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 § 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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Igarashi (Pub. No.: 2015/0289346 A1) in view of Herman (Pub. No.: 2022/0309905 A1) and Collins (Pub. No.: 2010/0079288 A1).
1) In regard to claim 1, Igarashi discloses the claimed air-conditioning system (fig, 1 and ¶0138) comprising:
an air conditioner configured to perform adjustment of a temperature of a predetermined space (¶0138);
a communication unit configured to perform wireless communication (fig. 1: 320);
one or more wireless tags configured to perform wireless communication and temperature measurement, the one or more wireless tags being configured to be supplied with electric power through the wireless communication (fig. 1: 310 and ¶0141); and
a control unit configured to control the air-conditioning system (fig. 1: 400 and ¶0140).
Igarashi does not explicitly disclose the one or more wireless tags are located in an object on which a person is to be seated or lie in the space, and the control unit is configured to cause the air conditioner to perform the adjustment of the temperature of the space on a basis of a first temperature in a case where at least one of a strength of a signal received from one of the one or more wireless tags by the communication unit through the wireless communication or response time of the wireless communication between one of the one or more wireless tags and the communication unit has changed, the first temperature being measured by the one of the one or more wireless tags and acquired via the communication unit.
However, Herman discloses it has been known for one or more wireless tags are located in an object on which a person is to be seated or lie in the space (¶0203).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was filed to locate the tags of Igarashi in a place a person is seated or lie, as taught by Herman.
One skilled in the art would be motivated to modify Igarashi as described above in order to monitor the temperature and humidity of a particular room, as taught by Herman (¶0203).
In addition, Collins discloses it has been known for a control unit to be configured to cause a device to perform an adjustment on a basis of a first temperature in a case where at least one of a strength of a signal received from one of the one or more wireless tags by the communication unit through the wireless communication or response time of the wireless communication between one of the one or more wireless tags and the communication unit has changed, the first temperature being measured by the one of the one or more wireless tags and acquired via the communication unit (¶0041-¶0044).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was filed to allow the control unit of Igarashi to determine a temperature change based on a signal strength of a tag, as taught by Collins.
One skilled in the art would be motivated to modify Igarashi as described above in order to detect temperature change without the use of a continuous power source or additional circuitry in a cost-effective manner, as taught by Collins (¶0003).
2) In regard to claim 2 (dependent on claim 1), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein
the control unit is configured to:
control the adjustment of the temperature of the space on the basis of the first temperature in a case where the strength of the signal falls within a predetermined first range; and acquire a second temperature at a predetermined position distant from the object and control the adjustment of the temperature of the space on a basis of the second temperature in a case where the strength of the signal falls within a second range higher in strength than the first range (Collins ¶0044).
3) In regard to claim 3 (dependent on claim 2), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 2, wherein
the object is a chair, and one of the one or more wireless tags is located on a seating surface of the chair (Igarashi fig. 1 shows a chair and Herman ¶0203 discloses a bed, it’s clear to one of ordinary skill in the art the object the tag is attached to may be a chair).
4) In regard to claim 4 (dependent on claim 3), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 3, wherein
the one or more wireless tags include a first wireless tag and a second wireless tag, the first wireless tag is located on the seating surface of the chair, and the second wireless tag is located in the chair at a position other than the seating surface (Collins ¶0041-¶0044 discloses two wireless tags).
5) In regard to claim 5 (dependent on claim 3), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 3, wherein
the one or more wireless tags include only a first wireless tag, and the first wireless tag is located on the seating surface of the chair (Igarashi fig. 1 shows a chair and Herman ¶0203 discloses a bed, it’s clear to one of ordinary skill in the art the object the tag is attached to may be a chair).
6) In regard to claim 6 (dependent on claim 4), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 4, wherein
the first wireless tag is located in a first region out of the first region on the seating surface and a second region surrounding the first region, and the second region is in a shape along an outline of the seating surface (Igarashi fig. 1 shows a chair and Herman ¶0203 discloses a bed, it’s clear to one of ordinary skill in the art the object the tag is attached to may be a chair).
7) In regard to claim 7 (dependent on claim 1), Igarashi, Herman and Collins further disclose the air-conditioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor connected to the control unit, the temperature sensor being configured to measure a temperature of the space, wherein the control unit is configured to acquire the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and control the adjustment of the temperature of the space on a basis of the temperature measured by the temperature sensor in a case where no change in the at least one of the strength of the signal or the response time has been detected (Igarashi ¶0141 discloses the tag changes the temperature of the space, and Collins ¶0044 discloses the signal strength may be used to detect a temperature change).
Conclusion
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/CURTIS J KING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685