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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention needs to be more descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 13 and 14 are 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.
In claim 13, line 7, the phrase “the persons” lacks antecedent basis.
In claim 14, line 4, the phrase “the physical bodies” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-8 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2008-065381 (Matsumura).
With regards to claim 1, Matsumura discloses a monitoring safety system, as illustrated in Figures 1-8, an information processing apparatus (e.g. system illustrated in Figure 1) comprising a situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 (e.g. user position detection unit, object position detection unit, danger state determination unit, user risk recognition determination unit; paragraph [0018]) that estimates, on a basis of movement locus data (e.g. data like location, distance, velocity) indicative of a movement locus of a moving body (e.g. not numbered - the vehicle with user protection function in Figure 1) and environment data (e.g. data like location, distance and velocity) indicative of an environment in surroundings of the moving body, a situation (e.g. dangerous situation like a collision; paragraphs [0042],[0044],[0045]) of a physical body 301,302,300 (e.g. parked vehicle, wall, moving bicycle/motorcycle; Figure 1) in the surroundings of the moving body. (See, paragraphs [0007] to [0124] of translation).
With regards to claim 2, Matsumura further discloses the situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 estimates a situation of the physical body 301,302,300 in the surroundings of the moving body on a basis of both or any one of a velocity of the moving body and the physical body and a distance between the moving body and the physical body such that the velocity and the distance being obtained from the movement locus data and the environment data (e.g. user position detection unit 10 and object position detection unit 20 detect the position, distance using radar/sonar – paragraphs [0038],[0042],[0043]; dangerous state determination unit 30 calculates the relative position and relative velocity – paragraph [0044]).
With regards to claim 3, Matsumura further discloses the velocity of the moving body and the physical body includes a relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body (e.g. paragraphs [0038],[0042],[0043],[0044]).
With regards to claim 4, Matsumura further discloses the situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 distinguishes, on a basis of the relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body, whether the physical body 301,302,300 is a person 302 (e.g. person driving moving bicycle/motorcycle; paragraph [0042]) or a thing 300,301 (e.g. parked car or wall; paragraph [0042]).
With regards to claim 6, Matsumura further discloses in a case where a change of the distance coincides with a pattern associated with a predetermined thing in advance, the situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 estimates that the physical body 301,302,300 is a thing 300,301 (e.g. parked car or wall; paragraphs [0042],[0055] to [0060])
With regards to claim 7, Matsumura further discloses the situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 distinguishes whether the physical body is moving or is stationary, on a basis of the relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body (e.g. user risk recognition determination unit 50 determines course of action based on a moving or stationary physical body; paragraphs [0064],[0065], [0055] to [0060]; Figure 3).
With regards to claim 8, Matsumura further discloses the situation estimation unit 10,20,30,50 distinguishes, on the basis of the relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body, whether the physical body is moving in such a manner that the physical body and the moving body pass each other or is moving in such a manner as to overtake the moving body (e.g. paragraphs [0048],[0055] to [0060]; Figure 3b).
With regards to claim 15, Matsumura further discloses the moving body includes a person (e.g. person driving the vehicle with user protection function in Figure 1)
With regards to claim 16, Matsumura further discloses the environment data includes data regarding a distance between the moving body and the physical body (e.g. user position detection unit 10 and object position detection unit 20 detect the position, distance using radar/sonar – paragraphs [0038],[0042],[0043]).
With regards to claim 17, the claim is directed to a method claim and is commensurate in scope with the above apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons as set forth above.
With regards to claim 18, the claim is direct to an information processing program for causing a computer to execute an information processing method and is commensurate in scope with the above apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons as set forth above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 5 and 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2008-065381 (Matsumura) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0190972 (Timmons et al.).
With regards to claim 5, Matsumura further discloses the concept of the moving body and the physical body arriving within a certain distance within different times and different distances in paragraph [0045] and the moving body directed to move towards or away a fixed physical body in paragraph [0056] and illustrated in Figure 3; however, the reference does not disclose in a case where such a change of the distance that the moving body and the physical body move toward each other and then move away from each other at fixed intervals of time occurs by multiple times, the situation estimation unit estimates that the physical body is a thing. To have set such test characteristics as in the claim is considered to have been a matter of optimization and choice possibilities to the operator to set such desired parameters to determine that the physical body is a thing would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention without departing from the scope of the invention.
With regards to claims 9-12, Matsumura does not disclose the characteristics parameters ( in a case where the relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body is equal to or higher than a predetermined velocity, the situation estimation unit estimates that the physical body is moving in such a manner that the physical body and the moving body pass each other; in a case where the relative velocity of the physical body relative to the moving body is equal to or lower than a predetermined velocity, the situation estimation unit estimates that the physical body is moving in such a manner as to overtake the moving body; in a case where there is such a change of the distance that the physical body moves toward the moving body and then moves away from the moving body within a range equal to or shorter than a predetermined period of time, the situation estimation unit estimates that the physical body is moving in such a manner that the physical body and the moving body pass each other; in a case where there is such a change of the distance that the physical body moves toward the moving body and then moves away from the moving body within a range equal to or longer than a predetermined period of time, the situation estimation unit estimates that the physical body is moving in such a manner as to overtake the moving body) as in these claims.
Timmons et al. discloses a system for tracking a target vehicle comprising, as illustrated in Figures 1-55, an information processing apparatus 500 (e.g. collision risk assessment system; paragraph [0093]; Figures 10-11) comprising a situation estimation unit 520 (e.g. object evaluation and categorization; paragraph [0095]) that estimates, on a basis of movement locus data (e.g. data like location, distance, velocity) indicative of a movement locus of a moving body 3100 (e.g. subject vehicle; paragraph [0094]) and environment data (e.g. data like location, distance and velocity) indicative of an environment in surroundings of the moving body, a situation (e.g. dangerous situation like a collision; paragraphs [0093] to [0097]) of a physical body 3200 (e.g. object vehicles; paragraphs [0094],[0095]) in the surroundings of the moving body; the concept of change of velocity and change of distance between a moving body and a physical body which can determine a status and condition of the physical body and the moving body (e.g. paragraphs [0139] to [0154]; Figures 21-42). (See, paragraphs [0056] to [0205]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have readily recognize the advantages and desirability of employing the claimed characteristics parameters as suggested by Timmons et al to the system of Matsumura to have the ability to monitor a range of different scenarios with different velocities and different distances between the moving body and the physical body. (See, paragraph [0139] of Timmons et al.).
With regards to claims 13 and 14, Matsumura further discloses the concept of making sure people in the vicinity are not seriously injured in paragraph [0085]; however, the reference does not disclose a crowdedness estimation unit that estimates, on a basis of a situation estimation result by the situation estimation unit, whether or not the surroundings of the moving body are crowded with the persons such that in a case where the number of the physical bodies distinguished as persons is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the crowdedness estimation unit estimates that the surroundings of the moving body are crowded, as presently claimed. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have readily recognize the advantages and desirability to employ a crowdedness estimation unit to determine the number of people in the desired area as being crowded or not crowded to the system of Matsumura to have the ability to make sure people in the vicinity will not be injured in the situation of the physical body and the moving body when there is a crowd of people without departing from the scope of the invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The references cited, particularly Suzuki, Tsurumi and Mochizuki, are related to information processing system to estimate a situation between a moving body and a physical body.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Helen C Kwok whose telephone number is (571)272-2197. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 4:00 EST.
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/HELEN C KWOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855