DETAILED ACTION
1. This office action is in response to the amendment filed on 12/04/2025.
2. Claims 1-20 are canceled.
3. Claims 21-40 are pending and presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments filed on 12/04/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, the Applicant argues in substance that:
The cited references, Miller, Rainey, and Smith, either alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest the limitations “processing the identified weather events to generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact; wherein the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator,” as recited in independent claims 21 and 37.
In response to argument:
a) Examiner respectfully disagrees. First, the Examiner would like to remind the applicant that the rejection is based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claims. The Applicant argues on pages 8-11 of the remarks that the cited art does not teach or suggest the limitations “processing the identified weather events to generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact; wherein the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator.” However, Miller in [0031], [0035]-[0044] discloses an extreme heat business rule 130 may utilize “Feels Like” temperature values. “Feels Like” temperature values are calculated based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and/or other variables and are intended to reflect the subjective temperature sensation that a person would experience in that environment. For example, starting with a temperature of 25° F., the “Feels Like” temperature will generally decrease to, for example, 20° F., 15° F., and so on, as wind speed increases, to account for wind chill. In addition to utilizing “Feels Like” temperature values, extreme heat business rule 130 may incorporate a Departure Value calculation….extreme heat business rule 130 may compare the Departure Value to a threshold value. If the Departure Value meets or exceeds the threshold value for a predetermined period of time, extreme heat business rule 130 can signal that a weather notification, such as an “Extreme Heat Notification,” should be generated at the generate notification step 150….an extreme cold business rule 130 may perform a similar calculation based on the current and/or forecasted “Feels Like” temperatures and a calculated Departure Value. …if the Departure Value is equal to or less than a threshold value for extreme cold, the extreme cold business rules 130 may signal a weather notification, such as an “Extreme Cold Notification, which corresponds to the limitations “processing the identified weather events to generate weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach wherein the weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact” within the claim.
Examiner relied on Rainey to disclose the limitations “generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact.” Rainey in [0032], [0040]-[0043] discloses the SkyGuard warnings may include, for example, warnings issued by meteorologists from AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, Inc. to provide notification of extreme weather events according to specific critical thresholds such as temperature, precipitation, winds, lightning strikes, etc. The SkyGuard warnings may be visually represented at the location or region predicted to be affected by the event. The map view 100 may be configured to output only the SkyGuard warnings affecting user-specified locations or user-specified critical locations. The system 200 may enable the user to view details regarding each warning, such as start time, expire time, user-specified location, condition (lightning, thunderstorm, heavy rain, high wind, high temperature, etc.) and comments from a SkyGuard meteorologist, as well as pre-determined or user-supplied information specific to each location (e.g., the contact information for local management or emergency response personnel, etc.). SkyGuard lightning warnings may also include visual representations of “lightning rings” (i.e., radius rings that conform to the distance used for SkyGuard lightning warnings)…. the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings and user-specified procedures 326 to user-specified personnel 324 and receive and store acknowledgements 336 from the user-specified personnel 324. Further, Rainey in [0058], [0071], Fig. 9 discloses the system 200 may be configured such that the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable. As shown in FIG. 4C, for example, the procedure module 490 may be red to indicate that the conditions are unfavorable while the notification module 480 may be green to indicate that the conditions are favorable. The notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 may also include user-specified or pre-determined information to describe the weather conditions or a potential impact of the weather conditions (e.g., “Bridge Icing Probable”)… Notifications may have tiered levels of severity. In one example, a purple colored notification may be more severe than a red colored notification and a green colored notification may indicate a reduction in severity. The system 200 may compare forecast data to previous forecast data and output a notification based on a change from the previous forecast. For example, the module 920 output at 12 am forecasts rain for 5 am and 6 am. The module 910 indicates that the previous forecast at 11 pm forecasts ice for 5 am and 6 am. Accordingly, the graphical user interface 380 may output a notification indicating a reduction in severity. For example, the hourly forecasts for those time periods in the module 920 may be colored green); which corresponds to the limitations “generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact” within the claim.
In addition, Rainey in [0043] discloses the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings and user-specified procedures 326 to user-specified personnel 324 and receive and store acknowledgements 336 from the user-specified personnel 324. Moreover, Rainey in [0063], [0068], Figs. 7, 9 discloses one or more of the weather conditions 328 may also include a graph icon 722 to enable the user to graphically view the selected weather condition 328. In response to a user selection of a graph icon 722, the graphical user interface 380 may display a graphical representation 720 of the selected weather condition 328 for each of the days represented in the columns of the My Weather module 720. ..As shown in FIG. 7, for example, the graphical representation 720 includes a line graph plotting the selected weather condition 328 (in this instance, the high temperature) including the historical high temperature for the previous day aligned with the column labeled “Yesterday”, the current high temperature aligned with the column labeled “Current”, and the forecasted high temperature for each remaining day aligned with each column of the corresponding day; which corresponds to the limitation “ causing the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather events”, within the claim.
Examiner relied on Smith to disclose the limitations “causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator.” Smith in [0034]-[0035] discloses the visual display 410 may further comprise a menu bar 463 with options for the user to receive additional details 467 and update 465. A user may activate either of these options by pressing the corresponding keypad buttons 423 and 426, respectively. Because a visual representation of the weather alert may include limited textual information, a user may select the details option 467 in order to view more specific textual information concerning the warning, e.g., textual information that is received as part of the weather alert but not initially displayed by the mobile device 400. For example, a winter storm warning may indicate, through a visual representation, an incoming snow storm. However, in order to view additional details such as the predicted accumulation, the duration of the storm and/or the predicted temperature, the user may need to press the keypad button 423 corresponding to the details option 467, which corresponds to the limitation “causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator” within the claim. Thus, the combination of Miller, Rainey, and Smith meets the scope of broadly claimed limitation as currently presented.
5. Double patent rejection of claims 21, 28, 29, 35, and 37-39 is withdrawn because the office approved the Terminal Disclaimer filed on 12/04/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AlA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
7. Claims 21-24 and 32-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller et al. US 2016/0061992 (hereinafter, Miller), in view of Rainey et al. US 2018/0268332 (hereinafter, Rainey), in further view of Smith US 2006/0267783 (hereinafter, Smith).
8. Regarding claim 21, Miller discloses a method for determining location-based weather services, the method comprising:
receiving weather data about a location of interest for location-based weather services ([0012]-[0016], Fig. 1);
determining weather values for the location for each time period in a set of time periods based on weather data ([0014], [0026]-[0028], [0035]-[0040]);
identifying weather events for the location based on the weather values ([0035]-[0042]);
generating weather information for the location for presentation in a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed at user devices that request the location-based weather services for the location ([0012], [0016], [0031], [0035]-[0044]);
processing the identified weather events to generate weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach ([0035]-[0044]: an extreme heat business rule 130 may utilize “Feels Like” temperature values. “Feels Like” temperature values are calculated based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and/or other variables and are intended to reflect the subjective temperature sensation that a person would experience in that environment. For example, starting with a temperature of 25° F., the “Feels Like” temperature will generally decrease to, for example, 20° F., 15° F., and so on, as wind speed increases, to account for wind chill. In addition to utilizing “Feels Like” temperature values, extreme heat business rule 130 may incorporate a Departure Value calculation….extreme heat business rule 130 may compare the Departure Value to a threshold value. If the Departure Value meets or exceeds the threshold value for a predetermined period of time, extreme heat business rule 130 can signal that a weather notification, such as an “Extreme Heat Notification,” should be generated at the generate notification step 150….an extreme cold business rule 130 may perform a similar calculation based on the current and/or forecasted “Feels Like” temperatures and a calculated Departure Value. …if the Departure Value is equal to or less than a threshold value for extreme cold, the extreme cold business rules 130 may signal a weather notification, such as an “Extreme Cold Notification”), wherein the weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact ([0031], [0035]-[0044]); and
transmitting the weather information for the location to the user devices ([0012], [0031], [0035]-[0044]).
Miller does not disclose:
generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact; transmitting the weather information and the additional weather information; wherein the weather information includes visual indicators of the identified weather events that are presented in a same view of the GUI displayed at the user devices; causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator; and causing, in response to a specified amount of time elapsing, the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI by partially overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI.
However, Rainey discloses:
generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach ([0032], [0040]-[0043]: the SkyGuard warnings may include, for example, warnings issued by meteorologists from AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, Inc. to provide notification of extreme weather events according to specific critical thresholds such as temperature, precipitation, winds, lightning strikes, etc. The SkyGuard warnings may be visually represented at the location or region predicted to be affected by the event. The map view 100 may be configured to output only the SkyGuard warnings affecting user-specified locations or user-specified critical locations. The system 200 may enable the user to view details regarding each warning, such as start time, expire time, user-specified location, condition (lightning, thunderstorm, heavy rain, high wind, high temperature, etc.) and comments from a SkyGuard meteorologist, as well as pre-determined or user-supplied information specific to each location (e.g., the contact information for local management or emergency response personnel, etc.). SkyGuard lightning warnings may also include visual representations of “lightning rings” (i.e., radius rings that conform to the distance used for SkyGuard lightning warnings)…. the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings and user-specified procedures 326 to user-specified personnel 324 and receive and store acknowledgements 336 from the user-specified personnel 324…[Further], [0058], [0071], Fig. 9: the system 200 may be configured such that the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable. As shown in FIG. 4C, for example, the procedure module 490 may be red to indicate that the conditions are unfavorable while the notification module 480 may be green to indicate that the conditions are favorable. The notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 may also include user-specified or pre-determined information to describe the weather conditions or a potential impact of the weather conditions (e.g., “Bridge Icing Probable”)… Notifications may have tiered levels of severity. In one example, a purple colored notification may be more severe than a red colored notification and a green colored notification may indicate a reduction in severity. The system 200 may compare forecast data to previous forecast data and output a notification based on a change from the previous forecast. For example, the module 920 output at 12 am forecasts rain for 5 am and 6 am. The module 910 indicates that the previous forecast at 11 pm forecasts ice for 5 am and 6 am. Accordingly, the graphical user interface 380 may output a notification indicating a reduction in severity. For example, the hourly forecasts for those time periods in the module 920 may be colored green);
wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact ([0032], [0040]-[0043], [0058], [0071], Fig. 9);
transmitting the weather information and the additional weather information ([0043], [0058]-[0059], [0071]);
wherein the weather information includes visual indicators of the identified weather events that are presented in a same view of the GUI displayed at the user devices ([0040], [0057]-[0063], [0069], Figs. 7, 9); and
causing the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather events ([0043]: the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings and user-specified procedures 326 to user-specified personnel 324 and receive and store acknowledgements 336 from the user-specified personnel 324… [Further], [0063], [0068], Figs. 7, 9: one or more of the weather conditions 328 may also include a graph icon 722 to enable the user to graphically view the selected weather condition 328. In response to a user selection of a graph icon 722, the graphical user interface 380 may display a graphical representation 720 of the selected weather condition 328 for each of the days represented in the columns of the My Weather module 720. ..As shown in FIG. 7, for example, the graphical representation 720 includes a line graph plotting the selected weather condition 328 (in this instance, the high temperature) including the historical high temperature for the previous day aligned with the column labeled “Yesterday”, the current high temperature aligned with the column labeled “Current”, and the forecasted high temperature for each remaining day aligned with each column of the corresponding day);
causing, in response to a specified amount of time elapsing, the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather events corresponding to the displayed visual indicators ([0043]: the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings….[0057]-[0060], [0068], [0071], Fig. 9: The MinuteCast™ module 474 may be configured to output a highly accurate forecast (e.g., in increments of 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc.) over a short time period (e.g., 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, etc.). As discussed below with reference to FIG. 12, the notification module 480 may be configured to output a user-specified or pre-determined notification in response to a weather-related warning and/or a user-specified notification threshold 332. The procedure module 490 may be configured to output both a user-specified or pre-determined notification and a user-specified procedure 326 in response to a weather-related warning and/or a user-specified notification threshold 332. The system 200 may be configured such that the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller to use generate additional weather information for the location that indicates an impact of the identified weather events using a rules-based approach, wherein the additional weather information corresponding to a particular weather event of the identified weather events and the additional weather information provides information to draw attention to the impact of the particular weather event by explaining both: a significance of the weather values for the particular weather event, and an explanation of real world effects of the impact of the particular weather event, and/or recommendations for preparing for the real world effects that have a negative impact; transmitting the weather information and the additional weather information; wherein the weather information includes visual indicators of the identified weather events that are presented in a same view of the GUI displayed at the user devices; and causing the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather events; causing, in response to a specified amount of time elapsing, the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI to draw attention to the impact of the weather events corresponding to the displayed visual indicators as taught by Rainey. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information and indicating a level of severity automatically (Rainey, [0057], [0071]).
Miller in view of Rainey does not disclose:
causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, the additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator, and causing the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI by partially overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI.
However, Smith discloses:
causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator ([0034]-[0035]: the visual display 410 may further comprise a menu bar 463 with options for the user to receive additional details 467 and update 465. A user may activate either of these options by pressing the corresponding keypad buttons 423 and 426, respectively. Because a visual representation of the weather alert may include limited textual information, a user may select the details option 467 in order to view more specific textual information concerning the warning, e.g., textual information that is received as part of the weather alert but not initially displayed by the mobile device 400. For example, a winter storm warning may indicate, through a visual representation, an incoming snow storm. However, in order to view additional details such as the predicted accumulation, the duration of the storm and/or the predicted temperature, the user may need to press the keypad button 423 corresponding to the details option 467), and
causing the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI by overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI (Abstract, [0009]: a weather reporting algorithm identifies the current weather conditions surrounding a particular area and determines the appropriate times to alert the wireless user…A weather alert may take the form of a visual warning, an audible alert or even a vibrating alarm. A visual component of a weather alert may also include maps and diagrams of a user's present location in relation to the approaching weather conditions…The visual alerts may also be in real-time, continuously updating the maps and meteorological information…[Further], [0031]-[0033], [0035], [0036], Fig. 4: users may elect to receive audio, visual or physical alerts or a combination of any number of the three, depending on the capabilities of the user's mobile device. For example, a user may receive a visual warning illustrated by the image 401 on display screen 410. The image 401 on screen 410 may be a map, radar image or a representation derived from radar data and/or other weather information resources superimposed on a map, with an indication 480 of the user's present location as compared to the impending weather. The radar image or map representation 401 may also provide additional levels of detail, including roads, buildings, and/or landmarks, depending on the scale of the map. Such detail may aid the user of the mobile device in judging the storm's relative location and distance. The weather alert 401 may include a visual or graphic representation of impending weather 470, as well as additional storm information such as wind data 483. High wind data 483 may indicate the highest wind speed detected within or around the immediate vicinity of the impending weather 470. Additionally, the visual display may comprise indicators showing the direction of storm movement 477 as well as the direction of wind 479…The alert 401 may include other textual information, such as current temperature 478, estimated time for the storm's arrival 475 at the mobile device's present location, and locations of lightning strikes 476. Top banner 450 and lower banner 460 may comprise information related to the type of weather and the severity of the alert. For example, top banner 450 may indicate that the alert is for approaching thunderstorms. Banner 460 may indicate the importance of the warning, e.g., by displaying an alert severity level, or by displaying one "ALERT" to indicate low importance, two "ALERT" indicators for medium importance, or three "ALERT" indicators to warn of emergency weather information. Other methods may also be used to indicate the importance of the weather alert. Such methods may comprise the use of stars (i.e., the more stars, the more severe), color codes (blue meaning weak warning, red meaning emergency warning) or a severity meter. Other information may be included in the weather alert, such as lightning warnings, flood warnings, etc….Weather information service 130 may compose each graphic for individual users by overlaying radar data, GIS warning information, and lightning data over a base map centered or otherwise based on the present location of the mobile device corresponding to the registered user. Alternatively, a simple text-based alert may be composed and sent to devices without sufficient graphics capabilities. Variations of the above described weather alert may also or alternatively be sent to each mobile device. Information that may be included in each weather alert may include information specified by the user's preferences to indicate what information he/she wants to have included in any given warning. For example, if a user does not want the temperature 478 displayed, the user may deselect an option to eliminate the temperature text 478. In another example, a user might not want the banners 450 & 460 and may therefore eliminate that option from the visual display menu. A user may also set preferences to indicate parameters for alerting the user. These parameters may comprise the severity of the storm, the distance of the storm and the probability of the storm hitting the user's location. A user may also select options such as the coverage area of the representative map and the update frequency). Miller discloses generating weather information for the location for presentation in a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed at user devices as disclosed above. Further, Rainey discloses causing, in response to a specified amount of time elapsing, the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI as disclosed above. Furthermore, Smith discloses causing the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI by overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI as disclosed above. Miller, Rainey, and Smith does not disclose partially overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI. However, partially overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art based on the teaching of Miller, Rainey, and Smith as explained above.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller and Rainey to use causing, in response to receiving user selection of a visual indicator amongst the visual indicators, additional weather information associated with the user selected visual indicator to be presented to draw attention to the impact of the weather event corresponding to the user selected visual indicator, and causing the additional weather information to be automatically presented in the same view of the GUI by partially overlaying at least a portion of the weather information presented in the GUI as taught by Smith. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to provide detailed weather related alerts information efficiently (Smith, [0016], [0031]).
10. Regarding claim 37, the claim is rejected with the same rationale as in claim 21.
11. Regarding claim 22, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 21 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the set of time periods comprises times of day ([0014], [0027]-[0028]).
12. Regarding claim 23, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 21 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses the set of time periods ([0014],[0027]-[0028]).
Miller in view of Smith does not disclose:
wherein the set of time periods comprises times of year.
However, Rainey discloses:
wherein the set of time periods comprises times of year ([0041]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller in view of Smith to use wherein the set of time periods comprises times of year as taught by Rainey. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information based on different time frame (Rainey, [0041]).
13. Regarding claim 24, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 21 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the weather values comprise one or more of: a temperature value, a humidity value, a wind speed value, a wind direction value, a wind chill value, an atmospheric pressure value, an ultraviolet index value, a pollen count value, an air quality index value, a precipitation type, and a precipitation amount ([0013]: temperature).
14. Regarding claim 32, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 21 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the identified weather events are presented in the GUI ([0012], [0016], [0031], [0035]-[0042]).
Miller does not disclose:
wherein the visual indications of the identified weather events are presented concurrently in the respective GUI with other weather information.
However, Rainey discloses:
wherein the visual indications of the identified weather events are presented concurrently in the respective GUI with other weather information ([0043]: the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings….[0058], [0071], Fig. 9: the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable. As shown in FIG. 4C, for example, the procedure module 490 may be red to indicate that the conditions are unfavorable while the notification module 480 may be green to indicate that the conditions are favorable. The notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 may also include user-specified or pre-determined information to describe the weather conditions or a potential impact of the weather conditions…Notifications may have tiered levels of severity. In one example, a purple colored notification may be more severe than a red colored notification and a green colored notification may indicate a reduction in severity. See also [0040], [0063], [0069], [0077], [0099]). See also Smith ([0033], Fig. 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller to use wherein the visual indications of the identified weather events are presented concurrently in the respective GUI with other weather information as taught by Rainey and/or Smith. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information and indicating a level of severity (Rainey, [0071]).
15. Regarding claim 40, the claim is rejected with the same rationale as in claim 32.
16. Regarding claim 33, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 32, as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the visual indicators of the identified weather events are presented ([0012], [0035]-[0042]).
Miller does not disclose:
wherein the visual indicators of the identified weather events are presented in a first indicia and the other weather information is presented in a second indicia.
However, Rainey discloses:
wherein the indicators of the identified weather events are presented in a first indicia and the other weather information is presented in a second indicia ([0043]: the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings….[0058], [0071], Fig. 9: the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable. As shown in FIG. 4C, for example, the procedure module 490 may be red to indicate that the conditions are unfavorable while the notification module 480 may be green to indicate that the conditions are favorable. The notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 may also include user-specified or pre-determined information to describe the weather conditions or a potential impact of the weather conditions…Notifications may have tiered levels of severity. In one example, a purple colored notification may be more severe than a red colored notification and a green colored notification may indicate a reduction in severity. See also [0040], [0063], [0069], [0077], [0099]). See also Smith ([0033], Fig. 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller to use wherein the indicators of the identified weather events are presented in a first indicia and the other weather information is presented in a second indicia as taught by Rainey and/or Smith. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information and indicating a level of severity (Rainey, [0071]).
17. Regarding claim 34, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 33, as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses visual indicators of the identified weather events for the location ([0012], [0035]-[0042]).
Miller disclose does not disclose:
wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia and the first indicia is configured to draw the corresponding users attention to the visual indicators of the identified weather events for the location.
However, Rainey discloses:
wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia and the first indicia is configured to draw the corresponding users attention to the indicators of the identified weather events for the location ([0043]: the analysis unit 360 may be configured to output current, historical, and/or forecasted weather information to the graphical user interface 380 via the network 230 based on the user-specified weather conditions 328, queries 334 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may also be configured to output weather-related notifications based on the user-specified notification thresholds 332 and/or locations 322. The analysis unit 360 may further be configured to output weather-related warnings….[0058], [0071], Fig. 9: the notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 are color-coded to indicate whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable. An indication of whether a condition is favorable or unfavorable may be user-specified and stored, for example, as part of the user-specified notification thresholds 332. The system 200 may also include pre-determined indications of whether conditions are favorable or unfavorable. As shown in FIG. 4C, for example, the procedure module 490 may be red to indicate that the conditions are unfavorable while the notification module 480 may be green to indicate that the conditions are favorable. The notification modules 480 and/or the procedure modules 490 may also include user-specified or pre-determined information to describe the weather conditions or a potential impact of the weather conditions…Notifications may have tiered levels of severity. In one example, a purple colored notification may be more severe than a red colored notification and a green colored notification may indicate a reduction in severity. See also [0040], [0063], [0069], [0077], [0099]). See also Smith ([0033], Fig. 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller to use wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia and the first indicia is configured to draw the corresponding users attention to the visual indicators of the identified weather events for the location as taught by Rainey. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information and indicating a level of severity (Rainey, [0071]).
18. Regarding claim 35, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 33, as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein presenting the visual indicators of the identified weather events comprises presenting a notification about conditions to expect at the location as a result of the identified weather events ([0012], [0014], [0035]-[0042]). See also Rainey ([0043], [0058], [0071], Fig. 9).
19. Regarding claim 36, Miller in view of Rainey disclose the method of claim 33, as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the notification comprises at least one of: roads being slippery, a driving conditions difficulty level, a need to shovel, a likeliness of power outages, a likeliness of frostbite, a likeliness of heat stroke, a need to hydrate, a need to reduce outdoor physical activity, a likeliness of heat cramps or exhaustion, a likeliness of damage from high winds, and a likeliness of fog ([0035]-[0040]).
20. Regarding claim 38, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 37 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses determine a difference between the weather values for the location and corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds a predetermined threshold; and in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold, determining an impact of the weather events on the location ([0035]-[0042]).
21. Regarding claim 39, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 37 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses determine a difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold ([0035]-[0042]); and
wherein in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold, determining timing information of the weather event ([0027]-[0028], [0031], [0035]-[0040]).
22. Claims 25-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller, in view of Rainey, in view of Smith, in further view of Wang et al. CN 106950612 B (hereinafter, Wang).
23. Regarding claim 25, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith disclose the method of claim 21 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses determining, for each of the weather values, a difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location ([0035]-[0042]); wherein the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location comprises a [deviation] of the weather values from the corresponding baseline weather data. ([0035]-[0040]).
Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith does not disclose:
a standard deviation of the weather values from the corresponding baseline weather data.
However, Wang discloses:
“determining a temperature difference threshold and a dew point difference threshold… the temperature difference satisfies the temperature difference…and standard deviation of temperature difference” (see, page 2 and 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith to use a standard deviation of the weather value from the corresponding baseline weather data as taught by Wang. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to improve forecast severe weather events (Wang, page 5).
24. Regarding claim 26, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose the method of claim 25 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses determining whether the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold ([0035]-[0042]); and
in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceed the predetermined threshold, transmitting weather information for the location to the user devices that request the location-based weather services for the location ([0012], [0016], [0031], [0035]-[0042]).
Miller in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose does not disclose:
in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location does not exceed the predetermined threshold, transmitting other weather information for the location to the user devices.
However, Rainey discloses:
in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location does not exceed the predetermined threshold, transmitting other weather information for the location to the user devices ([0043], 0058], [0071], [0077], [0071], Fig. 9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Miller in view of Smith in view of Wang to use in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location does not exceed the predetermined threshold, transmitting other weather information for the location to the user devices as taught by Rainey. The motivation for doing so would have been in order to output weather information and indicating a level of severity based on predetermined threshold (Rainey, [0071]).
25. Regarding claim 27, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose the method of claim 26 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold, the method comprises: determining a nature of impact of the weather events on the location ([0035]-[0042]).
26. Regarding claim 28, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose the method of claim 26 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold, the method comprises: determining a start time of the weather events ([0027]-[0028], [0035]-[0040]).
27. Regarding claim 29, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose the method of claim 26 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein in response to determining that the difference between the weather values for the location and the corresponding baseline weather data for the location exceeds the predetermined threshold, the method comprises: determining a duration of the weather events ([0027]-[0028], [0031], [0035]-[0040]).
28. Regarding claim 30, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose the method of claim 26 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the predetermined threshold is defined in a set of rules, wherein each rule in the set of rules identifies a type of weather event, a value for the type of weather event for a predetermined period of time, and text information to display at the user devices in response to determining that the weather values for the location exceeds the value for the corresponding type of weather event for the predetermined period of time ([0012], [0031], [0035]-[0042]).
29. Regarding claim 31, Miller in view of Rainey in view of Smith in view of Wang disclose discloses the method of claim 30 as disclosed above.
Miller further discloses wherein the type of weather event comprises at least one of rain, freezing rain, snow, sleet, frostbite, temperature, wind chill, heat index, wind speed, dew point, and limited visibility ([0031], [0035]-[0040]).
Conclusion
30. Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers, and/or paragraphs, and/or pages in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
31. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
32. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EYOB HAGOS whose telephone number is (571)272-3508. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30-5:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Shelby Turner can be reached on 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Eyob Hagos/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857