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 .
Note: There is no 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection because the claims are integrated into a practical application. The Examiner agrees with Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Specification noting that id identifying locations of GCPs on a new or updated VFR chart requires an operator to manually review the new updated VER chart, then there is an increased risk of the operator missing GCPs or inaccurately placing a GCP. Without the use of technology, the method could not be run accurately and it would not be proper to assert that a human could practically perform the steps.
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.
(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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gandhi, https://web.archive.org/web/20240204144528/https://www.qgistutorials.com/en/docs/3/making_a_map.html, Feb 4, 2024.
Regarding claims 1, 11, 14, and 18, Gandhi discloses a method and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:
identifying one or more characteristics of a map of a geographic location (Page 24 shows a geographic map with characteristics);
placing plural first lines of longitude and plural first lines of latitude on to the map based at least in part on the one or more characteristics that are identified, the plural first lines of longitude and the plural first lines of latitude forming plural theoretical intersections between the plural first lines of longitude and the plural first lines of latitude (Page 24 shows a grid of longitude and latitude lines that create intersections);
separating the map of the geographic location into plural segments, each of the plural segments containing at least one of the plural theoretical intersections (The top corner of the map on Page 24 is a map separation of a particular section. Moreover, the entire reference shows the map can be that of the world, or subsections of it);
changing a magnification of a fist segment of the map, the first segment containing a first theoretical intersection between at least one of the plural first lines of longitude and at least one of the plural first lines of latitude (The cross sections are theoretical intersections. Page 5, along with the image on Page 24 shows a magnification of a certain part of the map);
identifying one or more edges within each of the plural segments, the one or more edges associated with at least one of the plural second lines of longitude and at least one of plural second lines of latitude (As discussed above, Page 5 shows that there can be magnification of any subsection of the world, and Page 20 shows that grids can be added to any main map section from which a subsection can be zoomed in on);
determining plural locations of actual intersections based at least in part on the identifying of the one or more edges, each of the plural locations of the actual intersections corresponding to the at least one of the plural theoretical intersections within each of the plural sections (The map on Page 24 shows many geographic intersections).
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Gandhi discloses wherein the location of the first actual intersection is different than a location of the first theoretical intersection (The actual intersections are the geographic intersections, the theoretical intersections are in different locations and are grid lines).
Regarding claim 3, Gandhi discloses identifying a first point of longitude and a first point of latitude associated with the location of the first actual intersection (Page 7 discloses using a coordinate system to identify any location on the map).
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 19, Gandhi discloses comprising modifying the map of the geographic location to include the first point of longitude and the first point of latitude associated with the location of the first actual intersection to create an updated map of the geographic location (As discussed above, the map can be zoomed in and out to any coordinate set, thus updating the map).
Regarding claims 5, 13, and 20, Gandhi discloses communicating the updated map of the geographic location with one or more of a database and an operator (As shown on at least Page 3, QGIS projects are stored).
Reegarding claims 6-8, 10, and 17, these steps constitute repeating the steps of the first plurality of lines and locations, and as discussed at length above, can be done using the QGIS system for any coordinates multiple times.
Regarding claims 9 and 16, the relationship between the plural locations are defined by grid coordinates as discussed above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARYAN E WEISENFELD whose telephone number is (571)272-6602. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Vivek Koppikar can be reached at 5712725109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ARYAN E. WEISENFELD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3689
/ARYAN E WEISENFELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
Prosecution Insights