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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/12/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “…the control circuitry to:…” in line 5. It is suggested to amend the limitation to “…the control circuitry configured to:…”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the control circuitry includes circuitry to determine a liquid detection status based on multiple sensor measurements taken determine a liquid detection status based on sensor measurements performed…” It is suggested to amend the limitation to “the control circuitry includes circuitry to determine a liquid detection status based on multiple sensor measurements performed…”. Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 9-14 and 16-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meyer (US 2014/0000729 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 16 and 21, Meyer discloses a system and a method (e.g. Abstract), comprising:
a liquid sensor (e.g. Figs. 1 & 4A & [0137]: 30, 70) including first and second sensor electrodes (e.g. Fig. 4B: 71a, 71b);
control circuitry (e.g. Fig. 4A: 56) connected to the first and second sensor electrodes (e.g. [0177]);
a power source (e.g. Fig. 4A: 72, Paragraph 121) connected to the control circuitry; and
the control circuitry to:
alternately operate the system in a sleep state and an awake state (e.g. [0104]),
wherein the sleep state is a low power state relative to the awake state, and operating the system in the sleep state draws less current from the power source than operating the system in the awake state (e.g. [0142-0144]);
during operation in the awake state:
perform sensor measurements using the first and second sensor electrodes (e.g. [0131, 0146]);
transmit sensor data based on one or more sensor measurements (e.g. [0059, 0146, 0148]); and
transmit heartbeat signals indicating the system is operational (e.g. [0116]).
Regarding claims 2, 17 and 22, Meyer discloses the control circuitry to determine a liquid detection status based on at least one sensor measurement; and transmitting sensor data based on one or more sensor measurements comprises transmitting a liquid detection status signal indicating the determined liquid detection status (e.g. [0059, 0146, 0148]).
Regarding claims 3, 19 and 23, Meyer discloses transmitting sensor data based on one or more sensor measurements comprises transmitting sensor measurement data generated by the one or more sensor measurements (e.g. [0059, 0146]).
Regarding claims 4 and 18, Meyer discloses the control circuitry includes circuitry to determine a liquid detection status based on multiple sensor measurements performed during multiple instance of awake state operation (e.g. [0146]: leaking sensed for 5 seconds implies detection of leaking for multiple instants during that 5s).
Regarding claim 9, Meyer discloses the control circuitry comprises: a processor; and logic instructions stored in non-transitory computer-readable media and executable by the processor (e.g. [0063, 0102]).
Regarding claim 10, Meyer discloses the processor and the logic instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable media are embodied in a microcontroller (e.g. [0102]).
Regarding claim 11, Meyer discloses the power source comprises a voltage regulator to modify a voltage provided to the processor (e.g. [0121]).
Regarding claim 12, Meyer discloses the power source comprises a battery (e.g. Fig. 4A: 72).
Regarding claims 13 and 20, Meyer discloses the control circuitry comprises: a processor; and a watchdog timer to wake the processor at a defined frequency; and wherein the processor uses the watchdog timer to switch the system between the sleep state and the awake state at the defined frequency (e.g. [0182]: timer will wake up processing element about once a second).
Regarding claim 14, Meyer discloses the watchdog timer is provided on-chip with the processor (e.g. [0182]: internal watch crystal).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 2014/0000729 A1) in view of Kates (US 2006/0007008 A1).
Regarding claims 5-6, Meyer discloses transmit respective heartbeat signals (e.g. [0116]) and respective sensor measurements (e.g. [0059, 0146, 0148]).
Meyer fails to disclose the heartbeat signals are transmitted at a first frequency, and transmit respective sensor measurements at a second frequency lower than the first frequency.
However, Kates teaches it is known in the art to transmit signals at different frequencies to minimize interference (e.g. [0047-0049]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Meyer with teachings of Kates to transmit heartbeat signals and sensor measurements at different frequencies to minimize interference.
In addition, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to select either the heartbeat signals or the sensor measurement signals to be higher or lower frequencies so long they are different from each other to minimize interference since applicant does not provide any reasons why sensor measurement signals has to be lower than the heartbeat signal. And, it appears that there is only a finite number of solutions (i.e. either heartbeat signal is higher, lower or equal to the sensor measurement signals) to transmit different signals at different frequencies to avoid interference. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to select any suitable frequency to transmit different signals as taught by Meyer and Kates.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 2014/0000729 A1) in view of Miller et al. (US 2012/0218086 A1).
Regarding claims 7-8, Meyer discloses the control circuitry to operate the system over an operating period, including multiple instances of sleep state operation and multiple instances of awake state operation, with low power (e.g. [0102, 0119, 0138]: known in the art low power controller).
Meyer fails to disclose, but Miller teaches the control circuitry operates at an average power in a range of 1-10 µW, or below 2.0 µW (e.g. [0013, 0036]: sampling circuitry of a sensor consume significantly less power than processor that consumes 1 µW in a low-power state).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to utilize low power consuming circuitry as taught by Miller to sample detector data so as to reduce overall power consumption.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 2014/0000729 A1) in view of Paulus et al. (US 2020/0113556 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Meyer fails to disclose, but Paulus teaches the control circuitry to control the liquid sensor to reverse a polarity of the first and second sensor electrodes over time to reduce a corrosion of the first and second sensor electrodes (e.g. [0597]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Meyer with teachings of Paulus to apply polarity switching technique to electrodes of a measurement system so as to prevent corrosion effects damage the electrodes.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAM WAN MA whose telephone number is (571) 270-3693. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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/KAM WAN MA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2688