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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Candy (US 10,078,148).
Candy discloses the following claimed features:
Regarding claims 1 and 13, a method for reducing false positives of a metal detector (Figures 1-5) in detecting a target, comprising the steps of: transmitting a transmit magnetic field (24); receiving a receive magnetic field to produce a receive signal (25); processing the receive signal using at least two different functions to produce a first signal and a second signal (26); the at least two different functions are configured such that the first signal is sensitive to at least one characteristic of the target, and such that the second signal is a representation of a likelihood function of the first signal (Figures 4 and 5; column 8, line 40 to column 11, line 41), the representation of the likelihood function taking into consideration an effect of an environment upon the first signal (27); classifying the receive signal into a classification of one of at least three possible classes based on at least the second signal (28); and producing an indicator output signal based on the classification, wherein the indicator output signal is different for different classifications; the indicator output signal comprising an audio signal (29).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the audio signal includes tones of different pitches for different classes (column 6, lines 22-59).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the audio signal is not emitted for a particular class (column 6, lines 22-59).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the at least one characteristic of the target is related to the magnetic polarizability of the target (column 6, lines 22-59).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the indicator output is a numeric indicator denoting the at least one characteristic of the target (column 6, lines 40-59).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the second signal is used to predict the variability of the first signal due to the effect of the environment (column 7, lines 12-59).
Regarding claim 7, wherein the indicator output signal is further indicative of a classification uncertainty in identifying a group to which the target belongs (column 7, lines 12-59).
Regarding claim 8, wherein producing the second signal comprises combining information from the receive signal prior to detecting the target with information from the receive signal associated with detecting the target (column 7, lines 12-59).
Regarding claim 9, wherein combining the information from the receive signal prior to detecting the target with information from the receive signal associated with detecting the target comprises calculating a measure of noise in a component of the receive signal prior to detecting the target and inferring the noise in the first signal that is sensitive to an identity of the target, assuming that a similar level of noise is present in the receive signal associated with detecting the target (Figure 4; column 8, line 8 to column 9, line 20).
Regarding claim 10, wherein the component of the receive signal prior to detecting the target is sensitive to the soil (column 4, lines 4-54).
Regarding claim 11, wherein the component of the receive signal prior to detecting the target is sensitive to seawater (column 4, lines 4-54).
Regarding claim 12, wherein the component of the receive signal prior to detecting the target is sensitive to electromagnetic interference (column 6, lines 46-51).
Regarding claim 14, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions (column 12, line 44 to column 13, line 3).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AN H DO whose telephone number is (571)272-2143. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:00am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached on 571-272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AN H DO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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