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 Claims
This Office action is in response to the amendments filed on December 16, 2025. Claims 1-20 are currently pending, with Claims 1-3 and 5-20 being amended.
Response to Amendments
In response to Applicant’s amendments, the Examiner maintains the previous 35 U.S.C. 112 rejections, and maintains the previous 35 U.S.C. 102 rejections.
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant’s arguments, filed December 16, 2025, pertaining to the teachings of Li (see page 11 of instant arguments), the Examiner is unpersuaded. Li teaches that the drone system can determine one or more segments for conducting operations, determine a return point to an existing segment when the drone leaves the segment, and plan a future path for traveling (i.e. have not received a target operation). Li also teaches that the drone can start at a new location or waypoint based on where the drone previously traversed when it was spraying AND when it refrains from spraying (i.e. determines candidate options for starting and returning to a location (see at least e.g. Page 10, Paragraph beginning with “in step 7 …” and “In addition, in step 6 …”; Page 12, Paragraph beginning with “The spraying drone 41 performs …”; Figures 12-13; 22-25 of Li). Li teaches all the features of the claims as currently written. The Examiner is unpersuaded and maintains the corresponding rejections.
The remaining arguments are essentially the same as those addresses above and/or below and are unpersuasive for essentially the same reasons. Therefore, the corresponding rejections are maintained.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3, 9, 12-14, and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-3, 9, 12-14, and 18 recite “a first preset number of candidate operation segment …” and should read “a first preset number of candidate operation segments …”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-2, 6-9, 12-13, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention:
Claims 1-2, 6-9, 12-13, and 16-18 recite “projection point …”. It is unclear if the projection point refers to a projected light on a surface of a trajectory followed by the UAV, a physical marking of the UAV to indicate its stopping position, or a projected location to which the UAV returns after leaving or deviating the route. The Examiner is interpreting the projection position as a reference position associated with where the drone was stopped or interrupted, in which the UAV can return to in order to commence spraying or following the path again.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WIPO Patent Publication 2020/107475 A1, to Li, et al (hereinafter referred to as Li; previously of record).
As per Claim 1, Li discloses the features of a method for operation planning (e.g. Page 8, Paragraph beginning with “Taking the autonomous operation of the drone …”; where the ground control terminal (13) plans an operation route of the UAV (10) in an operation area), comprising:
displaying a target path of a movable object (e.g. Page 8, Paragraph beginning with “Taking the autonomous operation of the drone …”; Page 23, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig. 12, …”; Figures 4, 5; where the user interface displays the waypoints of the spraying drone (41) and the path to be run),
wherein the target path comprises one or more non-operation segments for the movable object (e.g. Page 3, Paragraph beginning with “In the process of the spraying drone performing …”; Figures 2-3; where the operation route includes a plurality of segments, and where the current operation segment to be flown includes multiple operation segments and the current operation and horizontal segments where the spray nozzle is closed along the horizontal segment (i.e. non-operation segment));
wherein the movable object performs a target operation while moving along the one or more operation segments but does not perform the target operation while moving along the one or more non-operation segments (e.g. Page 3, Paragraph beginning with “In the process of the spraying drone performing …”; Figures 2-3; where the current operation segment to be flown includes multiple operation segments and horizontal segments where the spray nozzle is closed along the horizontal segment (i.e. non-operation segment));
determining an interruption point in an interruption segment, wherein the interruption segment is a portion of the one or more operation segments where the target operation of the movable object on the one or more operation segments is interrupted (e.g. Page 25, Paragraph beginning with “In other embodiments, when the spraying drone …”; where the operation may be interrupted due to insufficient power, insufficient spray, etc., and the drone returns from the interrupted operation waypoint to the home or charging points and then returns to the interrupted operation location to continue spraying (i.e. determines an interruption position));
the interruption point is a position in the interruption segment where the movable object begins to deviate from the one or more operation segments (e.g. Figure 10; where the interruption segments are indicated by a change in direction of the drone, where the drone does not conduct spraying operations (i.e. deviates from an operation segment);
determining one or more return points, based on whether a projection point exists on one or more candidate segments, wherein the projection point serves as a candidate return point for the movable object to return to the target path (e.g. Page 10, Paragraph beginning with “in step 7 …” and “In addition, in step 6 …”; where the spraying drone (41) returns to the route segment where it was previously based on determination of an obstacle or no obstacle in the return path (i.e. the drone determines its last location and if it has been or needs to be sprayed or if it needs to continue to the next waypoint to continue spraying)); and
the one or more candidate segments comprise at least one of the interruption segment and a first preset number of candidate operation segment (e.g. Figures 12-13; 22-25; where the spraying drone (41) can operate on a preset number of operation segments and a present number of non-operation segments within the number of operation segments and can return to a segment which has not been completed), and
displaying, on the path, one or more indicators indicating the one or more return points (e.g. Figures 2, 11, 18, 19; where the system displays a plurality of return paths).
As per Claim 12, Li discloses the features of a device for operation planning (e.g. Page 8, Paragraph beginning with “Taking the autonomous operation of the drone …”; where the ground control terminal (13) plans an operation route of the UAV (10) in an operation area), comprising:
at least one storage medium storing at least one set of instructions for operation planning; and at least one processor in communication with the at least one storage medium, wherein during operation (e.g. Page 25, Paragraph beginning with “An embodiment of the present invention provides …”; where the control device includes a memory (261), a processor (262), and a communication interface, where the memory (261) is used to store the program code, the processor (262) calls the program code to perform operations), the at least one processor executes the at least one set of instructions to cause the device to at least:
display a target path of a movable object (e.g. Page 8, Paragraph beginning with “Taking the autonomous operation of the drone …”; Page 23, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig. 12, …”; where the user interface displays the historical waypoints of the spraying drone (41) and the path to be run),
wherein the target path comprises one or more operation segments and one or more non-operation segments (e.g. Page 3, Paragraph beginning with “In the process of the spraying drone performing …”; Figures 2-3; the operation route includes a plurality of segments; and where the current operation segment to be flown includes multiple operation segments and horizontal segments where the spray nozzle is closed along the horizontal segment (i.e. non-operation segment));
wherein the movable object performs a target operation while moving along the one or more operation segments but does not perform the target operation while moving along the one or more non-operation segments (e.g. Page 3, Paragraph beginning with “In the process of the spraying drone performing …”; Figures 2-3; where the current operation segment to be flown includes multiple operation segments and horizontal segments where the spray nozzle is closed along the horizontal segment (i.e. non-operation segment));
determine an interruption point in an interruption segment, wherein the interruption segment is a portion of the one or more operation segments where the target operation of the movable object on the one or more operation segments is interrupted (e.g. Page 25, Paragraph beginning with “In other embodiments, when the spraying drone …”; where the operation may be interrupted due to insufficient power, insufficient spray, etc., and the drone returns from the interrupted operation waypoint to the home or charging points and then returns to the interrupted operation location to continue spraying) and
the interruption point is a position in the interruption segment where the movable object begins to deviate from the one or more operation segments (e.g. Figure 10; where the interruption segments are indicated by a change in direction of the drone, where the drone does not conduct spraying operations (i.e. deviates from an operation segment);
determine one or more return points, based on whether a projection point exists on one or more candidate segments, wherein the projection point serves as a candidate return point for the movable object to return to the target path (e.g. Page 10, Paragraph beginning with “in step 7 …” and “In addition, in step 6 …”; where the spraying drone (41) returns to the route segment where it was previously based on determination of an obstacle or no obstacle in the return path (i.e. the drone determines its last location and if it has been or needs to be sprayed or if it needs to continue to the next waypoint to continue spraying)); and
the first preset number of candidate operation segment comprises one or more of the operation segments that have not yet received the target operation (e.g. Figures 12-13; 22-25; where the spraying drone (41) can operate on a preset number of operation segments and a present number of non-operation segments within the number of operation segments and can return to a segment which has not been completed); and
display one or more indicators indicating the one or more return points (e.g. Figures 2, 11, 18, 19; where the system displays a plurality of return paths).
As per Claim 2, and similarly for Claim 13, Li discloses the features of Claims 1 and 12, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of the method according to claim 1, wherein
when both the interruption segment and each of the first preset number of candidate operation segment have a corresponding projection point, the one or more return points comprise a second preset number of projection point, among the corresponding projection point, that is close to the interruption point, wherein the second preset number of projection point comprises one or more of the projection points (e.g. Figures 10-13, 18, 19; where the drone has a number of preset operation and non-operation segments (i.e. first and second preset positions), and determines a starting point close to the interruption segment; where the system displays a multiple return paths); or
when none of the interruption segment and each of the first preset number of candidate operation segments has a corresponding projection point, the one or more return points comprise at least one of: a starting of a first operation segment of the first preset number of candidate operation segment, or an ending of the interruption segment (e.g. Page 25, Paragraph beginning with “In some embodiments, the initial operating waypoint …”; where after the spraying drone (41) finishes the spraying tasks corresponding to the current operating route segment, the flight controller controls the spraying drone (41) to move horizontally from one waypoint to the next and starts performing spraying at the next waypoint (i.e. has a starting point for a new segment); and where the starting operation waypoint of the spraying drone (41) may not be waypoint 0, and may start and fly from waypoint 2 to 3 and starts spraying at waypoint 3, for example).
As per Claim 3, and similarly for Claim 14, Li discloses the features of Claims 1 and 12, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of when the interruption segment is an operation segment, the one or more return points comprise an ending of the interruption segment or a starting of a first operation segment of the first preset number of candidate operation segment; or when the interruption segment is a non-operation segment, the return points comprise the starting of the first operation segment of the first preset number of candidate operation segment (e.g. Page 25, Paragraph beginning with “In some embodiments, the initial operating waypoint …”; Figures 23-24; where after the spraying drone (41) finishes the spraying tasks corresponding to the current operating route segment, the flight controller controls the spraying drone (41) to move horizontally from one waypoint to the next and starts performing spraying at the next waypoint (i.e. has a starting point for a new segment); and where the starting operation waypoint of the spraying drone (41) may not be waypoint 0, and may start and fly from waypoint 2 to 3 and starts spraying at waypoint 3, for example).
As per Claim 4, Li discloses the features of Claim 2, and Li further discloses the features of wherein the first preset number is greater than or equal to 2, and the second preset number is 1 (e.g. Figures 12-13; 22-25; where the spraying drone (41) can operate on a preset number of operation segments and a present number of non-operation segments within the number of operation segments).
As per Claim 5, and similarly for Claim 15, Li discloses the features of Claims 1 and 12, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of further comprising:
determining a recommended return point from the one or more return points (e.g. Figures 16-19; where the route segment has multiple obstacle avoidance paths in parallel to the current path, and the navigation module may determine a path from the multiple paths as the target obstacle avoidance path in order to return to the route segment); and
displaying, in a different way, the indicator indicating the recommended return point on the path (e.g. Figures 5, 14, 18-19; where the indicator displays the preferred return route).
As per Claim 6, Li discloses the features of Claim 5, and Li further discloses the features of wherein the determining of the recommended return point from the one or more return points comprises determining the recommended return point from the projection point and the interruption point when the interruption segment has the corresponding projection point (e.g. Figures 5, 14, 18-19; where the indicator displays the preferred return route based on a stopping place or the presence of an object).
As per Claim 7, and similarly for Claim 16, Li discloses the features of Claims 6 and 15, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of wherein the determining of the recommended return point from the projection point and the interruption point comprises: determining the recommended return point from the projection point and the interruption point based on a distance between the interruption point and an ending of the interruption segment and a distance between the projection point and the ending of the interruption segment (e.g. Page 13, Paragraph beginning with “Specifically, when the spray drone 41 …”; Page 17, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig, 12, …”; where the system determines the distance between the spraying drone (41) and the obstacle (91), and when the distance is between the two is greater than a threshold, the spraying drone (41) will continue to fly forward to perform the spraying task; and when the distance between the two is less thana threshold, the spraying drone (41) is controlled to move from the operation route segment to the target obstacle avoidance path, and the spraying drone (41) is controlled to return to the current operation route to continue spraying when it is determined the spraying drone has cleared the obstacle and determined that the obstacle is no longer in the way (i.e. a distance to return to the route)).
As per Claim 8, and similarly for Claim 17, Li discloses the features of Claims 7 and 16, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of wherein the determining of the recommended return point from the projection point and the interruption point based on the distance between the interruption point and the ending of the interruption segment and the distance between the projection point and the ending of the interruption segment includes comprises:
determining the projection point as the recommended return point, when the distance between the interruption point and the ending of the interruption segment is greater than the distance between the projection point and the ending of the interruption segment, and the distance between the projection point and the ending of the interruption segment is greater than a preset threshold (e.g. Page 13, Paragraph beginning with “Specifically, when the spray drone 41 …”; Page 17, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig, 12, …”; where the system determines the distance between the spraying drone (41) and the obstacle (91), and when the distance is between the two is greater than a threshold, the spraying drone (41) will continue to fly forward to perform the spraying task; and when the distance between the two is less thana threshold, the spraying drone (41) is controlled to move from the operation route segment to the target obstacle avoidance path, and the spraying drone (41) is controlled to return to the current operation route to continue spraying when it is determined the spraying drone has cleared the obstacle and determined that the obstacle is no longer in the way (i.e. a distance to return to the route)); or
determining the interruption point as the recommended return point when the distance between the interruption point and the ending of the interruption segment is less than the distance between the projection point and the ending of the interruption segment (e.g. Page 13, Paragraph beginning with “Specifically, when the spray drone 41 …”; Page 17, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig, 12, …”; where the system determines the distance between the spraying drone (41) and the obstacle (91), and when the distance is between the two is greater than a threshold, the spraying drone (41) will continue to fly forward to perform the spraying task; and when the distance between the two is less thana threshold, the spraying drone (41) is controlled to move from the operation route segment to the target obstacle avoidance path, and the spraying drone (41) is controlled to return to the current operation route to continue spraying when it is determined the spraying drone has cleared the obstacle and determined that the obstacle is no longer in the way (i.e. a distance to return to the route)).
As per Claim 9, and similarly for Claim 18, Li discloses the features of Claims 5 and 15, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of wherein the determining of the recommended return point from the one or more return points comprises at least one of the following:
determining a starting of a first operation segment of the first preset number of candidate operation segment as the recommended return point when none of the interruption segment and each of the first preset number of candidate operation segments has a corresponding projection point (e.g. Figures 23-24; Where the operation may be interrupted due to insufficient power, insufficient spray, etc., and the drone returns from the interrupted operation waypoint to the home or charging points and then returns to the interrupted operation location to continue spraying; and where the spraying drone (41) determines a waypoint at which to start spraying based on the stopping location); or
determining a projection point closest to the interruption point as the recommended return point when the interruption segment has no corresponding projection point and the first preset number of candidate operation segment has one or more corresponding projection points (e.g. Figures 3, 18-19, 22-24; Where the navigation module of the spraying drone can update the global grid map based on the detection of obstacles; and where each time the current position of the spraying drone (41) in the target obstacle avoidance path changes, the spraying drone (41) can determine a target return path that has no obstacles or the path that is closest to the obstacle; and where the system determines the stopping position and determines the closest waypoint to travel to and commence spraying and detects no obstacles).
As per Claim 10, and similarly for Claim 19, Li discloses the features of Claims 1 and 12, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of further comprising: in receiving a selection operation to select a target return point from the one or more return points; and controlling the movable object to move to the target return point (e.g. Page 7, Paragraph beginning with “As shown in Fig. 1 …”; and Page 8, Paragraph beginning with “Taking the autonomous operation of the drone …”; where the user can select the work area to be sprayed in the electronic map (22), and the ground control terminal (13) plans the operation route of the UAV, and the user can control the spraying drone (41) through the ground control terminal).
As per Claim 11, and similarly for Claim 20, Li discloses the features of Claims 1 and 12, respectively, and Li further discloses the features of performing at least one of updating the return points according to a preset interval or updating the return points in response to a position change of the movable object (e.g. Page 14, Paragraph beginning with “In addition, as shown in Fig. 10 …”; where the navigation module of the spraying drone can update the global grid map based on the detection of obstacles; and where each time the current position of the spraying drone (41) in the target obstacle avoidance path changes, the spraying drone (41) can determine a target return path).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Bertucci, et al (U.S. 2020/0029490 A1), which teaches a method for a vehicle to travel along a designated route.
Norcia, et al (U.S. 2023/0112766 A1), which teaches a method for utilizing unmanned aerial drones to provide spraying control in a designated area.
Passot, et al (U.S. 2017/0329347 A1), which teaches a method for training an autonomous robot to travel and return to a segment route.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MERRITT E LEVY whose telephone number is (571)270-5595. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0630-1600.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helal Algahaim can be reached at (571) 270-5227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MERRITT E LEVY/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/TIFFANY P YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666