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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/22/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 06/22/2026 is acknowledged by the Examiner.
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 7-8 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 7, the limitation “one or more water output devices at the first irrigation zone water supply line” in lines 4-5 is indefinite because it is unclear if the one or more water output devices is intended to refer to the previously introduced “one or more water output devices at the first irrigation zone water supply line” in claim 5, lines 5-6. For the purpose of examination, they are interpreted to refer to the same ones.
Claim 8 is rejected due to being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 9-21 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art fails to teach or render obvious the invention as essentially claimed.
Poojary et al. (US 11066813 B2) was considered most pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Poojary et al. disclose a water management system (100) comprising: a water management controller (136 or 125, fig. 1) at a premises (home or building; fig. 1; col. 1, ll. 25); a first water meter (103 has a plurality of sensors 606 which are inserted into holes in the walls of the pipes of the water system; col. 9, ll. 4-19) positioned at a water ingress line (incoming water line, fig. 1) of the premises, the first water meter in communication (via 107, fig. 1) with the water management controller, the first water meter configured to send first water meter data to the water management controller (col. 8, ll. 47-49; amount of water flow determined, col. 10, ll. 37-38, 50-51); and a first water egress line of the premises (125 manages water consumption to a yard, which would inherently include an egress line for the water, and the controller generates water consumption, which would also require a meter to take measurements in order to determine the water consumption; col. 13, ll. 24-31), the water meter configured to measure an amount of water supplied from the premises to a first exterior water consuming object (yard) via the first water egress line (col. 13, ll. 24-31; sensors are placed in the pipes, col. 9, ll. 4-19), wherein the water management controller is configured to determine an amount of water used within the premises using at least (i) the measured amount of water supplied to the premises via the water ingress line, and (ii) the measured amount of water supplied from the premises to the first exterior water consuming object via the first water egress line (the controller factors in the water use in the building using the ingress line and in the front and/or back yard using the egress line). Poojary et al. similarly disclose water management controller comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable storage article including computer-executable instructions (134); and programmable processing circuitry configured to execute the computer-executable instructions (processor 109) to cause the programmable processing circuitry to: receive, from a first water meter (any sensors to measure in 103) positioned at a water ingress line (incoming water line, fig. 1) of a premises (home or building; fig. 1; col. 1, ll. 25), a measured amount of water supplied to the premises via the water ingress line, receive, at a first water egress line of the premises (col. 13, ll. 24-31; sensors are placed in the pipes, col. 9, ll. 4-19), a measured amount of water supplied from the premises to a first exterior water consuming object (yard) via the first water egress line, and determine an amount of water used within the premises using at least (i) the measured amount of water supplied to the premises via the water ingress line, and (ii) the measured amount of water supplied from the premises to the first exterior water consuming object via the first water egress line (the controller factors in the water use in the building using the ingress line and in the front and/or back yard using the egress line). Poojary et al also discloses method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a water management controller, an amount of water, as measured by a first water meter (any sensors to measure in 103) positioned at a water ingress line (incoming water line, fig. 1) of a premises, supplied to the premises via the water ingress; receiving, at the water management controller, an amount of water, as measured at a first water egress line of the premises, supplied from the premises to a first exterior water consuming object via the first water egress line (col. 13, ll. 24-31; sensors are placed in the pipes, col. 9, ll. 4-19); and determining an amount of water used within the premises using at least (i) the amount of water supplied to the premises via the water ingress line, and (ii) the amount of water supplied from the premises to the first exterior water consuming object via the first water egress line (the controller factors in the water use in the building using the ingress line and in the front and/or back yard using the egress line).
None of the prior art disclose or render obvious the further combination of a second water meter positioned at a first water egress line of the premises, the second water meter in communication with the water management controller, the second water meter configured to send second water meter data to the water management controller; water usage within the premises based on the first water meter data and the second water meter data; and determine an amount of water used by a first exterior water consuming object based on at least the second water meter data, wherein the first exterior water consuming object is configured to receive water from the premises via the first water egress line.
Claims 7-8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
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/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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