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 .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to applicant’s amendment/response filed on 05/01/2026, which has been entered and made of record. Claims 1, 5, and 8-9 have been amended. Claims 10-11 have been added. Claims 1-11 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 05/01/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant submitted new amended claims. Accordingly, new grounds of rejection are set forth above. The new grounds of rejection conclusion have been necessitated by Applicant's amendments to the claims.
Applicants state that “Applicant submits Takanashi fails to cure the deficiencies of Toma. Takanashi describes a space modeling apparatus that sets a block of a predetermined size for predetermined map data. Each block is given a unique block ID. See paragraphs [0019]-[0020]. Each of the blocks of Takanashi are not assigned a plurality of identification information, where one of the plurality of identification information is different from another of the plurality of identification information. Rather, each block is assigned a single unique block ID. Accordingly, Takanashi fails to teach assigning a plurality of identification information to each of the divided three-dimensional spaces, one of the plurality of identification information is different from another of the plurality of identification information”.
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The examiner disagrees. Takanashi et al. teach assigning a plurality of identification information to each of the divided three-dimensional spaces (abstract, “A space modeling device 100 sets and models a block in map data, sets a name of a place in each block, and determines an installation position of a position identification information transmission device 600 in association with the block. The position conversion information indicating the relationship between the block, the name of the location of the block, and the position identification information is generated. The user terminal device 400 receives the location identification information transmitted from the location identification information transmission device 600 and transmits a location notification request including this location identification information to the space management device 200”, par 0019, “In the space modeling apparatus 100, a block having a predetermined size is set for predetermined map data. Each block is given a unique block ID. The block is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped in the case of a three-dimensional map, and is rectangular, for example, in the case of a two-dimensional map”, also Fig 10, par 0059, par 0093), one of the plurality of identification is different from another of the plurality of identification information (Fig 10, par 0078, “the block corresponding to the position identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 (ID of the position identification information transmission device 600) included in the position notification request is detected from FIG. The name attribute corresponding to the detected block is detected by 10 (b). For example, when the position identification information (ID) of the position identification information transmission device 600 included in the position notification request is 10000, the block ID: 254 is detected, and the name attribute corresponding to the block ID: 254: 5th floor lobby Southeast is detected” …..each IDs are different).
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2024/0271955 to Toma et al. in view of Japan PGPubs 2006-253888 to Takanashi et al..
Regarding claim 1, Toma et al. teach an information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus including a processor, the information processing method comprising (par 0085, claim 4, “method to be executed by a mobile apparatus including a communication device and a processor”): with the processor,
acquiring three-dimensional map data (par 0071, “the information transmission method may further include: transmitting a transmission request for a three-dimensional map to the server; and receiving the three-dimensional map from the server “, par 0128, “As shown in FIG. 7, first, obtainer 101 obtains three-dimensional data 111, which is point group data (S101)”);
dividing the three-dimensional map data into predetermined three-dimensional spaces (Fig 4, par 0122-0123, “the topology of GOSs in a world will be described. The coordinates of the three-dimensional space in a world are represented by the three coordinate axes (x axis, y axis, and z axis) that are orthogonal to one another. A predetermined rule set for the encoding order of GOSs enables encoding to be performed such that spatially adjacent GOSs are contiguous in the encoded data. In an example shown in FIG. 4, for example, GOSs in the x and z planes are successively encoded “, par 0130, “divider 103 divides the point group data included in the current region into processing units. The processing units here means units such as GOSs and SPCs described above. The current region here corresponds to, for example, a world described above. More specifically, divider 103 divides the point group data into processing units on the basis of a predetermined GOS size, or the presence/absence/size of a dynamic object (S103)”).
But Toma et al. keep silent for teaching assigning a plurality of identification information to each of the divided three-dimensional spaces, one of the plurality of identification is different from another of the plurality of identification information.
In related endeavor, Takanashi et al. teach dividing the three-dimensional map data into predetermined three-dimensional spaces (Figs 8A-8B, par 0019-0020, “Although details will be described later, for example, a block is set as in the example of FIG. FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example in which a rectangular block is set for a two-dimensional map. In FIG. 8C, a rectangular parallelepiped block is set for a three-dimensional map. An example is shown”); assigning a plurality of identification information to each of the divided three-dimensional spaces (abstract, “A space modeling device 100 sets and models a block in map data, sets a name of a place in each block, and determines an installation position of a position identification information transmission device 600 in association with the block. The position conversion information indicating the relationship between the block, the name of the location of the block, and the position identification information is generated. The user terminal device 400 receives the location identification information transmitted from the location identification information transmission device 600 and transmits a location notification request including this location identification information to the space management device 200”, par 0019, “In the space modeling apparatus 100, a block having a predetermined size is set for predetermined map data. Each block is given a unique block ID. The block is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped in the case of a three-dimensional map, and is rectangular, for example, in the case of a two-dimensional map”, also par 0059, par 0093), one of the plurality of identification is different from another of the plurality of identification information (Fig 10, par 0078, “the block corresponding to the position identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 (ID of the position identification information transmission device 600) included in the position notification request is detected from FIG. The name attribute corresponding to the detected block is detected by 10 (b). For example, when the position identification information (ID) of the position identification information transmission device 600 included in the position notification request is 10000, the block ID: 254 is detected, and the name attribute corresponding to the block ID: 254: 5th floor lobby Southeast is detected” …..each Ids are different).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Toma et al. to include assigning a plurality of identification information to each of the divided three-dimensional spaces, one of the plurality of identification is different from another of the plurality of identification information as taught by Takanashi et al. to transmit position related information corresponding to the installed position to reliably and quickly determines a position attribute of a block corresponding to the identification information received by the reception unit as a position attribute of the current position of the mobile communication device.
Regarding claim 2, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim, and further teach wherein the dividing includes, with respect to horizontally stretched two-dimensional map data included in the three-dimensional map data, using predetermined two-dimensional regions obtained by horizontally dividing the two-dimensional map data and dividing each of the two- dimensional regions at a predetermined height, thereby generating the three-dimensional spaces (Toma et al.: par 0388, par 0424, par 0428-0432, “When three-dimensional map 711 includes a SWLD, two-dimensional features on the same plane as that of the two-dimensional map may be stored in three-dimensional map 711 together with three-dimensional features of keypoints in a three-dimensional space. For example, identification information is assigned to two-dimensional features. Alternatively, two-dimensional features are stored in a layer different from the layers of the three-dimensional data and the two-dimensional map, and the vehicle obtains data of the two-dimensional features together with the two-dimensional map”, Takanashi et al.: Figs 8A-8C, Figs 8A-8B, par 0019-0020, “a block having a predetermined size is set for predetermined map data. Each block is given a unique block ID. The block is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped in the case of a three-dimensional map, and is rectangular, for example, in the case of a two-dimensional map. However, blocks having other shapes may be used. Although details will be described later, for example, a block is set as in the example of FIG. FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example in which a rectangular block is set for a two-dimensional map. In FIG. 8C, a rectangular parallelepiped block is set for a three-dimensional map. An example is shown”).
Regarding claim 3, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein the dividing includes changing a unit of the predetermined three-dimensional space based on a position in the three-dimensional map data (Toma et al.: par 0124, “ GOSs have a fixed size, and the encoding device stores such size as meta-information. The GOS size may be changed depending on, for example, whether it is an urban area or not, or whether it is inside or outside of a room. Stated differently, the GOS size may be changed in accordance with the amount or the attributes of objects with information values “, par 0169, “The encoding device may also change the GOS size or the SPC size depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS. For example, the encoding device sets the size of an interior GOS to smaller than the size of an exterior GOS. The encoding device may also change the accuracy of extracting keypoints from a point cloud, or the accuracy of detecting objects, for example, depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS “, Takanashi et al.: Figs 39-41, par 0070-0071par 0101-0102, “when the position and movement in the x direction are important and the difference in the position in the y direction is not important, a block is set as shown in FIG. In FIG. 38, there are three areas: room A, room B, and lobby C. The lobby C has a configuration in which the x direction is much longer than the y direction. In this case, when the difference in the position in the y direction is not important, in order to specify the position in the x direction in more detail, the blocks are set at equal intervals in the x direction. In the figure, the position identification information transmitting device 600 is the same as described above. Further, 900 in the figure is a position coordinate estimated from the positioning result. Thereby, even if there is a large shift in the y direction, it is specified that the blocks are the same. For example, in an exhibition hall or the like, if booths are lined up in the x direction and it is desired to specify where the booth is, the blocks may be set in this way. The same is true for the direction of movement. As shown in FIGS. 39, 40, and 41, the moving direction obtained from the block information changes depending on the setting of the block. 39 shows a case where there is no block setting, FIG. 40 shows a case where blocks are set at equal intervals in the x direction, and FIG. 41 shows a case where blocks are set at equal intervals in the y direction. Since the position when the positioning result is ambiguous may be specified based on the moving direction, the result of the specified position may change. By specifying the moving direction based on the block in consideration of the accuracy, the specified position can be corrected according to the accuracy”).
Regarding claim 4, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 3, and further teach wherein the dividing includes changing at least a unit of the predetermined three-dimensional space in a height direction, based on a height (Toma et al.: par 0123, “each three-dimensional space may be represented as a position relative to a previously set reference position. The directions of the x axis, the y axis, and the z axis in the three-dimensional space are represented by directional vectors that are determined on the basis of the latitudes and the longitudes, etc. Such directional vectors are stored together with the encoded data as meta-information”, par 0430, “When the two-dimensional map shows, on the same map, information on positions having different heights from the ground (i.e., positions that are not on the same plane), such as a white line inside a road, a guardrail, and a building, the vehicle extracts features from data on a plurality of heights in self-detected three-dimensional data 712”, par 0481, “Vehicle 801 transmits, at the time interval of Δt, three-dimensional data, such as a point cloud (a point group) included in a rectangular solid space 802, having width W, height H, and depth D, located ahead of vehicle 801 and distanced by distance L from vehicle 801, to a cloud-based traffic monitoring system that monitors road situations or a following vehicle”, par 0693, “Position information appended to position-related data indicates, for example, a position in a coordinate system used for three-dimensional data. For example, the position information is coordinate values represented using a value of a latitude and a value of a longitude. Here, terminal 2021 may include, in the position information, a coordinate system serving as a reference for the coordinate values and information indicating three-dimensional data used for location estimation, along with the coordinate values. Coordinate values may also include altitude information”).
Regarding claim 5, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 3, and further teach wherein the dividing includes changing at least a unit of the predetermined three-dimensional space in a horizontal direction, based on feature data or region information included in the three- dimensional map data (Toma et al.: par 0123-0124, “each three-dimensional space may be represented as a position relative to a previously set reference position. The directions of the x axis, the y axis, and the z axis in the three-dimensional space are represented by directional vectors that are determined on the basis of the latitudes and the longitudes, etc. Such directional vectors are stored together with the encoded data as meta-information … GOSs have a fixed size, and the encoding device stores such size as meta-information. The GOS size may be changed depending on, for example, whether it is an urban area or not, or whether it is inside or outside of a room. Stated differently, the GOS size may be changed in accordance with the amount or the attributes of objects with information values “, par 0169, “The encoding device may also change the GOS size or the SPC size depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS. For example, the encoding device sets the size of an interior GOS to smaller than the size of an exterior GOS. The encoding device may also change the accuracy of extracting keypoints from a point cloud, or the accuracy of detecting objects, for example, depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS “, Takanashi et al.: Figs 39-41, par 0070-0071, par 0101-0102, “when the position and movement in the x direction are important and the difference in the position in the y direction is not important, a block is set as shown in FIG. In FIG. 38, there are three areas: room A, room B, and lobby C. The lobby C has a configuration in which the x direction is much longer than the y direction. In this case, when the difference in the position in the y direction is not important, in order to specify the position in the x direction in more detail, the blocks are set at equal intervals in the x direction. In the figure, the position identification information transmitting device 600 is the same as described above. Further, 900 in the figure is a position coordinate estimated from the positioning result. Thereby, even if there is a large shift in the y direction, it is specified that the blocks are the same. For example, in an exhibition hall or the like, if booths are lined up in the x direction and it is desired to specify where the booth is, the blocks may be set in this way. The same is true for the direction of movement. As shown in FIGS. 39, 40, and 41, the moving direction obtained from the block information changes depending on the setting of the block. 39 shows a case where there is no block setting, FIG. 40 shows a case where blocks are set at equal intervals in the x direction, and FIG. 41 shows a case where blocks are set at equal intervals in the y direction. Since the position when the positioning result is ambiguous may be specified based on the moving direction, the result of the specified position may change. By specifying the moving direction based on the block in consideration of the accuracy, the specified position can be corrected according to the accuracy”).
Regarding claim 6, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 5, and further teach herein the assigning includes assigning identification information based on a coordinate value of a predetermined position in each of the three-dimensional spaces(Toma et al.: par 0122-0124, “the topology of GOSs in a world will be described. The coordinates of the three-dimensional space in a world are represented by the three coordinate axes (x axis, y axis, and z axis) that are orthogonal to one another. A predetermined rule set for the encoding order of GOSs enables encoding to be performed such that spatially adjacent GOSs are contiguous in the encoded data. In an example shown in FIG. 4, for example, GOSs in the x and z planes are successively encoded. After the completion of encoding all GOSs in certain x and z planes, the value of the y axis is updated ….. GOSs have a fixed size, and the encoding device stores such size as meta-information. The GOS size may be changed depending on, for example, whether it is an urban area or not, or whether it is inside or outside of a room. Stated differently, the GOS size may be changed in accordance with the amount or the attributes of objects with information values “, par 0169, “The encoding device may also change the GOS size or the SPC size depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS. For example, the encoding device sets the size of an interior GOS to smaller than the size of an exterior GOS. The encoding device may also change the accuracy of extracting keypoints from a point cloud, or the accuracy of detecting objects, for example, depending on whether a GOS is an interior GOS or an exterior GOS “, par 0693, “Position information appended to position-related data indicates, for example, a position in a coordinate system used for three-dimensional data. For example, the position information is coordinate values represented using a value of a latitude and a value of a longitude. Here, terminal 2021 may include, in the position information, a coordinate system serving as a reference for the coordinate values and information indicating three-dimensional data used for location estimation, along with the coordinate values. Coordinate values may also include altitude information”, Takanashi et al.: abstract, “A space modeling device 100 sets and models a block in map data, sets a name of a place in each block, and determines an installation position of a position identification information transmission device 600 in association with the block. The position conversion information indicating the relationship between the block, the name of the location of the block, and the position identification information is generated. The user terminal device 400 receives the location identification information transmitted from the location identification information transmission device 600 and transmits a location notification request including this location identification information to the space management device 200 “, par 0023, “The identification information (device ID and the like) transmitted by the position identification information transmission device 600 is different for each position identification information transmission device 600. For this reason, in the space modeling device 100, the identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 is associated with the block, and the installation position of each position identification information transmission device 600 is determined”)..
Regarding claim 7, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 6, and further teach wherein the processor further executes associating identification information corresponding to the predetermined position in the three-dimensional space with feature data in the three-dimensional space (Toma et al.: Takanashi et al.: par 0037, “The position conversion information generation unit 106 determines whether the block is based on the setting state of the position attribute for the block by the attribute setting unit 104 and the association state between the identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 and the block ID by the positioning infrastructure position setting unit 105. Position conversion information indicating the relationship between the identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 and the position attribute is generated “, par 0060-0062, “the block corresponding to the position identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 (ID of the position identification information transmission device 600) included in the position notification request is detected from FIG. The name attribute corresponding to the detected block is detected by 10 (b). For example, when the position identification information (ID) of the position identification information transmission device 600 included in the position notification request is 10000, the block ID: 254 is detected, and the name attribute corresponding to the block ID: 254: 5th floor lobby Southeast is detected”).
Regarding claim 8, Toma et al. teach a non-transitory storage medium storing a program executed by an information processing apparatus including a processor, the program causing the processor to execute (par 0085, par 0743). The remaining limitations of the claim are similar in scope to claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 9, Toma et al. teach an information processing apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the processor executes (par 0085, claim 1). The remaining limitations of the claim are similar in scope to claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 10, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein the three-dimensional map data is based on longitude, latitude, and height (Toma et al.: par 0096-0097, “The spatial region occupied by each world is associated with an absolute position on earth, by use of, for example, GPS, or latitude and longitude information.”, par 0123, “the three-dimensional spaces in the respective worlds are previously associated one-to-one with absolute geographical coordinates such as GPS coordinates or latitude/longitude coordinates”, par 0429-0430, “When the two-dimensional map shows, on the same map, information on positions having different heights from the ground (i.e., positions that are not on the same plane), such as a white line inside a road, a guardrail, and a building, the vehicle extracts features from data on a plurality of heights in self-detected three-dimensional data 712”, Takanashi et al.: par 0096-0098, par 0149, “the destination information may be, for example, a name such as “first meeting room on the fifth floor of the third building”, information on corresponding coordinates, or information on latitude and longitude”, par 0100, “Each of the x direction, the y direction, and the height direction is expressed with each accuracy, thereby specifying the position”).
Regarding claim 11, Toma et al. as modified by Takanashi et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and Takanashi et al. further teach wherein each of the plurality of identification information includes a first type of identification and at least one second type of identification, the first type of identification identifies an individual three-dimensional space (Fig 10(a), par 0019, “In the space modeling apparatus 100, a block having a predetermined size is set for predetermined map data. Each block is given a unique block ID. The block is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped in the case of a three-dimensional map, and is rectangular, for example, in the case of a two-dimensional map”, also par 0059, par 0093, disclose 3D block ID), and the second type of identification identifies a determined area related to the individual three-dimensional space or an object in the individual three-dimensional space (Fig 10(b), par 0078, “the block corresponding to the position identification information of the position identification information transmission device 600 (ID of the position identification information transmission device 600) included in the position notification request is detected from FIG. The name attribute corresponding to the detected block is detected by 10 (b). For example, when the position identification information (ID) of the position identification information transmission device 600 included in the position notification request is 10000, the block ID: 254 is detected, and the name attribute corresponding to the block ID: 254: 5th floor lobby Southeast is detected”, par 0094, “the example in which the name attribute indicating the name of the place corresponding to the block is set as the position attribute has been described. However, not only the name attribute but also the characteristics of places such as a passage, road, room, lobby, entrance / exit, danger area, and no entry area may be set as the position attribute. In addition, an attribute as an absolute position conversion point may be given to a block corresponding to a specific point, such as an entrance / exit or four corners of a building, to have position information of latitude / longitude”, par 0157, “when the destination information is indicated by a name such as “first conference room on the fifth floor of the third building”, the block of the third building is the user terminal device from FIG. The record having the name attribute of “first conference room on the fifth floor of the third building” is detected from the block ID of the user terminal device 400 number in FIG. And the block ID: 457 is extracted”….disclose characteristics of places as individual 3d space or an object such as road, room, lobby, entrance / exit, danger area, and no entry area).
Conclusion
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 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 Jin Ge whose telephone number is (571)272-5556. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 to 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Chan can be reached at (571)272-3022. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JIN . GE
Examiner
Art Unit 2619
/JIN GE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
Prosecution Insights