DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-11 filed May 27th 2026 are pending in the current 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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9-11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1, 3-6, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spors et al. (US2020/0224901) in view of Yamada et al. (US2016/0161960) in view of Takasaki et al. (US2009/0009368)
Consider claim 1, where Spors teaches a touch input apparatus comprising: touch panel circuitry including a plurality of keys corresponding to operation types different from each other; (See Spors Figs 9, 10 and ¶103, 112 where display 830 may include a touch-sensitive panel layered on top of an electronic visual display. Menu icon 1060 may be selected to open a menu dialog to allow for local configuration of sensor device 800 as described in detail below. Down icon 1062 may be selected to provide input to sensor device 800. For example, a user may select down icon 1062 to decrease a temperature set point displayed as the primary display by one degree (e.g., 70° F. to 69° F.). Up icon 1064 may be selected to further provide input to sensor device 800.) display including a figure display that displays a figure corresponding to each of the plurality of keys; (See Spors Fig. 10 and ¶106-112 where the display may include secondary humidity icon 1012, secondary CO.sub.2 icon 1014, secondary set point icon 1016, secondary Fahrenheit icon 1018, and secondary Celsius icon 1020 positioned above fixed segment numerals 1002. The values may be modified using the menu icon 1060, down icon 1062, up icon 1064, and fan icon 1066. ) and processing circuitry to determine whether or not key input is invalid in a case where any one of the plurality of keys is pressed, (See Spors ¶70 where there is a determination of what the allowable set point adjustment range is), wherein the figure display is disposed above and adjacent to the touch panel circuitry, the plurality of keys are disposed in a left-right direction, and the figure corresponding to each of the plurality of keys is disposed above each of the plurality of keys. (See Spors Figs 9, 10 and ¶103, 112 where display 830 may include a touch-sensitive panel layered on top of an electronic visual display; Display 830 can include menu icon 1060, down icon 1062, up icon 1064, and fan icon 1066 arranged in a row from left to right.)
Spors teaches an allowable adjustment range, however Spors does not explicitly teach display the figure corresponding to the pressed key in a display form different between a case where the key input is invalid and a case where the key input is valid. However, in an analogous field of endeavor Yamada teaches display the figure corresponding to the pressed key in a display form different between a case where the key input is invalid and a case where the key input is valid.(See Yamada Fig. 21 and ¶330-334 where the indication for determination 234 and the indication for determination 235 have different forms. This allows the user to know whether or not a difference between an upper limit temperature and a lower limit temperature in a display row is equal to or larger than the range threshold value on the basis of an indication for determination. In other words, presenting a smiley face when the temperature value is within a valid temperature range and presenting a frowny face when the temperature value is outside the valid temperature range) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the display of Spors to provide an indication when the temperature is outside of an allowable range as taught by Yamada. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the modification for the advantage of/benefit of providing better user feedback.
Spors teaches touch inputs on input keys, however Spors does not explicitly teach when two or more of the plurality of keys are simultaneously pressed, the processing circuitry is configured to: determine which key of the two or more of the plurality of keys has a largest area that is touched, and determine that the key input from the key of the two or more of the plurality of keys that has the largest area that is touched is valid. However, in an analogous field of endeavor Takasaki teaches when two or more of the plurality of keys are simultaneously pressed, the processing circuitry is configured to: determine which key of the two or more of the plurality of keys has a largest area that is touched, and determine that the key input from the key of the two or more of the plurality of keys that has the largest area that is touched is valid. (See Takasaki Fig. 15 and ¶133 where since much information is provided on the input key 9, it is conceivable that the larger a touched area is, a users' finger may touch across adjacent sections. The selection unit 72 calculates an area of section touched and selects information which is corresponded with a section having the largest area as input information. The information selected in this manner is stored in the selected information storage unit 73 and displayed on the display unit 7. Since the section to which is assigned, among the sections 10 to which and are respectively assigned, is the section having the largest touched area, the character is displayed on the display unit 7.) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the key selection of Spors with the area selection of Takasaki. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the modification for the advantage of/ benefit of using known methods of key selection when a user’s finger overlaps adjacent buttons.
Consider claim 3, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys include a key that increases a set value and a key that decreases the set value, and the figure corresponding to the key that increases the set value is a figure that faces upward, (See Spors Fig. 10 and ¶112 where for example, a user may select up icon 1064 to increase a temperature set point displayed as the primary display by one degree (e.g., 69° F. to 70° F.).and the figure corresponding to the key that decreases the set value is a figure that faces downward. (See Spors Fig. 10 and ¶112 where for example, a user may select down icon 1062 to decrease a temperature set point displayed as the primary display by one degree (e.g., 70° F. to 69° F.).)
Consider claim 4, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys include a key that increases a set value and a key that decreases the set value, the display includes a character image display that displays a character and an image, and in a case where the key that increases the set value is pressed, the processing circuitry displays an image corresponding to the key that increases the set value in the character image display , (See Spors Fig. 10 and ¶112 where for example, a user may select up icon 1064 to increase a temperature set point displayed as the primary display by one degree (e.g., 69° F. to 70° F.). and in a case where the key that decreases the set value is pressed, the processing circuitry displays an image corresponding to the key that decreases the set value in the character image display . (See Spors Fig. 10 and ¶112 where for example, a user may select down icon 1062 to decrease a temperature set point displayed as the primary display by one degree (e.g., 70° F. to 69° F.).)
Consider claim 5, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of the figures is less than the number of the plurality of keys, and two or more of the plurality of keys are associated with at least one of the figures. (See Spors ¶111 where In some embodiments, status icons 1032-1044 are touch selectable to generate further action. For example, a user may touch flashing system connection status icon 1036 to produce a diagnostic dialog describing a connection error. In some embodiments, a user can configure display 830 to hide status icons 1032-1044. Thus, the hidden icons are not presented and the number of presented icons is less than the number of selectable icons))
Consider claim 6, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of a display form in a case where the key input is invalid and a display form in a case where the key input is valid is lighting, and another one is blinking. (See Spors ¶112, 115, 70 where in some embodiments, display 830 may alter the appearance of a display parameter to indicate the fidelity of the parameter. For example, display 830 may flash a temperature measurement to indicate that the temperature measurement may be faulty due to an error with a temperature sensor providing the measurement.)
Consider claim 10, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys are keys corresponding to operation types related to a hot water supply operation. (See Spors ¶39-44 where the system controls operation from a hot thermal energy storage (TES) subplant 210, and a cold thermal energy storage (TES) subplant 212)
Consider claim 11, where Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, provided in a remote controller connected to a water heater. (See Spors ¶39-44, 56 where each of subplants 202-212 can include a variety of equipment configured to facilitate the functions of the subplant. For example, heater subplant 202 is shown to include a plurality of heating elements 220 (e.g., boilers, electric heaters, etc.), where the interface may be remote)
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of Ebrom et al. (US2008/0104212)
Consider claim 7, where Spors in view of Yamada teaches touch input apparatus according to
claim 1, however, they do not explicitly teach wherein in a case where at least any one of the plurality of keys is pressed for a long time, the processing circuitry determines that the key input is invalid. However, in an analogous field of endeavor Ebrom teaches in a case where at least any one of the plurality of keys is pressed for a long time, the processing circuitry determines that the key input is invalid. (See Ebrom ¶204 where 10 UNSUP_BOUND_CMD_IN- The bounded command was not fully COMPLETE received before a specified timeout, so it was not fully executed. Thereby providing an error code for an incomplete command by timing out) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art that the valid and invalid commands processed by Spors and Yamada would include input errors such as timing out as taught by Ebrom. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the modification for the advantage of/ benefit of catching errors to reduce unpredictable behavior by the system.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spors in view of Yamada in view of Takasaki as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of Sinha et al. (US2019/0145648)
Consider claim 9, where Spors in view of Yamada teaches the touch input apparatus according to claim 1, where the display flashes to show an error. (See Spors ¶111 where system connection icon 1036 may flash to show a system connection error.) however they do not explicitly teach wherein the display includes a light emitting diode for anomaly display, and in a case where the key input is invalid, the processing circuitry lights the light emitting diode. However, in an analogous field of endeavor Sinha teaches wherein the display includes a light emitting diode for anomaly display, and in a case where the key input is invalid. (See Sinha ¶485-487 where the halo LED system 7508 may slowly blink (or linearly, exponentially, etc. vary intensity) at a particular color (e.g., green, blue, etc.) and/or turn on constantly at the particular color to indicate that a user has a message, notification, or otherwise that the control device 214 requires their input) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invalid input of Spors in view of Yamada to be constructed of a blinking LED as taught by Sinha. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the modification for the advantage of/ benefit of using other known methods to alerting the user.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM LU whose telephone number is (571)270-1809. The examiner can normally be reached 10am-6:30pm.
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WILLIAM LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2624
/WILLIAM LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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