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
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fadell (US 2013/0173064).
As to claim 1, Fadell discloses a smart thermostat system comprising:
a thermostat head unit 1900; and
a thermostat backplate 2000 configured to be removably attached with the head unit 1900 (Fig. 19A), the backplate 2000 comprising:
a plurality of wire receptacles 2022 that receive a plurality of HVAC wires that are electrically connected with an HVAC system;
power circuitry that is configured to output power when a power wire is powered and the power wire and a control wire of the HVAC wires are connected with correct wire receptacles (Fig. 28; paragraphs 76 and 86-88); and
a light that illuminates using power output by the power circuitry (Fig. 28; paragraph 218).
As to claim 2, Fadell discloses an LED indicator light control (Fig. 28) and includes circuitry configured to disable illumination of the light (paragraph 248).
As to claim 3, Fadell discloses disabling the LED light when the head unit is attached to the thermostat backplate (paragraph 248).
As to claim 4, Fadell discloses a level 2082 on the backplate 2000 (Fig. 22A) and discloses that the LED is connected to the backplate MCU (paragraph 218), thus the LED is capable of illuminating the level 2082.
As to claims 5-6, Fadell discloses Rh, W, Rc, and Y wires (Fig. 29).
As to claim 7, Fadell discloses using a bridge rectifier (paragraph 184).
As to claim 8, Fadell discloses a buck converter (Fig. 28).
As to claim 9, Fadell discloses only the head unit 1900 having a battery (Fig. 28; paragraphs 174 and 242), and thus the backplate has no onboard battery.
As to claim 10, Fadell discloses outputting 24 V AC current via the power wire and the HVAC system comprises heating, cooling, or both (paragraphs 76 and 85).
As to claims 11-18, Fadell discloses most of the claimed limitations as discussed in the rejections above and additionally includes a backplate housing configured to be attached with a wall and removably attached with the head unit 1900 (Fig. 22A).
As to claims 19-20, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would nec-essarily perform the method claimed then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method it can be assumed the device will inherently perform the claimed process. Thus the method as claimed would necessarily result from the normal operation of the apparatus.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571)270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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