DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/19/2025. The submission 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 § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ono (US 2005/0059416 A1) in view of Monk et al. (US 2015/0288661 A1).
7. With reference to claim 1, Ono teaches A portable information device, comprising: a display; a communication interface configured to connect to a server through an apparatus; (“the present invention is an information providing system comprising a mobile terminal, one or more wireless access points capable of communicating with the mobile terminal via a wireless communication network in respective communicable areas, and an information providing server connected to the wireless access points via a network;” [0021] “As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system is configured to comprise a mobile terminal 10, wireless access points 20, 50 and 60, an information providing server 30, a network 40, a network charging server 70 and an information provision charging server 80.” [0073] “The mobile terminal 10 is an information processor capable of wireless communication and may be a portable terminal device such as a mobile phone, a personal handy-phone system (PHS), a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a notebook personal computer (PC). The mobile terminal 10 is operated by a mobile terminal user. The mobile terminal 10 is configured to have a control section 11, a wireless communication section 12, an information storage section 13, a display section 14 and an operation section 15. The control section 11 controls each portion of the mobile terminal 10, including the wireless communication section 12, the information storage section 13, the display section 14 and the operation section 15. The control section 11 may be configured to have a central processing unit (CPU) and an area for storing programs for causing the CPU to perform processings.” [0076-0078]) Ono also teaches an input interface configured to input an instruction from a user of the portable information device; a memory; (“se condition information input part for, when a mobile terminal requests acquisition of information content related to a communicable area of a wireless access point from equipment on the sending side of the information content and acquires the information content as a response to the request via a network, inputting information indicating condition of use of the network by the mobile terminal and the equipment on the sending side of the information content;” [0035] “The mobile terminal 10 is configured to have a control section 11, a wireless communication section 12, an information storage section 13, a display section 14 and an operation section 15.” [0077] “The information storage section 13 is a portion for storing various information and may be realized by an electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), for example.” [0080] “The operation section 15 is a portion for inputting information, which is configured by various key/switch groups.” [0082]) Ono further teaches a processor configured to: acquire, from apparatuses installed in a space where the portable information device is present, apparatus identification information for identifying the apparatuses; (“The mobile terminal 10 is an information processor capable of wireless communication and may be a portable terminal device such as a mobile phone, a personal handy-phone system (PHS), a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a notebook personal computer (PC).” [0076] “When the mobile terminal 10 moves from position P1 to position P2, wireless communication is established because the mobile terminal had entered the access point area (the communicable area), and the mobile terminal 10 is connected to the network 40. In this case, the display section 14 of the mobile terminal 10 shows screen display indicating that information content can be acquired.” [0121] “The network use condition information includes at least a network utilizing equipment ID for identifying equipment (such as the mobile terminal 10 and the information providing server 30) which utilized the network.” [0168] “information content related to the place where each wireless access point is installed and an SSID list are stored in the information storage section 33 of the information providing server 30 the same as in the Embodiment 1. … the SSID list is a table in which each SSID and address information indicating the storage location in the information providing server 30 of information content corresponding to each SSID are associated with each other.” [0202-0203] “the wireless communication section 23 of the wireless access point 20 broadcast delivers an SSID within the area of the access point 20 (step S401). The control section 11 of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not the SSID has been received by the wireless communication section 12 (step S402).” [0205-0206]) Ono teaches in a case that spatial configuration information obtained by mapping the space, which is necessary for displaying on the display, is not stored in the memory, send a request for the spatial configuration information to the server through the selected apparatus by the communication interface; (“the information provider creates the requested information content using an information processor and registers the created information content with the information providing server 30 connected via a network.” [0146] “If the mobile terminal 10 is located within the wireless access point area and it is determined that the SSID has been received (step S402: Yes), then the control section 11 refers to the access point list in the information storage section 13 and determines whether or not there exists an SSID associated with the received SSID in the access point list (step S403). If it is determined that there exists an SSID associated with the received SSID in the access point list (step S403: Yes), then the control section 11 extracts entry button screen information associated with the corresponding SSID from the information storage section 13 (step S404). Then, the display section 14 displays the extracted entry button screen information (step S405). Then, when the mobile terminal user operates the operation section 15 to select the entry button on the screen (step S406: Yes), the wireless communication section 12 sends a request to acquire information content to the address of the storage location of information content, which is shown in the address information associated with the entry button screen information (that is, the address referring to the inside of an information providing server) … if it is determined that there is no SSID associated with the received SSID in the access point list (step S403: No), then the control section 11 extracts default entry button screen information from the information storage section 13 (step S408). Then, the display section 14 displays the extracted default entry button screen information (step S409). Then, when the mobile terminal user operates the operation section 15 to select the entry button on the screen (step S410: Yes), the wireless communication section 12 sends a request to acquire information content to the address associated with the default entry button screen information (that is, to the information providing server 30) together with the SSID received from the wireless access point 20 (step S411). When the communication section 32 of the information providing server 30 receives the request to acquire information content from the mobile terminal 10 (step S412: Yes), the control section 31 determines whether or not the address information indicating the storage location of information content has been received by the communication section 32 together with the acquisition request (step S413).” [0207-0214]) Ono also teaches receive the spatial configuration information from the server in response to the request; (“When the communication section 32 of the information providing server 30 receives the request to acquire information content from the mobile terminal 10 (step S412: Yes), the control section 31 determines whether or not the address information indicating the storage location of information content has been received by the communication section 32 together with the acquisition request (step S413). If it is determined that the address information indicating the storage location of information content has been received together with the acquisition request (step S413: Yes), then the control section 31 extracts the information content specified by the address information from the information storage section 33 (step S414).”) [0214-0215] “Then, the control section 31 extracts appropriate information content from the information storage section 33 based on the detected address (step S416). Then, the communication section 32 delivers the extracted information content to the mobile terminal 10 (step S417).”[0217-0218]) Ono further teaches store the received spatial configuration information in the memory in association with the apparatus identification information of the selected apparatus. (“When the wireless communication section 12 of the mobile terminal 10 receives the delivered information content (step S418: Yes), the information storage section 13 stores the received information content. Then, the display section 14 displays the received information content (step S419). In this way, the mobile terminal user acquires information content specific to the wireless access point 20, within an access point area where he is located. Thus, it is possible for the terminal mobile user to easily acquire information about shops and the like in the neighborhood of the position he is currently located.” [0219-0220])
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Ono does not explicitly teach relay apparatus; select a relay apparatus used for a connection to the server from the relay apparatuses in accordance with the instruction from the user inputted by the input interface or a selection rule stored in the memory; acquire a password stored associated with the selected relay apparatus from the memory; connect to the selected relay apparatus using the acquired password; This is what Monk teaches (“the proxy server 130 requires that a user's authentication credentials be provided whenever a connection to a remote resource server 150 is established. To address this, the relay proxy 220 monitors network traffic received from applications 210 and inserts the user's authentication credentials (e.g., as stored in the authentication credentials storage 230) as required. In one embodiment, if the relay proxy 220 identifies a connection request to a resource server 150 originating from one of the applications 210, the relay proxy adds the current user's authentication credentials to the request. Thus, rather than users being required to provide authentication credentials separately to each application, and dealing with the corresponding data-management overhead, a user can just sign in to the relay proxy 220 (e.g., by providing a username and password) and all applications 210 on the user device 110 will then operate using that user's credentials.” [0027] “The relay proxy 220 inserts 430 authentication credentials into the request if required. In one embodiment, the relay proxy examines the request to determine whether authentication credentials are required. For example, if a connection is already active between the originating application 110 and the hosting resource server 150, authentication credentials might not need to be provided, depending in the configuration of the proxy server 130. If authentication credentials need to be inserted 430, the relay proxy 220 retrieves the required credentials from authentication credentials storage 230 and adds them to the request. In one embodiment, the relay proxy 220 initially sends the request without inserting 430 authentication credentials. If authentication credentials are required for the request, the proxy server 130 will reject the request and the relay proxy 220 will receive an authentication failed notification. In response, the relay proxy 220 inserts 430 the required authentication credentials and resends the request.” [0034] “The relay proxy 220 receives 440 a response from the proxy server 130 that includes the requested content that was retrieved from the resource server 150. The relay proxy 220 then forwards 450 the requested content item to the application 210 from which the request to access the content originated. The requested content can then be used by the application 210 to provide functionality to the end-user.” [0036]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Monk into Ono, in order to monitor network traffic and enforce network security policies.
8. With reference to claim 3, Ono teaches the apparatus is an access point of a wireless LAN. (“when a mobile terminal connects to an access point (for example, a wireless LAN access point) via wireless communication, information having content associated with the access point is provided to the mobile terminal.” [0066] “the wireless communication method used between the mobile terminal 10 and the wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 may be wireless LAN or may be any other wireless communication method.” [0075] “The wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 are communication apparatuses that function as connection points for connecting the mobile terminal 10 to the network 40. Each of the wireless access points is installed by an AP-installation-location business entity.” [0084])
Ono does not explicitly teach relay apparatus. This is what Monk teaches (“The relay proxy 220 executes on the user device 110 and provides a centralized mechanism by which applications 210 connect to the proxy server 130 (via the local network 120). When an application 210 requires access to a remote content item (e.g., a piece of content hosted on a resource server 150), the application sends a request identifying the content item to the relay proxy 220.” [0025]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Monk into Ono, in order to monitor network traffic and enforce network security policies.
9. With reference to claim 4, Ono teaches millimeter waves are used for communication between the communication interface and the apparatus. (“the wireless communication method used between the mobile terminal 10 and the wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 may be wireless LAN or may be any other wireless communication method.” [0075] “The wireless communication section 12 performs near-field wireless communication that does not require high-speed mobile communication, with the wireless access points 20, 50 and 60.” [0079] “The wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 are communication apparatuses that function as connection points for connecting the mobile terminal 10 to the network 40. Each of the wireless access points is installed by an AP-installation-location business entity.” [0084])
Ono does not explicitly teach relay apparatus. This is what Monk teaches (“The relay proxy 220 executes on the user device 110 and provides a centralized mechanism by which applications 210 connect to the proxy server 130 (via the local network 120). When an application 210 requires access to a remote content item (e.g., a piece of content hosted on a resource server 150), the application sends a request identifying the content item to the relay proxy 220.” [0025]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Monk into Ono, in order to monitor network traffic and enforce network security policies.
10. With reference to claim 5, Ono teaches the apparatus is a base station of mobile phones. (“This is a service by utilizing the fact that a server on a network grasps which base station area the mobile terminal belongs to, provide regional information within a base station area to a mobile terminal as a Web service.” [0004] “The mobile terminal 10 is an information processor capable of wireless communication and may be a portable terminal device such as a mobile phone, a personal handy-phone system (PHS), a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a notebook personal computer (PC).” [0076] “The wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 are communication apparatuses that function as connection points for connecting the mobile terminal 10 to the network 40. Each of the wireless access points is installed by an AP-installation-location business entity.” [0084])
Ono does not explicitly teach relay apparatus or a relay apparatus for a wired LAN. This is what Monk teaches (“The local network 120 connects the user devices 110A-N to the proxy server 130. The local network 120 is typically a LAN or WAN maintained by an organization and may be wired, wireless, or a combination of both.” [0017] “The relay proxy 220 executes on the user device 110 and provides a centralized mechanism by which applications 210 connect to the proxy server 130 (via the local network 120). When an application 210 requires access to a remote content item (e.g., a piece of content hosted on a resource server 150), the application sends a request identifying the content item to the relay proxy 220.” [0025]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Monk into Ono, in order to monitor network traffic and enforce network security policies.
11. With reference to claim 6, Ono teaches at least one of the apparatuses is installed in each of spaces delimited by a structure. (“In order to provide a user with information with content the user desires at a place he desires, an information provider designs an installation location of an access point on a network and sets a range within which connection to the wireless access point is possible, at an information providing server the information provider manages.” [0068] “the wireless communication method used between the mobile terminal 10 and the wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 may be wireless LAN or may be any other wireless communication method.” [0075] “The wireless access points 20, 50 and 60 are communication apparatuses that function as connection points for connecting the mobile terminal 10 to the network 40. Each of the wireless access points is installed by an AP-installation-location business entity.” [0084] “the ISP server is an information processor managed by a network business entity such as an ISP, and may be realized by a high-end PC such as a workstation, for example. Receiving a network connection request from a mobile terminal 10, the ISP server connects the mobile terminal 10 to the network 40.” [0111])
Ono does not explicitly teach relay apparatus. This is what Monk teaches (“The relay proxy 220 executes on the user device 110 and provides a centralized mechanism by which applications 210 connect to the proxy server 130 (via the local network 120). When an application 210 requires access to a remote content item (e.g., a piece of content hosted on a resource server 150), the application sends a request identifying the content item to the relay proxy 220.” [0025]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Monk into Ono, in order to monitor network traffic and enforce network security policies.
12. Claim 16 is similar in scope to claim 1, and thus is rejected under similar rationale. Ono additionally teaches An information processing system and display-related information (“As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system is configured to comprise a mobile terminal 10, wireless access points 20, 50 and 60, an information providing server 30, a network 40, a network charging server 70 and an information provision charging server 80.” [0073] “If the mobile terminal 10 is located within the wireless access point area and it is determined that the SSID has been received (step S402: Yes), then the control section 11 refers to the access point list in the information storage section 13 and determines whether or not there exists an SSID associated with the received SSID in the access point list (step S403). If it is determined that there exists an SSID associated with the received SSID in the access point list (step S403: Yes), then the control section 11 extracts entry button screen information associated with the corresponding SSID from the information storage section 13 (step S404). Then, the display section 14 displays the extracted entry button screen information (step S405)." [0207-0209])
12. Claim 16 is similar in scope to claim 1, and thus is rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
13. Claims 2, 7-15, 18 and 19 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 following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art of record fails to either individually or in combination teach the claimed feature of “in the case that the spatial configuration information is not received from the server, generate the spatial configuration information using the at least one of the camera and the range sensor, and store the generated spatial configuration information in the memory in association with the relay apparatus identification information of the selected relay apparatus.”
Claims 7-10 are also objected to for depending from claim 2.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art of record fails to either individually or in combination teach the claimed feature of “in the case that the spatial configuration information is received from the server, compare a resolution of the received spatial configuration information with the best resolution; in the case that the best resolution is higher than the resolution of the received spatial configuration information, generate the spatial configuration information at the best resolution using the at least one of the camera and the range sensor; store the generated spatial configuration information in the memory in association with the relay apparatus identification information of the selected relay apparatus;”
Claims 12-15 are also objected to for depending from claim 11.
Regarding claim 18, the prior art of record fails to either individually or in combination teach the claimed feature of “a server memory configured to store the display-related information of a space where the selected relay apparatus is installed, in association with the relay apparatus identification information of the selected relay apparatus; and a server processor configured to send the display-related information correspond to the received relay apparatus identification information to the portable information device in the case of receiving the request from the portable information device through the selected relay apparatus.”
Claim 19 is also objected to for depending from claim 18.
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michelle Chin whose telephone number is (571)270-3697. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Kent Chang can be reached on (571)272-7667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/MICHELLE CHIN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2614
Prosecution Insights