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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection under 35 USC 103 for claims 1 and 8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Examiner now uses United States Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0042754 A1 to Trivelpiece et al. (“Trivelpiece”) to teach and disclose “assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level”. Trivelpiece, while having similar features as Nair, teaches assigning weight to responsive signal from just the RFID tag, instead of both the RFID tag and the location tag. Trivelpiece teaches “accuracy of the RFID tag's location can be increased simply by decreasing the RF power level of the mobile reader from the first RF power level P.sub.1 to a second RF power level P.sub.2, as shown by FIG. 4” (Trivelpiece: ¶ 0051). The claims as filed do not limit the weight to only being assigned based just on the power level, but even still, Trivelpiece teaches the “timestamped tag reader information is analyzed in 916 to determine a physical location for each read RFID tag within the facility… location confidence value is then determined for each of the determined physical locations, as shown by 918. The location confidence value is determined based on the number of reads in which the respective tag was detected, an average RSSI, a max RSSI, and/or the mobile reader's power level(s) at the time of the tag reads” (Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0070-0071). For each signal response a location along with a location confidence value is assigned based on the power level at the time of reading the tag, which under the BRI of the claims as broadly recited, teaches “assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level”.
While High teaches many of the claimed steps and most likely does transmit signals, High simply does not specifically mention transmitting the signal. Therefore, Examiner has provided Russell for this step. High teaches a system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers. Russell teaches a comparable system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers that was improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Russell offers the embodiment of transmit, via the first container control unit, a first RFID emission signal to the first container shelf of the first RFID storage container. One of ordinary skill in the before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the adaptation of the initial transmitting step as disclosed by Russell to the RFID system as taught by High for the predicted result of improved systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. No additional findings are seen to be necessary. Even further, while High and Russell teach different techniques for determining locations of RFID tags, Trivelpiece teaches a similar technique of determining a location of an RFID tag based on power level. High and Russell teach systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. Trivelpiece teaches a comparable system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers that was improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Trivelpiece offers the embodiment of assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the adaptation of assigning weights/confidence values based on the power level of the electromagnetic signal as disclosed by Trivelpiece to the RFID systems and received signal strengths as taught by High and Russell for the predicted result of improved systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. No additional findings are seen to be necessary.
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, 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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0270631 A1 to High et al. (“High”) in view of United States Patent No. 9,477,938 B1 to Russell et al. (“Russell”) and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0042754 A1 to Trivelpiece et al. (“Trivelpiece”).
As per claims 1 and 8, the claimed subject matter that is met by High includes:
a system, comprising (High: Figs. 1 and 2):
a first radio frequency identification (RFID) storage container comprising a control unit and at least one zone having an array of antennas therein, configured to (High: ¶¶ 0016 “a first layer 100 of a mat 103 can contain a grid of RFID readers or associated antennas 102 … The grid of RFID readers or associated antennas 102 can include multiple different RFID readers 102 within one or more antennas or can include a single RFID reader with multiple antennas… the storage location can be a shelving unit, a cabinet, a storage unit or any other storage location and the mat 103 can be placed on a shelf or base of the storage location… the grid/array of sensors and RFID readers or associated antennas can be integrally formed with a support surface of the storage location (e.g., integrally formed with a shelf)” and 0037 “the object location detection system 250 can be implemented in a pantry. Products can be disposed in the pantry of a user. The mat 103 can be disposed in the pantry and can be configured to receive the products on a top of the mat 103”):
emit, via the array of antennas, a first electromagnetic signal (High: ¶ 0017 “Physical objects 108 can be disposed on top of the mat 103. An RFID tags 110 encoded with identifiers associated with the physical objects can be disposed on the physical objects 108. The grid of RFID readers or associated antennas 102 can detect the RFID tags 110 disposed on the physical objects 108. Each of the RFID readers in the gird of RFID readers 102 can detect RFID tags within a specified distance of the RFID reader”);
receive, from one or more RFID tags associated with one or more corresponding products stored on the least one zone, a responsive signal from one or more RFID devices upon corresponding receipt of the first electromagnetic signal (High: ¶ 0017 “The RFID readers can decode the identifier from the RFID tag and can determine a signal strength of the transmission from the RFID tag in response to being read based on a proximity of the RFID tag to the RFID readers or associated antennas. For example, an RFID reader in the grid of RFID readers 102 can detect a stronger signal strength emitted by an RFID tag disposed on a physical object which is disposed closer to the RFID reader or an antenna associated with the RFID reader. Alternatively, the RFID reader can detect a weaker signal strength emitted by a RFID tag disposed on a physical object which is disposed farther away from the RFID reader or an antenna associated with the RFID reader”); and
monitoring a first signal strength to the responsive signal from the one or more RFID devices indicating a location of the one or more corresponding products (High: ¶¶ 0017 “an RFID reader in the grid of RFID readers 102 can detect a stronger signal strength emitted by an RFID tag disposed on a physical object which is disposed closer to the RFID reader or an antenna associated with the RFID reader. Alternatively, the RFID reader can detect a weaker signal strength emitted by a RFID tag disposed on a physical object which is disposed farther away from the RFID reader or an antenna associated with the RFID reader”, 0020 “The controller 114 can determine the location of the RFID tag from which the identifier was decoded, by determining the location of the RFID reader which detected the RFID tag at the highest signal strength or by estimating distances from each of the RIFD readers or associated antennas to the reader RFID tag based on the signal strengths of the transmission received by the RFID readers from the RFID tag” and 0026 “grid of RFID readers or associated antennas 102 can detect the RFID tags disposed on the physical objects. Each of the RFID readers in the grid of RFID readers 102 can detect RFID tags 110 within a specified distance of the RFID reader. The RFID readers can decode the identifier from the RFID tags 110. The RFID readers can also detect a signal strength of the RFID tag based on proximity of the RFID tags 110 to the RFID readers or associated antennas. For example, an RFID reader in the grid of RFID readers 102 can detect a stronger signal strength emitted by a RFID tags 110 disposed on a physical object 108 which is disposed closer to the RFID reader or associated antenna. Alternatively, the RFID reader can detect a weaker signal strength emitted by a RFID tags 110 disposed on a physical object 108 which is disposed farther away from the RFID readers or associated antennas 102” and 0029 “controller 114 can determine the location of the RFID tag 110 from which the identifier was decoded, by determining the location of the RFID reader which detected the RFID tag 110 at the highest signal strength or based on triangulation using the signal strengths to estimate a distance of the physical object from each of the RFID readers or associated antennas to the RFID tag disposed on the physical object that is read by the RFID readers” and 0042 “The first RFID reader can detect a greater signal strength of the RFID tag disposed on the salt container than the second RFID reader when the salt container is disposed at the first location”);
High fails to specifically teach 1.) transmit, via the control unit, a first RFID emission signal to the at least one zone of the RFID storage container and 2.) assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level. The Examiner provides Russell to teach and disclose claimed feature 1.
The claimed subject matter that is met by Russell includes:
a first radio frequency identification (RFID) storage container comprising a control unit and at least one zone having an array of antennas therein, configured to (Russell: column 2, line 54 through column 3, line 21 “inventory items that move throughout an inventory system or are used in connection with the inventory system are each tagged with an RFID tag. The RFID tag uniquely identifies the particular inventory item. This association of RFID tag to inventory item is stored and used to track the location of the inventory item. A mobile reading device, including an autonomous movement device (e.g., an autonomous mobile drive unit or an unmanned aerial vehicle) and an RFID reader, moves throughout the inventory system to different locations and reads the RFID tags to identify the inventory items. The inventory items are stowed within inventory structures (e.g., inventory holders, sets of stowage lockers, rows of inventory holders, etc.) at the different locations. An antenna through which the RFID reader reads the RFID tags is either included with the mobile reading device or is included with the inventory structure”, column 28, lines 8-40):
transmit, via the control unit, a first RFID emission signal to the at least one zone of the RFID storage container (Russell: column 28, lines 41-56 “the process 1200 initiates the first antenna. In some examples, this may include sending a signal to the first antenna instructing it to begin to transmit RF energy and receive RF energy”);
emit, via the array of antennas, a first electromagnetic signal in response to receipt of the first RFID emission signal (Russell: column 28, lines 41-56 “the process 1200 initiates the first antenna. In some examples, this may include sending a signal to the first antenna instructing it to begin to transmit RF energy and receive RF energy”);
receive, from one or more RFID tags associated with one or more corresponding products stored on the at least one zone, a responsive signal from one or more RFID devices upon corresponding receipt of the first electromagnetic signal (Russell: column 2, lines 30-53 “RFID reader may be configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) energy in the form of RF signals (e.g., an interrogator signal) and receive RF energy in the form of RF signals (e.g., authentication replies) from the RFID tags”); and
High teaches a system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers. Russell teaches a comparable system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers that was improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Russell offers the embodiment of transmit, via the first container control unit, a first RFID emission signal to the first container shelf of the first RFID storage container. One of ordinary skill in the before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the adaptation of the initial transmitting step as disclosed by Russell to the RFID system as taught by High for the predicted result of improved systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. No additional findings are seen to be necessary.
High and Russell fail to specifically teach 2.) assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level. The Examiner provides Trivelpiece to teach and disclose claimed feature 2.
The claimed subject matter that is met by Trivelpiece includes:
assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level (Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0051 “accuracy of the RFID tag's location can be increased simply by decreasing the RF power level of the mobile reader from the first RF power level P.sub.1 to a second RF power level P.sub.2, as shown by FIG. 4” and 0070-0075 “Timestamped tag reader information is stored in a data store (e.g., data store 126 of FIG. 1, memory 204 of FIG. 2, and/or memory 712 of FIG. 7), as shown by 914. The timestamped tag reader information is analyzed in 916 to determine a physical location for each read RFID tag within the facility. The physical location is determined based on at least one of the following: the mobile reader's location at the time of reads; the mobile reader's pointing directions at the time of reads; the mobile reader's power level(s) at the time of the reads; a total number of reads (e.g., so that an average of a plurality of physical locations can be determined); the mobile reader's coverage areas at the time of the reads; overlapping coverage areas at the time of the reads; and/or RSSIs”).
High and Russell teach systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. Trivelpiece teaches a comparable system and method for tracking inventory using RFID readers that was improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Trivelpiece offers the embodiment of assign a first weight to each responsive signal when the one or more RFID tags provide the responsive signal when a power level of the first electromagnetic signal is a lowest power level. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the adaptation of assigning weights/confidence values based on the power level of the electromagnetic signal as disclosed by Trivelpiece to the RFID systems and received signal strengths as taught by High and Russell for the predicted result of improved systems and methods for tracking inventory using RFID readers. No additional findings are seen to be necessary.
As per claims 2 and 9, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein the RFID storage container is further configured to:
transmit, via the control unit, a second RFID emission signal to at least a second zone of the RFID storage container;
emit, via the array of antennas, a second electromagnetic signal in response to receipt of the second RFID emission signal;
receive, from one or more RFID tags associated with one or more corresponding products
stored on the at least second zone, a responsive signal from the one or more RFID devices upon corresponding receipt of the second electromagnetic signal; and
assign a second weight to the responsive signal from the one or more RFID devices indicating a location of the one or more corresponding products (Russell: column 28, lines 41 through column 29, line 67 and Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0050-0053 and 0070-0075).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
As per claims 3 and 10, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein the first electromagnetic signal is at a lower power than the second electromagnetic signal (Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0050-0053 and 0070-0075).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
As per claims 4 and 11, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein the first weight is a higher weight than the second weight (Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0050-0053 and 0070-0075).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
As per claims 5 and 12, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein the transmit, emit, receive, and assign are performed for a plurality of zones within the RFID storage container (High: ¶¶ 0016 and 0020 and Fig. 1 and Trivelpiece: ¶ 0032).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
As per claims 6 and 13, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein when a first zone assigns the first weight to the responsive signal from one or more RFID devices, and when a second zone assigns the second weight to the responsive signal from one or more RFID devices, the second weight is disregarded (Trivelpiece: ¶¶ 0053, 0054, 0058 and 0073 “the second RFID tags (e.g., tag tags 602 of FIG. 6) is selected with the highest location confidence value associated therewith, as shown by 924”).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
As per claims 7 and 14, the claimed subject matter that is met by High, Russell and Trivelpiece includes:
wherein the RFID storage container transmits the first weight of the first zone to a remote server (High: ¶¶ 0021 “controller 114 can transmit a message including the identifier and the weight of the physical object assigned to the identifier to a computing system”, 0025, 0032 and 0042 and Trivelpiece: ¶0059).
The motivation for combining the teachings of High, Russell and Trivelpiece are discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 8, and are incorporated herein.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 Hunter Wilder whose telephone number is (571)270-7948. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Florian Zeender can be reached on (571)272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A. Hunter Wilder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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