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 1-6 are currently pending and have been examined.
Claim 1-6 are rejected.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed for Application No. DE10/2023207542.3 on 11/29/2024.
The instant application therefore claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C 119(a)-(d). Accordingly, the effective filing date for the instant application is 08/07/2023 claiming benefit to DE10/2023207542.3.
Subject Matter Eligibility
Under the Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes, patent eligible subject matter must be analyzed following a two-step test – first, the examiner must see if the claimed invention is directed towards a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter – the claimed invention is directed towards a device or method. Therefore, the claims are directed towards a statutory category. Second, the examiner must analyze if the claims are directed towards a judicial exception. While the claimed invention does contain claim language directed towards a mental process (MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(B) citing the abstract idea grouping for mental processes with or without physical aid), the claims qualify as eligible subject matter.
Independent claim 1 and 4 recite in part “sample/ing a measurement signal of the sensor element depending on the necessary distance in time between two consecutive measurements”. The positively recited sampling step is considered meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment (see MPEP § 2106.05(e)). Therefore, claims 1-6 are subject matter eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jankowski (US Patent Application No. 20200371141)[hereinafter Jankowski] in view of McFee, Digital Signal Theory (available online Dec 30, 2022) [hereinafter McFee].
As per claim 1, Jankowski teaches on the following limitations of the claim:
a sensor device, comprising is taught in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0077 (teaching on a measurement signal device)
a sensor element is taught in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0077 (teaching on the measurement signal device containing a sensor)
a processing unit; and is taught in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0059-61 and ¶ 0076 (teaching on the measurement device connected to a processing device with corresponding user interface)
a communication interface is taught in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0059-61 and ¶ 0076 (teaching on a processing device with corresponding user input (treated as synonymous to a communication interface) with corresponding input device)
wherein the processing unit is configured to: receive a desired sampling frequency and a desired measurement duration via the communication interface is taught in the Summary in ¶ 0039 and in the claims in claims 4-5 (teaching on receiving user input regarding the sample handling instructions where in handling instructions include the number of samples the user wishes to measure and the period of time for collecting the samples)
sample a measurement signal of the sensor element depending on the necessary distance in time between two consecutive measurements is taught in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0061 (teaching on operating the measurement device according to the handling instructions)
Jankowski fails to teach the following limitation of claim 1. McFee, however, does teach the following:
determine a necessary distance in time between two consecutive measurements depending on the desired sampling frequency and the desired measurement duration, and is taught in the § 2.1. Sampling period and rate on p. 1 (teaching on calculating a sampling rate based on the desired difference between sampling period (the reciprocal of the sampling frequency) and sampling duration)
One of ordinary skill in the art would determine the sampling rate based on the reciprocal of the sampling frequency and the sampling duration as taught by McFee with the user input controlled sampling rate system of Jankowski with the motivation of “the sampling rate can always be converted to a sampling period (and vice versa) by taking reciprocals” (McFee in the § 2.1. Sampling period and rate on p. 1).
Independent claim 4 is rejected under the same rational.
As per claim 2, the combination of Jankowski and McFee discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Jankowski fails to teach the following; McFee, however, does disclose:
the sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the necessary distance in time between two consecutive measurements as a difference between a reciprocal value of the desired sampling frequency and the desired measurement duration is taught in the § 2.1. Sampling period and rate on p. 1 (teaching on calculating a sampling rate based on the desired difference between sampling period (the reciprocal of the sampling frequency) and sampling duration)
One of ordinary skill in the art would determine the sampling rate based on the reciprocal of the sampling frequency and the sampling duration as taught by McFee with the user input controlled sampling rate system of Jankowski with the motivation of “the sampling rate can always be converted to a sampling period (and vice versa) by taking reciprocals” (McFee in the § 2.1. Sampling period and rate on p. 1).
Dependent claim 5 is rejected under the same rational.
As per claim 3, the combination of Jankowski and McFee discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Jankowski also discloses the following:
the sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising: a memory unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to store, in the memory unit: (i) the desired sampling frequency, received via the communication interface, and/or (ii) the desired measurement duration, received via the communication interface and wherein the processing unit is configured to read the stored desired sampling frequency and/or the stored desired measurement duration from the memory unit is taught in the Summary in ¶ 0050, in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0059-61 and ¶ 0076 (teaching on a memory of the processing device storing and reading the sampling rate data for the measurement device)
Dependent claim 6 is rejected under the same rational.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Bosdriesz (US Patent App Pub No 20150242542) teaching on a user interface wherein the user may adjust measurement setting (such as the number of measurement points recorded for each degree of rotation), alter operational settings and remotely operate the measurement tool in the Detailed Description in ¶ 0095
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORDAN LYNN JACKSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-4:30PM ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen M Vazquez can be reached at 571-272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JORDAN L JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Prosecution Insights