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
Claim 14 is drawn to instructions that are stored in a memory, i.e. "computer readable storage medium". The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media.
The Examiner suggests that Applicant amends the claim as follows: "Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive a set of instructions, comprising:".
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 1-9 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 1 recites the limitation "the first wireless communication device" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-9 are also rejected by 35 USC 112b as depended on rejected claim 1.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8, 10-14, 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Modestine et al. (Pub. No.: US 10791607 B1), hereafter Modestine.
Regarding claim 1, Modestine teaches a system (FIG. 1A, 1B, FIG. 2, 200) comprising:
a first computing device (FIG. 1A, 1B, client device 114, FIG. 2, 8, 9A and 9B, client device 214 8) communicatively connected to a network (FIG. 1, NETWORK 116, FIG,. 2, NETWORK 212), and configured to receive an image via the network (column 7, lines 29-30, “The client device 120 may receive the first image data 122 from the network device(s) 114”);
a lighting system connected to the network (FIG. 1A, 102, FIG. 2, 232, FIG. 8, 802, FIG. 9A, 9B, 902) comprised of at least one adjustable light (FIG. 9B, Brightness Level 926); and
non-transitory computer storage media storing executable instruction (FIG. 3, MEMORY 322 and 324), that when executed by one or more processors (FIG. 3, PROCESSORS 310) of the first wireless communication device (FIG. 2 & 3, communication devices 210). (column 11, lines 42-43, “the light emitters 232, and/or client devices 214, 216 may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication protocols to communicate”), cause the first wireless communication device to perform operations comprising:
receive, at the first computing device, an image including a set of pixels (column 22, lines 62-63, “The pixel values may correspond to light intensity in one or several spectral bands (gray images or color images)”);
extracting from the image a pixel state data for each pixel of the set of pixels, each of the pixel state data defining a pixel state comprised of characteristics of a pixel (column 22, lines 57-64, “A digital image is produced by one or several image sensors, which, besides various types of light-sensitive cameras, may include range sensors, tomography devices, radar, ultra-sonic cameras, etc. Depending on the type of sensor, the resulting image data may be a 2D image, a 3D volume, or an image sequence. The pixel values may correspond to light intensity in one or several spectral bands (gray images or color images)”);
generating a set of instructions defining operations for the lighting system, wherein the set of instructions change the state of a first light associated with the lighting system from an initial state to a pixel state of a first pixel of the set of pixels column 31 lines 51-55, “a portion of a first image corresponds to a portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210, the backend server(s) 224 may identify which pixels are included within the portion of the first image. The backend server(s) 224 may then map the pixels to the FOV of the A/V device 210 to identify the portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210 that corresponds to the portion of the first image data”);
transmitting the set of instructions to the lighting system (FIG. 3, instructions from PROCERSSORS 310 to LIGHT CONTROLLER 302); and
causing a first light associated with the lighting system to change from an initial state to the pixel state of the first pixel of the set of pixels (column 32, lines 1-5, “if the portion of the first image includes the bottom ten percent of the pixels of the first image, then the backend server(s) 224 may determine that the portion of the first image corresponds to the bottom ten percent of the FOV of the A/V device 210. As such, the backend server(s) 224 may determine that the portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210 includes the bottom ten percent of the FOV of the A/V device 210”).
Regarding claim 2, Modestine further teaches causing at least one light associated with the lighting system to change from the initial state to the pixel state of the first pixel comprises changing at least one of a hue, a saturation or a brightness of the first light to a hue value, a saturation value, or a brightness value of the first pixel (column 44, lines 27-29, “any number of other controls may be included for changing or setting the intensity, hue, color, pattern, and/or other settings of the first light emitter 902(1)”).
Regarding claim 6, Modestine further teaches a third wireless communication device associated with an audio control component (column 11, lines 10-14, “Wi-Fi is used for remote monitoring and control of such devices and/or systems. Smart home devices (e.g., hub devices 202, sensors 204, automation devices 206, a virtual assistant (VA) device 208, Audio/Video (A/V) recording and communication devices 210”).
Regarding claim 7, Modestine further teaches the instructions further define operations for the audio control component, wherein the set of instructions changes at least one speaker associated with the audio control component to change from an inactive state to an active state (column 12, lines 52-61 , “The VA device 208 may include at least one speaker (e.g., for playing music, for outputting the audio data generated by the A/V devices 210, for outputting the voice of a digital assistant, etc.), at least one a microphone (e.g., for receiving commands, for recording audio data, etc.), and a display (e.g., for displaying a user interface, for displaying the image data generated by the A/V devices 210, etc.). In various embodiments, the VA device 208 may include an array of speakers that are able to produce beams of sound”).
Regarding claim 8, Modestine further teaches the pixel state of each pixel of the set of pixels comprises a hue value, a saturation value, or a brightness value (column 22, lines 62-64, “The pixel values may correspond to light intensity in one or several spectral bands (gray images or color images)”).
Regarding claim 10, Modestine teaches method comprising:
receiving a set of instructions originating from a first computing device (FIG. 2, 216) associated with a first network having (FIG. 2, NETWORK 218) a first communication protocol (column 11, lines 42-46, “(column, lines , “client devices 214, 216 may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication protocols to communicate, including, for example and without limitation, Wi-Fi (e.g., the user's network 218), X10, Ethernet, RS-485, 6LoWPAN, Bluetooth LE (BLE), ZigBee, Z-Wave”), by a gateway communicatively coupled to a second network (FIG. 2, NETWORK 212) having a second communication protocol (column 11, lines 42-46, “client devices 214, 216 may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication protocols to communicate, including, for example and without limitation, Wi-Fi (e.g., the user's network 218), X10, Ethernet, RS-485, 6LoWPAN, Bluetooth LE (BLE), ZigBee, Z-Wave”), RingNet, and/or the like”);
generating a second set of instructions by converting the set of instruction from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol; and
transmitting the second set of instructions to a second computing device (FIG. 2, Audio/Video (A/V) recording and communication devices 210) associated with the second network (FIG. 2, NETWORK 212), wherein receipt of the transmitted set of instructions causes the second computing device to distribute commands to a plurality of integrated structural devices, the distributed commands causing at least one of the plurality of integrated structural devices to change from a first state to a second state (FIG. 2, 208, 210, 232, 214 and column 11, lines 25-39, “the system 200 may be controlled through various user interfaces, such as voice commands and/or a touchscreen. Various examples, of user interfaces may include any or all of a wall-mounted terminal (e.g., a keypad, a touchscreen, etc.), software installed on the client devices 214, 216 (e.g., a mobile application), a tablet computer, or a web interface. Furthermore, these user interfaces are often but not always supported by Internet cloud services. In one example, the Internet cloud services are responsible for obtaining user input via the user interfaces (e.g., a user interface of the hub device 202 and/or the VA device 208) and causing the smart home devices (e.g., the sensors 204, the automation devices 206, etc.) to perform an operation in response to the user input”).
Regarding claim 11, Modestine further teaches the second computing device is a lighting control component (FIG. 3, LIGHT CONTROLLER 302).
Regarding claim 12, Modestine further teaches the second computing device is a master control module (FIG. 3, PROCESSORS 310).
Regarding claim 13, Modestine further teaches the at least one of the plurality of integrated structural devices include a heater, a fan, or addressable LED strip lights (FIG. 2, column 11, lines 3-8, “various devices and/or systems, such as lighting, heating (e.g., smart thermostats), ventilation, home entertainment, air conditioning (HVAC), blinds/shades, security devices (e.g., contact sensors, smoke/CO detectors, motion sensors, etc.), washers/dryers, ovens, refrigerators/freezers”).
Regarding claim 14, Modestine teaches computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied (FIG. 2, remote storage device 222) thereon that, when executed by one or more processors (FIG. 2, 214, 216), cause the one or more processors to:
receive a set of instructions, comprising at least an image associated with a set of pixels (column 26, lines 60-63, “the image data 406 may comprise image sensor data such as (but not limited to) exposure values and data regarding pixel values for a particular sized grid”) from a first computing device (FIG. 2, 216) communicatively coupled to a first communication network (FIG. 2, NETWORK 218) at a second computing device FIG. 2, Audio/Video (A/V) recording and communication devices 210) communicatively coupled to a second communication network (FIG. 2, NETWORK 212);
determine that the first computing device is utilizing a first communication protocol “(column 11, lines 42-46, “client devices 214, 216 may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication protocols to communicate, including, for example and without limitation, Wi-Fi (e.g., the user's network 218), X10, Ethernet, RS-485, 6LoWPAN, Bluetooth LE (BLE), ZigBee, Z-Wave”);
based on determining that the first computing device is utilizing a first communication protocol, convert the instructions from the first communication protocol to a second communication protocol “(column 11, lines 42-46,, “client devices 214, 216 may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication protocols to communicate, including, for example and without limitation, Wi-Fi (e.g., the user's network 218), X10, Ethernet, RS-485, 6LoWPAN, Bluetooth LE (BLE), ZigBee, Z-Wave”);
based on converting the instructions; determine a pixel state data for each pixel, each of the pixel state data defining a pixel state comprised of characteristics of a pixel; communicate a first pixel state of a first pixel of the set of pixels to a lighting system; and based on communicating the first pixel state, causing the lighting system to change a first light of a set of lights from a first state to the pixel state (column 31, line 61 to column 32 line 12, “a portion of a first image corresponds to a portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210, the backend server(s) 224 may identify which pixels are included within the portion of the first image. The backend server(s) 224 may then map the pixels to the FOV of the A/V device 210 to identify the portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210 that corresponds to the portion of the first image. For example, if the portion of the first image includes the bottom ten percent of the pixels of the first image, then the backend server(s) 224 may determine that the portion of the first image corresponds to the bottom ten percent of the FOV of the A/V device 210. As such, the backend server(s) 224 may determine that the portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210 includes the bottom ten percent of the FOV of the A/V device 210. While this is just one example, in other example, any other process and/or technique may be used to identify the portion of the FOV of the A/V device 210 that corresponds to the portion of the first image selected by the user”).
Regarding claim 16, Modestine further teaches the pixel state data for each pixel comprises a hue value, a saturation value, or a brightness value (column 44, lines 27-29, “any number of other controls may be included for changing or setting the intensity, hue, color, pattern, and/or other settings of the first light emitter 902(1)”) .
Regarding claim 17, Modestine further teaches comprising a third communication device comprised of an audio control component (column 11, lines 10-14, “Wi-Fi is used for remote monitoring and control of such devices and/or systems. Smart home devices (e.g., hub devices 202, sensors 204, automation devices 206, a virtual assistant (VA) device 208, Audio/Video (A/V) recording and communication devices 210”).
Regarding claim 18, Modestine further teaches the instructions further comprise audio data (column 12, lines 52-55 , “The VA device 208 may include at least one speaker (e.g., for playing music, for outputting the audio data generated by the A/V devices 210, for outputting the voice of a digital assistant, etc)”)
Regarding claim 19, Modestine further teaches communicating the audio data to the audio control (column 12, lines 52-61 , “The VA device 208 may include at least one speaker (e.g., for playing music, for outputting the audio data generated by the A/V devices 210, for outputting the voice of a digital assistant, etc.), at least one a microphone (e.g., for receiving commands, for recording audio data, etc.), and a display (e.g., for displaying a user interface, for displaying the image data generated by the A/V devices 210, etc.). In various embodiments, the VA device 208 may include an array of speakers that are able to produce beams of sound”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 9, 15, 20 are 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:
Regarding claim 3, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the system according to Claim 1, comprising “at least a first lighting position and a last lighting position and the set of pixels includes at least a first pixel position and a last pixel position and wherein the first light is associated with the first lighting position and the first pixel is associated with the first pixel position”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim.
Dependent claims 4 & 5 are also objected by virtue of its dependency.
Regarding claim 9, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the system according to Claim 1, comprising “the instructions further comprise a predetermined time interval at which the first light associated with the lighting system will return to the initial state”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim.
Regarding claim 15, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the computer-readable storage media according to Claim 14, comprising “the instructions further comprise a predetermined time interval at which the first light associated with the lighting system will return to the initial state”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim.
Regarding claim 20, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the computer-readable storage media according to Claim 14, comprising “at least a first lighting position and a last lighting position and the set of pixels includes at least a first pixel position and a last pixel position and wherein the first light is associated with the first lighting position and the first pixel is associated with the first pixel position”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED M KAISER whose telephone number is (571)272-9612. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 a.m.-6 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SYED M KAISER/Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
