Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103

To establish obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103, it must be shown that the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art. This requires identifying: 1) the scope and content of the prior art; 2) the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue; 3) the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art; and 4) secondary considerations of non-obviousness (e.g., commercial success, long-felt but unsolved needs, failure of others).

Here, we will focus on combinations of the cited prior art to demonstrate obviousness for US patent 9119030. The "Prior art date" listed for US9119030B2 is March 28, 2006.

Prior Art References:

1. US20020094801 (published patent application): Describes a system where a fixed station transmits an encoded signal defining a special area. A mobile station and the fixed station are linked via the signal code. This document also suggests providing the fixed station with receiving and comparison means for an access code, applied via the mobile station, to activate the fixed station.
2. WO 00/27152 (international application): Offers a solution for locating a mobile station using a "guide unit" that broadcasts a short-range radio signal defining a "home area." The short-range signal contains the mobile station's identity code, which the mobile station uses to identify itself and notify a mobile switching center of its presence in the home area. This "home message" can be used for defining call pricing/services.

Motivation to Combine Prior Art References:

The primary motivation to combine the teachings of US20020094801 and WO 00/27152 would be to overcome the limitations explicitly identified in US9119030B2 regarding the flexibility and scalability of prior art solutions. The '030 patent itself states that WO 00/27152 "does not allow the mobile network, to add for a mobile station one or more special areas wherein the presence of a mobile station is monitored without having to at least modify one or more guide units broadcasting in such areas. It lacks therefore of flexibility."

A person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) in mobile telecommunications and location-based services would be motivated to improve the flexibility and scalability of special area monitoring systems, especially for environments with a high number of mobile stations (e.g., airports, business centers), as noted in US9119030B2.

Obviousness of Claim 1 (Method)

Claim 1 of US9119030B2 focuses on a method where "checking data" is transmitted to the mobile station and used by the mobile station to determine if a received signal is a distinctive defining signal. The same checking data is sent to any mobile station whose presence in the special area is monitored.

1. Radio communication defining device transmits a distinctive defining signal:

   • US20020094801 discloses a fixed station sending an encoded first signal that defines a special area.
   • WO 00/27152 discloses a guide unit broadcasting a short-range radio signal defining a home area.

2. Mobile station observes and processes signals to determine if it is a distinctive defining signal:

   • US20020094801 describes the fixed station and mobile station being linked via the signal code. This implies the mobile station processes the signal to recognize the link.
   • WO 00/27152 explicitly states that the mobile station "has to identify its own identity code in order to notice to a mobile switching centre that it is located in its home area." This clearly involves observation and processing of the received signal.

3. Mobile station sends an updating signal to a mobile telephone network about its presence:

   • WO 00/27152 states that the mobile station "transmits then a home message to the mobile network, this home message being possibly used notably for defining the price/service connected to telephone calls." This "home message" serves as an updating signal about its presence.

4. Mobile telephone network routes the updating signal to special operating means that adapt an operating parameter:

   • WO 00/27152 teaches that the "home message" can be used for "defining the price/service connected to telephone calls," which directly corresponds to adapting an operating parameter (e.g., tariff or service flag) based on location. US9119030B2 itself states that the operating parameter can be a "tariff or a service flag that enables or disables a special tariff or a service for the mobile station."

5. The special area is associated with the mobile station by transmitting "checking data" to the mobile station, used by the mobile station for determining if the defining signal is distinctive, and the same checking data is sent to any mobile station whose presence in this special area is monitored:

   • WO 00/27152 requires the guide unit to know the identity of the mobile station ("the guide unit has to know the identity of the mobile station"). This implies that the mobile station is identifying itself to the guide unit based on its identity code, rather than the guide unit broadcasting a universal code for all monitored mobile stations. This is a key difference from the claimed invention in US9119030B2, which states, "the same checking data being sent to any mobile station whose presence in this special area is monitored." This feature addresses the flexibility concern by centralizing the "checking data" management in the network and pushing it to the mobile station, rather than requiring individual guide units to be updated with each mobile station's identity.
   • However, US20020094801 describes a "signal code" linking the fixed station and mobile station, and proposes "providing the fixed station with receiving and comparison means for an access code that is to be applied to the fixed station via the mobile station in order to put the fixed station into operation." While this reference doesn't explicitly state the "access code" is transmitted to the mobile station for the mobile station to use for identification, it points towards a coded signal for area definition and a mechanism for authentication/operation based on codes.

Combination and Motivation:
A PHOSITA, seeking to improve the flexibility and scalability of the system in WO 00/27152 (as explicitly stated as a problem in US9119030B2's background), would be motivated to combine the concept of a universally applicable area-defining code (implied by the encoded signal of US20020094801 that defines a special area) with the mobile station's ability to self-identify its location and report to the network (as taught by WO 00/27152).

The motivation would be to shift the burden of knowing individual mobile station identities away from the radio communication defining device (guide unit/fixed station) and towards the mobile station itself, using data pushed from the network. Instead of the guide unit in WO 00/27152 needing to know each mobile station's identity, a PHOSITA would consider making the mobile station aware of the area's identity (the "checking data") to determine its presence. This would allow new mobile stations to be added or new special areas to be defined without modifying the radio communication defining devices.

Therefore, the combination of:

• WO 00/27152's teaching of a mobile station identifying its presence in a defined area and reporting it to a network for service adaptation, with the inherent limitation of the guide unit needing to know individual mobile station identities.
• US20020094801's teaching of an encoded signal defining a special area and a mechanism for interaction based on codes.

Would lead a PHOSITA to conceive of transmitting a common "checking data" (e.g., the encoded signal's characteristic from US20020094801, or a special network ID as described in an embodiment of US9119030B2) to mobile stations. This "checking data" would enable any monitored mobile station to determine if it is within a given special area by comparing the received signals to this data, thereby achieving the desired flexibility and scalability without requiring the defining device to store individual mobile station identities. The "same checking data being sent to any mobile station whose presence in this special area is monitored" would be an obvious way to implement this centralized management and distributed checking.

Obviousness of Claim 13 (Mobile System)

Claim 13 describes a mobile system with corresponding components to carry out the method of Claim 1.

1. Checking means including a radio communication defining device transmitting a distinctive signal: Directly taught by US20020094801 (fixed station, encoded signal) and WO 00/27152 (guide unit, short-range radio signal).
2. Mobile station with observing means and processing means to determine distinctive defining signal: Taught by both references, as discussed for Claim 1.
3. Transmission means for sending an updating signal to special operating means in the mobile telephone network: Taught by WO 00/27152 (home message to mobile network).
4. Special operating means for adapting an operating parameter: Taught by WO 00/27152 (home message used for defining price/service).
5. Storing means in the mobile station for checking data, and processing means using this data to determine distinctive signals, with the same checking data sent to any monitored mobile station: This combination of features, particularly the "checking data" being transmitted to the mobile station and used for local determination by any monitored mobile station, is the distinguishing feature.

Combination and Motivation:
The system described in Claim 13 would be an obvious architectural implementation for carrying out the method discussed under Claim 1. Given the motivation to improve flexibility and scalability in mobile location monitoring, a PHOSITA would naturally design a system where:

• The radio communication defining devices broadcast area-identifying signals (from US20020094801).
• The mobile stations are equipped with storing and processing means to receive and store "checking data" (a logical extension of mobile station capabilities in WO 00/27152 where the mobile station already identifies its own identity code).
• The network's special operating means manage and transmit this "checking data" to the mobile stations, enabling them to locally determine their presence in a special area using the received signals and the stored checking data.
• The transmission of the same checking data to all mobile stations for a given special area directly addresses the inflexibility of prior art requiring specific mobile station identities at the guide unit, as identified in US9119030B2's background.

Obviousness of Claim 22 (Server), Claim 23 (Radio Communication Defining Device), and Claim 25 (Mobile Station)

These claims describe individual components configured to perform parts of the inventive method or system.

• Claim 22 (Server): A server containing "at least some of the special operating means" for adapting operating parameters. This is directly suggested by WO 00/27152's "mobile switching centre" receiving a home message and using it for "defining the price/service." Such a center would naturally evolve into or include a server with "special operating means" to manage parameters.
• Claim 23 (Radio Communication Defining Device): A device that carries out the method of the invention. This would be an obvious adaptation of the fixed station in US20020094801 or the guide unit in WO 00/27152, modified to transmit the distinctive defining signal that allows the mobile station to use the "checking data." The "means for obtaining reliable information indicating whether or not the said wireless device is located into a predetermined environment" is a known fraud prevention technique in location-based services and would be an obvious addition to ensure the integrity of the special area definition, especially given the motivation to prevent abuse mentioned in US9119030B2's background regarding US20020094801.
• Claim 25 (Mobile Station): A mobile station suitable for carrying out the method of the invention. This would be an obvious adaptation of any standard mobile station, incorporating the "observing means, processing means, and storing means for checking data" as detailed in Claim 13, building upon the mobile station's capabilities described in WO 00/27152 (identifying its own identity code).

In summary, the core inventive step lies in shifting the "knowledge" of the special area's identity to the mobile station via "checking data" provided by the network, allowing a universal area identifier to be broadcast by the defining device, rather than the defining device needing to know individual mobile station identities. This change addresses a clear problem of flexibility and scalability identified in the prior art. The combination of the area-defining signal from US20020094801 with the mobile station's reporting capabilities from WO 00/27152, driven by the motivation to improve flexibility, would render the claims of US9119030B2 obvious to a PHOSITA.