DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
In the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims 1-20 have been considered and examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderton et al. (Anderton – US 2020/0375149 A1) in view of Martin et al. (Martin – US 2020/0228943 A1)
As to claim 1, Anderton discloses a system comprising:
a plurality of anchors fixed in a building (Anderton: Abstract, [0027], [0029], [0033], [0041]-[0043], and FIG. 1-7: the Bluetooth transceivers/transmitter 20: FIG. 3 illustrates a couple examples where a combination of WIFI and Bluetooth transmitter signals 24 are received by the collar to determine whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones. As shown, by having 3 signals, even varying types of signals, the processor and memory on the collar utilizing formulaic software instructions can calculate whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones and trigger as mentioned above appropriate reminders, notifications and/or stimuli. Often in houses or other indoor places equipment, such as WIFI routers 22 or repeaters, emitting WIFI signals are limited in the number per room or as often the case one router can cover multiple rooms, as WIFI signals can emit over a longer range), the anchors configured to transmit and receive signals (Anderton: Abstract, [0027], [0033], [0043], and FIG. 1-7: the Bluetooth transceivers/transmitter 20: As the smartphone 50 or smart collar 55 reads each transmitter, a unique identifier is associated with each transmitter, the strength of the signal as the setup device changes positions is recorded and associated with each unique identifier. In some instances, the Bluetooth transmitters can be two-way transceivers, to both receive and transmit information); and
a wearable configured to be worn by a pet (Anderton: Abstract, [0028], [0030]-[0035], [0038]-[0041], and FIG. 1 the smart collar 15 worn by the animal 10: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals ), the wearable including 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 perform operations (Anderton: [0014], [0040], [0049]-[0051], and FIG. 1-7: The smart collar includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a set of computer-implemented instructions, a first set of processing circuitry operatively connected to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processing circuitry being configured to implement the first set of computer instructions, a wireless transceiver, a stimulus emitter, and a power source) comprising:
upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-go zone (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: an alternative way of setting up warning and prohibited zones includes placing a smartphone 50 and/or the smart collar 55 at specific points around the perimeter that defines each of the zones. At each point the smartphone and/or collar reads each of the emitted Bluetooth or WIFI signals and stores those signals in memory for each spot along the perimeter), transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: Once each of the spots have been completed, the information stored in memory is then analyzed either locally on the smartphone or smart collar or transmitted to the cloud to be analyzed, where a zone is then created. That zone information is then stored locally on the collar and includes a set of rules of when to trigger stimuli, send notifications or trigger other features associated with the collar or devices communicating with the collar), the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals).
Anderton does not explicitly disclose the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting UWB signals to the plurality of anchors to determine a location of the wearable within the building; and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting UWB signals to the plurality of anchors to determine a location of the wearable within the building; and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building, as suggested by Martin, which discloses the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals (Martin: Abstract and FIG. 1: A system provides ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. The system exchanges ranging signals at a first rate between a UWB beacon and a UWB tag. The system then determines movement or location information of the UWB tag; and select, based on the movement or location information, a second rate for exchanging subsequent ranging signals between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag. The system then exchanges the subsequent ranging signals at the second rate between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag), transmitting UWB signals to the plurality of anchors to determine a location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120); and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. In another aspect, for example, the communications component 306 may communicate successive ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine movement of the UWB tag 104 based on a change in the 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton and Martin, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton to include the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting UWB signals to the plurality of anchors to determine a location of the wearable within the building; and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building, as suggested by Martin. The motivation for this is to determine a location of an animal using an alternative well known technique of UWB signals.
As to claim 3, Anderton and Martin disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-vertical zone and has exceeded a defined vertical height threshold, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable (Anderton: [0034]: In addition to being able to map out a 2-D region, the system can be configured for a 3-dimensional space. For example, in some instances the animals could be allowed to go around, below and underneath a kitchen table, but the moment a plane or space near or above say a table is breached the stimuli, training and other warning mechanisms are initiated. In other instances, a user may be okay with the animal on the bed, but not want the animal burrowing under the bed. For setting up a 3-dimensional zone, similar walking around the zone can be done, but an additional height component registry can be recorded and Martin: [0044]: The computing device 111 executing the control software 112 in communication with one or more of the UWB beacons 102, and/or the UWB beacons 102 themselves, may use characteristics of UWB radiofrequency (RF) signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a three-dimensional (3D) position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. Further, the computing device 111 and/or the one or more UWB beacons 102 may then update the corresponding location information in the control software 112), the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals).
Claims 2, 5, 7-8, 10, and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderton et al. (Anderton – US 2020/0375149 A1) in view of Martin et al. (Martin – US 2020/0228943 A1) and further in view of Seltzer et al. (Seltzer – US 2020/0267941 A1).
As to claim 2, Anderton and Martin disclose the limitations of claim 1 except for the claimed limitations of the system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-solicitation zone, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-solicitation zone, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone, as suggested by Seltzer, which discloses wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-solicitation zone (Seltzer: [0052], [0063], [0065]-[0071], [0074]-[0076], and FIG. 4), transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone (Seltzer: [0052], [0063], [0065]-[0071], [0074]-[0076], and FIG. 4: The application then communicates with the collar to assign collar a function of the particular beacon when the pet collar is within a set range of the beacon. If the pet collar comes within a configured distance of the particular beacon, the collar will log the occurrence of the event and/or emit a positive reinforcement stimulus under an embodiment. The collar may also store the time of the event… The collar device then uses the identification number to perform a database lookup to determine the assigned collar function with respect to the beacon (e.g., a negative stimulus) and conditions for its performance (e.g. location of the collar device within a certain threshold distance and permitted time of performance). In this example, the collar determines that the function is delivery of stimulus and also resolves that the estimated distance from collar to beacon is less than the selected threshold distance (via comparison of estimated distance with designated threshold distance)).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton and Martin to include wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-solicitation zone, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone, as suggested by Seltzer. The motivation for this is to configure operations of one or more beacons within a home for monitoring one or more animals.
As to claim 5, Anderton and Martin disclose the limitations of claim 1 except for the claimed limitations of the system of claim 1, further comprising a mobile computing device in communication with the plurality of anchors via at least one of WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, UWB, LORA, or Sub-GHz.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement a mobile computing device in communication with the plurality of anchors via at least one of WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, UWB, LORA, or Sub-GHz, as suggested by Seltzer, which discloses a mobile computing device in communication with the plurality of anchors (Seltzer: [0059], [0074]-[0075], [0105], [0230], FIG. 3, and FIG. 12: A pet owner may initiate the application on a smartphone and walk through a set up procedure using the configuration interface. For example, such interface of the application may provide click through buttons for “beacon” and “collar” discovery modes as seen in FIG. 3. The user may under this embodiment select “beacon” discovery mode. The interface may then prompt the user to bring the smartphone device in proximity to a transmitting beacon, i.e. within transmission range of a beacon) via at least one of WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, UWB, LORA, or Sub-GHz) (Seltzer: [0059], [0074]-[0075], [0105], [0230], FIG. 3, and FIG. 12: The interface may then prompt the user to bring the smartphone device in proximity to a transmitting beacon, i.e. within transmission range of a beacon. In beacon discovery mode, the application may use one or more mobile device operating system APIs to detect incoming Bluetooth transmissions).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton and Martin to include a mobile computing device in communication with the plurality of anchors via at least one of WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, UWB, LORA, or Sub-GHz, as suggested by Seltzer. The motivation for this is to configure operations of one or more beacons within a home premises for monitoring one or more animals.
As to claim 7, Anderton discloses a wearable configured to be worn by a pet, the wearable 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 perform operations (Anderton: [0014], [0040], [0049]-[0051], and FIG. 1-7: The smart collar includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a set of computer-implemented instructions, a first set of processing circuitry operatively connected to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processing circuitry being configured to implement the first set of computer instructions, a wireless transceiver, a stimulus emitter, and a power source) comprising:
a plurality of anchors in a building (Anderton: Abstract, [0027], [0029], [0033], [0041]-[0043], and FIG. 1-7: the Bluetooth transceivers/transmitter 20: FIG. 3 illustrates a couple examples where a combination of WIFI and Bluetooth transmitter signals 24 are received by the collar to determine whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones. As shown, by having 3 signals, even varying types of signals, the processor and memory on the collar utilizing formulaic software instructions can calculate whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones and trigger as mentioned above appropriate reminders, notifications and/or stimuli. Often in houses or other indoor places equipment, such as WIFI routers 22 or repeaters, emitting WIFI signals are limited in the number per room or as often the case one router can cover multiple rooms, as WIFI signals can emit over a longer range) to determine a location of the wearable within the building (Anderton: Abstract, [0028], [0030]-[0035], [0038]-[0041], and FIG. 1 the smart collar 15 worn by the animal 10: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals);
upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-go zone (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: an alternative way of setting up warning and prohibited zones includes placing a smartphone 50 and/or the smart collar 55 at specific points around the perimeter that defines each of the zones. At each point the smartphone and/or collar reads each of the emitted Bluetooth or WIFI signals and stores those signals in memory for each spot along the perimeter), transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: Once each of the spots have been completed, the information stored in memory is then analyzed either locally on the smartphone or smart collar or transmitted to the cloud to be analyzed, where a zone is then created. That zone information is then stored locally on the collar and includes a set of rules of when to trigger stimuli, send notifications or trigger other features associated with the collar or devices communicating with the collar), the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals).
Anderton does not explicitly disclose the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to a plurality of anchors in a building to determine a location of the wearable within the building;
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building; and
upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no- solicitation zone , transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to a plurality of anchors in a building to determine a location of the wearable within the building; and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building, as suggested by Martin, which discloses the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals (Martin: Abstract and FIG. 1: A system provides ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. The system exchanges ranging signals at a first rate between a UWB beacon and a UWB tag. The system then determines movement or location information of the UWB tag; and select, based on the movement or location information, a second rate for exchanging subsequent ranging signals between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag. The system then exchanges the subsequent ranging signals at the second rate between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag), transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to a plurality of anchors in a building to determine a location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120); and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. In another aspect, for example, the communications component 306 may communicate successive ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine movement of the UWB tag 104 based on a change in the 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton and Martin, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton to include the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to a plurality of anchors in a building to determine a location of the wearable within the building; and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building, as suggested by Martin. The motivation for this is to determine a location of an animal using an alternative well known technique of UWB signals.
The combination of Anderton and Martin does not explicitly disclose upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no- solicitation zone , transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no- solicitation zone , transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone, as suggested by Seltzer, which discloses upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no- solicitation zone (Seltzer: [0052], [0063], [0065]-[0071], [0074]-[0076], and FIG. 4), transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone (Seltzer: [0052], [0063], [0065]-[0071], [0074]-[0076], and FIG. 4: The application then communicates with the collar to assign collar a function of the particular beacon when the pet collar is within a set range of the beacon. If the pet collar comes within a configured distance of the particular beacon, the collar will log the occurrence of the event and/or emit a positive reinforcement stimulus under an embodiment. The collar may also store the time of the event… The collar device then uses the identification number to perform a database lookup to determine the assigned collar function with respect to the beacon (e.g., a negative stimulus) and conditions for its performance (e.g. location of the collar device within a certain threshold distance and permitted time of performance). In this example, the collar determines that the function is delivery of stimulus and also resolves that the estimated distance from collar to beacon is less than the selected threshold distance (via comparison of estimated distance with designated threshold distance)).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton and Martin to include upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no- solicitation zone , transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable that is less severe than the feedback response for the no-go zone, as suggested by Seltzer. The motivation for this is to configure operations of one or more beacons within a home premises for monitoring one or more animals.
As to claim 8, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer disclose the limitations of claim 7 further comprising the wearable of claim 7, further comprising an accelerometer (Seltzer: [0093], [0117], and FIG. 2: the collar device may include an accelerometer and/or gyroscope in order to monitor activity levels and activity types) configured to determine whether the wearable is in motion or at rest (Seltzer: [0087], [0107], [0109], [0111]-[0113], [0229]-[0230], and FIG. 1-2: Under this embodiment, a collar device may collect and forward avoidance/interaction data, collar device sensor data (including physiological conditions and/or motion activity of a subject wearing the collar), and/or environmental sensor data. In other words, a collar device may collect and forward such data to a remote application running on a remote computing platform which may then itself analyze the data to determine a particular need of a subject wearing the collar device, i.e. that the animal may benefit from sound masking ).
As to claim 10, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer disclose the limitations of claim 7 further comprising the wearable of claim 7, further comprising a microphone (Seltzer: [0103], [0243], [0246], and FIG. 1-2) configured to obtain sound data (Seltzer: [0103], [0243], [0246], and FIG. 1-2: An auditory stimulus may be activated in an automated or manual manner. Under an embodiment, a bark collar may automatically activate an auditory stimulus. Such bark collar may include a microphone or vibration sensor to detect the signature of a dog vocalization. If the vocalization signature matches the signature of a dog bark, a stimulus is activated. An example of a manual stimulus activation is a remote trainer, where a pet owner activates a stimulus via some type of RF signal).
As to claim 13, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer disclose the limitations of claim 7 further comprising the wearable of claim 7, wherein the wearable is one of a collar, an ID tag, a harness, or an implanted chip (Anderton: Abstract, [0028], [0030]-[0035], [0038]-[0041], and FIG. 1 the smart collar 15 worn by the animal 10: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals and Seltzer: [0052], [0063], [0065]-[0071], [0074]-[0076], and FIG. 4: The application then communicates with the collar to assign collar a function of the particular beacon when the pet collar is within a set range of the beacon. If the pet collar comes within a configured distance of the particular beacon, the collar will log the occurrence of the event and/or emit a positive reinforcement stimulus under an embodiment. The collar may also store the time of the event… The collar device then uses the identification number to perform a database lookup to determine the assigned collar function with respect to the beacon (e.g., a negative stimulus) and conditions for its performance (e.g. location of the collar device within a certain threshold distance and permitted time of performance). In this example, the collar determines that the function is delivery of stimulus and also resolves that the estimated distance from collar to beacon is less than the selected threshold distance (via comparison of estimated distance with designated threshold distance)).
As to claim 14, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer disclose the limitations of claim 7 further comprising the wearable of claim 7, wherein the location of the wearable within the building is determined using one of time different of arrival (TDOA), reverse TDOA, two-way ranging (TWR), or phase difference of arrival (PDOA) (Martin: [0044]: The computing device 111 executing the control software 112 in communication with one or more of the UWB beacons 102, and/or the UWB beacons 102 themselves, may use characteristics of UWB radiofrequency (RF) signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a three-dimensional (3D) position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. Further, the computing device 111 and/or the one or more UWB beacons 102 may then update the corresponding location information in the control software 112).
As to claim 15, Anderton discloses a mobile computing device 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 perform operations (Anderton: [0014], [0040], [0049]-[0051], and FIG. 1-7: The smart collar includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a set of computer-implemented instructions, a first set of processing circuitry operatively connected to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processing circuitry being configured to implement the first set of computer instructions, a wireless transceiver, a stimulus emitter, and a power source) comprising:
communicating with a plurality of anchors in a building via a wireless network (Anderton: Abstract, [0027], [0029], [0033], [0041]-[0043], and FIG. 1-7: the Bluetooth transceivers/transmitter 20: FIG. 3 illustrates a couple examples where a combination of WIFI and Bluetooth transmitter signals 24 are received by the collar to determine whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones. As shown, by having 3 signals, even varying types of signals, the processor and memory on the collar utilizing formulaic software instructions can calculate whether or not the animal has entered into one of the zones and trigger as mentioned above appropriate reminders, notifications and/or stimuli. Often in houses or other indoor places equipment, such as WIFI routers 22 or repeaters, emitting WIFI signals are limited in the number per room or as often the case one router can cover multiple rooms, as WIFI signals can emit over a longer range), the plurality of anchors being configured to transmit and receive signals to and from a wearable configured to be worn by a pet to determine the location of the wearable in the building (Anderton: Abstract, [0028], [0030]-[0035], [0038]-[0041], and FIG. 1 the smart collar 15 worn by the animal 10: As the animal wearing the smart collar enters the warning zone, certain indicators including lights, sounds, vibrations and other mechanisms associated with the smart collar or communicating with the smart collar can be utilized. A notice to the animal's owner can also be received. Additional lights, sounds, vibrations and other stimuli used for training animals can be triggered if the animal enters into the prohibited zone and persist until the animal leaves the prohibited zone 40, after which the stimuli can stop. These stimuli are well-known in the art for training animals); and
tracking the location of the wearable in the building (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: an alternative way of setting up warning and prohibited zones includes placing a smartphone 50 and/or the smart collar 55 at specific points around the perimeter that defines each of the zones. At each point the smartphone and/or collar reads each of the emitted Bluetooth or WIFI signals and stores those signals in memory for each spot along the perimeter) via communication with the plurality of anchors (Anderton: [0027]-[0029], [0031], [0035]-[0044], and FIG. 1-7: Once each of the spots have been completed, the information stored in memory is then analyzed either locally on the smartphone or smart collar or transmitted to the cloud to be analyzed, where a zone is then created. That zone information is then stored locally on the collar and includes a set of rules of when to trigger stimuli, send notifications or trigger other features associated with the collar or devices communicating with the collar).
Anderton does not explicitly disclose the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, and defining a zone within the building by tracing the zone with the mobile computing device and transmitting the defined zone via UWB to the plurality of anchors.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, as suggested by Martin, which discloses the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals (Martin: Abstract and FIG. 1: A system provides ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. The system exchanges ranging signals at a first rate between a UWB beacon and a UWB tag. The system then determines movement or location information of the UWB tag; and select, based on the movement or location information, a second rate for exchanging subsequent ranging signals between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag. The system then exchanges the subsequent ranging signals at the second rate between the UWB beacon and the UWB tag), transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to a plurality of anchors in a building to determine a location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120); and
receiving UWB signals from the plurality of anchors to determine the location of the wearable within the building (Martin: [0009], [0047], [0053]-[0055], [0061], [0082]-[0094], and FIG. 5: the communications component 306 may communicate ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine the location of the UWB tag 104 using characteristics of UWB RF signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. In another aspect, for example, the communications component 306 may communicate successive ranging signals with the UWB tag 104, and the processor 302 may determine movement of the UWB tag 104 based on a change in the 3D position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton and Martin, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton to include the signals as ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, as suggested by Martin. The motivation for this is to determine a location of an animal using an alternative well known technique of UWB signals.
The combination of Anderton and Martin does not explicitly disclose defining a zone within the building by tracing the zone with the mobile computing device and transmitting the defined zone via UWB to the plurality of anchors.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring animals to implement defining a zone within the building by tracing the zone with the mobile computing device and transmitting the defined zone via UWB to the plurality of anchors, as suggested by Seltzer, which discloses defining a zone within the building by tracing the zone with the mobile computing device (Seltzer: [0059], [0074]-[0075], [0105], [0230], FIG. 3, and FIG. 12: A pet owner may initiate the application on a smartphone and walk through a set up procedure using the configuration interface. For example, such interface of the application may provide click through buttons for “beacon” and “collar” discovery modes as seen in FIG. 3. The user may under this embodiment select “beacon” discovery mode. The interface may then prompt the user to bring the smartphone device in proximity to a transmitting beacon, i.e. within transmission range of a beacon) and transmitting the defined zone via UWB to the plurality of anchors (Seltzer: [0059], [0074]-[0075], [0105], [0230], FIG. 3, and FIG. 12: The interface may then prompt the user to bring the smartphone device in proximity to a transmitting beacon, i.e. within transmission range of a beacon. In beacon discovery mode, the application may use one or more mobile device operating system APIs to detect incoming Bluetooth transmissions).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton and Martin to include defining a zone within the building by tracing the zone with the mobile computing device and transmitting the defined zone via UWB to the plurality of anchors, as suggested by Seltzer. The motivation for this is to configure operations of one or more beacons within a home premises for monitoring one or more animals.
As to claim 16, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer disclose the limitations of claim 15 further comprising the mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the defined zone is one of two-dimensional or three-dimensional (Anderton: [0034]: In addition to being able to map out a 2-D region, the system can be configured for a 3-dimensional space. For example, in some instances the animals could be allowed to go around, below and underneath a kitchen table, but the moment a plane or space near or above say a table is breached the stimuli, training and other warning mechanisms are initiated. In other instances, a user may be okay with the animal on the bed, but not want the animal burrowing under the bed. For setting up a 3-dimensional zone, similar walking around the zone can be done, but an additional height component registry can be recorded, Martin: [0044]: The computing device 111 executing the control software 112 in communication with one or more of the UWB beacons 102, and/or the UWB beacons 102 themselves, may use characteristics of UWB radiofrequency (RF) signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a three-dimensional (3D) position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. Further, the computing device 111 and/or the one or more UWB beacons 102 may then update the corresponding location information in the control software 112, and Seltzer: [0059], [0074]-[0075], [0105], [0230], FIG. 3, and FIG. 12: A pet owner may initiate the application on a smartphone and walk through a set up procedure using the configuration interface. For example, such interface of the application may provide click through buttons for “beacon” and “collar” discovery modes as seen in FIG. 3. The user may under this embodiment select “beacon” discovery mode. The interface may then prompt the user to bring the smartphone device in proximity to a transmitting beacon, i.e. within transmission range of a beacon).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Anderton et al. (Anderton – US 2020/0375149 A1) in view of Martin et al. (Martin – US 2020/0228943 A1) and furth in view of Hardi et al. (Hardi – US 2011/0061605 A1) and Chapman (Chapman – US 2024/0147962 A1).
As to claim 4, Anderton and Martin disclose the limitations of claim 1 except for the claimed limitations of the system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-bark zone and a sound measure obtained from the wearable has exceeded a defined sound threshold, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable, the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock.
However, it has been known in the art of animal controls to implement wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-bark zone and a sound measure obtained from the wearable, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable, the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock, as suggested by Hardi, which discloses wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-bark zone and a sound measure obtained from the wearable, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable, the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock (Hardi: Abstract, [0049], [0052]-[0053], [0055]-[0056], and FIG. 3: In one embodiment, at least one operating mode includes administration of a warning signal (e.g., vibration, audible signal, and/or electric shock of low intensity) for a specified time period if a pet collar or tag should receive an IR signal (from the ZDU) within a response zone, and then administer a correction/discipline signal (e.g., high amplitude vibration and/or electric shock of higher intensity) if the pet wearing the pet tag or collar does not cease an offending behavior (e.g., barking and/or presence within a response zone) shortly thereafter. For example, a warning signal may be administered for a period of two seconds (or so long as the pet remains in the response zone) via a pet tag or collar upon entry of a pet into a response zone, and if the pet does not exit the response zone within three seconds, then a correction signal will be administered by the pet tag or collar).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, and Hardi, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton and Martin, to include wherein the operations further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-bark zone and a sound measure obtained from the wearable, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable, the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock, as suggested by Hardi. The motivation for this is to define one more zones of a space to monitor and/or track offending behavior of an animal.
The combination of Anderton, Martin, and Hardi does not explicitly disclose a “barking” sound measure obtained from the wearable has exceeded a defined sound threshold.
However, it has been known in the art of animal controls to implement a “barking” sound measure obtained from the wearable has exceeded a defined sound threshold, as suggested by Chapman, which discloses a “barking” sound measure obtained from the wearable has exceeded a defined sound threshold (Chapman: Abstract, [0035], and FIG. 2 the wearable device 200: The processor 206 is also configured to recognize a barking pattern or a barking sound intensity prior to automatically activating the at least one vibrating element 208. This allows activating the at least one vibrating element 208 only if the dog is barking in an agitated or aggressive manner, specifically when subjected to an increased stress level. The aspect of automatically activating the at least one vibrating element 208 based only on the barking sound also acts as an indicative training signal for the dog to stop agitative or aggressive barking behavior. Additionally, in such instances, the pet owner can establish communication with the pet by touching the pet, closing blinds/doors to calm the pet, or removing the pet from the agitating environment. Moreover, the at least one vibrating element 208 is automatically deactivated by the processor 206 when the pet stops the aggressive barking action (i.e., when the intensity of the sensed barking sound by the at least one sound sensor 204C diminishes or less than a threshold value of barking sound intensity that activates the at least one vibrating element 208). This gives the pet instant and consistent correction which can be coupled with a training cue like “quiet” that will become associated with and then take the place of the vibration in the pet's mind).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Anderton, Martin, Hardi, and Chapman, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before ethe effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal monitoring system of Anderton, Martin, and Hardi to include a “barking” sound measure obtained from the wearable has exceeded a defined sound threshold, as suggested by Chapman. The motivation for this is to detect barking sounds of an animal based on a threshold value.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Anderton et al. (Anderton – US 2020/0375149 A1) in view of Martin et al. (Martin – US 2020/0228943 A1) and Seltzer et al. (Seltzer – US 2020/0267941 A1) and further in view of Thompson et al. (Thompson – US 2009/0102668 A1).
As to claim 6, Anderton, Martin, and Seltzer discloses the limitations of claim 5 further comprising the system of claim 5, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to define a three-dimensional zone within the building (Anderton: [0034]: In addition to being able to map out a 2-D region, the system can be configured for a 3-dimensional space. For example, in some instances the animals could be allowed to go around, below and underneath a kitchen table, but the moment a plane or space near or above say a table is breached the stimuli, training and other warning mechanisms are initiated. In other instances, a user may be okay with the animal on the bed, but not want the animal burrowing under the bed. For setting up a 3-dimensional zone, similar walking around the zone can be done, but an additional height component registry can be recorded and Martin: [0044]: The computing device 111 executing the control software 112 in communication with one or more of the UWB beacons 102, and/or the UWB beacons 102 themselves, may use characteristics of UWB radiofrequency (RF) signals (e.g., TOA and/or TDOA) to find a three-dimensional (3D) position of the UWB tag 104 in the indoor space 120. Further, the computing device 111 and/or the one or more UWB beacons 102 may then update the corresponding location information in the control software 112) and transmitting the defined zone via UWB (Martin: Abstract and FIG. 1: A system provides ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. The system exchanges ranging signals at a first rate between a UWB beacon and a UWB tag. The system then determines movement or location information of the UWB tag; and select, based on th