Ex Parte Scheid et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardAug 10, 2016

13032235 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 10, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 13/032,235 02/22/2011 Paul Raymond Scheid 54549 7590 08/12/2016 CARLSON, GASKEY & OLDS/PRATT & WHITNEY 400 West Maple Road Suite 350 Birmingham, MI 48009 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. 67097-972PUS2;PA6567U-AA 6495 EXAMINER BLOUNT, ERIC ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2684 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 08/12/2016 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): ptodocket@cgolaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte PAUL RAYMOND SCHEID, WILLIAM H. BEACHAM JR., ALEXEY SERGEEV OUZOUNOV, ANDREW F. GEIB, KEVIN DONAHUE, THOMAS CRAIG WEAKLEY, and DALE R. MASSLON Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 Technology Center 2600 Before HUNG H. BUI, JOHN F. HORVATH, and AARON W. MOORE, Administrative Patent Judges. HORVATH, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants seek review, under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 134(a), of the Examiner's Final Rejection of claims 1 and 3-21, which constitute all the claims pending in this application. Claim 2 has been cancelled. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 6(b ). We AFFIRM. Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is directed to a wireless aircraft maintenance log. Title. Claims 1, 10, and 17 are independent. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. An aircraft part assembly comprising: an aircraft part; a metal data plate mounted on said aircraft part; and a radio frequency identification tag (RFID tag) coupled to said metal data plate such that said metal data plate is an RFID tag resonator, wherein said RFID tag is between said metal data plate and said aircraft part. Coop ("Coop II") Coop ("Coop I") Zhu REFERENCES US 7,545,274 B2 US 7,551,086 B2 US 2009/0021379 Al REJECTIONS June 9, 2009 June 23, 2009 Jan.22,2009 Claims 1 and 3-16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103(a) as unpatentable over Coop I and Zhu. Final Act. 6. Claims 17-21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103(a) as unpatentable over Coop I, Zhu, and Coop II. Final Act. 8. ISSUES AND ANALYSIS We have reviewed the Examiner's rejection in light of Appellants' arguments that the Examiner has erred. We disagree with Appellants' contentions, and adopt as our own the findings and reasons set forth by the Examiner in the Final Action. We highlight the following for emphasis. 2 Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 Claims 1 and 3-21 The Examiner finds Coop I teaches an aircraft part, a metal data plate mounted on the aircraft part, and an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag coupled to the aircraft part. Final Act. 6 (citing Coop I, 4:23--42, 6:8-36, 11: 13-19). The Examiner concludes it would have been obvious to modify Coop I by attaching the RFID tag to the aircraft part's metal data plate because "[ t ]he skilled artisan would have recognized the advantages of having redundant information available for aircraft parts .... " Id. The Examiner finds Zhu teaches mounting an RFID tag to a metal plate via a spacer such that the metal plate acts as an RFID tag resonator. Final Act. 7 (citing Zhu i-f 15). The Examiner concludes it would have been obvious to further modify Coop I based on the teachings of Zhu because: Id. The skilled artisan would have good reason to expect increased performance of the RFID tag system when coupling the RFID tag to the metal data plate such that the metal data plate is an RFID tag resonator. Further the skilled artisan would have good reason to try arranging the tag [in] a space between said metal data plate and said aircraft part as shown in paragraph 0015 of Zhu .... Appellants argue the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 1 because Zhu "teaches away from placing the RFID tag in a position where the tag is covered by a metal plate." App. Br. 4. Appellants argue "every example positioning of the RFID tag in Zhu leaves the tag either exposed, or covered by an explicitly non-metallic surface (see Figures 4-9) of Zhu, as well as Zhu paragraphs 35-50." Id. at 4--5; see also Reply Br. 3 (citing Zhu i-fi-114, 41, and 49). We are not persuaded by Appellants' argument. 3 Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 Zhu teaches that when an RFID tag is mounted directly to a metal license plate, "the information may not be readable" or may "only be readable at very short distance." Zhu i-f 14, Fig. 1. Zhu further teaches that "[a] conventional approach to overcoming this issue is to leave some spacing 202 between tag 100 and metal license plate 110 as shown in FIG 2. Such a solution has an added benefit in that metal license plate 110 can also serve as a back plane for tag antenna 104." Id. i-f 15, Fig. 2. Paragraphs 14 and 15 are in the background section of Zhu, and therefore describe the state of the art at the time of Zhu's invention. Id. i-fi-12-16. Paragraph 16 of Zhu identifies a problem with the state of the art solution of mounting an RFID tag to a license plate via a spacer, namely, "the increased dimension, i.e., thickness of the resulting license plate." Id. i-f 16 (emphasis added). Zhu proceeds to disclose an invention that reduces the thickness of license plates having RFID tags by mounting the RFID tags in slots formed in the license plates. Id. i1i134--47, Figs. 4A-5B, 5A-5B, 6A---6C, 7 A-7C, 8, and 9. "It is well settled that a prior art reference is relevant for all that it teaches to those of ordinary skill in the art." In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1262 (Fed. Cir. 1992). Zhu teaches both mounting RFID tags behind a metal plate, and mounting RFID tags in slots that are formed in the metal plate. Zhu's teaching of mounting RFID tags in slots formed in the metal plate to reduce thickness of the plate does not teach away from mounting RFID tags behind the metal plate because it does not criticize, discredit or discourage doing so in cases where the thickness of the resulting metal plate is of no concern. See In re Fulton, 391F.3d1195, 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2004) ("The prior art's mere disclosure of more than one alternative does not constitute a teaching away from ... alternatives because such disclosure 4 Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 does not criticize, discredit, or otherwise discourage the solution claimed."). Accordingly, we are not persuaded by Appellants' teaching away argument. Appellants next argue the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 1 because "Coop 1 contemplates providing the benefit of redundant information by printing the data plate information on the surface of the RFID tag itself." App. Br. 4 (citing Coop I 6:36-37). Appellants' therefore conclude that including "a data plate in addition to the RFID tag of Coop 1 is wholly unnecessary to provide the benefit described by the examiner." Id. We are not persuaded by Appellants' argument. "The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art." In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591 (Fed. Cir. 1991). The Examiner proposes modifying Coop I by mounting the RFID tag onto the aircraft part's metal data plate per the teachings of Zhu, so that the RFID tag is between the metal data plate and the aircraft part. Final Act. 6-7. The Examiner concludes that doing so would have been obvious because it "would allow a technician to read a plurality of tags on various parts [with an RFID tag reader] without the need to visually inspect each specific part or to visually inspect a specific part when tools necessary for reading the RFID tags [are] not available .... " Id. at 6. Modifying Coop I in the manner proposed by the Examiner would mean that any information printed on Coop I's RFID tag---even if it is redundant with the information encoded within the RFID tag as Appellants contend-would not be available for visual inspection by the technician. Therefore, for the aircraft part's information to be available for both electronic and visual inspection, it would have to be printed elsewhere on the part, such as on the metal data plate where it is traditionally 5 Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 printed. See Coop I 11: 1-25. Accordingly, we are not persuaded by Appellants' argument that "[ t ]he inclusion of a data plate in addition to the RFID tag of Coop 1 is wholly unnecessary to provide the benefit described by the examiner .... " App. Br. 4. Additionally, we agree with the Examiner's finding that Coop I does not specify what information is printed on the RFID tag, or indicate that the information is redundant with the information encoded in the tag. Ans. 8. By contrast, Coop I teaches that certain pieces of information are required to be included on a metal data plate. Coop I 11: 1-25. Given that the information is required to be provided, and Coop I discloses the information can be provided on both the metal data plate and the RFID tag, we agree with the Examiner that it would have been obvious to provide the information on both the metal data plate and the RFID tag so that the information can be read out by either visual or electronic inspection. Final Act. 6. Accordingly, for the reasons discussed above, we sustain the Examiner's rejection of claim 1. Appellants do not separately argue for the patentability of claims 3-16. See App. Br. 6-7. Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner's rejection of claims 3-16 for the same reasons as claim 1. DECISION The Examiner's rejections of claims 1 and 3-16 are affirmed. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. Â§ 1.136(a)(l )(iv). 6 Appeal2014-007030 Application 13/032,235 AFFIRMED 7