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)(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) 1-8, 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tai (pub #US 20230367584 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tai discloses a method (method of operating the system in figure 3, details of method shown in figures 4 and 5) comprising: identifying a gateway device (gateway 303, figure 3) in a physical structure (building 301, paragraph 67); transmitting configuration data (updates to firmware of the devices, paragraph 66) to the gateway device using message queuing telemetry transport (using MQTT protocol, paragraph 70), the configuration data comprising information about a set of devices (devices in figure 3, some examples in paragraph 72, such as light, temperature components) that are located in the physical structure (located inside the building 301, shown in figure 3); receiving, from the gateway device, status data corresponding to the set of devices (access device information, such as model, component, grouping, version information, paragraph 75); generating control data associated with the set of devices (validated updates, paragraph 75), the control data being used to modify operation of each device in the set of devices (updates to firmware, paragraph 75); transmitting the control data to the gateway device using MQTT (communicate through the gateway with MQTT, paragraph 70); and receiving an indication from the gateway device that the status data associated with the set of devices is modified using the control data (handshake throughout the update process, including progress messages, and confirmation upon successful completion of the an installation, paragraph 76).
Regarding claim 2, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: causing display of the status data and the control data on a graphical user interface of a computing device (offering one or more firmware updates to a user via a user interface, paragraph 9; user interface includes touch screen and display, paragraph 55).
Regarding claim 3, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each device in the set of devices is an IoT device (Internet of Things, paragraph 70; devices in a building or facility, paragraph 67).
Regarding claim 4, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the control data is generated based on user- generated control strategies (administrative user to monitor and select time to perform the distribution and installation of updates to devices, paragraph 66).
Regarding claim 5, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the configuration data is remotely transmitted to the gateway device from a location different than the physical structure (can be operated by users outside the facility via the network infrastructure, paragraph 47; “The master controller may be disposed in the facility, or external to the facility. The master controller may be disposed in the cloud or operatively coupled to the cloud.”, paragraph 55).
Regarding claim 6, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the control data is automatically generated based on an analysis of historical status data (based on previously populated list of component information, paragraph 75; administrative user may be automated by a program or robot, paragraph 66).
Regarding claim 7, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein receiving the status data further comprises: receiving a set of MQTT payloads from the gateway device, each MQTT payload in the set of MQTT payloads describing device information of each device in the set of devices (MQTT protocol, paragraph 70; device identifies the sender, receiver, IP address, etc… as specified in the protocol).
Regarding claim 7, the above reference(s) discloses the method of claim 7, wherein for each device, the device information comprises a communication protocol associated with the device (various protocols, paragraph 70).
Regarding claims 16-20, examiner notes that these claims are substantially similar to claims 1, 3-6. The same grounds of rejection are applied.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT C SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-2675. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 12-8:30 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, Idriss Alrobaye can be reached at (571) 270-1023. 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.
/SCOTT C SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2181