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 .
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 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) 1-5, 10-15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over ADATO (Publication No.: US 2021/0400195 A1) in view of JONES (Publication No.: US 20220335810 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 11, ADATO teaches A system for event notification in a mobile-based crowdsourcing platform, the system comprising: a server system (Figure 2) configured to communicate with and exchange data with a plurality of mobile devices via a crowdsourcing platform, the server comprising at least one processor (reference numeral 202 in Figure 2) coupled to at least one memory (reference numeral 226 in Figure 2) containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the server system to: receive, for each of the plurality of mobile devices (reference numeral 125, 145 in Figure 1; reference numeral 125F, 125G in Figure 4C; reference numeral 1204N in Figure 12), location data (e.g. via “positioning sensor” as in paragraph [0138]; e.g. “location” as in paragraph [0144]) identifying a location of the mobile device relative to a mapped environment and user identification data (e.g. “personalized profile” as in paragraph [0293]) identifying a user of the mobile device; maintain, in the at least one memory, a user profile (e.g. “personalized profile” as in paragraph [0293]) for each identified user including at least a current or last known location for the user relative to the environment based on the location data (e.g. via “positioning sensor” as in paragraph [0138]; e.g. “location” as in paragraph [0144], [0293]); receive, via the crowdsourcing platform, notification of an emergency event at an event location within the mapped environment (e.g. “fault” as in paragraph [0125]; e.g. “cleaning event, a restocking event, a rearrangement event” as in paragraph [0228]; e.g. “task” at an “emergency level” as in paragraph [0249]) ; identify, from the current or last known location of each user stored in the user profiles, a set of users within a predetermined proximity to the event location (e.g. via “positioning sensor” as in paragraph [0138]; e.g. “location” as in paragraph [0144]; e.g. “indication that the customer is near “ as in paragraph [0293]); identify an item, task, or location within the environment (e.g. “products” “pricing” “promotions” “issues” as in paragraph [0229]); and communicate at least one alert (e.g. “real-time automated alerts” as in paragraph [0229]; e.g. “notification representing an offer” as in paragraph [0273]) to the set of users alerting the users of the event and including a rendered layout of the environment comprising an augmented reality image or virtual reality image identifying the item, task, or location (e.g. “a map of the specific retail store 105 with real-time indications of selected in-store execution events” “with augmented markings” as in paragraph [0229]; e.g. “include a map” as in paragraph [0273]). ADATO differs from the claim invention in that it fails to specifically teach identifying an emergency exit for the set of users at an exit location in proximity to the emergency event location and further communicating an augmented reality image or virtual reality image identifying the emergency exit and exit location within the environment to the user. However, JONES teaches that this concept is well known in the art (e.g. “augmented reality views” “to show all emergency exits of a building” as in paragraph [0127]). One skilled in the art would have been motivated to utilize this concept in order to manage how data is shared between devices and users involved with an emergency including emergency service workers and victims of an emergency (e.g. as in paragraph [0001] of JONES). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art to identify an emergency exit for the set of users at an exit location in proximity to the emergency event location and further communicate an augmented reality image or virtual reality image identifying the emergency exit and exit location within the environment to the user as taught by JONES in ADATO.
Regarding claim 2, 12, the combination of references and ADATO in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a mobile computing device, a smart phone, or a cellular telephone ((paragraph [0125]).
Regarding claim 3, 13, ADATO teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the location data includes data captured by one or more sensors of the mobile device (e.g. “sensors” as in paragraph [0114], [0131], [0138] and throughout).
Regarding claim 4, 14, ADATO teaches The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to capture data related to at least one of motion or position of the mobile device (paragraph [0138]) , signals transmitted from or to the mobile device, and direct user input with the mobile device.
Regarding claim 5, 15, ADATO teaches The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more sensors are selected from the group consisting of a motion sensor (paragraph [0138]), a received signal strength (RSS) sensor, a global positioning satellite (GPS) sensor (paragraph [0138]), and a touch sensor.
Regarding claim 10, 20, ADATO teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the server system to detect users in proximity to the set of users (e.g. via “positioning sensor” as in paragraph [0138]; e.g. “location” as in paragraph [0144]; e.g. “crowd sourcing” as in paragraph [0146]; e.g. “indication that the customer is near“ as in paragraph [0293]).
Claim(s) 8-9 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ADATO in view of JONES, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McSheffrey (Publication No.: US 2009/0237239 A1) .
Regarding claim 8, 9, 18, 19 ADATO teaches The system of claim 1, but fails to specifically teach identifying a medical device or a fire extinguisher in proximity to the event location and identifying a location of the medical device or a fire extinguisher in the rendered layout. However, ADATO suggests as much via disclosure of detection and identification of inanimate objects (paragraph [0159]) in an effort to map all objects in a retail store. Furthermore, McSheffrey teaches that identifying a fire extinguisher or a medical device as objects tracked within an environment is well known in the art (e.g. “fire extinguisher” “defibrillator” paragraph [0017] and throughout). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art to select the identified item as one of a fire extinguisher or a medical device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 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 the combined teachings of ADATO and JONES.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AGUSTIN BELLO whose telephone number is (571)272-3026. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM.
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
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