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 § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6, and 14-31 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With respect to claim 1, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “and to control operation of said system by transitioning among a plurality of operational states in response to said sensor data”. According to the original disclosure, applicant’s system is such that it designed to gather data regarding pressure upon a baseball, by a user’s gripping. It is unclear to what “transitioning of operational states” applicant referred to.
With respect to claim 3, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “wherein said sensor data comprises a plurality of data points”.
With respect to claim 14, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “wherein said external dataset is generated independently of said sensor assembly”. Within Applicant’s system, it seems as if the data generated upon a baseball is via the sensor assembly, that measured the pressure upon the baseball. It is unclear what applicant consider as “independently of the sensor”.
With respect to claim 17, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “wherein said second processing assembly is configured to generate information based on a relationship between said time-coded pressure data and said external dataset”. Such is unclear as the “second processing” is “the external database” (e.g., claims 11 and 13).
With respect to claim 19, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to change an operating parameter of said system”. Once again, it is unclear to what “transitioning of operational states” applicant referred to (as discussed above).
With respect to claims 21-22, 24, 27, and 29-31, same issues as discussed above with respect to claims 1 and 19, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “a transitioning”.
With respect to claim 20, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “sampling rate”.
With respect to claim 31, further clarification is required what does applicant consider “wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to change a power state of said system”.
With respect to claims 2, 4-6, 15-16, 18, 23, and 25, the claims are rejected based upon their dependency directly or indirectly to claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 11-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu US 2019/0060735 (“Wu”).
As per claim 1, Wu discloses a system for measuring surface pressure (system of measuring pressure of a baseball 30)(Figs. 1-4; paragraphs [0024]-[0044]) comprising: a housing body comprising: an exterior surface layer; an internal core (baseball 30 with external surface and inner core)(Fig. 3A; [0029], and [0038]-[0041]); a sensor assembly disposed between said exterior surface layer and said internal core (pressure sensor 117/127; Figs. 1 and 3A; [0025], [0027] and [0028]; note in at least [0025]” It should be noted that the pressure sensing unit (115, 125) can be integrated into the pressure sensor (117, 127) in one aspect of the system. It is also noted that, according to one of the embodiments, the pressure sensor (117, 127) has thin-film sensor structure to be disposed on a surface of sports equipment and can be covered with a protect layer from damage resulting in water or friction” thus, the sensor is positioned therebetween the exterior surface and the inner core), wherein said sensor assembly is configured to produce sensor data, wherein said sensor data represents pressure-related activity on said exterior surface layer ([0023]-[0044] the pressure sensor to receive data regarding pressure upon baseball 30); a processing assembly comprising: a local memory (within MCU 113); a communications element configured to transmit sensor data (communication unit 111); and a microcontroller (MCU 113) configured to process sensor data, wherein said microcontroller is configured to use said sensor data to determine a current operational state of said system (note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0030] as pressure sensor 117/127 to receive data from baseball 30 to computer 10) and to control operation of said system by transitioning among a plurality of operational states in response to said sensor data (to the best of his understanding the examiner construed the system to provide data, overtime, related to different aspect of the pressure measured upon the baseball, in at least Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to [0033]-[0044]; for example, “in view of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, a pressure sensor (301, FIG. 3A) mounted over a surface of a ball (30, FIG. 3A), and the pressure sensor (301, FIG. 3A) outputs the pressure values while a person grips the ball with his fingers. Once the pressure values are produced, such as in step S203, a force distribution history responsive to the pressure values produced over a period of time can be obtained” ([0033]); or “in step S405, the system also obtains a force distribution history since the system collects the information regarding the force distribution over a period of time as the athlete performs the sports, e.g. pitching a baseball or wielding a baseball bat. Based on the force or pressure values and the positions detected by the pressure sensors, as in step S407, the system detects a sporting posture that may include a series of actions, e.g. a pitching action, by analyzing the force distribution history. For example, for many types of ball sports, the system can detect the force/pressure of an athlete's hand holding the ball and the positons his fingertips gripping the ball, and further detect a plurality of release positions and a release time when the athlete casts the ball.” ([0044]).
As per claim 19, with respect to wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to change an operating parameter of said system, as mentioned above, to the best of his understanding the examiner construed the system to provide data, overtime, related to different aspect of the pressure measured upon the baseball as such , in at least Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to [0033]-[0044], note for example [0033] and [0044] as reproduce hereinabove.
As per claim 2, Wu discloses wherein said sensor assembly comprises a pressure sensing mesh (sensor 301)(Fig. 3A; [0029], [0030] and [0033]).
As per claim 3, Wu discloses wherein said processing assembly further comprises: a first processing unit disposed within said housing body and having said local memory, said communications element, and said microcontroller (processing assembly including pressure sensor 117/127, pressure unit 115/125, MCU 113/123 and communication unit 111/121)(Fig. 1; [0025]-[0028]) ; and a second processing unit external relative said housing body (computer 10), wherein said first processing unit and said second processing unit are communicably coupled, wherein said second processing unit is configured to store data received from said first processing unit in an external memory (Fig. 1 and [0025]-[0028]), wherein said sensor data comprises a plurality of data points, wherein each said data point of said plurality of data points is associated with a timestamp corresponding to a time during said sampling period at which said data point was produced (to the best of his understanding the examiner construed the pressure data, from the sensor data, overtime as such, in Figs. 2 and 4 and [0033]-[0044]; note for example [0033] and [0044] as reproduce hereinabove with respect to claim 1; also [0041]” Through the pressure sensor 301 mounted over the surface of the baseball 30, the force/pressure of the fingers applying to the baseball 30 and the positions of the fingertips can be detected. A force distribution history, including the information of the force/pressure and the positions and recordings of a series of force/pressure changes of each detection section over time can be created.”
As per claim 4, Wu discloses wherein said housing body is a baseball (baseball 30)(Fig. 3A; [0029] and [0038]-[0041]).
As per claim 5, with respect to wherein said processing assembly is configured to process said sensor data to generate time and location-coded pressure data representing pressure exerted at one or more locations on said exterior surface, said time and location-coded pressure data being configured for correlation with an external dataset, note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher.
As per claim 6, Wu discloses wherein said sensor assembly comprises at least one discrete sensor (pressure senor 301)(Fig. 3A).
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As per claim 11, since the claim’s limitations are very similar to claim 1, the examiner states that claim 11 is rejected over Wu for the same reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1. Since there is no apparent different structural and/or functional limitations of the device of claim 1 and the device of claim 11, it is important to note that such statement by the examiner is not merely to “ignore” the claim’s limitations; rather, the examiner attempts to simplify the above rejection, and not “paste and copy” similar limitations, thus, to create unnecessary lengthy Office action.
As per claim 12, with respect to wherein said sensor assembly is configured to generate sensor data representative of pressure applied to said exterior surface layer, note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher.
As per claim 13, Wu discloses wherein said processing assembly is configured for communicable coupling to a second processing assembly, wherein said second processing assembly is configured to receive said external dataset (pressure unit/assembly 117/127 of baseball 30 to communicate with computer 10 (via communication unit 111/121) to provide data regarding a pressure upon baseball 30)(Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher).
As per claim 14, with respect to wherein said external dataset is generated independently of said sensor assembly, to the best of his understanding the examiner construed the computer 10 to database 12, as such “external dataset is generated independently “; for example, “in an exemplary embodiment, the computer 10 can be a cloud-based server that receives a large amount of data from many different sensor modules at different ends so as to establish a big-data database. The data received by the computer 10 can be a force distribution history, a force pattern model, a deviation distribution model, and a correction data with respect to every sporting equipment” ([0032]) and/or “The system can then effectively provide the recommendation for posture correction with respect to a specific type of sport by comparing the collected data with the standard samples/standard force patterns with respect to one of the various sport types in a database of the system” ([0042]).
As per claims 15-17, with respect to wherein said sensor data comprises time-coded pressure data associated with one or more locations on said exterior surface layer, wherein said time-coded pressure data is processed by at least said processing assembly and said second processing assembly (claim 15); wherein said second processing assembly is configured to correlate said time-coded pressure data with said external dataset (claim 16); and wherein said second processing assembly is configured to generate information based on a relationship between said time-coded pressure data and said external dataset (claim 17), note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher; note in particular Figs, 2 and 4 in conjunction to [0022], [0023], [0025], [0026], [0029], [0033], [0034], [0036], [0041] and [0044] as the pressure data is related to a pressure upon the baseball 30 overtime.
As per claim 18, with respect to wherein said external dataset represents ball behavior in motion, note Figs. 3B in conjunction to [0042] and Fig. 4 ([0044]), as the pressure data related to pitched baseball.
As per claims 20, 21, with respect to wherein said operating parameter is sampling rate (claim 20) and wherein said sampling rate is changed in response to a transition from a first operational state of said plurality of operational states to a second operational state of said plurality of operational states (claim 21), to the best of his understanding the examiner construed the system to provide data, overtime, related to different aspect of the pressure measured upon the baseball as such, in at least Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to [0033]-[0044]; note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher.
As per claim 22, 23, with respect to wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to initiate acquisition of said sensor data (claim 22); and wherein said acquisition of said sensor data is initiated when said sensor assembly detects a grip (claim 23), note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 and to communicate with computer 10 (via communication unit 111/121); note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher.
As per claims 24, 25, with respect to wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to terminate acquisition of said sensor data (claim 24); and wherein said processing assembly is configured to terminate said acquisition of said sensor data when said sensor assembly detects release for free flight start (claim 25), note at least Fig. 2 steps S205 and S207 and/or Fig. 4 step S409 in conjunction to [0036] and [0044].
As per claims 26, 27, with respect to wherein said pressure-related activity indicates initiation of a pitch sequence (claim 26); wherein upon detection of a pitch sequence said processing assembly causes said transitioning among said plurality of operational states (claim 27), note Figs. 3A and 3B in conjunction to [0038]-[0042] and [0044].
As per claim 28, Wu discloses wherein said operating parameter is sensor sensitivity (Fig. 1 ([0025] + regarding sensor 117/127; Fig. 3, regarding sensor 301 ([0029] and [0030]).
As per claims 29, 30, with respect to wherein said transitioning among said plurality of operational states causes said processing assembly to selectively enable acquisition from one or more portions of said sensor assembly (claim 29); and wherein said transitioning among said plurality of operational states causes said processing assembly to initiate, modify, or terminate communication of sensor data (claim 30), note Fig. 1 in conjunction to [0025]-[0028] regarding the pressure unit/sensor 117/127 to communicate with computer 10; note Figs. 2 and 4 in conjunction to Figs. 3A and 3B and [0033]-[0044] as the system collect pressure data related to the baseball 30 held by a pitcher (note for example [0033] and [0044] as reproduce hereinabove). Also, note [0040] ”The multiple detection sections divided from the pressure sensors 301 can precisely detect the positions of the fingers and the corresponding forces applied to the baseball 30.”
As per claim 31, with respect to wherein said transitioning causes said processing assembly to change a power state of said system, to the best of his understanding the limitation “power” is related to a power supply, according to applicant’s original paragraphs [0018], [0044], [0046], [0051]; in that regard note Wu’s [0027] “Further, every standalone sensor module is equipped with a battery that supplies electric power to the module to conduct the pressure detection”.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-6 and 11-31 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 AMIR ARIE KLAYMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7131. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday; 7:00 AM-4:30 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Weiss can be reached at 571-270-1775. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.A.K/Examiner, Art Unit 3711 10/1/2026 /JOHN E SIMMS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
