Nal 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 .
Response to Amendment
This application is responsive to applicant amendments/remarks received 11/28/2025. Claims 1, 3-4 and 6-20 amended. Claims 1-20 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 10-11 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhong (US Patent No. 10086954B2).
In re claim 1, Zhong teaches A method for monitoring an unmanned aerial vehicle (Abstract: “Methods, systems, and devices are provided for displaying flight information related to a UAV.”), comprising:
obtaining first location information, the first location information comprising a location parameter of a home point of an unmanned aerial vehicle (Col 25, lines 22-24: “The map can be further configured to indicate the current position and/or orientation of a remote control terminal, a home point, a flight path of the UAV, and the like.”);
obtaining second location information, the second location information comprising a location parameter of a current location of the unmanned aerial vehicle (Col 25, lines 20-21: “The map section 504 can be used to display the current position and/or orientation of the UAV on a map (e.g., satellite map).”); and
displaying a relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in an attitude sphere displayed by a first terminal according to the first location information and the second location information by using the home point as a reference point (Col 2, lines 37-43: “In some embodiments, the UAV state information further comprises a distance of the UAV relative to a reference point. The reference point can includes a location of the remote terminal. The reference point can include a home point for the UAV to return to. The reference point can include an object within a predetermined range from the UAV.” and col 36, lines 34-40: “FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary map section 700, in accordance with embodiments. The map section 700 can be similar to the map section 504 discussed in FIG. 5 but described here in more detail. The map section 700 can be used to display the current positions the UAV, the remote terminal (e.g., remote control terminal and/or remote display terminal), and/or a reference point such as a home point.”), the attitude sphere being generated by using the home point as a center (Col 35, lines 31-34: “In some embodiments, the reference point can also include a location of the remote control terminal and/or the display terminal, a home point for the UAV to return, or any other waypoint.”; examiner notes ‘reference point’ is described throughout Zhong as including a number of locations, including a ‘home point’, and col 36, lines 16-22: “As another example, selection of the UAV icon 610 can cause the display of a three-dimensional depiction of the UAV's spatial disposition relative to a remote terminal (e.g., remote control terminal and/or remote display terminal). The depiction may include an orientation of the UAV around the pitch, yaw, and roll axis as perceived by a remote terminal or according to some other point of reference.”; examiner notes ‘some other point of reference’ includes a ‘home point’, as described throughout Zhong.), and an unmanned aerial vehicle mark indicating the unmanned aerial vehicle being always located in the attitude sphere (SEE rejection above describing UAV depicted as perceived according to some other point of reference. also FIG 6 depicting UAV icon 610, and col 32, lines 34-48: “The scale of the substantially circular region 603 can be represented by one or more concentric range rings that radiate from the center. The radii of the range rings can correspond to actual distance from the center such as 10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles, and the like according to a predetermined ratio or scale. In some embodiments, the scale of the substantially circular region 603 can be dynamically adjusted to fit both the remote terminal and the UAV in the substantially circular region 603. For instance, when the distance increases between the UAV and the remote terminal, the number of range rings can increase; alternatively and/or additionally, the radii can be scaled up to represent longer distances. The opposite may be true when the distance between the UAV and the remote terminal decreases.”).
Apparatus claim 10 and non-transitory computer readable storage medium claim 19 are rejected for the same reasons as method claim 1 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
In re claim 2, Zhong teaches wherein the displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the first location information and the second location information by using the home point as the reference point comprises:
calculating a first distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the home point according to the first location information and the second location information (SEE BELOW); and
displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the first distance by using the home point as the reference point (Cols 21-22, lines 65-67 and 1-6: “In an embodiment, the received information can be used to calculate information to be displayed. For example, the relative distance between the UAV and a reference point (e.g., home point, remote terminal) can be calculated based on the position information such as the GPS coordinates of the UAV that that of the reference point. As another example, the GPS coordinates of a series waypoints on a UAV's flight path may be used to display a continuous flight path.”).
Apparatus claim 11 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 2 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
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 3-5, 12-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong (US Patent No. 10086954B2) in view of WEN (CN Patent No. 112771350 A).
In re claim 3, Zhong teaches all of the limitations of claim 2 stated above and further teaches when the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than the preset threshold, the first distance information in the attitude sphere continues to change with the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle mark stays on an edge of the attitude sphere (SEE rejection above describing UAV depicted as perceived according to some other point of reference. also FIG 6 depicting UAV icon 610, and col 32, lines 34-48: “The scale of the substantially circular region 603 can be represented by one or more concentric range rings that radiate from the center. The radii of the range rings can correspond to actual distance from the center such as 10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles, and the like according to a predetermined ratio or scale. In some embodiments, the scale of the substantially circular region 603 can be dynamically adjusted to fit both the remote terminal and the UAV in the substantially circular region 603. For instance, when the distance increases between the UAV and the remote terminal, the number of range rings can increase; alternatively and/or additionally, the radii can be scaled up to represent longer distances. The opposite may be true when the distance between the UAV and the remote terminal decreases.”).
Zhong fails to teach wherein the displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the first distance by using the home point as the reference point comprises:
determining a relative location corresponding to a preset threshold in the first terminal as the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset threshold.
However, in the same field of endeavor, WEN teaches wherein the displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the first distance by using the home point as the reference point comprises:
determining a relative location corresponding to a preset threshold in the first terminal as the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset threshold (Description, Specific Implementation Examples, para [0020]: “In some embodiments, the flight finger compass further comprises a marking point icon, the marking point icon for representing the space point of the unmanned aerial vehicle mark, marking point icon on the flying position of the compass is determined according to the space point of the mark relative to the direction and distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle; when the distance of the space point of the mark relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle is less than the preset distance, the marking point icon is located in the flying index compass; when the distance of the space point of the mark relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset distance, the marking point icon is located at the inner side of the edge area of the flying index compass; the distance between the marking point icon and the marked space point relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle is also displayed near the flying index compass. wherein the marking point icon can be set based on the actual condition… by displaying the navigation point icon of the unmanned aerial vehicle on the flight guide compass, so that the user can know the direction and distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle relative to the space point of the mark; it is convenient for the user to control the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the space point of the mark.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang to incorporate the teachings of WEN to provide wherein the displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the first terminal according to the first distance by using the home point as the reference point comprises: determining a relative location corresponding to a preset threshold in the first terminal as the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset threshold with the UAV Flight Display of Zhang. Doing so enables the user to know the direction and distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle relative to the space point of the mark and is convenient for the user to control the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the space point of the mark, as recognized by WEN (Description, Specific Implementation Examples, para [0020]).
Apparatus claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 3 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Non-transitory computer readable storage medium claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 2 and method claim 3 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
In re claim 4, Zhang and WEN teach all of the limitations of claim 3 stated above where Zhang further teaches further comprising:
obtaining flight information of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight information comprising a flight direction (Col 32, lines 60-63: “In some embodiments, the orientation of the UAV can be indicated by an orientation of the UAV icon 610 such as indicated by the pointing direction of the nose of UAV as shown by the UAV icon 610.”);
calculating the first distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the home point and a first orientation of the unmanned aerial vehicle relative to the home point according to the first location information and the second location information (Cols 21-22, lines 65-67 and 1-6: “In an embodiment, the received information can be used to calculate information to be displayed. For example, the relative distance between the UAV and a reference point (e.g., home point, remote terminal) can be calculated based on the position information such as the GPS coordinates of the UAV that that of the reference point. As another example, the GPS coordinates of a series waypoints on a UAV's flight path may be used to display a continuous flight path.”); and
displaying the relative location of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the first distance and the first orientation by using the home point as the reference point (Col 34, lines 46-63: “The flight parameters display section 604 can be used to display flight parameters of the UAV such as distances and speeds. The flight parameters display section 604 can be displayed adjacent to or separate from the icon display section 602. As illustrated, the flight parameters display section 604 can include a vertical distance indicator 612 and a horizontal distance indicator 614 used to show the vertical distance and the horizontal distance, respectively, between the UAV and a predetermined reference point such as a home point, a remote control terminal and/or the remote display terminal, or any other reference point or location. The vertical distance indicator 612 and the horizontal distance indicator 614 can each include a symbol or icon illustrative of the parameter being represented (e.g., “H” for height or vertical distance and “D” for horizontal distance) along with a numeric value of the parameter (e.g., “739 m” for 739 meters in vertical distance and “1739 m” for 1739 meters in horizontal distance).”).
Apparatus claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 4 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
In re claim 5, Zhang and WEN teach all of the limitations of claim 4 stated above where Zhang further teaches further comprising:
updating the location parameter of the home point of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a user input (Col 27, lines 23-41: “The home setting control 528 may provide options for the user to set the home point. For example, selection of the home setting control 528 may cause three additional home setting controls (not shown) to be provided. One of the additional home setting controls may allow a user to select the current position of the UAV, the remote control terminal, or any other suitable object as the home point. Another one of the additional home setting controls may allow the user to set the takeoff point for the UAV as the home point. Yet another one of the additional home setting controls may allow a user specify that the home point should follow a dynamically movable object such as the remote control terminal and/or the remote display terminal. When this control is selected, the home point may be automatically updated on a periodic basis (e.g., every 2, 4, 8, 10, or 20 seconds) to be the current location of the specified movable object. Alternatively, the home point may be updated only in response to certain user events such as the selection of the auto return control 526.”).
Apparatus claim 14 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 5 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 and 15-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not expressly teach or render obvious, in the context of the claims taken as a whole:
Regarding claim 6: wherein the flight information further comprises a gimbal orientation, a horizontal flight speed, a vertical flight speed and an altitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and
the method further comprises displaying at least one of the first distance, the gimbal orientation, the horizontal flight speed, the vertical flight speed [[or]] and the altitude in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal.
Apparatus claim 15 is allowed for the same reasons as method claim 6 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Regarding claim 7: obtaining third location information, the third location information being a location parameter of a current location of a second terminal, the second terminal being configured to control the unmanned aerial vehicle;
calculating a second distance between the second terminal and the home point and a second orientation of the second terminal relative to the home point according to the first location information and the third location information; and
displaying a relative location of the second terminal in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal according to the second distance and the second orientation by using the home point as the reference point;
wherein when the second terminal is connected to the first terminal, the attitude sphere is also displayed by the second terminal.
Apparatus claim 16 is allowed for the same reasons as method claim 7 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Regarding claim 8: wherein the flight information further comprises a flight attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and
the method further comprises:
displaying a level instrument in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal and adjusting the level instrument in real time according to the flight attitude.
Apparatus claim 17 is allowed for the same reasons as method claim 8 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Regarding claim 9: further comprising:
displaying a north pointing mark in the attitude sphere displayed by the first terminal;
reducing the attitude sphere according to a reduction instruction; and
displaying the level instrument and the north pointing mark in the reduced attitude sphere.
Apparatus claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons as method claim 9 for having similar limitations and being similar in scope.
Moreover, modifying the prior art to achieve the claim limitation can only be achieved by hindsight, as no other reference includes these limitations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 11/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 11 of applicant Remarks, applicant argues art of claim 1:
“In Zhong, the substantially circular region 603 is generated by using the remote terminal icon 628 as the center and the home point is not shown in the map.
Zhong therefore fails to disclose, teach or suggest the above-emphasized features "the attitude sphere being generated by using the home point as a center" as recited in amended claim 1.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. As shown in the above rejection, and reproduced here, Zhong teaches in Col 35, lines 31-34: “In some embodiments, the reference point can also include a location of the remote control terminal and/or the display terminal, a home point for the UAV to return, or any other waypoint.”; examiner notes ‘reference point’ is described throughout Zhong as including a number of locations, including a ‘home point’.—Zhong further teaches in col 36, lines 16-22: “As another example, selection of the UAV icon 610 can cause the display of a three-dimensional depiction of the UAV's spatial disposition relative to a remote terminal (e.g., remote control terminal and/or remote display terminal). The depiction may include an orientation of the UAV around the pitch, yaw, and roll axis as perceived by a remote terminal or according to some other point of reference.”; examiner notes ‘some other point of reference’ includes a ‘home point’, as described throughout Zhong. Therefore, Zhong teaches a type of attitude display depicting the UAV as perceived by a point of reference, ie, a home point.
Conclusion
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 JAMES EDWARD MUNION whose telephone number is (571)270-0437. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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/JAMES E MUNION/Examiner, Art Unit 2688 02/02/2026
/STEVEN LIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2688