Ex Parte Peter et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardMar 28, 2016

13407037 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 28, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. 13/407,037 89955 7590 HONEYWELL/IPL Patent Services 115 Tabor Road P.O.Box 377 FILING DATE 02/28/2012 03/30/2016 MORRIS PLAINS, NJ 07950 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Wesley Peter 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. H0031050 (002.2656) 8137 EXAMINER WONG,YUENH ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3667 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 03/30/2016 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): patentservices-us@honeywell.com DL-ACS-SM-IP@Honeywell.com docketing@ifllaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte WESLEY PETER and SABU MATHEW Appeal2014-002927 Application 13/407,037 Technology Center 3600 Before LYNNE H. BROWNE, ERIC C. JESCHKE, and PAUL J. KORNICZKY, Administrative Patent Judges. BROWNE, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Wesley Peter and Sabu Mathew (Appellants) appeal under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 134 from the Examiner's decision rejecting claims 1---6, 8-14, and 16-20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 6(b). We REVERSE. CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to systems and methods for updating a scale of a barometric altimeter on an aircraft. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: Appeal2014-002927 Application 13/407,037 1. A method for automatically adjusting a scale of a barometric altimeter on an aircraft having a processor communicatively coupled to the barometric altimeter, the method comprising: receiving, by an aircraft communication system, barometric altimeter scale data corresponding to an atmospheric pressure at an airport; determining, by the processor, if an altitude of the aircraft is below a transition level for the airport; and adjusting, by the processor, the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the received barometric altimeter scale data when the altitude of the aircraft is below the transition level for the airport. REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on appeal is: Briffe She hi US 6,112,141 Aug. 29, 2000 US 2008/0195263 Al Aug. 14, 2008 RFJECTIONS I. Claims 1, 2, 6, 8-10, 14, and 16-18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 102(b) as being anticipated by Shehi. II. Claims 3-5, 11-13, 19, and 20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Shehi and Briffe. DISCUSSION Rejection I Claims 1 and 2 The Examiner finds that Shehi discloses each and every limitation of independent claim 1. In particular, the Examiner finds that Shehi discloses 2 Appeal2014-002927 Application 13/407,037 receiving, by an aircraft communication system, barometric altimeter scale data corresponding to an atmospheric pressure at an airport ("The processor 102 is coupled to receive various types of inertial data from the various sensors", i-f 16; "inertial sensors ... supplying ... inertial data ... and may include such data as ... altitude", i-f 17). Final Act. 4 (emphasis added). For independent claims 6 and 14, the Examiner relies upon essentially the same finding. See Final Act 6, 8. Contending that "Shehi at paragraphs [0016] and [0017] clearly does not disclose 'receiving, by an aircraft communication system, barometric altimeter scale data corresponding to an atmospheric pressure at an airport,"' Appellants argue that "one of any skill in the art would recognize that 'inertial data ... aircraft speed, heading, altitude, and attitude' are not 'barometric altimeter scale data."' Appeal Br. 10. Appellants explain that: one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that barometric altimeter scale data modifies the altitude measured by the barometric altimeter such that the altitude measured by the barometric altimeter is either consistent with a barometric altimeter at an airport or other landing site or set to a predefined scale setting when the aircraft is above a predetermined altitude. Barometric pressure changes constantly, accordingly the scale data sent by airports allow the aircrafts barometric altimeters to reflect the local barometric pressure at ground level when landing so that the aircraft has an accurate altitude measurement during landing procedures. . . . One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the sensor of the aircraft is clearly not measuring the "barometric altimeter scale date [sic]," as the altimeter of the aircraft only outputs a measured altitude. Reply Br. 4. Responding to this argument, the Examiner notes that Shehi discloses barometric altimeter scale data. See Ans. 3 (citing Shehi, Figs. 2, 4--8). The Examiner further notes that Shehi "discloses that [the] 'flight crew will 3 Appeal2014-002927 Application 13/407,037 typically receive the local barometric air pressure from the destination airport. "' Id. at 4. Although, the Examiner is correct that Shehi discloses barometric altimeter scale data and that in Shehi local barometric air pressure is received from the destination airport, these disclosures in Shehi are insufficient to support a finding that Shehi discloses receipt of barometric altimeter scale data as required by claim 1. Rather, as Appellants explain, local barometric air pressure is barometric data, not barometric altimeter scale data. See, e.g., Appeal Br. 10. Accordingly, the Examiner's finding is m error. For this reason, we do not sustain the Examiner's decision rejecting independent claim 1, and claim 2, which depends therefrom. Claims 6, 8-10, 14, and 16-18 Independent claims 6 and 14 require a processor "configured to: receive, from the communications system, a digital message; parse the digital message for barometric altimeter scale data; and update a scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the barometric altimeter scale data." Appeal Br. 23 (emphasis added). As discussed supra, Shehi discloses receipt of barometric pressure data, but not barometric altimeter scale data. Thus, Shehi does not describe parsing for such data and "updat[ing] of the the barometric altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the barometric altimeter scale data" based on the parsed data. Id. Accordingly, the Examiner's finding that Shehi discloses a processor "configured to ... parse the digital message for barometric altimeter scale data [] and update a scale of the barometric 4 Appeal2014-002927 Application 13/407,037 altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the barometric altimeter scale data" is in error. Ans. 7 (emphasis omitted). For this reason, we do not sustain the Examiner's decision rejecting claims 6 and 14, and claims 8-10 and 16-18, which depend therefrom. Rejection II The rejection of claims 3-5, 11-13, 19, and 20 relies upon the same erroneous findings discussed supra. Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner's decision rejecting these claims. DECISION The Examiner's rejections of claims 1---6, 8-14, and 16-20 are REVERSED. REVERSED 5