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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the recitation “computer program product” under BRI may constitute a carrier wave or the like.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 8, 15, and 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Data (WO 2017/006291 A1) in view of LoRaWAN (LoRa Alliance TS001-1.0.4, October 2020).
Consider claim 1, Data discloses a robot calling system based on table-1 112a, table-2 112b and table -3 112c, each table has a calling button 114 to trigger a calling command for a robot. The restaurant can have one or more robot working in collaborated manner to greet and server guests at different tables 112. In an exemplary implementation, the one or more robot can be configured to be connected to a server 106, which can be centralized server for managing restaurant services or a master controller…”); wherein the calling terminal is configured to calling request (also referred interchangeably as calling command) for getting a robot to receive an order or for other such request of the guest…”), and send the robot call request to the received by the robot through the server 106/controller 102. For example, when a guest sitting at table 112c initiates a call request, the call can be received by the robot 108, and when a guest seating at table 112a initiates a call request, the call can be received by robot 110…”); the activate the robot to move toward a particular table of the one or more tables…robot can include a transceiver 338 that can be used to transmit the signal or command received by robot to other connected systems and servers wirelessly and to receive the signals or commands coming from other systems and server…”); and the target robot is configured to go to a location of the calling terminal in response to the control instruction (see [0058]: “…the system for robot assisted restaurant service can include a calling module 202, configured to initiate a call command to a robot on press of a calling button present at each table of plurality of tables to receive the call command from one or more tables of the plurality of tables and to activate the robot to move toward a particular table of the one or more tables…”).
However, Data does not explicitly disclose LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol.
In the related field of endeavor, LoRaWAN discloses LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol (see section 1, pg. 7, section 3.1-3.2, pg. 12: “…LoRaWAN networks are typically laid out in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay transmissions between end-devices and a central Network Server at the backend. Gateways are connected to a Network Server via standard IP connections, whereas end-devices use single-hop radio-frequency (RF) communication to one or many gateways…packets are sent by end-devices to a Network Server relayed by one or many gateways”; section 4, Table 1: “LoRaWAN frame format elements”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data and the standard LoRa specification of LoRaWAN in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide communication stability and timely response.
Examiner Note: See detailed rejection analysis of independent claim 1 for any other remaining independent claim rejections.
Consider claim 8, Data discloses a calling method, applied to a activate the robot to move toward a particular table of the one or more tables…”).
However, Data does not explicitly disclose LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol.
In the related field of endeavor, LoRaWAN discloses LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol (see section 1, pg. 7, section 3.1-3.2, pg. 12: “…LoRaWAN networks are typically laid out in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay transmissions between end-devices and a central Network Server at the backend. Gateways are connected to a Network Server via standard IP connections, whereas end-devices use single-hop radio-frequency (RF) communication to one or many gateways…packets are sent by end-devices to a Network Server relayed by one or many gateways”; section 4, Table 1: “LoRaWAN frame format elements”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data and the standard LoRa specification of LoRaWAN in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide communication stability and timely response.
Consider claim 15, Data discloses a calling method, applied to a calling terminal, the method comprising: encapsulating and generating a robot call request based on a activate the robot to move toward a particular table of the one or more tables…”).
However, Data does not explicitly disclose LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol.
In the related field of endeavor, LoRaWAN discloses LoRa, encapsulate, and custom serial protocol (see section 1, pg. 7, section 3.1-3.2, pg. 12: “…LoRaWAN networks are typically laid out in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay transmissions between end-devices and a central Network Server at the backend. Gateways are connected to a Network Server via standard IP connections, whereas end-devices use single-hop radio-frequency (RF) communication to one or many gateways…packets are sent by end-devices to a Network Server relayed by one or many gateways”; section 4, Table 1: “LoRaWAN frame format elements”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data and the standard LoRa specification of LoRaWAN in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide communication stability and timely response.
Consider claim 18 as applied to respective claim Data as modified discloses a computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor, when executing the computer program, implements steps of the method (see fig. 1).
Consider claim 19 as applied to respective claim Data as modified discloses non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a
computer program stored therein, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, steps of the method (see fig. 1).
Consider claim 20 as applied to respective claim Data as modified discloses a computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, steps of the method (see fig. 1).
Consider claim 21 as applied to respective claim Data as modified discloses a computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor, when executing the computer program, implements steps of the method (see fig. 1).
Consider claim 22 as applied to respective claim Data as modified discloses non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored therein, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, steps of the method (see fig. 1).
Claims 2-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Data (WO 2017/006291 A1) in view of LoRaWAN (LoRa Alliance TS001-1.0.4, October 2020) in view of Yue WO2022/227352 (herein with machine generated English language translation).
Consider claim 2 as applied to respective claim Data as modified does not explicitly disclose the control instruction comprises a unique identification of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further configured to: determine a map location of the calling terminal based on the unique identification of the calling terminal; and go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location.
In the related field of endeavor, Yue discloses the control instruction comprises a unique identification of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further configured to: determine a map location of the calling terminal based on the unique identification of the calling terminal; and go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location (see [0012-0013]: “…Generate collaborative work instructions based on the positioning coordinates and the assistance request instructions…The collaborative work instruction is sent to the target device so that the robot and/or the user of the user terminal corresponding to the target device can reach the positioning coordinates to perform collaborative work…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data as modified and multi robot and person collaboration of Yue in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide precise positioning information.
Consider claim 3 as applied to respective claim Data as modified does not explicitly disclose the control instruction comprises a map location of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further configured to: go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location; wherein the map location is determined by the LoRa gateway based on a unique identification of the calling terminal contained in the robot call request
In the related field of endeavor, Yue discloses the control instruction comprises a map location of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further configured to: go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location; wherein the map location is determined by the LoRa gateway based on a unique identification of the calling terminal contained in the robot call request (see [0012-0013]: “…Generate collaborative work instructions based on the positioning coordinates and the assistance request instructions…The collaborative work instruction is sent to the target device so that the robot and/or the user of the user terminal corresponding to the target device can reach the positioning coordinates to perform collaborative work…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data as modified and multi robot and person collaboration of Yue in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide precise positioning information.
Consider claim 5 as applied to respective claim Data as modified does not explicitly disclose the LoRa gateway comprises a gateway and a cloud platform (see fig. 2: 20 and 40).
In the related field of endeavor, Yue disclose the LoRa gateway comprises a gateway and a cloud platform (see fig. 2: 20 and 40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data as modified and multi robot and person collaboration of Yue in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide precise positioning information.
Consider claim 6 as applied to respective claim Data as modified by Yue disclose the gateway communicates with the cloud platform, the gateway communicates with the calling terminal, and the cloud platform communicates with the robot cluster (see fig. 2: 30, 10, 20, 40).
Consider claim 7 as applied to respective claim Data as modified by Yue disclose the gateway is configured to achieve communication between the calling terminal and the robot cluster, and the cloud platform is configured to assist the gateway in calculating relevant data (see fig. 2: 30, 10, 20, 40; cloud 40 include a data table with info, i.e., “calculating relevant data”).
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Data (WO 2017/006291 A1) in view of LoRaWAN (LoRa Alliance TS001-1.0.4, October 2020) in view of Mizutani USPN 10261508.
Consider claim 9 as applied to respective claim Data as modified does not explicitly disclose determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information reported by the robot cluster; and determining, based on the state information, a robot whose state information is an idle state as the target robot from the robot cluster based on the state information determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information reported by the robot cluster; and determining, based on the state information, a robot whose state information is an idle state as the target robot from the robot cluster based on the state information.
In the related field of endeavor, Mizutani discloses determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information reported by the robot cluster; and determining, based on the state information, a robot whose state information is an idle state as the target robot from the robot cluster based on the state information determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information reported by the robot cluster; and determining, based on the state information, a robot whose state information is an idle state as the target robot from the robot cluster based on the state information (see fig. 5 and fig. 12: “…movement controller 221 moves the interactive robot 20 from the current position to the destination by controlling the mobile device 217 in accordance with the route information included in the robot dispatch instruction that is stored in the memory 211 and current position information detected by a current position detecting device included in the mobile device 217. The robot state notification unit 222 acquires information about the interactive robot 20, for example, information such as the number of ID assigned to the interactive robots 20 in a case where plural interactive robots 20 are used, types of the robots, the current position of the interactive robot 20, a current state of the interactive robot 20 such as whether the interactive robot 20 is in a waiting state, is moved by the robot dispatch instruction… dispatch robot selecting unit 422 selects the robot to be dispatched which is in a position nearest to the user 90 performing the robot dispatch request or in a position from which a moving distance is shortest to the user 90 among the list of the available robots…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data as modified and robot control of Mizutani in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide efficient robot management.
Consider claim 10 as applied to respective claim Data as modified does not explicitly determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information and location information reported by the robot cluster; obtaining a map location of the calling terminal; determining robots whose state information is an idle state from the robot cluster based on the state information; and determining a robot closest to the calling terminal as the target robot from the robots whose state information is an idle state based on the map location of the calling terminal and the location information.
In the related field of endeavor, Mizutani discloses determining the target robot from the robot cluster in response to the robot call request comprises: obtaining state information and location information reported by the robot cluster; obtaining a map location of the calling terminal; determining robots whose state information is an idle state from the robot cluster based on the state information; and determining a robot closest to the calling terminal as the target robot from the robots whose state information is an idle state based on the map location of the calling terminal and the location information (see fig. 5 and fig. 12: “…movement controller 221 moves the interactive robot 20 from the current position to the destination by controlling the mobile device 217 in accordance with the route information included in the robot dispatch instruction that is stored in the memory 211 and current position information detected by a current position detecting device included in the mobile device 217. The robot state notification unit 222 acquires information about the interactive robot 20, for example, information such as the number of ID assigned to the interactive robots 20 in a case where plural interactive robots 20 are used, types of the robots, the current position of the interactive robot 20, a current state of the interactive robot 20 such as whether the interactive robot 20 is in a waiting state, is moved by the robot dispatch instruction… dispatch robot selecting unit 422 selects the robot to be dispatched which is in a position nearest to the user 90 performing the robot dispatch request or in a position from which a moving distance is shortest to the user 90 among the list of the available robots…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine robot assisted network of Data as modified and robot control of Mizutani in order to arrive at the instant recitation to provide efficient robot management.
Consider claim 11 as applied to respective claim Data as modified by LoRaWAN discloses the custom serial communication protocol has a custom session mode field (see § 4.2, Table 3), the robot call request comprises a first session mode identification in the session mode field (see § 4.2.1, Table 4), the custom serial communication protocol further has a custom source address field (see § 4.3.1, Table 6), the robot call request further comprises an address of the calling terminal in the source address field, and after sending the control instruction to the target robot, such that the target robot goes to the location of the calling terminal in response to the control instruction, the method further comprises: returning call success response information matching the first session mode identification to the calling terminal based on the address of the calling terminal (see § 4.3.1.2, table 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 12-14 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: See respective instant recitation.
Conclusion
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Examiner should be directed to Fayyaz Alam whose telephone number is (571) 270-1102. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:30am to 7:00pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached on (571) 270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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Fayyaz Alam
August 2, 2026
/FAYYAZ ALAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
1. (O1. (Original) A robot calling system based on LoRa, the calling system comprising: a LoRa
gateway, at least one calling terminal, and a robot cluster, the at least one calling terminal and the
robot cluster establishing LoRa communication with the LoRa gateway;
wherein the calling terminal is configured to encapsulate and generate a robot call request
based on a custom serial communication protocol, and send the robot call request to the LoRa
gateway;
the LoRa gateway is configured to determine a target robot from the robot cluster in response
to the robot call request, and send a control instruction to the target robot; and
the target robot is configured to go to a location of the calling terminal in response to the
control instruction.
2. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the control
instruction comprises a unique identification of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further
configured to:
determine a map location of the calling terminal based on the unique identification of the
calling terminal; and
go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location.
3. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the control
instruction comprises a map location of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further
configured to:
go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location;
wherein the map location is determined by the LoRa gateway based on a unique identification
of the calling terminal contained in the robot call request.
4. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the custom
serial communication protocol comprises a custom session mode field;
riginal) A robot calling system based on LoRa, the calling system comprising: a LoRa
gateway, at least one calling terminal, and a robot cluster, the at least one calling terminal and the
robot cluster establishing LoRa communication with the LoRa gateway;
wherein the calling terminal is configured to encapsulate and generate a robot call request
based on a custom serial communication protocol, and send the robot call request to the LoRa
gateway;
the LoRa gateway is configured to determine a target robot from the robot cluster in response
to the robot call request, and send a control instruction to the target robot; and
the target robot is configured to go to a location of the calling terminal in response to the
control instruction.
2. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the control
instruction comprises a unique identification of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further
configured to:
determine a map location of the calling terminal based on the unique identification of the
calling terminal; and
go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location.
3. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the control
instruction comprises a map location of the calling terminal, and the target robot is further
configured to:
go to the location of the calling terminal based on the map location;
wherein the map location is determined by the LoRa gateway based on a unique identification
of the calling terminal contained in the robot call request.
4. (Original) The robot calling system based on LoRa according to claim 1, wherein the custom
serial communication protocol comprises a custom session mode field;
Prosecution Insights