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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election with traverse of Species b in the reply filed on August 12, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the species are not mutually exclusive. In response, upon further consideration, it is considered that the steps within Fig. 6 are similar to the steps within Figs. 7-8. Therefore, the restriction requirement of Species a has been withdrawn. However, the steps within Fig. 9 are drawn to a distinct system in which a system controller transmits commands and receives and stores mapping of signals. Therefore, the requirement for Species c is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Accordingly, claims 17-20 have been withdrawn from further consideration, and claims 1-16 have been examined as follows.
Claim Objections
Claims 4 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 4 and 5, lines 5-6 – “the location of the second smart glass unit” is presumed to be intended as “a location of the second smart glass unit”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bechtel et al. (US 2011/0046810), of record in IDS, in view of Shrivastava et al. (US 2019/0294018), record in IDS, and Rozbicki et al. (US 2019/0267840).
Regarding claim 1, Bechtel discloses a system (Figs. 1-3) comprising:
a smart glass unit (44); and
a controller (1100 and/or 1000) configured to:
send, using one or more wires (1004, 1005), a tint signal to the smart glass unit to control a tint level of the smart glass unit (paras. [0007-0011, 0047]), and
send, using the same one or more wires, a detection signal, independent of the tint signal, to the smart glass unit (Figs. 1-3; paras. [0011, 0047, 0061, 0079]).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose determining a location of the smart glass unit via at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling.
However, Shrivastava discloses a system (Figs. 2-27) determining a location of the smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) (paras. [0028, 0125, 0142]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate determining a location of the smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers (Shrivastava, paras. [0127, 0149]).
Further, Rozbicki discloses a system (Figs. 1-16) comprising at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling (paras. [0008, 0046, 0052-0053, 0084]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling, as in Rozbicki, into the system of Bechtel to use a wireless form of transmission for convenience (Rozbicki, paras. [0046, 0142]).
Regarding claim 2, Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is configured to send the detection signal to the smart glass unit for determining the location of the smart glass unit without controlling the tint level of the smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the controller (214, 212, 211, 224, 226, or 228 Figs. 2-3) is configured to send the detection signal to the smart glass unit (202, 222) for determining the location of the smart glass unit without controlling the tint level of the smart glass unit (paras. [0091, 0119, 0125, 0156, 0255]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein the controller is configured to send the detection signal to the smart glass unit for determining the location of the smart glass unit without controlling the tint level of the smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to primarily determine the location of the window in order to provide a tinting command.
Regarding claim 3, Bechtel discloses wherein the smart glass unit (44) comprises a first smart glass unit (44a), wherein the system further comprises a second smart glass unit (44b) (Fig. 1), and wherein the controller (1100, 1000) is further configured to:
send the detection signal to the second smart glass unit (paras. [0011, 0047, 0061, 0079]).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose determining a location of the second smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses determining a location of the second smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) (paras. [0028, 0125, 0142]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate determining a location of the second smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers (Shrivastava, paras. [0127, 0149]).
Regarding claim 4, Bechtel discloses wherein the smart glass unit comprises a first smart glass unit (44a), wherein the detection signal comprises a first detection signal (paras. [0011, 0047, 0061, 0079]), wherein the system further comprises a second smart glass unit (44b), and wherein the controller (1100, 1000) is further configured to:
send a second detection signal, different from the first detection signal, to the second smart glass unit, independent of the first detection signal (para. [0047]; claims 8, 13, 16).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose identifying the location of the second smart glass unit via at least one of the electric field coupling or the magnetic field coupling.
However, Shrivastava discloses identifying the location of the second smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) (paras. [0028, 0125, 0142]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate identifying the location of the second smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers (Shrivastava, paras. [0127, 0149]).
Further, Rozbicki discloses at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling (paras. [0008, 0046, 0052-0053, 0084]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling, as in Rozbicki, into the system of Bechtel to use a wireless form of transmission for convenience (Rozbicki, paras. [0046, 0142]).
Regarding claim 5, Bechtel discloses wherein the smart glass unit comprises a first smart glass unit (44a), wherein the system further comprises a second smart glass unit (44b) (Fig. 1).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is further configured to: after sending the detection signal to the first smart glass unit for determining the location of the first smart glass unit, send the detection signal to the second smart glass unit for determining the location of the second smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the controller (214, 212, 211, 224, 226, or 228, Figs. 2-3) is further configured to:
after sending the detection signal to the first smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) for determining the location of the first smart glass unit, send the detection signal to the second smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) for determining the location of the second smart glass unit (paras. [0091, 0119, 0125, 0156, 0255]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein the controller is further configured to: after sending the detection signal to the first smart glass unit for determining the location of the first smart glass unit, send the detection signal to the second smart glass unit for determining the location of the second smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to primarily determine the location of the window in order to provide a tinting command.
Regarding claim 6, Bechtel discloses wherein the detection signal is configured to generate one or more tones including at least one of a specific pitch assigned to the smart glass unit, a series of pitches assigned to the smart glass unit, or a sequence of pulses assigned to the smart glass unit (paras. [0007-0008, 0018, 0047]).
Regarding claim 7, Bechtel discloses wherein the detection signal includes a frequency assigned to the smart glass unit (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 8, Bechtel discloses further comprising a detector (117b, Figs. 1-2; 53, Fig. 3).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein the detector is configured to: capacitively detect, via the electric field coupling, or inductively detect, via the magnetic field coupling, the detection signal at the smart glass unit; and produce at least one of a light indication, a vibration, or a sound based on the detection signal for determining the location of the smart glass unit.
However, Rozbicki discloses wherein the detector (e.g., 403, Fig. 4; 1330-1530, Figs. 13-15) is configured to:
capacitively detect, via the electric field coupling, or inductively detect, via the magnetic field coupling, the detection signal at the smart glass unit (204, 205, Fig. 2) (paras. [0008, 0046, 0052-0053, 0084]); and
produce at least one of a light indication, a vibration, or a sound based on the detection signal for determining the location of the smart glass unit (paras. [0093, 0104, 0111-0112, 0117, 0123, 0137, 0141-0142, 0144]; as is done by a mobile device).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein the detector is configured to: capacitively detect, via the electric field coupling, or inductively detect, via the magnetic field coupling, the detection signal at the smart glass unit; and produce at least one of a light indication, a vibration, or a sound based on the detection signal for determining the location of the smart glass unit, as in Rozbicki, into the system of Bechtel to provide feedback to the user as desired.
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein the detector is further configured to: transmit the location of the smart glass unit to the controller for associating the detection signal with the location of the smart glass unit, wherein the location of the smart glass unit is based on a location of the detector, determined by the detector when the detector detects the detection signal at the smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the detector is further configured to:
transmit the location of the smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) to the controller (214, 212, 211, 224, 226, or 228, Figs. 2-3) for associating the detection signal with the location of the smart glass unit (paras. [0028, 0125, 0142]),
wherein the location of the smart glass unit is based on a location of the detector, determined by the detector when the detector detects the detection signal at the smart glass unit (paras. [0182, 0185, 0232, 0248]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein the detector is further configured to: transmit the location of the smart glass unit to the controller for associating the detection signal with the location of the smart glass unit, wherein the location of the smart glass unit is based on a location of the detector, determined by the detector when the detector detects the detection signal at the smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers (Shrivastava, paras. [0127, 0149]).
Regarding claim 11, Bechtel discloses wherein the controller (1100, 1000) shares a physical location with the smart glass unit (44) (Fig. 1; paras. [0008, 0044, 0047]).
Regarding claim 12, Bechtel discloses wherein the controller (1100, 1000) is positioned at a different location than the smart glass unit (44) (paras. [0046, 0061]).
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bechtel et al. (US 2011/0046810) in view of Shrivastava et al. (US 2019/0294018), each of record in IDS.
Regarding claim 13, Bechtel discloses a system (Figs. 1-3) comprising:
a controller (1100 and/or 1000) configured to:
transmit, through one or more wires (1004, 1005) associated with a smart glass unit (44), a tint signal for the smart glass unit to control a tint level of the smart glass unit (paras. [0007-0011, 0047]),
transmit a detection signal, through the same one or more wires associated with the smart glass unit (Figs. 1-3; paras. [0011, 0047, 0061, 0079]).
Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose determining a location of the smart glass unit via at least one of an electric field coupling or a magnetic field coupling.
However, Shrivastava discloses a system (Figs. 2-27) comprising determining a location of the smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) (paras. [0028, 0125, 0142]), wherein the detection signal does not control the tint level of the smart glass unit (paras. [0091, 0119, 0125, 0156, 0255]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate determining a location of the smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers (Shrivastava, paras. [0127, 0149]), and to primarily determine the location of the window in order to provide a tinting command.
Regarding claim 14, Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein controller is further configured to: transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires for determining a location of another smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the controller (214, 212, 211, 224, 226, or 228, Figs. 2-3) is further configured to:
transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires for determining a location of another smart glass unit (paras. [0091, 0119, 0125, 0156, 0255]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein controller is further configured to: transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires for determining a location of another smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to commission the installed windows with correct window controllers via any wire.
Regarding claim 15, Bechtel discloses wherein the detection signal comprises a first detection signal (paras. [0011, 0047, 0061, 0079]), and wherein the controller is further configured to:
transmit a second detection signal, different from the first detection signal, through one or more other wires associated with another smart glass unit (44b) for determining a location of the other smart glass unit, wherein the second detection signal is different from the first detection signal (para. [0047]; claims 8, 13, 16).
Regarding claim 16, Bechtel fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is further configured to: after transmitting the detection signal through the one or more wires associated with the smart glass unit for determining the location of the smart glass unit, transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires associated with another smart glass unit for determining a location of the other smart glass unit.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the controller (214, 212, 211, 224, 226, or 228, Figs. 2-3) is further configured to:
after transmitting the detection signal through the one or more wires associated with the smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) for determining the location of the smart glass unit, transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires associated with another smart glass unit (202, Figs. 2A-2B; 222, Figs. 2C-3) for determining a location of the other smart glass unit (paras. [0091, 0119, 0125, 0156, 0255]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein the controller is further configured to: after transmitting the detection signal through the one or more wires associated with the smart glass unit for determining the location of the smart glass unit, transmit the detection signal through one or more other wires associated with another smart glass unit for determining a location of the other smart glass unit, as in Shrivastava, into the system of Bechtel to primarily determine the location of the window in order to provide a tinting command.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAISLEY L WILSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5023. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL CALEY can be reached at 571-272-2286. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAISLEY L WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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