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 .
Response to Request for Continued Examination
This is a Non-Final Office action in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed on April 2, 2026. Applicant amended claim 1. Applicant cancelled claims 23-25. Therefore, Examiner withdraws claim rejections under 35 USC § 101.
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.
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:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable under US 20180286288 A1 (“Di Donato”) in view of US 20110200974 A1 (“Gluck”) and US 20060257048 A1 (“Lin”).
In regards to claims 1, Di Donato discloses the following limitations with the exception of the underlined limitations.
a facility for use in providing a simulated environment, the facility comprising: a rectangular floor area (([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement … of the simulator” Examiner notes that the view of the simulator depicts a rectangular floor area.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.);
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a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that the simulator includes walls and rails that may be used for interconnecting the walls and that the inner compartments (rooms) are separated by the walls.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.);
a plurality of cameras ([0036], “Each of the inner compartments … include … cameras”);
and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls to provide a plan view of a floor area of the at least two rooms ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts the cameras above the height of the walls and that the cameras provide a view of the floor area of at least two rooms. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 3.);
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and a monitor configured to display video images from the plurality of cameras by which activity in the facility may be observed, wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular floor area of the facility, wherein each of the cropped video images corresponds to a rectangular area within a field of view of a respective camera, and wherein the monitor is configured to display the cropped video images as a composite image comprising a set of adjacent tiles representing different floor areas to provide an aerial view of the facility with no gaps and no overlaps between adjacent floor areas viewed by the respective cameras in an arrangement which corresponds to a spatial arrangement of the contiguous areas on a floor plan of the facility.
Gluck discloses
and a monitor configured to display video images from the plurality of cameras by which activity in the facility may be observed, and wherein the monitor is configured to display the cropped video images as a composite image comprising a set of adjacent tiles representing different floor areas to provide an aerial view of the facility between adjacent floor areas viewed by the respective cameras in an arrangement which corresponds to a spatial arrangement of the contiguous areas on a floor plan of the facility ([0055], "the displays in the cockpit allow the crew to monitor the current status of the helicopter cabin ... images can be displayed on a monitor system in the cockpit in real time").
Di Donato and Gluck are considered analogous to the claim invention because they are in the field of simulator environments. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention for a facility for use in providing a simulated environment, the facility comprising: a rectangular floor area; a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms; a plurality of cameras; and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls to provide a plan view of a floor area of the at least two rooms; wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular floor area of the facility, as disclosed by Di Donato, and a monitor configured to display video images from the plurality of cameras by which activity in the facility may be observed, and wherein the monitor is configured to display the cropped video images as a composite image comprising a set of adjacent tiles representing different floor areas to provide an aerial view of the facility between adjacent floor areas viewed by the respective cameras in an arrangement which corresponds to a spatial arrangement of the contiguous areas on a floor plan of the facility, as disclosed by Gluck, to provide a monitor system, displays, and cockpit for an air rescue simulator which comprises a helicopter passenger cabin. One skilled in the art would recognize the value of the addition of a monitor system, displays, and cockpit for an air rescue simulator which comprises a helicopter passenger cabin.
Lin discloses
wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images ([0070],"the software can include instructions ... for extracting key frames from the video stream ... cropping the enhanced frames ... and composing image pages from the cropped frames ... for use in one or more video page applications") from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular ([0172],"map shows ... areas of interest ... where the ... cropping rectangle contains a selected combination of areas of interest and excludes other areas") floor area of the facility, wherein each of the cropped video images corresponds to a rectangular area within a field of view of a respective camera ([0121], “Extracted key frames can be used for … collages”)
with no gaps and no overlaps ([0130], “the cross-hatched areas are regions of the re-mapped image that do not overlap with the coordinate frame of the reference image”)
Di Donato and Lin combined are considered analogous to the claim invention because they are in the field of simulator environments and methods for producing a page using frames of a video stream. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention for a facility for use in providing a simulated environment, the facility comprising: a rectangular floor area; a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms; a plurality of cameras; and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls to provide a plan view of a floor area of the at least two rooms; wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular floor area of the facility, as disclosed by Di Donato, wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular floor area of the facility, wherein each of the cropped video images corresponds to a rectangular area within a field of view of a respective camera, with no gaps and no overlaps , as disclosed by Lin, to provide software, a map, areas of interest, a cropping rectangle, and collages for a method and system for automatically producing a page using frames of a video stream. One skilled in the art would recognize the value of the addition of software, a map, areas of interest, a cropping rectangle, and collages for a system that automatically produces a page using frames of a video stream.
In regards to claim 2, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras are arranged such that the floor area of all the at least two rooms is visible by the plurality of cameras in the at least two different configurations ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that Annotated Di Donato FIG 5 depicts a floor area that is visible by the cameras in two compartments (rooms).).
In regards to claim 3, Di Donato discloses
wherein the camera positions are sufficiently high that the walls are also visible to a predetermined height ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts the camera positions high enough such that the walls are visible. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 3.).
In regards to claim 4, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras comprises an array of at least 2x2 cameras ([0036], “Provided in the cabin … are … cameras” Examiner notes that a 2x2 camera array consists of four cameras arranged in a square formation. Examiner also notes that the number of cameras in the Di Donato invention may be any number of cameras, arranged in any manner.).
In regards to claim 5, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras are arranged at a uniform height above a floor of the facility ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts the cameras at the same height above a floor. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 3.).
In regards to claim 6, Di Donato discloses
wherein the walls are configurable in a rectangular grid arrangement ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that Annotated Di Donato FIG 5 depicts a rectangular arrangement.) and each camera of the plurality of cameras is arranged to view a plurality of squares within the grid ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts the cameras, which may be arranged to view any portion of the walls.).
In regards to claim 7, Di Donato discloses
a kit of parts for constructing a facility as claimed in claim 1 ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that the simulator includes walls and rails that may be used for interconnecting the walls.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.; [0036], “Each of the inner compartments … include … cameras”).
In regards to claim 9, Di Donato discloses
further comprising one or more floor panels marked with possible positions for the walls and/or recesses or other locating means for receiving the walls and/or connectors ([0030], “The flooring is resistant to abrasion, reduces noise from foot traffic, is cigarette resistant, is antistatic, reduces the risk of slipping and resists fire.” Examiner notes that the flooring, although resistant to abrasion, may be marked by application of paint, tape, or other material to the surface.).
In regards to claim 10, Di Donato discloses the following limitation with the exception of the underlined limitation.
wherein an aspect ratio of the rectangular floor area ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement … of the simulator” Examiner notes that the view of the simulator depicts a rectangular floor area.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.) matches the aspect ratio of the monitor.
Gluck discloses
matches an aspect ratio of the monitor ([0055], "the displays in the cockpit allow the crew to monitor the current status of the helicopter cabin ... images can be displayed on a monitor system in the cockpit in real time" Examiner notes that an aspect ratio of a rectangular area can match an aspect ratio of a monitor.).
Di Donato and Gluck are considered analogous to the claim invention because they are in the field of simulator environments. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention for a facility for use in providing a simulated environment comprising a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms, a plurality of cameras, and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls, and wherein an aspect ratio of the rectangular floor area, as disclosed by Di Donato, matches an aspect ratio of the monitor, as disclosed by Gluck, to provide a monitor and displays for an air rescue simulator which comprises a helicopter passenger cabin.
In regards to claim 12, Di Donato discloses
further comprising a lighting system, wherein the support structure is configured also to support the lighting system ([0039], “The simulator is equipped with integrated lighting and emergency lighting” Examiner notes that the lighting bodies are located near the cameras. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 4.).
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In regards to claim 13, Di Donato discloses
comprising a plurality of control devices operable manually from within the facility to wirelessly control one or more functions of the facility and wherein the plurality of control devices are configured to be removable mountable at a plurality of different locations in the facility ([0036], “Provided in the cabin … are a workstation with an electronic computer … and control devices of various equipment located in the inner compartments”).
In regards to claim 16, Di Donato does not disclose comprising one or more sensors or trigger devices wherein one or more functions of the facility is operable is operable in response to a signal from the one or more sensors or trigger devices.
Gluck discloses
comprising one or more sensors or trigger devices wherein one or more functions of the facility is operable is operable in response to a signal from the one or more sensors or trigger devices ([0100], “fail-safe sensors for tail retraction, … the winch arm pivoting sensor, the cable output sensor and the cable load sensor of the winch are connected … the two sensor evaluation panels, the pilot's demands and the states of the sensors are checked”).
Di Donato and Gluck are considered analogous to the claim invention because they are in the field of simulator environments. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention for a facility for use in providing a simulated environment comprising a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms, a plurality of cameras, and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls, as disclosed by Di Donato, comprising one or more sensors or trigger devices wherein one or more functions of the facility is operable is operable in response to a signal from the one or more sensors or trigger devices, as disclosed by Gluck, to provide fail-safe sensors, a winch arm pivoting sensor, a cable output sensor, and a cable load sensor for an air rescue simulator which comprises a helicopter passenger cabin. One skilled in the art would recognize the value of the addition of fail-safe sensors, a winch arm pivoting sensor, a cable output sensor, and a cable load sensor for an air rescue simulator which comprises a helicopter passenger cabin.
In regards to claim 19, Di Donato discloses
configured to provide one or more functions being any one or more of: lighting, imagery, explosion, smoke generation, aroma generation, sound, and appearance or movement of a target ([0041], “Emergency ceiling lights with indication of the escape routes, warning pictograms, … and a grounding system with an attached pole and/or cable lugs with a cable of suitable cross-section for connection to the existing ground wire are provided.”).
In regards to claim 20, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras are configured to capture and transmit only the image data from a subset of pixels corresponding to a rectangular area within a camera field of view of a camera of the plurality of cameras ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that Annotated Di Donato FIG 3 depicts the cameras, which may capture and transmit data from a subset of pixels.” Examiner notes that capturing and transmitting subset pixel data is a common technique in digital imaging.).
In regards to claim 21, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras are arranged in the facility such that the subsets of pixels correspond to substantially contiguous areas on the facility floor ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that Annotated Di Donato FIG 5 depicts cameras arranged where the floor area corresponds to the subset of pixels.).
In regards to claim 22, Di Donato discloses
wherein the plurality of cameras are configured to adjust one or more of pan, tilt and zoom, and are mounted so as to be adjustable between one room configuration and another to achieve a required visibility of floor area, without the need to move the plurality of cameras from their mounting position ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts cameras that may be adjusted to pan, tilt, or zoom and maintain visibility without removing the cameras from position. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 3.).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 2, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant amended claim 1. Applicant cancelled claims 23-25. Claims 1-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, and 19-22 remain pending in the application. With respect to “Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103”, Applicant argues that “Di Donato does not disclose: wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular floor area of the facility wherein each of the cropped video images corresponds to a rectangular area within a field of view of a respective camera, and wherein the monitor is configured to display the cropped video images as a composite image comprising a set of adjacent tiles representing different floor areas to provide an ariel view of the facility with no gaps and no overlaps between adjacent floor areas viewed by the respective cameras in an arrangement which corresponds to a spatial arrangement of the contiguous areas on a floor plan of the facility.” (See Amendment and Response, Remarks, Page 6, paragraph 1) and that “Gluck does not disclose: (i) cropping camera images to rectangular areas within respective camera fields of view; (ii) presenting cropped images as adjacent tiles; (iii) ensuring no gaps and no overlaps between adjacent floor areas; or (iv) arranging the tiles to correspond to a spatial arrangement of contiguous areas on a floor plan” (See Amendment and Response, Remarks, Page 7, paragraph 2). Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s remarks. With respect to amended claim 1, Di Donato discloses a facility for use in providing a simulated environment, the facility comprising: a rectangular floor area (([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement … of the simulator” Examiner notes that the view of the simulator depicts a rectangular floor area.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.); a plurality of walls and a plurality of connectors for interconnecting the walls in at least two different configurations to form at least two rooms ([0030], “FIG. 5 is a … view of the arrangement of the internal walls of the simulator” Examiner notes that the simulator includes walls and rails that may be used for interconnecting the walls and that the inner compartments (rooms) are separated by the walls.” See Annotated Di Donato FIG 5.); a plurality of cameras ([0036], “Each of the inner compartments … include … cameras”); and a support structure configured to support the plurality of cameras above the height of the walls to provide a plan view of a floor area of the at least two rooms ([0028], “FIG. 3 is a … cross-section of the simulator” Examiner notes that FIG 3 depicts the cameras above the height of the walls and that the cameras provide a view of the floor area of at least two rooms. See Annotated Di Donato FIG 3.), Gluck discloses and a monitor configured to display video images from the plurality of cameras by which activity in the facility may be observed, and wherein the monitor is configured to display the cropped video images as a composite image comprising a set of adjacent tiles representing different floor areas to provide an aerial view of the facility between adjacent floor areas viewed by the respective cameras in an arrangement which corresponds to a spatial arrangement of the contiguous areas on a floor plan of the facility ([0055], "the displays in the cockpit allow the crew to monitor the current status of the helicopter cabin ... images can be displayed on a monitor system in the cockpit in real time"), and Lin discloses wherein one or both of the cameras or the monitor are configured to crop the video images ([0070],"the software can include instructions ... for extracting key frames from the video stream ... cropping the enhanced frames ... and composing image pages from the cropped frames ... for use in one or more video page applications") from the plurality of cameras to respective contiguous areas of the rectangular ([0172],"map shows ... areas of interest ... where the ... cropping rectangle contains a selected combination of areas of interest and excludes other areas") floor area of the facility, wherein each of the cropped video images corresponds to a rectangular area within a field of view of a respective camera ([0121], “Extracted key frames can be used for … collages”) with no gaps and no overlaps ([0130], “the cross-hatched areas are regions of the re-mapped image that do not overlap with the coordinate frame of the reference image”).
MPEP § 2111 discusses proper claim interpretation, including giving claims their
broadest reasonable interpretation (“BRI”) in light of the specification during
examination. Under BRI, the words of a claim must be given their plain meaning unless
such meaning is inconsistent with the specification, and it is improper to import claim
limitations from the specification into the claim. Applicant’s argument is not persuasive because the BRI is broader than what is argued. Therefore, the rejection of amended claim 1, as obvious by Di Donato in view of Gluck and Lin, is maintained. Consequently, the rejections of dependent claims 2-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, and 19-22 are maintained.
Furthermore, MPEP 2141.01(a) discusses obviousness regarding analogous art. Under MPEP 2141.01(a), a reference is analogous to the claimed invention if: (1) the reference is from the same field of endeavor (even if it addresses a different problem): or (2) the reference is reasonable pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (even if it is not in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention). Examiner notes that combined Di Donato, Gluck, and Lin are reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor. Therefore, the rejections of amended claim 1 and dependent claims 2-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, and 19-22, as obvious over Di Donato in view of Gluck and Lin, are maintained.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to Lisa Antoine whose telephone number is
(571) 272-4252 and whose email address is lantoine@uspto.gov. The examiner can be reached Monday-Thursday, 7:30 am-5:30 pm CDT. 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, Xuan Thai, can be reached on (571) 272-7147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/LISA H ANTOINE/
Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/XUAN M THAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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