Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-17 are presented for examination.
This action is in response to amendment filed on 7/26/25.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 726/25, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In that remarks, applicant argues in substance:
That: Conboy does not teach or suggest using virial inspection to legally close permits under building code.
In response to applicant’s argument, Conboy’s invention teaches certifying and inspecting building construction sites (title)(figures 82 and 83), where the building construction sites corresponds to the claimed “job site”, and the completion of the verification and certification of the inspected building corresponds to the “closing permits or job site permit inspections”. Convoy suggests in figure 87 and [0748] to use a VR enabled walkthrough inspection to perform certify building related inspection, and Convoy also suggest in [0458][0518] that such photograph and videos are valuable visual evidence and job-site completion documentation, required or desired by insurance companies and/or government building departments, which allow a person with ordinary skill in the art to perform such VR enabled walkthrough inspection for government building departments.
Updated rejection is provided below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7, 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Referring to claims 1 and 11, the claims recited the limitation “the final permitted site location”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
All dependent claims are rejected to as having the same deficiencies as the claims they depend from.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5, 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Limas et al. US Patent Number 9,792,654, hereinafter Limas, in view of Conboy, US Publication Number 2019/0172161, hereinafter Conboy.
Referring to claim 1, Limas discloses a method of virtual inspection of a permit location (Col 5 lines 15-21, remote inspection of a home property) performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Col 9 line 63-Col 10 line 2) comprising:
providing a virtual inspection control panel (display screen 302) for displaying a virtual permit inspection of a first mobile device (mobile 116)(figure 3, Col 8 lines 28-35, video streaming from mobile 116 is provided to display on MSR 118 for remote virtual inspection);
acquiring geolocation data from a first mobile device (Col 8 lines 11-23, GPS info of mobile is acquired);
automatically comparing the geolocation data from the first mobile device against the permit location (Col 8 lines 18-27, determine is the GPS data matches the stored location information); and
displaying an indicator on the virtual inspection control panel indicating whether the first mobile device is located within a proximity to the permit location (Col 8 lines 8-27, showing the GPS information on the screen/flag and cancel stream session are the indictor on the virtual inspection control panel indicating whether the first mobile device is located within a proximity to the permit location).
Lima discloses a virtual inspection for an insured property and processing the claims (title and abstract) and does not explicitly teach where the virtual inspection is applied on a government-issued job site permit, and closing the permit based on the virtual inspection of completed work performed at the final permitted site location.
Conboy discloses an invention to provide virtual inspection on fire protected job-site (paragraph [0132] [0288], wherein at each virtual inspection checkpoint in the 3D virtual model collected and uploaded certifications, verifications and documents are reviewable during the inspection walkthrough), where such job site is related to the building permit revenue (paragraph [0048]), and closing at least one permit based on the virtual job site permit inspection (title and abstract, paragraphs [0748], certifying and inspecting construction site based on virtual walkthrough inspection is viewed as closing the permit inspection), and wherein the permit could be associated with government-issue permits ([0458][0518], jobsite completion documentation required/ desired by insurance companies and/or government building departments; figure 87 [0748], VR walkthrough to complete inspection on building components) based on the virtual job site permit inspection of completed work performed at the final permitted site location (figure 87 [0748][0458], VR walkthrough to provide valuable visual evidence and job-site completion documentation, required or desired by insurance companies and/or government building departments and/or safety agencies).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate job site permit inspection of Conboy into Limas because Limas discloses a system for remote virtual inspection for the inspected property (Col 5 lines 15-39), and Conboy suggests virtual inspection could be done in association with the government issued building permit/certification ([0288][0458][0518], figures 82 and 83).
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Limas to have a reliable alternative to in-person inspections as suggested by Conboy.
Referring to claim 2, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit location performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 1, further comprising receiving to the virtual inspection control panel a live video stream from a camera located on the first mobile device (Col 5 lines 15-21, MSR receives streaming video for the mobile device; abstract, camera).
Referring to claim 3, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit location performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 2, further comprising: selecting to start of the virtual inspection (Col 6 lines 14-23, accepting invitation at the mobile); and automatically notifying on the first mobile device of the start of the virtual inspection upon said selection of the start of the virtual inspection (Col 7, lines 38-43, display on mobile a message identifying the session is starting).
Referring to claim 4, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit location performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 2, further comprising providing an inspection notes section (Col 6 line 54- Col 7 line 15, annotation, note and comment on MSR).
Referring to claim 5, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit location performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 4, wherein said provided inspection notes section includes a camera shutter feature to store a live geolocated picture from the camera of the first mobile device (Col 6 line 54-Col 7 line 15, video and screenshots capture corresponds to the camera shutter feature).
Referring to claims 8 and 11, the claims encompass the similar scope of the invention as that of the claim 1. Conboy further discloses the virtual inspection is associated with building inspector for building code compliance (Conboy, [0525][0541])). Therefore, claims 8 and 11 are rejected on the same ground as the claims 1.
Referring to claim 9, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit site performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 8, further comprising storing to a cloud storage site indication of whether the first mobile device was located within the predetermined virtual permit inspection site during at least a portion of the virtual inspection (Limas, Col 8 lines 8-27, showing the GPS information on the screen/flag the session as indications are sent to the MSR on the network/cloud).
Referring to claim 10, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the method of virtual inspection of a permit site performed on a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 8, further comprising indicating visually on the virtual inspection control panel whether the first mobile device is located within the predetermined virtual permit inspection site during at least a portion of the virtual inspection (Limas, Col 8 lines 8-27, showing the GPS information on the screen/flag and cancel stream session are the indictor on the virtual inspection control panel indicating whether the first mobile device is located within a proximity to the permit location).
Referring to claim 12, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the system for virtual inspection of a permit location of Claim 11, further comprising a camera roll within said virtual inspection control panel, wherein said virtual inspection control panel capable of taking live geolocated pictures from the camera of the first mobile device taken during the virtual inspection (Limas, Col 6 line 54-Col 7 line 15, video and screenshots capture corresponds to the camera roll).
Claims 6, 7, and 13-15, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Limas in view of Conboy, and in further view of Herschmann et al., US Patent Publication Number 2011/0145036, hereinafter Herschmann.
Referring to claim 6, 7, and 13, Limas in view of Conboy discloses the invention as described in claims 5, and 11, Lima further discloses wherein said provided inspection notes section includes a plurality of notes sections each with an option to take a live geolocated picture from the camera of the first mobile device (Col 6 line 54-Col 7 line 15, video and screenshots capture (limitation from claim 7)) for a permit location (Col 5 lines 15-21, inspection property).
Limas does not explicitly teach wherein said provided inspection notes section includes at least one individual notes section with a selectable portion capable of indicating one of at least pass and fail.
Herschmann provides a virtual system to allow administrator to review received data and provides selectable pass/fail indicator for the administrator for quality assurance review (page 3 [0029]).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the idea of selectable pass/fail indicator of Herschmann into Limas and Conboy because Limas discloses a system for remote virtual inspection for the inspected property to receive comment from the inspector (Col 5 lines 15-39), and Herschmann provides a selectable pass/fail indicator to allow inspector to provide feedback in just one click (page 3 [0029]).
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Limas to enhance user experience with a simple click on the selector indicator to provide feedback.
Referring to claim 14, Limas as modified discloses the system for virtual inspection of a permit location of Claim 13, wherein said virtual inspection control panel includes a live geolocated video feed section displaying live video received from a camera on the first mobile device (Limas, Col 6 line 54- Col 7 line 15).
Referring to claim 15, Limas as modified discloses the system for virtual inspection of a permit location of Claim 13, wherein said virtual inspection control panel capable of initiating an on/off of a light on the first mobile device (Limas, Col 6 line 60-62, turn on camera flash).
Referring to claim 17, Limas as modified discloses the system for virtual inspection of a permit location of Claim 13, wherein said virtual inspection control panel provides an annotation section for annotating captured pictures from the first mobile device (Limas, Col 7 lines 2-7, annotation).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Limas in view of Conboy and Herschmann, and in further view of Hall et al., US Patent Publication Number 2006/0080132, hereinafter Hall.
Referring to claim 16, Limas in view of Conboy and Herschmann discloses the invention as described in claim 13. Limas as modified does not explicitly teach a report generation portion that automatically provides a downloadable report following a conclusion of the virtual inspection.
Hall discloses an online inspection report allow customer to download the files or storing them as an electronic link to customer’s underwriting file (page 6 [0087]).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the downloadable report of Hall into Limas, because Limas discloses a system to perform remote inspection on the network, and Hall provides a downloadable report for result of the inspection.
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Limas in view of Conboy to allow customer having easy access to their inspection report as suggested by Hall.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIANGCHE A WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3992. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am to 6:30pm.
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Liang-che Alex Wang
August 25, 2025
/LIANG CHE A WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447