DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The instant application having application No. 18/642,042 of EDWARDSON et al. for “LOCATION-BASED MESSAGE DISTRIBUTION” filed April 22, 2024 has been examined.
Drawings
Drawings Figures 1-6 submitted on April 22, 2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.121(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted July 22, 2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting Rejection
The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non-statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a non-statutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-20 are non-provisionally rejected on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-3, 7-9, 11-13, 15-19, 23-24, 26-28 and 30 of U.S. Patent No. 11,995,984 B2. The difference between patented narrower claims 1-3, 7-9, 11-13, 15-19, 23-24, 26-28 and 30 and the pending broader claims 1-20 of the instant application are not patentably distinct from each other. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, the patented narrower claims 1-3, 7-9, 11-13, 15-19, 23-24, 26-28 and 30 anticipate the broader claimed limitations of the instant application’s claims 1-20, thus, they are not patentably distinct from each other as set forth in the table herein below:
Pending App. No. 18/642,042:
U.S. Patent No. 11,995,984 B2:
Claim 1: A method for distributing location messages comprising: receiving by one or more first processors, location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; accessing, by the one or more first processors, a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical locations; determining, by the one or more first processors, for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmitting from the one or more first processors to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 2: The method of claim 1, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more second processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the transmitting includes transmitting the location messages to the one or more second processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 3: The method of claim 2, wherein: a plurality of second processors are disposed at a plurality of intersections, respectively, the plurality of second processors includes the one or more second processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies the respective second processor of the plurality of second processors disposed at the intersection; and the determining includes determining whether or not the published geographical locations match the subscribed-to geographical locations of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 4: The method of claim 1, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical locations comprise subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic, including one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value; and the published geographical locations comprise published geographical coordinates of each location message specifying one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value.
Claim 5: The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving by the one or more first processors, location messages, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 6: The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting each location message to the one or more second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 7: The method of claim 4, wherein: the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographic coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; and each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location in the second level of precision.
Claim 8: The method of claim 7, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate, in the second level of precision, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 9: The method of claim 1, further comprising truncating one or more levels of precision from the geographical coordinates having the first level of precision to generate the published geographical coordinates having to the second level of precision.
Claim 10: The method of claim 1, wherein: the receiving location messages includes receiving the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the accessing subscriptions includes accessing the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the determining includes comparing the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Claim 11: A system for distributing location messages comprising: an arrangement of one or more first processors; a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors and configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations including: receiving location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies, subscribed-to locations; determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmitting to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 12: The system of claim 11, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more second processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more second processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 13: The system of claim 11, wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective second processor of a plurality of second processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of second processors includes the one or more second processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 14: The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 15: The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 16: The system of claim 11, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical locations comprise subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic including one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value; and the published geographical locations comprise published geographical coordinates of each location message specifying one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value.
Claim 17: The system of claim 16, wherein: the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographic coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; and each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location in the second level of precision.
Claim 18: The system of claim 17, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate in the second level of precision, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 19: The system of claim 11, wherein: the instructions for receiving location messages include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the instructions for accessing subscriptions include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to access the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to compare the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Claim 20: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more first processors, cause the one or more first processors to: receive location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; access a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical locations; and determine, for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmit to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 1: A method, comprising: receiving by a first processor, location messages having information transmitted from a plurality of second processors, wherein each location message specifies published geographical coordinates that indicate a geographical location of one of the second processors; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement by the first processor in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location; determining by the first processor for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical coordinates match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; and transmitting from the first processor to one or more third processors identified by one or more of the subscriptions, respectively, each location message having published geographical coordinates determined to match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the one or more subscriptions.
Claim 2: The method of claim 1, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more third processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the transmitting includes transmitting the location messages to the one or more third processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 3: The method of claim 2, wherein: a plurality of third processors are disposed at a plurality of intersections, respectively, the plurality of third processors includes the one or more third processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies the respective third processor of the plurality of third processors disposed at the intersection; and the determining includes determining whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 7: The method of claim 1, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value.
Claim 8: The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving by the first processor, location messages transmitted wirelessly from the plurality of second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 9: The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting each location message to the one or more third processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 11: The method of claim 1, wherein: the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographic coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; and each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location in the second level of precision.
Claim 12: The method of claim 11, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate, in the second level of precision, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 13: The method of claim 11, further comprising truncating by the plurality of second processors, one or more levels of precision from the geographical coordinates having the first level of precision to generate the published geographical coordinates having to the second level of precision.
Claim 15: The method of claim 11, wherein: the receiving location messages includes receiving the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the accessing subscriptions includes accessing the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the determining includes comparing the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Claim 17: A system comprising: an arrangement of one or more first processors; a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors and configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations including: receiving location messages having information transmitted from a plurality of second processors, wherein each location message specifies published geographical coordinates that indicate a geographical location of one of the second processors; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies, subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location; determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical coordinates match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; and transmitting to one or more third processors identified by one or more of the subscriptions, respectively, each location message having published geographical coordinates determined to match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the one or more subscriptions.
Claim 18: The system of claim 17, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more third processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more third processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 19: The system of claim 18, wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective third processor of a plurality of third processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of third processors includes the one or more third processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 23: The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages transmitted wirelessly from the plurality of second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 24: The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more third processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 26: The system of claim 17, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude value.
Claim 27: The system of claim 17, wherein: the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographic coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; and each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location in the second level of precision.
Claim 28: The system of claim 27, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate in the second level of precision, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 30: The system of claim 17, wherein: the instructions for receiving location messages include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the instructions for accessing subscriptions include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to access the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to compare the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, since this would help minimize hardware components that, claim 20 that recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which parallels the system of claim 11 and method of claim 1. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claims 11 and claim also applies to claim 20. Accordingly, claim 20 non-provisionally rejected on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable by claims 1 and 17 under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claims 1 and 11.
In view of the above, since the subject matters recited in the broad claims 1-20 of the instant application was fully disclosed in and covered by claims 1-3, 7-9, 11-13, 15-19, 23-24, 26-28 and 30 of U.S. Patent No. 11,995,984 B2, allowing the broad claims 1-20 would result in an unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent.
This is a non-provisional non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection because the conflicting claims have in fact been patented.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15 and 20 are non-provisionally rejected on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-3, 7-8, 10-12, 14-16 and 30-21 of U.S. Patent No. 11,158,189 B2. The difference between patented narrower claims 1-3, 7-8, 10-12, 14-16 and 30-21 and the pending broader claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15 and 20 of the instant application are not patentably distinct from each other. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, the patented narrower claims 1-3, 7-8, 10-12, 14-16 and 30-21 anticipate the broader claimed limitations of the instant application’s claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15 and 20, thus, they are not patentably distinct from each other as set forth in the table herein below:
Pending App. No. 18/642,042:
U.S. Patent No. 11,158,189 B2:
Claim 1: A method for distributing location messages comprising: receiving by one or more first processors, location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; accessing, by the one or more first processors, a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical locations; determining, by the one or more first processors, for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmitting from the one or more first processors to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 2: The method of claim 1, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more second processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the transmitting includes transmitting the location messages to the one or more second processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 3: The method of claim 2, wherein: a plurality of second processors are disposed at a plurality of intersections, respectively, the plurality of second processors includes the one or more second processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies the respective second processor of the plurality of second processors disposed at the intersection; and the determining includes determining whether or not the published geographical locations match the subscribed-to geographical locations of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 5: The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving by the one or more first processors, location messages, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 6: The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting each location message to the one or more second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 8: The method of claim 7, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate, in the second level of precision, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 9: The method of claim 1, further comprising truncating one or more levels of precision from the geographical coordinates having the first level of precision to generate the published geographical coordinates having to the second level of precision.
Claim 10: The method of claim 1, wherein: the receiving location messages includes receiving the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the accessing subscriptions includes accessing the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the determining includes comparing the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Claim 11: A system for distributing location messages comprising: an arrangement of one or more first processors; a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors and configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations including: receiving location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies, subscribed-to locations; determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmitting to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 12: The system of claim 11, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more second processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more second processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 13: The system of claim 11, wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective second processor of a plurality of second processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of second processors includes the one or more second processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 14: The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 15: The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 20: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more first processors, cause the one or more first processors to: receive location messages, wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations; access a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies subscribed-to geographical locations; and determine, for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations; and transmit to one or more second processors, each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations.
Claim 1: A method, comprising: receiving by a first processor, location messages having information transmitted from a plurality of second processors, wherein each location message specifies published geographical coordinates that indicate a geographical location of one of the second processors, and the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographical coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement by the first processor in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies in the second level of precision, subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location; determining by the first processor for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical coordinates match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; discarding by the first processor, each location message having published geographical coordinates that do not match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; and transmitting from the first processor to one or more third processors identified by one or more of the subscriptions, respectively, each location message having published geographical coordinates determined to match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the one or more subscriptions.
Claim 2: The method of claim 1, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more third processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the transmitting includes transmitting the location messages to the one or more third processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 3: The method of claim 2, wherein: a plurality of third processors are disposed at a plurality of intersections, respectively, the plurality of third processors includes the one or more third processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies the respective third processor of the plurality of third processors disposed at the intersection; and the determining includes determining whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 7: The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving by the first processor, location messages transmitted wirelessly from the plurality of second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 8: The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting each location message to the one or more third processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Claim 10: The method of claim 1, wherein: the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of each location topic include one latitude coordinate in the second level of precision, one longitude coordinate, and one altitude coordinate specified in a third level of precision; and the published geographical coordinates of each location message specify one latitude coordinate, one longitude coordinate, and an altitude in the third level of precision that is truncated from a fourth level of precision of a measured altitude.
Claim 12: The method of claim 1, further comprising truncating by the plurality of second processors, one or more levels of precision from the geographical coordinates having the first level of precision to generate the published geographical coordinates having to the second level of precision.
Claim 11: The method of claim 1, wherein: the receiving location messages includes receiving the published geographical coordinates specified as a character string; the accessing subscriptions includes accessing the subscribed-to geographical coordinates specified as a character string; and the determining includes comparing the character string that specifies the published geographical coordinates to the character string that specifies the subscribed-to geographical coordinates.
Claim 14: A system comprising: an arrangement of one or more first processors; a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors and configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations including: receiving location messages having information transmitted from a plurality of second processors, wherein each location message specifies published geographical coordinates that indicate a geographical location of one of the second processors, and the published geographical coordinates are a version of actual geographical coordinates truncated from a first level of precision to a second level of precision; accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, wherein each location topic specifies in the second level of precision, subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location; determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical coordinates match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; discarding each location message having published geographical coordinates that do not match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates; and transmitting to one or more third processors identified by one or more of the subscriptions, respectively, each location message having published geographical coordinates determined to match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the one or more subscriptions.
Claim 15: The system of claim 14, wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more third processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more third processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights.
Claim 16: The system of claim 15, wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective third processor of a plurality of third processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of third processors includes the one or more third processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions.
Claim 20: The system of claim 14, wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages transmitted wirelessly from the plurality of second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles.
Claim 21: The system of claim 14, wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more third processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, since this would help minimize hardware components that, claim 20 that recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which parallels the system of claim 11 and method of claim 1. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claims 11 and claim also applies to claim 20. Accordingly, claim 20 non-provisionally rejected on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable by claims 1 and 14 under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claims 1 and 11.
In view of the above, since the subject matters recited in the broad claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15 and 20 of the instant application was fully disclosed in and covered by claims 1-3, 7-8, 10-12, 14-16 and 30-21 of U.S. Patent No. 11,158,189 B2, allowing the broad claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-15 and 20 would result in an unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent.
This is a non-provisional non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection because the conflicting claims have in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Prior Art of EDWARDSON et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0248905 A1) hereinafter “Edwardson”.
As to claim 11, Edwardson discloses a system for distributing location messages (system for selectively distributing location messages, shown in Figures 2, 6 and described in Paragraphs 0010, 0062 and Claim 14) comprising: an arrangement of one or more first processors (an arrangement of one or more first processors, described in Paragraphs 0010, 0062 and Claim 14); a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors (a memory arrangement coupled to the one or more first processors, described in Paragraph 0010 and Claim 14) and configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations (configured with instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the one or more first processors to perform operations including, described in Paragraph 0010) including: receiving location messages (receiving location messages, described in Paragraph 0010), wherein each location message specifies published geographical locations (Each location message specifies published geographical coordinates that indicate a geographical location, described in Paragraph 0010); accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages (accessing a plurality of subscriptions to location topics in a storage arrangement in response to receiving the location messages, described in Paragraph 0010), wherein each location topic specifies, subscribed-to locations (location topic specifies in the second level of precision, subscribed-to geographical coordinates of a location, described in Paragraph 0010); determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical locations match any of the subscribed-to geographical locations (determining for each received location message, whether or not the published geographical coordinates match any of the subscribed-to geographical coordinates, described in Paragraph 0010); and transmitting to one or more second processors (transmitting to one or more third [i.e. second] processors), each location message having published geographical locations determined to match the subscribed-to geographical locations (each location message having published geographical coordinates determined to match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates, described in Paragraph 0010).
As to claim 12, the disclosure of Edwardson as set forth above in claim 11, further Edwardson discloses wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more second processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more second processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights (wherein: each location message includes vehicle identification data for evaluation by the one or more third [i.e. second] processors for selectively modifying phases of traffic lights; and the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit the location messages to the one or more third [i.e. second] processors that are disposed at one or more intersections for controlling the traffic lights, described in Claim 15).
As to claim 13, the system of claim 11, wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective second processor of a plurality of second processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of second processors includes the one or more second processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions (wherein: for each intersection of the plurality of intersections: a subset that includes multiple ones of the plurality of subscriptions defines an approach to the intersection; and each location subscription of the subset identifies a respective third processor of a plurality of third [i.e. second] processors disposed at a plurality of intersections, the plurality of third [i.e. second] processors includes the one or more third [i.e. second] processors, and the plurality of intersections includes the one or more intersections; and the instructions for determining include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to determine whether or not the published geographical coordinates match the subscribed-to geographical coordinates of the multiple ones of the location subscriptions, described in Claim 16).
As to claim 14, the disclosure of Edwardson as set forth above in claim 11, further Edwardson discloses wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles (wherein the instructions for receiving include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to receive location messages transmitted wirelessly from the plurality of second [i.e. second] processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, each location message having location information that indicates a geographical location of one of the moving vehicles, described in Claim 20).
As to claim 15, the disclosure of Edwardson as set forth above in claim 11, further Edwardson discloses wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more second processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles (wherein the instructions for transmitting include instructions that cause the one or more first processors to transmit each location message to the one or more third [i.e. second] processors that are onboard a plurality of moving vehicles, described in Claim 21).
As to cl