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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 11, 18 and 24 have been amended. Claims 1-23 are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 on03/23/2026 has been entered.
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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-20, 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (KR 10-2017- 0096922), in view of GOODMAN (US 20110314144), in view of (KR 10-2006-0127437), hereafter D2 in further view of Sweeney et al. (US 20100273509) and in further view of Gailloux et al. (US 10733685) or Willars et al. (US 20100325691).
Regarding claim 1, D1 teaches a system for preventing spread of an infectious disease, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory including at least one command that the at least one processor can execute (P.8 2nd and 3rd ¶, p.9 1st ¶), wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
collect infectious disease information (p.19) comprising affected area information (p.21 “visited country includes the infectious disease generating country”),
store the st – 2nd ¶, p.19 1st ¶), wherein the NOTE),
receive consent to collection and use of personal information from a service user who wants to use a service for preventing the spread of the infectious disease (D1 page 13, 1st and 2nd paragraphs and page 19, lines 10-20) (see NOTE I),
transmit, from the database, the
receive, from each of the plurality of mobile communication service providers, missing terminal information comprising identification information of missing terminals (p.11 “reception unit 141 receives the roaming data from the mobile communication company 110 when the mobile terminal 130, which has passed through a dangerous country, that is, an infectious disease occurrence country, moves from the visited network to the home network. The roaming data includes information on the visited country, the visit period (such as the first visit and departure date) in each visited country, the date of entry into Korea, and the identification information (telephone number, IMEI, etc.) of the mobile terminal 130”, p.16 1st and 2nd ¶, (p.17 “The roaming data includes information on the visited country, the first visit and departure date of each visited country, the date of entry into the country, and identification information (telephone number, IMEI etc. .. ) of the mobile terminal 130”) (see NOTE II),
wherein the missing terminals are mobile terminals of service users that have consented to (see NOTE I) collect and use personal information and have not connected to a corresponding mobile communication network for a preset period (page 7, 1st paragraph, p.8 “When the mobile terminal … registers a location in the country, that is, in the home network (for example, when power is turned on after arriving in Korea), Roaming data of the terminal 130 is transmitted”, which includes IMEI of the mobile terminal, p.17 last ¶, p.19 3rd ¶, p.20 2nd ¶) (see NOTE II),
receive, from the plurality of mobile communication service providers, information of a mobile terminal having visited an affected area, in response to transmitting, to each of the plurality of mobile communication service providers (p.18 3rd ¶, p.19 4th ¶, p.20)
wherein the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area is calculated based on the
wherein the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area has been extracted from base stations installed in the affected area by matching the affected area information of the
classify and manage the database comprising the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area received from the plurality of mobile communication service providers, by infectious disease (pp.7, 13, 1st ¶ “the class may be classified for the quarantine subject”, “the quarantine risk is "high"”, 16, 21).
D1 does not explicitly teach, however GOODMAN discloses convert the … information to a format suitable for matching the affected area ([0030] ” convert the presence information and/or location information … to a particular protocol”, [0035], [0046]-[0047], [0050], [0054]”, [0084]) and store the converted infectious disease information in a database ([0036], [0052], F7-8).
GOODMAN further discloses receive consent to collection and use of personal information from a service user ([0030] “include a privacy engine that governs access to and/or use of some or all information associated with user device … based on permissions and/or preferences specified by a user of user device”, [0048] “information, may be received, processed, and/or transmitted with the permission of a user of user”).
GOODMAN further discloses wherein the converted … information is stored in association with country information ([0081], [0086], wherein “a geographical area that is sufficiently defined … by latitude and longitude” would obviously include a country).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the teachings of D1 to convert information as disclosed by GOODMAN. Doing so would provide a connection service that permitted user devices or network devices to communicate with each other (GOODMAN [0001]).
NOTE D1 teaches analyzing “a dangerous country, that is, an infectious disease occurrence country”, “if the visited country includes the infectious disease generating country'' (p.12 1st – 2nd etc.). Clearly, the infectious disease information of the dangerous country is known. Although, not explicitly taught by D1, it is reasonable to conclude that such information is stored in a database because it is compared with the information of the visited user. Therefore, the claim limitations not explicitly recited in D1 are implicit.
However, to merely obviate such reasoning D2 discloses collect infectious disease information comprising affected area information, and store the infectious disease information in a database (p.2 “collecting disaster information related to natural disasters, diseases, and human resources such as terrorism and war, and storing foreign disaster information”, p.4 “periodically transmits the information on the disaster or disaster input to the server that stores the information on the disaster or disaster of the country”, p.5 1st paragraph) infectious disease information is stored in association with country information (p.2 2nd par, p.4 L14-15, Claim 2).
Further, the limitation “base station” is very broad and the specification does not provide an explicit definition for the “base station.” Thus, various interpretations are possible. D1 teaches various gateways and stations, such as – “passport scanning device 510 is installed near the entry gate” (p.13) or “a mobile terminal identification information collection device installed at an entry gate” (p. 4, 2nd paragraph), which is construed to be analogous to the claimed “base station.”
However, to merely obviate such reasoning D2 discloses wherein the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area has been extracted from base stations installed in the affected area by matching the affected area information with area information of a base station (p.4 “a base station of a corresponding country to the LCD”) (p.3 “look up the roaming subscriber list with the SlDs mapped to the country”; Querying the list of roaming subscribers”) where the mobile terminal is located (p.5 “roaming service subscribers who live in an emergency disaster area”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of D1 to include storing data in a database in association with country and a base station as disclosed by D2. Doing so would assure a safety of the visiting subscribers (D2 p.6 3rd paragraph).
NOTE I D1 teaches a plurality of collection devices, as shown in the combined Figures 6, 7 and 9 above. Device 320 – immigration system, installed at the airport, which surely collects personal information, such as immigration documents. Device 510 – passport scanning, which collects personal information, such as passport or identification documents. Device 910, installed at the airport near an entry gate, is an “information collection device” which collects telephone numbers, IMSI, IMEI and other personal information, such as occupation, addresses, etc. (see D1 page 13, 1st and 2nd paragraphs and page 19, lines 10-20). It is well-known that personal information, such as passport and immigration documents are mandatory requirements. If a user does not consent to passport / immigration screening, the user cannot travel (at least through the airport). Thus, it is reasonable to conclude, that the user gives an implicit consent to use his / hers personal information in order to travel through the airport. Still, while immigration control and passport scanning are mandatory, the mobile device scanning, by the “mobile terminal identification information collecting device” 910 is obviously not a mandatory requirement. Given that telephone numbers, addresses, occupation are personal information that is not required for a travel, it is reasonable and obvious to conclude that a user voluntarily provides such information with an implicit consent to receive notification based on the provided phone numbers. Thus, providing a mandatory personal information, such as passport, in order to travel or providing a volunteered personal information, such as telephone numbers or addresses implicitly indicates the user’s consent to the collection and use of such personal information. The personal information is transmitted and stored by the infectious disease blocking system 140 and is used as a service for preventing the spread of the infectious disease.
However, to merely obviate such reasoning, Sweeney discloses users that have consented to collect and use personal information ([0042 – 0046]).
NOTE II D1 teaches that a roaming information is received from the user traveling abroad – “roaming data includes information on the visited country, the first visit and departure date of each visited country, the date of entry into Korea, and identification information (telephone number, IMEI, etc.) of the mobile terminal 13” (page 8). The roaming data with a date of entry and a departure date implicitly indicates that the user has not connected to the home network for a period of time from the departure to the entry, which is provided by the IMEI. This is fully analogous to the applicant’s own specification - “missing terminal information including identification information (for example, IMEI)” [0067].
See further, D1 teaches on page 8 “When the mobile terminal … registers a location in the country, that is, in the home network (for example, when power is turned on after arriving in Korea)”, “subscribes to a communication service … arrives at a visiting network… and turns on the power of the mobile terminal 130” (page 17), which clearly indicates that the “the missing terminals are mobile terminals of service users that … have not connected to a corresponding mobile communication network for a preset period.” It is further obvious that such time period can be preset in order to establish a threshold for data collection, as shown on page 17, where a period of time visiting a foreign country (aka missing data of the user not connecting to a home network), detected from IMEI, is compared to “the maximum incubation period of the infectious disease”, “the period from the last visit of the infectious disease generating country to the date of entry into the country is within the maximum incubation period of the infectious disease” (p.18).
However, to merely obviate such reasoning, Sweeney discloses missing terminals are mobile terminals of service users that have consented ([0042 – 0046]) to collect and use personal information and have not connected to a corresponding mobile communication network for a preset period ([0010], [0022], [0025], [0031] where the flight time information is a preset period).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the teachings of D1 to include user consent and missing information as disclosed by Sweeney. Doing so would allow for maintaining user location while the mobile device is on an airplane and ensure that the registered user is a subscriber (Sweeney [0002], [0042]).
◊ D1 as modified by Sweeney teaches that “communicate with a wireless service provider network to ensure that the registered user is a subscriber associated with the registered cellular numbers” [0042]. However, D1 does not explicitly teach, however Gailloux discloses –
transmit the consent to collection and use of personal information to the mobile communication service provider to which the service user is subscribed (C8L38-57, C9L60-67).
Willars discloses the same in Abstract and throughout the disclosure.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of D1 to transmit the consent to collection and use of personal information to the mobile communication service provider to which the service user is subscribed as disclosed by Gailloux or Willars. Doing so would allow for preserving and obliging user’s privacy and preferences.
Claim 11 recites substantially the same limitations as claim 1, and is rejected for substantially the same reasons.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
collect the missing terminal information and generate a missing terminal list (D1 pp.15-16), and
transmit the missing terminal list to the plurality of mobile communication service providers, and receive the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area from the plurality of mobile communication service providers in response to transmitting the missing terminal list (D1 pp.15- 18).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the missing terminal information further comprises information about another mobile terminal that has an international roaming service history among mobile terminals subscribed to each mobile communication system of the plurality of mobile communication service providers (D1 pp.16-17, 20).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area is information about a mobile terminal that has a history of communication with a base station that matches the infectious disease information, and is included in the missing terminal list (D1 pp.19-20).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: classify the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area, received from the plurality of mobile communication service providers by infectious disease, and generate and store a list classified by infectious disease,
wherein the list classified by infectious disease includes at least one of identification information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area, an infectious disease name, a first visit date, a last visit date, and a number of days left for an incubation period to expire (D1 pp.19-21).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: each time the at least one processor receives the information of the mobile terminal having visited the affected area from the plurality of mobile communication service providers, update the last visit date and the number of days left until the incubation period expires for a corresponding mobile terminal in the list classified by infectious disease.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit a message notifying expiration of the incubation period of the infectious disease to the mobile terminal with the expired incubation period of the infectious disease based on the list classified by infectious disease (D1 pp.11-13, 17).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit, to each of the plurality of mobile communication service providers, the converted (GOODMAN [0046]-[0047]) infectious disease information, and the consent to collection and use of personal information of a service user having subscribed to a corresponding mobile communication system, except a service user having subscribed to other mobile communication system (D1 pp.19-21).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the infectious disease information includes at least one of an infectious disease name, date of infectious disease outbreak, date of infectious disease eradication, a name of an affected country, and a name of the affected area (D1 pp.8, 11, 18).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, D1 as modified teaches the system and the method, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit a message notifying an entry into the affected area to the mobile terminal having visited the affected area (D1 pp.21).
Regarding claim 23, D1 as modified teaches the system according to claim 1, wherein to structure the infectious disease information comprises to: convert the infectious disease information into a format for Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis (GOODMAN [0046]-[0047]).
Claims 21 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of Jean-Baptiste (US 2016/0210559).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, D1 as modified does not explicitly teach, however Jean-Baptiste the system and the method, wherein to collect the infectious disease information comprises: crawl internet sites for the infectious disease information ([0065]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the teachings of D1 to include crawling internet sites for the infectious disease information as disclosed by Jean-Baptiste. Doing so would help identifying a potential outbreak before it even occurs (Jean-Baptiste [0003]).
Claim 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of Jean- Papa et al. (US 20170208560).
Regarding claim 23, D1 as modified teaches the system as disclosed above, Papa additionally discloses the system according to claim 1, wherein to structure the infectious disease information comprises to: convert the infectious disease information into a format for Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis ([0039]-[0040], [0044]-[0045], [0066], [0082], [0117]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of D1 to include format for Geographic Information System as disclosed by Papa. Doing so would enable efficient retrieval of geographic information (Papa [0116]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed 08/26/2025, in regard to the presently amended claims have been fully considered and are addressed in the updated rejections to the claims above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated on PTO-892.
NOTE with respect to the new limitation, such functionality is well-known and additionally is disclosed by –
US 20070214040 [0038], [0044];
US 20160132652 in [0030];
US 20090209233 Abstract , [0044].
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/POLINA G PEACH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2165 May 9, 2026
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