DETAILED ACTION
The action is responsive to the Application filed on 10/03/2024. Claims 1-4 are pending in the case. Claim 1 is an independent claim.
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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: "facility data storage unit configured for storing / to check", "rendering unit configured for rendering / to reflect" and "collaboration support unit configured for providing and sharing / to connect / to cause / to select / to transmit" in claims 1, 2 and 4.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claim 1, 2 and 4 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.
As to claim 1, the claim recites “location data on the three-dimensional drawing data selected via the user terminal” which lacks antecedent basis therefore making the claim indefinite. For the purposes of examination, Examiner assumed the claim to recite “location data on a three-dimensional drawing data selected via the user terminal”. Furthermore the scope of the claim is indefinite because the specification does not clearly disclose/link the corresponding structure for achieving the recited function in each of the following means plus function claim limitations: "facility data storage unit configured for storing / to check", "rendering unit configured for rendering / to reflect" and "collaboration support unit configured for providing and sharing / to connect / to cause".
As to claim 3, the scope of the claim is indefinite because the specification does not clearly disclose/link the corresponding structure for achieving the recited function in each of the following means plus function claim limitations: "collaboration support unit is configured to select".
As to claim 4, the scope of the claim is indefinite because the specification does not clearly disclose/link the corresponding structure for achieving the recited function in each of the following means plus function claim limitations: "collaboration support unit is configured to transmit".
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Hall (US Patent Pub. No. 20140244330 A1) discloses storing facility data, rendering building information model (BIM) data based on the facility data, providing and sharing the BIM data to a plurality of user terminals, outputting the BIM data through each user terminal, creating an issue report based on location based issue data for a facility inputted through a specific terminal, a screen operation performed by a specific user terminal reflecting a result of the rendering corresponding to the operation in real time to the BIM data and causing the BIM data to be shared through screens of the user terminals, providing an issue report so that viewing modification and edition of the issue report is available according to authority pre-granted to the account of each user terminal, the location-based issue data inputted via the user terminal is location data on a drawing data selected via the user terminal, checking if a previous record exists for location information in the process of writing the location-based issue data and a user setting a location of interest .
Hall (US Patent Pub. No. 20160335731 A1) discloses specifying a location for facility issue data by specifying a location on a three-dimensional facility drawing via a user terminal.
Nalurkurthy et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 20180375823 A1) discloses displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a building using building information model data and displaying fault data on the three-dimensional rendering of the building.
Will et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 20150022342 A1) discloses inviting users to a conference network based on the occurrence of a person experiencing fright, a health concern, locked out of house event, lost event or needing transportation event.
Frankel et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 20180059883 A1) discloses creating a collaboration groups, a user inputting information about issues for a process so that they can be tracked and a separate feature for inviting all users in the group to an online meeting.
DeLuca et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 20140006993 A1) discloses associating a problem or error with a manually created meeting event.
Panda et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 20110004701 A1) discloses a user manually initiating an emergency conference call in response to a problem condition.
However the features of a collaboration support unit 130 configured for providing and sharing the BIM data to a plurality of user terminals, outputting the BIM data through each user terminal, creating an issue report based on three-dimensional location-based issue data for a facility inputted through a specific user terminal, and transmitting a meeting convening alarm to a user terminals corresponding to the issue report, and supporting a meeting to be held between the user terminals receiving the meeting convening alarm, wherein, when a screen operation is performed by a specific user terminal among the user terminals participating in the meeting, the rendering unit is configured to reflect a result of the rendering corresponding to the operation in real time to the BIM data and cause the BIM data to be shared immediately through screens of all the user terminals participating in the meeting, the collaboration support unit configured to: connect user terminals that have received the meeting convening alarm to each other via a network to execute a video conference processor, so that a video conference is conducted between the user terminals; and cause the BIM data corresponding to the issue report to be output on the user terminal participating in the video conference, transmits the meeting convening alarm to user terminals corresponding to accounts grouped based on the location data so that the accounts grouped based on the location data are capable of participating the video conference, and automatically converts voice output data generated in a course of the video conference into text data, and transmits and outputs the converted text data to the user terminals corresponding to the accounts grouped based on the location data, when, authority of a host is changed on a host user terminal hosting the video conference and after receiving feedback from each user terminal on whether to disclose a location, cause location data corresponding to the three-dimensional location- based issue data to be displayed and output as a specific symbol in the three-dimensional virtual space of the BIM data for the user terminal that transmits feedback agreeing to disclose the location when taken in the context of the claims as a whole, were not found in the prior art teachings.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL SAMWEL whose telephone number is (313) 446-6549. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 8:00-6:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kieu Vu can be reached at (571) 272-4057. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL SAMWEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171
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