus has read the first identification information from the first wireless device and a point in time at which the reading apparatus has read the second identification information from the second wireless device is smaller than a threshold, the estimation unit is configured to estimate a position of the item in a height direction from a known position in a height direction of the first wireless device without being based on the first air pressure value and the second air pressure value (see fig. 1A which illustrates a graph of estimated height values both including and interposed between plural first wireless devices).
Regarding claim 11,
Barfield teaches that the estimation unit is configured to notify a user of a possibility of an anomaly of the at least one reading apparatus in a case where a deviation between a height of the item estimated based on the first and second air pressure values and a height of the item estimated based on the self-localization technique exceeds a threshold (col. 4:40-47 teaches that if an anomalous pressure measurement is determined as shown at 225-6 (e.g., pressure measurement exceeds a differential tolerance from a previous pressure measurement), the SNS receiver may be reactivated and a position measurement may be generated to verify the vehicle as not traveled off the route described by stored position and pressure values 235, 205.)
Regarding claim 12,
Barfield teaches that the estimation unit is configured to estimate, as the position in a height direction, an absolute height of the item, a relative height of the item with respect to a reference plane, or a floor on which the item is located in a building consisting of a plurality of floors (col. 12:13-14 teaches that the system’s calibration modes may include accessing elevation ground truth data, thus teaching that the system uses a verified physical reference point to eliminate errors caused by weather and drift.)
Regarding claim 13,
Barfield teaches that the estimation the wireless devices are radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and the at least one reading apparatus is configured to emit an electromagnetic wave to a reading range and read information sent back from the wireless device utilizing energy of the electromagnetic wave (col. 16:14-30 expressly teaches communication via RFID interface, and teaches several wireless technologies that rely on electromagnetic waves for data transmission e.g., Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and NFC: These technologies use radio waves (a type of electromagnetic wave) to "interrogate" or read data from tags.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIONNE PENDLETON whose telephone number is (571)272-7497. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a-5pm.
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/DIONNE PENDLETON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689