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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a Non-Final Office Action in response to communications received on 7/9/26.
Claim 5 has been previously cancelled. Claim 11 has been cancelled.
Claims 1, 10, 13 have been amended.
Claim 18 has been added.
Therefore, Claims 1-4, 6-10, 12-18 are now pending and have been addressed below.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/9/26 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-10, 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: Identifying Statutory Categories
In the instant case, claims 1-4, 6-9, 10-12, 16-17 are directed to a system and claims 13-15 are directed to a method. Thus, the claims fall within one of the four statutory categories. Nevertheless, the claims fall within the judicial exception of an abstract idea.
Step 2A: Prong 1 Identifying a Judicial Exception
Under Step 2A, prong 1, Claims 1-4, 6-10, 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention recites an abstract idea without significantly more. Independent claims 1, 10, 13 recites method for monitoring home appliances including receive product information and a Wi-Fi address generated in a manufacturing process from a production management server of a home appliance; receive customer information for a user of the home appliance from a customer response for the home appliance; match the product information and the customer information corresponding to the Wi-Fi address with each other; group the home appliances by region according to the Wi-Fi address; and; wherein the monitoring screen incudes the information on real-time state information of the home appliance or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance generated based on the sensor data collected in real time included in the home appliance, analyze the sensor data collected in real time to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure; generate and transmit to corresponding to the customer information a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation, wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance and an option to request or accept an outcall service; and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal, identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group, determine a visit schedule for the regional group to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule; and after the physical repair, continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved. Claim 10 recites a customer service providing system including monitoring a real-time state of each home appliance based on sensor data collected by each home appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address; selecting at least one home appliance requiring providing a customer service according to the real-time state of each home appliance; transmit a response guidance message Claim 13 recites method for receiving, a visit service providing request for one or more home appliances of which abnormal operation is sensed while monitoring a plurality of home appliances; identifying, a current location of each of the one or more home appliances based on Wi-Fi information of the one or more home appliances; classifying, the one or more home appliances for each of one or more regions based on current locations of the one or more home appliances; setting, a visit schedule for one or more home appliances included for each region; and providing a professional engineer outcall service according to the visit schedule.
These limitations as drafted, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers methods of organizing human activity (including commercial interactions such as business relations, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) including interaction between person and computer), but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting the structural elements (such as processor coupled to a readable memory; app server, a display device, a monitoring screen, a sensor, a user terminal, using a diagnosis engine, applying a shortest route algorithm (Claim 1), processor coupled to a readable memory, sensor, user terminal (Claim 10) a processor (Claim 13)), the claims are directed to monitoring and providing customer service for home appliance. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation of organizing human activity but for the recitation of generic computer components, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong 2 - This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of receiving data, analyzing it, and providing customer service for home appliance. In particular, the claims only recites the additional element – processor coupled to a readable memory; app server, a display device, a monitoring screen, a sensor (Claim 1), processor coupled to a readable memory, sensor, user terminal (Claim 10) a processor (Claim 13). The additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(f). Further the limitation of “the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address” is simply transmitting data to external device. Furthermore, limitations reciting data gathering such as “receiving product information and a wi-fi address; receiving customer information for a user of home appliance” (claim 1) ; receiving a visit service providing request for home appliance (Claim 13) “ are insignificant pre-solution activity that merely gather data and, therefore, do not integrate the exception into a practical application for that additional reason. See In re Bilski, 545 F.3d 943, 963 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en bane), aff’d on other grounds, 561 U.S. 593 (2010) (characterizing data gathering steps as insignificant extra-solution activity); see also CyberSource, 654 F.3d at 1371-72 (noting that even if some physical steps are required to obtain information from a database (e.g., entering a query via a keyboard, clicking a mouse), such data-gathering steps cannot alone confer patentability); GIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (presenting offers and gathering statistics amounted to mere data gathering). Accord Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55 (citing MPEP § 2106.05(g)). Also, the limitations reciting “transmitting a response guidance message..(claim 10)” is merely a post-solution step of transmitting data output—a nominal addition to the claim that does not meaningfully limit the claim. Therefore, transmitting step is an insignificant extra-solution activity. See MPEP 2106.05(g). Simply implementing the abstract idea on generic components is not a practical application of the abstract idea. Accordingly, these additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claims are directed to an abstract idea. When considered in combination, the claims do not amount to improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(a), applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(b), effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(c), or applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(e). Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B: Considering Additional Elements
The claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the claims describe how to generally “apply” to; monitoring and providing customer service for home appliance. The claim(s) do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The independent claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claims are not patent eligible. The dependent claim(s) when analyzed as a whole are held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the additional recited limitation(s) fail to establish that the claim(s) is/are not directed to an abstract idea. The dependent claims are not significantly more because they are part of the identified judicial exception. See MPEP 2106.05(g). The claims are not patent eligible. With respect to the processor coupled to a readable memory; app server, a display device, a monitoring screen, a sensor (Claim 1), processor coupled to a readable memory, sensor, user terminal (Claim 10) a processor (Claim 13), these limitations are described in Applicant’s own specification as generic and conventional elements. See Applicants specification, Paragraph [0068] details “ The processor 110 as a kind of central processing unit may control an operation of the customer service providing system 100 by executing one or more command stored in the memory 120.[0067] FIG. 1, and may include a processor 110, a memory 120, a display device 130, a communication module 140, and a bus 150 as physical components..[0072] the display device 130 may include a touch circuitry configured to sense a touch or a sensor circuitry (e.g., a pressure sensor) configured to measure an intensity of force generated by the touch.” These are basic computer elements applied merely to carry out data processing such as, discussed above, receiving, analyzing, transmitting and displaying data, which fall under well-understood, routine and conventional functions of generic computers. As discussed in Step 2A, Prong Two above, the recitations of “receiving steps” and “transmitting steps” amount to receiving or transmitting data over a network and are well understood, routine, conventional activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d), subsection II. Furthermore, the use of such generic computers to receive or transmit data over a network has been identified as a well understood, routine and conventional activity by the courts. See Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); TLI Communications LLC v. AVAuto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1745 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (using a telephone for image transmission); Presenting offers and gathering statistics, OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1362-63, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93, OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network); but see DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245, 1258, 113 USPQ2d 1097, 1106 (Fed. Cir. 2014) ("Unlike the claims in Ultramercial, the claims at issue here specify how interactions with the Internet are manipulated to yield a desired result-a result that overrides the routine and conventional sequence of events ordinarily triggered by the click of a hyperlink." (emphasis added)); Also see MPEP 2106.05(d) discussing elements that the courts have recognized as well-understood, routine and conventional activities in particular fields. Lastly, the additional elements provides only a result-oriented solution which lacks details as to how the computer performs the claimed abstract idea. Therefore, the additional elements amount to mere instructions to apply the exception. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Furthermore, these steps/components are not explicitly recited and therefore must be construed at the highest level of generality and amount to mere instructions to implement the abstract idea on a computer. Therefore, the claimed invention does not demonstrate a technologically rooted solution to a computer-centric problem or recite an improvement to another technology or technical field, an improvement to the function of any computer itself, applying the exception with, or by use of, a particular machine, effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, add a specific limitation other than what is well-understood, routine and conventional in the field, add unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, or provide meaningful limitations beyond generally linking an abstract idea to a particular technological environment such as computing. Viewing the limitations as an ordered combination does not add anything further than looking at the limitations individually. Taking the additional claimed elements individually and in combination, the computer components at each step of the process perform purely generic computer functions. Viewed as a whole, the claims do not purport to improve the functioning of the computer itself, or to improve any other technology or technical field. Use of an unspecified, generic computer does not transform an abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention. Thus, the claims do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
Dependent claims 2-4, 6-9, 12, and 14-18 add additional limitations, but these only serve to further limit the abstract idea, and hence are nonetheless directed towards fundamentally the same abstract idea as Independent claims.
Claims 2-4 recites the information on the home appliance includes at least one of the product information, the customer information, real-time state information of the home appliance, or information on an abnormal operation of the home appliance; one or more search items for searching for the home appliance and a second area displaying a home appliance list according to the search operation, and the one or more search items include at least one of the product information, the customer information, a data collection period, real-time state information of the home appliance, or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance; the product information includes at least one a manufacturing number, a model name, a production factory, a production line, a production date, or main component information, and the customer information includes at least one of a name, a phone number, an address, an email, an ID, a purchased home appliance mode name, a purchase date, or a purchased home appliance manufacturing number. These limitations further narrow the abstract idea of claim 1 by defining type of information for home appliance. The claims do not provide any new additional elements beyond abstract idea. Therefore, whether analyzed individually or as an ordered combination, they fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claims 6 recites wherein a real-time state of the home appliance or whether the home appliance abnormally operates is received in response to sensing the abnormal operation of the home appliance by analyzing the sensor data from a home appliance diagnosis server. These limitations are directed to same abstract idea as of claim 1. The additional elements “a sensor, diagnosis server’ are recited at high level of generality and merely reciting the words “apply it” (or equivalent) with the judicial exception. Therefore, whether analyzed individually or as an ordered combination, they fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide significantly more than the abstract idea
Claims 7-9, 12, 14-18 recites information on abnormal operation of home appliance and providing customer service; setting visit schedule; wi-fi address is MAC address, wherein the home appliances are further grouped according to a region where the home appliances were sold. wherein the product information and Wi-Fi address are received before providing the appliance to a user of the home appliance; the sensor senses at least one of a temperature, a number of door opening times, a number of door closing times, a compressor sensor sensing an operating pattern of the compressor, an amount of ice, water pressure, and a defrost state further limit the abstract idea of independent claim. The additional elements “ a user terminal, a display device, a sensor, a shortest route algorithm” are recited at high level of generality and merely reciting the words “apply it” (or equivalent) with the judicial exception. Therefore, whether analyzed individually or as an ordered combination, they fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide significantly more than the abstract idea
Therefore, dependent claims do not integrate into a practical application. As such, the additional elements individually or in combination do not integrate the exception into a practical application, but rather, the recitation of any additional element amounts to merely reciting the words “apply it” (or equivalent) with the judicial exception, or merely includes instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea (See MPEP 2106.05(f)). The dependent claims also do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements are merely used to apply the abstract idea to a technological environment. These limitations do not include an improvement to another technology or technical field, an improvement to the functioning of the computer itself, or meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment. See MPEP 2106.05d. Thus, the claims do not add significantly more to an abstract idea. The claims are ineligible. Therefore, since there are no limitations in the claim that transform the exception into a patent eligible application such that the claim amounts to significantly more than the exception itself, the claims are rejected under 35 USC 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter. See (Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al.).
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rusackas (US 10,687,227 B2) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0083409A1), Roy (US 2020/0319621 A1) and Picardi et al. (US 2020/0240662 A1)
Regarding Claim 1, Rusackas discloses the real-time monitoring system of home appliances (Col 5 lines 12-14 the NOC dashboard can monitor and manage various Wi-Fi devices (access points, mesh devices, repeaters, etc.)), comprising:
Rusackas discloses a processor coupled to a readable memory containing instructions (Col 2 lines 42-45 a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface; and memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to, subsequent to creation of an account for a user of the Wi-Fi network) that when executed configures the processor to
Rusackas discloses receive product information and a Wi-Fi address generated in a manufacturing process from a production management server of the home appliance (Col 1 lines 55-66 The one or more access point devices can include a plurality of devices, and wherein the onboarding can include providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. The onboarding can include inputting one of serial numbers and Media Access Control (MAC) address (product wi-fi address) for the one or more access point devices in the NOC dashboard. The onboarding can include receiving an indication of an association between the account and the one or more access point devices from the Wi-Fi network., Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address, Fig 9 # 526 and Col 14 lines 51-55The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address, manufacturer/model, etc. ); wherein the home appliance includes a communication device having the Wi-Fi address (Fig 6 shows status of oven device Col 14 lines 51-55The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address (wi-fi address), manufacturer/model, etc. Col 15 lines 2-10 the device (“OVEN”) uses a 5G channel for backhaul, e.g., on channel 40, to device “ENTRY” and a 2.4G channel for clients. The score here is 1.38 which is indicative of poor health).
Rusackas discloses receive customer information for a user of the home appliance from a customer response app server for the home appliance (Col 19 lines 16-24 a new user account is created (step 604). For a new user, a new account may need to be created through the NOC dashboard without using an app, i.e., without the user themselves creating the account. Fig 22 account setup including customer information) ;
Rusackas discloses match the product information and the customer information corresponding to the Wi-Fi address with each other (Col 19 lines 47-55 entering access point serial numbers, receiving data from a mobile application which locally claims the access point devices, associating the serial numbers to a user in the factory or at the point of sale, through the installation of software on the access points, through software pre-installed on the access points, etc. Col 23 lines 42-46 FIG. 35 is a screenshot of a client devices view illustrating all client devices connected in a Wi-Fi network associated with an account., Col 16 lines 30-35 Device typing can be done using any combination of techniques known in the art, including MAC address Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI), DHCP fingerprinting, web browser user agent identification, and other methods); and
Rusackas discloses group the home appliances by region according to the Wi-Fi address and output a monitoring screen including the information on the home appliance to a display device. (Fig 15 shows grouping such as bedroom, kitchen, Col 16 lines 21-44 various devices are representative of the physical devices in the network. The following examples can be seen in this figure: Roku media streaming device, Apple TV media streaming device, Samsung TV, Samsung Cell AP device, Apple iPhone device, Comcast XB3 gateway device, HP Inkjet printer, and a Xfinity Home Hub IoT home automation gateway. Many other devices are treated similarly (grouping) and also contemplated. This is accomplished by typing the device which is connected to the network, and matching that type to an icon. Device typing can be done using any combination of techniques known in the art, including MAC address Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI), DHCP fingerprinting, web browser user agent identification, and other methods. The dashboard (monitoring screen) can include a master map showing all Wi-Fi networks under control of the cloud-based NOC process 400. The user can click on an individual network or enter a network identifier to bring up that network. For example, the network identifier can be tied to an account name. For example, each user's Wi-Fi network can be associated with an account (user ID, password, etc.) in the cloud-based NOC process 400.)
Rusackas does not specifically teach a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device; wherein the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address; wherein the monitoring screen incudes the information on real-time state information of the home appliance or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance generated based on the sensor data collected in real time by the sensor included in the home appliance. wherein the processor is further configured to: analyze the sensor data collected in real time using a diagnosis engine to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure; generate and transmit to a user terminal corresponding to the customer information a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation, wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance and an option to request or accept an outcall service; and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal, identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group, determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule; and after the physical repair, continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.
Lee teaches a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device ([0055] The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history. [0057] Normal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance normally works among the operation data gathered in the appliance.[0074] the appliance is an air conditioner, the native function executing unit 210 may include a fan, a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, an expansion valve, and/or sensors (e.g., data gathering means)); wherein the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address ([0099] Where the operation data is determined by the received information about the data pattern detection routine to be abnormal data, the appliance transmits the abnormal data to the managing server in operation 520. The abnormal data may contain at least one among information about the time of generating the abnormal data, appliance identifier information for identifying the appliance, and sensor data. [0100] an appliance that transmits operation data of the appliance to a managing server); wherein the monitoring screen incudes the information on real-time state information of the home appliance or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance generated based on the sensor data collected in real time by the sensor included in the home appliance ([0055] Operation data refers to data related to the operation of the appliance. The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history., [0058] abnormal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance abnormally works (e.g., an abnormal event and/or failure) among the operation data gathered in the appliance., [0074] the appliance is a refrigerator, the native function executing unit 210 may include a door, a light, a power source, a fan, an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor, a defrost circuit (a defrost sensor, a defrost heater, or a defrost timer), and various sensors (e.g., data gathering means). The native function executing unit 210 may receive control values for operation parameters to operate the components from the controller 220 , [0075] The controller 220 may gather operation data of the native function executing unit 210, classify the gathered operation data into normal data and abnormal data according to information about the data pattern detection routine received from the managing server, and transmit the classified normal data or abnormal data through the communication unit 310 to the managing server and/or user terminal or store the normal data or abnormal data in the storage unit 240) wherein the processor is further configured to: analyze the sensor data collected in real time using a diagnosis engine to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred ([0094] FIG. 5, in operation 505, the appliance receives information about a data pattern detection routine that targets appliance operation data, from the managing server. The data pattern detection routine includes information used to detect abnormal data needed to be reported to the managing server among various pieces of operation data that are generated in the appliance. As an example, the data pattern detection routine may include at least one among at least one pre-defined normal data pattern and at least one pre-defined abnormal data pattern. [0097] the appliance may calculate the degree of similarity between the gathered operation data and the abnormal data pattern defined by the data pattern detection routine and determine whether the degree of similarity exceeds a predetermined threshold. When the degree of similarity exceeds the threshold, the appliance may determine that the gathered operation data matches the abnormal data pattern. Where the operation data matches the abnormal data pattern, the appliance may determine that the operation data is abnormal data.)and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure ([0110] determining abnormal data may be classified depending on data types as shown in Table 1., Fig 8C #824 failure occurs, 826 generate new abnormal data pattern [0114]upon detecting abnormal data of a numerical data type, the appliance may classify the abnormal data according to the degree of danger.[0130] When a failure actually occurs in the appliance as denoted with reference number 824, the managing server generates a new abnormal data pattern 826 containing the received abnormal data. ); generate and transmit to a user terminal corresponding to the customer information a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution to the corresponding appliance.), wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution (self-measure guidance) to the corresponding appliance. As an example, the appliance may display or output the received diagnosis treatment solution information through a UI to put the user on notice. ).and an option to request or accept an outcall service ([0153] the managing server may transmit the information about the diagnosis treatment solution generated or determined to an engineer assigned to treat the failure in the appliance.);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device; wherein the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address; wherein the monitoring screen incudes the information on real-time state information of the home appliance or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance generated based on the sensor data collected in real time by the sensor included in the home appliance; wherein the processor is further configured to: analyze the sensor data collected in real time using a diagnosis engine to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure; generate and transmit to a user terminal corresponding to the customer information a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation, wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance., as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying, information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee)
Rusackas/Lee do not specifically teach an option to request or accept an outcall service and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal, identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group, determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule; and after the physical repair, continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.
Roy discloses wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance and an option to request or accept an outcall service; and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal ([0504] The diagnostic message can be transmitted to and displayed by the heating/cooling system 14b display or a remote device such as the smart phone/computer system 20. The diagnostic message can include, but is not limited to, a summary of the problem (e.g., vent 7406 and/or vent pipes 7408 disconnected), instructions detailing how to troubleshoot the problem, an option to schedule a repair specialist to fix the problem and an override command.)
Roy discloses identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group (Fig 33AF #3610 receive location of equipment and date of service, #3612 determine if equipment needs servicing/replacement; [0353]In step 3610, the application receives the location of equipment and date of service/installation from the cloud within a specified range (e.g., location and service/installation dates of equipment within 50 miles. In step 3612, the application determines if any of the equipment within the specified range needs servicing/replacement. In step 3614, the application places a geo-fence around sites with equipment needing servicing/replacement. In step 3616, the application determines if the current location of the smart device (e.g., mobile device running application and carried by the servicer) is within a geo-fenced area, Fig 33AF 3616 current location within a geo-fence, [0435] the system 7100 could monitor a plurality of pumps 7134 (e.g., 100 pumps at various sites dispersed in a geographical region).) ;
Roy discloses determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule.([0455] display a link to a service and support area, such as for example, a designated pool servicer's portal (see FIG. 65A) where the user can schedule an appointment for service (see FIG. 65B) or initiate direct communication (e.g., instant messaging, email, voice, etc.) with the servicer., [0457] The homeowner can schedule a service call through the application 7160 or request a service call the next time a servicer is in the neighborhood (e.g., using geofencing surrounding the homeowner's location and geolocation services on the a servicer smart device or vehicle). Servicer (professional engineer) can monitor the broadcast system 7126 and can accept a service request using the application 7160., [0466] the dashboard 7200 can generate a daily route based on a determination of which particular sites require service on a given day and then direct the servicer to his or her appointments in the most efficient manner (e.g., shortest distance), based on the level of complexity (e.g., estimated time for completion), and/or based on revenue/profit maximization (e.g., estimated time for completion versus net profit margin). The daily route generated by the dashboard 7200 can include directions, route overview, materials needed for the service appointments, an estimated time for each service, and the like.) and after the physical repair (Fig 57 #7394 servicer performs authorized work and leaves location),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included an option to request or accept an outcall service and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal, identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group, determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule, as disclosed by Roy in the system disclosed by Lee/Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of displaying a link to a service where a user can schedule an appointment for service ([0455] Roy)
Rusackas/Lee/Roy do not teach after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.
Picardi teaches after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.([0083] During 404, the security system 160 obtains thermostat information and data from sensors of the monitored property after a scheduled service time of the HVAC has elapsed. After a particular time period has elapsed surrounding the time in which the HVAC technician was scheduled to fix the HVAC system 146, the control unit server 104 can obtain thermostat and sensor data that monitors the HVAC system 146 to determine whether the HVAC system 146 was in fact fixed)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved, as disclosed by Picardi in the system disclosed by Rusackas/Lee/Roy, for the motivation of providing a method of determining based on sensor data whether the issue was fixed for the monitored property ([0083] Picardi)
Regarding Claim 2, Rusackas as modified by Lee/Roy/Picardi teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas discloses wherein the information on the home appliance includes at least one of the product information, the customer information, real-time state in-formation of the home appliance, or information on an abnormal operation of the home appliance. (Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address (product information), Col 18 lines 18-20 In the account tab, the username (customer information), email, application Operating System (OS) and version, location, creation date, etc. can be available. Fig 22 account setup including customer information such as name, email, account ID, Col 14 lines 48-57The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (oven), which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address, manufacturer/model, etc. Finally, the device tile 522 can include an alert section 524 which shows an alarm/alert for the poor health and the user can select snooze or ignore.
Regarding Claim 3, Rusackas as modified by Lee teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 2,
Rusackas discloses wherein the monitoring screen includes a first area including one or more search items for searching for the home appliance and a second area displaying a home appliance list according to the search operation (Fig 6 # 500 search bar, Col 13 lines 24-31 FIG. 6 includes a search bar 500 where a user can look for a specific account, Wi-Fi system, etc. FIG. 6 further includes a graph 502 of “device happiness” which provides a network-wide view of all Wi-Fi systems being managed by the cloud-based NOC, Col 14 lines 48-57in FIG. 9, the access point “OVEN” can be red to indicate poor health and a user can click on the access point “OVEN” to bring up the device tile 522. The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address, manufacturer/model, etc. Finally, the device tile 522 can include an alert section 524 which shows an alarm/alert for the poor health), and
the one or more search items include at least one of the product information, the customer information, a data collection period, real-time state information of the home appliance, or the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance. (Col 20 lines FIG. 28 is a screenshot for finding accounts. To find an existing account—1) hover over the username (customer information) at the top-right corner of the NOC screen to activate a drop-down menu, 2) from the drop-down menu, select “All Customers,” 3) in the Overview>Customers screen, type in the search string and then hit the “search” button, the search string may be the account's partial name, partial email address, partial accountId, or complete customerId, and 4) select the account from the search results.)
Regarding Claim 4, Rusackas as modified by Lee teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas discloses wherein the product information includes at least one a manufacturing number, a model name, a production factory, a production line, a production date, or main component information (Col 14 lines 51-56 The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address, manufacturer/model, etc.), and the customer information includes at least one of a name, a phone number, an address, an email, an ID, a purchased home appliance mode name, a purchase date, or a purchased home appliance manufacturing number. (Col 18 lines 18-20 In the account tab, the username, email, application Operating System (OS) and version, location, creation date, etc. can be available. Fig 22 account setup including customer information such as name, email, account ID)
Regarding Claim 6, Rusackas as modified by Lee teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas does not specifically teach wherein a real-time state of the home appliance or whether the home appliance abnormally operates is received in response to sensing the abnormal operation of the home appliance by analyzing the sensor data from a home appliance diagnosis server.
Lee teaches wherein a real-time state of the home appliance or whether the home appliance abnormally operates is received in response to sensing the abnormal operation of the home appliance by analyzing the sensor data from a home appliance diagnosis server. ([0055] The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history., [0075] The controller 220 may gather operation data of the native function executing unit 210, classify the gathered operation data into normal data and abnormal data according to information about the data pattern detection routine received from the managing server, and transmit the classified normal data or abnormal data through the communication unit 310 to the managing server and/or user terminal or store the normal data or abnormal data in the storage unit 240, Fig 8A #802, 804 abnormal pattern detected; failure occurs, [0082] the controller 320 may analyze the abnormal data based on at least one existing abnormal data pattern stored in the storage unit 330, match the abnormal data with the existing abnormal data pattern and store the abnormal data or generate a new abnormal data pattern, and update the data pattern detection routine to include the new abnormal data pattern. [0128] The data pattern of reference number 830 denotes a change in operation mode of the air conditioner. The air conditioner may detect continuous variations in operation mode between heating and cooling and determine that an abnormal data pattern has occurred. According to an embodiment, where the frequency of variation in operation mode is larger than a threshold given in the data pattern detection routine, the air conditioner may report abnormal data containing the data pattern 830 to the managing server.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein a real-time state of the home appliance or whether the home appliance abnormally operates is received in response to sensing the abnormal operation of the home appliance by analyzing the sensor data from a home appliance diagnosis server, as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying, information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee) and transmit customized solution to address the failure of appliance ([0146] Lee)
Regarding Claim 7, Rusackas as modified by Lee teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 2,
Rusackas does not specifically teach wherein the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance includes at least one of an abnormal operation according to inexperienced use, an abnormal operation according to misuse, or an abnormal operation according to a failure.
Lee teaches wherein the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance includes at least one of an abnormal operation according to inexperienced use, an abnormal operation according to misuse, or an abnormal operation according to a failure (Fig 8C #822, 824 detected abnormal pattern; failure occurs, [0130] The managing server receives the abnormal data and monitors whether a failure indeed occurs in the appliance. When a failure actually occurs in the appliance as denoted with reference number 824, the managing server generates a new abnormal data pattern 826 containing the received abnormal data. )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance includes at least one of an abnormal operation according to inexperienced use, an abnormal operation according to misuse, or an abnormal operation according to a failure, as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying device usage pattern and information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee)
Regarding Claim 8, Rusackas as modified by Lee teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 6,
Rusackas does not specifically teach wherein a customer service is provided to a user terminal specified according to customer information of the home appliance based on the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance.
Lee teaches wherein a customer service is provided to a user terminal specified according to customer information of the home appliance based on the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance. (0137] the managing server 120 may transmit the diagnosis treatment solution information to a user terminal 130 registered for the appliance. Where the appliance is able to treat the failure on its own with the diagnosis treatment solution, the managing server 120, after sending the diagnosis treatment solution information to the appliance, may transmit the result to the user terminal 130. ({circle around (4)}) As an example, the user terminal 130 may display or output the received diagnosis treatment solution information through its UI to put the user on notice., [0145] providing a customized diagnosis treatment solution, which indicates information available for repairing or resolving a failure caused or predicted on appliances, [0148] the managing server receives, from the CS server, historic information including at least one of failure repair history information about the appliance, customer profile information, operation history information, and installation environment information.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein a customer service is provided to a user terminal specified according to customer information of the home appliance based on the information on the abnormal operation of the home appliance, as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of transmitting customized diagnosis treatment solution generated based on customer profile, failure/repair history ([0151] Lee)
Regarding Claim 9, Rusackas as modified by Lee/Roy/Picardi teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 8,
Rusackas does not specifically teach wherein a subsequent measure of the customer service is provided by checking whether the home appliance abnormally operates from the home appliance diagnosis server after the customer service is provided.
Lee teaches wherein a subsequent measure of the customer service is provided by checking whether the home appliance abnormally operates from the home appliance diagnosis server after the customer service is provided. ([0108]the managing server monitors whether a failure related to the abnormal data actually occurs in the appliance during a predetermined period, [0148] the failure repair history information may contain information about the time that a home visit repair service was used and information about an item (e.g., a part or an operation parameter control value) repaired or replaced through the home visit repair service.,[0150]-[0151] the managing server applies the failure repair history, customer profile, operation history, and installation environment for the appliance to the obtained diagnosis treatment solution to generate a customized diagnosis treatment solution thereby optimized for the appliance in operation 1225, [0155] determines whether a diagnosis treatment solution previously proposed to repair the failure in the appliance is the same as the diagnosis treatment solution contained in the failure repair history information.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein a subsequent measure of the customer service is provided by checking whether the home appliance abnormally operates from the home appliance diagnosis server after the customer service is provided, as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying device usage pattern and information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee)
Regarding Claim 18. (New) Rusackas as modified by Lee/Roy/Picardi real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas does not specifically teach wherein the sensor senses at least one of a temperature, a number of door opening times, a number of door closing times, a compressor sensor sensing an operating pattern of the compressor, an amount of ice, water pressure, and a defrost state.
Lee teaches wherein the sensor senses at least one of a temperature, a number of door opening times, a number of door closing times, a compressor sensor sensing an operating pattern of the compressor, an amount of ice, water pressure, and a defrost state. ([0128] FIG. 8C, where the appliance is an air conditioner, the air conditioner gathers operation data including operation modes, set temperatures, indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, duration of operation, or other various data items. The data pattern of reference number 830 denotes a change in operation mode of the air conditioner. The air conditioner may detect continuous variations in operation mode between heating and cooling and determine that an abnormal data pattern has occurred. )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein the sensor senses at least one of a temperature, a number of door opening times, a number of door closing times, a compressor sensor sensing an operating pattern of the compressor, an amount of ice, water pressure, and a defrost state.., as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying, information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee)
Claims 10, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2022/0083409A1) in view of Rusackas (US 10,687,227 B2), further in view of Roy (US 2020/0319621 A1) and Picardi et al. (US 2020/0240662 A1)
Regarding Claim 10, Lee discloses the customer service providing system for home appliances ([0002] managing operation data of appliances for failure prediction), comprising:
Lee discloses a processor coupled to a readable memory containing instructions ([0043] the computer program instructions may be provided in a processor of a general-use computer, a special-use computer or other programmable data processing devices) that when executed configures the processor to
Lee discloses monitor a real-time state of each home appliance based on sensor data collected by a sensor included in each home appliance ([0101] In operation 610, the appliance gathers operation data including sensor data and operation parameters of various items generated as the appliance is operated. In operation 615, the appliance determines whether the gathered operation data is normal data or abnormal data based on the received information about the data pattern detection routine. [0125] The managing server receives the abnormal data and monitors whether a failure indeed occurs in the appliance, [0067] a home system or a household system 100 includes one or more appliances 98, i.e., appliance apparatuses, including at least one among appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110. At least one of the appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be a smart appliance having an Internet access feature and may communicate with one or more user terminals 130 and/or a managing server 120. The examples of the appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 include a refrigerator, a washer, an air conditioner, an oven, a robot cleaner, a television, an air circulator, an air purifier, and a dehumidifier) identified by an identifier ([0107] the managing server receives abnormal data containing at least one or more data items and appliance identifier information and time of production information from the appliance. Claim 3 the operation data includes at least one of a data of a predetermined data type, a time when the operation data is generated, or identifier information for identifying the electronic device.); wherein the home appliance includes a communication device ([0067] At least one of the appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be a smart appliance having an Internet access feature and may communicate with one or more user terminals 130 and/or a managing server 120 using a wired communication or a wireless communication, such as wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), Zigbee, Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), or Z-wave. At least one of appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 may communicate with the managing server 120 directly or via the user terminal 130)).
Lee discloses analyze the sensor data collected in real time using a diagnosis engine to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred ([0094] FIG. 5, in operation 505, the appliance receives information about a data pattern detection routine that targets appliance operation data, from the managing server. The data pattern detection routine includes information used to detect abnormal data needed to be reported to the managing server among various pieces of operation data that are generated in the appliance. As an example, the data pattern detection routine may include at least one among at least one pre-defined normal data pattern and at least one pre-defined abnormal data pattern. [0097] the appliance may calculate the degree of similarity between the gathered operation data and the abnormal data pattern defined by the data pattern detection routine and determine whether the degree of similarity exceeds a predetermined threshold. When the degree of similarity exceeds the threshold, the appliance may determine that the gathered operation data matches the abnormal data pattern. Where the operation data matches the abnormal data pattern, the appliance may determine that the operation data is abnormal data.)and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure ([0110] determining abnormal data may be classified depending on data types as shown in Table 1., Fig 8C #824 failure occurs, 826 generate new abnormal data pattern [0114]upon detecting abnormal data of a numerical data type, the appliance may classify the abnormal data according to the degree of danger.[0130] When a failure actually occurs in the appliance as denoted with reference number 824, the managing server generates a new abnormal data pattern 826 containing the received abnormal data. )
Lee discloses select at least one home appliance requiring providing a customer service according to the real-time state of each home appliance ([0128] FIG. 8C, where the appliance is an air conditioner, the air conditioner gathers operation data including operation modes, set temperatures, indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, duration of operation, or other various data items. The data pattern of reference number 830 denotes a change in operation mode of the air conditioner. Where the frequency of variation in operation mode is larger than a threshold given in the data pattern detection routine, the air conditioner may report abnormal data containing the data pattern 830 to the managing server. [0133] a diagnosis treatment solution related to a lowering in the cooling performance or noise creation in the air conditioner may include [diagnosis: coolant leakage, treatment: add coolant] or [diagnosis: damage to compressor, treatment: replace compressor]); and
Lee discloses transmit a response guidance message for the customer service to each user terminal specified by customer information corresponding to at least one selected home appliance. ([0137] the managing server 120 may transmit the diagnosis treatment solution information to a user terminal 130 registered for the appliance. Where the appliance is able to treat the failure on its own with the diagnosis treatment solution, the managing server 120, after sending the diagnosis treatment solution information to the appliance, may transmit the result to the user terminal 130. As an example, the user terminal 130 may display or output the received diagnosis treatment solution information through its UI to put the user on notice., [0145] providing a customized diagnosis treatment solution, which indicates information available for repairing or resolving a failure caused or predicted on appliances, [0148] the managing server receives, from the CS server, historic information including at least one of failure repair history information about the appliance, customer profile information, operation history information, and installation environment information., [0153] the managing server may transmit information about the diagnosis treatment solution generated or determined to the user terminal registered for the appliance.).
Lee discloses wherein the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address ([0099] Where the operation data is determined by the received information about the data pattern detection routine to be abnormal data, the appliance transmits the abnormal data to the managing server in operation 520. The abnormal data may contain at least one among information about the time of generating the abnormal data, appliance identifier information for identifying the appliance, and sensor data. [0100] an appliance that transmits operation data of the appliance to a managing server); wherein the sensor sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device ([0055] The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history. [0057] Normal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance normally works among the operation data gathered in the appliance.[0074] the appliance is an air conditioner, the native function executing unit 210 may include a fan, a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, an expansion valve, and/or sensors (e.g., data gathering means));
Lee discloses wherein the processor receives a customer service request from a user terminal in response to the response guidance message for the customer service ([0068] The appliances 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to receive control commands from the user terminal 130 or the managing server 120, operated based on the control commands, and transmit requested information and/or operation data to the user terminal 130 or the managing server 120. ), wherein the processor searches the home appliance corresponding to the user terminal ([0150] the managing server determines whether at least one diagnosis treatment solution obtained through the search includes a diagnosis treatment solution that matches the received information, e.g., the failure repair history for the appliance, customer profile, operation history, and installation environment) wherein the processor outputs a monitoring screen for a real-time state of the searched home appliance to a display device; ([0055] Operation data refers to data related to the operation of the appliance. The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history., [0058] abnormal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance abnormally works (e.g., an abnormal event and/or failure) among the operation data gathered in the appliance., [0074] the appliance is a refrigerator, the native function executing unit 210 may include a door, a light, a power source, a fan, an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor, a defrost circuit (a defrost sensor, a defrost heater, or a defrost timer), and various sensors (e.g., data gathering means). The native function executing unit 210 may receive control values for operation parameters to operate the components from the controller 220 , [0075] The controller 220 may gather operation data of the native function executing unit 210, classify the gathered operation data into normal data and abnormal data according to information about the data pattern detection routine received from the managing server, and transmit the classified normal data or abnormal data through the communication unit 310 to the managing server and/or user terminal or store the normal data or abnormal data in the storage unit 240) wherein the response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution to the corresponding appliance.), wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution (self-measure guidance) to the corresponding appliance. As an example, the appliance may display or output the received diagnosis treatment solution information through a UI to put the user on notice. ).and an option to an outcall service ([0153] the managing server may transmit the information about the diagnosis treatment solution generated or determined to an engineer assigned to treat the failure in the appliance.);
Lee does not specifically teach appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address
Rusackas teaches appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address (Col 1 lines 55-66 the onboarding can include providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. The onboarding can include inputting one of serial numbers and Media Access Control (MAC) address (product wi-fi address) for the one or more access point devices in the NOC dashboard. The onboarding can include receiving an indication of an association between the account and the one or more access point devices from the Wi-Fi network., Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address) wherein the home appliance includes a communication device having the Wi-Fi address (Fig 6 shows status of oven device Col 14 lines 51-55The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address (wi-fi address), manufacturer/model, etc. Col 15 lines 2-10 the device (“OVEN”) uses a 5G channel for backhaul, e.g., on channel 40, to device “ENTRY” and a 2.4G channel for clients. The score here is 1.38 which is indicative of poor health).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address, as disclosed by Rusackas in the system disclosed by Lee, for the motivation of providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. (Col 1 lines 58-60 Rusackas) and to identify device status information based on MAC address, manufacturer/model to provide alert of poor heath of device (Col 14 lines 51-58 Rusackas)
Lee/Rusackas do not teach the guidance comprising at least one of self- measure instructions and an option to accept an outcall service by a professional engineer, the classified type of abnormal operation being one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure, wherein, in response to acceptance of the outcall service, the processor is further configured to identify a location of the selected home appliance using the Wi-Fi address, group selected home appliances by region, determine an optimized visit schedule using a shortest route algorithm applied to the locations, and coordinate dispatch of the professional engineer to perform physical repair according to the visit schedule, and wherein the processor is further configured to, after the physical repair, continue to monitor sensor data for a predetermined period and determine whether an abnormal operation has been resolved.
Roy teaches wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance and an option to request or accept an outcall service; and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal ([0504] The diagnostic message can be transmitted to and displayed by the heating/cooling system 14b display or a remote device such as the smart phone/computer system 20. The diagnostic message can include, but is not limited to, a summary of the problem (e.g., vent 7406 and/or vent pipes 7408 disconnected), instructions detailing how to troubleshoot the problem, an option to schedule a repair specialist to fix the problem and an override command.); identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group (Fig 33AF #3610 receive location of equipment and date of service, #3612 determine if equipment needs servicing/replacement; [0353]In step 3610, the application receives the location of equipment and date of service/installation from the cloud within a specified range (e.g., location and service/installation dates of equipment within 50 miles. In step 3612, the application determines if any of the equipment within the specified range needs servicing/replacement. In step 3614, the application places a geo-fence around sites with equipment needing servicing/replacement. In step 3616, the application determines if the current location of the smart device (e.g., mobile device running application and carried by the servicer) is within a geo-fenced area, Fig 33AF 3616 current location within a geo-fence, [0435] the system 7100 could monitor a plurality of pumps 7134 (e.g., 100 pumps at various sites dispersed in a geographical region).); determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule.([0455] display a link to a service and support area, such as for example, a designated pool servicer's portal (see FIG. 65A) where the user can schedule an appointment for service (see FIG. 65B) or initiate direct communication (e.g., instant messaging, email, voice, etc.) with the servicer., [0457] The homeowner can schedule a service call through the application 7160 or request a service call the next time a servicer is in the neighborhood (e.g., using geofencing surrounding the homeowner's location and geolocation services on the a servicer smart device or vehicle). Servicer (professional engineer) can monitor the broadcast system 7126 and can accept a service request using the application 7160., [0466] the dashboard 7200 can generate a daily route based on a determination of which particular sites require service on a given day and then direct the servicer to his or her appointments in the most efficient manner (e.g., shortest distance), based on the level of complexity (e.g., estimated time for completion), and/or based on revenue/profit maximization (e.g., estimated time for completion versus net profit margin). The daily route generated by the dashboard 7200 can include directions, route overview, materials needed for the service appointments, an estimated time for each service, and the like.) and after the physical repair (Fig 57 #7394 servicer performs authorized work and leaves location),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included an option to request or accept an outcall service and in response to receiving an acceptance of the outcall service from the user terminal, identify a geographical location of the home appliance based on the Wi-Fi address, classify the home appliance into a regional group, determine a visit schedule for the regional group by applying a shortest route algorithm to locations of one or more home appliances requiring service, and coordinate dispatch of a professional engineer to perform a physical repair on the home appliance according to the visit schedule, as disclosed by Roy in the system disclosed by Lee/Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of displaying a link to a service where a user can schedule an appointment for service ([0455] Roy)
Lee/Rusackas//Roy do not teach after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.
Picardi teaches after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.([0083] During 404, the security system 160 obtains thermostat information and data from sensors of the monitored property after a scheduled service time of the HVAC has elapsed. After a particular time period has elapsed surrounding the time in which the HVAC technician was scheduled to fix the HVAC system 146, the control unit server 104 can obtain thermostat and sensor data that monitors the HVAC system 146 to determine whether the HVAC system 146 was in fact fixed)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved, as disclosed by Picardi in the system disclosed by Lee/Rusackas/Roy, for the motivation of providing a method of determining based on sensor data whether the issue was fixed for the monitored property ([0083] Picardi)
Regarding Claim 12, Lee as modified by Rusackas teaches the customer service providing system for home appliances of claim 10,
Lee teaches wherein an abnormal operation for each home appliance is sensed based on sensor data collected by a sensor included in each home appliance identified by an identifier ([0055] Operation data refers to data related to the operation of the appliance. The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history., [0058] abnormal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance abnormally works (e.g., an abnormal event and/or failure) among the operation data gathered in the appliance., [0074] the appliance is a refrigerator, the native function executing unit 210 may include a door, a light, a power source, a fan, an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor, a defrost circuit (a defrost sensor, a defrost heater, or a defrost timer), and various sensors (e.g., data gathering means). The native function executing unit 210 may receive control values for operation parameters to operate the components from the controller 220 , [0075] The controller 220 may gather operation data of the native function executing unit 210, classify the gathered operation data into normal data and abnormal data according to information about the data pattern detection routine received from the managing server, and transmit the classified normal data or abnormal data through the communication unit 310 to the managing server and/or user terminal or store the normal data or abnormal data in the storage unit 240, [0107] the managing server receives abnormal data containing at least one or more data items and appliance identifier information and time of production information from the appliance. Claim 3 the operation data includes at least one of a data of a predetermined data type, a time when the operation data is generated, or identifier information for identifying the electronic device.); and the customer service is provided to the home appliance of which abnormal operation is sensed ([0128] FIG. 8C, where the appliance is an air conditioner, the air conditioner gathers operation data including operation modes, set temperatures, indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, duration of operation, or other various data items. The data pattern of reference number 830 denotes a change in operation mode of the air conditioner. Where the frequency of variation in operation mode is larger than a threshold given in the data pattern detection routine, the air conditioner may report abnormal data containing the data pattern 830 to the managing server. [0133] a diagnosis treatment solution related to a lowering in the cooling performance or noise creation in the air conditioner may include [diagnosis: coolant leakage, treatment: add coolant] or [diagnosis: damage to compressor, treatment: replace compressor, [0022] a customer service (CS) server configured to manage a CS for the appliance, and transmit, to the appliance, information about a customized diagnosis treatment solution generated based on the received information and a controller configured to generate the customized diagnosis treatment solution configured to address a failure occurring in the appliance by reflecting the failure history, the failure repair history, the customer profile, the operation history, and the installation environment for the appliance based on the received information.);
Lee does not specifically teach appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address
Rusackas teaches appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address (Col 1 lines 55-66 the onboarding can include providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. The onboarding can include inputting one of serial numbers and Media Access Control (MAC) address (product wi-fi address) for the one or more access point devices in the NOC dashboard. The onboarding can include receiving an indication of an association between the account and the one or more access point devices from the Wi-Fi network., Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address, as disclosed by Rusackas in the system disclosed by Lee, for the motivation of providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. (Col 1 lines 58-60 Rusackas) and to identify device status information based on MAC address, manufacturer/model to provide alert of poor heath of device (Col 14 lines 51-58 Rusackas)
Claims 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roy et al. (US 2020/0319621 A1) in view of Rusackas (US 10,687,227 B2), further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0083409A1) and Picardi et al. (US 2020/0240662 A1)
Regarding Claim 13, Roy discloses the method for providing a preemptive customer service based on geographical location information of a home appliance identified by an identifier ([0438] preemptively address an equipment failure before it occurs by monitoring a plurality of pumps/appliances), the method comprising:
Roy discloses receiving, by a processor, a visit service providing request for one or more home appliances of which abnormal operation is sensed while monitoring a plurality of home appliances ([0147] the pump control logic 84 determining alert conditions of a pump and subsequently notifying a user or pool professional (e.g., service technician, builders, installers, etc.) of the alert condition., [0353] a smart device having a global positioning system could be used to alert (service request) the servicer of service opportunities when an application on the smart device recognizes that the current location of the smart device is within a specified range of a geo-fenced area around a site having equipment in need of servicing/replacement, [0354] notifying a pool/spa owner that equipment is in need of service. In step 3620, the maintenance system receives (e.g., from pool control logic, cloud, servicer, etc.) data on the location of equipment and date of service/installation. In step 3622, the maintenance system determines if any equipment needs servicing/replacement., [0409] identify pool/spa equipment types and model numbers [0438] If the system 7100 determines that there is an alert condition, the owner/customer can be alerted (e.g., via email, SMS/text/iMessage, pop-up notification, etc.) to the condition (e.g., pump failure), a servicer can be alerted that his or her customer's pump is going to fail). An alert condition is transmitted to a servicer (e.g., Customer #1234 pump bearings will fail in 30 days). In step 7308 the servicer addresses the alert condition (e.g., the bearings are replaced prior to failure/predicted failure)
Roy discloses identifying by a processor, a current location of each of the one or more home appliances based on Wi-Fi information of the one or more home appliances (Fig 33AF #3610 receive location of equipment and date of service, #3612 determine if equipment needs servicing/replacement; [0353]In step 3610, the application receives the location of equipment and date of service/installation from the cloud within a specified range (e.g., location and service/installation dates of equipment within 50 miles. In step 3612, the application determines if any of the equipment within the specified range needs servicing/replacement. In step 3614, the application places a geo-fence around sites with equipment needing servicing/replacement. In step 3616, the application determines if the current location of the smart device (e.g., mobile device running application and carried by the servicer) is within a geo-fenced area
Roy discloses classifying by a processor, the one or more home appliances for each of one or more regions based on current locations of the one or more home appliances (Fig 33AF 3616 current location within a geo-fence, [0435] the system 7100 could monitor a plurality of pumps 7134 (e.g., 100 pumps at various sites dispersed in a geographical region).) ;
Roy discloses setting by a processor, a visit schedule for one or more home appliances included for each region; and providing a professional engineer outcall service according to the visit schedule.([0455] display a link to a service and support area, such as for example, a designated pool servicer's portal (see FIG. 65A) where the user can schedule an appointment for service (see FIG. 65B) or initiate direct communication (e.g., instant messaging, email, voice, etc.) with the servicer., [0457] The homeowner can schedule a service call through the application 7160 or request a service call the next time a servicer is in the neighborhood (e.g., using geofencing surrounding the homeowner's location and geolocation services on the a servicer smart device or vehicle). Servicer (professional engineer) can monitor the broadcast system 7126 and can accept a service request using the application 7160., [0458] )
Roy does not specifically teach the home appliance including a communication device having the Wi-Fi address; appliance identified by a Wi- Fi address
Rusackas teaches the home appliance including a communication device having the Wi-Fi address (Fig 6 shows status of oven device Col 14 lines 51-55The device tile 522 provides status information such as the device name (OVEN, which can be edited), network health (POOR in this example), connection statistics (07/26/17, etc.), device statistics (e.g., ID number, Media Access Control (MAC) address (wi-fi address), manufacturer/model, etc. Col 15 lines 2-10 the device (“OVEN”) uses a 5G channel for backhaul, e.g., on channel 40, to device “ENTRY” and a 2.4G channel for clients. The score here is 1.38 which is indicative of poor health); appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address (Col 1 lines 55-66 the onboarding can include providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. The onboarding can include inputting one of serial numbers and Media Access Control (MAC) address (product wi-fi address) for the one or more access point devices in the NOC dashboard. The onboarding can include receiving an indication of an association between the account and the one or more access point devices from the Wi-Fi network., Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the home appliance including a communication device having the Wi-Fi address appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address, as disclosed by Rusackas in the system disclosed by Roy, for the motivation of providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. (Col 1 lines 58-60 Rusackas) and to identify device status information based on MAC address, manufacturer/model to provide alert of poor heath of device (Col 14 lines 51-58 Rusackas)
Roy/Rusackas do not teach the home appliance including a sensor, the home appliance also being configured to provide sensor data from the sensor to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address analyzing, by the processor using a diagnosis engine, sensor data collected in real time from the one or more home appliances to detect the abnormal operation and classify a type thereof as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure applying a shortest route algorithm to the locations; to perform a physical repair on the home appliance; transmitting, by the processor to a user terminal corresponding to customer information matched to the Wi-Fi address, a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to a classified type of home appliance prior to or in conjunction with the visit service providing request, the guidance including at least one of self-measure guidance and an option to accept or modify the visit schedule; a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device
Lee teaches the home appliance including a sensor and a communication device ([0050] Appliance refers to smart appliances and electronic devices that may be installed in homes or offices and are provided with the Internet access feature. [0055] The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history. [0067] a smart appliance having an Internet access feature and may communicate with one or more user terminals 130 and/or a managing server 120 using a wired communication or a wireless communication, such as wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), Zigbee, Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), or Z-wave.) wherein the home appliance is configured to provide sensor data to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address ([0099] Where the operation data is determined by the received information about the data pattern detection routine to be abnormal data, the appliance transmits the abnormal data to the managing server in operation 520. The abnormal data may contain at least one among information about the time of generating the abnormal data, appliance identifier information for identifying the appliance, and sensor data. [0100] an appliance that transmits operation data of the appliance to a managing server); wherein the processor is further configured to: analyze the sensor data collected in real time using a diagnosis engine to detect whether an abnormal operation of the home appliance has occurred ([0094] FIG. 5, in operation 505, the appliance receives information about a data pattern detection routine that targets appliance operation data, from the managing server. The data pattern detection routine includes information used to detect abnormal data needed to be reported to the managing server among various pieces of operation data that are generated in the appliance. As an example, the data pattern detection routine may include at least one among at least one pre-defined normal data pattern and at least one pre-defined abnormal data pattern. [0097] the appliance may calculate the degree of similarity between the gathered operation data and the abnormal data pattern defined by the data pattern detection routine and determine whether the degree of similarity exceeds a predetermined threshold. When the degree of similarity exceeds the threshold, the appliance may determine that the gathered operation data matches the abnormal data pattern. Where the operation data matches the abnormal data pattern, the appliance may determine that the operation data is abnormal data.)and to classify a type of the abnormal operation as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure ([0110] determining abnormal data may be classified depending on data types as shown in Table 1., Fig 8C #824 failure occurs, 826 generate new abnormal data pattern [0114]upon detecting abnormal data of a numerical data type, the appliance may classify the abnormal data according to the degree of danger.[0130] When a failure actually occurs in the appliance as denoted with reference number 824, the managing server generates a new abnormal data pattern 826 containing the received abnormal data. ); transmitting to a user terminal corresponding to the customer information a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to the classified type of the abnormal operation ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution to the corresponding appliance.), wherein the guidance includes at least one of self- measure guidance ([0136] Upon detecting the occurrence of a failure in the particular appliance based on the received information, the managing server 120 may search the diagnosis treatment knowledge DB 122 for a diagnosis treatment solution that may apply to the occurred failure and transmit information about the obtained diagnosis treatment solution (self-measure guidance) to the corresponding appliance. As an example, the appliance may display or output the received diagnosis treatment solution information through a UI to put the user on notice. ).and an option to request or accept an outcall service ([0153] the managing server may transmit the information about the diagnosis treatment solution generated or determined to an engineer assigned to treat the failure in the appliance.); a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device ([0055] The operation data may include various data items such as sensor data gathered from at least one sensor in the appliance and an operation history. [0057] Normal data refers to, e.g., operation parameters and/or sensor data generated as the appliance normally works among the operation data gathered in the appliance.[0074] the appliance is an air conditioner, the native function executing unit 210 may include a fan, a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, an expansion valve, and/or sensors (e.g., data gathering means));
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the home appliance including a sensor, the home appliance also being configured to provide sensor data from the sensor to an external device using the communication device and Wi-Fi address analyzing, by the processor using a diagnosis engine, sensor data collected in real time from the one or more home appliances to detect the abnormal operation and classify a type thereof as one of inexperienced use, misuse, or failure applying a shortest route algorithm to the locations; to perform a physical repair on the home appliance; transmitting, by the processor to a user terminal corresponding to customer information matched to the Wi-Fi address, a response guidance message including guidance for a subsequent measure according to a classified type of home appliance prior to or in conjunction with the visit service providing request, the guidance including at least one of self-measure guidance and an option to accept or modify the visit schedule; a sensor configured to sense a state of the appliance separate from a state of the communication device., as disclosed by Lee in the system disclosed by Rusackas, for the motivation of providing a method of identifying, information related to a failure or an abnormal operation of the electronic device and providing a solution to the failure or the abnormal operation based on the device usage pattern and the operation data received from the electronic device. ([Abstract lines 2-5 Lee)
Roy/Rusackas//Lee do not teach after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.
Picardi teaches after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved.([0083] During 404, the security system 160 obtains thermostat information and data from sensors of the monitored property after a scheduled service time of the HVAC has elapsed. After a particular time period has elapsed surrounding the time in which the HVAC technician was scheduled to fix the HVAC system 146, the control unit server 104 can obtain thermostat and sensor data that monitors the HVAC system 146 to determine whether the HVAC system 146 was in fact fixed)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included after the physical repair continue monitoring the sensor data for a predetermined period and query the diagnosis engine to verify that the abnormal operation has been resolved, as disclosed by Picardi in the system disclosed by Roy/Rusackas/Lee, for the motivation of providing a method of determining based on sensor data whether the issue was fixed for the monitored property ([0083] Picardi)
Regarding Claim 14, Roy as modified by Rusackas/Lee/Picardi teaches the method of claim 13,
Roy teaches wherein in the setting of the visit schedule, a shortest route with the current location of each of one or more home appliances as a vertex is searched by using a shortest route algorithm, and a professional engineer outcall service route is set in response to the shortest route. ([0455] display a link to a service and support area, such as for example, a designated pool servicer's portal (see FIG. 65A) where the user can schedule an appointment for service (see FIG. 65B) or initiate direct communication (e.g., instant messaging, email, voice, etc.) with the servicer., [0457] The homeowner can schedule a service call through the application 7160 or request a service call the next time a servicer is in the neighborhood (e.g., using geofencing surrounding the homeowner's location and geolocation services on the a servicer smart device or vehicle). Servicer (professional engineer) can monitor the broadcast system 7126 and can accept a service request using the application 7160., [0458] [0466] the dashboard 7200 can also include a graphical user interface portion 7206 including tools for the servicer, such as a route planner (algorithm) (e.g., service or sales). The dashboard 7200 can generate a daily route based on a determination of which particular sites require service on a given day and then direct the servicer to his or her appointments in the most efficient manner (e.g., shortest distance), based on the level of complexity (e.g., estimated time for completion), and/or based on revenue/profit maximization (e.g., estimated time for completion versus net profit margin).)
Regarding Claim 15, Roy as modified by Rusackas/Lee/Picardi teaches the method of claim 13,
Roy does not specifically teach wherein the Wi-Fi address is a MAC address.
Rusackas teaches appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address (Col 1 lines 55-66 the onboarding can include providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. The onboarding can include inputting one of serial numbers and Media Access Control (MAC) address (product wi-fi address) for the one or more access point devices in the NOC dashboard. The onboarding can include receiving an indication of an association between the account and the one or more access point devices from the Wi-Fi network., Fig 38 shows appliance/device Apple -TV with wi-fi/MAC address)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included appliance identified by a Wi-Fi address, as disclosed by Rusackas in the system disclosed by Lee, for the motivation of providing a unique identifier of a device and automatically associated all of the plurality of devices to the account based on the unique identifier. (Col 1 lines 58-60 Rusackas) and to identify device status information based on MAC address, manufacturer/model to provide alert of poor heath of device (Col 14 lines 51-58 Rusackas)
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rusackas (US 10,687,227 B2) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0083409A1), Roy (US 2020/0319621 A1) and Picardi et al. (US 2020/0240662 A1) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Park (US 2014/0067131 A1)
Regarding Claim 16. (New) Rusackas as modified by Lee/Roy/Picardi teaches the real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas/Lee do not specifically teach wherein the home appliances are further grouped according to a region where the home appliances were sold.
Park teaches wherein the home appliances are further grouped according to a region where the home appliances were sold. ([0138] the home appliance may be registered with the server through the home appliance. The home appliance may have an address of the server and an address of the user site. The home appliance transmits the user information and the home appliance information to the server such that communication between the home appliance and the server is initiated. At this time, the server matches the home appliance with the user.[0136] The home appliances registered with the user site may be registered with the server together with the corresponding user ID. This may be achieved by automatically transmitting the user ID and the device IDs (grouped by user region) of all of the home appliances matched with the user ID from the user site to the server. Through these procedures, the server stores user information related to the user and home appliance information related to the home appliances. Of course, the user information and the home appliance information are stored in the server in a state in which the user information and the home appliance information are matched with each other. )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein the home appliances are further grouped according to a region where the home appliances were sold., as disclosed by Park in the system disclosed by Rusackas/Lee, for the motivation of providing a method of storing user information related to the user and home appliance information related to the home appliances. ([0136] Park)
Regarding Claim 17. (New) Rusackas as modified by Lee/Roy/Picardi teaches real-time monitoring system of home appliances of claim 1,
Rusackas/Lee do not specifically teach wherein the product information and Wi-Fi address are received before providing the appliance to a user of the home appliance.
Park teaches wherein the product information and Wi-Fi address are received before providing the appliance to a user of the home appliance.( [0189]The server 10 also has an IP, which may be a unique IP. Therefore, a communication module, such as a Wi-Fi module, of the home appliance may have the unique IP of the server. Through an activation procedure, the home appliance may access the server using the IP of the server such that communication between the home appliance and the server is performed. [0199] the device ID may be automatically generated in the home appliance when the activation procedure is carried out. Otherwise, the device ID may be automatically generated when the home appliance is first purchased and powered on for the first time. [0200]The characteristic information of the home appliance may include model information, a product code, a manufactured date, and a manufactured product number of the home appliance., [0202] Through the activation procedure, the user site 60 may receive the information from the home appliance 20. The user site registers home appliances corresponding to the user ID., [0054] The laundry machine may further include a Wi-Fi communication module equipped in or connected to the laundry machine, wherein the laundry machine may be communication connected to the server via the Wi-Fi communication module and an access point (AP). [0272]the home appliance 20 may communicate with the server 10 through the AP 30. At the time of switching to the use mode, therefore, the user information and the product information previously stored in the home appliance may be automatically registered with the server 10 through the AP. The user site may be used to authenticate the user information and the product information transmitted to the home appliance.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein the product information and Wi-Fi address are received before providing the appliance to a user of the home appliance., as disclosed by Park in the system disclosed by Rusackas/Lee, for the motivation of providing a method of monitoring device, upon requesting the performance of monitoring, the monitoring data may be repeatedly transmitted after the monitoring is initiated. ([0249] Park)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/9/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding 101 rejection, examiner has considered all arguments and respectfully disagrees. The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of receiving data, analyzing it, and providing customer service for home appliance. In particular, the claims only recites the additional element – processor coupled to a readable memory; app server, a display device, a monitoring screen, a sensor (Claim 1), processor coupled to a readable memory, sensor, user terminal (Claim 10) a processor (Claim 13). The additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea, as discussed in MPEP 2106.05(f). Furthermore, limitations reciting data gathering such as “receiving product information and a wi-fi address; receiving customer information for a user of home appliance” (claim 1) ; receiving a visit service providing request for home appliance (Claim 13) “ are insignificant pre-solution activity that merely gather data and, therefore, do not integrate the exception into a practical application for that additional reason. See In re Bilski, 545 F.3d 943, 963 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en bane), aff’d on other grounds, 561 U.S. 593 (2010) (characterizing data gathering steps as insignificant extra-solution activity); see also CyberSource, 654 F.3d at 1371-72 (noting that even if some physical steps are required to obtain information from a database (e.g., entering a query via a keyboard, clicking a mouse), such data-gathering steps cannot alone confer patentability); GIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (presenting offers and gathering statistics amounted to mere data gathering). Accord Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55 (citing MPEP § 2106.05(g)). Also, the limitations reciting “transmitting a response guidance message..(claim 10)” is merely a post-solution step of transmitting data output—a nominal addition to the claim that does not meaningfully limit the claim. Therefore, transmitting step is an insignificant extra-solution activity. See MPEP 2106.05(g). Simply implementing the abstract idea on generic components is not a practical application of the abstract idea. Accordingly, these additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Further applicant states claims recite improvement to existing technology. It is not clear how existing technology is improved, spec and claims do not provide any details for such improvement. Further, “claiming the improved speed or efficiency inherent with applying the abstract idea on a computer” does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide an inventive concept. Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Capital One Bank (USA), 792 F.3d 1363, 1367, 115 USPQ2d 1636, 1639 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
Applicant further states that claims recite an improvement to existing technology similar to DDR. Examiner respectfully disagrees. While the Applicant’s specification may disclose alleged
improvements to processor efficiency, the specification merely recites the alleged improvements ([0038]-[0039]) with no further detail to how the claim set achieves such an improvement. MPEP 2106.05(a) recites “If it is asserted that the invention improves upon conventional functioning of a computer, or upon conventional technology or technological processes, a technical explanation as to how to implement the invention should be present in the specification. That is, the disclosure must provide sufficient details such that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the claimed invention as providing an improvement.” After the examiner has consulted the specification and determined that the disclosed invention improves technology, the claim must be evaluated to ensure the claim itself reflects the disclosed improvement in technology. Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1316, 120 USPQ2d 1353, 1359 (patent owner argued that the claimed email filtering system improved technology by shrinking the protection gap and mooting the volume problem, but the court disagreed because the claims themselves did not have any limitations that addressed these issues). That is, the claim must include the components or steps of the invention that provide the improvement described in the specification. Examiner notes neither specification nor claims recite how the improvement/processor efficiency is achieved. The instant claims are directed to an abstract idea, and does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The additional elements recited in the instant claims are only to generic computing components that implement the abstract idea on a computing environment. As such, it can be interpreted that the instant claims only make the abstract idea more efficient, and there are not actual changes/improvements to any computing components/technology.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 103 rejection have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. New claims/limitations have been considered in rejection above
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. KR20070048658A discloses the ASP server 300 is a network home appliance 151 connected to the router 110, the unique identification information of the home server 120, and the home server 120 in the member registration procedure via the home network 30. , 152, 153 also receives and registers identification information, for example, a MAC address.
Yang (US 2020/0153650A1) discloses method of connection of home appliance to a network, a network-connection system for home appliances, and an apparatus related to a network-connection setting for home appliances.
KR20220158410 discloses A/S center information module Based on the location of the purchaser's terminal and/or home appliance management information, the location of the A/S center maybe guided to the purchaser's terminal in the closest order. In a state where a buyer has registered several target home appliances in the home through the management information providing server, the target home appliance may break down. At this time, the purchaser may check lists of target home appliances registered by the purchaser through an interface provided through the purchaser terminal, and may select a target home appliance requiring repair from among the lists through the terminal. The management information providing server may provide information on the A/S center to the purchaser terminal in order of closest distance based on home appliance management information or location information provided from the purchaser terminal. At this time, the management information providing server may provide the location on the map of the A/S center, contact information, address, homepage, etc. to the purchaser terminal together. Appliance information provision module Home appliance information, which is information about home appliances that have been sold or are on sale, may be stored.
CN111541680 discloses registration method for a device
Han (US 2011/0054845) discloses method for a home appliance is provided. When the home appliance outputs product information as a sound signal, a service center remotely performs fault diagnosis of the home appliance by receiving the sound signal, detecting the product information from the sound signal, checking the state of the home appliance using diagnostic data included in the product information to determine whether the home appliance is out of order
Jones (US10,817,848) discloses systems for monitoring appliances at a site, such as a household or business office. The appliances can include, for example but not limited to, an electric oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, laundry washer, freezer, pool controller, light bulb, microwave oven, computer, motor vehicle, television, telephone, etc.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANGEETA BAHL whose telephone number is (571)270-7779. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 - 4PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Lemieux can be reached at 571-270-3445. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SANGEETA BAHL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3626
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