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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group IV – Figs. 14-20 in the reply filed on 1/8/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/8/26 (Claims 1-10,18-20).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 4, 5, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hogan et al US 2015/0330120 (hereinafter Hogan).
Re Claim 1. (Original)
Hogan discloses a locking mechanism (Figs. 1- 7) comprising: a latching component (130) mounted on a door frame (130); a locking component (100) mounted on a door (102), the locking component comprising a sensor (148), a controller (128) and a motor (126), wherein: the sensor senses user action and is configured to communicate sensed information to the controller; and the controller is configured to control the motor, wherein the motor is configured to extend and retract a protruding element (432; Fig.4 position) into and out of an opening (132) of the latching component, and wherein extending the protruding element (432, Fig.2) into the opening locks the locking mechanism, and retracting the protruding element (432, Fig.1) out of the opening unlocks the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 4. (Original)
Hogan discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the protruding element (432) comprises a spring (436) configured to allow elastic movement of the protruding element.
Re Claim 5. (Original)
Hogan discloses the locking mechanism of claim 4, wherein the elastic movement of the protruding element (432) causes the protruding element to extend slightly into the opening of the latching component (138; Figs.1,4) to close the locking mechanism while maintaining an unlocked state of the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 18. (Original)
As discussed above with respect to claims 1 and 4, Hogan discloses a locking mechanism comprising: a latching component mounted on a door frame; a locking component mounted on a door, the locking component comprising a protruding element, a sensor, a controller and a motor; wherein the protruding element comprises a spring configured to allow elastic movement of the protruding element into and out of the locking component; wherein bringing the protruding element into contact with the latching component causes the protruding element to extend slightly behind the latching component to maintain the locking mechanism in an unlocked and closed state; wherein, when the locking mechanism is in the unlocked and closed state, the sensor senses user action and communicates sensed information to a controller, causing the controller to trigger the motor to extend the protruding element into an opening of the latching component to place the locking mechanism into a locked and closed state; and wherein, when the locking mechanism is in the locked and closed state, the sensor senses further user action and communicates further sensed information to the controller, causing the controller to trigger the motor to retract the protruding element out of the opening of the latching component to place the locking mechanism into an unlocked and open state.
Re Claim 19. (Original)
As discussed above with respect to claim 18, Hogan discloses the locking mechanism of claim 18, wherein the sensor is one or more of: a break-beam sensor, an IR sensor, inductive sensor, capacitive sensor, magnetic sensor, and proximity sensor (para [0019-0020]).
Re Claim 20. (Original)
Hogan discloses the locking mechanism of claim 18, wherein the locking mechanism includes a communications module (via smartphone or the like, wireless signal, electromagnetic wave) configured to transmit information to a device (para [0019-0020]).
Claim(s) 1-4, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by EP 2 450 509 (hereinafter EP509).
Re Claim 1. (Original)
EP509 discloses a locking mechanism (Figs. 1- 10) comprising: a latching component (Fig. 1c) mounted on a door frame; a locking component (100) mounted on a door, the locking component comprising a sensor (132,138), a controller (150) and a motor (151), wherein: the sensor senses user action and is configured to communicate sensed information to the controller; and the controller is configured to control the motor, wherein the motor is configured to extend and retract a protruding element (111,114) into and out of an opening of the latching component, and wherein extending the protruding element (Figs. 2a-c,6a) into the opening locks the locking mechanism, and retracting the protruding element (Figs.2a-c,6b) out of the opening unlocks the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 2. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a solid-state display (Fig.7) to visually indicate whether the locking mechanism is locked or unlocked.
Re Claim 3. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a tab (113) connected to the locking component and configured for manually moving the protruding element (111,114) into and out of the opening of the latching component to manually lock and unlock the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 4. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the protruding element (111,114) comprises a spring (172, Fig.5) configured to allow elastic movement of the protruding element.
Re Claim 6. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the sensor (132,138) is one or more of: a break-beam sensor, an IR sensor, inductive sensor, capacitive sensor, magnetic sensor (claim 8), and proximity sensor.
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.
Claim(s) 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP509 in view of Gokcebay US 10,697,203 (hereinafter Gokcebay).
Re Claim 7. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, but fails to teach further comprising an LED state indicator to indicate whether the mechanism is in a locked state or unlocked state.
Gokcebay discloses the use of an LED state indicator (512, para [0098]) to indicate whether the mechanism is in a locked state or unlocked state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lock of EP509 to include a well known LED indicator as taught by Gokcebay in order to facilitate usage of the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 8. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the locking mechanism includes a communications module configured to transmit information to a device.
Gokcebay discloses the use of a communications module (RFID 56/54, BLE chip 48; microprocessor 46; para [0097-0098, 0108]) configured to transmit information to a device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lock of EP509 to include a well known communications module as taught by Gokcebay in order to facilitate usage of the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 9. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 8, but fails to teach wherein the communications module is configured to transmit information using one or more of: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF, 3G, 4G, 5G, or UHB wireless technology.
Gokcebay discloses the use of a communications module (48) configured to transmit information using one or more of: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF (56, para [97,108]0, 3G, 4G, 5G, or UHB wireless technology.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lock of EP509 to include a well known communications module as taught by Gokcebay in order to facilitate usage of the locking mechanism.
Re Claim 10. (Original)
EP509 discloses the locking mechanism of claim 8, but fails to teach wherein the communications module is configured to transmit one or more of: a position of the door, a state of the locking mechanism, a battery level of the locking component, a number of locked and unlocked states, and an amount of time in the locked and unlocked states.
Gokcebay discloses the use of a communications module (48) configured to transmit information using one or more of: a position of the door, a state of the locking mechanism (para [0098]), a battery level of the locking component, a number of locked and unlocked states, and an amount of time in the locked and unlocked states.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lock of EP509 to include a well known communications module as taught by Gokcebay indicating lock status (para [98]) in order to facilitate usage of the locking mechanism.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUZANNE DINO BARRETT whose telephone number is (571)272-7053. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8AM-6:30PM.
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SUZANNE DINO BARRETT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3675B
Sdb
/SUZANNE L BARRETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675