DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs/columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations with the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to the Applicant’s definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims.
Information Disclosure Statements
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 06/03/2026 has/have been acknowledged.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware of, in the specification.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/27/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
The list of claims 1, 2, 4-6 and 8-22 is pending. In the claim set filed 05/27/2026:
Claim(s) 1 and 18 is/are the independent claim(s) observed in the instant application.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 13, 15, 18 and 19 has/have been indicated as amended.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17 has/have been indicated as originally presented.
Claim(s) 10, 12 and 20 has/have been indicated as previously presented.
Claim(s) 21 and 22 has/have been indicated as newly added.
Claim(s) 3 and 7 has/have been indicated as canceled.
Response to Arguments
With respect to Applicant’s remarks filed on 05/27/2026; the Applicant's “Amendments and Remarks” have been fully considered. The Applicant’s remarks will be addressed in sequential order as they were presented.
With respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-11 and 13-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the Applicant’s “Amendments and Remarks” have been fully considered and are found persuasive.
Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-11 and 13-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 has/have been withdrawn.
With respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the Applicant’s “Amendments and Remarks” have changed the scope of the claimed invention to comprise previously unexamined claim limitations. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 has/have been withdrawn.
Office Note: Due to applicant’s amendments, further claim rejections appear on the record as stated in the Non-Final Office Action below.
Non-Final Office Action
Claim Objections/Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 15 is/are 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. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(d)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 1 from which claim 12 depends already recites: “controlling a mobile platform to follow the monitoring target or the warning object” and “controlling the mobile platform to follow the warning object;” therefore, claim 12 does not provide limitations further narrowing these control steps. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 10-13, 18-20 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KADAKA (Japanese Patent Publication 2020017155A) referenced as Kadaka moving forward.
With respect to claim 1, Kadaka discloses:
“A monitoring method comprising: determining a monitoring target and a warning object in space according to data collected by a data collection apparatus; obtaining position information of the monitoring target and the warning object; determining a warning area based on the position information of the monitoring target; generating warning information based on a position relationship between a position of the warning object and the warning area” [Kadaka; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Kadaka discloses a system/method for monitoring a monitoring person within a predetermined distance from the monitoring person (Fig. 2 step (a)), which have been interpreted as patentably indistinct from the Applicant's broadly recited "monitoring target" and "warning area, based on the position information of the monitoring target." Kadaka further discloses the system determines if a suspicious person enters the predetermined area (Fig. 2 step(b)), the system switches the center point to the suspicious person and continues to control the drone to follow the suspicious person until they leave the predetermined area, after which the system returns to following the monitoring person in the center of the image (Fig. 2 step(f)); See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024];
“and controlling a mobile platform to follow the monitoring target or the warning object, comprising: controlling the mobile platform to monitor the monitoring target; in response to the warning object entering the warning area, controlling the mobile platform to follow the warning object continuously and generating the warning information; and in response to the warning object leaving a capturing range of a camera apparatus carried by the mobile platform, controlling the mobile platform to continue monitoring the monitoring target” [Kadaka; "and the risk display means 150 is activated and an alarm is displayed using sound; or light. It is also beneficial to inform those in the vicinity;" Fig. 1; ¶: 0023;
"Then, after starting off, the vehicle will follow the monitored person 1, but will switch to following a suspicious person candidate who meets a predetermined condition on the monitoring screen;" ¶: 0024;
"However, if the suspicious person candidate moves away from the person being monitored 1, there is no danger, so it is advisable to switch to following the person being monitored 1 once the distance exceeds a predetermined distance. Also, if the suspect approaches, the system automatically switches back to tracking the suspected suspicious person;" ¶: 0024].
With respect to claim 5, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, wherein: the data collection apparatus includes a camera apparatus; the collected data includes an image; and obtaining the position information of the monitoring target and the warning object includes: obtaining the position information of the monitoring target and the warning object when the monitoring target is in a center area of the image” [Kadaka; "This checks whether the suspected suspicious person has entered an area (warning zone) determined by a distance L centered on the monitored person...This means that if a person's face is exposed, they will not be judged as suspicious even if they get closer than 3 meters, but if their face is hidden, they will be judged as suspicious if they get closer than 10 meters;" ¶: 0028;
"If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024].
With respect to claim 6, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, wherein: the position information of the monitoring target includes a determined position of the monitoring target, and the warning area is determined according to the determined position and a predetermined area model; and/or the position information of the monitoring target includes an edge position of the monitoring target, and the warning area is determined according to the edge position and a predetermined buffer distance” [Kadaka; "This checks whether the suspected suspicious person has entered an area (warning zone) determined by a distance L centered on the monitored person...This means that if a person's face is exposed, they will not be judged as suspicious even if they get closer than 3 meters, but if their face is hidden, they will be judged as suspicious if they get closer than 10 meters;" ¶: 0028;
"If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024].
With respect to claim 10, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the warning information based on the position relationship includes: generating the warning information in response to the warning object being in the warning area or generating the warning information in response to a distance between the position of the warning object and an edge of the warning area being smaller than a predetermined distance threshold” [Kadaka; "If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0019, 0020, 0023, 0024, 0028].
With respect to claim 11, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending the position information of the monitoring target to a mobile device to cause the mobile device to perform a target task according to the position information, the target task including capturing an image of the monitoring target and/or issuing audio information to the warning object” [Kadaka; "This checks whether the suspected suspicious person has entered an area (warning zone) determined by a distance L centered on the monitored person...This means that if a person's face is exposed, they will not be judged as suspicious even if they get closer than 3 meters, but if their face is hidden, they will be judged as suspicious if they get closer than 10 meters;" ¶: 0028;
"If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024].
With respect to claim 12, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, wherein: the warning object is mobile, and the method further includes controlling the mobile platform to follow the warning object; and/or the monitoring target is mobile, and the method further includes controlling the mobile platform to follow the monitoring target” [Kadaka; "This checks whether the suspected suspicious person has entered an area (warning zone) determined by a distance L centered on the monitored person...This means that if a person's face is exposed, they will not be judged as suspicious even if they get closer than 3 meters, but if their face is hidden, they will be judged as suspicious if they get closer than 10 meters;" ¶: 0028;
"If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024].
With respect to claim 13, Kadaka discloses:
“The method according to claim 1, wherein: the data collection apparatus includes the camera apparatus; the collected data includes an image collected by the camera apparatus” [Kadaka; "The invention of claim 1 is a portable flight surveillance terminal comprising a camera, an image determination means for processing images from the camera...the image determination means using the camera to capture an image of the person being monitored or a following mark worn by the person being monitored, recognizing that it is to be followed, and based on the position of the person being monitored (or possibly a suspected suspicious person) or the following mark in the image and the deviation of the size, if necessary, from a predetermined value, causes the drone to fly in a following manner via the flight control means;" Fig. 1; ¶: 0008];
“and the position information of the monitoring target and the warning object is determined based on a pose of the camera apparatus when collecting the image” [Kadaka; "The square frame represents the screen from which the image was taken. The upper right shows a case where the portable flight monitoring terminal 100 is positioned above the person being monitored, with the image in the center. The circle indicates the monitored person 1 or his/her mark, and the face mark indicates a suspicious person candidate. In (a), the drone detects that the circle is moving to the left as the image is taken, and controls its
flight so that the circle is in the center of the screen frame, resulting in (b). In this way, tracking control using position information on the image plane is extremely direct, fast-responding, and effective. Using GPS position information for tracking control does not provide sufficient tracking due to communication delays and errors in the position information. The height of the localized state can be measured using an altimeter or by means of sound wave reflection, but if the size is known, it can be seen from the size of the image, so means such as an altimeter are not necessarily required. In (c), if a suspicious person is about to leave the image frame, the image frame can be widened if observation is desired to continue. For example, the altitude of the portable flight monitoring terminal 100 can be increased or the magnification of the camera 110 can be changed, but since it is necessary to simplify the configuration, the former is more convenient. (d) shows the result of widening the image frame. (e) shows a case where a suspected suspicious person comes within a predetermined distance from the monitored person 1. Depending on these conditions, a suspicious person is judged, an image is sent to the monitoring base station 200 and a report is sent, nearby people are notified, and a display is made on the risk display means 150" ¶: 0024; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0019, 0020, 0023, 0028, 0029].
With respect to claim 18, Kadaka discloses:
“A monitoring apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories storing one or more executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine a monitoring target and a warning object in space according to data collected by a data collection apparatus; obtain position information of the monitoring target and the warning object; determine a warning area based on the position information of the monitoring target; and generate warning information based on a position relationship between a position of the warning object and the warning area” [Kadaka; Kadaka; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Kadaka discloses a system/method for monitoring a monitoring person within a predetermined distance from the monitoring person (Fig. 2 step (a)), which have been interpreted as patentably indistinct from the Applicant's broadly recited "monitoring target" and "warning area, based on the position information of the monitoring target." Kadaka further discloses the system determines if a suspicious person enters the predetermined area (Fig. 2 step(b)), the system switches the center point to the suspicious person and continues to control the drone to follow the suspicious person until they leave the predetermined area, after which the system returns to following the monitoring person in the center of the image (Fig. 2 step(f)); See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024];
“and control a mobile platform to follow the monitoring target or the warning object comprising: controlling the mobile platform to monitor the monitoring target; in response to the warning object entering the warning area, controlling the mobile platform to follow the warning object continuously and generating the warning information; and in response to the warning object leaving a capturing range of a camera apparatus carried by the mobile platform, controlling the mobile platform to continue monitoring the monitoring target” [Kadaka; "and the risk display means 150 is activated and an alarm is displayed using sound; or light. It is also beneficial to inform those in the vicinity;" Fig. 1; ¶: 0023;
"Then, after starting off, the vehicle will follow the monitored person 1, but will switch to following a suspicious person candidate who meets a predetermined condition on the monitoring screen;" ¶: 0024;
"However, if the suspicious person candidate moves away from the person being monitored 1, there is no danger, so it is advisable to switch to following the person being monitored 1 once the distance exceeds a predetermined distance. Also, if the suspect approaches, the system automatically switches back to tracking the suspected suspicious person;" ¶: 0024].
With respect to claim 19, Kadaka discloses:
“The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein: the data collection apparatus includes the camera apparatus; the collected data includes an image” [Kadaka; "The invention of claim 1 is a portable flight surveillance terminal comprising a camera, an image determination means for processing images from the camera...the image determination means using the camera to capture an image of the person being monitored or a following mark worn by the person being monitored, recognizing that it is to be followed, and based on the position of the person being monitored (or possibly a suspected suspicious person) or the following mark in the image and the deviation of the size, if necessary, from a predetermined value, causes the drone to fly in a following manner via the flight control means;" Fig. 1; ¶: 0008];
“and the position information of the monitoring target and the warning object is determined based on a pose of the camera apparatus when collecting the image” [Kadaka; "The square frame represents the screen from which the image was taken. The upper right shows a case where the portable flight monitoring terminal 100 is positioned above the person being monitored, with the image in the center. The circle indicates the monitored person 1 or his/her mark, and the face mark indicates a suspicious person candidate. In (a), the drone detects that the circle is moving to the left as the image is taken, and controls its
flight so that the circle is in the center of the screen frame, resulting in (b). In this way, tracking control using position information on the image plane is extremely direct, fast-responding, and effective. Using GPS position information for tracking control does not provide sufficient tracking due to communication delays and errors in the position information. The height of the localized state can be measured using an altimeter or by means of sound wave reflection, but if the size is known, it can be seen from the size of the image, so means such as an altimeter are not necessarily required. In (c), if a suspicious person is about to leave the image frame, the image frame can be widened if observation is desired to continue. For example, the altitude of the portable flight monitoring terminal 100 can be increased or the magnification of the camera 110 can be changed, but since it is necessary to simplify the configuration, the former is more convenient. (d) shows the result of widening the image frame. (e) shows a case where a suspected suspicious person comes within a predetermined distance from the monitored person 1. Depending on these conditions, a suspicious person is judged, an image is sent to the monitoring base station 200 and a report is sent, nearby people are notified, and a display is made on the risk display means 150" ¶: 0024; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0019, 0020, 0023, 0028, 0029].
With respect to claim 20, Kadaka discloses: “The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate the warning information in response to the warning object being in the warning area or generate the warning information in response to a distance between a position of the warning object and a position of an edge of the warning area being smaller than a predetermined distance threshold” [Kadaka; "This checks whether the suspected suspicious person has entered an area (warning zone) determined by a distance L centered on the monitored person...This means that if a person's face is exposed, they will not be judged as suspicious even if they get closer than 3 meters, but if their face is hidden, they will be judged as suspicious if they get closer than 10 meters;" ¶: 0028;
"If the object enters the alert area of L or is detected a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time or more in 13), 16) ID/location information acquisition is performed. The identity of the monitored person 1 (the correspondence between ID and individual is assumed to be established in advance through a membership system or registration) and the location can be determined...In the alarm/warning/transmission mode, the ID/location information and an image of the suspicious person are transmitted to the monitoring base station 200, and are also reported to people in the vicinity, and are displayed on the risk display means 150 with sound and light. In some cases, it is also possible to instruct the monitored person 1 to change his/her walking style and move towards people (for safety);" ¶: 0029; See also: Fig. 1-3; ¶: 0013, 0019-0024].
With respect to claim 22, Kadaka discloses: “The method according to claim 1, wherein the controlling the mobile platform to follow the monitoring target or the warning object comprises: controlling the mobile platform to hover to monitor the monitoring target; in response to the warning object entering the warning area, controlling the mobile platform to follow the warning object; and in response to the warning object leaving the warning area, controlling the mobile platform to continue to monitor the monitoring target” [Kadaka; "and the risk display means 150 is activated and an alarm is displayed using sound; or light. It is also beneficial to inform those in the vicinity;" Fig. 1; ¶: 0023;
"Then, after starting off, the vehicle will follow the monitored person 1, but will switch to following a suspicious person candidate who meets a predetermined condition on the monitoring screen;" ¶: 0024;
"However, if the suspicious person candidate moves away from the person being monitored 1, there is no danger, so it is advisable to switch to following the person being monitored 1 once the distance exceeds a predetermined distance. Also, if the suspect approaches, the system automatically switches back to tracking the suspected suspicious person;" ¶: 0024].
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim(s) 2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of Zhu et al. (United States Patent Publication 2019/0163206 A1), referenced as Zhu moving forward.
With respect to claim 2, while Kadaka discloses displaying the warning area on an image acquired by the UAV [Kadaka; see circle in Fig. 2 (c)], Kadaka does not specifically state that this image is a stereoscopic image, wherein the stereoscopic image is collected by the camera apparatus while the camera apparatus is in an oblique photography position in which a sensor of the camera apparatus is not parallel to the ground.
Zhu, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for capturing images with UAVs, teaches:
“further comprising: obtaining a stereoscopic image of a target area where the monitoring target is located” [Zhu; "The implementation of the technology can include on-board visual sensors such as cameras to evaluate the landing surface, e.g., based on stereo matching techniques. In particular embodiments, depth information is extracted from the images and used to reconstruct the 3D terrain;" ¶: 0023; See also: Fig. 4A, 4B, 8; ¶: 0044, 0070];
“wherein the stereoscopic image is collected by the camera apparatus while the camera apparatus is in an oblique photography position in which a sensor of the camera apparatus is not parallel to the ground” [Zhu; "As the process 400 in FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrates, the movable object can apply a perspective projection to the images if the images not are captured when the UAV is at a horizontal state;" Fig. 4A, 4B; ¶: 0070; See also: Fig. 8; ¶: 0044].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding using stereo imaging techniques in order to extract height information from an identified terrain from stereoscopic images as taught by Zhu with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to calculate cost values pertaining to areas identified from images captured by the UAV to aid in processes such as landing to reduce the chances of damage, for example [Zhu; ¶: 0067].
With respect to claim 4, Kadaka does not specifically state: “further comprising: obtaining a three-dimensional model of the target area, the three-dimensional model being created through the data collected by the data collection apparatus.”
Zhu teaches: “further comprising: obtaining a three-dimensional model of the target area, the three-dimensional model being created through the data collected by the data collection apparatus” [Zhu; "The implementation of the technology can include on-board visual sensors such as cameras to evaluate the landing surface, e.g., based on stereo matching techniques. In particular embodiments, depth information is extracted from the images and used to reconstruct the 3D terrain;" ¶: 0023; See also: Fig. 4A, 4B, 8; ¶: 0044, 0070] .
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding using stereo imaging techniques in order to extract height information from an identified terrain from stereoscopic images as taught by Zhu with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to calculate cost values pertaining to areas identified from images captured by the UAV to aid in processes such as landing to reduce the chances of damage, for example [Zhu; ¶: 0067].
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of CHONG et al. (United States Patent Publication 2018/0033279 A1), referenced as Chong moving forward.
With respect to claim 8, Kadaka does not specifically state: “further comprising: obtaining type information of the monitoring target; and determining the warning area according to the position information and the type information of the monitoring target.”
Chong, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for controlling cameras for monitoring people, teaches: “further comprising: obtaining type information of the monitoring target; and determining the warning area according to the position information and the type information of the monitoring target” [Chong; "to populate portions of a user interface, to turn on a camera, to change focus of the camera (e.g., to move, zoom, or pan to view a location of a worker associated with a high risk safety score, based on a location of workplace safety device 250 or worker device 260), or the like;" ¶: 0077; See also: Fig. 9; ¶: 0070, 0086].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding zooming on a person captured by a camera based on a safety score associated with the captured person using safety score calculated in real-time as taught by Chong with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to predict and recognize workplace accidents before they occur by selectively taking action based on the safety score [Chong; ¶: 0016].
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of Lin et al. (United States Patent Publication 2015/0010213 A1), referenced as Lin moving forward.
With respect to claim 9, Kadaka does not specifically state: “wherein: the warning area includes a plurality of sub-areas with different warning levels; and the plurality of sub-areas with different warning levels correspond to warning information of different levels.”
Lin, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for object monitoring, teaches: “wherein: the warning area includes a plurality of sub-areas with different warning levels; and the plurality of sub-areas with different warning levels correspond to warning information of different levels” [Lin; "As discussed above, in the step S240, the image processing apparatus 120 calculates the distance D1 between the monitored object 330 and the reference target 310 and the distance D2 between the monitored object 330 and the reference target 320;" Fig. 2; ¶: 0043;
"Specifically, the image processing apparatus 120 may calculate the function. In the present embodiment, the function is a1D1 b1+a2D2 b2+k, wherein a1, a2, b1, b2, and k are real numbers and may be determined by the designer or the user of the image surveillance system 100 based on actual demands. For instance, the function may be set as a1D1+a2D2. The image processing apparatus 120 may then determine whether the function (i.e., a1D1 b1+a2D2 b2+k) is between the first threshold and the second threshold. If yes, the image processing apparatus 120 may announce a first warning (e.g., in form of sound at a normal volume). If not, the image processing apparatus 120 may continue to determine whether the function is smaller than the second threshold. If the function is smaller than the second threshold, the image processing apparatus 120 may announce a second warning (e.g., in form of sound at a large volume);" Fig. 2; ¶: 0044; See also: ¶: 0045].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding implementing a warning system based on a plurality of distance thresholds wherein the strength of the warning is dependent on the distance threshold violated as taught by Lin with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to monitor a relatively large area, while still being able to monitor the distance from the monitored object to each reference target and determine whether to announce said warnings according to the distance [Lin; ¶: 0054].
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of IRIE (United States Patent Publication 2019/0003830 A1), referenced as Irie moving forward.
With respect to claim 14, Kadaka does not specifically state: “wherein obtaining the position information of the monitoring target includes: obtaining pixel position information of the monitoring target in the image; obtaining pose information of the camera apparatus; and calculating the position information of the monitoring target according to the pixel position information and the pose information.”
Irie, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for image processing to determine points of interest from captured images, teaches: “wherein obtaining the position information of the monitoring target includes: obtaining pixel position information of the monitoring target in the image; obtaining pose information of the camera apparatus; and calculating the position information of the monitoring target according to the pixel position information and the pose information” [Irie; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Irie teaches extracting pixel information of a target in an image (S1 in Fig. 2) in order to calculate the three dimensional coordinates of the identified pixels corresponding to the target (S3-S6 in Fig. 2); Fig. 2; ¶: 0067-0067, 0101].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding extracting pixel information of a target from an image to calculate three dimensional coordinates of the identified pixels corresponding to the target as taught by Irie with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to “accurately acquire the position of a structure by adding the position of the structure or the like measured with the laser to the position of the vehicle” [Irie; ¶: 0065, 0066].
Claim(s) 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of LIU et al. (United States Patent Publication 2022/0404460 A1), referenced as Liu moving forward.
With respect to claim 16, Kadaka does not specifically state:
“wherein performing the correction on the position information of the monitoring target includes: recognizing a measurement point in the image and obtaining pixel position information of the measurement point;”
“obtaining the pose information of the camera apparatus; calculating position information of the measurement point according to the pixel position information and the pose information”
“and determining error information based on the position information of the measurement point and actual position information of the measurement point.”
Liu, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for image processing to determine points of interest from images captured by UAVs, teaches:
“wherein performing the correction on the position information of the monitoring target includes: recognizing a measurement point in the image and obtaining pixel position information of the measurement point” [Liu; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Liu teaches extracting a set of feature points for an object further determining pixel points corresponding to the feature points in scene images; ¶: 0234-0236, 0267, 0310, 0311];
“obtaining the pose information of the camera apparatus; calculating position information of the measurement point according to the pixel position information and the pose information” [Liu; "the first feature points in each of the first feature point sets may be transformed into the global coordinate system based on a radar pose acquiring each of the first point clouds;" ¶: 0044; See also: ¶: 0234-0236, 0267, 0310, 0311];
“and determining error information based on the position information of the measurement point and actual position information of the measurement point” [Liu; See steps S13-S15 in Fig. 1, which recite calculating a first distance error, second distance error and reprojection area of the image sensor based so that "so that an error between the second feature point set and an actual point cloud corresponding to the target scene may be reduced;" ¶: 0267; See also: ¶: 0234-0236, 0310, 0311].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding extracting a set of feature points for an object further determining pixel points corresponding to the feature points in scene images as taught by Liu with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to improve the “accuracy of calculating distance errors between different sensors” [Liu; ¶: 0025, 0026, 0034, 0035].
With respect to claim 17, Kadaka does not specifically state: “wherein: the measurement point is a road sign with known actual position information; or determining the actual position information of the measurement point includes at least one of: determining the actual position information of the measurement point based on point cloud information obtained by a laser radar carried by the mobile platform for the measurement point; or calculating the actual position information of the measurement point based on a visual algorithm.”
Liu teaches: “wherein: the measurement point is a road sign with known actual position information; or determining the actual position information of the measurement point includes at least one of: determining the actual position information of the measurement point based on point cloud information obtained by a laser radar carried by the mobile platform for the measurement point; or calculating the actual position information of the measurement point based on a visual algorithm” [Liu; "the first feature points in each of the first feature point sets may be transformed into the global coordinate system based on a radar pose acquiring each of the first point clouds;" ¶: 0044; See also: ¶: 0234-0236, 0267, 0310, 0311].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding extracting a set of feature points for an object further determining pixel points corresponding to the feature points in scene images as taught by Liu with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to improve the “accuracy of calculating distance errors between different sensors” [Liu; ¶: 0025, 0026, 0034, 0035].
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadaka in view of WANG et al. (Chinese Patent Publication 107818651 A1), referenced as Wang moving forward.
With respect to claim 21, while Kadaka discloses reacting to “If a suspected suspicious person captured in the vicinity of the monitored person in the image satisfies a predetermined condition” [Kadaka; ¶: 0008], Kadaka does not specifically state that the predetermined condition is based on a predicted future position of the suspected suspicious person.
Wang, which is in the same field of invention of systems/methods for performing monitoring of a target area, teaches: “generating a predicted position of the warning object according to the motion information; and generating the warning information in response to the predicted position of the warning object and the warning area satisfying a predetermined condition” [Wang; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Wang teaches issuing an alarm when it is determined that anyone has entered a "warning area," wherein this determination is based on: tracking a person in an image identified as "unauthorized intruder," using historical location information to predict the possible location of the "unauthorized intruder" in the current frame (image) to track the movements of the person. The above disclosed "unauthorized intruder" and "alarm" have been interpreted as patentably indistinct from the Applicant's broadly recited "warning object" and "warning information," respectively; ¶: 0075-0078].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring as disclosed by Kadaka to incorporate the teachings regarding analyzing video surveillance information over a plurality of frames and using historic information of a target person to predict a position of the target person as taught by Wang with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling a UAV to perform portable monitoring that is more robust in its ability to perform real-time accurate analysis of video surveillance images such that potential safety risks can be automatically alerted to reduce potential safety hazards and avoid disasters [Wang; ¶: 0078].
Prior Art (Not relied upon)
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the attached form 892.
FUJIMATSU et al. (United States Patent Publication 2015/0015718 A1) discloses: A tracking assistance device for assisting a monitoring person in tracking a moving object by displaying on a display device a monitoring screen in which display views for displaying in real time captured images taken by respective cameras are arranged on a map image representing a monitored area in accordance with an actual arrangement of the cameras, includes: a target-to-be-tracked setting unit that, in response to an input operation performed by the monitoring person on one of the display views to designate a moving object to be tracked, sets the designated moving object as a target to be tracked; a prediction unit that predicts a next display view in which the moving object set as the target to be tracked will appear next based on tracing information obtained by processing the captured images; and a display view indicating unit that indicates the next display view on the monitoring screen.
Ito (United States Patent Publication 2016/0084932 A1) discloses: An image processing apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect movement information for specifying a movement direction of a specific moving object detected from an image obtained by at least one of a plurality of image capturing units, a prediction unit configured to predict a second image capturing unit configured to image-capture the specific moving object subsequently to a first image capturing unit based on the movement information detected by the detection unit and information representing an image capturing range of each of the plurality of image capturing units, and a display control unit configured to perform display for specifying a prediction result by the prediction unit before the second image capturing unit image-captures the specific moving object.
Seeber et al. (United States Patent Publication 2018/0129881 A1) discloses: Systems, methods, and apparatus for identifying and tracking UAVs including a plurality of sensors operatively connected over a network to a configuration of software and/or hardware. Generally, the plurality of sensors monitors a particular environment and transmits the sensor data to the configuration of software and/or hardware. The data from each individual sensor can be directed towards a process configured to best determine if a UAV is present or approaching the monitored environment. The system generally allows for a detected UAV to be tracked, which may allow for the system or a user of the system to predict how the UAV will continue to behave over time. The sensor information as well as the results generated from the systems and methods may be stored in one or more databases in order to improve the continued identifying and tracking of UAVs.
Kudrynski et al. (United States Patent Publication 2018/0209796 A1) discloses: Methods and systems for improved positioning accuracy relative to a digital map are disclosed, and which are preferably used for highly and fully automated driving applications, and which may use localisation reference data associated with a digital map. The invention further extends to methods and systems for the generation of localisation reference data associated with a digital map.
GUAN (United States Patent Publication 2021/0150198 A1) discloses: A state recognition apparatus includes circuitry configured to: recognize a monitoring target based on a captured image; recognize a motion of each part of the recognized monitoring target; recognize a state of the monitoring target based on the recognized motion of each part; and output a state recognition result indicating the recognized state of the monitoring target.
Miller et al. (United States Patent Publication 2021/0350162 A1) discloses: In some examples, a device may receive, from a first camera, a plurality of images of an airspace corresponding to an area of operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The device may detect, based on the plurality of images from the first camera, a candidate object approaching or within the airspace. Based on detecting the candidate object, the device may control a second camera to direct a field of view of the second camera toward the candidate object. Further, based on images from the second camera captured at a first location and images from at least one other camera captured at a second location, the candidate object may be determined to be an object of interest. In addition, at least one action may be taken based on determining that the candidate object is the object of interest.
YAMAZAKI et al. (United States Patent Publication 2023/0050235 A1) discloses: A surveillance apparatus includes a feature value storage apparatus that associates and stores a feature value of a person belonging to the same group, a detection unit that detects an approach of a person not belonging to the same group to the person belonging to the same group within a reference distance by processing a captured image by using the feature value, and an output unit that performs a predetermined output by using a detection result of the detection unit.
PENG et al. (Chinese Patent Publication 109117749 A) discloses: The present invention relates to a kind of abnormal object monitoring and managing method and system based on unmanned plane inspection image, method include: that unmanned plane according to the geographical coordinate of pipeline and preset inspection route carries out Image Acquisition. Splicing is carried out to acquired image and obtains stitching image. Anomaly target detection is carried out in preset image fence coverage, digital image recognition is carried out to acquired image based on the abnormal object detected, obtains abnormal object classification; The position of abnormal object is marked on stitching image obtains final abnormal object and classification so that staff is determined. The feature and location information input database of final abnormal object, and the processing status of final abnormal object is updated to database. Statistical report is exported as desired. The present invention improves the working efficiency of pipeline inspection, realizes good detection effect to abnormal object.
Conclusion
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/R.N.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3666C
/SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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