Ex Parte Henninger et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardSep 28, 201613751639 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 28, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 131751,639 01/28/2013 27268 7590 09/30/2016 Faegre Baker Daniels LLP 300 NORTH MERIDIAN STREET SUITE 2700 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46204 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Paul E. Henninger III UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. BSS0042-0l-US-E 3220 EXAMINER TREHAN, AKSHAY ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2663 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 09/30/2016 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): inteas@faegrebd.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte PAUL E. HENNINGER III and MICHAEL BOLOTINE Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Technology Center 2600 Before JASON V. MORGAN, MELISSA A. RAAP ALA, and NABEEL U. KHAN, Administrative Patent Judges. RAAP ALA, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of claims 1--4, 6-8, 14, 17, 18, and 20-29. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We affirm. INVENTION Appellants' invention "relates to surveillance camera systems, and, more particularly, to surveillance camera systems that are subject to being occasionally serviced or upgraded." Spec. i-f 2. Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 1. A modular surveillance camera kit, compnsmg: a group of camera heads each having a respective set of different performance characteristics; a group of system controllers each having a respective set of different performance characteristics; and a group of communications modules each having a respective set of different performance characteristics, each of said communications modules being configured to be coupled to a system interface; wherein an assembled surveillance camera includes a selected one of said group of camera heads, one of said group of system controllers and one of said group of communications modules such that said selected system controller electrically and mechanically interconnects said selected camera head and said selected communications module, each said system controller being programmed to: ascertain an identification of at least one of said selected camera head and said selected communications module in the assembled surveillance camera with the system controller; and operate said surveillance camera dependent upon the identification. REJECTIONS ON APPEAL Claims 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio (US 2005/0094994 Al; May 5, 2005), Mars (US 2008/0055409 Al; Mar. 6, 2008), Schultz (US 7,327,396 B2; Feb. 5, 2008), and Tanaka (US 7,123,126 B2; Oct. 17, 2006). Claim 3 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Tanaka, and Kutman (US 4,736,218; April 5, 1988). 2 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Claim 8 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Tanaka, and Shimizu (US 5, 778,008; July 7, 1998). Claims 14, 17, and 18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Tanaka, Kutman, and Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 Instruction Manual,© 2003 Konica Minolta Camera, Inc. ("NPL 2003"). Claims 20, 26, and 27 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, and Schultz. Claim 21 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, and Fitzgbbon (US 2005/0253544 Al; Nov. 17, 2005). Claim 22 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Fitzgbbon, and Robb (US 2005/0072987; April 7, 2005). Claim 23 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Fitzgbbon, and Hoyt (US 2003/0194971 Al; Oct. 16, 2003). Claims 24 and 28 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, and Kutman. Claim 25 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, and Mann (US 2002/0057915 Al; May 16, 2002). Claim 29 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Kutman, and Mann. 3 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 ANALYSIS We have reviewed Appellants' contentions in the Briefs, the Examiner's rejection, and the Examiner's response to Appellants' contentions. We are not persuaded by Appellants' arguments. Obviousness Rejections of Claims 1, 20, 26, and 27 As reflected by Appellants' Reply Brief arguments, independent claim 1 recites five principal features: (i) a group of camera heads, (ii) a group of system controllers, (iii) a group of communication modules, each component having respective performance characteristics; (iv) an assembled surveillance camera including a selected camera head, a selected system controller, and a selected communication module; and (v) each system controller can ascertain an identification and accordingly operate the selected camera head and/or the selected communication module. See Reply Br. 3--4. Appellants argue, in various respects, the applied teachings of Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, and Tanaka do not teach or suggest the above five claim features. App. Br. 5-10; Reply Br. 3--4. We are not persuaded of error. As an initial matter, we observe that many of Appellants' arguments in the Appeal Brief are directed to several inherency determinations made by the Examiner in the Final Office Action. See App. Br. 6-9. The Examiner has replaced all inherency determinations with the findings presented by the Answer's "response to arguments" section at pages 2-8. See Ans. 2 ("The Examiner no longer uses the language 'inherently' in the arguments and provides teachings pertaining to the prior art specification for every instant the Appellant argued."). Therefore, Appellants' inherency arguments are unpersuasive of error. 4 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 The Examiner finds the combination of Paolantonio, iviars, and Schultz teaches or suggests the limitations recited in claim 1. 1 See Ans. 3-8. In particular, the Examiner finds Mars teaches or suggests a selectable group of camera heads with different performance characteristics and a selectable group of communication modules with different performance characteristics. Ans. 3--4. The Examiner finds the combination of Mars, Paolantonio, and Schultz teaches or suggests a selectable group of system controllers with different performance characteristics. Ans. 4---6. And the Examiner finds Schultz teaches a system controller that can ascertain an identification of the camera head and communication modules and operate the surveillance camera dependent upon the identification. Ans. 6-7. The Examiner also finds that both Paolantonio and Mars teach surveillance cameras that exchange identification information between a system controller and the individual components. Ans. 7. Without any discussion of the Examiner's specific findings, Appellants argue "there is no disclosure or suggestion in Mars and Paolantonio of a group of camera heads, a group of system controllers, or ~ group of communications modules that each have a respective set of different performance characteristics." Reply Br. 3. However, Appellants fail to address the specific findings made by the Examiner that Mars teaches 1 The Examiner's reliance on Tanaka is merely additional to the Examiner's reliance on Schultz. See Final Act. 9 (relying on Tanaka "to further show a system controller for identifying the system components and operating the surveillance camera system dependent upon the identification"). For the reasons discussed infra, Appellants do not persuade us the Examiner errs in finding Schultz teaches or suggests the limitations for which the Examiner also relies on Tanaka. Accordingly, we do not need, and decline, to address Appellants' arguments regarding Tanaka. 5 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 the selectable group of camera heads and the selectable group of communication modules. See Reply Br. 3; see also App. Br. 8. Appellants also do not address the Examiner's specific findings that the combined teachings of the cited references teach the selectable group of system controllers, but instead merely acknowledge that Schultz discloses a processor that is capable of being programmed to perform various functions and contend that Schultz does not disclose a group of system controllers that have different performance characteristics. Because Appellants fail to address the Examiner's detailed findings, we are unpersuaded the Examiner errs in finding the combination of Paolantonio, Mars, and Schultz teaches or suggests the claimed groups of camera heads, system controllers, and communication modules. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(l)(iv) (2014) ("A statement which merely points out what a claim recites will not be considered an argument for separate patentability of the claim."); see also In re Lovin, 652 F.3d 1349, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2011) ("[W]e hold that the Board reasonably interpreted Rule 41.3 7 to require more substantive arguments in an appeal brief than a mere recitation of the claim elements and a naked assertion that the corresponding elements were not found in the prior art."); cf In re Baxter Travenol Labs., 952 F.2d 388, 391 (Fed. Cir. 1991) ("It is not the function of this court to examine the claims in greater detail than argued by an appellant, looking for [patentable] distinctions over the prior art."). Appellants further argue that Schultz fails to disclose an "assembled surveillance camera [that] includes a selected one of said group of camera heads" because "the chassis 111 in Schultz does not have 'performance characteristics."' Reply Br. 4. This argument is unpersuasive because the 6 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Examiner does not state the chassis alone is analogous to the claimed camera head, but rather finds both the camera and the chassis are analogous to the camera head. See Ans. 5. Furthermore, the Examiner also relies on Mars to teach a selectable group of camera heads with different performance characteristics. See Ans. 3--4. Thus, Appellants arguments regarding Schultz alone are unpersuasive of error. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 426 (CCP A 1981) ("[O]ne cannot show non-obviousness by attacking references individually where, as here, the rejections are based on combinations of references."). Appellants additionally argue: [T]he interface protocol information discussed in Schultz does not ascertain the identification of components of the camera 110. Instead, the interface protocol information is received by the smart camera 110, from the function modules 108, in order to specify "how to operate or interface with the function module." See Schultz, col. 12, 11. 42-45; see also Schultz, col. 5, 11. 8- 11. Reply Br. 4. The Examiner finds Schultz teaches the claimed ascertaining identification information. See Ans. 6-7. The cited passages of Schultz teach a new function module may be "hot plugged" into the smart camera and may communicate its interface information to the smart camera. Schultz 17:32--47; see also Schultz 12:43---61. Appellants' argument is unpersuasive because Appellants do not explain why the function module specifying its interface information fails to teach or suggest the component as identifying itself. Appellants also argue the Examiner has unreasonably relied on Schultz as teaching or suggesting replacing a camera head (or other 7 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 component) with a different camera head (or other component) that has different "performance characteristics."2 See Reply Br. 5. In support, Appellants contend the Examiner proposes a swapping of digital and analog cameras that are only mentioned by Schultz and thus not shown to be modularly exchangeable (e.g., not shown to have the same hardware connections). Id. Appellants further contend the Examiner proposes a swapping of function modules 108, within Schultz's smart camera 100 that does not constitute in an exchange of camera components. Id. Appellants again neglect the Examiner's specific findings that Mars teaches a selectable group of camera heads with different performance characteristics (Ans. 3--4) and Schultz teaches customizable/modular functionality for enhancing the expansion capabilities of a camera (Ans. 5). Therefore, we are not persuaded of error. For the reasons stated above, Appellants do not persuade us of error in the rejection of claim 1. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 1. Appellants' arguments for independent claims 20 and 27 are substantially similar to those made for claim 1. See App. Br. 17-19, 22-25; Reply Br. 5-6. These arguments are unpersuasive for the same reasons discussed supra. Claim 26 depends from claim 20 and is not separately argued. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.SC. § 103(a) rejection of claims 20, 26, and 27. 2 Appellants make this argument with respect to claims 20 and 27. Reply Br. 5. However, because the Examiner's findings are regarding "independent claims 1, 20, and 27" (Ans. 2) and claim 1 recites similar recitations, we exercise our discretion to address the arguments in the discussion of claim 1. 8 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Obviousness Rejection of Claim 2 Claim 2 depends from claim 1 and adds that "each said system controller is programmed to ascertain the identification after said surveillance camera has been assembled[.]" Appellants argue Paolantonio does not disclose the disputed limitation and the Examiner has improperly relied on the inherency doctrine. App. Br. 10-11. The arguments fail to address the Examiner's reasonable reliance on Schultz for this feature. See Ans. 8. Therefore, we are unpersuaded of error and we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 2. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 3 Claim 3 depends from claim 1 and adds: a group of thermal modules, each of said thermal modules being configured to be coupled to the system interface, wherein said assembled surveillance camera includes a selected one of said group of thermal modules, each said system controller being programmed to: ascertain an identification of said selected thermal module that is assembled in a same said surveillance camera as said system controller; and operate said surveillance camera dependent upon the thermal module identification. Appellants argue: While Paolantonio does disclose a heater element 55, ... the cameras 70 in Tanaka have identification information[, and] ... Kutman discloses that a heater may comprise 'a number of blanket heaters[,]' there is no disclosure or suggestion in Paolantonio, Tanaka or Kutman that a heater element has a particular identification, let alone that operation is dependent upon the identification as claimed in claim 3. App. Br. 11. 9 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 We are not persuaded of error. The Examiner finds the teachings of Schultz for ascertaining an identification for a module can be applied to the other cited references' teachings of a thermal module to teach the claimed ascertain and operate limitations. Ans. 9-10. Appellants' argument fails to address the Examiner's findings regarding Schultz and is thus unpersuasive of error. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 3. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 4 Claim 4 depends from claim 1 and adds that "the identification of at least one of said selected camera head and said selected communications module corresponds to said respective set of performance characteristics." Appellants argue Tanaka does not disclose or suggest that individual components have identifications corresponding to said respective set of performance characteristics. App. Br. 12. We are unpersuaded of error because Appellants' arguments fail to address the Examiner's findings that the combination of Schultz, Paolantonio, and Mars teaches the disputed limitation. Ans. 10. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 4. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 6 Claim 6 depends from claim 1 and adds: each said system controller is programmed to generate an output signal including: an identification of said system controller; an identification of said selected camera head; an identification of said selected communications module; and diagnostic information associated with at least one of said system controller, said selected camera head, and said selected communications module. 10 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Appellants argue: "Just because [Paolantonio's] diagnostic connector 116 enables diagnostic connection to the hardware and software resident on PCB 26 in Paolantonio does not mean that the identifications are associated [with] particular components of the camera, such as a system controller, a camera head, or a communications module." App. Br. 13. The Examiner finds Paolantonio's diagnostic connector 116 interfaces with microprocessor 102 to obtain diagnostic information of system components. Ans. 11-12 (citing Paolantonio i1i1 42, 49, 52). The Examiner points to Schultz's teachings, as discussed for claim 1, on the system controllers, interface protocols, and control operations. Ans. at 12. The Examiner also finds Mars real-time status information teaches the "performance characteristics and identification information." Id. Appellants do not address these specific findings of the Examiner and thus do not persuade us of error. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 6. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 7 Claim 7 depends from claim 1 and adds: a group of housings each including a respective version of the system interface, wherein said assembled surveillance camera includes a selected one of said group of housings, each said system controller being programmed to: ascertain an identification of said selected housing that is assembled in a same said surveillance camera as said system controller; and operate said surveillance camera dependent upon the housing identification. Appellants argue only that the Examiner's inherency findings are improper and "[ n ]either Paolantonio nor Tanaka discloses or suggests a housing having an associated identification." App. Br. 13. 11 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 The arguments fail to address the Examiner's detailed findings within the Answer's response to arguments, which replace the Examiner's inherency findings (Ans. 2) and do not rely on Paolantonio or Tanaka individually to reject claim 7 (see id. at 12-14). Accordingly, we are not persuaded of error and we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 7. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 8 Claim 8 depends from claim 1 and adds: each said system controller is programmed to: determine, based upon the identifications, whether said selected camera head, said selected communications module and said system controller in the assembled surveillance camera are operationally compatible with one another; and notify a user if said selected camera head, said selected communications module and said system controller in the assembled surveillance camera are not operationally compatible with one another. Appellants argue: Just because [Paolantonio's] diagnostic connector 116 enables diagnostic connection to the hardware and software resident on PCB 26 in Paolantonio does not mean that that identifications are associated particular components of the camera, such as a camera head and/or communications module, let alone that compatibility of system components is determined based on the identifications (which don't exist in Paolantonio). App. Br. 14. Appellants further argue the Examiner improperly relies on the inherency doctrine. Id. at 14--15. These arguments are unpersuasive as it fails to address the Examiner's detailed findings that the combination of Paolantonio and Schultz teaches or 12 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 suggests the disputed limitations. See Ans. 14--16. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of Claim 8. Obviousness Rejection of Claims 14, 17, and 18 Claim 14 depends from claim 3 and adds: ascertain identifications of said camera head module, of said communications module, and of said thermal module, each of said identifications corresponding to a respective set of performance characteristics; collect at least one of diagnostic data and environmental data associated with operation of at least one of said camera head module, said communications module, said thermal module, and said system controller module; determine whether at least one of said camera head module, said communications module, said thermal module, and said system controller module should be replaced with a like module, said determination being based upon the identifications and upon said at least one of diagnostic data and environmental data; and notify a user if at least one of said camera head module; said communications module, said thermal module, and said system controller module should be replaced. Appellants argue only that the Examiner's inherency findings are improper and neither Paolantonio, Tanaka, nor the Konica-Minolta manual teaches or suggests diagnosing and notification of components needing replacement. App. Br. 15-17. The argument is unpersuasive as it fails to address the Examiner's detailed findings within the Answer's response to arguments, which replace the Examiner's inherency findings (Ans. 2) and do not rely only on Paolantonio, Tanaka, and the Konica-Minolta as contended by Appellants (Ans. 16-18). The Examiner finds that Paolantonio, Mars, and Schultz collectively teach or suggest component identifications and diagnostics (id. 13 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 at 16-17). Accordingly, we sustain the rejection of claim 14 and its dependent claims 17, and 18, which are not argued separately. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 21 Claim 21 depends from claim 20 and adds that "at least one of the plurality of camera heads, the plurality of system controllers and the plurality of communications modules includes an in-rush current limiting device." Appellants argue Fitzgbbon discloses a current limit portion 12a for a garage door operator and does not disclose or suggest a camera head, a controller or a communications module of a security camera includes a current limiting portion. App. Br. 19. The Examiner finds the limitation is taught by combining the modular surveillance camera kit taught by Paolantonio/Mars/Schultz with Fitzgbbon's teaching of circuitry for an electronic device which uses a current limiting device. Final Act. 22. Appellants' argument that Fizgbbon alone does not teach the disputed limitation is unpersuasive of error. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d at 426. We are also not persuaded by Appellants' assertion the Examiner uses improper hindsight (App. Br. 19) because Appellants do not present persuasive argument the Examiner's articulated rationale for combining the references 1s improper. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 21. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 22 Claim 22 depends from claim 21 and adds that "the in-rush current limiting device comprises hot swap circuitry." Appellants argue that "[ w ]hile Robb discloses a hot swap structure 31 including a current limit device or circuit 3 8, Robb does not disclose or 14 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 suggest anything whatsoever with cameras or security systems." App. Br. 19. The Examiner finds Paolantonio/Mars/Schultz teach the modular surveillance camera kit, Schultz teaches the general concept of hot-plugged modules, and Robb teaches a current limiting device which has hot swap circuitry. Final Act. 23; see also Ans. 19--20. Appellants' argument that Robb does not teach the disputed limitation is unpersuasive of error. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d at 426. We are also not persuaded by Appellants' assertion the Examiner uses improper hindsight (App. Br. 19) because Appellants' do not present persuasive argument the Examiner's articulate rationale for combining the references is improper. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 22. Obviousness Rejection of Claim 23 Claim 23 depends from claim 21 and adds that "the in-rush current limiting device comprises a tri-statable signal line." Appellants argue that "Hoyt relates to dual mode class D amplifiers. Hoyt does not disclose or suggest anything whatsoever with cameras or security systems." App. Br. 20. Appellants' arguments regarding Hoyt are unpersuasive of error because the Examiner relies on the combined teachings of Paolantonio, Mars, Schultz, Fitzgbbon, and Hoyt to teach the disputed limitation. See Final Act. 24; Ans. 20-21. We are also not persuaded by Appellants' assertion the Examiner uses improper hindsight (App. Br. 20) because Appellants do not present persuasive argument the Examiner's articulated rationale for combining the references is improper. Accordingly, we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 23. 15 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 Obviousness Rejection of Claims 24 and 28 Appellants present contentions for the separate patentability of claims 24 and 28. However, Appellants' contentions amount to no more than a recitation of the claim language and an assertion the cited references do not disclose the recited limitations. See App. Br. 20-21, 25. A mere assertion the cited prior art does not disclose the claimed language is not a substantive argument for separate patentability. In re Lovin, 652 F.3d at 1357 ("[W]e hold that the Board reasonably interpreted Rule 41.3 7 to require more substantive arguments in an appeal brief than a mere recitation of the claim elements and a naked assertion that the corresponding elements were not found in the prior art."). Accordingly, we are not persuaded of error and we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejections of these claims. Obviousness Rejections of Claims 25 and 29 Claim 25 depends from claim 20 and adds that "the plurality of camera heads includes a PTZ [pan-tilt-zoom] camera head, a fixed camera head, and an imitation camera head, at least one of the plurality of communications module and the plurality of system controllers including a feed through device compatible with the fixed camera head." Appellants argue: There is no disclosure or suggestion of the claimed "fixed camera head" in paragraph [0030] of Paolantonio. . . . Mann discloses in paragraph [O 186] cited by the Examiner that "many department stores use a mixture of fake nonfunctional cameras and real ones, so that the customer never knows whether or not a 16 Appeal2015-006962 Application 13/751,639 given camera is operational". Using a mixture of real and fake cameras does not disclose or suggest the [disputed limitation]. App. Br. 21. 3 We are not persuaded of error. The Examiner further finds, and Appellants acknowledge, that Mann teaches an imitation camera head. See Final Act. 26. The Examiner further finds Paolantonio teaches the feed through device (Final Act. 26) and Schultz teaches a fixed camera head (Ans. 22). Appellants do not address these findings. Therefore, we are not persuaded of error and we sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 25. We further sustain the 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claim 29, for which Appellants present substantially the same arguments made for claim 25. See App. Br. 26. DECISION The Examiner's rejections of claims 1--4, 6-8, 14, 17, 18, and 20-29 are affirmed. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(±). AFFIRMED 3 We have removed, by our ellipses, Appellants' reference to a "Blackshear" reference that does not appear to be of record. See App. Br. 21. 17 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation