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
This is a first action on the merits for this regular application filed on 08/21/2024
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite of sensing, calculating, and producing a sanitation routine. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because claims 18-20 are directed to an abstract idea, i.e., sensing and calculating, and implementing the abstract steps into a sanitation system. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the abstract steps of sensing, calculating, and executing sanitation routine in a sanitation system when considered separately and in combination, the abstract steps do not add significantly more to the exception. In the art of sanitation, it is well-understood and it is conventional to measure, calculate, and then execute sanitation steps.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rathi et al. (US 2021/0308300 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 15, and 18; Rathi et al. discloses a system (Fig.15), a computer-implemented method (Fig.14A-14B:1405), and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media [0152-0153] for sanitizing an enclosed space [0032-0033], the system comprising:
a plurality of sensors (Fig.3:324) configured to:
detect a current environmental condition [0044] associated with the enclosed space; and
generate a first sensor data based on the current environmental condition [0131]; and
a processor (Fig.3:304) configured to:
obtain a sanitation routine or generate the sanitation routine [0044 and 0047] based at least in part on the first sensor data; and
execute the sanitation routine [0044],
wherein the sanitation routine specifies at least a target environmental condition
and a component associated with the enclosed space [0131], and wherein the sanitation routine, when executed by the processor, causes the component to adjust the current environmental condition toward the target environmental condition;
the enclosed space comprises a plurality of sensors (Fig.3:324) and a processor (Fig.3:304), the method comprising:
detecting, by the plurality of sensors, [0044] a current environmental condition [0131] associated with the enclosed space;
generating, by the plurality of sensors [0044], a first sensor data based on the current
environmental condition;
receiving or generating, by the processor [0041], a sanitation routine, wherein the
sanitation routine is generated based at least in part on the first sensor data; and
causing, by the processor [0041], a component associated with the enclosed space to
adjust the current environmental condition associated with the enclosed space toward a target environmental condition [0131],
wherein the sanitation routine specifies at least the target environmental [0131] condition and the component associated with the enclosed space;
One or more non-transitory computer-readable media [0152-0153] comprising instructions executable at a sanitation system of an enclosed space, wherein the instructions, when executed by the sanitation system, cause the sanitation system to:
detect a current environmental condition [0044] associated with the enclosed space;
generate a first sensor data [0044] based on the current environmental condition;
generate a sanitation routine [0130-0131] based at least in part on the first sensor data; and
execute the sanitation routine [0130-0131],
wherein the sanitation routine specifies at least a target environmental condition [0130-0131] and a component associated with the enclosed space, and wherein executing the sanitation routine causes [0130-0131] the component to adjust the current environmental condition toward the target environmental condition.
Regarding claim 2, Rathi et al. discloses that the sensor is an image sensor, an acoustic sensor, a thermal sensor, a pressure sensor, a capacitive sensor, a radio frequency sensor or a gas sensor [0044].
Regarding claim 3, Rathi et al. discloses that the plurality of sensors are further configured to:
detect absence of one or more entities [0084] within the enclosed space; and
generate a second sensor data [0131] based on the absence of the one or more
entities; and
the processor (Fig.3:304) is further configured to:
determine the absence of the one or more entities [0084] within the enclosed
space based on the second sensor data,
wherein the processor executes [0044] the sanitation routine in response to determining
the absence of the one or more entities within the enclosed space.
Regarding claim 4, Rathi et al. discloses that the current environmental condition [0093] comprises an external environmental condition outside of the enclosed space and an internal environmental condition within the enclosed space.
Regarding claim 5, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is a vehicle interior [0002] or a
building room.
Regarding claim 6, Rathi et al. discloses that the component is a light source deployed within
the enclosed space and the sanitation routine comprises emitting a visible or an invisible light [0065-0066] from the light source.
Regarding claim 7, Rathi et al. discloses that the component is a vaporizer [0072] deployed within the enclosed space and the sanitation routine comprises emitting vapor from the vaporizer.
Regarding claim 8, the Rathi et al. autonomous car [0037] is deemed to include that the component is a seat deployed within the enclosed space and the sanitation routine is capable of changing a position or an orientation of the seat.
Regarding claim 9, the Rathi et al. autonomous care [0037] includes a seat deployed within the
enclosed space and the sanitation routine [0047] is capable of rolling out a seatbelt of the seat.
Regarding claim 10, Rathi et al. discloses that the component is a heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning (HVAC) system [0085] deployed within the enclosed space, and wherein the sanitation routine comprises increasing a temperature [0068] of the enclosed space by the HVAC system.
Regarding claim 11, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is an interior of a vehicle
and the component is an autonomous driving system of the vehicle [0037], and wherein the sanitation
routine comprises changing an orientation or a position [0050] of the vehicle by the autonomous driving system of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 12, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is an interior of a vehicle
and the component is a service robot stationed at a parking lot [0093], and wherein the sanitation
routine comprises heating the interior of the vehicle by the service robot.
Regarding claim 13, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is an interior of a vehicle
and the component is a center display [0040] deployed within the interior of the vehicle, and wherein
the sanitation routine comprises changing an angle of the center display relative to a light source outside the interior of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 14, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is an interior of a vehicle [0095] and the component is a window of the vehicle, and wherein the sanitation routine is capable of including rolling down the window to expose the interior of the vehicle to a light source outside the
interior of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 16, Rathi et al. further discloses:
Detecting [0131], by the plurality of sensors, absence of one or more entities within the
enclosed space;
generating, by the plurality of sensors [0044], a second sensor data based on the
absence of the one or more entities; and
determining, by the processor [0042], the absence of the one or more entities within
the enclosed space based on the second sensor data,
wherein the processor executes [0042] the sanitation routine in response to determining
the absence of the one or more entities within the enclosed space.
Regarding claim 17, Rathi et al. further discloses:
the processor is capable of receiving weather information [0046] from a source external to the
enclosed space, and wherein the processor generates the sanitation routine further based
on the weather information [0042] in response to determining the absence of the one or more
entities within the enclosed space.
Regarding claim 19, Rathi et al. discloses that the current environmental condition comprises an external environmental condition outside [0046] of the enclosed space and an internal environmental condition [0044] within the enclosed space.
Regarding claim 20, Rathi et al. discloses that the enclosed space is a vehicle interior [0095] or a building room.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONZER R CHORBAJI whose telephone number is (571)272-1271. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-12:00 and 6:00-9:00.
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/MONZER R CHORBAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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