Ex Parte Potucek et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 29, 2019

14211461 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 29, 2019)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
14/211,461 03/14/2014 Kevin Potucek
159107 7590 01/29/2019
MCCARTER & ENGLISH, LLP / Hayward Industries, Inc.
Four Gateway Center
100 Mulberry Street
Newark, NJ 07102
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.
96964-01434-3 8243
EXAMINER
LIN,JASON
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2117
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
01/29/2019 PAPER
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.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte KEVIN POTUCEK, GREGORY FOURNIER,
JAMES MURDOCK, ROBERT HEON, DAVID BLAINE,
CRAIG HORROCKS, KENNETH JR. WHITE,
MURAT DYMOV, MICHAEL NILSSON,
THOMAS-ERIC BELIVEAU, DEYIN XU,
PATRICK MAINVILLE, QIWEI HUANG,
and LINNETTE RIVERA
Appeal2018-004939
Application 14/211,461 1
Technology Center 2100
Before JAMES R. HUGHES, ERIC S. FRAHM, and
MATTHEW J. McNEILL, Administrative Patent Judges.
McNEILL, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a rejection of claims
1-30, which are all the pending claims in this application. We have
jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ).
We affirm-in-part.
1 According to the Appeal Brief, the real party in interest is Hayward
Industries, Inc. App. Br. 3.
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Application 14/211,461
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Introduction
Appellants' application relates to a pool/spa control system that
includes modular relay packs so as to be easily expandable to accommodate
various types of pool/spa equipment. Spec. 1:26-28. An exemplary control
system includes a main panel and a connected expansion panel, where
modular relay packs may be installed in both the main panel and expansion
panel. Spec. 19:5-20. Each relay in each relay pack can be assigned a
desired function, such as for controlling a pool heater, a light, a circulation
pump, etc. Spec. 19:21-20:3. The relay packs may allow for "plug-and-
play" installation and configuration. Spec. 20: 8. The control system may
include a GUI for the user to control pool/spa components, where the GUI
may be divided into multiple sections corresponding to different bodies of
water. See Spec. 72:5-73:15; Fig. 17A. Independent claims 1 and 11,
reproduced below, are illustrative of the claimed subject matter:
1. A system for controlling a plurality of pool/spa
components, the system including a display screen and one or
more processors presenting a control user interface for display
on the display screen, wherein the control user interface includes:
a first control section containing a first plurality of controls
for controlling a first group of the plurality of pool/spa
components associated with a first body of water, and
a second control section adjacent to said first control
section, the second control section containing a second plurality
of controls for controlling a second group of the plurality of
pool/spa components associated with a second body of water.
App. Br. 26 (Claims Appendix).
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Application 14/211,461
11. A system for controlling pool/spa components, the system
comprising one or more processors configured to,
receive information identifying a modular relay pack
removably connected to a pool/spa controller, the modular relay
pack comprising a plurality of relays including a first relay and a
second relay;
perform a first assignment of the first relay to a first
pool/spa component;
perform a second assignment of the second relay to a
second pool/spa component;
cause a display to present a control user interface
comprising a plurality of buttons and/or controls including a first
button and/or control and a second button and/or control;
receive, via the user interface, a first input activating the
first button and/or control; based on the first input and the first
assignment, send a first control signal to control the first pool/spa
component;
receive, via the user interface, a second input activating
the second button and/or control; and
based on the second input and the second assignment, send
a second control signal to control the second pool/spa
component.
App. Br. 27-28 (Claims Appendix).
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Application 14/211,461
The Examiner's Rejections
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 23 2 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ I03(a) as being unpatentable over Emery et al. (US 2007/0106403 Al;
May 10, 2007) and Humpleman et al. (US 6,603,488 B2; Aug. 5, 2003).
Claims 4 and 7 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being
unpatentable over Emery, Humpleman, and Wimsatt (US 2004/0260427 Al;
Dec. 23, 2004).
Claim 8 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being
unpatentable over Emery, Humpleman, and Heninwolf (US 2014/0091923
Al; Apr. 3, 2014).
Claims 11-16, 18, 19, 21, and 24--30 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ I03(a) as being unpatentable over Emery, Perez, and Gilstrap (US
2011/0015797 Al; Jan. 20, 2011).
Claim 17 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being
unpatentable over Emery, Perez, Gilstrap, and Wimsatt.
Claim 20 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being
unpatentable over Emery, Perez, Gilstrap, and Wallace (US 2014/0034562
Al; Feb. 6, 2014).
Claim 22 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being
unpatentable over Emery, Perez, Gilstrap, and Clark et al. (US
2010/0138007 Al; Jun. 3, 2010).
2 The Examiner states that claim 24 is rejected over Emery and
Humpleman. See Non-Final Act. 15, 18. However, the limitations
discussed in the rejection are recited in claim 23 (see Non-Final Act. 18;
App. Br. 30 (Claims Appendix)), and thus we deem claim 23, not claim 24,
to have been rejected over Emery and Humpleman. Claim 24 is rejected
over Emery, Perez, and Gilstrap. Non-Final Act. 20, 23.
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ANALYSIS
Claims 1-10 and 23
Regarding claim 1, Appellants argue that in Emery's control system
"the menus for the separate pool and spa are all commingled together and
not presented in a single user interface display that includes a first section
having controls for a first body of water adjacent to a second section having
controls for a second body of water." App. Br. 12. Appellants argue
Humpleman does not cure this deficiency of Emery because, while
Humpleman describes separate control sections 706 and 708 in Figure 11,
the control sections are each able to control only one component, in contrast
to claim 1, which requires each control section be able to control multiple
components. See App. Br. 13; Reply Br. 6. Additionally, Appellants argue
Humpleman is not analogous art. App. Br. 14--15; Reply Br. 7. We are not
persuaded by Appellants' arguments.
Emery describes a system for controlling pool and spa settings and
operations. Emery, Abstract. The system includes a command center board
that controls "operation of electrical devices such as (but not necessarily
limited to) pumps, valve actuators, heaters, blowers, lights, or other pool,
spa, or recreational equipment." Emery ,r 34. A user interfaces with the
command center board through, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD)
with light-emitting diode backlighting. Id. Emery's user interface can
provide a user with a main menu from which "the user may view and
manually change the operational state of devices and may set device
schedules." Emery ,r 64; Fig. 9. For example, the main menu provides
controls for changing the setpoint temperatures of both a pool and a spa.
See Emery, Fig. 9. Emery's user interface can also provide a user with a
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"Watennatic" menu for a pool or spa through which "a user may, if desired,
manually initiate automatic dispensing of chemicals to affect the ORP
[oxidation-reduction potential], pH, or both of the relevant water." Emery
,r 65; Fig. 10. We agree with the Examiner (see Ans. 5-9) that Emery's
description of menus for controlling pool and spa devices, for example, the
"Watermatic" menus, teaches the claim 1 limitations of:
[A] control user interface for display on the display
screen, wherein the control user interface includes: a first
control section containing a first plurality of controls for
controlling a first group of the plurality of pool/spa components
associated with a first body of water, and a second control
section ... containing a second plurality of controls for
controlling a second group of the plurality of pool/spa
components associated with a second body of water.
That is, Emery's "Watermatic" menu for each of the pool and spa
teaches the respective "first control section" and "second control section."
Appellants' Reply Brief does not specifically argue that Emery's
"Watermatic" menus are not control sections, but in arguing that Emery fails
to teach a "first control section" and "second control section," Appellants
highlight Figure 17 A of the present application. See Reply Br. 4--5. To the
extent Appellants' Figure 17 A shows exemplary first and second control
sections, we note that both Appellants' Figure 17 A control sections and
Emery's "Watermatic" menus include controls for controlling pH and ORP.
See Drawings, Fig. 17 A; Emery, Fig. 1 O; ,r 65. In other words, the features
Appellants rely on to demonstrate the claimed control sections are described
in Emery.
Although the Examiner finds that Emery does not explicitly describe
first and second control sections adjacent to one another (Non-Final Act.
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15), we note that Emery's display of pool and spa setpoint temperature
controls on the same main menu (see Emery, Fig. 9) at least suggests
displaying controls for a pool and a spa adjacent to one another.
Nevertheless, the Examiner relied upon Humpleman for the "adjacent"
feature in claim 1. See Non-Final Act. 15. Humpleman describes a system
for controlling diverse home devices in a home network, where the home
network provides a user with a GUI for controlling the home devices.
Humpleman, Abstract; col. 4, 11. 31--4 7. The GUI can include two frames
706 and 708 that display respective home pages for controlling respective
first and second devices. Humpleman, col. 15, 1. 64---col. 18, 1. 17; Figs. 10,
11. We find that Humpleman's Figure 11 showing frames 706 and 708 for
controlling respective first and second devices teaches adjacent first and
second control sections, as recited in claim 1.
We agree with the Examiner's conclusion (see Non-Final Act. 16;
Ans. 8-10) that it would have been obvious, in view of Humpleman, to place
a menu with controls for pool devices ( for example, the "Watermatic# 1"
menu (Emery, Figs. 1, 1 O; ,r 65) ), adjacent to a menu with controls for spa
devices ( for example, the "Watermatic#2" menu (Emery, Fig. 1; ,r 65)) in
Emery's user interface. Not only does Emery suggest displaying pool and
spa controls adjacent to one another (see Emery, Fig. 9), but Humpleman
teaches placing whole control sections for different entities adjacent to one
another. See Humpleman, Fig. 11. Moreover, Appellants have not shown
rearranging the display of menus in a GUI in this manner would have been
"uniquely challenging or difficult for one of ordinary skill in the art."
Leapfrog Enters., Inc. v. Fisher-Price, Inc., 485 F .3d 1157, 1162 (2007).
Appellants' argument that Humpleman only shows control sections that
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control one component, whereas claim 1 requires control sections that
control multiple components (see App. Br. 13), is not persuasive. As
discussed above, Emery discloses the "Watermatic" menus for the pool and
spa include multiple controls, namely, to "manually initiate automatic
dispensing of chemicals to affect the ORP [ oxidation-reduction potential],
pH, or both of the relevant water." Emery ,r 65; Fig. 10. Humpleman is
only relied upon to suggest placing control sections adjacent to one another.
See Non-Final Act. 15; Ans. 9.
Additionally, we agree with the Examiner that Humpleman is
analogous art. See Ans. 10.
Two separate tests define the scope of analogous prior
art: ( 1) whether the art is from the same field of endeavor,
regardless of the problem addressed and, (2) if the reference is
not within the field of the inventor's endeavor, whether the
reference still is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem
with which the inventor is involved.
In re Klein, 647 F.3d 1343, 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (citation omitted).
As the Examiner finds, both Humpleman and Appellants' invention
are in the field of endeavor relating to "automation control for appliance[s]."
Id. The fact that Humpleman does not expressly name pool and spa
components among the home devices that may be controlled does not
change the analysis. The Examiner properly defines Appellants' field of
endeavor to be broader than just pool and spa controllers because aside from
nominally limiting the claimed invention to controls for pool/spa
components, claim 1 is essentially drawn to a user interface and does not
recite specific structures or functions that preclude use outside the realm of
pools and spas. In any case, even if Humpleman were considered to be in a
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different field of endeavor, the Supreme Court "directs us to construe the
scope of analogous art broadly, stating that 'familiar items may have obvious
uses beyond their primary purposes, and a person of ordinary skill often will
be able to fit the teachings of multiple patents together like pieces of a
puzzle."' Wyers v. Master Lock Co., 616 F.3d 1231, 1238 (2010) (citation
omitted). We find one seeking to solve the problem of arranging controls
for different components used in pools and spas on a user interface would
have looked to user interfaces for controlling other types of devices because
user interface designs can be broadly applicable to devices in disparate fields
of technology.
We are, therefore, not persuaded the Examiner erred in rejecting claim
1, and claims 2-10 and 23 not specifically argued separately.
Claims 11-21 and 24-30
Regarding claim 11, Appellants argue that the combination of Emery,
Perez, and Gilstrap fails to disclose the following claim limitations:
perform a first assignment of the first relay to a first
pool/spa component;
perform a second assignment of the second relay to a
second pool/spa component;
based on the first input and the first assignment, send a
first control signal to control the first pool/spa component;
based on the second input and the second assignment, send
a second control signal to control the second pool/spa
component.
App. Br. 17. Specifically, Appellants argue:
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the "assignment" as discussed in Gilstrap is very different than
the "assignment" as claimed in Claim 11. Claim 11 requires a
relay to be assigned to a pool or spa component. However, in
Gilstrap, assigning relays, and assignment of other items, relates
to assignment to an "area," rather than a specific pool or spa
component as required by the claims.
App. Br. 18-19; see also Reply Br. 8-9. Further, Appellants argue
Gilstrap fails to teach "based on the assignment, sending a control
signal to the pool/spa component. The assignment as disclosed in
Gilstrap is merely for organization purposes for assignment to an
'area,' and is not necessary to control any particular device." App. Br.
19. Appellants also argue neither Perez nor Gilstrap are analogous
art. App. Br. 19-20; Reply Br. 9. Finally, Appellants argue the
Examiner's rationale for modifying the teachings of Emery in view of
Perez and Gilstrap is improperly based on hindsight reasoning. App.
Br. 20-21. We are not persuaded by Appellants' arguments.
Appellants' arguments that Gilstrap fails to teach assigning
relays to pool or spa components and sending control signals to the
components based on the assignments (App. Br. 18-19), are not
persuasive because the Examiner relies on the collective teachings of
Emery and Gilstrap for disclosing the argued claim 11 features. To
wit, the Examiner finds Emery teaches using relays for controlling
pool and spa components, but does not explicitly teach assigning the
relays to pool and spa components. See Non-Final Act. 20-23. The
Examiner then finds Gilstrap teaches assigning relays to specific
components. See id. In the Examiner's combination, the resulting
control system with relays assigned to specific pool and spa
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components would function to actually send control signals to the
pool and spa components. Appellants' argument that Gilstrap only
teaches assigning relays to an area and not particular devices is not
persuasive. App. Br. 19. Gilstrap's Figure 7 shows a process for
assigning a relay to a device by selecting a specific device and a
specific relay. See Gilstrap, Fig. 7; i-f69.
We are also not persuaded by Appellants' argument that neither
Perez nor Gilstrap are analogous art. App. Br. 19--20. Rather, we
agree with the Examiner that both Perez and Gilstrap are in
Appellants' field of endeavor, namely, "automation control for
devices." Ans. 14. We are not persuaded by Appellants' arguments
that Perez "is merely concerned with the design of irrigation
controllers, not pool/spa components" and that Gilstrap "relates to
home automation and energy conservation systems." App. Br. 19.
First, we note that Gilstrap' s home automation system does in fact
relate to controlling pool and spa components: "Other components
and component interfaces may also be controlled with the controller
12. For example, serial-based components, such as ... pool and spa
equipment 28, may be coupled to a serial interface 30 that is in
communication with the controller 12." Gilstrap ,r 4 7. Second,
although the claimed invention is nominally limited to controlling
pool and spa components, Appellants' field of endeavor can
reasonably be defined more broadly than pool and spa controllers.
Claim 11, for instance, focuses on assigning relays in a modular relay
pack for controlling pool and spa components. But claim 11 does not
recite specific structures or functions of the modular relay pack that
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preclude its use in controllers for controlling devices other than pool
and spa components. Accordingly, we find Perez, which relates to an
irrigation controller with "a base unit with a removable and
programmable control panel and backplane circuitry for
communicating with a plurality of removable modules," is also in
Appellants' field of endeavor.
Finally, we are not persuaded by Appellants' argument that the
Examiner's combination is based on improper hindsight reasoning.
App. Br. 20-21. Appellants' combination argument essentially
reprises the analogous art argument by asserting "[ o ]ne of ordinary
skill in the art would not find it obvious the [sic] combine the prior art
references because, as noted above, they relate to completely different
fields." App. Br. 20. As stated above, we find Perez and Gilstrap are
within Appellants' field of invention as defined in a reasonably broad
manner. The Examiner's combination of Perez with Emery to make
Emery's control system expandable with removable modules, and
combination of Gilstrap with Emery and Perez to show that in order to
make use of Emery's relays, one would have to actually assign the
relays to specific components, "'simply arranges old elements with
each performing the same function it had been known to perform' and
yields no more than one would expect from such an arrangement."
KSR Int 'l Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 417 (2007).
We are, therefore, not persuaded the Examiner erred in
rejecting claim 11, and claims 12-21 and 24--30 not specifically
argued separately.
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Claim 22
Regarding claim 22, Appellants argue, among other things, that Clark
fails to teach "the group of buttons and/or controls is automatically updated
to include an additional button and/or control." We are persuaded by
Appellants' argument.
Clark describes a "domotics system ... for automatically discovering
devices to add to or modify on a home automation system." Clark, Abstract.
In an embodiment, a user can build a scene by selecting a room in a home
and set up devices, such as lights, in the room. See Clark ,r 48. Clark's
Figure 8B shows that the interface for building a scene includes a button to
"Add Light." Clark, Fig. 8B; ,r 48. We find the Examiner's reliance on
Clark's "Add Light" button for meeting the claimed feature of automatically
updating a group of buttons or controls (Ans. 17-18), to be misplaced.
Clark's Figure 8B shows that a user must select the existing "Add Light"
button in the scene building interface to add a new light to a scene, and does
not show that a new button or control is automatically added to the interface
for a discovered lighting device. See Clark ,r 48.
We are, therefore, constrained by the record to find the Examiner
erred in rejecting claim 22.
DECISION
We affirm the Examiner's decision to reject claims 1-21 and 23-30,
but we reverse the Examiner's decision to reject claim 22.
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(±).
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AFFIRMED-IN-PART
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