DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the following communications: Application filed on 11/27/2024.
Claims 1-21 are presented for Examination. Claims 1, 8 and 15 are independent.
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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Alice Step 1: Claim 1 recites an apparatus/machine ("A wallbox mountable fan controller..."). Independent Claim 15 recites an article of manufacture ("A non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device..."). While Claims 1, 8, and 15 fall within statutory categories under 35 U.S.C. § 101, they fail Step 2 of the eligibility framework as set forth below.
Step 2A, Prong 1: Claims 1–21 recite features directed to an abstract idea falling within recognized groupings of abstract ideas (specifically mathematical concepts and/or certain methods of organizing human activity / generic data processing and conditional comparisons):Claims 1, 8, and 15 explicitly limitations reciting:Receiving data representative of measured humidity from a humidity sensor; Determining a threshold humidity value; Determining/comparing whether the measured humidity exceeds the threshold humidity value; and Causing power to be provided to a fan motor based on the comparison threshold determination and receipt of a sensor signal. The core concept of measuring a physical variable (humidity), comparing it mathematically against a defined threshold value, and logically outputting a signal to trigger a downstream switch/motor is a fundamental mathematical/data manipulation concept and a routine mental/logical process.
Step 2A, Prong 2 (Integration into a Practical Application): Prong 2: Assessment of Integration into a Practical Application. The claim limitations do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. The claims recite standard, high-level computer hardware and functional components at a high level of generality, including "control circuitry", "first sensor", "humidity sensor", "motor drive circuit", and "fan motor". The claims do not disclose or claim a specific technical improvement to the physical operation of fan control circuitry itself or an improvement to computer functionality; rather, generic control circuitry is instructed to perform generic data gathering, threshold comparison, and standard power delivery gating. Merely applying an abstract data manipulation algorithm on generic hardware components performing routine electrical control functions does not transform the judicial exception into a practical application (MPEP § 2106.04(d)).
Alice Step 2B (Significantly More): Inventive Concept ("Significantly More")Considered both individually and as an ordered combination, the additional elements in Claims 1–21 fail to recite "significantly more" than the abstract idea: The physical hardware components recited ("first sensor", "humidity sensor", "control circuitry", "motor drive circuit", "fan motor") are well-understood, routine, and conventional elements in the art of HVAC and fan control systems. The combination of receiving sensor inputs and controlling a motor drive circuit based on exceeding threshold values represents conventional logic long established in automated environmental control systems. Dependent claims 2–7, 9–14, and 16–21 merely add conventional sensor types (PIR occupancy sensor, vacancy sensor, RADAR sensor, temperature sensor) or standard time-of-day lookup steps, which are routine data-gathering techniques in the art and do not supply an inventive concept. Accordingly, Claims 1–21 are ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
Claim 1 recites limitations of "A wallbox mountable fan controller, comprising: a first sensor; a humidity sensor; and control circuitry coupled to the first sensor and to the humidity sensor...". But a review of the specification and drawings demonstrates that the disclosed embodiments situate the fan control device inside the base portion 114 of the ceiling fan 110 (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2A item 200A, paragraph [0018], and paragraph [0043]). Alternatively, the specification describes a remote-control device 120, a system controller 140, or a thermostat 130. Nowhere in the specification or drawings is there any written description support for a "wallbox mountable fan controller" that houses or integrates a first sensor (such as an optical, PIR, or RADAR sensor) and a humidity sensor inside a wallbox structure mounted on a room wall. Because the specification lacks support for integrating such sensing components into a physical wallbox-mounted box, one of ordinary skill in the art would not recognize the applicant as having been in possession of a "wallbox mountable fan controller" as broadly claimed in Claim 1 (and dependent claims 2–7).
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5, 6, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 5, 6, 12, and 19: Claim 5 recites "wherein the sensor comprises a RADAR sensor". Claim 6 recites "wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor". Claim 12 recites "by the RADAR sensor". Claim 19 recites "by the RADAR sensor". Claims 1, 8, and 15 recite "a first sensor". Claims 5, 6, 12, and 19 lack antecedent basis for "the sensor" (the claims should properly refer to "the first sensor").
Claim 7 recites "wherein to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event..." Claim 7 depends directly on Claim 1. However, claim 1 contains no limitation reciting "an event" or "the occurrence of an event". (Note: "an occurrence of an event" is introduced in Claim 2 but Claim 7 does not depend on Claim 2). Thus, Claim 7 lacks antecedent basis for "the occurrence of the event".
Claims 4, 11, and 18: Claim 4 recites "wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of an absence one or more occupants in the space by the vacancy sensor." Claims 11 and 18 recite identical language ("detection of an absence one or more occupants..."). The omission of the preposition "of" between "absence" and "one" renders the claim scope grammatically incomplete and unclear.3. Mixed Statutory Forms and Unclear Scope (MPEP § 2173.05(e))Claim 15:Claim 15 is drafted as an article of manufacture claim ("A non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device..."), but recites conflicting grammatical structures in its executable clause: "...causes the fan motor control circuitry to: receive a signal...; receive a signal...; determine a threshold...; determining, fan motor control circuitry, whether...; and causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, an operatively coupled motor drive circuit..." The improper shift from infinitive verbs ("receive", "determine") to active participle clauses ("determining, fan motor control circuitry...", "causing, by the fan motor control circuitry...") coupled with repeating the actor ("fan motor control circuitry") creates confusion as to whether Claim 15 is defining machine-executable instruction code or direct method steps performed by hardware, rendering the claim scope indefinite.
Appropriate correction is requested.
Since the independent claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and hence the dependent claims of 1 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
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 1-4,6,8-11,13,15-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fedell et al (US 20140266669).
Regarding independent claim 1, Fedell et al disclose that a wallbox mountable fan controller (Fig.4A: wall switch, [0203]; smart wall plug 110), comprising:
a first sensor ([0146]);
a humidity sensor ([0148], and Fig.4A: 428); and
control circuitry (Fig.4A:412,410) coupled to the first sensor and to the humidity sensor, the control circuitry to:
receive a signal from the humidity sensor, the signal including data representative of a measured humidity in a space ([0147]);
determine a threshold humidity value;
determine whether the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value; and
cause a motor drive circuit ([0030]) to provide power to an operatively coupled fan motor responsive to:
the determination that the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value; and
receipt of an output signal from the first sensor ([0232] and Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 2, Fedell et al disclose that wherein to cause the motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal from the first sensor, the control circuitry to further:
cause the motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the first sensor, wherein the output signal includes information indicative of a detection, by the first sensor of an occurrence of an event in space (Fig.3).
Regarding claim 3, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the first sensor comprises an occupancy sensor; and
wherein to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event, the control circuitry to further:
cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the occupancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of a presence of one or more occupants in the space by the occupancy sensor ([0146]).
Regarding claim 4, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the first sensor comprises a vacancy sensor; and
wherein to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event, the control circuitry to further:
cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the vacancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of an absence one or more occupants in the space by the vacancy sensor (Fig.4A and [0146]).
Regarding claim 6, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor([0039]); and
wherein the control circuitry to further:
determine a threshold temperature value; and
wherein to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event, the control circuitry to further:
cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the temperature sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes a determination that the temperature in the space exceeds the threshold temperature value ([0054]).
Regarding independent claim 8, Fedell et al disclose that a fan control method (Fig.4A: wall switch, [0203]; smart wall plug 110), comprising:
receiving, by fan motor control circuitry, a signal from an operatively coupled first sensor([0146]);
receiving, by the fan motor control circuitry, a signal from an operatively coupled humidity sensor, wherein the signal includes data representative of a measured humidity in a space ([0148], and Fig.4A: 428);
determining, fan motor control circuitry (Fig.4A:412,410), a threshold humidity value;
determining, fan motor control circuitry, whether the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value ([0147]); and
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, an operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide power to an operatively coupled fan motor responsive to:
the determination that the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value; and
receipt of an output signal from the operatively coupled first sensor ([0232] and Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 9, Fedell et al disclose that wherein causing the motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal from the operatively coupled first sensor, further comprises:
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the operatively coupled first sensor, wherein the output signal includes information indicative of a detection, by the first sensor of an occurrence of an event in the space(Fig.3).
Regarding claim 10, Fedell et al disclose that wherein causing the motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event further comprises:
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled occupancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of a presence of one or more occupants in the space by the occupancy sensor ([0146]).
Regarding claim 11, Fedell et al disclose that wherein causing the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event further comprises:
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled vacancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of an absence one or more occupants in the space by the vacancy sensor (Fig.4A and [0146]).
Regarding claim 13, Fedell et al disclose that further comprising:
determining, by the fan motor control circuitry, a threshold temperature value;
wherein causing the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event further comprises:
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled temperature sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes a determination that the temperature in the space exceeds the threshold temperature value([0054]).
Regarding independent claim 15, Fedell et al discloses that a non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device that includes instructions that, when executed by fan motor control circuitry(Fig.4A : wall switch, [0203]; smart wall plug 110), causes the fan motor control circuitry to:
receive a signal from an operatively coupled first sensor ([0146]);
receive a signal from an operatively coupled humidity sensor, wherein the signal includes data representative of a measured humidity in a space ([0148], and Fig.4A: 428);
determine a threshold humidity value;
determining, fan motor control circuitry, whether the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value ([0147]) ; and
causing, by the fan motor control circuitry, an operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide power to an operatively coupled fan motor responsive to:
the determination that the measured humidity in the space exceeds the threshold humidity value; and
receipt of an output signal from the operatively coupled first sensor([0232] and Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 16, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the instructions that cause the fan motor control circuitry to cause the motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal from the operatively coupled first sensor, cause the fan motor control circuitry to further:
cause the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by the operatively coupled first sensor, wherein the output signal includes information indicative of a detection, by the first sensor of an occurrence of an event in the space (Fig.3).
Regarding claim 17, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the instructions that cause the fan motor control circuitry to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal from the operatively coupled first sensor, further cause the fan motor control circuitry to:
cause the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled occupancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of a presence of one or more occupants in the space by the occupancy sensor (([0146]).)
Regarding claim 18, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the instructions that cause the fan motor control circuitry to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event, further cause the fan motor control circuitry to:
cause the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled vacancy sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes detection of an absence one or more occupants in the space by the vacancy sensor(Fig.4A and [0146]).
Regarding claim 20, Fedell et al disclose that wherein the instructions, when executed by the fan motor control circuitry, causes the fan motor control circuitry to further:
determine a threshold temperature value; and
wherein the instructions that cause the fan motor control circuitry to cause the motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the occurrence of the event further cause the fan motor control circuitry to:
cause the operatively coupled motor drive circuit to provide the power to the operatively coupled fan motor responsive to the receipt of the output signal generated by an operatively coupled temperature sensor, wherein the occurrence of the event includes a determination that the temperature in the space exceeds the threshold temperature value([0054]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5,7,12,14, 19 and 21 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUHAMMAD S ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8439. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am to 6:00pm.
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/MUHAMMAD S ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
