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`U.S. Appl’n No. 09/317,235
`Proposed Amendment
`FOR INTERVIEW PURPOSES ONLY
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`REMARKS
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`These proposed amendments are being submitted for interview purposes only. Thegist
`of the claim amendments can be found in Claims 1 and 31; the remaining claims have, by and
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`large, been amendedfor proper antecedency/dependency reasons. New claims 51 and 52 are of
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`slightly different scope from Claims 1 and 31. No new matter has been added.
`The inventionis an electronic message delivery system for monitoring remote equipment,
`receiving signals from the remote equipment based onthestatus of the equipment, and sending
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`outgoing messagesto the appropriate parties and their various communication devices based on
`the messages received. The invention includes sensorslocally connected to the remote
`equipment, interface units locally connected to the sensors, and a computerserver that can
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`receive messages from the remote interface units based on the readings of the sensors. The
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`interface units are not hardwiredinto the centra! server, they communicate via remote means,
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`such as via the cellular telephone network orthe Internet.
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`Oneofthe critical aspects of the inventionis that the server includesa userinterface
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`which allows each user to remotely configure the server by configuring (creating, modifying,
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`deleting, etc.) a message profile. The messageprofile is essentially a set of instructions thattells
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`the server anyorall of the following: a) to whom to route outgoing messages; b) which messages
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`get routed to which person; c) to what communication devices the messages are routed (fax,
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`pager, e-mail, etc.); d) if there should be a time delay before routing the messages; e) if several
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`incoming messages should be received before sending out an outgoing message;f) if one
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`incoming message should trigger the sending of several outgoing messages; and the like. The
`user can, from his home,his office, his Palm Pilot, or any other location that is remote from the
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`computer server, connect with the server via the interface and reconfigure his messageprofile. In
`the preferred embodiment, the user interface is an Internet link which enables the user to access
`from a remote computer andcreate or edit his message profile. Passwords are provided so that a
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`user’s profile can only be edited by the properperson(i.e., the user).
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`U.S. Appl’n No. 09/317,235
`Proposed Amendment
`FOR INTERVIEW PURPOSES ONLY
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`An example of how the system is implemented is in the heating, ventilating, and cooling
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`(HVAC)arts. Contractors and maintenance workers haveto be able to monitor the equipment
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`they are responsible for; however going aroundto all the boilers and air conditioners in their care
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`just to check up on them is very time consuming. With the present system, sensorsare locally
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`attached —onsite— to the air conditioner, for example, which can detect when specific problems
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`occur. In the preferred embodiment, an interface unit is connected —also on site— to the sensors.
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`Whenthe sensors detect an abnormal condition —such as a lack of fan blower speed even though
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`the air conditioner should be working— they send a signal to the interface unit. The interface unit
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`can remotely access, via a national wireless network, for example, the computerserverutilizing,
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`for example, the handshaking portion of the cellular network. Thus,the interface unit and the
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`computer server can be thousands of miles awayandstill communicate effectively.
`The server receivesthe incoming message from the remote interface unit that the air
`conditioner’s fan is not operating. On the computeris stored a user-defined messageprofile,
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`whichis like a laundry list of message routing instructions such as “if X goes wrong,tell Mr. Y
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`via his pager/fax machine/e-mail, etc.” For example,if the fan is not blowingin an air
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`conditioner, there could be a blockage whichis physically preventing the fan blades from
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`turning, or there could be an electrical short preventing current from flowing to the fan motor, or
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`several other possible problems. A contractor could have his messageprofile set up to notify one
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`of his crew by sending the crewman a message. Connected to the server are a numberof
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`message output mechanismsthat can send a message overa variety of different media as
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`specified by the message profile. The crewman could get a beep or a messageon his pageror
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`could receive an e-mail for a lower priority problem. The contractor/supervisor could also
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`receive a message so that he can check up onhis crew.
`Some messages require moreattention than others. For example,if the trouble with the
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`air conditioner wereso seriousas to threaten the whole building, the crewman,the contractor,
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`and the ownerofthe building could be sent messages via their pagers. The contractor would be
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`able to make the determination as to which problems require which messages and whoshould
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`U.S. App?’n No. 09/317,235
`Proposed Amendment
`FOR INTERVIEW PURPOSES ONLY
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`hear about it. The interface units also send out periodic “heartbeat” signals whichlet the server
`know that everything is okay. The server is designed to route messages from multiple piecesof
`equipmentto multiple people in accordance with multiple message profiles. That is, a number of
`different contractors can use the system independently of each other.
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`The Examinercited Wilsonet al. (USP. No. 5,400,246) as rendering obvious the claimed
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`invention. Applicant disagrees for several reasons. First, there is absolutely no teaching,
`suggestion, or even a hint in Wilson of enabling a user to remotely configure a messageprofile
`on the computer server. The system of Fig. 12, for example, can send voice messagesor faxes
`out to a recipient (see col. 34, lines 6-15), but it cannot receive instructions remotely from the
`intended messagerecipients. Morespecifically, Wilson does not permit a remote user to
`configure a messageprofile to specify where the outgoing messagesareto be sent. There is
`absolutely no remote user interface in Wilson asrecited and set forth in the claims of the present
`application. Wilson does discuss enabling the user to configure the system for a particular
`application (see Abstract, cols. 9-11 generally and col. 10, line 67 and on,in particular), but not
`remotely. In this description, the user mustbe sitting downat the central PC 12 in orderto effect
`any changes on the system whatsoever. Thus, in Wilson,the “user” is the person whoissetting
`up the system. Thus, while the “user” can go to the central computer and configure the system,
`he cannot do it from home,the office, or in the field. Remote communication between user and
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`system is thus unidirectional, from the system to the user.
`In Applicant’s invention, by contrast, the user, as recited in the claims,is the person
`subscribing to the service, the person intended to receive the messages. Hecan loginto the
`server via remote means, suchasthe Internet, to configure his messageprofile to tell the
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`computer server where to send what error messages to whom and under what circumstances.
`Remote communication between the subscriber/user and the system is thus bidirectional: from
`the system to the user when the system is sending an error message, and from the userto the
`system when the useris creating/editing the message profile (among other things). Also, in
`Wilson, only a computer programmercanalter or modify any instructions on the computer; by
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`U.S. Appl’n No. 09/317,235
`Proposed Amendment
`FOR INTERVIEW PURPOSES ONLY
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`contrast, in Applicant’s invention, the end user, not the programmersetting the system up, can
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`adjust the message profile without any knowledge of computer programming.
`Wilson alsofails to teach or suggest the monitoring ofremote equipment. All of the
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`equipmentbeing monitored in Wilson is hardwired into the system and is monitored locally. All
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`of the various systems in Wilson require the I/O bridge device 14 into whichall of the monitored
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`equipmentis directly wired. For example, Fig. 2 of Wilson shows an alarm system with smoke
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`detectors 66 and 67 and burglar alarm loops 62 and 64. All of the devices are connected via
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`wires to I/O bridge device 14 (see col. 9, lines 40-55). The equipment being monitoredis not
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`remote equipment, as required bythe present claims, but rather local equipment.
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`Even the system shown in Fig. 12 of Wilson is only good for monitoring local equipment
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`despite the presence ofradio transceivers. As described in columns 33 and 34 of Wilson, Fig. 12
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`represents an alarm system for a car dealership lot. Instead of using wires to connect the anti-
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`theft devices to the base transceiver 700, each car is provided with an RF transmitter which can
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`broadcast back to the main base. However, whatis described is a local RF networkonly. It is
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`designed to cover the parking lot of an automobile dealer (see col. 34, lines 46-61), or a range of
`maybea few thousand feet. Applicant’s invention can monitor equipmentthatis truly remote,
`and it can be used overthe entire world, becauseof: a) the ability of the remote interface units to
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`contact the central server remotely; b) the ability of the central server to contact the message
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`recipient remotely via any format of communication device, and c) the ability of the
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`user/subscriber to contact the server and configure his message profile remotely.
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`Finally, Wilson fails to teach that multiple subscribers can utilize the system
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`simultaneously. The inventive system can store multiple message profiles of multiple
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`subscribers and route the messages from each person’s equipmentto that person in accordance
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`with his message profile. By contrast, Wilsonis silent as to accommodating multiple users.
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`U.S. AppI’n No. 09/317,235
`Proposed Amendment
`FOR INTERVIEW PURPOSES ONLY
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`Applicant and the undersigned are willing to meet with the Examinerfor an interview if
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`this draft amendmentis not entirely acceptable. Otherwise, an early Notice of Allowanceis
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`Respectfully submitted,
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`Reg. No.: 37,407
`Attorney for Applicant
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`respectfully requested.
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`Date: May 4, 2000
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`Levisohn, Lerner, Berger & Langsam
`757 Third Avenue, Suite 2400
`New York, New York 10017
`(212) 486-7272
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