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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu 9237228 in view of Smelyansky 20110026687.
As to claim 1, Zhu discloses a method for provisioning an appliance device (see abstract) comprising:
receiving a service address from a user associated with an appliance device (see col. 7, lines 32-34);
validating the received service address (see fig. 3; col. 8, lines 13-57);
storing the validated service address (see col. 8, lines 48-57);
receiving a panic signal from the user using the appliance device after the validated service address is stored (see col. 7, lines 30-31);
providing the validated service address to an emergency telephone number service provider for provisioning (see col. 7, lines 37-40); and transmitting the validated service address to a PSAP (public safety access point) (see col. 7, lines 37-40), and in response to the provisioning being unsuccessful transmitting an error message [not in the 911 service coverage] (see col. 9, lines 2-6). Zhu fails to disclose a national PSAP. In an analogous art, Smelyansky discloses transmitting the service address to a national PSAP (public safety access point), in response to the provisioning being unsuccessful [PSAP does not exist for the caller] (see par. 0012). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to add the national PSAP to Zhu for the simple purpose of indicating first responders the need of help even in the absence of a local PSAP; thereby, allowing providing emergency services.
As to claim 2, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the emergency telephone number service provider is a 911 service provider [for examination purposes any item that provide a service to a 911 call is a 911 service provider] (see col. 7, lines 30-62).
As to claim 3, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the phone is a mobile phone or a smartphone (see col. 5, lines 12-13).
As to claim 4, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the phone is serviced by one of plain old telephone service, T1, and VoIP protocols (see abstract).
As to claim 5, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: sending an emergency call signal to a 911 server; and determining, by the 911 server, whether the phone has already been provisioned with 911 services (see fig. 3; col. 15, lines 62- 67).
As to claim 6, Zhu discloses the method of claim 6, further comprising: upon a determination that the phone is not provisioned for 911 services, retrieving a previously validated address from an address database coupled to the 911 service provider; and submitting the previously validated address to the 911 service provider (see fig. 4; col. 17, lines 18-29).
As to claim 7, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein storing the validated service address further comprises storing the validated service address in an address database (see col. 8, lines 51-53).
As to claim 8, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the user provides the service address during an activation process of the appliance device (see col. 7, lines 38-40).
As to claims 9-10, Zhu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the panic signal is triggered in response to the user dialing on the appliance device (see col. 5, lines 50-52). Zhu does not specify how the dialing is accomplished. However, OFICIAL NOTICE IS TAKEN THAT the use of touchtone phones and emergency panic buttons are common and well-known techniques to initiate a call for help. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to press or strike a button in the appliance device to start an emergency for an easy and fast way to call for help; thereby, allowing providing emergency services and saving lives.
Regarding claims 11-20, they are the corresponding system claims of method claims 1-10. Therefore, claims 11-20 are rejected for the same reasons as shown above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCOS L TORRES whose telephone number is (571)272-7926. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM M-F.
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MARCOS L. TORRES
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2647
/MARCOS L TORRES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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