DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 6/15/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 15-33 are cancelled. Claims 1-14 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goel USPN 2018/0090112 in view of Orlov USPN 10371786.
Consider claim 1, Goel discloses a communication, safety, and location system for use as part of a goods transporting system, comprising: a plurality of tile units, the tile unit configured to tesselate to form a substantially continuous grid with a substantially flat upper surface and grid of UWB sensors embedded within the carpet in an array, in accordance with some embodiments. Diagram 200 shows an example of a flexible layer of material 210. In non-limiting examples, the flexible layer of material 210 may be a carpet, a rug, artificial grass, Astroturf™, and the like. In embodiments, individual UWB sensors 201, which may be similar to flexible UWB sensors 100 of FIG. 1, may be embedded into a determined location within the layer of material 210. In embodiments, UWB sensors 201 may be UWB sensors, having a transceiver, an antenna …”); a number of the tile units at locations spaced within the grid equipped with UWB transceivers (see [0026; 0041]: “…flexible play mat containing a plurality of UWB sensors used to guide a child along a number of determined paths along the rolled-out play mat, in accordance with some embodiments. Diagram 700 shows a flexible layer of material 710, which may be similar to the flexible layer material 310 of FIG. 3A. UWB sensors 701, which may be similar to UWB sensors 301 of FIG. 3A, may be embedded into the flexible layer material …”).
However, Goel does not explicitly disclose to enable movement of cargo carrying units positioned on the surface in use.
In the related field of endeavor, Orlov discloses to enable movement of cargo carrying units positioned on the surface in use (see fig. 16, 116; col. 32, lines 49-63: “…users 112(1), 112(2), . . . , 112(U) and totes 116(1), 116(2), . . . , 116(T) or other material handling apparatus may move within the facility 1502. For example, the user 112 may move about within the facility 1502 to pick or place the items 1102 in various fixtures 108, placing them on the tote 116 for ease of transport. The tote 116 is configured to carry or otherwise transport one or more items 1102. For example, the tote 116 may include a basket, cart, bag, bin, and so forth. In other implementations, other material handling apparatuses such as robots, forklifts, cranes, aerial drones, and so forth, may move about the facility 1502 picking, placing, or otherwise moving the items 1102. For example, a robot may pick an item 1102 from a first fixture 108(1) and move the item 1102 to a second fixture…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine UWB sensor array playmat of Goel and the warehouse smart floor tiles of Orlov in order to arrive at the instant recitation and provide monitoring of goods in a warehouse facility.
Consider claim 2 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the UWB transceivers are configured and controlled so that their UWB transmissions have short on-air transmission times or pulses (see Goel [0026]: UWB sensors; inherent to UWB see, e.g., Xu 2023/0188832: “…UWB uses non-sine wave narrow pulse signals of nanosecond (ns) to picosecond (ps) levels to transmit data, and a time modulation technology can greatly increase a transmission rate. Because very short pulses are used, transmit power of a UWB device is only a few percent of that of a current continuous carrier system during high-speed communication…”).
Consider claim 3 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the UWB transceivers are configured and controlled so that transmission times are no longer than substantially two nanoseconds (see Goel [0026]: UWB sensors; inherent to UWB see, e.g., Xu 2023/0188832: “…UWB uses non-sine wave narrow pulse signals of nanosecond (ns) to picosecond (ps) levels to transmit data, and a time modulation technology can greatly increase a transmission rate. Because very short pulses are used, transmit power of a UWB device is only a few percent of that of a current continuous carrier system during high-speed communication…”).
Consider claim 4 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the UWB transceivers are configured and controlled so that their UWB transmissions occupy a wide frequency band (see Goel [0026; 0041]: UWB sensors; inherent, hence the term “wideband” is in the name itself).
Consider claim 5 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the UWB transceivers are configured to broadcast across a range of frequencies having a bandwidth of substantially 500 MHz (see Goel UWB; inherent to UWB see e.g. Kincaid USPN 2025/0389572 “…UWB is any signal that occupies a wide bandwidth (greater than 20% of the center frequency or 500 MHZ) and utilizes the spectrum between 3.1 and 10.6 GHZ…”).
Consider claim 6 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the UWB transceivers are configured to broadcast across a range of frequencies having fractional bandwidths greater than 20% (see Goel UWB; inherent to UWB see e.g. Kincaid USPN 2025/0389572 “…UWB is any signal that occupies a wide bandwidth (greater than 20% of the center frequency or 500 MHZ) and utilizes the spectrum between 3.1 and 10.6 GHZ…”).
Consider claim 7 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the Power Spectral Density of the UWB transceivers is limited to a maximum of substantially 41.3 dBm/MHz (see Goel; inherent to UWB e.g. Jumbe USPN 2024/0172949 “… FCC power spectral density emission limit for UWB transmitters is −41.3 dBm/MHz…”).
Consider claim 8 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses a number of cargo carrier units configured to carry loads thereon, the tiles and cargo carrier units mutually configured so that the cargo carrier units move on top of the tiles in use, the cargo carrier units also equipped with UWB transceivers (see Goel [0042]: “…child 740 may wear a UWB tag 714, which may be similar to UWB tag 314 of FIG. 3A, proximate to the person 740 that transmits UWB radio signals, such as radio signals…”; see Orlov fig. 16, 116; col. 32, lines 49-63: “…users 112(1), 112(2), . . . , 112(U) and totes 116(1), 116(2), . . . , 116(T) or other material handling apparatus may move within the facility 1502. For example, the user 112 may move about within the facility 1502 to pick or place the items 1102 in various fixtures 108, placing them on the tote 116 for ease of transport. The tote 116 is configured to carry or otherwise transport one or more items 1102. For example, the tote 116 may include a basket, cart, bag, bin, and so forth. In other implementations, other material handling apparatuses such as robots, forklifts, cranes, aerial drones, and so forth, may move about the facility 1502 picking, placing, or otherwise moving the items 1102. For example, a robot may pick an item 1102 from a first fixture 108(1) and move the item 1102 to a second fixture…”).
Consider claim 9 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the cargo carrier units are configured to carry a cargo of substantially up to 1000 Kg (see Orlov col. 32, lines 49-63: “…other material handling apparatuses such as robots, forklifts, cranes …”; inherently cargo weights can be extremely heavy).
Consider claim 10 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses a control system, the control system configured to receive signals from the UWB transceivers, to convert these into positional data, and to transmit instructions to the tile units relating to movement of cargo carrying units positioned on the tile units (see Goel figs. 3a and 4: server 318, location 314; [0030-0031]).
Consider claim 11 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the control system is at least partly distributed throughout the tile units (see Goel fig. 4: plural UWB sensor array).
Consider claim 12 as applied to respective claim, Goel as modified discloses the control system is at least partly remotely located from and separate to the tile units (see fig. 3a; server is remote; [0030]: “…the UWB sensors 301 may generate a second set of signals based upon the received UWB radio signals and send the second set of signals to a server 318 to which the UWB sensors 301 are coupled…”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: See respective recitation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Notice of Reference Cited for relevant prior art disclosing state of the art.
Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Hand-delivered responses should be brought to
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
Examiner should be directed to Fayyaz Alam whose telephone number is (571) 270-1102. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:30am to 7:00pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached on (571) 270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free) or 703-305-3028.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600.
Fayyaz Alam
June 27, 2026
/FAYYAZ ALAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2674
Prosecution Insights