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, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “Bluetooth® Low Energy” in line 5. It is presumed to recite “Bluetooth Low Energy”.
Claim 1 recites “the response signals” in line 12. It is presumed to recite “the radiofrequency response signals”.
Claim 2 recites “the signals” in line 2. It is presumed to recite “the radiofrequency signals”.
Claim 6 recites “the rotation of the body” in line 1, and “a response signal…a succession of response signals…the signals…the signals…” in lines 5-7. It is presumed to recite “the rotational movement of the body” and “the radiofrequency response signal…a succession of the radiofrequency response signals…the radiofrequency response signals…the radiofrequency response signals…”.
Claim 7 recites “a response signal” in line 4. It is presumed to recite “the radiofrequency response signal”.
Claim 9 recites “a Bluetooth® Low Energy…an electronic computer” in lines 5 and 6. It is presumed to recite “the Bluetooth Low Energy…the electronic computer”.
Claim 10 recites “the method for detecting a rotational movement of a body”. It is presumed to recite “the method for detecting the rotational movement of the body”.
Claim 11 recites “the response signal” in line 2. It is presumed to recite “the radiofrequency response signal”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6 and 8 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites “the second periodicity P2” in line 3 and “the wheel” in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. For prosecution purposes these limitations are interpreted as “a second periodicity P2” and “the body”. Clarification is requested.
Claim 8 recites “using a sensor in “advertising” mode”. Quotes can be used to refer to something defined. In this case, even if the Bluetooth Low protocol employs an “advertising” mode, it remains unclear which version of the “advertising” mode is being referred to (e.g., BLE 4.0, BLE 4.2, BLE 5.0, etc.). For at least this reason, the claim is rendered indefinite. For prosecution purposes this limitation is interpreted as “using the sensor in an [[“]]advertising mode[[”]] mode” (no quotes).
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.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (US 2019/0299724 A1) in view of Liu (US 9,420,408 B2) and Van Wiemeersch (US 2019/0255893 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a method for detecting a rotational movement of a body about an axis of rotation with respect to a fixed structure (see at least Figure 1, item 1 | [0015] the TPMS includes a tire pressure monitoring device 1 placed in the tire (body) of a vehicle (fixed structure)), the body comprising
a sensor intended to carry out measurements on the body (see at least Figure 2, items 3, 33 and 34 | [0017-0018] note the TPMS device 3 is installed in a tire (body) and comprises at least a parameter sensor 33/34 used to measure pressure, temperature, etc. | [0003] note TPMS device record tire speed) and having
a first radiofrequency transmitter intended to communicate with a second radiofrequency receiver provided on an electronic computer mounted on the fixed structure by means of a wireless communication link to transmit the measurements to the electronic computer (see at least Figure 2, items 3, 35 and 4 | [0017-0018] note the TPMS device 3 includes a communication circuit 35 used to wirelessly transmit at least measurement data to the communication circuit (not shown) of a data processor 4 of the vehicle (fixed structure) for display through a human-machine interface (not shown)),
the sensor being capable of periodically transmitting radiofrequency signals (see at least [0035] note the communication circuit periodically transmits signals when in an operational mode (every 3 minutes) and when asleep (every 30 minutes)),
comprising: detecting the rotational movement of the body by the sensor (see at least [0003] note a TPMS system can measure tire speed | [0018] note detecting tire parameters, such as pressure, temperature or tire speed | [0016] note accelerometers are not used to control transition between sleeping and waking the TPMS device | [0015] note maintain a sleep state when the tire is still, and wake up when the tire is rotating | [0035]); and
adapting the periodicity of the radiofrequency signals transmitted by the sensor as a function of the rotation or non-rotation of the body (see at least [0015] | [0035]).
However, Liu does not specifically disclose a first radiofrequency transceiver; a second radiofrequency transceiver; a Bluetooth® Low Energy communications link; the electronic computer being capable of confirming receipt of the radiofrequency signals by transmitting a radiofrequency response signal to the sensor; and detecting by the sensor the response signals transmitted by the electronic computer.
It is known to construct and operate a TPMS system in different ways. For example, Liu 408' teaches a TPMS system with a first radiofrequency transceiver (see at least Figure 4, item 22); a second radiofrequency transceiver (see at least Figure 4, item 10); a Bluetooth® communications link (see at least Figure 4, items 22↔10); the electronic computer being capable of confirming receipt of the radiofrequency signals by transmitting a radiofrequency response signal to the sensor (see at least Figure 4, item 40, note the host computer | col. 3, lines 46-56, note the Bluetooth wireless transceiving host computer 10 transmits a response signal in response to an upward Bluetooth broadcast signal); and detecting tire status of the body by the sensor by the response signals transmitted by the electronic computer (see at least col. 4, line 61 – col. 5, line 16, note the Bluetooth wireless transceiving unit 22 interrupts operation of the sensor module 26 when it does not receive the response signal from the Bluetooth wireless transceiving host computer 10, that is, it stops detecting tire status when a response signal is not received and vice versa).
With respect to the other limitations, Van Wiemeersch teaches a TPMS system that uses a Bluetooth® Low Energy communications link (see at least [0026] note Bluetooth® communication protocol or Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) protocol can be used | [0051]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Liu 408' and Van Wiemeersch into Liu. With respect to Liu 408', this provides the ability to shut down one or more of Liu’s parameter sensors when the vehicle is off, thus further improving energy conservation (see [0035] of Liu, note in the sleep state the tire parameters are still reported | col. 5, lines 13-16 of Liu 408', note the communication link is still established, but tire status data is no longer broadcasted). With respect to Van Wiemeersch, this provides a known alternative wireless communications link that can be used in place of, or in addition to, Liu in view of Liu 408's wireless communication link while providing predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Liu in view of Liu 408' and Van Wiemeersch teach wherein, during the step of adapting the periodicity of the signals transmitted, the sensor transmits periodic radiofrequency frames intended to be received by the electronic computer at a first periodicity P1 when the body is not rotating, the sensor transmitting periodic radiofrequency frames at a second periodicity P2 when the body is rotating, with P2 being strictly greater than P1 (see at least [0035] of Liu).
Regarding claim 7, Liu in view of Liu 408' and Van Wiemeersch teach wherein, during the step of detecting the rotational movement of the body, the sensor transmits radiofrequency frames, the rotation of the body being detected if the electronic computer confirms receipt of the radiofrequency frames by transmitting a response signal to the sensor, the sensor transmitting radiofrequency frames at the second periodicity P2 (see at least [0003] of Liu, note tire speed can be measured by one or more of the parametric sensors | [0018] of Liu, note detecting tire parameters, such as… | [0035] of Liu, note the second periodicity can be every 3 minutes | col. 5, lines 1-16 of Liu 408', note if Liu’s radio frequency signals sent at the second periodicity P2 are not acknowledged, then rotation of the body, via Liu’s tire speed sensors, and tire status information is not measured because the vehicle is turned off | [0051] of Van Wiemeersch, note gyros and other sensors, such as accelerometers, that detect rotation of the tires).
Regarding claim 9, Liu in view of Liu 408' and Van Wiemeersch teach wherein the detection method is a method for detecting that a motor vehicle is running, comprising a pressure monitoring system intended to measure the pressure in a tire of a wheel of the vehicle, the wheel comprising a wheel unit capable of establishing a Bluetooth® Low Energy communication link for transmitting pressure measurements to an electronic computer of a central electronic unit of the vehicle (see at least Figures 1-2 of Liu | [0015-0018] of Liu | [0035] of Liu | Figure 4 of Liu 408' | col. 3, lines 46-65 Liu 408' | col. 4, lines 4-21 Liu 408' | [0026] of Van Wiemeersch | [0050] of Van Wiemeersch | Figure 2 of Van Wiemeersch).
Regarding claim 10, Liu in view of Liu 408' and Van Wiemeersch teach a motor vehicle, implementing the method for detecting a rotational movement of a body as defined in claim 1 (see at least Figures 1-2 of Liu | [0015-0018] of Liu | [0035] of Liu | Figure 4 of Liu 408' | col. 3, lines 46-65 Liu 408' | col. 4, lines 4-21 Liu 408' | [0026] of Van Wiemeersch | [0050] of Van Wiemeersch | Figure 2 of Van Wiemeersch).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 11 is 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: With respect to claim 3, Liu in view of Liu 408', Van Wiemeersch and Ito (US 2021/0245557 A1) do not disclose and/or fairly suggest wherein, during the step of detecting the rotational movement of the body, the sensor measures the intensity of the response signal transmitted by the electronic computer, the body being considered to be rotating if a variation in intensity between two successive radiofrequency response signals is detected, otherwise the body is considered to be stationary.
Claims 4 and 5 are allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Note claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
With respect to claim 11, Liu in view of Liu 408', Van Wiemeersch and Ito (US 2021/0245557 A1) do not disclose and/or fairly suggest wherein, during the step of detecting the rotational movement of the body, the sensor measures the intensity of the response signal transmitted by the electronic computer, the body being considered to be rotating if a variation in intensity between two successive radiofrequency response signals is detected, otherwise the body is considered to be stationary.
Claim 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With respect to claim 8, Liu in view of Liu 408', Van Wiemeersch and Ito (US 2021/0245557 A1) do not disclose and/or fairly suggest wherein the step of detecting the rotational movement of the body is performed using the sensor in an advertising mode, in which periodic signals of short duration are transmitted by the sensor so as to permit a connection to the electronic computer.
Conclusion
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/BRIAN WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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