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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 have been cancelled and Claims 21-35 have been added by Applicant; therefore, Claims 21-35 are currently pending in application 18/768,101.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120 is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) and/ or under 35 U.S.C. 120 as follows:
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The disclosure of the prior-filed applications, Application Nos. 62/862,800, 16/451,482, and 16/839,768, all fail to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 17/673,057, does provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application; therefore, the priority date of Application No. 17/673,057, 2/16/2022, will be applied to Application No. 18/768,101, and is examined as such below.
Claim – Objections
The following claims raise an objection based on the following informalities: The Examiner has found several spelling and punctuation errors within the claims. The Examiner has provided some examples below, but suggests that Applicant closely review the claims for any additional errors the Examiner may have missed.
Claim 31 recites, “A method in a data processing system comprising a processor and memory, for managing a truck scale system, the method comprising;” Comprising should be followed by a semi-colon, such as “the method comprising:”
Claim 31 further recites, “accessing the ta least one physical truck scale”, should be “accessing the at least one physical truck scale”
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 21-35 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-24 of copending Application No. 19/217,731. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all inventions disclose equivalent elements for a truck scale management system/ methods, to include scales with customizable web-based kiosk interfaces. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claims 21-31 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-22 of U.S. Patent No. 11,448,546; and over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,339,156. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all inventions disclose equivalent elements for a truck scale management system/ methods, to include scales with customizable web-based kiosk interfaces.
18/768,101
US 11,448,546
Independent Claims 21 and 31
a non-transitory computer-readable media (method, system) comprising program code that when executed by a programmable processor cause execution of a method for managing a truck scale system, the computer-readable media comprising:
computer program code for connecting to a truck scale system via a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, the truck scale system comprising at least one virtual scale, at least one physical truck scale, and a plurality of other items of site machinery, the at least one virtual scale comprising a data connection to the at least one physical truck scale,
wherein the at least one virtual scale includes attributes of the at least one physical truck scale, and wherein the at least one virtual scale defines site machinery of the truck scale system to be controlled by the self- driving or remotely controlled vehicle;
computer program code for accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale by using a self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle; and
computer program code for controlling the site machinery of the truck scale system using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.
Independent Claims 1, 12, and 20
A truck scale management system comprising: a server including: a processor, and a memory having executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
connect to a truck scale system through an application programming interface from a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, the truck scale system operating in either an autonomous manner based upon instructions provided by the server without the need for human operator input, or in a semi-autonomous manner with operator input from within a vicinity of the truck scale system or remotely; connect to the truck scale system through a communication interface via at least one virtual scale,
the truck scale system comprising at least one physical truck scale, a first of the at least one virtual scale comprising a data connection to the at least one physical truck scale, wherein the first virtual scale includes attributes of the at least one physical truck scale and wherein the first virtual scale defines weighing capability, behavior of the at least one physical truck scale, and formatting of data streams transmitted from the at least one physical truck scale;
retrieve, in response to a request from a client device, a virtual kiosk from a database, the virtual kiosk associated with the first virtual scale and communicatively accessible by the client device, the virtual kiosk configured to: execute weighment operations through the first virtual scale, receive data streams associated with the weighment operations from the at least one physical truck scale, and parse the data streams according to the formatting for display on the client device; cause the virtual kiosk to be loaded onto the client device; and facilitate communication between the client device and the truck scale system via the virtual kiosk.
18/768,101
US 12,339,156
Independent Claims 21 and 31
a non-transitory computer-readable media (method, system) comprising program code that when executed by a programmable processor cause execution of a method for managing a truck scale system, the computer-readable media comprising:
computer program code for connecting to a truck scale system via a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, the truck scale system comprising at least one virtual scale, at least one physical truck scale, and a plurality of other items of site machinery, the at least one virtual scale comprising a data connection to the at least one physical truck scale, wherein the at least one virtual scale includes attributes of the at least one physical truck scale, and wherein the at least one virtual scale defines site machinery of the truck scale system to be controlled by the self- driving or remotely controlled vehicle;
computer program code for accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale by using a self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle; and
computer program code for controlling the site machinery of the truck scale system using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.
Independent Claims 1, 19, and 20
A truck scale management system comprising at least one processing device comprising a processor and memory having executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
connect to a truck scale system via a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, the truck scale system comprising a virtual scale that corresponds to and comprises a software representation of a physical truck scale, wherein one or more attributes including hardware specifications, parameters, and functionality of the physical truck scale are displayed via the virtual scale;
use the virtual scale to execute, by a self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, a weighment operation by the physical truck scale on the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle using the one or more attributes of the physical truck scale, wherein the virtual scale is accessed and controlled by the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle to set the parameters of the physical truck scale and utilize the functionality of the physical truck scale; and
obtain, from the virtual scale, data corresponding to the weighment operation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (a)
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 23 recites, “wherein the plurality of other items of site machinery comprises at least one camera, wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one camera using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.”
However, Applicant’s Specification Para 0055 recites, “Fig. 2 presents a data flow diagram of a truck scale management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A trucking site may include truck scale(s) 202 and site machinery 204. Truck scale(s) 202 may comprise one or more weighing apparatuses for measuring the weight of a truck and/or its load. Site machinery 204 may comprise equipment or hardware that are used in conjunction with truck scale(s) 202 such as automated equipment, sensors, and cameras for loading/unload, scanning, and signaling. Truck scale(s) 202 and/or site machinery 204 that may be Internet protocol (IP)-enabled devices connected to the truck scale(s) 202, such as sensors that indicate if a truck is fully on the truck scale(s) 202 may be operable by via virtual scale and kiosk interfaces that are provided by server(s) 106 to truck driver mobile device 112.”.
While the specification does disclose that a trucking site may include site machinery, to include a camera, and that the site machinery can be controlled by a truck driver mobile device, the specification fails to disclose that the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one camera using “the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle”, as claimed. Therefore, claim 23 contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
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 21-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Independent Claims 21, 31, and 32 recite “accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale by using a self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle”, and “controlling the site machinery of the truck scale system using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle”. Dependent Claim 22 recites “wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one sensor using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.” Dependent Claim 23 recites “wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one camera using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.”
However, the Examiner is unclear how a “self-driving system” would be integrated with a “remotely controlled vehicle” for accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale or controlling the site machinery of the truck scale system.
Dependent Claims 22-30 and 33-35 are also rejected as being dependent from claims 21, 31, and 32, under the same rationale and reasoning as identified above.
Claims 22-23 further recite “wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one sensor using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle”, and “wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one camera using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.”
However, the “control” of the site machine could not be allowed by the virtual scale, as the control is not a direct function of a virtual scale itself, but rather a function of the underlying system architecture that the virtual scale is integrated into. As is disclosed in Applicant’s Specification* (Para 0046), control of the site machines would be controlled/allowed by the truck scale management system through the communication interface.
*Applicant’s Specification discloses, the following: “[0046] The truck scale system 102 may be configured with or connected to a communication interface 104. A truck scale management system comprising server(s) 106 may connect to communication interface 104 to establish communications over network 108. The communication interface 104 may comprise hardware and software including networking components, control systems, sensors, positioning systems, and wired/wireless connections that allow server(s) 106 to communicate with and control the truck scale system 102 in a variety of autonomous, semi-autonomous, or manual modes.”
Claim 27 recites, “behavior of the scale” in the non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 21. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite “behavior of the physical truck scale”.
Claim 29 recites “wherein the truck scale system is configured to operate in a semi-autonomous manner based at least in part on an instruction provided by the processor on human input from within a vicinity of the truck scale system or remotely.”
However, the Examiner is unclear how the truck scale system as described in independent 21, can be operated in a “semi-autonomous” manner based at least in part on an instruction provided by the processor on “human input” from within a vicinity of the truck scale system or remotely, when the truck scale system is connected via a self-driving vehicle.
Furthermore, the term “within a vicinity” in Claim 29 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “within a vicinity” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Dependent Claim 29 fully recites that “… the truck scale system is configured to operate in a semi-autonomous manner based at least in part on an instruction provided by the processor on human input from within a vicinity of the truck scale system ….”, and the Examiner would be unable to ascertain a specific distance or range of distances required between the human/ processor and the truck scale; therefore, the examiner finds the claim to be indefinite.
Claim 30 (21) recites “wherein the truck scale system is configured to operate in a manual manner based on human input.”
However, the Examiner is unclear how the truck scale system as described in independent 21, can be operated in a “manual manner” based on “human input”, when the truck scale system is connected via a self-driving vehicle.
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 21-22 and 24-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ruud et al. (US 20180060952 A1) in view of Rosgardt (US 2023/0314206 A1).
As per independent Claims 21 and 31, Ruud discloses a non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program code that when executed by a programmable processor cause execution of a method for managing a truck scale system, the computer-readable media comprising (method in a data processing system comprising a processor and memory, for managing a truck scale system, the method comprising) (See at least Figs.3-4, Para 0038, “In the following description, illustrative embodiments will be described with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations (e.g., in the form of flow charts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, block diagrams, etc.) that may be implemented as program modules or functional processes include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types and may be implemented using existing hardware at existing network elements (e.g., base stations, base station controllers, NodeBs eNodeBs, etc.). Such existing hardware may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific-integrated-circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) computers or the like.”; Para 0041, Furthermore, example embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine or computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium. When implemented in software, a processor or processors will perform the necessary tasks.”; Para 0042, “A code segment may represent a procedure, function, subprogram, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, class, or any combination of instructions, data structures or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.”):
computer program code for connecting to a truck scale system via a user device (wireless device), the truck scale system comprising at least one virtual scale, at least one physical truck scale, and a plurality of other items of site machinery, the at least one virtual scale comprising a data connection to the at least one physical truck scale (See at least Figs.3-4, Para 0047, “In use, the wireless device 2 communicates with a server 3 at a Headquarters 1. The servers 3 are configured to store, transmit, and receive weighment data and account information. The server applications may also act as a ‘hub’ or a ‘gateway’ for any ‘conversation’ from the scale instrument 5 at the remote end to the mobile application resident on the wireless device 2. In an example embodiment, redundant servers 3.1 may be used for the transmittal and receiving of data between an individual scale instrument 5 at a weigh site 12 and the mobile application resident on the wireless device 2 of a customer, along with the option of maintaining account-specific data used for billing, etc. As shown in FIG. 3, the scale 26 and the scale instrument 5 may each be located at the weigh site 12. … The scale instrument 5 reads weights from the scale 26 (in raw form) and acts as a point-of-sale with a graphic user interface (GUI).”; See also Para 0043-0046 and 0082-0084),
wherein the at least one virtual scale includes attributes of the at least one physical truck scale, and wherein the at least one virtual scale defines site machinery of the truck scale system to be controlled by the vehicle (See at least Fig. 16a, CAT Scale Location #0003; Para 0084, “Once launched, a representative GUI will be displayed on the display 322 of the device 2 and the process proceeds to step S102 where instructions for obtaining a GPS detected position of the wireless device are executed. A location number and/or location information of the weigh scale 26 on which the truck is currently located will be displayed if the software application 211 was able to obtain a positive GPS lock via the wireless device 2 using the GPS module 205 (see FIG. 16a).”; See also Para 0044);
computer program code for accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale by using a system of the user device (See at least Figs.3-5; Para 0089, “The server 3 will then initiate communication with the scale instrument 5 at the user end in order to place a weighment request and feed the vehicle data to the scale instrument 5.”; See also Para 0047, 0084-0088); and
computer program code for controlling the site machinery of the truck scale system using the system of the user device (See at least Fig.17b, First Weigh/ Reweigh; Para 0087, “If an eligible reweigh is found at step S108, the controller 300 will cause the screen 322 to display selectable buttons or icons of FIRST WEIGH and REWEIGH as shown in FIG. 17b whereby the user will be prompted to select Weigh Type at step S112 of FIG. 18. If there is no eligible reweigh in memory 200 (step S110), then the weighment will be automatically treated as a first weigh (FIG. 18).”; See also Para 0038, Para 0046, Para 0087).
Ruud fails to expressly disclose that the user device is a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.
However, the analogous art of Rosgardt discloses the operational control of a weighbridge (or truck scale) by an autonomous or conventional vehicle (See at least Para 0025, “The truck 10, which may be an autonomous or conventional vehicle,…”; Para 0027, “To implement an embodiment of the present invention, the truck 10 may be communicatively connectable to the weighbridge 80 over a wired or wireless communication interface (not shown) and may comprise processing circuitry (not shown).”; Para 0032, “Accurate knowledge of the gross vehicle weight is also very valuable in the control of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle”).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have included that the user device is a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, as disclosed by Rosgardt in the system disclosed by Ruud, for the advantage of providing a method for managing a truck scale system, with the ability to increase method/ system effectiveness and efficiency by incorporating a variety of system controller devices (See KSR [127 S Ct. at 1739] “The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results.”).
As per Claim 22, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the plurality of other items of site machinery comprises at least one sensor, wherein the at least one virtual scale allows control of the at least one sensor using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle (Ruud: See at least Para 0043 and 0087)(Rosgardt: See at least Para 0025).
As per Claim 24, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the processor further provides a web interface that includes functionality to create and modify the at least one virtual scale (Ruud: See at least Figs.6a-8b, and 10a-12d, 14a-14e, and 16a-19e).
As per Claim 25, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the at least one virtual scale is associated with a company name and location (Ruud: See at least Figs. 16a-19e).
As per Claim 26, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the processor further retrieves a string comprising axle weights of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle including steer, drive, trailer, and gross weight from the truck scale system in a given multi-port stream (Ruud: See at least Para 0043-0045 and 0087)(Rosgardt: See at least Para 0025).
As per Claim 27, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the attributes of the at least on physical truck scale include at least one of make and model number, scale type, weighing capability, behavior of the scale, service set identifier, and port number (Ruud: See at least Figs. 14a-14e, and 16a-19e; Para 0043-0048).
As per Claim 28, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the truck scale system is configured to operate in an autonomous manner without human input (Ruud: See at least Para 0044, “… the scales typically connected to a single electronic controller that automatically combines individual scale platform weights to calculate the gross weight; …”).
As per Claim 29, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the truck scale system is configured to operate in a semi-autonomous manner based at least in part on an instruction provided by the processor on human input from within a vicinity of the truck scale system or remotely (Ruud: See at least Para 0059, Para 0068, Para 0087).
As per Claim 30, Ruud and Rosgardt disclose wherein the truck scale system is configured to operate in a manual manner based on human input (Ruud: See at least Para 0085, “… if the customer is at a location having more than one scale in close proximity to one another such that a positive scale identification is not obtainable, the software application 211 may prompt the user to manually input the actual location code of the weigh scale …”; See also Para 0059, Para 0068, Para 0087).
Claims 31-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ruud et al. (US 20180060952 A1) in view of Rosgardt (US 2023/0314206 A1), and further in view of Bohanan et al. (US 20170228726 A1).
As per independent Claim 32, Ruud discloses a Non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program code that when executed by a programmable processor causes execution of a method for managing a truck scale system, the non-transitory computer-readable media (See at least Figs.3-4, Para 0038, “In the following description, illustrative embodiments will be described with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations (e.g., in the form of flow charts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, block diagrams, etc.) that may be implemented as program modules or functional processes include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types and may be implemented using existing hardware at existing network elements (e.g., base stations, base station controllers, NodeBs eNodeBs, etc.). Such existing hardware may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific-integrated-circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) computers or the like.”; Para 0041, Furthermore, example embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine or computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium. When implemented in software, a processor or processors will perform the necessary tasks.”; Para 0042, “A code segment may represent a procedure, function, subprogram, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, class, or any combination of instructions, data structures or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.”), comprising:
computer program code for connecting to a truck scale system via a user device (wireless device), the truck scale system comprising at least one virtual scale, at least one physical truck scale, and a plurality of other items of site machinery, the at least one virtual scale comprising a data connection to the at least one physical truck scale (See at least Figs.3-4, Para 0047, “In use, the wireless device 2 communicates with a server 3 at a Headquarters 1. The servers 3 are configured to store, transmit, and receive weighment data and account information. The server applications may also act as a ‘hub’ or a ‘gateway’ for any ‘conversation’ from the scale instrument 5 at the remote end to the mobile application resident on the wireless device 2. In an example embodiment, redundant servers 3.1 may be used for the transmittal and receiving of data between an individual scale instrument 5 at a weigh site 12 and the mobile application resident on the wireless device 2 of a customer, along with the option of maintaining account-specific data used for billing, etc. As shown in FIG. 3, the scale 26 and the scale instrument 5 may each be located at the weigh site 12. … The scale instrument 5 reads weights from the scale 26 (in raw form) and acts as a point-of-sale with a graphic user interface (GUI).”; See at least Fig. 16a, CAT Scale Location #0003; Para 0084, “Once launched, a representative GUI will be displayed on the display 322 of the device 2 and the process proceeds to step S102 where instructions for obtaining a GPS detected position of the wireless device are executed. A location number and/or location information of the weigh scale 26 on which the truck is currently located will be displayed if the software application 211 was able to obtain a positive GPS lock via the wireless device 2 using the GPS module 205 (see FIG. 16a).”; See also Para 0043-0046 and 0082-0084);
computer program code for accessing the at least one physical truck scale through the at least one virtual scale by using a user device (wireless device) (See at least Figs.3-5; Para 0089, “The server 3 will then initiate communication with the scale instrument 5 at the user end in order to place a weighment request and feed the vehicle data to the scale instrument 5.”; See also Para 0047, 0084-0088); and
computer program code for controlling the virtual functionality of the at least one virtual scale using the user device (wireless device) (See at least Fig.17b, First Weigh/ Reweigh; Para 0087, “If an eligible reweigh is found at step S108, the controller 300 will cause the screen 322 to display selectable buttons or icons of FIRST WEIGH and REWEIGH as shown in FIG. 17b whereby the user will be prompted to select Weigh Type at step S112 of FIG. 18. If there is no eligible reweigh in memory 200 (step S110), then the weighment will be automatically treated as a first weigh (FIG. 18).”; See also Para 0038, Para 0046, Para 0087).
Ruud fails to expressly disclose that the user device is a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.
However, the analogous art of Rosgardt discloses the operational control of a weighbridge (or truck scale) by an autonomous or conventional vehicle (See at least Para 0025, “The truck 10, which may be an autonomous or conventional vehicle,…”; Para 0027, “To implement an embodiment of the present invention, the truck 10 may be communicatively connectable to the weighbridge 80 over a wired or wireless communication interface (not shown) and may comprise processing circuitry (not shown).”; Para 0032, “Accurate knowledge of the gross vehicle weight is also very valuable in the control of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle”).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have included that the user device is a self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, as disclosed by Rosgardt in the system disclosed by Ruud, for the advantage of providing a method for managing a truck scale system, with the ability to increase method/ system effectiveness and efficiency by incorporating a variety of system controller devices (See KSR [127 S Ct. at 1739] “The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results.”).
Furthermore, Ruud and Rosgardt both fail to disclose wherein the at least one virtual scale includes a virtual locking functionality configured to ensure only one self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle is able to communicate with the at least one physical truck scale at a given time; and computer program code for controlling the virtual locking functionality of the at least one virtual scale using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle.
However, the analogous art of Bohanan (Mobile Control/ Payment Systems) discloses POS Terminal/ Kiosk that includes a virtual locking functionality configured to ensure only one user mobile device is able to communicate with the at least one physical merchant system at a given time (See at least Para 0024, “With reference to FIG. 2, a process 200 for provisioning customer device 102 and/or merchant device 104 to complete transactions with transaction account network 110 is shown, in accordance with various embodiments. An application may be loaded onto customer device 102 and/or merchant device 104 to facilitate communication over network 108 (Block 202). The application may be a dedicated transaction application configured to complete secure transactions by communicating with transaction account network 110 over network 108.”; See also Para 0040, Para 0054).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have included wherein the at least one virtual scale includes a virtual locking functionality configured to ensure only one self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle is able to communicate with the at least one physical truck scale at a given time; and computer program code for controlling the virtual locking functionality of the at least one virtual scale using the self-driving system of the self-driving or remotely controlled vehicle, as disclosed by Bohanan, in the system disclosed by Rosgardt in the system disclosed by Ruud, for the advantage of providing a method for managing a truck scale system, with the ability to increase method/ system effectiveness, efficiency, and safety by incorporating a variety of truck scale queuing control/functionality (See KSR [127 S Ct. at 1739] “The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results.”).
As per Claim 33, Ruud, Rosgardt, and Bohanan disclose wherein when a vehicle is detected on the at least one physical truck scale, other vehicles are blocked from connecting to the at least one physical truck scale and are unable the communicate with the at least one physical truck scale or obtain information about the vehicle that is currently occupying the at least one physical truck scale (Ruud: See at least Para 0047, 0084-0088)(Bohanan: See at least Para 0033, Customer/ Merchant Device Detection).
As per Claim 34, Ruud, Rosgardt, and Bohanan disclose wherein when the vehicle is finished using the at least one physical truck scale, the at least one virtual scale is unlocked by the vehicle or a user of the vehicle (Ruud: See at least Para 0047, 0084-0088)(Bohanan: See at least Para 0024 and 0037, Dedicated Transaction Completed).
As per Claim 35, Ruud discloses wherein when the vehicle is not unlocked by the vehicle or the user of the vehicle, the at least one virtual scale automatically unlocks after a predetermined amount of time of being connected to the vehicle (Ruud: See at least Para 0047, 0084-0088)(Bohanan: See at least Para 0024; and Para 0033-0035, Time-Based Token).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN P OUELLETTE whose telephone number is (571)272-6807. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-6pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lynda C Jasmin, can be reached at telephone number (571) 272-6782. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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November 27, 2025
/JONATHAN P OUELLETTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3629