DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16th, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Sheet
The information disclosure statements (IDS’s) submitted on 12/01/2024, 12/27/2024, and 12/22/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 recites, “The adapted of claim 1…” However, it appears that the claim should instead recite, “The adapter of claim 1…”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 13, 14, and 15, independent claim 1 is directed to an apparatus, specifically “an adapter for a power tool.” Within claim 1, the “first power tool device” and “second power tool device” are recited merely as intended use environments (i.e., workpieces) to which the interfaces of the adapter are configured to couple. They are not positively recited elements of the claimed adapter itself. As established in MPEP § 2115, the inclusion of material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims, as the claim is only limited by positively recited elements. Dependent claims 13, 14, and 15 attempt to introduce positive limitations to these un-claimed environmental elements (e.g., wherein the first power tool device is a power tool and the second power tool device is a battery pack.”). Modifying an un-claimed environmental workpiece in a dependent apparatus claim renders the scope of the claims ambiguous. It is unclear whether the metes and bounds of the claims are directed solely to the adapter, or if the claims are directed to a system comprising the adapter in combination with the specifically recited power tool devices. Due to this ambiguity regarding the boundaries of the claimed subject matter, these claims are indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). For purposes of examination, the claim will be interpreted as a system comprising the adapter and the first and second power tool devices. To overcome this rejection, the application may amend the independent claim to positively recite a system comprising all of the claimed elements, or cancel claims 13, 14, and 15.
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 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.
Claims 1, 5, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Peloquin (EP 3200313 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Peloquin discloses an adapter (Figure 1, #1000) for a power tool (Figure 2, #200), comprising:
a housing (Figure 1, #1001);
a first interface (Figure 1, #1002 - first set of electrical terminals. Described in ¶ [0008]) supported by the housing and configured to couple to a first power tool device (Described in ¶ [0008]);
a second interface (Figure 3A, #102 - second set of electrical terminals) supported by the housing and configured to couple to a second power tool device (Described in ¶ [0012]), the second interface being in electrical communication with the first interface (¶'s [0008] - [0012] implies that the second interface is in electrical communication with the first interface);
at least one microphone coupled to the housing (Described in ¶'s [0038] - [0039]); and
an electronic controller (Figures 2 & 5C, #1111) supported by the housing and coupled to the first interface, the second interface, and the at least one microphone (Figures 1 & 5C illustrates the housing supports the electronic controller and is coupled to the first interface #1002, the second interface #102, and the microphone), the electronic controller configured to:
receive audio data recorded by the at least one microphone (Described in ¶ [0039]);
process the audio data to determine a voice command in the audio data (Described in ¶ [0039]);
convert the voice command to a control action (Described in ¶ [0039]); and control operation of at least one of the electronic controller, the first power tool device, or the second power tool device based on the control action (Described in ¶ [0039]).
Regarding claim 5, Peloquin further discloses a wireless communication device (#1010) coupled to the housing and in communication with the electronic controller (Described in ¶ [0037]), wherein the electronic controller transmits the control action via the wireless communication device to a wirelessly connected power tool device in order to control operation of the wirelessly connected power tool device based on the control action (Described in ¶ [0037]).
Regarding claim 13, Peloquin further discloses wherein the first power tool device is a power tool (Figure 2, #200) and the second power tool device is a battery pack (Figure 2, #100).
Regarding claim 14, Peloquin further discloses wherein the first power tool device is a battery pack (Figure 2, #100) and the second power tool device is a power tool battery charger (Figure 4, #210).
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peloquin in view of Pham (US 10,657,176).
Regarding claim 2, Peloquin does not specifically teach wherein the electronic controller is configured to process the audio data using a natural language processing algorithm to determine a voice command in the audio data.
Pham teaches wherein the electronic controller (Figure 2, #200) is configured to process the audio data using a natural language processing algorithm to determine a voice command in the audio data (Described in col 7, lines 56-67).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Peloquin to incorporate the teachings of Pham to include an electronic controller for processing data with the motivation of providing a system by which transcribed data can be easily utilized by the user, as recognized by Pham in col 1, line 64 – col 2, line 37.
Regarding claim 3, Peloquin does not specifically teach a machine learning controller in communication with the electronic controller, wherein the machine learning controller receives the audio data from the electronic controller, processes the audio data via the natural language processing algorithm, and generates an output as the determined voice command.
Pham teaches a machine learning controller (Figure 2, #220) in communication with the electronic controller (Shown in figure 2), wherein the machine learning controller receives the audio data from the electronic controller, processes the audio data via the natural language processing algorithm, and generates an output as the determined voice command (Shown in figure 2 and described in col 5, lines 36-55 and col 7, line 31-67).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Peloquin to incorporate the teachings of Pham to include an electronic controller for processing data with the motivation of providing a system by which transcribed data can be easily utilized by the user, as recognized by Pham in col 1, line 64 – col 2, line 37.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peloquin in view of Salvador (US 9,275,637).
Regarding claim 4, Peloquin teaches does not specifically teach wherein the microphone passively records audio data until a wake word is identified in the audio data by the electronic controller, after which the microphone actively records audio data for processing by the electronic controller.
Salvador teaches wherein the microphone passively records audio data until a wake word is identified in the audio data by the electronic controller, after which the microphone actively records audio data for processing by the electronic controller (Shown in figure 4, and described in col 10, lines 37-60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Peloquin to incorporate the teachings of Salvador to include a wake word with the motivation of allowing a user to provide natural language commands to the device itself without resorting to supplemental non-natural language input (such as touch or button pressing), as recognized by Salvador in col 1, lines 59-67.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peloquin in view of Dontcheva (US 2024/0134597 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Peloquin teaches wherein the first power tool device is a battery pack (Figure 2, #100).
Peloquin does not specifically teach the second power tool device is a power supply (Described in ¶ [0179]).
Dontcheva teaches the second power tool device is a power supply (Described in ¶ [0179]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Peloquin to incorporate the teachings of Dontcheva to include a power supply with the motivation of providing a means by which the power tool can be given a consistent source of power.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB A SMITH whose telephone number is (571) 272-3974 and email address is Jacob.Smith@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30AM - 5:30PM.
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/JACOB A SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731