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 Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 15 correction is required to change the limitation to “a non-transitory computer readable storage medium”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Location estimation system ([0054] A drone control system 440 ) in claim 1 ; and
Operations system ([0058]-[0059] An image analysis system 448)in claims 1 and 2.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1,3-5,8,10-12,15,17, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kereszy (US 20250029480 A1) in view of Trundle (US 20170092109 A1) and further in view of Newman (US 20140316614 A1).
Claim 1. Kereszy teaches a system to monitor infrastructure systems, comprising:
a problem location estimation system that is configured to, when operating:
receive indications of a problem in the infrastructure system
([0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069] High-Risk-Lightning (HRL) and/or other lightning strikes directly on or affecting powerlines, power generation systems
[0070]HRL detector...The data can be continuously stored into an onboard circular buffer. Once an event occurs, the received waveform (+/−0.5 sec) can be stored in random access memory (RAM) and on an SD card. Preferably, the events can be timestamped using GPS time synchronization, or other timestamping technology. The events recorded at this site and any other different sites can all be collected and/or transmitted/sent to a central server (e.g. AWS server, etc.) where the lightning analytics can be carried out.);
analyze the indications to determine an estimated location of the problem
([0070][0082] The AI system provided as part of the central processing server (preferably remotely located from the location of the HRL detectors in the field) can analyze the lightning parameters and the environmental parameters to determine whether a High-Risk-Lightning has occurred and/or whether an alert needs to be issued, such as, without limitation, to firefighting personnel, etc.
[0104] 1. The HRL strike point coordinates can be fed (manually or automatically by the server) into the camera/drone system.
[0163] These HRL coordinates can help to provide drone or UAV waypoints to fly to for fire location and size verification and/or to gather real-time images of the location. ).
Kereszy further discloses the use of deploying a drone to investigate the problem with coordinates of the location but does not specifically disclose a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in an infrastructure system; an operations system, remote from the pre-deployment locations that is configured to, when operating: select, based on analysis of the indications, a selected drone from within the plurality of pre-deployed drones, where the selected drone is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location; and remotely control, based on selection of the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem.
However, Trundle teaches a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in an infrastructure system
([0045][0136] The drone devices 780 and 782 are associated with one or more charging stations 790 and 792. The charging stations 790 and 792 may be centrally located at predefined base or reference locations near a neighborhood that includes multiple properties. );
an operations system, remote from the pre-deployment locations that is configured to , when (Fig. 2 [0050] a monitoring application server 230), operating:
select, based on analysis of the indications, a selected drone from within the plurality of pre-deployed drones, where the selected drone is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location
([0112] Based on a detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event, a monitoring application server may instruct the drone base station 620-B, 622-B, 624-B, 626-B that is closest in proximity to the detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event to deploy one or more drones to investigate the detected event.);
and remotely control, based on selection of the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem
([0112] In such a scenario, the monitoring application server may transmit an instruction to the drone base station 626-B to deploy one or more drones 626a-B, 626b-B, 626c-B, 626d-B to the location 660 to investigate the security event 660.
[0084] For instance, the deployed drones may illuminate the areas where the power station workers are working, transport in portable generators, provide live video feeds to the power station workers at remote locations, provide live video feeds to government officials highlighting the power outage recovery efforts, or the like. In some instances, one or more additional drones 362, 363 may be requested to assist in the power outage recovery efforts as needed.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use an operations system as taught by Trundle within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of recording and confirming conditions related to .the infrastructure.
Kereszy and Trundle further discloses the process of deploying a drone to inspect areas of concern but do not specifically disclose wherein the problem location estimation system is further configured to, when operating: receive observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.
However, Newman teaches wherein the problem location estimation system is further configured to, when operating: receive observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem
([0064] In an embodiment, the drone may be used assist the local electric company such as Commonwealth Edison in determining when power lines have trees and other vegetation too close or growing on the power lines that need to be trimmed. The drone can take photos or videos of the power lines running to and from a building and the images may be sent back to a computer for analysis and pinpointing areas that need trimming. Software analysis programs may be provided to analyze the images to identify automatically the areas where the vegetation is growing onto the power lines. The software will highlight the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area where the trimming needs to be done. e.g. analysis of images and exact location can be interpreted as better definition of a location of the problem).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use the problem location estimation system as taught by Newman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of quickly finding and locating specific areas of concerns while reducing cost of man-hours.
Claim 3. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the system of claim 1, wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]).
Claim 4. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the system of claim 3, wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]).
Claim 5. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the system of claim 3, wherein indications of problem reports comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers
(Trundle [0076] monitoring station server 230a can map to a particular emergency event such as, for example, smoke, fire, power outage,
Kereszy [0160] When a customer calls about a power outage... ).
Claim 8. Kereszy teaches a method of monitoring infrastructure systems, comprising:
receiving indications of a problem in an infrastructure system
([0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]
[0070]HRL detector...The data can be continuously stored into an onboard circular buffer. Once an event occurs, the received waveform (+/−0.5 sec) can be stored in random access memory (RAM) and on an SD card. Preferably, the events can be timestamped using GPS time synchronization, or other timestamping technology. The events recorded at this site and any other different sites can all be collected and/or transmitted/sent to a central server (e.g. AWS server, etc.) where the lightning analytics can be carried out.);
analyzing the indications to determine an estimated location of a problem
([0070][0082] The AI system provided as part of the central processing server (preferably remotely located from the location of the HRL detectors in the field) can analyze the lightning parameters and the environmental parameters to determine whether a High-Risk-Lightning has occurred and/or whether an alert needs to be issued, such as, without limitation, to firefighting personnel, etc.
[0104] 1. The HRL strike point coordinates can be fed (manually or automatically by the server) into the camera/drone system.
[0163] These HRL coordinates can help to provide drone or UAV waypoints to fly to for fire location and size verification and/or to gather real-time images of the location. ).
Kereszy further discloses the use of deploying a drone to investigate the problem with coordinates of the location but does not specifically disclose
selecting, based on analyzing the indications, a selected drone that is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location, wherein the selected drone is within a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in the infrastructure system; and
remotely control, based on determining the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem.
However, Trundle teaches a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in an infrastructure system
([0045][0136] The drone devices 780 and 782 are associated with one or more charging stations 790 and 792. The charging stations 790 and 792 may be centrally located at predefined base or reference locations near a neighborhood that includes multiple properties. );
select, based on analysis of the indications, a selected drone from within the plurality of pre-deployed drones, where the selected drone is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location
([0112] Based on a detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event, a monitoring application server may instruct the drone base station 620-B, 622-B, 624-B, 626-B that is closest in proximity to the detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event to deploy one or more drones to investigate the detected event.);
and remotely controlling, based on selection of the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem
([0112] In such a scenario, the monitoring application server may transmit an instruction to the drone base station 626-B to deploy one or more drones 626a-B, 626b-B, 626c-B, 626d-B to the location 660 to investigate the security event 660.
[0084] For instance, the deployed drones may illuminate the areas where the power station workers are working, transport in portable generators, provide live video feeds to the power station workers at remote locations, provide live video feeds to government officials highlighting the power outage recovery efforts, or the like. In some instances, one or more additional drones 362, 363 may be requested to assist in the power outage recovery efforts as needed.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use an operation and selection of a drone as taught by Trundle within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of recording and confirming conditions related to .the infrastructure.
Kereszy and Trundle further discloses the process of deploying a drone to inspect areas of concern but do not specifically disclose wherein receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.
However, Newman teaches receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem
([0064] In an embodiment, the drone may be used assist the local electric company such as Commonwealth Edison in determining when power lines have trees and other vegetation too close or growing on the power lines that need to be trimmed. The drone can take photos or videos of the power lines running to and from a building and the images may be sent back to a computer for analysis and pinpointing areas that need trimming. Software analysis programs may be provided to analyze the images to identify automatically the areas where the vegetation is growing onto the power lines. The software will highlight the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area where the trimming needs to be done. e.g. analysis of images and exact location can be interpreted as better definition of a location of the problem).
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 receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem as taught by Newman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of quickly finding and locating specific areas of concerns while reducing cost of man-hours.
Claim 10. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the method of claim 8, wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]).
Claim 11. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the method of claim 10, wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069])
Claim 12. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the method of claim 10, wherein indications of problem reports comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers
(Trundle [0076] monitoring station server 230a can map to a particular emergency event such as, for example, smoke, fire, power outage,
Kereszy [0160] When a customer calls about a power outage... ).
Claim 15. Kereszy teaches a computer program product for monitoring infrastructure systems, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable non-transitory storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving indications of a problem in an infrastructure system
([0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]
[0070]HRL detector...The data can be continuously stored into an onboard circular buffer. Once an event occurs, the received waveform (+/−0.5 sec) can be stored in random access memory (RAM) and on an SD card. Preferably, the events can be timestamped using GPS time synchronization, or other timestamping technology. The events recorded at this site and any other different sites can all be collected and/or transmitted/sent to a central server (e.g. AWS server, etc.) where the lightning analytics can be carried out.);
analyzing the indications to determine an estimated location of a problem
([0070][0082] The AI system provided as part of the central processing server (preferably remotely located from the location of the HRL detectors in the field) can analyze the lightning parameters and the environmental parameters to determine whether a High-Risk-Lightning has occurred and/or whether an alert needs to be issued, such as, without limitation, to firefighting personnel, etc. [0104] 1. The HRL strike point coordinates can be fed (manually or automatically by the server) into the camera/drone system.
[0163] These HRL coordinates can help to provide drone or UAV waypoints to fly to for fire location and size verification and/or to gather real-time images of the location. ).
Kereszy further discloses the use of deploying a drone to investigate the problem with coordinates of the location but does not specifically disclose
selecting, based on analyzing the indications, a selected drone that is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location, wherein the selected drone is within a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in the infrastructure system; and
remotely controlling, based on determining the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem.
However, Trundle teaches selecting, based on analyzing the indications, a selected drone that is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location, wherein the selected drone is within a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in the infrastructure system
([0045][0136] The drone devices 780 and 782 are associated with one or more charging stations 790 and 792. The charging stations 790 and 792 may be centrally located at predefined base or reference locations near a neighborhood that includes multiple properties.
[0112] Based on a detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event, a monitoring application server may instruct the drone base station 620-B, 622-B, 624-B, 626-B that is closest in proximity to the detected security event, emergency event, or alarm event to deploy one or more drones to investigate the detected event.); );
and remotely control, based on determining the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the problem
([0112] In such a scenario, the monitoring application server may transmit an instruction to the drone base station 626-B to deploy one or more drones 626a-B, 626b-B, 626c-B, 626d-B to the location 660 to investigate the security event 660.
[0084] For instance, the deployed drones may illuminate the areas where the power station workers are working, transport in portable generators, provide live video feeds to the power station workers at remote locations, provide live video feeds to government officials highlighting the power outage recovery efforts, or the like. In some instances, one or more additional drones 362, 363 may be requested to assist in the power outage recovery efforts as needed.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use an operation of selecting and remotely controlling drones as taught by Trundle within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of recording and confirming conditions related to .the infrastructure.
Kereszy and Trundle further discloses the process of deploying a drone to inspect areas of concern but do not specifically disclose wherein receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.
However, Newman teaches receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem
([0064] In an embodiment, the drone may be used assist the local electric company such as Commonwealth Edison in determining when power lines have trees and other vegetation too close or growing on the power lines that need to be trimmed. The drone can take photos or videos of the power lines running to and from a building and the images may be sent back to a computer for analysis and pinpointing areas that need trimming. Software analysis programs may be provided to analyze the images to identify automatically the areas where the vegetation is growing onto the power lines. The software will highlight the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area where the trimming needs to be done. e.g. analysis of images and exact location can be interpreted as better definition of a location of the problem).
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 receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem as taught by Newman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of quickly finding and locating specific areas of concerns while reducing cost of man-hours.
Claim 17. Kereszy and Trundle teach the computer program product of claim 15, wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]).
Claim 18. Kereszy and Trundle teach the computer program product of claim 17, wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations
(Kereszy [0056][0057] powerlines or power generation systems [0150]-[0157][0069]).
Claim 19. Kereszy and Trundle teach the computer program product of claim 17, wherein indications of problem reports comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers
(Kereszy [0160] With power outages, response speed and efficiency can be critical. Every minute that the power is out on a major grid, significant income to the utility company is lost and the broader economic impacts are even greater. When a customer calls about a power outage the affected utility company has to mobilize resources to assess often tens of miles of powerlines to find the problem area.).
Claim(s) 2, 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kereszy, Trundle, Newman and further in view of Farnsworth (US 10365646 B1).
Claim 2. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the system of claim 1, wherein the operations system is further configured to, when operating:
determine, based on analysis of the observation data, details of the problem
(Kereszy [0106] b. Drone(s) preferably equipped with proper visible spectrum and/or infrared/other camera(s) flies out autonomously (or can be flown out by a drone pilot) to the HRL point coordinates to verify fire ignition.);
and further discloses the process of issuing an alert related to the problem ([0072]) but does not specifically disclose generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem.
However, Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem
(Col 10 lines 10-25 unmanned vehicle 100 may identify a problem associated with the structure 131 and forward the information to a remote server and the remote server may instruct structure 131 to address the problem. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may initiate a remedial action. A remedial action may be to initiate an insurance claim to address the damage to the property. Such a claim may be initiated by contacting provider 160 through network 50. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may be configured to initiate and adjust an insurance claim at area 146, 147 without contacting provider 160.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem as taught by Farnsworth within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of automating a repair request so that infrastructure is promptly repaired.
The prior art does not specifically disclose wherein the repair ticket specifies the better definition of the location of the problem. However, the prior art of Newman further teaches process of determining the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area and also providing routes and directions to a repair crew of the powerline incident ([0062][0064]). Since Newman has the ability to provide a better definition of the location and Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket, then one ordinarily skilled in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate known features of the better definition within the ticket report in order to improve labor cost-savings and automation of reports so that the repair crew can expeditiously focus on issues related to the powerline for a particular location.
Claim 9. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the method of claim 8, further comprising:
determining, based on analysis of the observation data, details of the problem
([0106] b. Drone(s) preferably equipped with proper visible spectrum and/or infrared/other camera(s) flies out autonomously (or can be flown out by a drone pilot) to the HRL point coordinates to verify fire ignition.);
and further discloses the process of issuing an alert related to the problem ([0072]) but does not specifically disclose generating a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem.
However, Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem
(Col 10 lines 10-25 unmanned vehicle 100 may identify a problem associated with the structure 131 and forward the information to a remote server and the remote server may instruct structure 131 to address the problem. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may initiate a remedial action. A remedial action may be to initiate an insurance claim to address the damage to the property. Such a claim may be initiated by contacting provider 160 through network 50. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may be configured to initiate and adjust an insurance claim at area 146, 147 without contacting provider 160.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem as taught by Farnsworth within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of automating a repair request so that infrastructure is promptly repaired.
The prior art does not specifically disclose wherein the repair ticket specifies the better definition of the location of the problem. However, the prior art of Newman further teaches process of determining the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area and also providing routes and directions to a repair crew of the powerline incident ([0062][0064]). Since Newman has the ability to provide a better definition of the location and Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket, then one ordinarily skilled in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate known features of the better definition within the ticket report in order to improve labor cost-savings and automation of reports so that the repair crew can expeditiously focus on issues related to the powerline for a particular location.
Claim 16. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program code comprising instructions for:
determining, based on analysis of the observation data, details of the problem
([0106] b. Drone(s) preferably equipped with proper visible spectrum and/or infrared/other camera(s) flies out autonomously (or can be flown out by a drone pilot) to the HRL point coordinates to verify fire ignition.);
and further discloses the process of issuing an alert related to the problem ([0072]) but does not specifically disclose generating a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem.
However, Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem
(Col 10 lines 10-25 unmanned vehicle 100 may identify a problem associated with the structure 131 and forward the information to a remote server and the remote server may instruct structure 131 to address the problem. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may initiate a remedial action. A remedial action may be to initiate an insurance claim to address the damage to the property. Such a claim may be initiated by contacting provider 160 through network 50. In another example, unmanned vehicle 100 may be configured to initiate and adjust an insurance claim at area 146, 147 without contacting provider 160.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem as taught by Farnsworth within the system of Kereszy for the purpose of automating a repair request so that infrastructure is promptly repaired.
The prior art does not specifically disclose wherein the repair ticket specifies the better definition of the location of the problem. However, the prior art of Newman further teaches process of determining the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area and also providing routes and directions to a repair crew of the powerline incident ([0062][0064]). Since Newman has the ability to provide a better definition of the location and Farnsworth teaches generation of a repair ticket, then one ordinarily skilled in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate known features of the better definition within the ticket report in order to improve automation of reports so that the repair crew can expeditiously focus on issues related to the powerline for a particular location.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kereszy, Trundle, Newman and further in view of Bahman (BR 102016008991 A2).
Claim 6. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the system of claim 3, and further discloses the process of detecting large charge transfer and continuous current (Kereszy [0020]) but do not specifically disclose wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices
However, Bahman teaches wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices
([024] Detector / controller 235 can control components on the FCI 200 and provide processing to detect fault conditions that occur within the power line. ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use overcurrent protection or monitoring devices as taught by Bahman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of obtaining true indications of a fault within the power distribution system.
Claim 7. Kereszy, Trundle, Newman and Bahman teach the system of claim 6, wherein the overcurrent protection or monitoring devices comprise at least one of protection relays or fault circuit indicators (FCIs)
(Bahman [011] The embodiments described herein are directed to Faulty Circuit Indicators (FCIs).
Claim 13. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the method of claim 10, and further discloses the process of detecting large charge transfer and continuous current (Kereszy [0020]) but do not specifically disclose wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices.
However, Bahman teaches wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices
([024] Detector / controller 235 can control components on the FCI 200 and provide processing to detect fault conditions that occur within the power line. )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use overcurrent protection or monitoring devices as taught by Bahman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of obtaining true indications of a fault within the power distribution system.
Claim 14. Kereszy, Trundle, Newman and Bahman teach the method of claim 13, wherein the overcurrent protection or monitoring devices comprise at least one of protection relays or fault circuit indicators (FCIs)
(Bahman [011] The embodiments described herein are directed to Faulty Circuit Indicators (FCIs).
Claim 20. Kereszy, Trundle and Newman teach the computer program product of claim 17, and further discloses the process of detecting large charge transfer and continuous current (Kereszy [0020]) but do not specifically disclose wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices.
However, Bahman teaches wherein indications of problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices
([024] Detector / controller 235 can control components on the FCI 200 and provide processing to detect fault conditions that occur within the power line. ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of invention to use overcurrent protection or monitoring devices as taught by Bahman within the system of Kereszy and Trundle for the purpose of obtaining true indications of a fault within the power distribution system.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 19 August 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Response for Claim 15 rejection under U.S.C. 101
The Examiner thanks Applicant for making the correction under U.S.C. 101. However, the claim requires a correction as stated above. Applicant’s arguments states a “a non-transitory computer readable storage medium” but the claim states “a computer readable non-transitory storage medium”. Thus, correction is required.
Response to Rejection under 35 U.S.C. §103 for claims 1, 8 and 15
For claims 1, 8 and 15, Applicants states the prior art fails to specifically teach the limitation,
“wherein the problem location estimation system is further configured to, when operating: receive observation data collected by the selected drone; and determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.”, and
“receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determining, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.”
The Examiner disagrees because the newly found prior art of Newman teaches an obvious improvement for receiving observation data collected by the selected drone; and determining, based on analysis of the observation data, a better definition of a location of the problem.
Response to Rejection under 35 U.S.C. §103 for claims 2, 9 and 16
For claims 2, 9 and 16, Applicants states the prior art fails to specifically teach the limitation,
“generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem, wherein the repair ticket specifies the better definition of the location of the problem”.
The Examiner disagrees because the prior art of Farnsworth, in the broadest interpretation, generates a repair ticket (e.g. insurance claims are requests for repair). The prior art of Newman clearly teaches an automation of information to a repair crew,
“[0064] …The software will highlight the exact location using latitude and longitude and GPS coordinates to identify the area where the trimming needs to be done. In this way, trimming crews will not waste time trying to locate the power lines that have vegetation. That will be done in advance and the trimming crew can go directly to the properties and addresses where the overgrown power lines are located. As well, the software can help identify the easiest route via roads for access to the power lines for the trimming. In this way, the process of locating the power lines that have overgrown vegetation can be handled solely by the drones and expensive labor for human beings need not be expended for that portion of the task. The human labor need only be deployed in order to trim the vegetation surrounding the power lines.”.
Further, Newman also expressly teaches generating reports within the insurance company environment for repairs
“[0062] Similar services can be provided for insurance companies for inspection of properties after a storm to help with repair and to prevent fraudulent claims. ”.
Thus, the prior art of Newman and Farnsworth are analogous art and provides the obviousness improvement for generation of a repair ticket to perform repairs on the problem, wherein the repair ticket specifies the better definition of the location of the problem.
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.
Moreover, Applicant's arguments do not comply with 37 CFR 1.111(c) because they do not clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. Further, they do not show how the amendments avoid such references or objections.
Lastly, Claim 19 has not been properly addressed in the previous office action. Neither the Examiner or Applicant has realized this mistake. The Examiner apologizes for this matter and has now addressed this claim. A second- non final office action shall be rendered to Applicant.
Conclusion
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/RUFUS C POINT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689