DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8,20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Pantazes (9510566). Pantazes (col. 6, lines 18-33), discloses a smart collar 10 to be worn by an animal comprising: an imaging device 121, 122 configured to capture a plurality of images; and a microprocessor (col. 5, lines 65-67) or satellite communication chip 102 in communication with a network and in communication with the imaging device to receive the plurality of captured images in real-time, the microprocessor configured to at least analyze the plurality of captured images, and recognize at least one of a location of an animal or object depicted in at least one of the plurality of images; wherein the collar includes GPS satellite tracking 103 and thermal and infrared imaging sensors, a speaker 104 and a microphone 105 to allow for communication with the animal; wherein the GPS system inherently determines the distance between the real time location of the animal and at least a recognized location; further the collar allows the handler to communicate with the animal via two-way audio and video features (col. 7, lines 18-25).
Claim(s) 1-8, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Bianchi et al. (2015/0053144). Bianchi et al. (hereinafter Bianchi), discloses a smart collar 24 to be worn by an animal comprising: an imaging device 62 configured to capture a plurality of images; and a microprocessor 52 in communication with a network and in communication with the imaging device to receive the plurality of captured images in real-time, the microprocessor configured to at least analyze the plurality of captured images, and recognize at least one of a location of an animal or object depicted in at least one of the plurality of images; recognize a location, identify a behavior, issue a corrective action through a speaker 64 or through a shock device 68;
wherein the collar includes GPS receiver 56; wherein the GPS system inherently determines the distance between the real time location of the animal and at least a recognized location; wherein the imaging system 62 includes video imaging ([0048]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pantazes in view of Kates (2006/00111146). Although Pantazes discloses a smart collar in conjunction with a microprocessor, it is not disclosed wherein the microprocessor is configured to take action in response to detecting a RFID tag. Kates teaches a dog collar in communication with a RFID tag 310 to establish the identity of the animal and load proper reinforcement training parameters to make decisions regarding corrective actions ([0181]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to incorporate a RFID tag as taught by Kates to work with the system of Pantazes in order to ensure the identity of the animal and monitor health conditions of said animal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9,11-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art shows examples of wearable animal monitoring and training systems.
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/YVONNE R ABBOTT-LEWIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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