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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on3/11/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 7, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by SatTrack (V4.0) to Manfred Bester, hereinafter referred to as “SatTrack.”
With regard to claim 1, SatTrack teaches an information processing device comprising a display control unit that causes a first screen to be displayed, see Fig 1, the first screen including a map display unit (displays world map) and a time information display unit (upper right corner of Fig. 1), the map display unit displaying an artificial satellite (See satellite icon in Fig 1) that orbits a celestial object (earth) and an orbit of the artificial satellite on a map of the celestial object (track of the orbit in Fig 1), the time information display unit displaying time information on the orbit of the artificial satellite (date and time), wherein the display control unit causes the first screen to synchronously display a position of the artificial satellite on the map of the celestial object on the map display unit, and time information about the artificial satellite on the time information display unit (see page 3, section “Real-Time Tracking” where a live display syncs the position of the satellite on the world map with the date and time).
With regard to claim 3 and claim 4, SatTrack teaches the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes the map of the celestial object on the map display unit to further display a satellite imaging range indicating a range in which the artificial satellite can perform imaging (see page 5, 3rd paragraph under section “World Map Tracking Chart” - circle of visibility (footprint)). And in real-time as per claim 4 since the circle of visibility is the area of the earth’s surface that the satellite is able to see from its position in orbit.
With regard to claim 7, SatTrack teaches the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes the map of the celestial object on the map display unit to further display at least one of an expression of day or night, a cloud forecast, a weather forecast, or a constellation (see page 5, 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of section “World Map Tracking Chart” - “dark side of Earth shaded in”).
Claim 20 is rejected for reasoning, mutatis mutandis, as that of similar claim 1 above.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 2, 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SatTrack in view of “Simple Visualization Tool for Analysis of Satellite Orbits and Constellations” to Truchly et al, hereinafter referred to as “Truchly.”
SatTrack discloses a GUI for live tracking of satellites via a display of a world map. However, SatTrack fails to teach displaying a time zone on the orbit in which reservation of imaging by the artificial satellite is not possible (claim 2), displaying a time zone on the time information display in which reservation of imaging by the artificial satellite is not possible (claim 5), and displaying a real-time imaging enabled time zone on the time information display indicating a time zone in which the artificial satellite can perform real-time imaging (claim 6).
However, in the same field of endeavor (satellite tracking via a GUI), Truchly discloses under Section II, “Current Orbit Visualization Tools”, the SaVoir software which includes identification of potential acquisitions for regions and times of interest for a user. In particular, users may set an are of interest on the earth’s surface and observe which satellites are available at specified times. Inherently, the specified time for observation of the earth’s surface would entail indicating a date and time of day local to the time zone of the desired area of interest.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have displayed the time zones on the GUI tool taught by SatTrack where visualization of the earth’s surface was either available, or not available, as doing so would provide a visual aid and reminder to the user of when images of the earth’s surface are able to be captured (or not captured). Considering that time zones are a ubiquitous part of world maps, their usage in the satellite tracking GUI tools taught by SatTrack and Truchly would have been obvious to one have ordinary skill in the art of live satellite tracking.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-19 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art cited by the examiner reflects the general state of the art surrounding the modelling of satellites in orbit around the earth.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID OMETZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7593. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8am-4pm.
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DAVID OMETZ
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2672
/DAVID OMETZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2672