DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Remarks
2. Claims 1 and 4-17 have been examined and rejected. This Office action is responsive to the amendment filed on March 11, 2026, which has been entered in the above identified application.
Drawings
3. The replacement sheet for Figure 1 submitted on Mach 11, 2026 has been considered and is entered into the application. The objection to the drawings has been withdrawn.
Specification
4. The corrections to the specification have been approved, and the objection to the specification is withdrawn.
Claim Objections
5. The corrections to claims 1, 4, 7-10, 12, and 13 have been approved, and the objections to claims 1, 4-10, 12, and 13 are withdrawn.
6. Claims 2-3 have been canceled and thus, the objections to claims 2-3 are withdrawn.
7. Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
a. On [line 1] of claim 11, Examiner suggests changing “Method for controlling” to --The method for controlling--.
b. Claim 11 recites the limitation “the detection device” on [line 6] of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
8. The corrections to claims 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10-13, 15, and 17 have been approved, and the rejections to claims 2-5, 7-10, 12-13, 15, and 17 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) are withdrawn.
9. Claims 2-3 have been canceled and thus, the rejections to claims 2-3 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) are withdrawn.
10. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
11. Claims 1 and 4-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
11-1. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the person" in [line 9] of claim 1. It is unclear which of the at least one person in [line 5] of the claim is being referred to.
11-2. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the door drives" in [line 19] of claim 1. It is unclear which of the at least one door drive in [line 3] of claim 1 is being referred to.
11-3. Claim 6 recites the limitation “the regulating unit opens the at least one leaf element… and configured so long that only the authenticated person can pass through the door system” (emphasis added) in [lines 4-6] of the claim. While limiting the length of time the at least one leaf element is open reduces the possibility of unauthenticated people from passing through the door system, it is unclear how this would outright prevent anyone other than the authenticated person from passing through the door system. Further, it is unclear how long the at least one leaf element is opened so that only the authenticated person can pass through the door system. Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite the functional aspects that would only allow the authenticated person to pass through the door system.
11-4. Claim 16 recites the limitation "the door system" in [line 2] of claim 16. It is unclear whether “the door system” in claim 16 refers to the door system mentioned in [line 1] of the method of claim 1, or the door system for carrying out the method according to claim 1, as recited in claim 14.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
12. The correction to claims 14 has been approved, and the rejections to claims 14-16 under 35 U.S.C. 101 is withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
13. 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.
14. Claims 1, 4-6, 10-12, 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Busch-Sorensen et al (Pub. No. US 2017/0061715).
14-1. Regarding claim 1, Busch-Sorensen teaches the claim for controlling a door system for separating an entrance side in front of the door system from an exit side behind the door system, wherein the door system has at least one door drive for moving at least one leaf element between an open position and a closed position, by disclosing methods for implementing vision-based fare collection [paragraph 3] that is used to control gate barriers of a vison-based fare collection system, wherein the gate barriers separate a restricted access area from an unrestricted access area, wherein the gate barriers may be sliding doors [paragraph 24, lines 13-16] that may be retracted and restored [paragraph 24, lines 10-13; paragraph 30, lines 16-23; figure 1].
Busch-Sorensen teaches wherein the door system is configured with a sensor unit for detecting at least one person within a sensor detection region, by disclosing cameras 110 that provide visual coverage areas 112 of a walking area of a transit station, and used to track passengers [paragraph 27].
Busch-Sorensen teach and furthermore an authentication device for authenticating people is provided at least on the entrance side in front of the door system, by disclosing a station entry 106 having RFID transceivers that authorizes passengers based on RFID tags [paragraph 25] and ticket vending machines 108 that authorizes passengers after payment [paragraph 26].
Busch-Sorensen teach the method includes at least the following steps: granting an access authorization to the person by the authentication device, by disclosing that when a passenger purchases a ticket, information associated with the passenger is modified so that the passenger is designated as permitted to access the restricted access area [paragraph 30, lines 5]. Additionally, the vision-based fare collection system may also determine that a passenger is permitted to access the restricted access area based on the passenger’s RFID tag [paragraph 31].
Busch-Sorensen teach detecting a position of an authenticated person in the sensor detection region by the sensor unit, continuous tracking of the authenticated person in the sensor detection region by the sensor unit, and activating an opening of the at least one leaf element of the door system by the at least one door drive when the authenticated person approaches the at least one leaf element, by disclosing continuously tracking an authorized passenger using cameras 110 and retracting the barrier within the gate array when the passenger approaches the gate array so that the passenger may continue to walk through the gate array [paragraphs 29-31].
Busch-Sorensen teach whereby a regulating unit is configured which continuously and dynamically on an ongoing basis regulates a position of the at least one leaf element based on sensor data of the sensor unit as a function of movement and/or contour of the person, at least indirectly via the door drives, by disclosing continuously tracking the location of the passenger, and as the passenger approaches the gate array, the system determines that the passenger is near the gate array and allows access to the restricted access area by retracting the barrier within the gate array [paragraph 30, lines 1-19; paragraph 31, lines 1-24]. After the passenger walks through the gate array, the barrier that was retracted may be restored to prevent a nearby unpermitted passenger from accessing the restricted access area [paragraph 30, lines 19-22; paragraph 31, lines 25-26]. The speed of the passenger may be determined using the sensor unit [paragraph 35, lines 11-12].
Busch-Sorensen teach wherein the regulating unit, in particular as part of the door system, is configured, wherein the authenticated person is differentiated from the unauthenticated person with the regulating unit by the authenticated person being provided with an electronic tag after authentication, which is electronically attached to the authenticated person, by disclosing that after paying for a ticket, the passenger is issued an electronic ticket via digital delivery to the passenger’s electronic device, or is otherwise associated with information that permits access to the restricted access area [paragraph 26, paragraph 30, lines 1-5]. Additionally, a passenger may carry an RFID tag and is provided with an indication in the passenger’s account information that the passenger is permitted to access the restricted access area [paragraph 31].
14-2. Regarding claim 4, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein at least one image evaluation unit is configured in connection with the sensor unit, wherein continuous tracking of movement of the authenticated person over an entire detection duration and/or an entire detection region being carried out at least in a supporting manner by the at least one image evaluation unit and made available to the regulating unit, by disclosing continuously tracking an authorized passenger using cameras 110 such that the passenger may be identified, and retracting the barrier within the gate array when the passenger approaches the gate array so that the passenger may continue to walk through the gate array [paragraphs 29-31].
14-3. Regarding claim 5, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the authenticated person carries with them an electronic communication means and wherein the door system and/or the sensor unit has a detection device as an authentication device, wherein if the authenticated person enters the sensor detection region, the electronic communication means is detected by the detection device in spatial connection with the authenticated person carrying it and wherein the electronic tag is attached to the authenticated person carrying it, by disclosing that a passenger carrying an RFID tag is provided with an indication in the passenger’s account information that the passenger is permitted to access the restricted access area, and RFID transceivers positioned on or near the station entry communicates with the RFID tag to permit access to restricted access area [paragraph 31].
14-4. Regarding claim 6, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, whereby if the authenticated person intends to pass through the door system and approaches the at least one leaf element, the regulating unit opens the at least one leaf element at least indirectly via the at least one door drive so long that only the authenticated person can pass through the door system, by disclosing continuously tracking an authorized passenger using cameras 110 such that the passenger may be identified, and retracting the barrier within the gate array when the passenger approaches the gate array so that the passenger may continue to walk through the gate array [paragraphs 29-31]. The barrier will retract and restore to prevent unauthorized passengers from accessing the restricted access area [paragraph 36, lines 18-26].
14-5. Regarding claim 10, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the door system and/or the sensor unit has at least one imaging camera with which a face of the authenticated person, in particular in interaction with the regulating unit, is recognized, wherein the recognition of the authenticated person is also taken into account for determining an access authorization for the door system, by disclosing that passengers may be identified using various sensors that detect one or more unique identifiers associated with the passengers [paragraph 18, lines 7-11] and include a biometric scanner that may gather identifying information about passengers who may enter a transit station such as facial scan [paragraph 41]. The passenger’s account information, which is tied to their identity, is used to determine whether the passenger is permitted to access the restricted access area [paragraph 31, lines 7-13].
14-6. Regarding claim 11, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein a plurality of door systems are controlled by a common regulating unit or in that a plurality of door systems have respective regulating units between which data is exchanged, by disclosing that the vision based fare collection system comprises a processor 806 [figure 41] for controlling a plurality of barriers as shown in [figures 1-2].
Busch-Sorensen teach wherein when a person is authenticated by authentication device and/or the detection device at a first door system, the authenticated person can also pass through another door system configured to be accessible in parallel, by disclosing continuously tracking an authorized passenger using cameras 110 such that the passenger may be identified, and retracting the barrier within the gate array when the passenger approaches the gate array so that the passenger may continue to walk through the gate array [paragraphs 29-31].
14-7. Regarding claim 12, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 4, wherein specific attributes of the authenticated person, in particular size or other contour, are recognized by the at least one image evaluation unit, in that continuous tracking of the movement of the authenticated person can take place, based on the attributes, by disclosing that passengers may be identified using various sensors that detect one or more unique identifiers associated with the passengers [paragraph 18, lines 7-11] and include a biometric scanner that may gather identifying information about passengers who may enter a transit station such as height, weight and 3-D/2-D gestures [paragraph 41]. When tracking a passenger who has moved between visual coverage areas, a camera sends transition information to another camera that includes the identity of the passenger, the location of the passenger immediately prior to or at the transition point, and one or more biometric identifiers of the passenger [paragraph 29].
12-10. Regarding claim 14, Busch-Sorensen teach a door system with a control unit configured for carrying out a method according to claim 1, by disclosing that the method performed in claim 1 is done by a vision-based fare collection system having a processor [paragraphs 24, 41; figure 8].
14-8. Regarding claim 15, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 14, wherein the control unit, in connection with the sensor unit, is designed to distinguish an authenticated person from an unauthenticated person by the control unit and/or the sensor unit tracking a person who has been authenticated once within the sensor detection region, by disclosing distinguishing between authorized passengers and unauthorized passengers [paragraph 36].
14-9. Regarding claim 16, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 14, wherein the door system and/or in particular the control unit has a sound output means, light output means and/or voice output means in order to give a signal or provide a message to the authenticated person, by disclosing activating an audible alarm and/or a visual alarm if an unauthorized person passes through the gate [paragraph 36, lines 14-18].
14-10. Regarding claim 17, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 14, wherein the sensor unit has at least one, camera and/or in that the sensor unit has at least one light source with which a light grid can be projected into the sensor detection region and/or wherein the sensor unit has an imaging camera for facial recognition of the authenticated person, in particular in connection with the control unit, by disclosing that passengers may be identified using various sensors that detect one or more unique identifiers associated with the passengers [paragraph 18, lines 7-11] and include a biometric scanner that may gather identifying information about passengers who may enter a transit station such as facial scan [paragraph 41]. The passenger’s account information, which is tied to their identity, is used to determine whether the passenger is permitted to access the restricted access area [paragraph 31, lines 7-13].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
15. 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.
16. Claims 7-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Busch-Sorensen et al (Pub. No. US 2017/0061715) in view of Tiso et al (U.S. Patent No. 12,211,356).
16-1. Regarding claim 7, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein a sensor unit is configured on the entrance side… of the door system in each case, by disclosing cameras 110 that provide visual coverage areas 112 of a walking area of a transit station, and used to track passengers [paragraph 27].
Busch-Sorensen does not expressly teach wherein a sensor unit is configured on the exit side of the door system. Tiso discloses a controlled access gate having sensors and/or cameras on either side of the gate [column 3, lines 33-39; figure 1]. The sensors or cameras are used for the detection, at least partially, of the distance DT between the sensor or camera and the user or subject U approaching the gate and still present in the entry and exit areas Il, I2 and in the transit area P, whose variation in time allows to calculate the instantaneous position, the instantaneous speed and the trajectory (and the entire tracking) of the user U and to predict the future evolution of such trajectory [column 5, lines 21-29]. This allows the system to know the position of the user U inside the detection cone CD and therefore also inside the areas of passage P and of inlet and outlet I1, I2 [column 5, lines 40-47]. This would allow for more control over the gate for the safe passage of passengers from different and opposite directions who are authorized. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide for the vision-based fare collection system of Busch-Sorensen, sensors on the exit side of the gate, as taught by Tiso. This would allow for more control over the gate for the safe passage of passengers from different and opposite directions who are authorized.
Busch-Sorensen-Tiso teach wherein the sensor detection regions of sensor units overlap, adjoin one another or at least have a distance from one another that is smaller than a dimension of a person such that the at least one object is detected passing from a first sensor detection region to a second sensor detection region and in particular without interruption, by disclosing the ability to continually track the passenger as the passenger moves between visual coverage areas of each camera by sending transmission information between cameras [Busch-Sorensen, paragraph 29-31; Tiso, column 5, lines 21-29].
16-2. Regarding claim 8, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1, wherein the door system has two leaf elements, wherein movements of the two leaf elements are regulated continuously and dynamically on an ongoing basis… by the regulating unit, at least indirectly via the door drives, by disclosing barrier 104 [figure 5] that is retracted and restored based on the location of an authorized passenger [paragraph 30, lines 1-22; paragraph 31, lines 1-26].
Busch-Sorensen do not expressly teach that the movements of the leaf elements are regulated independently of one another. Tiso discloses a controlled access gate having two doors 12 [column 3, lines 53-66] that can be opened and closed independently of each other [column 4, line 52 to column 5, line 1]. This would help preclude the passage of unauthorized subjects through the doors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the barrier of Busch-Sorensen to move independently of one another, as taught by Tiso. This would help preclude the passage of unauthorized subjects through the doors.
16-3. Regarding claim 9, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1. Busch-Sorensen do not expressly teach whereby with the sensor unit and with the associated sensor detection region, protection of closing edges of the at least one leaf element is carried out by an evaluation of sensor data of the sensor unit via the regulating unit. Tiso discloses a controlled access gate having sensors and/or cameras on either side of the gate [column 3, lines 33-39; figure 1]. The sensors are positioned such that the various detection cones CD overlap substantially covering the entire volume of the gate and the gate volume including the entry and exit areas I1, I2 and the transit area P [column 8, lines 37-46]. The sensors are connected to an electronic control unit 14 that uses artificial intelligence to reconstruct the scene in space at the passage, thus having an adequate probability of the detection and determination of the number and type of U subjects present near the gate, when entering the gate (present in the entry and exit areas I1 and I2) and present in the transit area P, with their positions, speed and trajectories during the passage of the U subjects in the aforementioned space and with relative forecast of a probable future trajectory evolution, starting from the position, speed and trajectory parameters detected by the sensors 15, 16 [column 5, lines 21-29; column 8, lines 47-65]. This allows the system to know the position of the user U inside the detection cone CD and therefore also inside the areas of passage P and of inlet and outlet I1, I2 [column 5, lines 40-47]. Once the presence of a user U has been detected and calculated, including its direction relative to the gate to be crossed and its expected evolution over time, and the user has been authorized [column 10, lines 54-67], the control unit 14 sends a command to actuation unit 13 to move the door 12 and allow passage of the user U while also tracing the trajectory of the user U through the detection area [column 11, lines 1-7]. When the user U leaves the transit area P, the control unit sends a command to the actuation unit 13 to consequently move the door 12 from an open position to a closed position [column 11, lines 7-11]. Thus, evaluation of sensor data to reconstruct the scene in space at the passage is used to protect the user from all aspects of the door, including closing edges after the user has passed through. This would increase the safety of passengers who are authorized when passing through the gate. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide, for the vision-based fare collection system of Busch-Sorensen, positioning of sensors to cover the entire volume of the gate and the gate volume including the entry and exit areas I1, I2 and the transit area P such that sensor data is used to reconstruct the scene in space at the passage for the protection of the user from the opening and closing of doors when passing through, as taught by Tiso. This would allow increase the safety of passengers who are authorized when passing through the gate.
16-4. Regarding claim 13, Busch-Sorensen teach all the limitations of claim 1. Busch-Sorensen does not expressly teach whereby data of the sensor unit is analyzed by artificial intelligence, in particular an artificial intelligence system, in particular as part of the regulating unit, wherein the artificial Intelligence system has and/or implements a machine learning system, a deep learning system, a neural network, contour recognition and/or pattern recognition, wherein the contour recognition and/or pattern recognition are used for re-authentication and/or for continuous tracking of movement of the authenticated person. Tiso discloses a controlled access gate that uses artificial intelligence to more accurately identify subjects [column 7, lines 49-58; column 9, lines 5-18]. A control unit receives signals from sensors and processes them through machine-learning and/or deep learning techniques to learn the characteristics of the passage and predict the forms and probabilistic directions of each subject [column 8, lines 47-65]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to analyze data from the sensors of Busch-Sorensen using artificial intelligence for identification of passengers and to predict movement of passengers, as taught by Tiso. This would provide more accurate results.
Response to Arguments
17. The Examiner acknowledges the Applicant’s amendments to claims 1 and 4-17 and the cancellation of claims 2-3.
Regarding independent claim 1, Applicant alleges that Busch-Sorensen et al (Pub. No. US 2017/0061715) does not teach a continuous tracking of the authenticated person in the sensor detection region by the sensor unit, followed by activating an opening of the at least one leaf element of the door system by the at least one door drive when the authenticated person approaches the at least one leaf element, because in Busch-Sorensen, there is no continuous tracking of the authenticated person in the sensor detection region with respect to the unauthenticated person and there is no differentiation therebetween.
Contrary to Applicant’s arguments, Busch-Sorensen discloses continuously tracking the location of a passenger as the passenger approaches a gate array by obtaining data indicating a location, as well as data that the passenger is permitted to access the restricted area [paragraph 30, lines 1-19; paragraph 31, lines 1-24]. The passenger being tracked who has been authenticated is differentiated from other passengers because of this attached data indicating permission to access the restricted access area. This differentiation between authenticated and unauthenticated passengers is illustrated in [paragraph 36], which discloses a scenario where two authenticated passengers are walking close to an unauthenticated passenger, and the system is able to identify the authenticated passengers and let them pass through the gate, while disallowing the unauthenticated passenger. Thus, an authenticated passenger can be tracked even in the presence of other unauthenticated passengers.
Applicant alleges that there is no continuous and dynamic regulation of the position of the leaf element based on the sensor data as a function of the movement and/or contour of the person.
Contrary to Applicant’s argument, as mentioned above, Busch-Sorensen discloses continuously tracking the location of a passenger as the passenger approaches a gate array by obtaining data indicating a location, as well as data that the passenger is permitted to access the restricted area [paragraph 30, lines 1-19; paragraph 31, lines 1-24]. It is only when the authenticated passenger is near enough to the gate array that a barrier within the gate array that corresponds to the passenger’s path is retracted so that the passenger may continue to walk at a continuous speed through the gate array [paragraph 30, lines 11-19]. After the passenger walks through the gate array, the barrier that was retracted may be restored to prevent a nearby unpermitted passenger from accessing the restricted access area [paragraph 30, lines 19-23]. Thus, the barrier must be continuously and dynamically regulated in order to determine whether it should remain closed, open, remain open, or close, based on the passenger’s movements.
Applicant states that dependent claims 4-17 recite all the limitations of the independent claim, and thus, are allowable in view of the remarks set forth regarding independent claim 1. However, as discussed above, Busch-Sorensen is considered to teach claim 1, and consequently, claims 4-17 are rejected.
Conclusion
18. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALVIN H TAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8595. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM.
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/ALVIN H TAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118