DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 20 October 2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9-16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller (US 20200372743 A1) in view of Berns (WO 2017023556 A1) and further in view of McNamara (US 20210313075 A1).
Claim 1. Miller teaches a method for managing building entry, the method comprising:
receiving from a visitor identification information
([0008][0024] receive a signal corresponding to an image of the face of the individual captured by the camera 22 and determine an identity of the individual based on the image of his or her face.);
obtaining medical data including at least one vital sign of said visitor
([0033][0035][0037] processing circuitry 42 receives a signal from the graphical user interface 20 corresponding to an individual's answers to one or more questions presented to the individual via the graphical user interface 42, and further receives a signal corresponding to infrared radiation from the individual sensed by the temperature sensor 24);
Miller further discloses the process of determining whether is granted or denied access to the building ([0039]) based on the individual’s health status but does not specifically disclose
determining geographical area in which the building is located and obtaining local health information related to said geographical area.
However, Berns teaches determining geographical area in which the building is located and obtaining local health information related to said geographical area
([0029]-[0031] When the target location is the current location of the selected registered user the current GPS coordinates of the client computing device 12, shown in FIG. 1, may be used as the target location…a user may book a hotel room. On the other hand, when the target location is a future predicted location the location may correspond to an event 206 in a calendar 208 stored in the user personal assistant database 30.
the group of other registered users 202 may be associated with the target location 204...the target location may be the entire hotel or a subsection of the hotel... The electronic personal assistant application server 66 is configured to determine group health data 214 representing a health condition of the group of other registered users 202. (e.g. local health information)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the geographical area, local health information, and medical data as taught by Berns within the system of Miller for the purpose of proactively notifying the individual of a potential health risk based on the medical issues of the user.
Miller further discloses the process of determining whether is granted or denied access to the building based on medical data ([0039]) based on the individual’s health status and Berns teaches the use the geographical area, local health information, medical data and calculating risk level of said visitor while providing a warning to the user. The prior art does not specifically disclose
calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building posed by said visitor entering the building and is calculated based on said medical data and said local health information; and determining building access for the visitor based on said calculated risk level for said visitor.
However, McNamara teaches calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building posed by said visitor entering the building and is calculated based on said medical data and said local health information
([0147] In some embodiments, the contact tracing service 1114 can manage risk through screening visitors of a building. For example, the contact tracing service 1114 can determine, based on occupant information, whether the visitor poses a threat risk to occupants of the building. The information may indicate the organization that the visitor is associated with, whether the occupant has tested positive or negative for a disease, whether the visitor has been in a high infection level geographic area, etc.
[0182] The contact tracing service 1114 can identify the likelihood of occupants being infected with an infectious disease based on contact that the occupants have with each other and infected individuals. );
and determining building access for the visitor based on said calculated risk level for said visitor
([0201] The health parameters 1402 can include red flag indicators. For example, if the temperature of the user is more than 101 Fahrenheit for more than three days, a red flag indicator can be activated by the user scoring service 1126 and a notification... instructing the security personnel and/or the facility team to restrict building entry for the user.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the process of calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building; and determining building access for the visitor as taught by McNamara within the system of Miller for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious disease to individuals who may be highly vulnerable within the building.
Claim 2. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said at least one vital sign is selected from a group including body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory cate, and oxygen level
(Miller [0002] The system may also be configured to communicate with a plurality of health sensors (e.g., weight, temperature, O.sub.2, and blood glucose level) and feed the data to a health monitoring program or local or remote data storage or data mining device or system.).
Claim 3. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said step of obtaining medical data further includes prompting said visitor to input data related to health condition
(Miller [0023][0034] In some such applications such as those in which the individual is required to answer one or more questions (e.g., pertaining to the health of the individual)).
Claim 4. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 further comprising obtaining Locations data related to physical locations of said visitor during a predetermined period prior to said visit, and wherein said step of calculating risk level is carried out in accordance with said location data
(Berns [0037] Such analysis may be performed for each of the users that are predicted to be present in the same location as the user at a future time or a predetermined period of time prior thereto, and the health risk for the location at the time of the user's visit may be measured based on the aggregate health risk associated with each of the plurality of users based in this manner on their location histories..)
Claim 5. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 4 wherein obtaining said locations data includes receiving Location information from a handheld device of said visitor
(Berns ([0029]-[0032] the client computing device 12 is the current location of the selected registered user the current GPS coordinates).
Claim 9. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said step of providing said visitor with a building access information includes sending said access information to a handheld device of a user, wherein said access information is encoded
(Miller [0037] or example, the results of such at-home assays may include a unique identifier specific to a given test run, such as a bar code, alphanumeric code, or other suitable identifier, that the individual scans with a camera on a personal electronic device.).
Claim 10. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 wherein Said access information includes access grant or denial and access restriction
(Miller [0039] display a message to the individual indicating whether access has been granted, and if not, may display a reason why; e.g., “individual unauthorized/unknown,” “health status suggests presence of infectious disease,” or the like.).
Claim 11. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 8 further comprising forming a visit log including said visitor identification information, visit characteristics, and access information.
(Berns [0029] a user may book a hotel room and the hotel reservation data may be stored in the user personal assistant database 30. [0032] registered users 202 based on common identifiers embedded in data in both the aggregated medical information database 54 and aggregated personal assistant database 38. For instance, a common alphanumeric identifier may be associated with events in a calendar of one of the users in the group of other registered users 202 and the biometric data 221)
Claim 12. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 11 wherein said step of calculating risk level includes obtaining information from visit logs of previous visits and calculating risk Level of said visit in accordance with risk levels of said previous visits
(Berns [0029] a user may book a hotel room and the hotel reservation data may be stored in the user personal assistant database 30.
[0037] For example, one of the users in the group of other registered users 202 may be have a body temperature well above 98.6 degrees and may have traveled to a hospital the previous day.).
Claim 13. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said step of calculating risk level includes obtaining information from visit logs of previous visits and calculating risk level of said visit in accordance with risk levels of said previous visits
(Berns [0037] For example, one of the users in the group of other registered users 202 may be have a body temperature well above 98.6 degrees and may have traveled to a hospital the previous day. Therefore, the health risk level for the user may be very high.).
Claim 14. . Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 further comprising tracking visiting locations of said visitor in the building during said visit and recording data of said visiting locations in said visit Log
(Berns [0037] For example, those another user may have dined at a restaurant or participated in a meeting in a particular conference room...that one or more diners in the restaurant or participants in the meeting have come down with an infectious disease, and thus was contagious during the period of time that the other user was in the same location, and thus determine that the health risk to that other user is higher. ).
Claim 15. Miller teaches a system for managing building entry (Figs 1 and 2), the system comprising:
a plurality of input devices configured for inputting identification information of a visitor and medical data related to at least one vital sign of said visitor
([0022] a graphical user interface 20, an optical camera 22, and an optional temperature sensor 24. The use of the optional temperature sensor 24
([0033][0035][0037] processing circuitry 42 receives a signal from the graphical user interface 20 corresponding to an individual's answers to one or more questions presented to the individual via the graphical user interface 42, and further receives a signal corresponding to infrared radiation from the individual sensed by the temperature sensor 24));
Miller further discloses a server ([0031]) and the process of determining whether is granted or denied access to the building ([0039]) based on the individual’s health status but does not specifically disclose an infection data module configured for receiving health information related to geographical area within which the building to be visited is located; and
an access controller server configured to receive said identification information and said medical data, said access controller server is configured for calculating risk level of said visit.
However, Berns teaches an infection data module configured for receiving health information related to geographical area within which the building to be visited is located
([0029]-[0031] When the target location is the current location of the selected registered user the current GPS coordinates of the client computing device 12, shown in FIG. 1, may be used as the target location…a user may book a hotel room. On the other hand, when the target location is a future predicted location the location may correspond to an event 206 in a calendar 208 stored in the user personal assistant database 30.
the group of other registered users 202 may be associated with the target location 204...the target location may be the entire hotel or a subsection of the hotel... The electronic personal assistant application server 66 is configured to determine group health data 214 representing a health condition of the group of other registered users 202.);
and an access controller server configured to receive said identification information and said medical data, said access controller server is configured for calculating risk level of said visit, said risk level includes risk associated with said visitor entering the building and is calculated in accordance with said medical data and said health information
([0032] the group health data 214 can be correlated to the target location 204 and the group of other registered users 202...)
[0018][0019] user profile 32... stores these anonymized statistics in the aggregated personal assistant database 38… the user profile 32 may include… family medical history, past medical history of the user, preexisting medical conditions of the user,
[0025]The health risk level may be determined based on a number of inputs such as health data in the user personal assistant database 30, aggregated personal assistant database 38, and/or aggregated medical information database 54, discussed in greater detail herein.
[0047] if it is determined that the health risk level is greater than the threshold value (YES at 310) the method advances to 312. At 312 the method includes generating an activity warning (e.g., visual, audio, and/or haptic alert) for the target location based on the health risk level. ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the geographical area, local health information, medical data and calculating risk level of said visitor as taught by Berns within the system of Miller for the purpose of proactively improving the risk of avoiding sickness with a person with an acute medical condition.
Miller further discloses the process of determining whether is granted or denied access to the building based on medical data ([0039]) based on the individual’s health status and Berns teaches the use the geographical area, local health information, medical data and calculating risk level of said visitor while providing a warning to the user. The prior art does not specifically disclose
said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building posed by said visitor entering the building and is calculated in accordance with said medical data and said health information, said access controller server is further configured for providing said visitor with a building access information determined in accordance with said risk level.
However, McNamara teaches calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building posed by said visitor entering the building and is calculated in accordance with said medical data and said health information,
([0147] In some embodiments, the contact tracing service 1114 can manage risk through screening visitors of a building. For example, the contact tracing service 1114 can determine, based on occupant information, whether the visitor poses a threat risk to occupants of the building. The information may indicate the organization that the visitor is associated with, whether the occupant has tested positive or negative for a disease, whether the visitor has been in a high infection level geographic area, etc.
[0182] The contact tracing service 1114 can identify the likelihood of occupants being infected with an infectious disease based on contact that the occupants have with each other and infected individuals. );
said access controller server is further configured for providing said visitor with a building access information determined in accordance with said risk level
([0201] The health parameters 1402 can include red flag indicators. For example, if the temperature of the user is more than 101 Fahrenheit for more than three days, a red flag indicator can be activated by the user scoring service 1126 and a notification... instructing the security personnel and/or the facility team to restrict building entry for the user.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the process of calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building; and determining building access for the visitor as taught by McNamara within the system of Miller for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious disease to individuals who may be highly vulnerable within the building.
Claim 16. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the system of Claim 15 further comprising a medical diagnostic tool for obtaining said at least one vital sign, and wherein said at least one vital sign is selected
from a group including body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen Level
(Miller [0002] The system may also be configured to communicate with a plurality of health sensors (e.g., weight, temperature, O.sub.2, and blood glucose level) and feed the data to a health monitoring program or local or remote data storage or data mining device or system.).
Claim 18. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the system of Claim 15 wherein said plurality of input devices are configured for obtaining Locations data velated to physical locations of said visitor during a predetermined period prior to said visit, and wherein said access controller server is configured for calculating risk level in accordance with said locations data
(Berns [0037] Such analysis may be performed for each of the users that are predicted to be present in the same location as the user at a future time or a predetermined period of time prior thereto, and the health risk for the location at the time of the user's visit may be measured based on the aggregate health risk associated with each of the plurality of users based in this manner on their location histories..).
Claim 20. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the system of Claim 15 wherein said building access information includes encoded information related to access restriction
(Miller [0037] or example, the results of such at-home assays may include a unique identifier specific to a given test run, such as a bar code, alphanumeric code, or other suitable identifier, that the individual scans with a camera on a personal electronic device.).
Claim(s) 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Miller, Berns, McNamara and further in view of Ardrey (US 20210185176 A1).
Claim 6. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1 and further discloses the process of capturing images of the individual and the use of infrared radiation to detect temperature fluctuations but does not specifically disclose wherein obtaining said medical data includes receiving an image of said visitor and extracting from said image said at least one vital sign.
However, Ardrey teaches wherein obtaining said medical data includes receiving an image of said visitor and extracting from said image said at least one vital sign
([0030] It is also contemplated within the scope of the claims that the thermal camera may include image processing ability in order to determine whether a person pictured by the thermal camera has a fever).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the process of receiving an image of said visitor and extracting from said image said at least one vital sign as taught by Miller within the system of Miller for the purpose of enhancing the system to detect heat signatures using hardware indicating a rising temperature of the visitor.
Claim 19. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the system of Claim 15, and further discloses the process of capturing images of the individual and the use of infrared radiation to detect temperature fluctuations but does not specifically disclose wherein said input devices are configured for obtaining an image of the visitor, and wherein the system further includes an image analyzer configured to extract from the image vitals of the visitor.
However, Ardrey teaches an image analyzer configured to extract from the image vitals of the visitor
([0030] It is also contemplated within the scope of the claims that the thermal camera may include image processing ability in order to determine whether a person pictured by the thermal camera has a fever).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use an image analyzer as taught by Miller within the system of Miller for the purpose of enhancing the system to detect heat signatures using hardware indicating a rising temperature of the visitor.
Claim(s) 7, 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Miller, Berns, McNamara and further in view of Lee (US 20100321150 A1).
Claim 7. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the method in accordance with Claim 1, and further discloses the process of determining characteristics of a visitor and guiding a visitor to a specific and safe destination to a portion of a building based on information received from the visitor but does not specifically disclose determining visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose.
However, Lee teaches determining visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose
([0033] he information inputted by the visitor may include a name of the visitee, a purpose of visit, a date of visit, and personal information of the visitor, which will be referred to as "visit detail information.").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the process of determining visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose as taught by Lee within the system of Miller for the purpose of enhancing the system to determine who the visitor is planning to visit and create an action plan for the movement within the building.
Claim 8. Miller, Berns, McNamara and Lee teach the method in accordance with Claim 7 wherein said visit characteristics includes data related to sections of the building to be visited during said visit
(Lee [0021] A system for guiding a visitor using a sensor network in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention guides a visitor from an information desk or entrance (hereinafter, referred to as an origin) to an office (hereinafter, referred to as a destination) of a person the visitor wants to visit.).
Claim 17. Miller, Berns and McNamara teach the system of Claim 15, and further discloses the process of determining characteristics of a visitor and guiding a visitor to a specific and safe destination to a portion of a building based on information received from the visitor but does not specifically disclose determine visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose, and wherein said calculating risk level is carried out in accordance with said characteristics.
However, Lee teaches determining visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose, and wherein said calculating risk level is carried out in accordance with said characteristics
([0033] he information inputted by the visitor may include a name of the visitee, a purpose of visit, a date of visit, and personal information of the visitor, which will be referred to as "visit detail information.").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the process of determining visit characteristics of a visit by said visitor, said visit characteristics including a visit purpose as taught by Lee within the system of Miller for the purpose of enhancing the system to determine who the visitor is planning to visit and create an action plan for the movement within the building.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-13, filed 20 October 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller (US 20200372743 A1) in view of Berns (WO 2017023556 A1) and further in view of McNamara (US 20210313075 A1) for claim(s) 1-5, 9-16, 18 and 20; claim(s) 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Miller, Berns, McNamara and further in view of Ardrey (US 20210185176 A1); and claim(s) 7, 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Miller, Berns, McNamara and further in view of Lee (US 20100321150 A1).
For at least claims 1 and 15, The prior art of Miller and Berns teaches claimed invention requiring at least, “ receiving from a visitor identification information; determining geographical area in which the building is located and obtaining local health information related to said geographical area; and obtaining medical data including at least one vital sign of said visitor.”
It is readily apparent that Berns does in fact teach the process of a calculating a risk level for the visitor based on the geographical area and the local health information.
The newly found prior art of McNamara, in the broadest interpretation allowed (MPEP 2111.01) , clearly teaches the obviousness improvement for calculating risk level of said visitor, said risk level includes risk to safety of people located in the building posed by said visitor entering the building and is calculated based on said medical data and said local health information; and, determining building access for the visitor based on said calculated risk level for said visitor.”
Therefore, all of the prior art combined together show an obviousness combination for managing building entry.
Lastly, Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Conclusion
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/RUFUS C POINT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689