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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 17 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1, line 9, "the third accommodating cavity is communicated with the second accommodating cavity" should be rewritten as "the third accommodating cavity communicates with the second accommodating cavity."
Claim 1, line 14, "the information of a plant" should be rewritten as "an information of a plant".
Corresponding claims 17 and 20 should be amended in the same manner. Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 4-9 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The following terms lack antecedent basis: Claim 4, lines 3-4, "the fixing post";
Claim 20, line 25, "the information that plant contacts with the outside."
Claim 17 is a method claim, and further recites the limitation, "and maintenance steps are as follows." However, the claim does not specify that the steps are actually performed as part of the method. For the purpose of examination, Examiner interprets the above limitation as intended use for the method, but as not being required for the claim. To correct the above issue, Examiner suggests amending the claim e.g., to state, "the method comprising maintenance steps as follows …"
Claim 17, line 25 recites the phrase, "enough water." The meaning and scope of the phrase is unclear, because it is unclear how much is required to be "enough." For the purpose of examination Examiner interprets the phrase as requiring any amount of water.
Claim 17, line 27 recites the phrase "then putting the potted plants into the culture bin." The meaning of the use of the word, "then" is unclear i.e., it might be interpreted as implying that the putting the potted plants into the culture bin occurs immediately after the putting the culture bin into the second accommodating cavity; however, exactly what phrase or sentence "then" is referring to is unclear. For the purpose of examination, Examiner interprets the phrase as meaning that the potted plants are put into the culture bin at any time. To address the above issue, Examiner suggests amending the limitation to recite, "after the putting the culture bin into the second accommodating cavity, putting the potted plans into the culture bin."
Claim 20, lines 24-25 recites the limitation, "the plant touch sensor is used for sending the information that plant contact with the outside." The meaning of this limitation is somewhat unclear and is grammatically incorrect. For the purpose of examination, Examiner interprets the limitation as meaning that the plant touch sensor is used for sending information that contact was made with a plant. To address the above issue, Examiner suggests amending the limitation as follows: "the plant touch sensor is used for sensing information indicating that contact was made with a plant."
Claims 5-9, 18 and 19 are rejected for failing to cure the deficiencies of their respective parent claims.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun (KR102157626 translation) in view of Goldberg (US 2009/0293354).
Regarding claim 1, Jun teaches an intelligent maintenance planter, comprising:
a planter body, wherein the planter body comprises a first accommodating cavity (Fig. 2, [0013, 0016] there is a housing 100, with a cavity within it); and
a water bin is arranged in the first accommodating cavity, and the water bin is fixedly connected with the planter body and forms a second accommodating cavity (Figs. 2-9, [0029], there is a water tank 10 within the housing); and
a culture bin is detachably connected in the second accommodating cavity, the culture bin is provided with a third accommodating cavity, and the third accommodating cavity is communicated with the second accommodating cavity (Figs. 2-9, [0016, 0063, 0029, 0041, 0049, 0044], there is a detachable planter body 50, which fluidly communicates with the water tank; water is supplied from the water tank to the planter body 50; a plant can be planted in the planter body) and
the intelligent maintenance planter further comprises a central system, wherein the central system comprises a control unit arranged in the planter body, a plurality of sensors arranged on the planter body, and
a display screen arranged on an outer surface of the planter body, wherein the sensors and the display screen are electrically connected with the control unit, and the sensors are used for sensing the information of a plant, the planter body and the surrounding environment ([0045, 0053, 0076-0077], there are various sensors in the device e.g., for water level, dust, humidity, wind strength etc.; there is a controller connected to each component of the device e.g., the sensors; it receives and analyzes the data, executes user commands, and performs corresponding actions; for example, there is a display on the housing, and information from the sensors can be presented there); and
the control unit has a monitoring module and an interactive module, wherein the monitoring module is used to receive the information sensed by the sensors and feed the information back to the display screen, and the interactive module is used to process the information sensed by the sensors to form a humanized expression on the display screen (inherently, the device includes a processor and memory, used to perform the above operations e.g., process sensor data for display; the information from the sensors can be presented on the display for review by a human/user; it should also be noted that the ornamental/aesthetic features cannot be used to patentably distinguish the prior art, see MPEP 2144.04 I).
However, Jun does not expressly disclose the control unit is a control panel.
In the same field of endeavor, Goldberg teaches the control unit is a control panel (Figs. 17-18, 27-28, [0119-0122, 0023-0024], it is known for a plant container to have a variety of sensors e.g., soil moisture/humidity sensors; sensor data can be processed by a printed circuit board (PB) in the container, and then corresponding information can be presented on a display).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the control unit is a control panel as suggested in Goldberg into Jun, because Jun and Goldberg pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Goldberg pertain to smart plant holders that obtain sensor data relating to the plant and present related information on a display. In Goldberg, a PCB helps process and present the data. It would be desirable to incorporate this feature into Jun so that a variety of known devices could be used to process and present data e.g., see Goldberg (Figs. 17-18, 27-28, [0119-0122, 0023-0024].
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Jun and Goldberg teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. The combination of Jun and Goldberg also teaches
wherein the planter body comprises an upper shell and a lower shell,
a first connecting edge is formed on one end of the upper shell close to the lower shell, and a second connecting edge is formed on the lower shell, the second connecting edge being arranged in a shape corresponding to the first connecting edge; and
the upper shell and the lower shell are fixedly connected, wherein the upper shell and the lower shell are matched to form a fixed connection through the first connecting edge and the second connecting edge (Jun Fig. 1, [0037], the housing 100 has an upper portion/shell and a lower portion/shell 101, which has a mesh structure; these portions are naturally connected via edge/border portions).
Regarding claim 17, the claim corresponds to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons. The combination of Jun and Goldberg also teaches
maintenance steps are as follows:
pouring enough water into the water bin (Jun Figs. 2-9, [0029], there is a water tank 10 within the housing); and
putting the culture bin into the second accommodating cavity (Jun Figs. 2-9, [0016, 0063, 0029, 0041, 0049, 0044], there is a detachable planter body 50, which fluidly communicates with the water tank; water is supplied from the water tank to the planter body 50; a plant can be planted in the planter body); and
then putting the potted plants into the culture bin (Jun Figs. 2-9, [0016, 0063, 0029, 0041, 0049, 0044], there is a detachable planter body 50, which fluidly communicates with the water tank; water is supplied from the water tank to the planter body 50; a plant can be planted in the planter body).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun and Goldberg, as applied in claim 2, and further in view of Hirano (US 2023/0241824).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Jun and Goldberg teaches the invention as claimed in claim 2. The combination of Jun and Goldberg also teaches
wherein an inner shell is arranged in the upper shell, and the inner shell is fixedly connected with the upper shell (Jun Fig. 1, [0037, 0057-58], there is an inner shell or body case 40, in which the pollen body 50 can be positioned; the body case 40 is fixed to a frame that on the inner surface of the housing/upper portion/shell); and
the inner shell comprises a platform part, wherein the upper shell and the inner shell are fixedly connected through a first fixing member (Jun Fig. 1, [0037, 0057-0058], there is an inner shell or body case 40, in which the pollen body 50 can be positioned; a part of the body case 40 is fixed to a frame that is on the inner surface of the housing/upper portion/shell via bolts or pins).
However, the combination of Jun and Goldberg does not expressly disclose wherein the platform part is provided with a first fixing hole, and the upper shell is provided with a second fixing hole corresponding to the first fixing hole.
In the same field of endeavor, Hirano teaches wherein the platform part is provided with a first fixing hole, and the upper shell is provided with a second fixing hole corresponding to the first fixing hole ([0077], it is known that when two structures are attached with a screw, that there may be holes in the respective structures through which the screw passes, thereby securing the structures with a nut; it would be obvious that the upper portion of the housing and body case 40 in Jun would thus be attached in this manner using holes).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated wherein the platform part is provided with a first fixing hole, and the upper shell is provided with a second fixing hole corresponding to the first fixing hole as suggested in Hirano into Jun and Goldberg because Jun and Hirano pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Hirano pertain to attaching two structures using a screw. In Hirano, this is done by having a hole in each structure, and passing the screw through both holes. It would be desirable to incorporate this feature into Jun to allow structures to be secured in widely known ways using a screw e.g., see Hirano [0077].
Claims 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun, Goldberg and Hirano, as applied in claim 3, and further in view of Quevdo (US 2025/0160271) and further in view of Deixler (US 2023/0168212) and further in view of Maddocks (US 2023/0301241).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Jun and Goldberg teaches the invention as claimed in claim 3. The combination of Jun and Goldberg also teaches wherein the sensors comprise a water quantity sensor ([0045, 0077] describes a water level sensor).
However, the combination of Jun and Goldberg does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor, a light sensor, a plant touch sensor and a touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Quevdo teaches the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor ([0008], it is known for plant maintenance systems to include temperature, air humidity and soil humidity sensors).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor as suggested in Quevdo into Jun and Goldberg because Jun and Quevdo pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Quevdo pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Quevdo, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Quevdo [0008].
However, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Hirano and Quevdo does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise a vibration sensor, a light sensor, a plant touch sensor and a touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Deixler teaches the sensors comprise a vibration sensor, a touch sensor and a light sensor ([0153] describe a light sensor and a vibration sensor; [0167], it is known for an interface to include a touch screen for user input).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor as suggested in Deixler into Jun, Goldberg, Hirano and Quevdo because Jun and Deixler pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Deixler pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Deixler, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Deixler [0153]. Additionally, it would be desirable to add touch functionality as described in Deixler to the display and control system of the planter in Jun, to facilitate user management of the planter e.g., see Deixler [0167].
However, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Hirano, Quevdo and Deixler does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Maddocks teaches the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor ([0114], it is known to have a sensor that can detect when a user has touched the plant, to allow the system to respond to user interactions with the plant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor as suggested in Maddocks into Jun, Goldberg, Hirano, Quevdo and Deixler because Jun and Maddocks pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Maddocks pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Maddocks, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Maddocks [0114].
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun and Goldberg, as applied in claim 17, and further in view of Quevdo (US 2025/0160271) and further in view of Deixler (US 2023/0168212) and further in view of Maddocks (US 2023/0301241).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Jun and Goldberg teaches the invention as claimed in claim 17. The combination of Jun and Goldberg also teaches wherein the sensors comprise a water quantity sensor ([0045, 0077] describes a water level sensor).
However, the combination of Jun and Goldberg does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor, a light sensor, a plant touch sensor and a touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Quevdo teaches the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor ([0008], it is known for plant maintenance systems to include temperature, air humidity and soil humidity sensors).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor as suggested in Quevdo into Jun and Goldberg because Jun and Quevdo pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Quevdo pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Quevdo, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Quevdo [0008].
However, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Hirano and Quevdo does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise a vibration sensor, a light sensor, a plant touch sensor and a touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Deixler teaches the sensors comprise a vibration sensor, a touch sensor and a light sensor ([0153] describe a light sensor and a vibration sensor; [0167], it is known for an interface to include a touch screen for user input).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise an air humidity sensor, a soil humidity sensor and a temperature sensor as suggested in Deixler into Jun, Goldberg, and Quevdo because Jun and Deixler pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Deixler pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Deixler, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Deixler [0153]. Additionally, it would be desirable to add touch functionality as described in Deixler to the display and control system of the planter in Jun, to facilitate user management of the planter e.g., see Deixler [0167].
However, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Hirano, Quevdo and Deixler does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Maddocks teaches the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor ([0114], it is known to have a sensor that can detect when a user has touched the plant, to allow the system to respond to user interactions with the plant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor as suggested in Maddocks into Jun, Goldberg, Quevdo and Deixler because Jun and Maddocks pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Maddocks pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Maddocks, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Maddocks [0114].
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun, Goldberg, Quevdo, Deixler and Maddocks, as applied in claim 18, and further in view of Lee (KR20210085897 translation).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Hirano, Quevdo, Deixler and Maddocks teaches the invention as claimed in claim 18. The combination of Jun, Goldberg, Quevdo, Deixler and Maddocks also teaches
a detection module transmits the information of water shortage to the display screen, and the interactive module generates a thirsty expression from the signal of water shortage of the potted plant and transmits the thirsty expression to the display screen (Jun [0045, 0053, 0076-0077], there are various sensors in the device e.g., for water level, dust, humidity, wind strength etc.; there is a controller connected to each component of the device e.g., the sensors; it receives and analyzes the data, executes user commands, and performs corresponding actions; for example, there is a display on the housing, and information from the sensors can be presented there; thus sensor data indicating a low water level can be displayed; it should also be noted that the ornamental/aesthetic features cannot be used to patentably distinguish the prior art, see MPEP 2144.04 I); and
wherein when a user adds water to the water bin and the culture bin, the monitoring module receives the signal that the potted plant has been replenished with water from the water quantity sensor and the soil humidity sensor, the detection module transmits the information of sufficient water quantity to the display screen, and the interactive module generates an expression of drinking water from the signal of sufficient water quantity and transmits the expression of drinking water to the display screen (Jun [0045, 0053, 0076-0077], there are various sensors in the device e.g., for water level, dust, humidity, wind strength etc.; there is a controller connected to each component of the device e.g., the sensors; it receives and analyzes the data, executes user commands, and performs corresponding actions; for example, there is a display on the housing, and information from the sensors can be presented there; thus, sensor data indicating water levels have been replenished can be displayed; it should also be noted that the ornamental/aesthetic features cannot be used to patentably distinguish the prior art, see MPEP 2144.04 I).
However, the combination of Jun, Goldberg, Quevdo, Deixler and Maddocks does not expressly disclose wherein when the monitoring module receives a signal of water shortage of the potted plant from the water quantity sensor and the soil humidity sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Lee teaches wherein when the monitoring module receives a signal of water shortage of the potted plant from the water quantity sensor and the soil humidity sensor ([0016], the water tank may be exhausted; the soil humidity sensor may detect that the moisture level of the soil is very low).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated wherein when the monitoring module receives a signal of water shortage of the potted plant from the water quantity sensor and the soil humidity sensor as suggested in Lee into Jun, Goldberg, Quevdo, Deixler and Maddocks because Jun and Lee pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Lee relate to a device for maintaining a plant, which utilizes sensor to monitor plant-related conditions. In Lee, a situation may arise where the water tank is empty and the soil humidity sensor may detect a lack of humidity in the soil. It would be desirable to incorporate these features into Jun so that the sensors of Jun could detect conditions in a variety of scenarios e.g., see Lee [0016].
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun in view of Goldberg and further in view of Maddocks.
Regarding claim 1, Jun teaches an intelligent maintenance planter, comprising:
a planter body, wherein the planter body comprises a first accommodating cavity (Fig. 2, [0013, 0016] there is a housing 100, with a cavity within it); and
a water bin is arranged in the first accommodating cavity, and the water bin is fixedly connected with the planter body and forms a second accommodating cavity (Figs. 2-9, [0029], there is a water tank 10 within the housing); and
a culture bin is detachably connected in the second accommodating cavity, the culture bin is provided with a third accommodating cavity, and the third accommodating cavity is communicated with the second accommodating cavity (Figs. 2-9, [0016, 0063, 0029, 0041, 0049, 0044], there is a detachable planter body 50, which fluidly communicates with the water tank; water is supplied from the water tank to the planter body 50; a plant can be planted in the planter body) and
the intelligent maintenance planter further comprises a central system, wherein the central system comprises a control unit arranged in the planter body, a plurality of sensors arranged on the planter body, and
a display screen arranged on an outer surface of the planter body, wherein the sensors and the display screen are electrically connected with the control unit, and the sensors are used for sensing the information of a plant, the planter body and the surrounding environment ([0045, 0053, 0076-0077], there are various sensors in the device e.g., for water level, dust, humidity, wind strength etc.; there is a controller connected to each component of the device e.g., the sensors; it receives and analyzes the data, executes user commands, and performs corresponding actions; for example, there is a display on the housing, and information from the sensors can be presented there); and
the control unit has a monitoring module and an interactive module, wherein the monitoring module is used to receive the information sensed by the sensors and feed the information back to the display screen, and the interactive module is used to process the information sensed by the sensors to form a humanized expression on the display screen (inherently, the device includes a processor and memory, used to perform the above operations e.g., process sensor data for display; the information from the sensors can be presented on the display for review by a human/user; it should also be noted that the ornamental/aesthetic features cannot be used to patentably distinguish the prior art, see MPEP 2144.04 I).
However, Jun does not expressly disclose the control unit is a control panel; the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor, and the plant touch sensor is used for sensing the information that plant contacts with the outside.
In the same field of endeavor, Goldberg teaches the control unit is a control panel (Figs. 17-18, 27-28, [0119-0122, 0023-0024], it is known for a plant container to have a variety of sensors e.g., soil moisture/humidity sensors; sensor data can be processed by a printed circuit board (PB) in the container, and then corresponding information can be presented on a display).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the control unit is a control panel as suggested in Goldberg into Jun, because Jun and Goldberg pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Goldberg pertain to smart plant holders that obtain sensor data relating to the plant and present related information on a display. In Goldberg, a PCB helps process and present the data. It would be desirable to incorporate this feature into Jun so that a variety of known devices could be used to process and present data e.g., see Goldberg (Figs. 17-18, 27-28, [0119-0122, 0023-0024].
However, the combination of Jun and Goldberg does not expressly disclose the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor, and the plant touch sensor is used for sensing the information that plant contacts with the outside.
In the same field of endeavor, Maddocks teaches the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor, and the plant touch sensor is used for sensing the information that plant contacts with the outside ([0114], it is known to have a sensor that can detect when a user has touched the plant, to allow the system to respond to user interactions with the plant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the sensors comprise a plant touch sensor as suggested in Maddocks into Jun and Goldberg because Jun and Maddocks pertain to analogous fields of technology. Both Jun and Maddocks pertain to systems for maintaining and monitoring plants using sensors. In Maddocks, a variety of additional sensors are added. It would be desirable to incorporate these features to improve monitoring and maintenance of the plants e.g., see Maddocks [0114].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11-16 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. At best, the prior art of record, specifically, Jun (KR102157626 translation) teaches a plant pot with a housing; within the housing is a detachable planter body/soil bin and a water tank below the planter body/soil bin; the plant pot further includes multiple sensors e.g., water level, humidity, wind etc.; the sensor data can be presented on a display in the housing; as seen in Fig. 2, the housing is made of two parts/shells e.g., at least a smooth upper portion and a lower mesh portion; the plant pot further includes an inner container/body case; the planter body/soil bin is positioned in the body case, and the body case is attached to the housing using a fastener structure e.g., a bolts or pins; see Jun Figs. 1-9, [0013, 0016, 0029, 0063, 0041, 0049, 0044, 0045, 0053, 0076-0077]. Goldberg (US 2009/0293354) teaches a smart plant pot, including a solid/plant basin positioned over a water basin; the syste further includes various sensors e.g., moisture sensor, water level sensor etc.; a control panel/printed circuit board processes data from the sensors and presents them on a display e.g., see Goldberg Abstract, Figs. 17-18, 27-28, [0084-0085, 0119-0122]. Quevdo (US 2025/0160271) teaches that it is known to maintain plants using sensors e.g., air/soil humidity and temperature sensors e.g., see Quevdo [0008]. Deixler (US 2023/0168212) teaches that it is know to maintain plants using various sensors e.g., a light, temperature and/or vibration sensors; see Deixler [0153]. Maddocks (US 2023/0301241) teaches that it is known to utilize a sensor that can detect when a user has touched a plant, to allow a plant maintenance system to respond to user interactions e.g., see Maddocks [0114]. Lee (KR20210085897 translation) teaches a system that automatically provides water from a tank to a plant; when the water in the tank is depleted and the detected soil moisture level is low, a notification can be presented to alert a user to refill the tank e.g., see Lee [0016].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim (KR102571665 translation) teaches that it is known to express a sensor reading in an interface using human-like or personalized icons e.g., using a happy face etc.; see Kim Figs. 9-10, [0090].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC YOON whose telephone number is (408)918-7581. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 am to 5 pm ET Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC J YOON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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