DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-5, 7-22 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-5, 7-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10, 18 recite the limitation “the ear tag hanging below the ear of the animal, wherein no part of the ear tag is located within an ear canal of the animal; … proof of life data generated by the ear tag”. There is no teaching in the originally filed disclosure that provides support for the claimed limitation where an ear tag hanging from the ear of the animal generates a proof of life data. The limitation is considered a new matter.
Claims 2-5, 7-9, 11-17, 19-22 are rejected for being dependent on a rejected claim.
Claims 1, 10, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claims 1, 10, 18 recite the limitation “the ear tag hanging below the ear of the animal, wherein no part of the ear tag is located within an ear canal of the animal; … proof of life data generated by the ear tag, the proof of life data comprising a heart rate and a temperature of the animal”. It is not clear how an RFID tag hanging from the ear, with no part of the tag is located within an ear canal of the animal can record temperature and heart rate data of the animal. The originally filed disclosure provides a teaching where the temperature and heart rate are recorded using an implanted sensor, [0024] of the published application. It is not clear how the claimed limitation is implemented to perform the above function.
The breadth of the claims includes an ear tag hanging from the ear with no part of the tag inside the ear canal;
The nature of the invention is a system to track the lifecycle of the animal using a distributed ledger system that collects the data from the ear tag;
The state of the prior art is a system the uses an ear tag to track movement and temperature of the animal using an ear tag, however, heart rate is tracked using an implanted sensor;
The level of one of ordinary skill is in line with the state of the prior art;
The level of predictability in the art is high as the system used for tracking the lifecycle of an animal are widely used and well established;
The amount of direction provided by the inventor is negligible as the originally filed disclosure only mentions how the proof of life is generated in passing with no description as to how the ear tag itself is used to generate the listed data used for determining the proof of life;
There is high quantity of experimentation needed to make or use the invention based on the content of the disclosure.
Claims 2-5, 7-9, 11-17, 19-22 are rejected for being dependent on a rejected claim.
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 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 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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 7, 9-12, 14-16, 18-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leong et al. [US 20200159720] in view of Rettedal et al. [US 11307728] and Yang et al. [US 20200383298].
As to claim 1. Leong discloses A system comprising:
at least one processor, [fig. 1A, 6, 0097] animal management platform 130, 530 comprising a processor 620;
a network interface, [fig. 6, 0097] animal management platform 130, 530 comprising a communication interface 670;
a livestock tag reader, [fig. 1A, 0022] user devices 1-N implemented as tag readers;
a database, [fig. 1A, 0042, 0079] animal records 140 stored in distributed ledger system, storing uniquely identified tags for a plurality of livestock, [0041], and storing records associated with the plurality of livestock, [0041, 0042];
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, [fig. 6, 0098] memory 630, having instructions stored which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, [0098] comprising:
scanning, via the livestock tag reader, a tag for an animal in the plurality of livestock, [fig. 7, 0035, 0107] animal identification information obtained, including tag identifier;
identifying, by comparison of the tag to the uniquely identified tags, a record of the animal within the database, [fig. 7, 0035, 0108] animal record identified using the animal identification information;
adding, to the record of the animal in the database, (1) at least one of additional health data about the animal or location data about the animal, and (2) further proof of life data of the animal, the proof of life data comprising a temperature of the animal, resulting in an updated record of the animal, [fig. 7, 0056, 0109] animal record generated according to the event and identification information; [0014] wherein the new record is added as a block to the blockchain of the animal when an event occurs; [0022] wherein the event data includes capturing the temperature of the animal;
cryptographically signing the updated record of the animal using encryption, resulting in an encrypted signed updated record, [fig. 7, 0045, 0110] the animal record is authorized, [0045] the animal record is signed using a private key associated with the user’s device;
transmitting, via the network interface, the encrypted signed updated record to a network server which verifies that a cryptographic signature of the encrypted signed uploaded record corresponds to a cryptographic signature for the animal belonging to a first owner, [fig. 7, 0111] the record is stored in a distributed ledger, through the communication interface 670; [0045, 0050, 0133] wherein the blocks are verified to be from the user’s device; [fig. 5, 0084] the animal management platform 530 uses computing devices 535 to receive, process and store animal records to and from a distributed ledger maintained in a data storage device 530 that is accessed through a network;
receiving, from the first owner, instructions to transfer ownership of the animal to a second owner, [0023] users can register events including transfer of ownership; and
transferring rights to update the record of the animal in the database from the first owner to the second owner, [0023, 0025] ownership is transferred.
Leong fails to disclose wherein the tag is an ear tag; and wherein the ear tag hanging from an ear of the animal, the ear tag comprising a QR (Quick Response) tag on a portion of the ear tag hanging below the ear of the animal, wherein no part of the ear tag is located within an ear canal of the animal; wherein the proof of life data is generated by the tag.
Rettedal teaches a system and method for livestock management using an ear tag 608 hanging from an ear of the animal, [fig. 6, col. 15, lines 63-66]; wherein the ear tag includes a visual code, such as a quick response (QR) code, [col. 9, lines 14-25]; wherein the system further tracks health events of the animal using the temperature, and heart rate of the animal, [col. 15 lines 21-27].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Leong with that of Rettedal so that the system can track the health of the animal without requiring further hardware.
The combination of Leong and Rettedal fails to disclose wherein the proof of life data further includes a heart rate of the animal.
Yang teaches an ear tag module 100a to be attached to the end of the ear 10 of an animal, [fig. 1A, 0015], comprising a QR code on the label portion 182 of the tag, [fig. 1A, 0020]; wherein the tag further comprises a temperature sensor 140 to sense the temperature of the animal, [fig. 1C, 0015].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong and Rettedal with that of Yang so that the system can include a backup data to confirm the proof of life of the animal.
As to claim 3. Leong discloses The system of claim 1, wherein the tag is a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, the livestock tag reader being configured to receive RFID tags, [0022].
As to claim 4. Leong fails to disclose The system of claim 1, wherein the tag is a NFC (Near Field Communication) tag, the livestock tag reader being configured to receive NFC tags.
Rettedal teaches a system and method for livestock management using an ear tag 608 hanging from an ear of the animal, [fig. 6, col. 15, lines 63-66]; wherein the ear tag includes a visual code, such as a quick response (QR) code, [col. 9, lines 14-25]; wherein the tag is an NFC tag, [col. 9, lines 6-13].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Leong with that of Rettedal so that the system can use one from the finite available forms of identifiers to assign identification to the entities being tracked.
As to claim 5. Leong fails to disclose The system of claim 1, wherein the tag is a Bluetooth tag, the livestock tag reader being configured to receive Bluetooth tags.
Rettedal teaches a system and method for livestock management using an ear tag 608 hanging from an ear of the animal, [fig. 6, col. 15, lines 63-66]; wherein the ear tag includes a visual code, such as a quick response (QR) code, [col. 9, lines 14-25]; wherein the tag is a Bluetooth tag, [col. 9, lines 6-13].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Leong with that of Rettedal so that the system can use one from the finite available forms of identifiers to assign identification to the entities being tracked.
As to claim 7. Leong discloses The system of claim 1, wherein the encryption is asymmetrical encryption, and wherein the encrypted signed updated record is signed using a private key, [0045, 0109].
As to claim 9. Leong discloses The system of claim 1, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having additional instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
transmitting, via the network interface, the encrypted signed updated record and the cryptographic signature to decentralized database, [fig. 7, 0111] the record is stored in a distributed ledger, through the communication interface 670; [0045, 0050, 0133] wherein the blocks are verified to be from the user’s device;
obtaining consensus from a plurality of other computing devices regarding adding the encrypted signed updated record to a blockchain, [0045, 0110]; and
based on the consensus, adding the encrypted signed updated record to the blockchain, [fig. 7, 0111] the record is stored in a distributed ledger.
As to claim 10. Leong discloses A method for notarizing livestock records, comprising:
identifying, via at least one processor, [fig. 5, 6, 0097, 0098], records for a plurality of livestock and unique identifiers associated with each livestock in the plurality of livestock, [0016, 0053, 0124];
identifying, via the at least one processor, ownership records for the plurality of livestock, [0045] certify ownership of record based on the private key of the user device, [0054] from a mapping of identifiers associated with authorized entity, each ownership record within the ownership records having a cryptographic signature belonging to a first owner, [0020] animal record includes events, [0025] events include entities associated with the event including owners [0045, 0109] recorded information certified to be created using a private key associated with a user device, [0117] authorized entity includes a current owner;
receiving, from a mobile device, [0083] user device is a mobile phone, an uploaded record having a cryptographic signature, [0023] event information, including creating a record or updating a record of an animal, [0026] received at the animal management platform from a user device, [0025] wherein the event information includes an entity identification, [0109] generate animal record using a private key of the user device, the uploaded record having proof of life data associated with an animal within the plurality of livestock, [0109], wherein:
the proof of life data is generated by an ear tag of the animal, [;
the proof of life data comprises a temperature of the animal, movement of the animal, and location of the animal, [fig. 7, 0056, 0109] animal record generated according to the event and identification information; [0014] wherein the new record is added as a block to the blockchain of the animal when an event occurs; [0022] wherein the event data includes capturing the temperature of the animal, [0017] location and location history of the animal; and
verifying, via the at least one processor, that the cryptographic signature of the uploaded record corresponds to the cryptographic signature of the first owner for the animal, resulting in a verification, [0050, 0053, 0109, 0133] authorize based on a certificate of the user, [0117] including a current owner;
based on the verification, sending the uploaded record to a distributed ledger, [fig. 7, 0111] cause the device to store the record in the distributed ledger, through the communication interface 670; [fig. 5, 0084] the animal management platform 530 uses computing devices 535 to receive, process and store animal records to and from a distributed ledger maintained in a data storage device 530 that is accessed through a network;
receiving, from the first owner, instructions to transfer ownership of the animal to a second owner, [0023] users can register events including transfer of ownership; and
transferring rights to update an animal-specific ownership record associated with the animal from the first owner to the second owner, [0023, 0025] ownership is transferred.
Leong fails to disclose wherein the tag is an ear tag; and wherein the ear tag hanging from an ear of the animal, the ear tag comprising a QR (Quick Response) tag on a portion of the ear tag hanging below the ear of the animal, wherein no part of the ear tag is located within an ear canal of the animal; wherein the proof of life data is generated by the tag.
Rettedal teaches a system and method for livestock management using an ear tag 608 hanging from an ear of the animal, [fig. 6, col. 15, lines 63-66]; wherein the ear tag includes a visual code, such as a quick response (QR) code, [col. 9, lines 14-25]; wherein the system further tracks health events of the animal using the temperature, and heart rate of the animal, [col. 15 lines 21-27].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Leong with that of Rettedal so that the system can track the health of the animal without requiring further hardware.
The combination of Leong and Rettedal fails to disclose wherein the proof of life data further includes a heart rate of the animal.
Yang teaches an ear tag module 100a to be attached to the end of the ear 10 of an animal, [fig. 1A, 0015], comprising a QR code on the label portion 182 of the tag, [fig. 1A, 0020]; wherein the tag further comprises a temperature sensor 140 to sense the temperature of the animal, [fig. 1C, 0015].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong and Rettedal with that of Yang so that the system can include a backup data to confirm the proof of life of the animal.
As to claim 11. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor are contained within a server, [fig. 5, 0080] the animal management platform 530 is a cloud computing environment, [0084] implemented as a server.
As to claim 12. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor are executing a contract using a blockchain, [014] an immutable block chain record, [0016 0029] that includes a unique animal record identifier, [0055] and ownership status of the animal.
As to claim 14. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the records for the plurality of livestock comprise health and location data for the animal over multiple periods of time, [0020].
As to claim 15. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the cryptographic signature and an owner's cryptographic signature of the owner are a cryptographic hash, [0031].
As to claim 16. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein an owner's cryptographic signature of the owner is associated with more than one entity or individual, [0045] public key associated with the private key of the owner.
As to claims 18-20 are rejected using the same prior arts and reasoning as to that of claims 10-12, respectively.
As to 21. Leong discloses The system of claim 3, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having additional instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving biometric data associated with the animal, [0107], the biometric information comprising identification generated from a recorded video, [0034];
receiving owner input from the first owner, [0106] receive information from a user device; and
generating digital identity data for the animal, the digital identity data comprising a combination of the biometric data, the identifying information associated with the tag, [0106] animal identification information including biometrics data and chip identification, and the owner input, [0106] the identification information is generated based on user input, wherein the identifying of the record is further performed by comparing the digital identity data to previously recorded digital identity data for the animal, [0108] animal record is identified based on the identification information.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leong in view of Rettedal and Yang as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Lee [US 20230214792].
As to claim 2. Leong discloses The system of claim 1, wherein the encrypted signed updated record is added to a distributed ledger, [0013, 0019], the distributed ledger allowing only an owner associated with the animal to modify portions of the distributed ledger associated with the animal, [0013] update allowed to only authorized users.
The combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang fails to disclose wherein the distributed ledger only allows an owner of an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) to update the record.
Lee teaches a system and method used to manage a database system to track animals, [0558], using a blockchain to manage data, [0002, 0858]; wherein the resource can be implemented to allow access to the resource to an owner of an NFT, [0379].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang with that of Lee so that the system can be implemented to allow for scalable platform, as indicated in Lee [0244].
Claim(s) 8, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leong in view of Rettedal as applied to claims 1, 10 above, further in view of Tran [US 20200267936].
As to claim 8. the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang fails to disclose The system of claim 1, wherein the encryption is symmetrical encryption.
Tran teaches a pet monitoring system that tracks the animal’s profile through a database, [0237]; wherein the system implements a blockchain including ETHERIUM transaction, [0279].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang with that of Tran so that the system can avoid a man-in-the-middle attack.
As to claim 13. the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang fails to disclose The method of claim 12, wherein the blockchain is Ethereum.
Tran teaches a pet monitoring system that tracks the animal’s profile through a database, [0237]; wherein the system implements a blockchain including ETHERIUM transaction, [0279].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang with that of Tran so that the system can avoid relying on a third party for verifying the contract.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leong in view of Rettedal and Yang as applied to claim 10 above, further in view of Birch et al. [US 10398130].
As to claim 17. Leong discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the uploaded record is received via a Wide Area Network, [0095] the network is a wide area network.
the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang fails to disclose wherein the network is a low power WAN.
Birch teaches a system to tack animals tagged with a tracking device 102 wherein the tracking device is a Bluetooth tag, [col. 2, lines 44-50], using a distributed database, [col. 12, lines 48-52]; wherein the system uses devices 106 to sense and read the data from the tags, [col. 3, lines 28-32]; wherein the device 106 uses LoRa communication, which is a low power wide area network communication scheme, to communicate with a server 110, [col. 2, lines 58-63].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang with that of Birch so that the system can use one from the finite available forms of communication schemes communicate with a remote server.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leong in view of Rettedal and Yang as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Padmanabhan [US 20210182423].
As to 22. the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang fails to disclose The system of claim 1, wherein the database is an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) database.
Padmanabhan teaches a system and method for storing PII via a metadata driven blockchain using distributed decentralized storage using an IPFS based distributed database, [0291].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Leong, Rettedal and Yang with that of Padmanabhan so that the data can have a unique identifier, as suggested in [0311].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 7-22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENYAM HAILE whose telephone number is (571)272-2080. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 AM - 5:30 PM Mon. - Thur..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached at (571)270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Benyam Haile/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688