DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final office action on the merits in response to communications on 12/9/2025 Claim 10 is canceled. Claims 1-9, 11-21 are pending and addressed below.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/9/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 11, 17, see starting page 7 of REMARKS, have been considered but are moot because of new amendments thus the arguments do not apply to the current rejection.
In addition, applicant's arguments filed 12/9/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Starting on page 7, Applicant is arguing:
Ota does not teach the claimed method comprising simulating "a motion of an object that the limbed robot interacts with, ... the simulated motion of the object comprising a first simulated motion of the object during the simulated motion of the limbed robot and a second simulated motion of the object after the simulated motion of the limbed robot."
However, Ota at [0038] teaches “The motion planner module 158 may be utilized to plan how the robot will grasp the target object, how it will be moved, and how it will be placed at a target location”. This gives the interpretation that at least simulation/planned motion of the robot during grasping the target object and moving it but before placing it at a target location read on the claimed simulating a motion of the limbed robot. Then the simulated/planned position/motion of the target object during grasping the target object and moving it but before placing it read on the claimed “a first simulated motion of the object during the simulated motion of the limbed robot”. The simulated/planned position/motion of the target object during the time it being placed at the target location read on the claimed “a second simulated motion of the object after the simulated motion of the limbed robot”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8, 11-12, 17-18, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ota et al. (US 20130184860).
Regarding claims 1, 11, 17, Ota et al. teaches:
A robot comprising:
a body;
an arm configured to interact with an object; and
a control system in communication with the body and the arm, the control system comprising data processing hardware and memory hardware in communication with the data processing hardware, the memory hardware storing instructions that when executed on the data processing hardware cause the data processing hardware to:
(at least figs. 3-4 [0004]-[0007] [0019]-[0040] discussed robot 100, manipulator 110, end effector/hand portion 116, processor 140, memory 143, discussed simulation to select some grasping patterns so robot can grasp target object to move it to target position);
simulate a motion of the robot and a motion of the object that the robot interacts with, the simulated motion of the robot and the simulated motion of the object simulated with a set of control parameters using a model, the simulated motion of the object comprising a first simulated motion of the object during the simulated motion of the robot and a second simulated motion of the object after the simulated motion of the robot;
determine a score for the simulated motion of the robot and the simulated motion of the object based on a goal and one or more constraints;
select the set of control parameters based on the score;
(at least figs. 3-4 [0004]-[0007] [0019]-[0040] discussed robot 100, manipulator 110, end effector/hand portion 116, processor 140, memory 143, discussed simulation to select some grasping patterns so robot can grasp target object to move it to target position; in particular [0027]-[0031] discussed select and filter out grasp patterns with control parameters/goal/constraints such as thumb-up vector V, angle threshold, elbow height, etc...; [0033] discussed models; [0038] discussed planning/simulating motion of target object; discussed “The motion planner module 158 may be utilized to plan how the robot will grasp the target object, how it will be moved, and how it will be placed at a target location”; at least simulation/planned motion of the robot during grasping the target object and moving it but before placing it read on the claimed simulating a motion of the limbed robot. Then the simulated/planned position/motion of the target object during grasping the target object and moving it but before placing it read on the claimed “a first simulated motion of the object during the simulated motion of the limbed robot”. The simulated/planned position/motion of the target object during the time it being placed at the target location read on the claimed “a second simulated motion of the object after the simulated motion of the limbed robot”);
modify a behavior of the robot based on the selected set of control parameters; and
control a movement of the robot based on the modified behavior of the robot;
(at least figs. 3-4 [0004]-[0007] [0019]-[0040] discussed robot 100, manipulator 110, end effector/hand portion 116, processor 140, memory 143, discussed simulation to select some grasping patterns so robot can grasp target object to move it to target position; in particular [0027]-[0031] discussed select and filter out grasp patterns with control parameters/goal/constraints such as thumb-up vector V, angle threshold, elbow height, etc...; [0033] discussed models; [0038] discussed planning/simulating motion of target object; [0034] discussed “manipulation planning block 154 receives the aforementioned inputs and generates output commands for the robot in the form of motion sequences that are provided to the actuators of the robot to control the robot to perform the desired tasks”);
Regarding claim 2, Ota et al. teaches:
wherein the goal comprises an end state for the object resulting from the simulated motion of the object
(at least figs. 3-4 [0004]-[0007] [0019]-[0040] discussed robot 100, manipulator 110, end effector/hand portion 116, processor 140, memory 143, discussed simulation to select some grasping patterns so robot can grasp target object to move it to target position; in particular [0027]-[0031] discussed select and filter out grasp patterns with control parameters/goal/constraints such as thumb-up vector V, angle threshold, elbow height, etc...; [0033] discussed models; [0038] discussed planning/simulating motion of target object; at least either of the end effector and the target object read on the claimed object that the robot interacts with; [0034] discussed “manipulation planning block 154 receives the aforementioned inputs and generates output commands for the robot in the form of motion sequences that are provided to the actuators of the robot to control the robot to perform the desired tasks”);
Regarding claim 8, Ota et al. teaches:
wherein the model comprises a representation of the object that depends on a particular task for the limbed robot to perform with respect to the object (at least figs. 3-4 [0004]-[0007] [0019]-[0040] discussed robot 100, manipulator 110, end effector/hand portion 116, processor 140, memory 143, discussed simulation to select some grasping patterns so robot can grasp target object to move it to target position; in particular [0027]-[0031] discussed select and filter out grasp patterns with control parameters/goal/constraints such as thumb-up vector V, angle threshold, elbow height, etc...; [0033] discussed models; [0038] discussed planning/simulating motion of target object; at least either of the end effector and the target object read on the claimed object that the robot interacts with; [0034] discussed “manipulation planning block 154 receives the aforementioned inputs and generates output commands for the robot in the form of motion sequences that are provided to the actuators of the robot to control the robot to perform the desired tasks”);
Regarding claim 12, the cited portions and rationale of rejection to claim 2 read on this claim.
Regarding claim 18, the cited portions and rationale of rejection to claim 2 read on this claim.
Regarding claim 21, the cited portions and rationale of rejection to claim 8 read on this claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 9, 13-16, 19-20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAO LONG T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7768. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4:30.
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BAO LONG T. NGUYEN
Examiner
Art Unit 3664
/BAO LONG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3656