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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is in response to claims filed on 03/11/2026; the provisional application filing date 02/15/2018 is considered.
Claims 1-17, 19 and 21-25 are pending and rejected; Claims 18 and 20 are canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to claims 1-11 and 25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to applicant’s argument: Onofrio does not teach or suggest that the acoustic sensors can be microphones “generating audio data depicting the acoustic anomalies, with the encryption/decryption module encrypting the audio data,” as recited in claim 1.
Examiner respectfully disagree with applicant argument for the following reasons: First, it is well known in the art that a microphone is the most common type of acoustic sensor used to convert sound waves into electrical signals. They work by detecting sound pressures, with types including MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) microphones, piezoelectric, and condenser microphones used for various applications, including recording sound and noise monitoring. Onofrio discloses, (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 45-48, two acoustic sensors 320 and 322 [i.e. the sensors can be considered second microphone], and a microphone 324 [i.e. the first microphone] . The microphone 324 can be a surveillance microphone that is normally disabled and is only enabled in response to detection of a possible gunshot [i.e. generating audio data depicting acoustic anomalies]). And Harel discloses (see Harel ¶213, audio data, and/or additional surveillance data may be encrypted/decrypted by the encryption/decryption module 918. In addition, any location data determined by the surveillance devices or supplemental information generated by the surveillance devices may also be encrypted/decrypted [i.e. including messages received from host/control panel]), disclosing the recited claim limitation.
With respect to applicant’s argument: there is no suggestion, nor would it be obvious, that these acoustic sensors comprise a microphone “having a second sensitivity level greater than the first sensitivity level, continuously captures ambient sound,” as recited in claim 1.
Examiner respectfully disagree with applicant’s argument for the following reasons: Onofrio discloses (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 51-56, acoustic sensors 320 and 322 can be used to detect sound pressure levels (SPL) events such as shock waves, where the sound pressure levels of the events can be compared to the SPLs of muzzle blasts from gunfire, explosions, and other similar events [i.e. continuously capturing ambient sounds]), disclosing the recited claim limitation.
With respect applicant’s argument Neither Harel nor Onofrio separately or in combination teach or suggest that “wherein the controller samples the first and second microphones such audio outputs from the first and second microphones are continuously analyzed in a near real time for an acoustic signature”
Examiner respectfully disagree with applicant’s argument for the following reasons: Harel discloses (see Harel ¶¶39, 71, 83, The surveillance devices 110A-N can upload, automatically, manually, and/or automatically in response to a triggering event, recorded data to the host server 124 for additional processing and monitoring, with a delay or in real time/near real time) and Onofrio discloses, (see Onofrio Col. 17 lines 1-5, processing of the test data can include, but is not limited to, signal filtering, noise removal, peak detection, peak amplitude measurements, and/or detection of time between peaks. The test data can further include identifying data for the gunshot sensor such as a device identifier; Clo. 9 lines 4-9, the microphone 324 is configured to be operative during normal conditions at a very low gain, such that it only detects sounds in excess of 110-130 decibels. In this way, the microphone 324 can be used to detect sounds from gunshots without picking up other sounds; Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 51-56, acoustic sensors 320 and 322 can be used to detect sound pressure levels (SPL) events such as shock waves, where the sound pressure levels of the events can be compared to the SPLs of muzzle blasts from gunfire, explosions, and other similar events [i.e. continuously capturing ambient sounds]), disclosing the recited claim limitation.
Applicant's arguments filed with respect to claims 19 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to applicant’s argument Harel does not disclose the limitation “the audio data compression module determining upon detection of a gunshot network conditions of the communication network, compressing the audio data based on the network conditions and sending the compressed audio data to the control panel via the wireless network interface”
Examiner respect to (see Harel ¶40, the surveillance devices 110A-N encode and/or encrypt the recorded data. The recorded data can be stored on the local storage unit of the surveillance devices 110A-N in the original recorded format or in encoded form (compressed) to decrease file size; ¶¶84-86, the surveillance device 210 includes an audio code to compress recorded audio, for example, into one or more digital audio formats including but not limited to MP3… ; ¶91, compression ratio can be anywhere between 15-95%. To optimize bandwidth required of transmission, the compression ratio can be anywhere between 80-95%; [i.e. compressing the audio based on the network condition/capacity] ¶¶96-97, the surveillance device 210 is compressed to a lower resolution to be streamed wirelessly in real time to a remote computer or server over the network connection; ¶99, compression ratio can also be determined in part by network capacity [i.e. compressing the audio based on the network conditions/capacity; network capacity is determined based on network condition]). Disclosing the recited claim limitation.
Applicant's arguments filed with respect to claim 12-17 and 21-24 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Since Applicant’s argument is similar to the arguments made above, please refer to examiner’s response above
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 –102(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.
Claim 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Harel US Pub. No.: 2010/0245583 A1 (hereinafter Harel).
Harel discloses:
As to claim 19, the system for detecting gunshots within a premises, comprising:
gunshot sensor units having at least two microphones for detecting acoustic anomalies and generating audio data depicting the acoustic anomalies (see Harel ¶82, embodiment of the capturing unit 204 includes one or more microphones); and
an audio data compression module executing on the controller, the audio data compression module determining upon detection of a gunshot network conditions of the communication network, compressing the audio data based on the network conditions and sending the compressed audio data to the control panel via the wireless network interface (see Harel ¶¶84-86, the surveillance device 210 includes an audio code to compress recorded audio, for example, into one or more digital audio formats including but not limited to MP3… ; ¶91, compression ratio can be anywhere between 15-95%. To optimize bandwidth required of transmission, the compression ratio can be anywhere between 80-95%; ¶¶96-97, the surveillance device 210 is compressed to a lower resolution to be streamed wirelessly in real time to a remote computer or server over the network connection; ¶99, compression ratio can also be determined in part by network capacity [i.e. compressing the audio based on the network conditions])
As to claim 20, (Canceled).
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 1-8, 11-17 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Harel US Pub. No.: 2010/0245583 A1 (hereinafter Harel) in view of Onofrio et al. US Patent No.: 10,830,866 B1 (hereinafter Onofrio)
Harel discloses:
As to claim 1, a system for detecting gunshots within a premises (see Harel Fig. 1 and ¶¶34 181 243, event detector including gunshot in the surrounding area), the system comprising:
a communication network (see Harel Figs. 1-2);
a control panel connected to the communication network, the control panel presents a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display, the display and GUI configured to enable an operator to interact with the system (see Harel ¶90 227, the web application server 212 renders the web pages having graphic user interfaces including recordings uploaded from various surveillance devices. The user interfaces may include the recordings (e.g., video, image, textual, and/or audio) superimposed with supplemental surveillance data generated by the host server 924 from analyzing the recordings [i.e. the host/(control panel) connected to communication network presents GUI on a display);
gunshot sensor units for detecting gunshots, each of the gunshot sensor units comprising a controller for exchanging messages with the control panel (see Harel Fig. 2A and ¶¶181 243, event detector including gunshot and communicate the detected event; ¶¶131, surveillance device 210 includes a motion sensor/event detector 222, ¶244, process 1106, the recording of the surrounding environment and events that occurred subsequent to the detection of the triggering event is automatically uploaded to a remote processing center [i.e. exchanging message with control/host/remote processing center] ),
an encryption/decryption module for encrypting messages to be sent to the control panel and decrypting encrypted messages received from the control panel (see Harel ¶213, audio data, and/or additional surveillance data may be encrypted/decrypted by the encryption/decryption module 918. In addition, any location data determined by the surveillance devices or supplemental information generated by the surveillance devices may also be encrypted/decrypted [i.e. including messages received from host/control panel]), and a network interface for sending and receiving the encrypted messages via the communication network.(see Harel Figs. 1A-1B and ¶122, the surveillance device 210 encrypts and encodes the recording and uploads the recording in the encrypted and encoded form to the remote host server 124 [via communication network]), and
with the encryption/decryption module encrypting the audio data (see Harel ¶¶40 119, audio data encrypted by the encryption module 218),
wherein the controller samples the first and second microphones such audio outputs from the first and second microphones are continuously analyzed in a near real time for an acoustic signature (see Harel ¶¶39, 71, 83, The surveillance devices 110A-N can upload, automatically, manually, and/or automatically in response to a triggering event, recorded data to the host server 124 for additional processing and monitoring, with a delay or in real time/near real time) .
Harel does not explicitly teach but the related art Onofrio discloses:
at least a first microphone and a second microphone for detecting acoustic anomalies and generating audio data depicting the acoustic anomalies (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 45-48, two acoustic sensors 320 and 322 [i.e. the sensors can be considered second microphone], and a microphone 324 [i.e. the first microphone] . The microphone 324 can be a surveillance microphone that is normally disabled and is only enabled in response to detection of a possible gunshot [i.e. generating audio data depicting acoustic anomalies]),
wherein the first microphone, having a first sensitivity level, detects anomalies (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 9 lines 4-9, the microphone 324 is configured to be operative during normal conditions at a very low gain, such that it only detects sounds in excess of 110-130 decibels. In this way, the microphone 324 can be used to detect sounds from gunshots without picking up other sounds),
wherein the second microphone, having a second sensitivity level greater than the first sensitivity level, continuously captures ambient sound (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 51-56, acoustic sensors 320 and 322 can be used to detect sound pressure levels (SPL) events such as shock waves, where the sound pressure levels of the events can be compared to the SPLs of muzzle blasts from gunfire, explosions, and other similar events [i.e. continuously capturing ambient sounds]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a device for encrypting audio data as thought by Harel. to include a testing of gunshot sensors as thought by Onofrio. A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate a second microphone/sound sensor that can stay active for a second limited period of time which can be used for information gathering, including tracking information (see Onofrio Col. 8 lines 63-66)
As to claim 2, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the at least first and second microphones(see Harel ¶82, embodiment of the capturing unit 204 includes one or more microphones) and
generating audio data the encryption/decryption module encrypting the audio data .(see Harel Figs. 1A-1B and ¶122, the surveillance device 210 encrypts and encodes the recording and uploads the recording in the encrypted and encoded form to the remote host server 124).
As to claim 3, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the gunshot sensor units further comprise local nonvolatile storage for storing the encrypted audio data (see Harel ¶247, encryption may be performed by the recording devices and stored locally in encrypted form).
As to claim 4, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 1, the control panel comprises a controller for decrypting the encrypted messages (see Harel ¶208, the host server 924 can decrypt (e.g., via the encryption/decryption module) the data and store the decrypted version of the data on the server 924)
As to claim 5, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control panel further comprises nonvolatile memory for storing decryption keys associated with the gunshot sensor units, and the control panel decrypts the messages from each of the gunshot sensor units using the associated decryption key (see Harel ¶121, remote server (host server) receives the encrypted data and can also receive the encryption key for decrypting the data for further review and analysis)
As to claim 6, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gunshot sensor units further comprise local nonvolatile storage for storing encryption keys, and the gunshot sensor units encrypt audio data using stored encryption keys (see Harel ¶215, surveillance devices typically use different encryption keys which may be generated by the individual surveillance devices) .
As to claim 7, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the control panel distributes the audio encryption keys to the gunshot sensor units (see Harel ¶216, encryption keys used by surveillance devices may be assigned by the host server 924; ¶245, one or more camera sensor(s) in the surveillance device is positioned to capture the environment/events of interest).
As to claim 8, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the control panel periodically sends updated audio encryption keys to the gunshot sensor units (see Harel ¶216, same encryption key may be used by a particular surveillance device for a predetermined amount of time… re-assigns an encryption key to a surveillance device for use after a certain amount of time. ).
As to claim 11, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gunshot sensor units comprise wireless network interfaces for wirelessly sending the encrypted audio data to the control panel (see Harel ¶54, the surveillance devices 110A-B can communicate over a network including but not limited to, a wired or wireless network; Figs. 1A-1B and ¶122, the surveillance device 210 encrypts and encodes the recording and uploads the recording in the encrypted and encoded form to the remote host server 124)
As to claim 25, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein acoustic signals from the first microphone are continuously analyzed to detect acoustic anomalies, detecting acoustic anomalies comprising searching the incoming acoustic signal for a peak amplitude level greater than a predetermined threshold (see Onofrio Col. 17 lines 1-5, processing of the test data can include, but is not limited to, signal filtering, noise removal, peak detection, peak amplitude measurements, and/or detection of time between peaks. The test data can further include identifying data for the gunshot sensor such as a device identifier; Clo. 9 lines 4-9, the microphone 324 is configured to be operative during normal conditions at a very low gain, such that it only detects sounds in excess of 110-130 decibels. In this way, the microphone 324 can be used to detect sounds from gunshots without picking up other sounds)
The same reasoning is applied as above to combine the cited prior art references.
Harel discloses:
As to claim 12, a method for detecting gunshots within a premises (see Harel Fig. 1 and ¶¶34 181 243, event detector including gunshot in the surrounding area), the method comprising:
upon detecting the gunshot (see Harel ¶259 occurrence of triggering event [i.e. gunshot]);
encrypting first messages to be sent from the gunshot sensor units to a control panel and decrypting encrypted second messages received by the gunshot sensor units from the control panel (see Harel ¶116, the encoding [i.e. encryption] process described above can be performed by any general purpose computer, special purpose computer, a sound recording unit [i.e. sensor unit], an imaging device (e.g., a video camera, a recorder, a digital camera, etc. ¶¶181 243, detected motion and/or sound can be indicative of an event (e.g., a car crash, an accident, a fire, a gunshot, an explosion, etc.) ¶40 the surveillance devices 110A-N encode and/or encrypt the recorded data; ¶121, remote server (host server) receives the encrypted data and can also receive the encryption key for decrypting the data for further review and analysis)) ; and
sending the first encrypted messages to the control panel from the gunshot sensor units and receiving the encrypted second messages from the control panel to the gunshot sensor units via network interfaces of the gunshot sensor units and a communication network (see Harel ¶121, the recording may be transmitted/uploaded to the remote server in encrypted form, if the encryption was not performed after the recording, the encryption can be performed before transmission over the network; ¶¶54-55, host server 124 can communicate with the surveillance devices 110A-B as well… the host server 124 may send a request for information to the surveillance devices 110A-B. In addition, the host server 124 can remotely upgrade software and/or firmware of the surveillance devices 110A-B ; ¶47, communications can be achieved by a secure communications protocol, such as secure sockets layer (SSL), or transport layer security (TLS); ¶116, the host server 924 maintains a database of the encryption keys used by each surveillance device and updates the database when changes occur. The encryption keys used by surveillance devices may be assigned by the host server 924…the host server 924 re-assigns an encryption key to a surveillance device for use after a certain amount of time [i.e. encrypted data is communicated between host server/control panel and surveillance device/sensor device]) and
determining network conditions of the communication network, compressing audio data from the gunshot sensor units based on the network conditions and sending the compressed audio data to the control panel via the network interfaces
wherein the control panel presents a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display, the display and GUI configured to enable an operator to interact with the system (see Harel Fig. 9, Web application server (932) and ¶227, the web application server renders the web pages having graphic user interfaces including recordings uploaded from various surveillance devices. The user interfaces may include the recordings (e.g., video, image, textual, and/or audio) superimposed with supplemental surveillance data generated by the host server 924 from analyzing the recordings).
Harel does not explicitly teach but the related art Onofrio discloses:
analyzing continuously in near real time, at gunshot sensor units, audio outputs from first and second microphones, wherein the first microphones, having first sensitivity levels, detect anomalies, and wherein the second microphones, having second sensitivity levels greater than the first sensitivity levels, continuously capture ambient sound (see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 51-56, acoustic sensors 320 and 322 can be used to detect sound pressure levels (SPL) events such as shock waves, where the sound pressure levels of the events can be compared to the SPLs of muzzle blasts from gunfire, explosions, and other similar events [i.e. continuously capturing ambient sounds]; Fig. 3 and Col. 9 lines 4-9, the microphone 324 is configured to be operative during normal conditions at a very low gain, such that it only detects sounds in excess of 110-130 decibels. In this way, the microphone 324 can be used to detect sounds from gunshots without picking up other sounds; see Onofrio Fig. 3 and Col. 8 lines 51-56, acoustic sensors 320 and 322 can be used to detect sound pressure levels (SPL) events such as shock waves, where the sound pressure levels of the events can be compared to the SPLs of muzzle blasts from gunfire, explosions, and other similar events [i.e. continuously capturing ambient sounds]);
determining, from the continuous analyzing, an acoustic signature indicating that a gunshot has been detected (see Onofrio Col. 14 and lines 30-33, automatic notifications based on the analyzing to determine the gunshot occurrence);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a device for encrypting audio data as thought by Harel. to include a testing of gunshot sensors as thought by Onofrio. A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate a second microphone/sound sensor that can stay active for a second limited period of time which can be used for information gathering, including tracking information (see Onofrio Col. 8 lines 63-66)
As to claim 13, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the method as claimed in claim 12, the microphones (see Harel ¶82, embodiment of the capturing unit 204 includes one or more microphones) generating audio data depicting the acoustic anomalies and the encrypting the audio data .(see Harel Figs. 1A-1B and ¶122, the surveillance device 210 encrypts and encodes the recording and uploads the recording in the encrypted and encoded form to the remote host server 124).
As to claim 14, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising storing in local nonvolatile storage the encrypted audio data (see Harel ¶247, encryption may be performed by the recording devices and stored locally in encrypted form).
As to claim 15, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the method as claimed in claim 12, further comprising receiving the encrypted messages from the gunshot sensor units in the control panel and the control panel for decrypting the first encrypted messages (see Harel ¶208, the host server 924 can decrypt (e.g., via the encryption/decryption module) the data and store the decrypted version of the data on the server 924).
As to claim 16, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the method as claimed in claim 11, further comprises storing decryption keys associated with the gunshot sensor units in a control panel, and the control panel decrypting the messages from each of the gunshot sensor units using the associated decryption key (see Harel ¶121, remote server (host server) receives the encrypted data and can also receive the encryption key for decrypting the data for further review and analysis).
As to claim 17, the combination of Harel and Onofrio teaches the method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising the control panel periodically sending updated audio encryption keys to the gunshot sensor units (see Harel ¶216, same encryption key may be used by a particular surveillance device for a predetermined amount of time… re-assigns an encryption key to a surveillance device for use after a certain amount of time).
As to claim 18, (Canceled)
Claim(s) 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Harel US Pub. No.: 2010/0245583 A1 in view of Onofrio et al. US Patent No.: 10,830,866 B1 as applied above to independent claim 1 and further in view of Hayes et al. US Pub. No.: 2016/0004877 A1 (hereinafter Hayes)
Harel discloses:
As to claim 9, the combination of Harel and Onofrio discloses the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gunshot sensor units generate messages including encrypted audio data (see Harel ¶118, surveillance device 210 includes an encryption module 218 and able to encrypt the recorded information for storage and/or transmission purposes to prevent unauthorized use or reproduction) and
However the combination of Harel and Onofrio does not explicitly disclose but the related art Hayes discloses:
encrypt the encrypted audio data via the encryption/decryption modules of the gunshot sensor units (see Hayes ¶68, twice encrypted data is then stored into the storage cluster 160a.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a device for encrypting audio data as thought by Harel. to include storing the twice encrypted data as thought by Hayes. A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to securely encrypt the surveillance audio data in order to securely transmit encrypt audio/acoustic data to preserve the quality of surveillance audio data enhance quality and security (see Hayes ¶¶1-2)
As to claim 10, the combination of Harel, Onofrio and Hayes teaches the system as claimed in claim 9, further comprising the control panel for receiving the encrypted messages, wherein the control panel decrypts the encrypted messages via an encryption/decryption module of the control panel before decrypting the encrypted audio data contained in the messages (see Hayes ¶69, produce twice decrypted data; ¶217, encryption/decryption module 918 can encrypt/decrypt the recorded data and any additional data using any known and/or convenient algorithm)
Similar rational applies as above to combine the cited prior art references.
Claims 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Harel US Pub. No.: 2010/0245583 A1 (hereinafter Harel) in view of Abu-Hakima et al. US Pub. No.: 2012/0190325 A1 (hereinafter Abu)
Harel discloses:
As to claim 21, a system for integrating a gunshot detection system with a building management system for active shooter response (see Harel Fig. 1A, ¶127, surveillance device 210 further includes a controller 220 coupled to the memory unit 212 and local storage unit 214; ¶¶34 181 243, event detector including gunshot in the surrounding area) , comprising:
a gunshot sensor unit configured to, upon detection of acoustic anomalies indicative of gunshots (see Harel Figs. 1A-2A and ¶70, capturing unit 204, when in operation, is able to capture a recording of surrounding environments and events occurring therein; ¶¶181 243, event detector including gunshot [i.e. gunshot event is acoustic anomalies]), generate audio data depicting said anomalies, encrypt said audio data using a stored encryption key (see Harel ¶¶112 180, hazardous event 800 occurs and a sound 802 is generated, the surveillance devices 810A-N detect the sound [i.e. anomalies/hazardous generates audio sound]; ¶119, Any or a portion of the recorded images, video data, and/or audio data may be encrypted; ¶215, surveillance devices typically use different encryption keys which may be generated by the individual surveillance devices ),
the control panel configured to receive the encrypted alert messages from said gunshot sensor unit indicating detection of a gunshot (see Harel ¶225 the event monitor/alert module 922 detects events/alert and situations from the uploaded recordings;¶208, data received from the networked device is encrypted), decrypt said messages, ¶¶ 53 121, remote server (host server) receives the encrypted data and can also receive the encryption key for decrypting the data for further review and analysis), and upon receipt of said alert messages generate and send a request for the encrypted audio data to said gunshot sensor unit (see Harel ¶53, the surveillance devices 110A-B are operable to capture recordings and to upload or transmit such recordings and/or any additionally generated data/enhancements or modifications of the recordings to the host server 124. The recordings may be uploaded to the host server 124 automatically (e.g., upon detection of a trigger or an event) or upon request by another entity (e.g., the host server 124, the user device 102, and/or assistive services 112/114), in real time, near real time, or after a delay [i.e. first upload alert/trigger events upon the alert/detection of triggering events to the host device and then upon request send update or modification events to the host server] ; ¶54, the host server 124 may send a request for information to the surveillance devices 110A-B ; Fig. 9 and ¶225, the event monitor/alert module 922 detects events/alert and situations from the uploaded recordings; ¶253, video/audio recording can be sent as a file upon receipt of a request by a user via the host server or another user device to download the recording as file; ¶54, the host/control server 124 may send a request for information to the surveillance devices 110A-B; ¶ 121, remote server (host server) receives the encrypted data and can also receive the encryption key for decrypting the data for further review and analysis. The encryption module 218 can encrypt the recorded data and any additional surveillance data/supplemental information using any known and/or convenient algorithm)
wherein upon said detection determining network conditions of the communication network, compressing the audio data based on the network conditions and sending the compressed audio data to the control panel (see Harel ¶¶84-86, the surveillance device 210 includes an audio code to compress recorded audio, for example, into one or more digital audio formats including but not limited to MP3… ; ¶91, compression ratio can be anywhere between 15-95%. To optimize bandwidth required of transmission, the compression ratio can be anywhere between 80-95%; [i.e. compressing the audio based on the network condition/capacity] ¶¶96-97, the surveillance device 210 is compressed to a lower resolution to be streamed wirelessly in real time to a remote computer or server over the network connection; ¶99, compression ratio can also be determined in part by network capacity [i.e. compressing the audio based on the network conditions/capacity; network capacity is determined based on network condition .
Even if Harel teaches:
generate and encrypt alert messages (see Harel ¶180, a hazardous event 800 occurs and a sound 802/alert is generated; the event monitor/alert module 922 detects events and situations from the uploaded recordings; ¶259, recording can be encrypted),
send the alert messages to a control panel via a communication network (see Harel ¶225, the event monitor/alert module 922 detects events and situations from the uploaded recordings and alerts various assistive services)
Harel does not explicitly disclose but the related art Abu discloses:
generate and encrypt alert messages (see Abu ¶188, preparing the alert message for communication to the target devices 790 via the delivery module 730, the dispatch module 720 encrypts some part of the message package using the private key [i.e. alert generation and communication is common critical real time applications]) and send the alert messages to a control panel (see Abu ¶188, the encrypted package is then communicated to the delivery module 730 for communication to the target devices 790 )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a device for encrypting audio data as thought by Harel. to include generating, encrypting and transmitting alert messages as thought by Abu. A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to securely encrypt the alert data before transmission in order to securely transmit encrypt alert data to preserve the quality of alert data enhance quality and security (see Abu ¶122)
As to claim 22, the combination of Harel and Abu teaches the system of claim 21, wherein the gunshot sensor unit is further configured to respond to said request by sending the encrypted audio data to said control panel (see Harel ¶53, the surveillance devices …upload or transmit such recordings and/or any additionally generated data/enhancements or modifications of the recordings to the host server 124. The recordings may be uploaded to the host server 124 automatically (e.g., upon detection of a trigger or an event) or upon request by another entity).
As to claim 23, the combination of Harel and Abu teaches the system of claim 22, wherein the control panel is further configured to decrypt the received encrypted audio data using a decryption key, and upon verification of the gunshot event based on the decrypted audio data, send a signal to a building management system to initiate an active shooter response protocol (see Harel ¶¶109 187 225, the event monitor/alert module 922 detects events and situations from the uploaded recordings and alerts various assistive services such as law enforcement authority, emergency services, and/or roadside assistance; ¶217, encryption/decryption module 918 can encrypt/decrypt the recorded data and any additional data using any known and/or convenient algorithm)
As to claim 24, the combination of Harel and Abu teaches the system of claim 21, wherein the gunshot sensor unit, upon detecting a gunshot, also stores the audio data in a local nonvolatile storage associated with different event files for different gunshot detection events (see Harel ¶198, recordings and any other additional information uploaded by the surveillance devices (e.g., surveillance device 210 of FIG. 2) can be stored in memory 912 or storage 914)
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 NEGA WOLDEMARIAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7478. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Cathy Thiaw can be reached at 5712701138. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
NEGA . WOLDEMARIAM
Examiner
Art Unit 2407
/N.W/Examiner, Art Unit 2407
/Catherine Thiaw/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2407 5/8/2026
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