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 .
Per the 2019 (PEG) guidance, claim(s) 1-20 were reviewed for abstract idea. Claims 1-20 “fall within at least one of the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)”. Claim(s) 1 and 11 satisfy the subject matter eligibility requirement at step 2a prong 2, “practical application,” improvement of technology.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 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: It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Kaczmarz-Li-Yamaki-Wang and reduce to practice the claimed subject matter. Therefore, it is Examiner’s opinion that claims 4-6 and 14 shall be allowed.
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 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaczmarz, Kenneth A. et al. (US 2011/0074543 A1), and further in view of Li, Gang et al. (US 2020/0175637 A1).
Consider claim 1, Kaczmarz teaches, a method for controlling transmission and reception of one or more control signals associated with a plurality of lock devices of a door lock system, Kaczmarz teaches, “lock or access control systems, and more particularly to electronically controlled lock systems … relate to master-slave control for a plurality of electronic locks used in an electronic access control system, to inventory management using electronic locks” See ¶ 0002; Kaczmarz teaches, “the master electronic lock will send a control signal over a network directing one or more of the slave electronic locks to provide access to the enclosure, door, or drawer.” See ¶ 0108.
comprising:
receiving, from a server by a master lock device among the plurality of lock devices, operational data corresponding to the door lock system, Kaczmarz teaches, “a central server over an associated network, for uploading of inventory data to such central server, and for downloading operational data to each microprocessor based access control circuit.” See ¶ 0023, “master-slave control instructions can be input through the control panel on an individual electronic lock … through a central server connecting the plurality of electronic locks” See ¶ 0111,
wherein the operational data includes at least one of historical data associated with a past usage of the door lock system or data indicative of a user preference associated with the door lock system, Kaczmarz teaches, “access control system also may provide a data-logging feature. In other words, in some presently preferred embodiments, users have the ability to view and download various data associated with the electronic lock, including "audit trail" data, temperature data, and/or inventory data… the data containing the historical temperature record of the enclosure.” See ¶ 0066; Kaczmarz teaches, “The unit relatively quickly unlatches upon presentation of a valid access credential by the user: typically such as an entered PIN or electronic card. The control circuitry allows for a large number of different valid credentials to be used for access and has the ability to record each entry creating an "audit trail." Such "audit trail" may, for example, consist of the card or PIN number that gained access as well as the date and/or time of access.” See ¶ 0065. Kaczmarz teaches, “Electronics assembly 40 is configured to compare an entered PIN to its list of pre-programmed valid codes. If the code is determined to be valid, access is granted and the electronics assembly 40 turns on motor 200. The lock can be programmed … through a personal computer (PC) based program from a remote computing device directly connected to the lock or connected to the lock over a network.” See ¶ 0087;
controlling, by the master lock device, the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals associated with at least one slave lock device among the plurality of lock devices, “The master electronic lock sends a control signal over a network to the slave electronic lock directing the slave electronic lock to provide access or to provide secure storage to the enclosure secured by the slave electronic lock. The particular slave electronic locks controlled by the master electronic lock can be determined according to programmed instructions provided to the electronic access control system.” See ¶ 0106; “The master-slave control instructions can be input … through a central server connecting the plurality of electronic locks.” See ¶ 0111.
With respect to, obtaining, by the [[master, Kaczmarz teaches master lock]] lock device, real-time information including at least one of location information associated with the door lock system and real-time environmental condition information associated with the location information of the door lock system, in an analogous art, Li teaches, “heartbeat control system may include a server configured to divide an area that includes the shared bicycles into a plurality of parking zones based on a virtual map, obtain a usage state of each shared bicycle in each of the plurality of parking zones during a time period, and determine an off-peak period and a peak period of each of the plurality of parking zones.” See ¶ 008, Li teaches, “server may send the off-peak period and the peak period corresponding to the parking zone [i.e. location information] to the lock control device.” See ¶ 0010.
determining, by the [[master, Kaczmarz teaches master lock]] lock device, a peak time duration and an off-peak time duration corresponding to the door lock system based on the received operational data and obtained real-time information, in an analogous art, Li teaches, “control system may include a server configured to divide an area that includes the shared bicycles into a plurality of parking zones based on a virtual map, obtain a usage state of each shared bicycle in each of the plurality of parking zones during a time period, and determine an off-peak period and a peak period of each of the plurality of parking zones.” See ¶ 0008; and ]
controlling, by the [[master, Kaczmarz teaches master lock]] lock device, the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals associated with at least one [[slave, Kaczmarz teaches slave lock]] lock device among the plurality of lock devices based on the determined peak time duration and the determined off-peak time duration, Li teaches, “The lock control device 20 may include a network module 21 that is periodically actuated by the lock control device 20. Based on a parking zone of the shared bicycle, the lock control device 20 may obtain an off-peak period and a peak period corresponding to the parking zone. The lock control device 20 may extend an actuation frequency during the off-peak period.” See ¶ 0025, Li teaches, “The lock control device 20 may control the network module 21 to be periodically actuated in a normal frequency during the peak period, and appropriately extend an actuation frequency during the off-peak period. Preferably, the lock control device 20 may control the periodic actuation frequency of the network module 21 to be 5-10 minutes during the peak period, and control a periodic actuation frequency of the network module 21 to be 1-2 hours during the non-peak period.” See ¶ 0027.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the invention of Kaczmarz and include a peak time duration and an off-peak time duration for operating the lock as suggested by Li in an effort to determine whether the operation is taken place during the peak hour or off-peak hours.
Consider claim 11, a door lock system, comprising:
a server; and
a plurality of lock devices including a master lock device and at least one slave lock device, wherein the master lock device and the at least one slave lock device is communicably coupled to the server, the master lock device is configured to:
receive, from the server, operational data corresponding to the door lock system, wherein the operational data includes at least one of historical data associated with a past usage of the door lock system or data indicative of a user preference associated with the door lock system;
obtain real-time information including at least one of location information associated with the door lock system and real-time environmental condition information associated with the location information of the door lock system;
determine a peak time duration and an off-peak time duration corresponding to the door lock system based on the received operational data and obtained real-time information; and
control transmission and reception of one or more control signals associated with the at least one slave lock device based on the determined peak time duration and the determined off-peak time duration, See Rejection of claim 1.
Claim(s) 2-3, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaczmarz, Kenneth A. et al. (US 2011/0074543 A1), in view of Li, Gang et al. (US 2020/0175637 A1), and further in view of Yamaki, Sakura et al. (US 2024/0290151 A1).
Consider claim 2, the method of claim 1, wherein, the step of receiving the operational data from the server comprises:
transmitting, to the server by the master lock device (200/110), a request for the operational data corresponding to the door lock system, in an analogous art, Yamaki teaches, “in step S111, the terminal device 200 (communication antenna unit 220) transmits a proximity operation request to the authentication server 300 in response to operation of a screen or the like displayed on the display unit 230 by the user of the terminal device 200.” See ¶ 0113, and
receiving, by the master lock device, the operational data from the server in response to the transmitted request, Yamaki teaches, “In step S112, the authentication server 300 (communication unit 310) transmits a proximity operation response with respect to the proximity operation request from the terminal device 200 to the terminal device 200. The proximity operation response is a command that permits the user of the terminal device 200 to perform near field communication by bringing the terminal device 200 close to the non-mobile device 110 (port).” See ¶ 0114.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the invention of Kaczmarz and include a peak time duration and an off-peak time duration for operating the lock as suggested by Li in an effort to determine whether the operation is taken place during the peak hour or off-peak hours.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Kaczmarz-Li transmitting, to the server request for the operational data and receiving a response as suggested by Yamaki in an effort to determine the proper authentication and reservation for the lock.
Consider claim 3, the method of claim 2, wherein the request indicates a specific time duration for the operational data, Yamaki teaches, “In step S334, the terminal device 200 (communication unit 240) transmits, to the authentication server 300, moving distance information indicating a moving distance of the terminal device 200 acquired during the period from the time when the port authentication completion notification from the authentication server 300 is received to the time when the ACK response is received from the mobile device 120, as determination information.” See ¶ 0205, “it is grasped that the bicycle exists near the port on the basis of the moving distance of the user (terminal device 200) from the time related to the proximity operation with the port to the time related to the proximity operation with the bicycle.” See ¶ 0212.
Consider claim 12, the system of claim 11, wherein, to receive the operational data from the server, the master lock device is configured to: transmit, to the server, a request for the operational data corresponding to the door lock system; and receive, from the server, the operational data from the server in response to the transmitted request, See Rejection of claim 2.
Consider claim 13, the method of claim 11, wherein the request indicates a requirement of the operational data of a specific time duration, See Rejection of claim 3.
Claim(s) 7-10, and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaczmarz, Kenneth A. et al. (US 2011/0074543 A1), in view of Li, Gang et al. (US 2020/0175637 A1), and further in view of Wang, Zizi (US 2019/0263281 A1).
Consider claim 7, the method of claim 1, wherein the step of controlling the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals includes controlling at least one of a time and [[an intensity]] of transmission and reception of the one or more control signals by the at least one slave lock device during the determined off-peak time duration, in an analogous art, Wang teaches, “docking station comprises a connector for releasably connecting a motorised vehicle” See abstract, Wang teaches, “the electric scooters 108 are used by commuters regularly during peak working hours. During peak hours, the scooters are released and locked from the docking stations 126 at a higher frequency. For example, some of the returned electric scooters 108 may have a battery level of 50%, the likelihood of these electric scooters 108 being used again is high during peak hours and hence to commence charging for these electric scooters 108 is not necessary. However, during low peak hours and after hours, the option to retain the electric scooters 108 at the docking stations 126 to perform a full charge is realizable. The retention is made possible only if there were other available electric scooters 108 which are fully charged at other docking stations 126.” See ¶ 0131.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Kaczmarz-Li and controlling a time and frequency of the control signals to the lock based on the peak/off-peak hours as suggested by Wang in an effort to determine whether or not to authenticate the lock during the off-peak hours.
Consider claim 8, the method of claim 1, wherein the step of controlling the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals includes communication of control signals from the master lock device to the slave lock device occurring more frequently during peak time durations than during off-peak time durations, See Wang ¶ 0131.
Consider claim 9, the method of claim 8, wherein the master lock device communicates a schedule for communications to the slave lock device. Li teaches, “lock control device 20 may include a network module 21 that is periodically actuated by the lock control device 20. Based on a parking zone of the shared bicycle, the lock control device 20 may obtain an off-peak period and a peak period corresponding to the parking zone. The lock control device 20 may extend an actuation frequency during the off-peak period.” See ¶ 0025, nonetheless, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the prior art for the controlling lock to send a reservation schedule to the controlled lock.
Consider claim 10, the method of claim 8, wherein the master lock device communicates first parameters for communications to the slave lock device for use during the peak time durations, and second parameters for communications to the slave lock device during the off-peak time durations, Li teaches, “the lock control device may control a periodic actuation frequency of the network module to be 5-10 minutes during the peak period, and control a periodic actuation frequency of the network module to be 1-2 hours during the off-peak period.” See ¶ 0017.
Consider claim 15, the system claim 11, wherein to control the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals, the master lock device is configured to: control at least one of a time and an intensity of transmission and reception of the one or more control signals by the at least one slave lock device during the determined off-peak time duration, See Rejection of claim 7.
Consider claim 16, the system of claim 11, wherein the master lock device is configured to control the transmission and reception of the one or more control signals by communicating control signals to cause communication between the master lock device and the at least one slave lock device to occur more frequently during peak time durations than during off-peak time durations, See Rejection of claim 8.
Consider claim 17, the system of claim 16, wherein the master lock device is configured to communicate a schedule for communications to the slave lock device to thereby cause communication between the master lock device and the at least one slave lock device to occur more frequently during peak time durations than during off-peak time durations, See Rejection of claims 8 and 9.
Consider claim 18, the system of claim 16, where in the master lock device is configured to communicate first parameters for communications to the slave lock device for use during the peak time durations, and second parameters for communications to the slave lock device during the off-peak time durations, to thereby cause communication between the master lock device and the at least one slave lock device to occur more frequently during peak time durations than during off-peak time durations, See Rejection of claims 8 and 10.
Conclusion
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/Omer S Khan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686