DETAILED ACTION
The following is a Non-Final Office Action in response to communications filed on 27 August 2025. Claims 1-8, 10, 12-21, and 24 are pending.
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8, 10, 12-21, and 24 under 35 USC 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 O'Donnell et al. (2020/01013906) .
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 10, 12-21, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2020/0275604) in view of O'Donnell et al. (US 2020/0103906).
Regarding claim 1, Chen teaches a method for a robotic work tool system, wherein the
method comprises:
controlling movement of an outdoor robotic work tool using a user terminal (Para. [0059]… a controller, which is electrically connected to or communicated with the mobile terminal and the mowing path generation module, and is configured to control the lawn mower to perform mowing tasks according to the mowing path generated by the mowing path generation module.);
acquiring position data for the robotic work tool (Para. [0119]…the mobile station 30 moves together with the intelligent lawn mower 20 to capture the GNSS or GPS position of the intelligent lawn mower 20.);
providing boundary installation points during a setup phase as the robotic work tool is controlled to move within an operation area ( Para. [0239]… The first virtual boundary and the second virtual boundary act as reference coordinates for path planning of the mowable area 54. In particular, a plurality of the target positions 55 are set at the first virtual boundary 513 and the second virtual boundary 514, and the target positions 55 are sequentially numbered according to the preset path 52, and the intelligent lawn mower 20 is controlled to sequentially pass the target positions 55 following the numbering of the target positions 55 to set the mowable path 53.),
wherein a boundary that defines the operation area is defined by means of the
boundary installation points (Para. [0239-0240];
Chen fails to teach presenting data to a user about the position of at least one boundary installation point that is closest to a current position of the robotic work too, wherein the
boundary installation point data is presented via a user terminal display of the user terminal; and moving, or inserting, at least one boundary installation point in response to a user's instruction via the user terminal such that a boundary that defines the operation area is altered.
However, O’Donnell teaches presenting data to a user about the position of at least one boundary installation point that is closest to a current position of the robotic work tool (Para. [0046]… the controller 350 defines a start point 146, 148, 246, 247, 248, 250. In the example of a rectangular boundary 102, 202, there are often four possible start points (the four comers). The controller 350 may choose the start point 146, 148, 246, 247, 248, 250 automatically or may provide optional start points for the operator to select from manually. In at least one example, the controller 350 chooses the start point based on the current position of the autonomous control vehicle 300. In at least one example, the controller 350 uses the closest lane of the two longest edges 105, 107, 205, 207 of the boundary 102, 202, and chooses the start point to be the end of that edge that is closest to the current position of the autonomous control vehicle 300); and
moving, or inserting, at least one boundary installation point in response
to a user's instruction via the user terminal such that a boundary that defines the operation area is altered (Para. [0020]… When the user is ready to resume autonomous
mode, a resume manual input may be provided, and the site plan 100 may indicate one or more potential restart points 156, 158. In at least one example, the restart points 156, 158
may be manually adjusted or set.)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 2, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising controlling the robotic work tool to move to a certain position, before presenting boundary installation point data to a user (Chen, see at least Para. [0171-0178].)
Regarding claim 3, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 2, wherein controlling the robotic work tool to move to a certain position comprises inserting an additional boundary installation point that is positioned at the certain position (O’Donnell, Para. [0019]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 4, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising providing instructions to the user terminal (Chen, Para. [0177]) , which the instructions enable enabling a user to
- control the robotic work tool via the user terminal (Chen, Para. [0032]… controller, which is electrically connected to or communicated with the mobile terminal and the mowing path generation module, and is configured to control the lawn mower to perform mowing tasks…),
- be presented with said boundary installation point data (Chen, Para. [0180-0184]), and to
- move at least one boundary installation point (Chen, Para. [0185])
Regarding claim 5, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 4, wherein the instructions enable the user terminal to establish a wireless connection directly with the robotic work tool (Chen, Para. [0129]).
Regarding claim 6, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according claim 1, wherein the instructions enable the user terminal to establish a wireless connection with the robotic work tool via a remote server (Chen, Para. [0128]).
Regarding claim 7, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the certain current position either is constituted by the closest boundary installation point or is positioned along a line connecting the closest boundary installation point and another boundary installation point (O’Donnell, Para. [0046]) .
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 8, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according claim 1, wherein the moving, or inserting, of at least one boundary installation point comprises moving or inserting a line connecting two boundary installation points, or is restricted to certain predetermined distance (O’Donnell, Para. [0043]… there is a minimum length
requirement for the boundary 102, 202. For example, at least one boundary edge 104, 105, 106, 107, 204, 205, 207 must be longer than the minimum distance.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 10, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises informing the user of a distance the boundary and either an object that triggers a collision sensor comprised in the robotic work tool ,or a current position of a front part the robotic work tool (O’Donnell, Para. [0019]…an obstacle or other circumstance 154 may cause a stop point 152 to be predefined or defined in real time. For example, if a user wants to make adjustments, avoid an obstacle, take a break, traverse a
section manually, etc. the user may provide manual input to stop autonomous mode at stop point 152.)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 12, Please refer to the rejection of claim 1 which is commensurate in scope.
Regarding claim 13, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool according to claim 12, wherein the control unit is adapted to receive instructions from the user terminal to move to a certain position, and when the robotic work tool has reached the certain position, the control unit is adapted to provide the second geographic data (Chen, Para. [0201]… the mowing path generation module 424 gathers the latitude and longitude coordinate data of the target positions 55 and sends the data to the data processing module, and the data processing module projects the trajectory point to the mark layer 442 of the electronically controlled map 44 to make the latitude and longitude coordinate data of the target positions 55 correspond to the latitude and longitude coordinate data of the mark layer 442…)
Regarding claim 14, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool according to claim 12, wherein the control unit is adapted to receive an updated operation area when a user has moved or inserted at least one boundary installation point via the user terminal such that the boundary that defines the operation area is altered (O’Donnell, Para. [0057]… the controller 350 optionally receives manual input from the user. For example, the user may indicate one or more changes to the site plan 100, 200 that may cause the controller 350 to return to any of blocks 404-416 to update the site plan 100, 200.)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 15, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool according to claim 13, wherein the certain position either is constituted by the closest boundary installation point is positioned along a line connecting the closest boundary installation point and another boundary installation point (O’Donnell, Para. [0046])
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 16, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach a robotic work tool system comprising an outdoor robotic work tool according to claim 12, wherein the robotic work tool system further comprises the user terminal that is arranged for wireless communication, wherein the user terminal is adapted to
- control the robotic work tool to move within the operation area in response
to user input (please refer to rejection of claim 4) ;
- receive information regarding the boundary installation points (please refer to the rejection of claim 4);
- control the robotic work tool to move to a certain position in response to user
Input (please refer to the rejection of claim 4);
- present, to a user, data about the position of at least one boundary installation point
that is closest to the current position the robotic work tool (O’Donnell, Para. [0046]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 17, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool system according to claim 16, wherein the user terminal is adapted to receive the first geographic data from the robotic work tool and to determine the boundary installation points based on the received first geographic data (Chen, [0202].... The mowing path generation module 424 integrates the latitude and longitude coordinate data of the target positions 55 into the instruction execution subunit 43, and the instruction execution subunit 43 sends an instruction to
the intelligent mower 20 according to the latitude and longitude coordinate data of the target positions 55.)
Regarding claim 18, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool system according to claim 16, wherein the robotic work tool system comprises a remote server that is adapted for wireless communication with the robotic work tool and the user terminal (see rejection of claim 6), wherein the remote server is adapted to receive the first geographic data from the robotic work tool and to determine the boundary installation points based on the received first geographic data, and to provide data about the boundary installation points to the user terminal (Chen, Para. [0202-0205])
Regarding claim 19, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool system according to claim 16, wherein the user terminal is adapted to receive the second geographic data from the robotic work tool and to determine the position of at least one boundary installation point (Chen, Para. [0202-0205)] that is closest to the current position of the robotic work tool (O’Donnell, Para. [0046]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error. (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 20, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool system according to claim 16, wherein the remote server is adapted to receive the second geographic data from the robotic work tool and to determine the position of at least one boundary installation point that is closest to the current position of the robotic work tool, and to provide data regarding said boundary installation point to the robotic work tool (Chen, Para. [0202-00205]) .
Regarding claim 21, Chen in view of O’Donnell teach the robotic work tool system according claim 16, wherein the user terminal is adapted to initiate movement or insertion of at least one boundary installation point in response to user input, either such that the boundary that defines the operation area is altered, such that an altered operation area can be provided to the robotic work tool (O’Donnell, Para. [0046]), or such that the user input comprises moving or inserting a line connecting two boundary installation points, and wherein the movement or insertion of at least one boundary installation point is restricted to a certain predetermined distance (O’Donnell, Para. [0046]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the intelligent mowing system as taught by Chen with the automatic site planning for autonomous construction vehicles as taught by O’Donnell to improve efficiency and limit error (O’Donnell, Para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 24, please refer to the rejection of claim 10, which is commensurate in scope.
Conclusion
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/JODI JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/ANNE MARIE ANTONUCCI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666