DETAILED ACTION
The following is an initial Office Action upon examination of the above-identified application on the merits. Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
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 .
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.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has complied with the conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 120.
Information Disclosure Statement
The examiner has considered the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 1 May 2024.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102321113 B1 in view of JP 2022085329 A to DEVIN et al.
As per claim 1, the Korean reference discloses a facility control system, comprising: a plurality of facilities (see page 4 paragraph 6, “one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) capable of performing communication using an ultra wide band signal (see page 13 paragraph 1, “Ultra Wide Band (UWB)”); a central controller (see page 4 paragraph 10, “central control device 100”) to control some or all of the plurality of facilities (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”); and a communication terminal (see page 7 last 2 paragraphs, “portable terminal 500”) capable of performing communication (“communication unit 140”) using the ultra wide band signal (“Ultra Wide Band (UWB)”), wherein the central controller (“central control device 100”) and a facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) as a control target (see page 25 paragraph 11, “control target”) of the central controller (“central control device 100”) are connected to each other via a communication line (“communication unit 140”), the communication terminal (“portable terminal 500”) includes: communication circuitry (“communication unit 140”) to communicate with the plurality of facilities (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) using the ultra wide band signal (“Ultra Wide Band (UWB)”); distance measurement circuitry (see page 20 paragraph 4, “location information module 515”) to calculate a distance (“location”) from the communication terminal (“portable terminal 500”) to the facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) as a counterpart in communication on a basis of a result of the communication by the communication circuitry (“communication unit 140”); position estimation circuitry (see page 20 paragraph 4, “Global Position System (GPS) module”) to estimate a position (“location”) of the communication terminal (“portable terminal 500”) on a basis of the distance (“location”) calculated by the distance measurement circuitry (“location information module 515”); and user information notification circuitry (see page 26 paragraph 9, “user interface”) to notify the central controller (“central control device 100”) and the facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) of user information including position information (“location”) indicating the position estimated (“location”) by the position estimation circuitry (“Global Position System (GPS) module”) and request information relating to control of the facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) and having been acquired from a user, and to cause the central controller (“central control device 100”) and the facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) to perform control in accordance with the user information notified, and the communication terminal (“portable terminal 500”) is configured to repeatedly execute calculation of the distance (“location”) by the distance measurement circuitry (“location information module 515”), estimation of the position (“location”) by the position estimation circuitry (“Global Position System (GPS) module”), and notification of the user information by the user information notification circuitry (“user interface”), and to change frequency of repeating the calculation of the distance (“location”) by the distance measurement circuitry (“location information module 515”), the estimation of the position (“location”) by the position estimation circuitry (“Global Position System (GPS) module”), and the notification of the user information by the user information notification circuitry (“user interface”) on a basis of a moving state (see page 21 paragraph 2, “motion sensor 543”) of the communication terminal (“portable terminal 500”).
The Korean reference does not expressly disclose the further limitations taught by the DEVIN et al. reference, namely: to change frequency (see page 6 paragraph 1, “notification frequency”) of repeating the calculation of the distance (“geo-fence 61”) by the distance measurement circuitry (“notification unit 114”), the estimation of the position (“geo-fence 61”) by the position estimation circuitry (“notification unit 114”), and the notification of the user information (“information notified”) by the user information notification circuitry (“notification unit 114”) on a basis of a moving state of the communication terminal (“communication device 50”).
Before the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the portable terminal taught by the Korean reference with the notification unit taught by the DEVIN et al. reference.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the portable terminal with the notification unit to reduce power consumption by reducing the frequency of transmitting such information.
As per claim 2, the Korean reference discloses the user information notification circuitry (“user interface”) notifies the central controller (“central control device 100”) of the user information (“information notified”) via the facility (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) connected to the communication line (“communication unit 140”).
As per claims 5 and 6, the Korean reference discloses the facilities (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) include an air conditioning device (see page 4 paragraph 8, “air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) and a lighting device (“lighting”), and the central controller (“central control device 100”) designates the air conditioning device (“air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) as a control target (see page 6 paragraph 3, “each control point”).
As per claims 9 and 10, the Korean reference discloses the facilities (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) include an air conditioning device (see page 4 paragraph 8, “air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) and a lighting device (“lighting”), and the central controller (“central control device 100”) designates all the air conditioning device (“air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) and the lighting device (“lighting”) as control targets (see page 6 paragraph 3, “each control point”).
Claim(s) 3, 4, 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102321113 B1 in view of JP 2022085329 A to DEVIN et al. as applied to claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 above, and further in view of CN 106664211 A to HEPPERLA et al.
As per claims 3 and 4, neither the Korean nor DEVIN et al. reference expressly discloses the further limitations taught by the HEPPERLA et al. reference, namely: in a case where firmware of the facility (see page 5 paragraph 6, “plurality of facility”) that is not a control target of the central controller (“supervisory controller”) differs from a latest firmware (“update firmware”), the facility (“multiple facilities”) that is not the control target of the central controller (“supervisory controller”) updates the firmware (“update firmware”) with firmware of a latest version (“update firmware”) via the communication terminal (“remote terminal”).
Before the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the central control device taught by the Korean reference with the remote monitor functionality of the supervising controller taught by the HEPPERLA et al. reference.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the central control device with the remote monitor functionality of the supervising controller so the firmware updates may be pushed and spread to the supervising controller at multiple facilities or location by all applicable kitchen equipment to install.
As per claims 7 and 8, the Korean reference discloses the facilities (“one or more facilities 300 and 300′”) include an air conditioning device (see page 4 paragraph 8, “air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) and a lighting device (“lighting”), and the central controller (“central control device 100”) designates the air conditioning device (“air conditioners, ventilation, air conditioners”) as a control target (see page 6 paragraph 3, “each control point”).
Claim(s) 11, 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102321113 B1 in view of JP 2022085329 A to DEVIN et al. as applied to claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 above, and further in view of KR 20210115440 A to KUG.
As per claims 11, 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20, neither the Korean nor DEVIN et al. reference expressly discloses the further limitations taught by the KUG reference, namely: a position information collection device (see page 9 last paragraph, “IoT-based terminal device”) to collect (“stored”) the position information (“GPS location information”) from the communication terminal (“mobile device 200”) and to manage the position information (“GPS location information”).
Before the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to further modify the portable terminal taught by the Korean reference and the notification unit taught by the DEVIN et al. reference with the IoT-based terminal device taught by the KUG reference.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to further modify the portable terminal and the notification unit with the IoT-based terminal device to check accurate location information using a GPS receiver.
Claim(s) 13, 14, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102321113 B1 in view of JP 2022085329 A to DEVIN et al. and further in view of CN 106664211 A to HEPPERLA et al. as applied to claims 3, 4, 7 and 8 above, and further in view of KR 20210115440 A to KUG.
As per claims 13, 14, 17 and 18, neither the Korean, DEVIN et al., nor HEPPERLA et al. reference expressly discloses the further limitations taught by the KUG reference, namely: a position information collection device (see page 9 last paragraph, “IoT-based terminal device”) to collect (“stored”) the position information (“GPS location information”) from the communication terminal (“mobile device 200”) and to manage the position information (“GPS location information”).
Before the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the central control device taught by the Korean reference with the remote monitor functionality of the supervising controller taught by the HEPPERLA et al. reference and further with the IoT-based terminal device taught by the KUG reference.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the central control device with the remote monitor functionality of the supervising controller and further with the IoT-based terminal device to check accurate location information using a GPS receiver.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The following references are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to portable facility control terminals:
US 10,064,153 B2 to Yumura et al.
EP 4440093 B1 to UMEDA et al.
JP 7412654 B2 to UMEDA et al.
JP 4989702 B2
KR 20190072842 A to BONG et al.
KR 101922954 B1 to LEE et al.
KR 101922224 B1
KR 100894634 B1
WO 2009034720 A1 to KOIZUMI et al.
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/CRYSTAL J BARNES-BULLOCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2117 11 September 2026
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