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 .
Drawings
The drawings filed on 07/08/2025 are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 3 and 4 recite the limitation "a first device, a first command". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 5 recites the limitation "whether to feed back code information". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 6 recites the limitation "whether identity information". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 9 recites the limitation "whether to feed back code information". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 14 recites the limitation "a second device, a first command". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0376704 to Lu et al.
With regard to claim 1, Lu discloses an inventory processing method, comprising:
receiving, by a first device, a first command, wherein the first command is used for inventory and obtaining code information of a target device (paragraphs 11, 13, and 20, In some embodiments, it is assumed that the third signaling is “Query” in a tag inventory process, and the first identity information is an RN16 in the inventory process. After receiving an ACK sent by a reader. The second device sends the first signaling to the first device); and
determining, by the first device according to the first command, whether to feed back code information of the first device (paragraphs 11,13, and 20, the first device may determine, based on an inventory identifier included in signaling sent by a reader, whether the signaling matches a current ongoing inventory process of the first device).
With regard to claim 2, Lu discloses the first command indicates at least one of the following: identity information of the target device; or inventory-related indication information (paragraphs 12 and 13).
With regard to claim 3, Lu discloses before the receiving, by a first device, a first command, the method further comprises: receiving, by the first device, a second command, wherein the second command indicates an inventory mode, wherein the inventory mode comprises a two-step inventory mode and a four-step inventory mode (paragraph 54, A reader sends select signaling (Select) to a tag, where “Select” is used to select a subset of the tag. ).
With regard to claim 4, Lu discloses the receiving, by a first device, a first command comprises: receiving, by the first device, the first command in a case that the second command indicates that the inventory mode is the two-step inventory mode (paragraph 55, The reader sends query signaling (Query) to the tag, where “Query” is used to select one session from a plurality of sessions, and select a tag that matches an inventoried flag in the session. Then, the inventory process is initialized. ).
With regard to claim 5, Lu discloses the determining, by the first device according to the first command, whether to feed back code information of the first device comprises: determining, by the first device in a case that the first command comprises the identity information of the target device, whether identity information of the first device matches the identity information of the target device (paragraph 20, the second device sends the first signaling to the first device, where the first signaling includes the first inventory identifier. The first device determines, based on the first signaling, that the first inventory identifier is the same as a second inventory identifier); and feeding back, by the first device, the code information of the first device in a case that the identity information of the first device matches the identity information of the target device (paragraph 20, Then, the second device receives the second identity information sent by the first device. ).
With regard to claim 6, Lu discloses the determining, by the first device in a case that the first command comprises the identity information of the target device, whether identity information of the first device matches the identity information of the target device comprises: ignoring, by the first device, the inventory-related indication information, and determining whether the identity information of the first device matches the identity information of the target device (paragraphs 11 and 13).
With regard to claim 7, Lu discloses the method further comprises: in a case that the identity information of the first device does not match the identity information of the target device, at least one of the following is performed: the first device does not feed back the code information of the first device; a slot counter of the first device is not decreased; or the slot counter of the first device is reset (paragraph 91, Further, the target tag may ignore the ACK, and does not perform state transition or any action, for example, does not send the EPC to the target reader).
With regard to claim 8, Lu discloses the first device maintains a current state or changes to an arbitrate state in the case that the identity information of the first device does not match the identity information of the target device (paragraph 97, Further, the target tag may ignore the NAK, and maintain an original state rather than transition to the arbitrate state.).
With regard to claim 9, Lu discloses the determining, by the first device according to the first command, whether to feed back code information of the first device comprises: feeding back, by the first device, the code information of the first device in a case that the first command does not comprise the identity information of the target device and a slot counter of the first device is equal to a first value (paragraph 56, After the tag receives the query signaling, if the tag determines that counter=0, the tag selects a 16-bit random number as the RN16, and feeds back the RN16 to the reader.).
With regard to claim 10, Lu discloses the method further comprises: switching, by the first device, to an acknowledged state (paragraph 107, For example, after the tag 1 in the inventory process 1 feeds back the EPC, the inventory is completed. At this time, the tag 1 is in an acknowledged state.).
With regard to claim 11, Lu discloses the feeding back, by the first device, the code information of the first device comprises: feeding back, by the first device, the code information of the first device based on reception of a continuous wave (paragraph 78, In this application, according to an RFID protocol, the reader performs continuous transmission over a forward link, sends an excitation signal waveform continuous wave (Continuous Wave, CW), or sends RFID signaling (such as Query or QueryRep).).
With regard to claim 12, Lu discloses an inventory processing method, comprising: sending, by a second device, a first command, wherein the first command is used for inventory and obtaining code information of a target device (paragraphs 11, 13, and 20, the second device sends the first signaling to the first device).
With regard to claim 13, Lu discloses the first command comprises at least one of the following: identity information of the target device; or inventory-related indication information (paragraphs 12 and 13).
With regard to claim 14, Lu discloses after the sending, by a second device, a first command, the method further comprises: receiving, by the second device, the code information fed back by the target device; and/or wherein before the sending, by a second device, a first command, the method further comprises: sending, by the second device, a second command, wherein the second command indicates an inventory mode (paragraphs 54-55).
With regard to claim 15, Lu discloses the method further comprises: in a case that the second device fails to receive the code information of the target device, sending, by the second device, at least one of the following: a second command, wherein the second command indicates an inventory mode and the indicated inventory mode is a four-step inventory mode; or a third command, wherein the third command is a select command or a query command; or, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the second device, a continuous wave within a specific time interval since sending the first command (paragraphs 59 and 66, If the reader determines that the EPC sent by the tag is valid, the reader sends query-type signaling (QueryRep or QueryAdjust) to the tag. T4 is a time interval between a time point when the reader finishes sending a piece of signaling and a time point when a next piece of signaling is started (the tag does not feed back signaling during the time interval).).
With regard to claim 16, Lu discloses an inventory processing method, comprising: receiving, by a third device, code information fed back by a target device, wherein the target device is a first device that receives a first command and confirms to feed back code information of the first device, and the first command is used for inventory and obtaining the code information of the target device (paragraph 13, In other words, it may be considered that the ACK received by the target tag matches the current ongoing inventory process of the target tag. Further, the target tag may perform a corresponding action and/or state transition for the ACK, for example, send the EPC to the target reader. ).
With regard to claim 17, Lu discloses the first command comprises at least one of the following: identity information of the target device; or inventory-related indication information (paragraphs 12 and 13).
With regard to claims 18-20, Lu discloses a communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instructions runnable on the processor, and when the program or the instructions are executed by the processor, steps of the inventory processing method according to claims 1, 12, and 16 are performed (Fig. 16, paragraph 155, The network device 500 includes a processor 502, a communication interface 503, and a memory 501.).
Conclusion
Please refer to form 892 for cited references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARIEL J YU whose telephone number is (571)270-3312. The examiner can normally be reached 11AM - 7PM (M-F).
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, Obeid Fahd A can be reached on 571-270-3324. 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.
/ARIEL J YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
Prosecution Insights