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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This communication is a first office action, non-final rejection on the merits. Claims 1-4,6-14,16,18-20 and 23-25, filed as preliminary amendment, are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
2. Applicant’s amendment filed June 28, 2024 amends 1-4,6-14,16,18-20 and 23-25. Claims 5, 15, 17 and 21-22 cancelled. Claims 1-4,6-14,16,18-20 and 23-25 presented for Examination. Applicant’s amendment has been fully considered and entered.
Priority
3. As required by M.P.E.P.201.14(c), acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for priority based on applications filed on Dec 29, 2022 (PCT/IL2022/051411) and Dec 30, 2021(IL 289519).
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/23/24 and 6/28/24 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 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.
6. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
7. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
8. Claims 1-4,6-10, 13-14,16,18-20 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Tournier (US 20200342748 A1) (hereinafter Tournier) in view of GAGNON (US 20200111335 A1) (hereinafter GAGNON).
Regarding claim 1, Tournier discloses a monitoring system comprising:
a passive infrared, PIR, detector configured for detecting motion in an environment (para 20, FIG. 1, a property 105 is monitored by a property monitoring system 100, para 21, The motion sensor 110 include Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor 112 and detect moving objects (i.e. detect motion));
an active reflected wave detector arranged to measure wave reflections from a region of interest in the environment (para 22, PIR sensor 112 detects infrared energy emitted or reflected by objects in its field of view (i. e., region of interest), para 25, PIR sensor 112 collect infrared energy (i.e., from reflected wave) and detect for objects of interest, humans, animals, or vehicles);
wherein the active reflected wave detector is operable responsive to detection of motion by the PIR detector (para 81, use rules 275 to determine actions 280 and rule 275 state when object of interest is detected (i.e., responsive to detection) and takes actions 280, rules 275 and actions 280 set by monitoring system); and
the system is configured to adjust at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria (para 36, motion sensor 110 adjusted by changing criteria 116 and increase sensitivity of PIR sensor 112, increases sensitivity of PIR sensor 112 adjusting threshold (i.e., adjust parameter based on output action)),
wherein the one or more criteria are dependent on, or indicative of, a location of an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector, the attributed location being a location of an entity (Abstract, detection criteria is satisfied by the reference PIR data; in response to determining that motion detection criteria is satisfied by reference PIR data, para 32, The motion sensor 110 include criteria 116 which include thresholds and rules that determine whether motion sensor 110 process data from a detected object, Changes to criteria 116 made, by the resident, para 44, object model include information related to object size/dimensions, locations, and movement speed (i.e. attributed location of entity in object model)).
Tournier specifically fails to disclose determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector.
In analogous art, GAGNON discloses determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector (para 05, (PIR) motion sensing devices for motion detection with reflected from an object moving, para 08, infrared motion sensing device receive output waveform signal and determine whether a motion event has occurred, para 15, PIR detector received reflected signal in response to object motion within detection field of view, para 24, detector taking action in response to determining motion event occurred (i.e., detector operated in response to motion)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of monitoring system includes a passive infrared (PIR) sensor configured to generate reference PIR data that represents motion within an area of the property disclosed by Tournier to use autonomous surveillance system using passive infrared (PIR) motion detection to provide improved detection of a subject in a detection range as taught by GAGNON to determine, from the signal analysis performed on the output waveform signal, one or more of object position information, object speed information, object direction of travel information, object size information, object shape information, and object type information about the motion event [GAGNON, paragraph 013].
Regarding claim 2, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter of the PIR detector defines a controllable behavioural characteristic of the PIR detector that determines how the PIR detector responds to a moving infrared-light emitting object and affects the operation of the PIR detector in determining motion (para 108, PIR data include time varying characteristics of detected motion and analyze PIR data to identify object of interest, para 131, control unit 510 to receive information regarding events detected).
Regarding claim 3, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter of the PIR detector determines, sets or defines a sensing range of the PIR detector, the sensing range being a maximum distance the PIR detector can detect motion to at least a predetermined or set level (para 27, PIR sensor 112 wake when a certain event occurs, such as thresholds passes through field of view, para 145, devices 540 and 550 in range to communicate with control unit 510, para 48, adjust thresholds for detection, or adjust rules for motion sensor 110).
Regarding claim 4, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least of the group selected from: one or more detection thresholds used to determine whether a signal of the PIR detector is indicative of motion; at least one parameter that defines one or more frequency bands of radiation that the PIR detector detects or is sensitive to: a gain of the PIR detector; a sensitivity of the PIR detector; and/or at least one parameter of a transfer function or gain vs frequency profile of the PIR detector (para 89, Parameters include filter and frequencies for high-pass, low-pass, and band -pass filters, signal gain, adjustment, active window time, blind time, and bulk IR threshold, para 84, monitoring system increase frequency of in order to improve motion sensor performance).
Regarding claim 6, Tournier discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more criteria are dependent on or indicative of a distance to an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector (para 50, create revised criteria 150 that adjusts parameters for motion detection, para 69, sensors programmed with a threshold, which is compared to the PIR data output).
Regarding claim 7, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to implement a virtual fence that defines at least part of the region of interest (para 75, FIG. 2, based on analyzing IR samples 240, motion sensor 210 determine potential object of interest 245, para 81, rule 275 state that when any object of interest is detected, and takes the action 280).
Regarding claim 8, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, configured to calculate a maximum distance corresponding to the region of interest, the maximum distance being a distance from the PIR detector to a furthermost location of the region of interest therefrom, and further configured to set a default value of the at least one parameter of the PIR detector so that a default range of the PIR detector is based on said maximum distance (para 89, determining motion detection criteria based on combination of parameters of the PIR output signal, threshold, detection time window and criteria 116 include threshold distance from the motion sensor 110, or both, para 34, motion sensor 110 process data from objects at distances closer than threshold distance, para 49, motion sensor 110 detected person at a greater distance and/or farther from center of the field of view).
Regarding claim 9, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, configured to adjust the sensing range of the PIR detector by an amount dependent on the location of the entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector (para 89, criteria 116 include threshold distance from motion sensor 110, or both, para 24, PIR sensor 112 enable identification of object locations within a field of view, identify object passes from different direction, or if object moves toward or away from PIR sensor 112).
Regarding claim 10, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 7, configured to increase the sensing range of the PIR detector if the output of the active reflected wave detector indicates that an entity that is detected by the PIR detector to trigger the active reflected wave detector is within the virtual fence or within the virtual fence by at least a threshold distance when the active reflected wave detector is triggered (para 44, object model may include information related to, for example, object size/dimensions, locations, and movement speed, para 101, classify object within the scene as a background object and identify segment where object is located in the scene and can reduce a motion detection sensitivity, para 60, triggering event detection of any moving object by motion sensor 11, para 152, system triggered when alarm system detects an event, such as an alarm event, within motion in the area within field of view).
Regarding claim 13, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 3, configured to increase the sensing range of the PIR detector to a default setting when it is determined that an entity that is detected by the PIR detector to trigger the active reflected wave detector is inside the region of interest when the active reflected wave detector is triggered (para 107, motion detection criteria include setting thresholds, one or more filters, or one or more rules to trigger region of interest, para 31, FIG. 1, motion sensor 110 includes PIR sensor 112 and triggered by PIR sensor 112, para 60, triggering event for detection of any moving object by motion sensor 110).
Regarding claim 14, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, configured to identify if an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector is a human and to only adjust the at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria if the entity is a human (para 25, PIR sensor 112 detect for objects of interest can be humans, animals, or vehicles, also detect distractors, which are moving objects that are not classified as objects of interest, para 36, PIR sensor 112 detect motion of humans and increases sensitivity of PIR sensor 112 by lowering threshold, also detect motion of pets (i.e., adjust the parameter), para 44, one or more object models (e.g., human model, animal model, vehicle model) that include respective object to detect objects class).
Regarding claim 16, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, configured to automatically at least partially reverse or reset the at least one parameter of the PIR detector with time (para 50, The criteria generator 145 create revised criteria 150 that adjusts parameters for motion detection which include minimum number of samples, major threshold, minor threshold, number of zero crossings, pulses above major threshold, minimum duration, and detection time window).
Regarding claim 18, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, configured to implement one or more counters for counting events or entities detected by the PIR detector and/or the active reflected wave detector, wherein the system is configured to adjust the at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria only when the counter reaches a predefined number greater than 1 (para 48, system adjusts one or more thresholds for detection, or create or adjusts rules for the motion sensor 110, para 50, create revised criteria 150 that adjusts parameters for motion detection).
Regarding claim 19, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the one or more criteria comprise an analysis of an output of the active reflected wave detector or output derived therefrom determining that the detected motion by the PIR detector was caused by a non-human entity (para 52, distractors use in the field of view of the motion sensor 110, wind chimes, a flag, and a leafy tree within the field of view of the motion sensor 110 and these objects move, they are not objects of interest to the property monitoring system that should not trigger detection).
Regarding claim 20, Tournier discloses the monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the adjusting of the one or more parameters of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria comprises adjusting one or more parameters of the PIR detector that determine the ability or sensitivity of the PIR detector to detect and/or identify non-human entities (para 68, person 215 walks into the field of view of motion sensor 210 and same time, wind causes a flag 220 to wave within field of view of the motion sensor 210. and motion sensor 210 collects PIR data 225 from both person 215 and flag 220).
Regarding claim 23, Tournier discloses a method of operating a monitoring system, the monitoring system comprising: a passive infrared, PIR, detector configured for detecting motion in an environment (para 20, FIG. 1, a property 105 is monitored by a property monitoring system 100, para 21, The motion sensor 110 include Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor 112. The PIR sensor 112 detect moving objects); and
an active reflected wave detector arranged to measure wave reflections from a region of interest in the environment (para 22, PIR sensor 112 detects infrared energy emitted or reflected by objects in its field of view);
wherein the method comprises: triggering or otherwise operating the active reflected wave detector responsive to detection of motion by the PIR detector (para 81, use rules 275 to determine actions 280 and rule 275 state when object of interest is detected and takes actions 280, rules 275 and actions 280 set by property monitoring system); and
adjusting at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria (para 36, motion sensor 110 adjusted by changing criteria 116 and increase sensitivity of PIR sensor 112, increases sensitivity of PIR sensor 112 adjusting threshold),
wherein the one or more criteria are dependent on, or indicative of, a location of an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector (Abstract, detection criteria is satisfied by the reference PIR data; in response to determining that motion detection criteria is satisfied by reference PIR data, para 32, The motion sensor 110 include criteria 116 which include thresholds and rules that determine whether motion sensor 110 process data from a detected object, Changes to criteria 116 made, by the resident, para 44, object model include information related to object size/dimensions, locations, and movement speed).
Tournier specifically fails to disclose the attributed location being a location of an entity, determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector.
In analogous art, GAGNON discloses the attributed location being a location of an entity, determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector (para 05, (PIR) motion sensing devices for motion detection with reflected from an object moving, para 08, infrared motion sensing device receive output waveform signal and determine whether a motion event has occurred, para 15, PIR detector received reflected signal in response to object motion within the detection field of view, para 24, infrared detector taking an action in response to determining that a motion event has occurred).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of user-specific usage patterns to estimate and preserve remaining battery life on a computing device disclosed by Tournier to use computing device resize viewable area in response to a user input indicating parameters to which display resized as taught by GAGNON to resizing the viewable area to conserve power by reducing the number of applications running for dynamically managing power consumption of a device capable of operating on battery power, or other power [GAGNON, paragraph 0016].
Regarding claim 24, Tournier discloses a controller for a monitoring system that comprises a passive infrared, PIR, detector configured for detecting motion in an environment (para 20, FIG. 1, a property 105 is monitored by a property monitoring system 100, para 21, The motion sensor 110 include Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor 112 and detect moving objects (i.e. detect motion)); and
an active reflected wave detector arranged to measure wave reflections from a region of interest in the environment (para 22, PIR sensor 112 detects infrared energy emitted or reflected by objects in its field of view (i. e., region of interest), para 25, PIR sensor 112 collect infrared energy (i.e., from reflected wave) and detect for objects of interest, humans, animals, or vehicles);
wherein the controller is configured to: receive signals output from the passive infrared, PIR, detector (para 81, use rules 275 to determine actions 280 and rule 275 state when object of interest is detected and takes actions 280, rules 275 and actions 280 set by property monitoring system);
receive signals from the active reflected wave detector; operate or trigger the active reflected wave detector responsive to detection of motion by the PIR detector (para 81, use rules 275 to determine actions 280 and rule 275 state when object of interest is detected (i.e., responsive to detection) and takes actions 280, rules 275 and actions 280 set by monitoring system); and
adjust at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria (para 36, motion sensor 110 adjusted by changing criteria 116 and increase sensitivity of PIR sensor 112, increases sensitivity of PIR sensor 112 adjusting threshold (i.e., adjust parameter based on output action)),
wherein the one or more criteria are dependent on, or indicative of, a location of an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector (Abstract, detection criteria is satisfied by reference PIR data; in response to determining that motion detection criteria satisfied by reference PIR data, para 32, motion sensor 110 include criteria 116 which include thresholds and rules that determine whether motion sensor 110 process data from detected object, Changes to criteria 116 made, by the resident, para 44, object model include information related to object size/dimensions, locations, movement speed (i.e. attributed location of entity in object model)).
Tournier specifically fails to disclose the attributed location being a location of an entity, determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector.
In analogous art, GAGNON discloses the attributed location being a location of an entity, determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector (para 05, (PIR) motion sensing devices for motion detection with reflected from an object moving, para 08, infrared motion sensing device receive output waveform signal and determine whether a motion event has occurred, para 15, PIR detector received reflected signal in response to object motion within detection field of view, para 24, detector taking action in response to determining motion event occurred (i.e., detector operated in response to motion)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of monitoring system includes a passive infrared (PIR) sensor configured to generate reference PIR data that represents motion within an area of the property disclosed by Tournier to use autonomous surveillance system using passive infrared (PIR) motion detection to provide improved detection of a subject in a detection range as taught by GAGNON to determine, from the signal analysis performed on the output waveform signal, one or more of object position information, object speed information, object direction of travel information, object size information, object shape information, and object type information about the motion event [GAGNON, paragraph 013].
Regarding claim 25, Tournier discloses a tangible, non-transient computer readable medium comprising a computer program product configured such that, when implemented on a processing system or controller for a monitoring system, causes the processing system or controller (para 114, controller 512 may include a processor or other control circuitry configured to execute instructions of a program, para 154, computer processor, and a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor) to:
receive signals output from a passive infrared, PIR, detector configured for detecting motion in an environment (para 20, FIG. 1, a property 105 is monitored by a property monitoring system 100, para 21, The motion sensor 110 include Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor 112 and detect moving objects (i.e. detect motion));
receive signals from an active reflected wave detector arranged to measure wave reflections from a region of interest in the environment (para 81, use rules 275 to determine actions 280 and rule 275 state when object of interest is detected (i.e., responsive to detection) and takes actions 280, rules 275 and actions 280 set by monitoring system);
operate or trigger the active reflected wave detector responsive to detection of motion by the PIR detector (Abstract, determine motion detection criteria is satisfied by reference PIR data; in response to determining motion detection criteria, para 103, In response to determining detection of object of interest, determine detection criteria based on motion detection criteria (i.e., trigger based on in response to detection)); and
adjust at least one parameter of the PIR detector responsive to the output of the active reflected wave detector meeting one or more criteria (para 36, motion sensor 110 adjusted by changing criteria 116 and increase sensitivity of PIR sensor 112, increases sensitivity of PIR sensor 112 adjusting threshold (i.e., adjust parameter based on output action)),
wherein the one or more criteria are dependent on, or indicative of, a location of an entity represented in the output of the active reflected wave detector attributed to have caused the motion detected by the PIR detector, the attributed location being a location of an entity (Abstract, detection criteria is satisfied by the reference PIR data; in response to determining that motion detection criteria is satisfied by reference PIR data, para 32, The motion sensor 110 include criteria 116 which include thresholds and rules that determine whether motion sensor 110 process data from a detected object, Changes to criteria 116 made, by resident, para 44, object model include information related to object size/dimensions, locations, and movement speed (i.e. attributed location of entity in object model)).
Tournier specifically fails to disclose determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector.
In analogous art, GAGNON discloses determined from the output active reflected wave detector, when the output active reflected wave detector is operated in response to the motion detected by the PIR detector (para 05, (PIR) motion sensing devices for motion detection with reflected from an object moving, para 08, infrared motion sensing device receive output waveform signal and determine whether a motion event has occurred, para 15, PIR detector received reflected signal in response to object motion within detection field of view, para 24, detector taking action in response to determining motion event occurred (i.e., detector operated in response to motion)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of monitoring system includes a passive infrared (PIR) sensor configured to generate reference PIR data that represents motion within an area of the property disclosed by Tournier to use autonomous surveillance system using passive infrared (PIR) motion detection to provide improved detection of a subject in a detection range as taught by GAGNON to determine, from the signal analysis performed on the output waveform signal, one or more of object position information, object speed information, object direction of travel information, object size information, object shape information, and object type information about the motion event [GAGNON, paragraph 013].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mirza Alam whose telephone number is (469) 295-9286. The examiner can be reached on Monday-Thursday 7:30AM-6:00PM (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached on 571-270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIRZA F ALAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688