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
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The following is a Final Office Action in response to claims received on 1/26/2026 and petition decision dated 3/18/2026. Claims 1, 4, 6-8, 11, 14, 17, and 19-30 have been examined in this application
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 4, 6-8, 11, 14, 17, and 19-20 are acknowledged. Applicant’s addition of new claims 21-30 are acknowledged. Applicant’s cancellation of claims 2-3, 5,9-10, 12-13,15-16, and 18 are acknowledged.
Response to Arguments
Based on Applicant’s intensive amendments the claims rejection have been updated below to reflect Applicant’s amendments. See new grounds of rejection (including newly cited prior art primary reference of Salimi et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0364819)) and updated 101 rejection below, rending Applicant’s arguments filed 1/26/2026 considered but moot.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 4, 6-8, 11, 14, 17, and 19-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
The claim(s) recite(s) collecting school schedule information, collecting student attendance information including time and identifiers, comparing collected schedule information with attendance information to determine a student’s class attendance status like if a user is on time, late, leaving early, or returning to class, storing a record of the movement, creating a visualization of students and movements, generating notifications of movements and attendances to interest parties, and storing notifications in a data store. The claims are recited at such a high level of abstraction that they recite observations, evaluations, judgements, and opinions that could be performed in the human mind or with pen and paper, accordingly the claims recite a mental process (see MPEP 2106.04(a)).
Further the claims recite concepts relating to managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people including social activities which are certain methods of organizing human activities (see MPEP 2106.04(a)).
Mental processes and certain methods of organizing human activities are in the groupings of enumerated abstracts ideas, and hence the claims recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims merely recite limitations that are not indicative of integration into a practical application in that the claims merely recite:
(1) Adding the words “apply it” ( or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05(f)) and (2) Generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Specifically as recited in the claims:
As per claim 1, the claims recite mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities limitations of collecting school schedule information, collecting student attendance information including time and identifiers, comparing collected schedule information with attendance information to determine a student’s class attendance status like if a user is on time, late, leaving early, or returning to class, storing a record of the movement, creating a visualization of students and movements, generating notifications of movements and attendances to interest parties, and storing notifications in a data store. This is part the abstract idea.
The additional elements recited in the claim that these mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities are instead being performed by “a communication device”, “administration device”, “hardware devices”, and “a processing device”, information is stored in a “storage device”, and information is sent to a guardian “device” or an administration “device” and a “remote server” merely results in apply it. As specifically recited here the additional elements invoke computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process. Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g. to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.
Further these additional elements are considered nothing more than generally linking it to the field of computers as recited.
As per claim 4, the claims recite the additional element that further define the hardware device as comprising either a radio frequency identification reader or a camera which as recited merely results in apply it. As specifically recited here the additional elements invoke computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process. Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g. to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more. Specifically here Applicant does not recite an improvement in cameras or radio frequency identification readers as claimed rather the claims merely recite using radio frequency identification reader or a camera to implement the abstract idea, which is apply it level claiming.
Further these additional elements are considered nothing more than generally linking it to the field of computers as recited.
As per claim 6, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of the visualization comprises a graphical representation of the record of movement of the student overlaid on the school facility floor plans, as broadly recited in the claims. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously discussed above from which this claim depends.
As per claim 7, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of a plurality of icons, each icon representing a respective location of the student at a respective time, where the most recent is visually distinguishable from other icons. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously discussed above from which this claim depends.
As per claim 8, the claims recite mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities limitations of collecting school schedule information, collecting student attendance information including time and identifiers, comparing collected schedule information with attendance information to determine a student’s class attendance status like if a user is on time, late, leaving early, or returning to class, storing a record of the movement, creating a visualization of students and movements, generating notifications of movements and attendances to interest parties, and storing notifications in a data store. This is part the abstract idea.
The additional elements recited in the claim that these mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities are instead being performed by “a communication device”, “hardware devices”, and “a processing device”,” and information is sent to a “device” merely results in apply it. As specifically recited here the additional elements invoke computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process. Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g. to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.
Further these additional elements are considered nothing more than generally linking it to the field of computers as recited.
As per claim 11, the claims recite the additional element that further define the hardware device as comprising either a radio frequency identification reader or a camera which merely results in apply it or generally linking it to the field of computers as discussed above in claim 4.
As per claim 14, the claims recite mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities limitations of collecting school schedule information, collecting student attendance information including time and identifiers, comparing collected schedule information with attendance information to determine a student’s class attendance status like if a user is on time, late, leaving early, or returning to class, storing a record of the movement, creating a visualization of students and movements, generating notifications of movements and attendances to interest parties, and storing notifications in a data store. This is part the abstract idea.
The additional elements recited in the claim that these mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities are instead being performed by “a communication device”, “hardware devices”, stored software running on a computer or more specifically as recited in the claims “a non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer readable instruction stored therein for causing a computer processor to perform operations to perform operations comprising”, and “a processing device”, and information is sent to a “device”, merely results in apply it. As specifically recited here the additional elements invoke computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process. Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g. to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.
Further these additional elements are considered nothing more than generally linking it to the field of computers as recited.
As per claim 17, the claims recite the additional element that further define the hardware device as comprising either a radio frequency identification reader or a camera which merely results in apply it or generally linking it to the field of computers as discussed above in claim 4.
As per claim 19, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity of the visualization comprises a graphical representation of the record of movement of the student overlaid on the school facility floor plans, as broadly recited in the claims. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously discussed above from which this claim depends.
As per claim 20, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of a plurality of icons, each icon representing a respective location of the student at a respective time, where the most recent is visually distinguishable from other icons. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously discussed above from which this claim depends.
As per claim 21, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of an exit of the student from a first room is recorded when an entry of the student to a second room occurs after entry to the first room, the record of movement comprising a timestamp that is associated with each room entry and room exit of the student. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously discussed above from which this claim depends.
As per claim 22, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of for example a user enters a room and provides their name (e.g. a unique identification code) to an entity, and an exit of the student from the first room is recorded at a second time after the first time by a user providing their name to the same entity, as broadly recited in the claim. This is part of the abstract idea. The additional element that these mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities are being performed by a “hardware device” merely results in apply it and generally linking it to the field of computers as discussed above in claim 14.
As per claim 23, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of generating an activity identifier that identifies a portion of the record of movement of the student that represents an attendance related activity and determining the attendance status for the student based on the activity identifier. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 24, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of generating for each activity identifier of multiple activity identifiers for a student, a visual icon, wherein a characteristic of the visual icon represents the attendance status of the student at the corresponding portion of the record of movement and overlaying the visual icon on a portion of the school facility floor plans. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 25, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of wherein the visualization comprises a graphical representation of the record of movement of the student overlaid on the school facility floor plans. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 26, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of wherein the visualization comprises a plurality of icons each icon representing a location of the student at a particular time, wherein an icon of the plurality of icons that represents a most recent location of the student is visually distinguishable from other icons of the plurality of icons. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 27, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of wherein an exit of the student from a first room is recorded when an entry of the student to a second room occurs after entry to the first room, the record of movement comprises a timestamp that is associated with each room entry and room exit of the student. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 28, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of for example a user enters a room and provides their name (e.g. a unique identification code) to an entity, and an exit of the student from the first room is recorded at a second time after the first time by a user providing their name to the same entity, as broadly recited in the claim. This is part of the abstract idea. The additional element that these mental process and certain methods of organizing human activities are being performed by a “hardware device” merely results in apply it and generally linking it to the field of computers as discussed above in claim 8.
As per claim 29, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of generating an activity identifier that identifies a portion of the record of movement of the student that represents an attendance related activity and determining the attendance status for the student based on the activity identifier. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
As per claim 30, the claims recite the mental process and certain methods of organizing human activity steps of generating for each activity identifier of multiple activity identifiers for a student, a visual icon, wherein a characteristic of the visual icon represents the attendance status of the student at the corresponding portion of the record of movement and overlaying the visual icon on a portion of the school facility floor plans. This is part of the abstract idea. There are no additional elements beyond those previously recited in the claim from which this claim depends.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claims merely recite limitations that are not indicative of an inventive concept (“significantly more”) in that the claims merely recite:
(1) Adding the words “apply it” ( or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05(f)) and (2) Generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)), as detailed above under the practical application step.
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, 14, 21-23, and 27-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Salimi et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0364819).
As per claim 1, Salimi et al. teaches A method comprising: (see title, Examiner’s note: method for attendance tracking)
receiving, using a communication device; school facility data from at least one school administration device associated with at least one school administrator, the school facility data comprising information associated with school facility floor plans, the school facility floor plans comprising locations of a plurality of rooms, and (see paragraphs 0046 and Figure 13, Examiner’s note: managing location of classrooms, dorms, etc.).
school schedule data comprising academic schedules for a plurality of students, the school schedule data identifying, for each student, a respective assigned room for each of a plurality of class periods; (see paragraph 0027, 0044-0045, and Figures 3 and 11-12, Examiner’s note: administrator inputs student schedules)
storing, using a storage device, the school facility data and the school schedule data to a remote server; (see paragraph 0027 and Figure 3, Examiner’s note: database for storing information).
receiving, using the communication device, dedicated room data generated by a plurality of dedicated hardware devices, wherein each dedicated hardware device of the plurality of dedicated hardware devices is associated with a respective room of the plurality of rooms, wherein first dedicated room data generated by a first dedicated hardware device comprises: (see paragraphs 0022-0024, Examiner’s note: transmitting student location information via beacons).
a plurality of unique identification codes obtained by the first dedicated hardware device, each unique identification code corresponding to each user a respective student of the plurality of students, and for each unique identification code of the plurality of unique identification codes, (see paragraphs 0029, 0032-0033, Examiner’s note: tracking location via student ids which are unique)
a respective timestamp indicating a time at which the unique identification code was obtained by the first dedicated hardware device; (see paragraph 0023, 0047, and Figure 14, Examiner’s note: show corresponding time stamp check in and check out times of reference character 1408 and 1410)
processing, using a processing device, the school facility data, and the dedicated room data; (see paragraph 0027, 0044-0045, and Figures 3 and 11-12, Examiner’s note: administrator inputs student schedules)
generating, using the processing device, a record of movement of a student based on the processing, wherein the record of movement comprises an indication of at least one of a room entry or a room exit of the student, where an exit of the student from a first room is recorded when an entry of the student to a second room occurs after entry to the first room, the record of movement comprising a respective timestamp that is associated with each room entry and room exit of the student, (see paragraph 0033, 0036, 0047, Figure 14, Examiner’s note: Figure 14 and corresponding paragraph 0047 show entry and exits to a class, paragraphs 0033 and 0036 teach tracking activities within a perimeter so if a user moves onto another location like room outside the established perimeter, their exit is recorded).
comparing, using the processing device, the record of movement of the student with the school schedule data to generate an activity identifier, wherein the activity identifier if identifies a portion of the record of movement of the student represents an attendance-related activity, wherein the activity identifier facilitates determination of an attendance status for the student, the attendance status comprising one or more of. on time, late arrival, leaving mid class, leaving early, and returning mid class; (Figure 14 and paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: shows absent, present, (see Figure 1), can also show leaving early (see paragraph 0035), tardy (see paragraph 0033), and a user moving in and out of a perimeter (which could be returning mid class)(see paragraphs 0033-0034), however only one is required by the claims).
storing, using the storage device, the activity identifier and the record of movement to the remote server; (see paragraph 0034, Examiner’s note: backstage server includes a database for storing enter and exit events).
generating, using the processing device, a visualization based on the activity identifier and the record of movement; (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: attendance record for the student).
generating, using the processing device, a notification wherein the notification comprises at least one of the record of movement and the activity identifier, wherein the notification comprises the visualization; transmitting, using the communication device, the notification to the at least one school administration device, and at least one guardian device; (see paragraphs 0036-0037, Examiner’s note: sending a tardy notification to an administrator and or parents device).
and storing, using the storage device, the notification (see paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: storing entry and exit notifications in the database).
As per claim 8, Salimi teaches A method comprising: (see title, Examiner’s note: method for attendance tracking)
receiving, using a communication device: school facility data comprising information associated with school facility floor plans, the school facility floor plans comprising locations of a plurality of rooms, (see paragraphs 0046 and Figure 13, Examiner’s note: managing location of classrooms, dorms, etc.).
school schedule data comprising academic schedules for a plurality of students, the school schedule data identifying, for each student, a respective assigned room for each of a plurality of class periods; (see paragraph 0027, 0044-0045, and Figures 3 and 11-12, Examiner’s note: administrator inputs student schedules)
dedicated room data generated by a plurality of dedicated hardware devices wherein each dedicated hardware device of the plurality of dedicated hardware devices is associated with a respective room of the plurality of rooms, wherein first dedicated room data generated by a first dedicated hardware device comprises: (see paragraphs 0022-0024, Examiner’s note: transmitting student location information via beacons).
a plurality of unique identification codes obtained by the first dedicated hardware device, each unique identification code corresponding to each user a respective student of the plurality of students, and(see paragraphs 0029, 0032-0033, Examiner’s note: tracking location via student ids which are unique)
for each unique identification code of the plurality of unique identification codes, a respective timestamp indicating a time at which the unique identification code was obtained by the first dedicated hardware device; (see paragraphs 0022-0024, Examiner’s note: transmitting student location information via beacons).
generating, using a processing device, a record of movement of a student based on the processing school facility data and the dedicated room data, wherein the record of movement comprises an indication of at least one of a room entry or a room exit of the student and a timestamp associated with each room entry and room exit of the student; (see paragraph 0033, 0036, 0047, Figure 14, Examiner’s note: Figure 14 and corresponding paragraph 0047 show entry and exits to a class, paragraphs 0033 and 0036 teach tracking activities within a perimeter so if a user moves onto another location like room outside the established perimeter, their exit is recorded).
comparing, by the processing device, the record of movement of the student with the school schedule data; determining, using a result of the comparison, an attendance status for the student, the attendance status comprising one or more of: on time, late arrival, leaving mid class, leaving early, and returning mid class; (Figure 14 and paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: shows absent, present, (see Figure 1), can also show leaving early (see paragraph 0035), tardy (see paragraph 0033), and a user moving in and out of a perimeter (which could be returning mid class)(see paragraphs 0033-0034), however only one is required by the claims).
generating, using the processing device, a visualization based on the activity identifier attendance status and the record of movement, (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: attendance record for the student).
transmitting, using the communication device, a notification of the attendance status to least one device, wherein the notification comprises the visualization (see paragraphs 0036-0037, Examiner’s note: sending a tardy notification to an administrator and or parents device).
As per claim 14, Salimi teaches A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer readable instructions stored therein for causing a computer processor to perform operations to perform operations comprising: (see paragraph 0049, Examiner’s note: software running on a computer to perform operations).
receiving using a communication devices school facility data comprising information associated with school facility floor plans, the school facility floor plans comprising locations of a plurality of rooms, (see paragraphs 0046 and Figure 13, Examiner’s note: managing location of classrooms, dorms, etc.).
school schedule data comprising academic schedules for a plurality of students, the school schedule data identifying, for each student, a respective assigned room for each of a plurality of class periods; (see paragraph 0027, 0044-0045, and Figures 3 and 11-12, Examiner’s note: administrator inputs student schedules)
and dedicated room data from at least one generated by a plurality of dedicated hardware devices device, wherein each dedicated hardware device of the plurality of dedicated hardware devices is associated with a respective room of the plurality of rooms, wherein first dedicated room data generated by a first dedicated hardware device comprises: (see paragraphs 0022-0024, Examiner’s note: transmitting student location information via beacons).
a plurality of unique identification codes obtained by the first dedicated hardware device, each unique identification code corresponding to each user a respective student of the plurality of students, (see paragraphs 0029, 0032-0033, Examiner’s note: tracking location via student ids which are unique)
and for each unique identification code of the plurality of unique identification codes, a respective timestamp indicating a time at which the unique identification code was obtained by the first dedicated hardware device (see paragraphs 0022-0024, Examiner’s note: transmitting student location information via beacons).
generating using a processing device, a record of movement of a student based on the processing school facility data and the dedicated room data, wherein the record of movement comprises an indication of at least one of a room entry or a room exit of the student and a timestamp associated with each room entry and room exit of the student; (see paragraph 0033, 0036, 0047, Figure 14, Examiner’s note: Figure 14 and corresponding paragraph 0047 show entry and exits to a class, paragraphs 0033 and 0036 teach tracking activities within a perimeter so if a user moves onto another location like room outside the established perimeter, their exit is recorded).
comparing, by the processing device, the record of movement of the student with the school schedule data; determining, using a result of the comparison, an attendance status result comprising for the student, the attendance status comprising one or more of: on time, late arrival, leaving mid class, leaving early, and returning mid class; (Figure 14 and paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: shows absent, present, (see Figure 1), can also show leaving early (see paragraph 0035), tardy (see paragraph 0033), and a user moving in and out of a perimeter (which could be returning mid class)(see paragraphs 0033-0034), however only one is required by the claims).
generating, using the processing device, a visualization based on the activity identifier attendance status and the record of movement,; (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: attendance record for the student).
transmitting, using the communication device, a notification of the attendance status to at least one school administration device, wherein the notification comprises the visualization the at least one teacher device, and at least one guardian device. (see paragraphs 0036-0037, Examiner’s note: sending a tardy notification to an administrator and or parents device).
As per claim 21,Salimi teaches
wherein an exit of the student from a first room is recorded when an entry of the student to a second room occurs after entry to the first room, the record of movement comprising a timestamp that is associated with each room entry and room exit of the student. (see paragraph 0033, 0036, 0047, Figure 14, Examiner’s note: Figure 14 and corresponding paragraph 0047 show entry and exits to a class, paragraphs 0033 and 0036 teach tracking activities within a perimeter so if a user moves onto another location like room outside the established perimeter, their exit is recorded).
As per claim 22, Salimi teaches
Wherein :an entry of the student to a first room is recorded when the first dedicated hardware device obtains a first unique identification code corresponding to the student at a first time, and an exit of the student from the first room is recorded when the first dedicated hardware device obtains the first unique identification code at a second time after the first time, without another dedicated hardware device obtaining the first unique identification code between the first time and the second time (see paragraph 0024, Examiner’s note: entry and exits are determined based on being within and out of a range of a beacon).
As per claim 23, Salimi teaches
the operations comprising: generating an activity identifier that identifies a portion of the record of movement of the student that represents an attendance-related activity; and determining the attendance status for the student based on the activity identifier. (Figure 14 and paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: shows absent, present, (see Figure 1), can also show leaving early (see paragraph 0035), tardy (see paragraph 0033), and a user moving in and out of a perimeter (which could be returning mid class)(see paragraphs 0033-0034)).
As per claim 27, Salimi teaches
wherein an exit of the student from a first room is recorded when an entry of the student to a second room occurs after entry to the first room, the record of movement comprising a timestamp that is associated with each room entry and room exit of the student. (see paragraph 0033, 0036, 0047, Figure 14, Examiner’s note: Figure 14 and corresponding paragraph 0047 show entry and exits to a class, paragraphs 0033 and 0036 teach tracking activities within a perimeter so if a user moves onto another location like room outside the established perimeter, their exit is recorded)
As per claim 28, Salimi teaches
an entry of the student to a first room is recorded when the first dedicated hardware device obtains a first unique identification code corresponding to the student at a first time, and an exit of the student from the first room is recorded when the first dedicated hardware device obtains the first unique identification code at a second time after the first time, without another dedicated hardware device obtaining the first unique identification code between the first time and the second time. (see paragraph 0024, Examiner’s note: entry and exits are determined based on being within and out of a range of a beacon).
As per claim 29, Salimi teaches
comprising: generating an activity identifier that identifies a portion of the record of movement of the student that represents an attendance-related activity; and determining the attendance status for the student based on the activity identifier. (Figure 14 and paragraphs 0033-0035, Examiner’s note: shows absent, present, (see Figure 1), can also show leaving early (see paragraph 0035), tardy (see paragraph 0033), and a user moving in and out of a perimeter (which could be returning mid class)(see paragraphs 0033-0034)).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 4, 11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salimi et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0364819) further in view of Galvez et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2020/0066129).
As per claim 4, Salimi teaches
wherein each dedicated hardware device comprises at least one of a radio frequency identification (see paragraph 0025, Examiner’s note: very broad limitation here which could merely mean as recited in Salimi that the system in addition includes radio frequency identification (RFID)).
Salimi does not expressly teach a radio frequency identification reader or a camera.
However, Galvez et al. which is in the art of tracking students (see abstract) teaches a radio frequency identification reader or a camera (see paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086, Examiner’s note: using radio frequency and surveillance cameras, to track students, it is noted only one is required by the claims).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Galvez et al. with the motivation of using additional known technology to track students attendance (see Galvez et al. paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086), when Galvez et al. teaches using various technologies including Radio Frequency technology to track student is known (see Salimi paragraph 0025)
As per claim 11, Salimi teaches
wherein each dedicated hardware device comprises at least one of a radio frequency identification (see paragraph 0025, Examiner’s note: very broad limitation here which could merely mean as recited in Salimi that the system in addition includes radio frequency identification (RFID)).
Salimi does not expressly teach a radio frequency identification reader or a camera.
However, Galvez et al. which is in the art of tracking students (see abstract) teaches a radio frequency identification reader or a camera (see paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086, Examiner’s note: using radio frequency and surveillance cameras, to track students, it is noted only one is required by the claims).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Galvez et al. with the motivation of using additional known technology to track students attendance (see Galvez et al. paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086), when Galvez et al. teaches using various technologies including Radio Frequency technology to track student is known (see Salimi paragraph 0025)
As per claim 17, Salimi teaches
wherein each dedicated hardware device comprises at least one of a radio frequency identification (see paragraph 0025, Examiner’s note: very broad limitation here which could merely mean as recited in Salimi that the system in addition includes radio frequency identification (RFID)).
Salimi does not expressly teach a radio frequency identification reader or a camera.
However, Galvez et al. which is in the art of tracking students (see abstract) teaches a radio frequency identification reader or a camera (see paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086, Examiner’s note: using radio frequency and surveillance cameras, to track students, it is noted only one is required by the claims).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Galvez et al. with the motivation of using additional known technology to track students attendance (see Galvez et al. paragraphs 0021, 0043, 0054, 0082, 0086), when Galvez et al. teaches using various technologies including Radio Frequency technology to track student is known (see Salimi paragraph 0025)
Claim(s) 6-7, 19-20, 24-26, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salimi et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0364819) further in view of Burtner et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number: US 2017/0023377).
As per claim 6, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization comprises a graphical representation of the record of movement of the student with the school facility floor plans (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record).
Salimi does not expressly teach overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map.
However, Burtner which is in the art of tracking information in systems (see abstract) teaches overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map (see paragraphs 0047, 0091, Figures 16, Examiner’s note: tracked locations overlaid on a map).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Burtner with the motivation of providing a different known way to display location information like location on a map(see Burtner paragraphs 0047, 0091 and Figure 16), when displaying tracked location information on a computer interface is known (see Salimi Figure 14 and paragraph 0047).
As per claim 7, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization comprises a plurality of icons, each icon representing a respective location of the student at a respective time, wherein an icon of the plurality of icons that represents a most recent location of the student is visually distinguishable from other icons of the plurality of icons. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record, here visually distinguishable as broadly recited could be merely a user looking at the times and picking the most recent one).
As per claim 19, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization includes comprises a graphical representation signifying of the record of movement of the student with the school facility floor plans. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record).
Salimi does not expressly teach overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map.
However, Burtner which is in the art of tracking information in systems (see abstract) teaches overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map (see paragraphs 0047, 0091, Figures 16, Examiner’s note: tracked locations overlap on a map).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Burtner with the motivation of providing a different known way to display location information like location on a map(see Burtner paragraphs 0047, 0091 and Figure 16), when displaying tracked location information on a computer interface is known (see Salimi Figure 14 and paragraph 0047).
As per claim 20, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization comprises includes a plurality of icons, each icon representing a respective location of the student at a respective time, wherein an icon of the plurality of icons that represents a most recent location of the student is visually distinguishable from other icons of the plurality of icons. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record, here visually distinguishable as broadly recited could be merely a user looking at the times and picking the most recent one).
As per claim 24, Salimi teaches
generating the visualization comprises: generating, for each activity identifier of multiple activity identifiers for a student, a visual icon, wherein a characteristic of the visual icon represents the attendance status of the student at the corresponding portion of the record of movement; and presenting the visual icon on a portion of the school facility floor plans. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record).
Salimi does not expressly teach overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaying on a map.
However, Burtner which is in the art of tracking information in systems (see abstract) teaches overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaying on a map (see paragraphs 0047, 0091, Figures 16, Examiner’s note: tracked locations overlap on a map).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Burtner with the motivation of providing a different known way to display location information like location on a map(see Burtner paragraphs 0047, 0091 and Figure 16), when displaying tracked location information on a computer interface is known (see Salimi Figure 14 and paragraph 0047).
As per claim 25, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization comprises a graphical representation of the record of movement of the student with the school facility floor plans. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record).
Salimi does not expressly teach overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map.
However, Burtner which is in the art of tracking information in systems (see abstract) teaches overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaid on a map (see paragraphs 0047, 0091, Figures 16, Examiner’s note: tracked locations overlap on a map).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Burtner with the motivation of providing a different known way to display location information like location on a map(see Burtner paragraphs 0047, 0091 and Figure 16), when displaying tracked location information on a computer interface is known (see Salimi Figure 14 and paragraph 0047).
As per claim 26, Salimi teaches
wherein the visualization comprises a plurality of icons, each icon representing a location of the student at a particular time, wherein an icon of the plurality of icons that represents a most recent location of the student is visually distinguishable from other icons of the plurality of icons. (see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record, here visually distinguishable as broadly recited could be merely a user looking at the times and picking the most recent one).
As per claim 30, Salimi teaches
wherein generating the visualization comprises: generating, for each activity identifier of multiple activity identifiers for a student, a visual icon, wherein a characteristic of the visual icon represents the attendance status of the student at the corresponding portion of the record of movement; and presenting the visual icon on a portion of the school facility floor plans.(see Figure 14 and paragraph 0047, Examiner’s note: shows a user’s attendance record).
Salimi does not expressly teach overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaying on a map.
However, Burtner which is in the art of tracking information in systems (see abstract) teaches overlaying location information or more specifically tracked locations overlaying on a map (see paragraphs 0047, 0091, Figures 16, Examiner’s note: tracked locations overlap on a map).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Salimi with the aforementioned teachings from Burtner with the motivation of providing a different known way to display location information like location on a map(see Burtner paragraphs 0047, 0091 and Figure 16), when displaying tracked location information on a computer interface is known (see Salimi Figure 14 and paragraph 0047).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Dobson et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number:
US 2006/0035205) teaches an automated attendance tracking system in school (See abstract)
Whorley, JR et al. (United States Patent Application Publication
Number: US 2018/0018746) teaches a system for monitoring class attendance
based on class schedules (See abstract)
Galvez et al. (United States Patent Application Publication Number:
US 2020/0066129) teaches a system for tracking students in school (see
abstract)
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
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/KIERSTEN V SUMMERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3626
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