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
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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-13, 15-18, & 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hendrickson et al. (US 20050205719 A1, herein after referred to as Hendrickson).
Regarding claim 1 Hendrickson teaches a system, the system comprising: a railcar (FIG. 1: 22 & 38; paragraphs 8 & 10), the railcar configured to travel a track (paragraph 12), the railcar associated with identification information that indicates an identity of the railcar (FIG. 1: AEI Tag 33; paragraph 8); and a wireless device coupled to the railcar (FIG. 1: 12), the wireless device comprising: memory configured to store the identification information associated with the railcar (FIG. 1: 33); and processing circuitry (FIG. 1: 28), the processing circuitry configured to provide status information to one or more trackside automatic equipment identification readers (FIG. 1: provided with 26 through 14 to 16) and to one or more wireless network nodes (FIG. 1: 10), wherein the status information that the processing circuitry is configured to provide to the one or more trackside AEI readers comprises the identification information associated with the railcar (FIG. 1: 36).
Regarding claim 11 Hendrickson teaches a method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising: storing identification information associated with a railcar in memory of the wireless device (FIG. 1: 33); receiving a signal from a positioning system (FIG. 1: 24); determining location information associated with the railcar based on the signal received from the positioning system (paragraph 9); providing first status information to one or more trackside automatic equipment identification readers (FIG. 1: 36), the first status information comprising the identification information associated with the railcar (paragraph 8); and providing second status information to one or more wireless network nodes (FIG. 1: 14 & 16), the second status information comprising the location information associated with the railcar (paragraph 9).
Regarding claim 16 Hendrickson teaches one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying instructions that (FIG. 1: 30; paragraph 13), when executed by processing circuitry of a wireless device (FIG. 1: 28), cause the performance of operations comprising: storing identification information associated with a railcar in memory of the wireless device (FIG. 1: 33); receiving a signal from a positioning system (FIG. 1: 24); determining location information associated with the railcar based on the signal received from the positioning system (paragraph 9); providing first status information to one or more trackside automatic equipment identification readers (FIG. 1: 36), the first status information comprising the identification information associated with the railcar (paragraph 8); and providing second status information to one or more wireless network nodes (FIG. 1: 14 & 16), the second status information comprising the location information associated with the railcar (paragraph 9).
Regarding claim 2 Hendrickson teaches that the wireless device further configured to: receive a signal from a positioning system (FIG. 1: 24); and determine location information associated with the railcar based on the signal received from the positioning system(paragraph 9); wherein the status information that the processing circuitry is configured to provide to the one or more wireless network nodes comprises the location information (paragraph 9).
Regarding claims 3, 12, & 17 Hendrickson teaches that the wireless device further configured to: determine whether the railcar is stationary or in motion (paragraph 9, “dwell alert data” and “geo-fencing”); while the railcar is in motion, provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes based at least in part on a pre-determined periodicity (paragraph 13); and while the railcar is stationary, abstain from providing the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes (paragraph 14, provides as little data as possible to save power and only provide high value information; claim 10, provides dwell time without substantial movement rather than providing the location repeatedly).
Regarding claims 4, 13, & 18 Hendrickson teaches that the wireless device is further configured to determine when to provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes based at least in part on a proximity of the railcar to one of the trackside AEI readers (paragraph 11, “AEI wireless link 54, may be configured to provide a location of a rail car 22 at certain point in time when the rail car 22 passes the reader 36.”).
Regarding claim 5 Hendrickson teaches that the wireless device is configured to: determine the proximity of the railcar to the one of the trackside AEI readers based on a geofence region associated with the one of the trackside AEI readers (paragraphs 9-11); in response to exiting the geofence region, determine whether the status information was provided to the one of the trackside AEI readers associated with the geofence region (the requisite data is collected to determine this); and in response to determining that the status information was not provided to the one of the trackside AEI readers associated with the geofence region, provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes (it will provide this data to the next wireless network node regardless).
Regarding claims 7, 15, & 20 Hendrickson teaches that the system further comprises one or more sensors coupled to the railcar or to cargo of the railcar (FIG. 1: 32; paragraph 8), and wherein the wireless device is further configured to: receive one or more signals from the one or more sensors (paragraph 16); and determine sensor information based on the one or more signals (paragraph 16); wherein the status information that the processing circuitry is configured to provide to the one or more wireless network nodes comprises the sensor information (paragraph 16).
Regarding claim 8 Hendrickson teaches that the status information that the processing circuitry is configured to provide to the one or more trackside AEI readers further comprises location information and/or sensor information (paragraph 16).
Regarding claim 9 Hendrickson teaches that the system comprises a second wireless device coupled to the railcar (FIG. 1: 33 or 48).
Regarding claim 10 Hendrickson teaches that the processing circuitry is configured to determine the status information to provide to the one or more trackside AEI readers or to the one or more wireless network nodes based at least in part on information that facilitates coordination with the second wireless device coupled to the railcar (FIG. 1: 40; paragraph 10).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 6, 14, & 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hendrickson et al. (US 20050205719 A1, herein after referred to as Hendrickson).
Regarding claims 6, 14, & 19 Hendrickson does not explicitly teach that the wireless device is configured to: provide the identification information to one of the trackside AEI readers at a first time; and determine whether to provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes at a second time based on whether the second time is within a pre-determined time period of the first time; wherein, in response to determining that the second time is within the pre-determined time period of the first time, the wireless device is configured to wait to provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes, and in response to determining that the second time is outside the pre-determined time period of the first time, the wireless device is configured to provide the location information to the one or more wireless network nodes at the second time.
However, Hendrickson does teach that the communication of information is time based and configurable (paragraph 11). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have alternatively configured the transmission of information based on time as claimed above in order to ensure that the information is transmitted without the use of excess power.
Conclusion
Prior art made of record and not replied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The references noted on the attached PTO 892 teach wireless devices for railcar tracking of interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAXWELL L MESHAKA whose telephone number is (571)272-5693. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-4:00.
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/MAXWELL L MESHAKA/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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