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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 20180288208).
Lee discloses
1. A method for identification of accessory, comprising:
providing a host (100), wherein the host is assembled with at least one accessory (110), and the host is provided with at least one detection element in a region close to a respective one of the at least one accessory;
obtaining status information of the at least one detection element of the host (par. 196),
wherein each accessory has one trigger element (i.e. communication module, sensor, connector) and, wherein the status information includes triggered and untriggered,
wherein the status information of a respective detection element of the at least one detection element is labeled as triggered based on a fact that the respective detection element detects a matched trigger element, and the status information of the respective detection element is labeled as untriggered based on a fact that the respective detection element does not detect the matched trigger element (par. 164, 170, 177, 180-184, 187-196, 203, 221-223: components in host 100 detects the mounting of the accessories);
determining arrangement of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory according to the status information of each of the at least one detection element of the host; and determining a type of the respective accessory assembled to the host according to the arrangement of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory (par. 279, 296, 313, 336-369, 373, 377).
wherein the arrangement of the at least one trigger element involves a number and position of the at least one trigger element (par. 203-204: serial # or a number/amount of trigger element and location);
determining the arrangement of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory according to the status information of each of the at least one detection element of the host includes:
determining the number and position of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory according to a number and position of the respective detection element, in the at least one detection element, with the status information labeled as triggered (par. 127, 133-134, 143-147, 164, 196, 203, 279: the number of magnets and location in the accessory that is sensed as being connected at connector 660);
wherein each of the at least one detection element includes a Hall sensor, and each of the at least one trigger element includes a magnet;
obtaining the status information of the at least one detection element of the host includes:
transmitting by the Hall sensor one of a high-level signal and a low-level signal and labeling the status information of the Hall sensor as triggered based on a fact that the Hall sensor detects a matched magnet in a corresponding position; and transmitting by the Hall sensor the other of the high-level signal and the low-level signal and labeling the status information of the Hall sensor as untriggered based on a fact that the Hall sensor does not detect the matched magnet in the corresponding position (par. 201-203, 221-224: when Hall sensor detects the magnet, it sends a signal to the processor; when the no detection occurs, the processor determines that the status has changed, i.e. the magnet is away, which implies that the sensor sends a signal to the processor);
wherein determining the type of the respective accessory assembled to the host according to the arrangement of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory includes: setting a mapping relationship, wherein the mapping relationship is used for representing a correspondence between one arrangement of the at least one trigger element and one type of the respective accessory; and determining the type of the respective accessory assembled to the host according to the arrangement of the at least one trigger element of the respective accessory and the mapping relationship (par. 127, 196, 203-207, 223-224, 279: the arrangement of Hall sensors and respective magnets at specific positions, i.e. at the rear camera and lower left, is a setting of mapping relationship such that when a magnetic field is sensed, the device 100 wakes up and determines that the accessory type is a cover before acting as a reader to request for an accessory ID; the magnet in the sensor association unit 530 … “a device for enabling the electronic device 100 to determine whether the accessory device 110 is connected or the corresponding accessory type”)
5.1, wherein the at least one detection element corresponding to the respective accessory is uniformly distributed on a contact surface of the host for contacting the respective accessory (par. 94, 106, 361, 369: connectors and plugs, i.e. HDMI and USB, have matching pins and terminals)
6.1, wherein the at least one detection element is located inside the host and the at least one trigger element is located inside the respective accessory (par. 94, 106, 361, 369).
7.5, wherein the at least one detection element is located inside the host and the at least one trigger element is located inside the respective accessory (par. 94, 106, 361, 369).
8.1, wherein the host has at least one detection circuit in one-to-one correspondence with the at least one detection element; and obtaining the status information of the at least one detection element of the host includes: obtaining, via each of the at least one detection circuit, the status information of a corresponding detection element in the at least one detection element of the host (par. 77, 98, 127, 366: detection circuit comprises a chip recognizes the mounting and ID from the accessory).
Re claims 9-11, see discussion regarding claims above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that
Lee uses Hall sensors and magnets to merely determine the mounting or dismounting state of the accessory, and is silent about determining the type of the respective accessory with cooperation of Hall sensors and magnets.
In fact, Lee determines the type of the respective accessory by the NFC module,…
It is respectfully submitted that the arrangement of Hall sensors and respective magnets at specific positions, i.e. at the rear camera and lower left, is a setting of mapping relationship such that when a magnetic field is sensed, the device 100 wakes up and determines that the accessory type is a cover before acting as a reader to request for accessory ID; the magnet in the sensor association unit 530 … “a device for enabling the electronic device 100 to determine whether the accessory device 110 is connected or the corresponding accessory type” (par. 127, 196, 203-207, 223-224, 279). In other words, the Hall sensor is a sensor is specifically used for sensing a magnet on the cover such that when picking up the magnetic field, the Hall sensor and then the processor recognize and determine that the cover has opened or closed, causing the processor to go in to wakeup mode or sleep mode.
It is respectfully submitted that the current broad claim language does not preclude the NFC from determining the type, since the detection of the type of respective accessory according a mapping relationship is arbitrary. This mapping relationship is not even claimed to be stored in a memory of either the host or accessory.
For these reasons, the previous rejection(s) is/are respectfully maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876