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 11/15/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by EP 3594913 (“Casamassima et al.”).
Regarding claim 1, Casamassima et al. discloses a method of proximity detection between a first device and a second device (fig. 5, devices portable unit 106 and based unit 104, [0002] proximity of the device to a vehicle), carried out by the first device, comprising:
collect a first information on exposure of the first device to electromagnetic waves, said first information including a first list of sources of electromagnetic waves exposed to the first device (a first device performs a scan of its surrounding environment and detects nearby wireless transmitters [0056] During a first iteration, the “next” message may be a first message following establishment of bidirectional wireless communication link 90. In this example, base unit 72 receives first message 92 from portable unit 74. At a block 168, the receiving unit measures a “next” RSSI value of the received message. Again, during a first iteration, the “next” RSSI value will be a first RSSI value of the first message);
receive a second information on exposure of the second device to electromagnetic waves exposed to the second device, said second information including a second list of sources of electromagnetic waves exposed to the second device (a second device performs a scan of its surrounding environment and detects nearby wireless transmitters [0057] At a block 174, the measured subsequent RSSI value is transmitted from the second unit to the first unit in a subsequent message. In the illustrated example, second RSSI value 98 is transmitted from portable unit 74 to base unit 72 in third message 100 via first bidirectional wireless communication link 90);
determine whether a level of overlap between the first and second lists meets a threshold amount (comparison of whether the devices are in the same environment based on a threshold of a characteristic [0058-0059] a difference value is computed between first and second RSSI values 94, 98. This difference is then compared with a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold may be a numerical range having a high and a low delineator. The difference value should fall within this numerical range thereby indicating that first and second RSSI values 94, 98 are very similar).
allow a secure communication between the first device and a second device when the level of overlap between the first and second lists meets the threshold amount ([0036] Bluetooth enables encrypted and secure communication between the two devices; [0028] the portable unit is referred to herein as key fob, a wallet card, a smartphone, controller, or any other wireless communication device configured to enable the control features of vehicle 26; [0030] upon authorization the control features are enabled).
Claim 8 recites a first device configured to be implemented in a system that includes the first device and a second device, the first device comprising: at least one processor configured to the method of claim 1. Claim 8 is rejected in view of Casamassima et al. for the same reasons discussed with respect to claim 1.
Claim 15 recites a non-transitory computer readable medium that stores a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a first device configured to be implemented in a system that includes the first device and a second device, cause the first device to execute the method of claim 1. Claim 15 is rejected in view of Casamassima et al. for the same reasons discussed with respect to claim 1.
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Casamassima et al. discloses the method of proximity detection of claim 1, wherein the level of overlap represents a level of similarity between the first information and the second information (comparing includes matching detected transmitter entries appearing in both lists [0050-0051]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 10-14 and 17-20 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 prior art does not specify the proximity detection as recited in claims 3, 5, 10, 12, 17 and 19. Claims 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 18 and 20 are dependent upon the above claims respectively and are allowable for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIRAPON TULOP whose telephone number is (571)270-7491. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, Ahmad Matar can be reached on 571-272-7488. 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.
/JIRAPON TULOP/Examiner, Art Unit 2693
Prosecution Insights