The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to the application filed on 05/14/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. This action is made non-final.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been placed in file.
Foreign Priority
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e). Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
There should be a space between these two words “account;and”
There should not be an “;” between “apparatus; wherein”
The claim introduced: “a target food storage apparatus”
Then later say:
“wherein the target food storage apparatus is a food storage apparatus which is bound with the display apparatus via account”
It is redundant.
Claim 2 is objected because of “a server; wherein”. There should not be an “;” between the server and wherein.
Claim 5 is objected because of “storageapparatus”. There should be a space between storage and apparatus.
Claims 8 and 9 are objected because of “ID;and” and “theserver”. There should be a space in between.
Appropriate correction is required.
§112(b) Rejection – Indefiniteness
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) , second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites:
“receiving food change information based on the display apparatus for updating food information of existing foods in a target food storage apparatus”
The phrase “based on the display apparatus” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear what structural or functional relationship is required between the “food change information” and the “display apparatus.”
Applicant is required to amend the claim to clarify the relationship between the “food change information” and the “display apparatus” so that the scope of the claimed subject matter is definite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1 – Statutory Category
The claim is directed to a “display apparatus” (a machine).This satisfies Step 1.
Step 2A – Prong One
Receiving food change information
Sending food change information
Updating stored food information
Synchronizing food information between two devices
This is about:
Collecting information → Transmitting information → Updating stored information → Synchronizing data between devices.
The claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A – Prong Two
Does the claim integrate the abstract idea into a practical application?
The claim recites:
A display
A processor
Execution of instructions
Account connecting devices
However:
No improvement to display technology
No specific synchronization protocol
No unconventional architecture
The claim does not appear to contain that type of technological improvement.
The abstract idea is not meaningfully integrated into a practical application.
Step 2B – Inventive Concept
Is there something significantly more than the abstract idea?
Elements present:
Display apparatus
Processor
Receiving information
Updating stored data
These are all conventional computing activities.
There is no:
Improved data structure
Performance enhancement
The claim applies an abstract idea using generic computer components performing routine and conventional functions.
The claim fails Step 2B. Hence, there is no inventive concept.
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 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 of this title, 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, 5-7, 11, 15, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schroeder (US 2023/007684) in view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0097776; Hereinafter Kim).
Re claim 1, Schroeder teaches a display apparatus, comprising:
a display configured to present an image and/or a user interface (fig. 4 and [0067], analyzing the image 300 using the machine learning image recognition model has identified fruit being positioned within the bottom left bin 134. Specifically, this step identifies an apple with 37% confidence and two oranges with 36% and 37% confidence, respectively); and
at least one processor in connection with the display, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute instructions to cause the display apparatus to perform ([0030], The processing device can be programmed to operate refrigerator appliance 100, dispensing assembly 140 and other components of refrigerator appliance 100):
receiving food change information based on the display apparatus for updating food information of existing foods in a target food storage apparatus (fig. 4 and [0070], In addition to adjusting the actual appliance inventory, method 200 may include updating the historical inventory data based on items or objects 182 added to or removed from refrigerator appliance 100. In this regard, for example, step 270 may include adjusting the historical inventory data in response to determining that the adjusted confidence score exceeds the high confidence threshold);
sending the food change information to the target food storage apparatus wherein the target food storage apparatus is a food storage apparatus ([0069], refrigerator appliance 100 may ask the user to input the identity of the two objects identified as oranges, e.g., via control panel 152 or external device 172); and
in response to a completion notification sent from the target food storage apparatus after updating the food information based on the food change information, updating food information stored in the display apparatus (fig. 4 and [0070], adjusting the actual appliance inventory, method 200 may include updating the historical inventory data based on items or objects 182 added to or removed from refrigerator appliance 100. In this regard, for example, step 270 may include adjusting the historical inventory data in response to determining that the adjusted confidence score exceeds the high confidence threshold);
wherein updated food information stored in the display apparatus is the same as updated food information stored in the target food storage apparatus ([0070], updating inventory data based on items added to or removed from refrigerator appliance).
Schroeder teaches that the refrigerator appliance 100 may ask the user to input the identity of the two objects identified as oranges, e.g., via control panel 152 or external device 172 ([0069]) but Schroeder does not teach synchronizing it with another device via account. However, it is taught by Kim ([0073] and [0127], The mobile terminal 3000 may be a device connected with the refrigerator 1000 with the same account information. The mobile terminal 3000 may be directly connected with the refrigerator 1000 via a short-range communication link or may be indirectly connected with the refrigerator 1000 via the server apparatus 2000).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching as seen in Kim’s content into Schroeder’s invention because it would allow the user such as the owner having the ability to manage and interact with the food inventory in the refrigerator remotely through a private account. This would help user achieve a task in a timely manner.
Re claims 5 and 19, Schroeder teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute instructions to cause the display apparatus to perform:
while the food information of the existing foods in the target food storage apparatus being checked via the display apparatus, in response to a start command based on a selection of a food information processing application, generating an interface for food information processing based on the updated food information stored in the display apparatus, and displaying the interface for food information processing on the user interface, wherein the interface for food information processing presents food icons generated based on the food information of the existing foods in the target food storage apparatus (fig. 4 and [0068]-[0071], updating the inventory data based on items or objects added to or removed from refrigerator appliance, adjusting the inventory in response to determining that the adjusted confidence score exceed the high confidence threshold).
Res claim 6 and 20, Schroeder teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute instructions to cause the display apparatus to perform:
receiving food change information sent from the target food storage apparatus during updating the food information of the existing foods based on a user's input (fig. 4 and [0070], updating the inventory data including adjusting the score for foods); and
based on the food change information generated by the target food storage apparatus, updating the food information stored in the display apparatus (fig. 4 and [0070], updating the inventory data including adjusting the score for foods).
Re claim 7, Schroeder teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute instructions to cause the display apparatus to perform:
in response to a food query command for checking the food information of the existing foods in the target food storage apparatus from a user, obtaining food data corresponding to the target food storage apparatus from a server that is in communication with the target food storage apparatus, wherein the food data comprises food information of the existing foods in the target food storage apparatus (fig. 4 and [0068]-[0070], checking inventory data of existing foods in the refrigerator and adjusting the score); and
based on the food data returned from the server, switching to a food information processing homepage and display the food information processing homepage on the user interface, wherein the food information processing homepage is configured to present food information of the existing foods in the target food storage apparatus (fig. 4, displaying adjusted score for each food).
Re claim 11, Schroeder teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute instructions to cause the display apparatus to perform:
in response to a food query command for checking a specified kind of food in the target food storage apparatus, obtaining food data corresponding to the specified kind of food in the target food storage apparatus from the server that is in communication with the target food storage apparatus (fig. 4 and [0067], apple and orange confidence score are being determined); and
based on the food data of the specified kind of food returned from the server, switching to display a specific food page in the user interface, wherein the specific food page is configured to present food information of the specified kind of food in the target food storage apparatus (fig. 4 and [0067], displaying confidence score for orange and apple).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 8-10, 12-14, 16-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims set forth in this action.
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 these references fully when responding to this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOAN H VU whose telephone number is (571)270-3482. The examiner can normally be reached on PHP 9-5:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Hong can be reached on 571-272-4124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TOAN H VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2178