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 § 103
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) 1-3, 5, 9, 11, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall (US 7,038,585) in view of Kenney (US 11,350,262).
Regarding claim 1, Hall discloses a system for preventing the preparation of improvised explosive materials and devices from commercially available raw materials (column 2, lines 46-56), the system comprising:
a housing 30, 50, comprising a securing member 32A, 32B, 34;
a location sensor 45 configured to sense a location of the housing, the location sensor secured to the housing (figures 1, 2A, 4, and 5);
a chemical sensor 80 configured to sense the presence of chemical, radiation, or gas, the chemical sensor secured to the housing (col. 7, lines 1-13, figure 2A);
an alarm configured to output a signal, the signal indicative of whether at least a portion of the housing has been broken (col. 7, lines 20-34); and
an antenna 46 configured to transmit data associated with:
an output of the location sensor 45,
an output of the chemical sensor 80, and
an output of the alarm (col. 5, lines 29-56, col. 9, lines 1-9, col. 11, lines 25-37).
Hall does not disclose the chemical sensor being an acetone vapor sensor configured to sense the presence of acetone vapors. Kenney teaches the use of an acetone vapor sensor configured to sense the presence of acetone vapors (col. 8, lines 3-41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the chemical sensor being an acetone vapor sensor to the system of Hall as taught by Kenney for the purpose of effectively sensing the presence of acetone vapors.
Regarding claim 2, Hall discloses wherein the location sensor comprises a global
navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 45 (col. 9, lines 24-52, col. 10, lines 7-27).
Regarding claim 3, Hall discloses a temperature sensor, the antenna configured to transmit data associated with an output of the temperature sensor (col. 7, lines 1-14, col. 10, lines 34-39).
Regarding claim 5, Hall discloses an accelerometer, the antenna configured to transmit data associated with an output of the accelerometer (col. 7, lines 1-13).
Regarding claim 9, Hall discloses a power source 44 secured to the housing, the output of the power source controlled responsive to the output of the accelerometer.
Regarding claim 11, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose the antenna being configured to transmit an identifier associated with the housing. Kenney teaches the use of an antenna being configured to transmit an identifier associated with a housing (col. 11, lines 8-35). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the antenna being configured to transmit an identifier associated with the housing to the system of Hall as taught by Kenney for the purpose of effectively identifying different housings.
Regarding claim 12, Hall discloses wherein the housing covers the location sensor, the acetone vapor sensor and the alarm such that they can't be seen (figure 1).
Regarding claim 14, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, and further discloses an arrangement comprising a plurality of detection units 10, 10’, each comprising one or more processors 152; wherein the memory has stored therein a plurality of instructions that when read by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to: receive data from each of the plurality of detection units (col. 9, lines 24-52), responsive to the received data, determine a model of normal parameters for any, or a combination, of location sensors, acetone vapor sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors and/or accelerometers, and output the determined model (col. 9, line 53-col 10, line 33).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall and Kenney as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Eisenstadt (US 2015/0192475).
Regarding claim 4, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose a humidity sensor with an output of the humidity sensor. Eisenstadt teaches the use of a humidity sensor with an output of the humidity sensor (paragraph 35). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a humidity sensor with an output of the humidity sensor to the system of Hall (modified by Kenny) as taught by Eisenstadt for the purpose of effectively monitoring humidity in an enclosure.
Claim(s) 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall and Kenney as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Goldberg (US 2021/0217111).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 5, and further discloses one or more processors 42; and a memory (col. 10, lines 18-28, col. 11, lines 38-50), the memory having stored therein a plurality of instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to determine, responsive to the
output of the accelerometer (col 7, lines 1-13), but does not disclose the one or more processors to determine in what type of vehicle the housing is being transported, and output information associated with the determined type of vehicle (claim 6); a condition of a road that the housing is being transported on, and output information associated with the determined condition of the road (claim 7). Goldberg teaches the use of one or more processors to determine in what type of vehicle a housing is being transported, and output information associated with the determined type of vehicle (paragraph 87); a condition of a road that the housing is being transported on, and output information associated with the determined condition of the road (p. 87). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the one or more processors to determine in what type of vehicle the housing is being transported, and output information associated with the determined type of vehicle; a condition of a road that the housing is being transported on, and output information associated with the determined condition of the road
a humidity sensor with an output of the humidity sensor to the system of Hall (modified by Kenny) as taught by Goldberg for the purpose of effectively monitoring the environment around the housing.
Regarding claim 8, Hall (modified by Kenny and Goldberg) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 6, but does not disclose the one or more processors and the memory being each secured to the housing. Kenney further teaches the use of one or more processors 152 and a memory being each secured to a housing (col. 12, lines 55-66, col 13, lines 15-35, figures 1 and 7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the one or more processors and the memory being each secured to the housing to the system of Hall (modified by Kenny and Goldberg) as taught by Kenny for the purpose of effectively controlling the system.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall and Kenney as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gasser (US 2011/0174822).
Regarding claim 13, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, and further discloses securing the securing member of the housing to a container 20, but does not disclose the container being a hydrogen peroxide container. Gasser teaches the use of a hydrogen peroxide container (paragraph 38). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the container being a hydrogen peroxide container to the system of Hall (modified by Kenny) as taught by Gasser for the purpose of effectively monitoring a hydrogen peroxide container.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall and Kenney as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Meckesheimer (US 2022/0366556).
Regarding claim 15, Hall (modified by Kenny) discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 14, but does not disclose the one or more processors comprising a convolutional neural network (CNN), wherein the CNN is trained by the received data and the model is determined by the trained CNN. Meckesheimer teaches the use of one or more processors comprising a convolutional neural network (CNN), wherein the CNN is trained by received data and a model is determined by the trained CNN (paragraph 31). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the one or more processors comprising a convolutional neural network (CNN), wherein the CNN is trained by the received data and the model is determined by the trained CNN to the system of Hall (modified by Kenny) as taught by Meckesheimer for the purpose of effectively processing received data.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang discloses an alarming product security device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANH V LA whose telephone number is (571)272-2970. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at 571-272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANH V LA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
ANH V. LA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2685
Al
March 21, 2026