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 § 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) 1-3, 5-9, 11-16, 18-20, 22-26, and 28-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Roumeliotis et al. (US 2011/0269452).
For Claims 1 and 18, Roumeliotis teaches a method performed by a wireless fingerprint reporting device and a wireless fingerprint reporting device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers (see paragraphs 8, 17), the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to perform a method, the method comprising:
obtaining, in response to a scan of a location tag by a scanning device, wireless fingerprint information associated with one or more signals transmitted by the scanning device or received by the scanning device (see paragraphs 41, 42); and
reporting the wireless fingerprint information to a network component (see paragraph 42).
For Claims 11 and 28, Roumeliotis teaches a method performed by a wireless fingerprint measurement device, and a wireless fingerprint measurement device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers (see paragraphs 8, 17), the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to perform a method, the method comprising:
measuring wireless fingerprint information associated with one or more signals transmitted by a scanning device or received by the scanning device (see paragraphs 41, 42); and
sharing, with one or more devices, the wireless fingerprint information in response to a scan of a location tag by the scanning device (see paragraphs 41, 42).
For Claims 2 and 19, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint reporting device corresponds to the scanning device (see paragraphs 41-42), or wherein the wireless fingerprint reporting device corresponds to the location tag, or wherein the wireless fingerprint reporting device corresponds to a wireless device that is separate from the scanning device and the location tag.
For Claims 3 and 20, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the location tag is associated with a known location (see paragraph 33).
For Claims 5, 12, 22, and 29, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint information is measured by a wireless fingerprint measuring device in response to the scan of the location tag by the scanning device (see paragraph 42), or wherein the wireless fingerprint information is measured by the wireless fingerprint measuring device within a threshold amount of time prior to the scan of the location tag by the scanning device.
For Claims 6 and 23, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the scanning device is a user equipment (UE) or a wearable device or a combination thereof (see paragraph 17).
For Claims 7 and 24, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the location tag is encoded with or comprises a link to: location information characterizing a location of the location tag (see paragraph 33), or
a location tag identifier, or one or more identifiers or one or more wireless transmission devices that are proximate to the location tag, or one or more identifiers or one or more wireless reception devices that are proximate to the location tag, or one or more configured links on which to transmit the one or more wireless signals for measurement by the one or more wireless reception devices, or one or more configured links on which to receive the one or more wireless signals for measurement by the scanning device, or an identifier associated with the network component, or any combination thereof.
For Claims 8 and 25, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint reporting device corresponds to a wireless fingerprint measurement device that measures the one or more signals (see paragraph 41-42).
For Claims 9, 16, 26, and 30, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint information comprises one or more received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements associated with the one or more signals (see paragraph 22, claim 6).
For Claims 13 and 30, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint measurement device corresponds to the scanning device (see paragraph 41-42), or
wherein the wireless fingerprint measurement device corresponds to a wireless reception device that is proximate to the location tag.
For Claims 14 and 30, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the sharing comprises transmission of the wireless fingerprint information to a network component or the location tag (see paragraph 42).
For Claims 15 and 30, Roumeliotis teaches the method, further comprising: receiving a request to measure the wireless fingerprint information in response to the scan of the location tag by the scanning device, wherein the measuring is performed in response to the request (see paragraphs 41-42: measuring; Figure 4 items 414 and 416: requests, scanning).
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) 4 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roumeliotis et al. (US 2011/0269452) as applied to claims 1 and 18 above, and further in view of Park et al. (US 2019/0220715).
For Claims 4 and 21, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the location tag comprises a barcode (see paragraphs 33, 41), or wherein the location tag is associated with or proximate to an electronic shelf label (ESL), or a combination thereof.
Roumeliotis is not explicit as to the barcode being a quick response (QR) code, but Park teaches using a QR code as a location tag (see paragraphs 73, 80, 97).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a QR code as in Park when implementing the barcode location tag as in Roumeliotis. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so with the reasonably predictable result of providing a tag that can be read with mobile devices.
Claim(s) 10, 17, 27, and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roumeliotis et al. (US 2011/0269452) as applied to claims 1, 11, 18, and 28 above, and further in view of Hirzallah et al. (US 2023/0179953).
For Claims 10, 17, 27, and 30, Roumeliotis teaches the method, wherein the wireless fingerprint information corresponds to training data for the location service (see paragraph 40).
Roumeliotis as applied above Is not explicit as to, but Hirzallah teaches using RF fingerprinting for training an artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model for positioning (see paragraph 156).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to train an ML model as in Hirzallah with the training collected as in Roumeliotis. The motivation would be to provide the data necessary to improve the location capacity of the system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Tiwari et al. (US 2021/0258392) teaches a system for using tags to identify locations and associate a tag location with an RF fingerprint. Pasricha et al. (US 2021/0092611) teaches a system for associating an RSSI fingerprint with a location and training a neural network with the fingerprint data.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CASSANDRA L DECKER whose telephone number is (571)270-3946. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CASSANDRA L DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2466 6/4/2026
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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