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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 5/18/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 8 are amended. Claims 1-7, 8-13, 15 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-12, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janik (US 20160156603 A1), and further in view of Frenkel (US 2017/0005958) and Shi (US 20030114168 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Janik discloses a device associated with a user for tracking (wearable device 4, Abstract), comprising:
a housing configured to contain electronic components (Fig. 2);
at least one transmitter configured to transmit unique identification data corresponding to the device over different communication ranges (via NFC antenna 20 and BLE, Para. 40, 52, 55, 63-67, Abstract, Figs. 4, 14);
at least one receiver configured to receive signals from an external source (via BLE, Para. 56-60);
a power management system configured to adjust power consumption for the at least one transmitter, (Para. 59-60); and
an identification mechanism configured to associate the device with the user, based on the signals (Para. 67, 13).
Janik fails to disclose wherein the signals correspond to a detected movement of the device; and adjust power consumption of the transmitter based on the detected movement of the device.
Frenkel teaches including body worn sensors to detect movement of a device on a user, and adjust power consumption of a device based on the detected movement (Para. 69, 104, 107).
From the teachings of Frenkel, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik to include wherein the signals correspond to a detected movement of the device; and adjust power consumption of the transmitter based on the detected movement of the device in order to reduce power consumption when there is no movement detected, thereby prolong battery life.
Janik and Frenkel fail to disclose the receiver configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for the at least one receiver, and provide, based on the transmission timing, a randomized delay window before a next transmission for the at least one receiver.
Shi teaches a device including a receiver to receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for a device and randomly sets the duration of transmission (reception of mediation communications from a device in the third mode managing the timing schedule activity; Preferably, upon entering the mediation mode, each communication device randomly sets the duration of a first communication cycle of the communication device Para. 26); and further teaches provide a randomized delay window before a communication to avoid interference (A first mode of the plethora of modes of a super frame 360 is a random delay t0 block 335, the random delay has duration t0 335, where t0 is between 0 and the duration of a single transmit or receive period. This delay randomizes the start time of each super frame of the communication devices in the network, so that the probability of multiple devices to function as MD concurrently is reduced, Para. 23).
From the teachings of Shi, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Janik and Frenkel to include the receiver configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for the at least one receiver, and provide, based on the transmission timing, a randomized delay window before a next transmission for the at least one receiver in order to reduce interference, thereby improve communications between devices.
Regarding claim 2, Janik discloses the at least one transmitter comprises: a first short-range communication module; and a second long-range communication module (NFC and BLE, Abstract).
Regarding claim 3, Janik discloses wherein the at least one transmitter includes at least one of a passive communication module that does not require battery power (powered by the AC magnetic field generated by NFC reader 40, Para. 36).
Regarding claim 4, Janik discloses wherein the identification mechanism comprises a user authentication signal (Para. 67).
Regarding claim 5, Janik and Frenkel disclose wherein the power management system is configured to adjust power consumption based on user activity patterns (Para. 69 of Frenkel and rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 8, Janik discloses a system for tracking users, comprising:
at least one tracking device associated with a user (wearable device 4, Abstract), the tracking device including:
a housing containing electronic components (Fig. 2);
at least one transmitter configured to transmit unique identification data over different communication ranges (via NFC antenna 20 and BLE, Para. 40, 52, 55, 63-67, Abstract, Figs. 4, 14);
at least one receiver configured to receive signals from an external source (via BLE, Para. 56-60);
a power management system configured to adjust power (Para. 59-60); and
an identification mechanism configured to associate the tracking device with the user (Para. 67, 13);
at least one external receiver (reader 40, Para. 59) configured to:
receive identification signals from the tracking device, and process the identification signals to determine status of the user (authorized to execute transactions or not, Para. 59, 65);
a computing system communicatively coupled to the at least one receiver (smartphone, Para. 50).
But Janik fails to disclose the signals received correspond to a detected movement of the device; a power management system configured to adjust power consumption based on detected movement of the tracking device; and the computing system configured to: store identification data associated with the tracking device, process signals received from the tracking device to track user activity, and generate an alert or update based on user activity.
Frenkel teaches a device to receive signals corresponding to a detected movement of the device (via reminders based on activity, Para. 288), and including body worn sensors to detect movement of a device on a user, and adjust power consumption of the device based on the detected movement (Para. 69, 104, 107); and a computing system configured to: store identification data associated with a tracking device, process signals received from the tracking device to track user activity, and generate an alert or update based on user activity (via senior smartphone linked with wearable device to track activity, Para. 276, Para. 104-107, 175-176 and Abstract).
From the teachings of Frenkel, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik to include a device to receive signals corresponding to a detected movement of the device in order to improve health and fitness of the user, and adjust power consumption based on detected movement of the tracking device in order to prolong battery life; and store identification data associated with the tracking device, process signals received from the tracking device to track user activity, and generate an alert or update based on user activity in order to provide assistance in case an emergency is detected, thereby improve safety.
Janik and Frenkel fail to disclose the receiver configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for the at least one receiver, and provide, based on the transmission timing, a randomized delay window before a next transmission for the at least one receiver.
Shi teaches a device including a receiver to receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for a device and randomly sets the duration of transmission (reception of mediation communications from a device in the third mode managing the timing schedule activity; Preferably, upon entering the mediation mode, each communication device randomly sets the duration of a first communication cycle of the communication device Para. 26); and further teaches provide a randomized delay window before a communication to avoid interference (A first mode of the plethora of modes of a super frame 360 is a random delay t0 block 335, the random delay has duration t0 335, where t0 is between 0 and the duration of a single transmit or receive period. This delay randomizes the start time of each super frame of the communication devices in the network, so that the probability of multiple devices to function as MD concurrently is reduced, Para. 23).
From the teachings of Shi, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Janik and Frenkel to include the receiver configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing for the at least one receiver, and provide, based on the transmission timing, a randomized delay window before a next transmission for the at least one receiver in order to reduce interference, thereby improve communications between devices. Regarding claim 9, Janik discloses wherein the at least one transmitter of the tracking device comprises: a first short-range communication module; and a second long-range communication module (NFC and BLE, Abstract).
Regarding claim 10, Janik discloses wherein the at least one transmitter of the tracking device includes at least one of a passive communication module that does not require battery power (powered by the AC magnetic field generated by NFC reader 40, Para. 36).
Regarding claim 11, Janik discloses wherein the identification mechanism of the tracking device comprises a user authentication signal (Para. 67).
Regarding claim 12, Janik discloses wherein the power management system of the tracking device is configured to adjust power consumption based on external commands received from a networked system (Para. 69 of Frenkel and rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 15, Janik and Frenkel discloses the claimed invention, wherein Frenkel discloses wherein the computing system is further configured to: communicate with a remote server to store tracking data; analyze received signals to detect anomalies; and generate alerts based on predefined tracking rules (see Para. 276, Para. 104-107, 175-176 and Abstract; and rejection of claim 8 above).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janik, Frenkel, Shi, and further in view of Townsend (US 20160324470 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Janik, Shi and Frenkel fail to disclose an enclosure configured to be removably attached to a wearable item.
Townsend teaches an enclosure for an electronic device configured to be removably attached to a wearable item (Para. 2 and Fig. 1).
From the teachings of Townsend, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik, Shi and Frenkel to include an enclosure configured to be removably attached to a wearable item in order to allow securing of the enclosure in more than one way, thereby improve convenience.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janik, Shi and Frenkel, and further in view of Stuntebeck (US 8,788,191).
Regarding claim 7, Janik, Shi and Frenkel fail to disclose wherein the at least one receiver is configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing, and provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission.
Stuntebeck teaches a communication system including devices configured to provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission (col. 14, lines 9-26).
From the teachings of Stuntebeck, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik, Shi and Frenkel to include wherein the at least one receiver is configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing, and provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission in order to avoid interference with other connected devices that are nearby.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janik in view of Frenkel and Shi, and further in view of Townsend (US 20160324470 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Janik fails to disclose an enclosure configured to be removably attached to a wearable item.
Townsend teaches an enclosure for an electronic device configured to be removably attached to a wearable item (Para. 2 and Fig. 1).
From the teachings of Townsend, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik, Shi and Frenkel to include an enclosure configured to be removably attached to a wearable item in order to allow securing of the enclosure in more than one way, thereby improve convenience.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janik in view of Frenkel and Shi, and further in view of Stuntebeck (US 8,788,191).
Regarding claim 14, Janik fails to disclose wherein the at least one receiver is configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing, and provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission.
Stuntebeck teaches a communication system including devices configured to provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission (col. 14, lines 9-26).
From the teachings of Stuntebeck, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Janik, Shi and Frenkel to include wherein the at least one receiver is configured to: receive a synchronization signal that determines transmission timing, and provide a randomized delay window before the next transmission in order to avoid interference with other connected devices that are nearby.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/18/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues in the 3rd paragraph of page 8 that the Office Action cites separate passages for “timing schedule activity” and for “random delay” without showing functional dependence. The examiner respectfully disagrees. As shown in the rejections above, Shi teaches two techniques “timing schedule activity” and “random delay” to reduce communication interference between devices in a network. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the two techniques can both be applied to a communication device to further reduce the probably of interference. Therefore, the teachings of Shi cures the deficiencies of the prior arts cited.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONG HANG JIANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins can be reached at (571)272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YONG HANG JIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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