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 .
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “the personal electronic device is configured to provide a user interface” in claims 1, 7, 15, and 22.
The “personal electronic device” is a general place holder and a non-structural term that does not impose any specific structural limitation. The personal electronic device is modified by functional language, “configured to”, and is not further modified by sufficient structure, material or acts for performing the claim function. Accordingly, this limitation meets the 3-prong analysis, and therefore invoke 112(f). The specification discloses “Personal electronic device 14 is formed of any suitable size, shape, design, and/or technology” (the applicant’ specification, Paragraph, 0096) and “ personal electronic device 14 includes a housing 40, a processing system 42, a display 54, inputs 56, a camera 52, and a power source 62, among other components. In the arrangement shown, as one example, personal electronic device 14 is a conventional cell phone, smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, or the like, however any other form of a device having a display 54 is hereby contemplated for use.” (the applicant’s specification, Paragraph, 0097), “personal electronic device 14 includes a communication circuit 60. Communication circuit 60 is formed of any suitable size, shape, design, and/or technology and is configured to facilitate communication with backend system ” (the applicant’s specification, Paragraph, 0102), and “personal electronic device 14 includes one or more cameras 120” (the applicant’s specification, Paragraph, 0107). Therefore, the personal electronic device therefore is provided with sufficient structure in the specification.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. (FP 7.08.aia)
Claims 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by “Shinsuke” (KR20220123318A).
Regarding claim 1,
Shinsuke teaches A system, comprising:
a backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”, and Paragraph, 0033: “The livestock information management server 101 includes a livestock extraction unit 111 , a status management unit 112 , a result generation unit 113 , a notification unit 114 , and an information storage unit 121 . These details are described in detail in the description of each embodiment”);
a personal electronic device (terminal device 201) communicatively connected to the backend system (Paragraph, 0026: “the terminal device 201 used by the user are connected via a network NW”, Paragraph, 0028: “The terminal device 201 is, for example, a PC, a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a device such as a mobile phone”, and Paragraph, 0032: “the livestock information management server 101 is connected to two or more terminal devices and two or more users via the network NW”);
wherein the personal electronic device (terminal device 201) is configured to provide a user interface (display unit 212)(Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”) for a user to monitor (Paragraph, 0030: “The display unit 212 is a display device or the like that displays information and the like to the user”, and Paragraph, 0038: “The status information of the sow includes, for example, completion of fertilization, during conception, during lactation, during weaning, during estrus, and the like as normal status. The abnormal status includes, for example, relapse, pregnancy emotional delay, infertility, miscarriage, delivery delay, weaning delay, non-estrus, poor condition, termination delay, death, and the like. In addition, the timing, which is the date and time of transition to these statuses, is included as linked history information”) and
update statuses of a set of farrowing livestock animals in the backend system (Paragraph, 0050: “the status indicates the breeding state of livestock that transitions according to the event execution result. The status is the result of executing the event, and may be a plurality of different results. The livestock information management system 1 does not determine which status to transition to and the event result itself, but according to the result of the information selected and input by the user, according to the order in which the event should be performed, as stipulated in the event schedule master information. , the status transition is determined. The event execution is stored in the information storage unit 121 by the user selecting and inputting the event using the input unit 211 of the terminal device 201 shown in FIG. 1 . When event execution is registered, the status transitions as a result according to the selected and input information. The status transition and its timing are stored in the information storage unit 121 as status information and its history information”);
wherein the user interface is configured to display a listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0085: “In step S104, the target livestock extracted by the livestock extraction unit 111 is alerted and displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201 by the status management unit 112”, and Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201. FIG. On this screen, the sows of the state are searchable by sorting them by farm, pig house, pig farm, and situation. In addition, main mating and farrowing are displayed as events of the week, and sows of the week related to farrowing are displayed as a list. Among the displayed sows, the number of elapsed days exceeding a predetermined condition is highlighted by color. In this way, the target livestock is presented to the user in the form of an alert, list”);
user interface is configured to display respective timers until next required check in for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups”),
wherein the listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals is sorted according to the times remaining on the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201. FIG. On this screen, the sows of the state are searchable by sorting them by farm, pig house, pig farm, and situation. In addition, main mating and farrowing are displayed as events of the week, and sows of the week related to farrowing are displayed as a list. Among the displayed sows, the number of elapsed days exceeding a predetermined condition is highlighted by color. In this way, the target livestock is presented to the user in the form of an alert, list”, and Paragraph, 0074: “The livestock extracting unit 111 shown in Fig. 1 compares the history information with the timing and sequence in which the event specified in the event schedule master information is to be executed using the information stored in the information storage unit 121, It has a function of judging whether an event has been performed correctly with respect to livestock or a group of livestock, and extracting the animal or group of livestock determined not to be a target livestock for which the event has not been performed”).
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.
Claim 2-3, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinsuke in view of “Chen” (Sow Farrowing Early Warning and Supervision for Embedded Board Implementations, Sensors (Basel). 2023 Jan 9;23(2):727).
Regarding claim 2, Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above)
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”, and Paragraph, 0033: “The livestock information management server 101 includes a livestock extraction unit 111 , a status management unit 112 , a result generation unit 113 , a notification unit 114 , and an information storage unit 121 . These details are described in detail in the description of each embodiment”);
Shinsuke is silent on configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals;
Chen teaches configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Abstract, lines 1-4: “The accurate and effective early warning of sow behaviors in farrowing helps breeders determine whether it is necessary to intervene with the farrowing process in a timely manner and is thus essential for increasing the survival rate of piglets and the profits of pig farms.”, Page 10, section 3.3, lines 2-3: “the sow posture transition frequency from 48 h before farrowing to 24 h after farrowing was calculated”, “The values were continuously updated during the detection process”, and Page 11, section 3.3, the last paragraph: “the early warning was sent when the sows’ posture transition frequency exceeded the upper threshold of 17.5 times/h (2) and when it fell below the lower threshold of 10 times/h; (3) for minimizing the impact of daily living habits (such as eating, drinking, and resting) of the sows on the warning of approaching farrowing, the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h”);
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”) is configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups”),
However, Shinsuke is silent on based on the determined birthing risk.
Chen teaches based on the determined birthing risk (Page 11, section 3.3, last paragraph: “the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h. early warnings could be sent 5 h prior to the onset of farrowing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shinsuke’s event timing/scheduling functionality using Chen’s farrowing-risk determination because accurate and effective early warning of sow farrowing behaviors helps breeders determine whether intervention is necessary in a timely manner, and early warnings may be generated approximately 5 hours prior to farrowing, thereby providing accurate timing of livestock monitoring and intervention (Chen, Abstract, lines 1-4, Page 11, section 3.3, last paragraph).
Regarding claim 3, Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above)
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”).
Shinsuke does not teach configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing events recorded for previous farrowing cycles;
Chen teaches configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing events recorded for previous farrowing cycles (Page 10, section 3.3, lines 2-3, before equation 5: “the sow posture transition frequency from 48 h before farrowing to 24 h after farrowing was calculated as follows:
f
=
n
T
,
f
represents the sow posture transition frequency,
n
represents the number of posture transitions, and
T
represents time. The values were continuously updated during the detection process.”, and Page 11, section 3.3, the last paragraph: “the early warning was sent when the sows’ posture transition frequency exceeded the upper threshold of 17.5 times/h (2) and when it fell below the lower threshold of 10 times/h; (3) for minimizing the impact of daily living habits (such as eating, drinking, and resting) of the sows on the warning of approaching farrowing, the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h”);
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”).
Shinsuke does not teach configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals based on the determined birthing risk.
Chen teaches configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals based on the determined birthing risk (Page 11, section 3.3, the last paragraph: “the early warning was sent when the sows’ posture transition frequency exceeded the upper threshold of 17.5 times/h (2) and when it fell below the lower threshold of 10 times/h; (3) for minimizing the impact of daily living habits (such as eating, drinking, and resting) of the sows on the warning of approaching farrowing, the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shinsuke’s event timing/scheduling functionality with Chen to utilized historical farrowing-event data because previously recorded farrowing data may be analyzed to generate accurate and effective early warnings of approaching farrowing, thereby enabling timely intervention in the farrowing process (Chen, Page 3, section 2.1.2, first paragraph, lines 2-3, Page 11, section 3.3, lines 2-3, last paragraph, Abstract, lines 1-4).
Regarding claim 5, Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above)
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”).
Shinsuke does not teach configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing events recorded for a current farrowing cycle;
Chen teaches configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Page 1, introduction, 2nd paragraph, lines 9-11: “Sows start to show obvious nest-building behavior 24 h before the onset of farrowing with higher activity levels than normal and an increased frequency of posture changes. These behaviors can often be reliable indicators of farrowing”, and Page 11, section 3.3, the last paragraph: “the early warning was sent when the sows’ posture transition frequency exceeded the upper threshold of 17.5 times/h (2) and when it fell below the lower threshold of 10 times/h; (3) for minimizing the impact of daily living habits (such as eating, drinking, and resting) of the sows on the warning of approaching farrowing, the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h”) based on birthing events recorded for a current farrowing cycle (Page 10, section 3.3, lines 2-3, before the equation 5: “the sow posture transition frequency from 48 h before farrowing to 24 h after farrowing was calculated The values were continuously updated during the detection process.”);
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system(a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”) is configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups).
Shinsuke is silent on based on the determined birthing risk;
Chen teaches based on the determined birthing risk (Page 11, section 3.3, last paragraph: “the upper or lower threshold had to be exceeded for more than 5 h. early warnings could be sent 5 h prior to the onset of farrowing,”);
Shinsuke does not teach wherein the birthing events are detected by one or more sensors configured to monitor farrowing progress of the set of farrowing livestock animals.
Chen teaches wherein the birthing events are detected by one or more sensors configured to monitor farrowing progress of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Page 2, section 2.1.2, line 1: “The video capture devices”, Page 10, section 3.3, lines 2-3, before the equation 5: “the sow posture transition frequency from 48 h before farrowing to 24 h after farrowing was calculated. The values were continuously updated during the detection process.”, and “The values were continuously updated during the detection process.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shinsuke’s event timing/scheduling functionality with Chen to utilize historical farrowing-event data with sensors to monitor farrowing progress because previously recorded farrowing data may be analyzed to generate accurate and effective early warnings of approaching farrowing, thereby enabling timely intervention in the farrowing process and increasing the survival rate of piglets and profit of pig farms (Chen, Page 3, section 2.1.2, first paragraph, lines 2-3, Page 11, section 3.3, lines 2-3, last paragraph, Abstract, lines 1-4).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinsuke in view of “Strobel” (US 20200045929 A1)
Regarding claim 4, Shinsuke teaches wherein the system of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above)
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system(a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”) is
Shinsuke does not teach configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing events recorded for previous farrowing cycles;
Strobel teaches configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0080: “Otherwise, the farrowing time may be predicted based on changes in the vital signs such as, but not limited to: a sudden increase, peak, and decrease in heart rate; a change in body temperature (e.g., a 3-degree spike in body temperature followed by a 1-degree spike); an increase of respiratory rate to 80 bpm followed by a gradual decrease to 40 bpm; and/or movement patterns.”) based on birthing events recorded for previous farrowing cycles (Paragraph, 0069: “the data that was sent to the remote location can be stored and reviewed for future use, such as predictive prognosis, health history, or the like”, and Paragraph, 0070: “if some sort of an abnormality and/or anomaly is detected, an alert is provided, and the hog is checked and examined to determine the health alert. Furthermore, the collected data can be stored and compared for future use with the same hog, similar hog, or other hogs”, “The analyzed data is determined to see if farrowing or other health alerts have occurred based upon any potential abnormalities or anomalies in viewing and comparing the acquired data over the more than minimal amount of range of the collected data”, and Paragraph, 0077: “ The movement patterns could be stored, evaluated, and monitored for predictive purposes to determine if an issue, such as a health issue or farrowing, will occur. The predictive analysis could provide foresight to let an operator know to be present or to check on a hog. Movement patterns can be accumulated, and a processor can review past patterns and outcomes of the patterns (e.g., farrowing, good health, negative health, disease, illness, etc.) such that the machine learning will provide a notice to an operator of a potential issue arising from the noticed movement patterns of a hog in a pen or other area ”, and see Figure 4 which illustrates flow chart, showing “Analyze collected data at server in view of known data”);
Shinsuke does not teach configured to determine adjust the determined birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing events recorded for the current farrowing cycle;
Strobel teaches wherein the backend system is configured to determine adjust the determined birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0070: “if some sort of an abnormality and/or anomaly is detected, an alert is provided, and the hog is checked and examined to determine the health alert. Furthermore, the collected data can be stored and compared for future use with the same hog, similar hog, or other hogs.”) based on birthing events recorded for the current farrowing cycle (Paragraph, 0070: “If no health alert has been detected, the data is continued to be collected and the process is repeated.”, and Paragraph, 0058: “the system could be constantly receiving and reviewing data, which could improve the capabilities to begin earlier and even predictive analysis of when a health issue may be upcoming”).
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”) is configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups);
However, Shinsuke is silent on based on the determined birthing risk;
Strobel teaches based on the determined birthing risk (Paragraph, 0070: “However, if some sort of an abnormality and/or anomaly is detected, an alert is provided, and the hog is checked and examined to determine the health alert. Furthermore, the collected data can be stored and compared for future use with the same hog, similar hog, or other hogs.”, and Paragraph, 0080: “Otherwise, the farrowing time may be predicted based on changes in the vital signs such as, but not limited to: a sudden increase, peak, and decrease in heart rate; a change in body temperature (e.g., a 3-degree spike in body temperature followed by a 1-degree spike); an increase of respiratory rate to 80 bpm followed by a gradual decrease to 40 bpm; and/or movement patterns.”);
Shinsuke teaches wherein the birthing events are reported by users via the user interface (Paragraph, 0117: “In step S303, the notification unit 114 determines whether or not the generated grade meets the conditions to be notified to the user. Specifically, the information storage unit 121 stores as a condition for notification that the monthly miscarriage rate becomes greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and the monthly miscarriage rate included in the grades generated by the grade generation unit 113 is a predetermined value prescribed as the notification condition. is exceeded, it is determined that the notification unit 114 meets the conditions to notify the user”, and Paragraph, 0118: “In step S304, the notification unit 114 notifies the user when the notification condition is satisfied. Specifically, an alarm may be issued on the dashboard screen as shown in Fig. 5, or the user may be notified by other means, such as sending an e-mail”, and Figure 5 illustrates the dashboard screen. (a terminal screen displayed as an alert, so called as "dashboard", see page 13, column5, lines 17-18)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shinsuke’s event timing/scheduling functionality with Strobel to use historical farrowing-event data in determining farrowing risk because farrowing-related data may be stored and analyzed to predictably determine upcoming farrowing and provide earlier identification of health alerts. Such use of historical farrowing data would have allowed more accurate prediction of impeding farrowing, thereby enabling earlier and more effective monitoring and intervention with the accurate determinations of farrowing-risk (Strobel, Paragraph 0013, 0048, 0069).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinsuke in view of “Rooda” (WO 2020086868 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above)
Shinsuke teaches wherein the backend system(a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a livestock information management system 1 including a livestock information management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure”) is
Shinsuke does not teach configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing history, health status, and birthing events recorded for a current farrowing term;
Rooda teaches wherein the backend system is configured to determine a birthing risk for each of the set of farrowing livestock animals based on birthing history, health status, and birthing events recorded for a current farrowing term (Paragraph, 0021: “System 100 continuously analyzes the incoming images 104 to determine and identify a birth-in- process and then calculates the time interval between successive births-in-process and, if the interval exceeds a pre-determined amount, warn the producer or veterinarian of a complication or, if successfully completed, notify the same.”, Paragraph, 0022: “When the interval of time lapse between the first birth in process and the next birth in process exceeds a predetermined amount, system 100 can trigger an action from an alert trigger 112.”, and Paragraph, 0032: “Al module 1 10 can monitor and detect changes in the fecal quantity or qualify, such as changes in color, consistency, indications of diarrhea or constipation”);
Shinsuke teaches configured to set times of the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups),
However, Shinsuke is silent on based on the determined birthing risk.
Rooda teaches based on the determined birthing risk (Paragraph, 0006: “sow can be at higher risk of having stillbirths due to age, genetics, health, stress and other factors; a measurement of these factors in the farrowing environment in combination with each sow’s history of litter size, difficulty in farrowing, previous stillbirths”, Paragraph, 0025: “a library of pre-recorded births in process and non-birthing event”, and Paragraph, 0029: “On completion of a farrowing series, all related records of that farrowing (filename, time, date, sow identification, duration of parturition, number of births and stillbirths, tag indices and classifications and any other relevant information) can be grouped together and saved in mass storage 213 or system memory 204 for safekeeping and later upload and/or analysis.”) .
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shinsuke’s event timing/scheduling functionality with Rooda to use health information, prior farrowing history, and recorded farrowing events in determining farrowing risk because farrowing-related data may be stored and continuously analyzed to generate alerts when conditions indicative of potential farrowing problems are detected, thereby facilitating earlier identification of farrowing conditions are timely intervention by a producer or veterinarian (Rooda, Paragraph 0021-0022, 0025, and 0060).
Claims 7, 9-12, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Gu” (CN 111699994 A) in view of Shinsuke.
Regarding claim 7,
Gu teaches A system (an intelligent livestock electronic feeding system) (Abstract and Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13), comprising:
a backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13);
Gu does not teach a personal electronic device communicatively connected to the backend system; wherein the personal electronic device is configured to provide a user interface for a user to.
Shinsuke teaches a personal electronic device (the terminal device 201) communicatively connected to the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “the terminal device 201 used by the user are connected via a network NW”, Paragraph, 0028: “The terminal device 201 is, for example, a PC, a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a device such as a mobile phone”, and Paragraph, 0032: “the livestock information management server 101 is connected to two or more terminal devices and two or more users via the network NW”);
wherein the personal electronic device (the terminal device 201) is configured to provide a user interface (The display unit 212) for a user (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0030: “The display unit 212 is a display device or the like that displays information and the like to the user”, and Paragraph, 0038: “The status information of the sow includes, for example, completion of fertilization, during conception, during lactation, during weaning, during estrus, and the like as normal status. The abnormal status includes, for example, relapse, pregnancy emotional delay, infertility, miscarriage, delivery delay, weaning delay, non-estrus, poor condition, termination delay, death, and the like. In addition, the timing, which is the date and time of transition to these statuses, is included as linked history information”)
Gu teaches to monitor and update statuses of a set of livestock animals in the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13)
(Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 3, line14-16: “other customized parameters such as feeding time, feeding times, maximum and minimum feeding amount boundaries and feeding curve parameters of each sub-machine are modified”, Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 40-42: “a feeding state query is carried out, and a user can query parameters such as feeding plans, fed times, fed amounts, current feeding running states, actual feed intake, feed surplus”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph2, lines 7-13: “The biological indexes comprise day/week age, weight of pigs, pregnancy history of pigs, pregnancy farrowing records of pigs, cases of pigs, drug use history of pigs”, “the like are input into the cloud server platform 1 through the operation end 2, the biological indexes, the feeding plan, the electronic feeder host 5 equipment ID, the electronic feeder sub-machine equipment ID and the corresponding binding of the identity ID of the livestock in the fence in the step 2 are bound correspondingly, and the binding relation is input into the cloud server platform 1”, and Page 9, Detail description, paragraph5, lines 38-39: “a user can set a feeding curve, a maximum feeding amount value and a minimum feeding amount value of each sub-machine”);
one or more devices configured to provide care for the set of livestock animals (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 1, lines 4-6: “Step2: an electronic feeder host 5 and electronic feeder sub-machines are grouped to form a control mode that 1 electronic feeder host manages a plurality of electronic feeder submachines; equipment”, and Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-30: “Step7: forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit, wherein the feeding state comprises state parameters such as feeding times, feeding amount, current feeding running state, actual food intake, feed surplus and the like”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is communicatively connected with the one or more devices (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 3, lines 14-18: “step 4: the cloud server platform 1 maps the feeding plan of each livestock in the fence to the corresponding electronic feeder host 5 and electronic feeder sub-machine according to the binding relationship between the feeding plan and the feeding equipment ID of each livestock in the fence and the identity ID of the livestock in the fence, which are stored in the cloud server platform in the step 3, transmits the mapping content to the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4 through wireless signals, and stores the mapping content in the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 4, lines 19-21: “5: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 wirelessly networks each electronic feeder host 5 in the system under a host channel, and
stores feeding plans of each livestock in the fence, which are issued by each electronic feeder host 5 and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines, in the storage unit 54 in each electronic feeder host 5”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34: “8: each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 8, lines 35-37: “step 9: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1 and stores the feeding states and equipment states in the cloud server platform 1”)
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to adjust operation of the one or more devices based on the statuses of the set of livestock animals in the backend system (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 29-30: “the feeding state comprises state parameters such as feeding times, feeding amount, current feeding running state, actual food intake, feed surplus”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 7, line 33: “each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 8, lines 35-36: “uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1”, (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 9, line 38: “the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock”, “the cloud server platform and the operation end set the feeding time, the feeding curves, the feeding quantity maximum values and the feeding quantity minimum values of the electronic feeder hosts and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines, the current feeding states and equipment states are checked through the operation end, the parameters are learned and trained through an LSTM algorithm and a GRU algorithm implanted in the cloud server platform 1, the optimal feeding plan parameters of the livestock in each fence are obtained, the parameters are fed back to the step 3, the formulated feeding plan is updated,”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, line 25: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan controlling feeding equipment to”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu’s feeding system with Shinsuke’s personal electronic device and user interface because a user can monitor livestock status information and input event result information through a personal electronic device, and such a modification would have allowed livestock requiring attention to be presented to the user and permitted user input for updating status information, thereby facilitating livestock management operations and reducing omission of required livestock management events (Shinsuke, paragraph, 0073, 0089,0092, and 0097).
Regarding claim 9, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above).
Gu teaches wherein the one or more devices include an electronic feeding device (Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 2, line 4, “The internet of things intelligent gateway 4 is connected with an electronic feeder host 5”, and Page 9, Detail description, paragraph3, line 12: “The electronic feeder main machine 5 and the electronic feeder sub-machines”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to cause the electronic feeding device to dispense feed (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit,”)
according to a first feed schedule for one of the set of livestock animals during gestation (Page 5, Detail description, paragraph 4, lines 12-16: “The key of the breeding management in the breeding stage is that the feeding is strictly limited in the gestation period and the pregnant sows can fully take food in the lactation period, and the purpose of strictly limiting the feeding of the pregnant sows is to improve the food intake of the lactating sows and enable the total daily intake nutrition of the lactating sows to meet the basic requirements of milk production; sows are raised in the positioning pens during both gestation and lactation.”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to cause the electronic feeding device to dispense feed (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit”)
according to a second feed schedule for the one of the set of livestock animals after birthing (Page 5, Background, paragraph4, lines 12-14: “The key of the breeding management in the breeding stage is that the feeding is strictly limited in the gestation period and the pregnant sows can fully take food in the lactation period, and the purpose of strictly limiting the feeding of the pregnant sows is to improve the food intake of the lactating sows”, Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 2, lines 7-11: “feeding experts make feeding plans according to biological indexes of each livestock in the location fence, wherein the biological indexes comprise day/week age, weight of pigs, pregnancy history of pigs, pregnancy farrowing records of pigs, cases of pigs, drug use history of pigs and the like, and the specific targeted feeding plans comprise: feeding times, feeding time, feeding curves, maximum feeding amount, minimum boundary values and the like are input into the cloud server platform 1 through the operation end 2”).
Regarding claim 10, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above).
Gu teaches wherein the one or more devices include an electronic feeding device (Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 2, line 4, “The internet of things intelligent gateway 4 is connected with an electronic feeder host 5”, and Page 9, Detail description, paragraph3, line 12: “The electronic feeder main machine 5 and the electronic feeder sub-machines”);
wherein the electronic feeding device is configured to communicate data to the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 3, lines 14-18: “step 4: the cloud server platform 1 maps the feeding plan of each livestock in the fence to the corresponding electronic feeder host 5 and electronic feeder sub-machine according to the binding relationship between the feeding plan and the feeding equipment ID of each livestock in the fence and the identity ID of the livestock in the fence, which are stored in the cloud server platform in the step 3, transmits the mapping content to the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4 through wireless signals, and stores the mapping content in the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 4, lines 19-21: “5: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 wirelessly networks each electronic feeder host 5 in the system under a host channel, and
stores feeding plans of each livestock in the fence, which are issued by each electronic feeder host 5 and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines, in the storage unit 54 in each electronic feeder host 5”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34: “8: each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 8, lines 35-37: “step 9: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1 and stores the feeding states and equipment states in the cloud server platform 1”)
indicating amounts of food eaten from the electronic feeding device (Page 3, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 16-19: “The feeding parameters in the step 10 include feeding time, feeding curve, feeding amount maximum, feeding amount minimum, feeding state, actual feed intake and feed remaining amount, the cloud server platform and the operation end set the feeding time”).
Regarding claim 11, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above).
Gu teaches wherein the one or more devices includes a plurality of electronic feeding devices configured to provide feed the set of livestock animals (Page 10, Detail description, paragraph 5, lines 49-52: “networking intelligent gateway transfer 4 to the cloud server platform 1 afterwards, via the cloud service platform with each thing networking intelligent domestic animal electronic feeder in the feeding system, include: each sub-machine in the main machine and the sub-machine group is bound with each livestock through the equipment ID identification and the livestock identity identification, so that the feeding rule aiming at each livestock is customized, the targeted feeding is carried out on each livestock, and the accurate feeding aiming at the individual livestock is realized”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit”);
wherein the plurality of electronic feeding devices are configured to communicate data to the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 3, lines 14-18: “step 4: the cloud server platform 1 maps the feeding plan of each livestock in the fence to the corresponding electronic feeder host 5 and electronic feeder sub-machine according to the binding relationship between the feeding plan and the feeding equipment ID of each livestock in the fence and the identity ID of the livestock in the fence, which are stored in the cloud server platform in the step 3, transmits the mapping content to the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4 through wireless signals, and stores the mapping content in the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 4, lines 19-21: “5: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 wirelessly networks each electronic feeder host 5 in the system under a host channel, and
stores feeding plans of each livestock in the fence, which are issued by each electronic feeder host 5 and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines, in the storage unit 54 in each electronic feeder host 5”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34: “8: each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 8, lines 35-37: “step 9: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1 and stores the feeding states and equipment states in the cloud server platform 1”)
indicating amounts of food eaten by each of the set of livestock animals (Page 3, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 16-19: “the feeding parameters in the step 10 include feeding time, feeding curve, feeding amount maximum, feeding amount minimum, feeding state, actual feed intake and feed remaining amount, the cloud server platform and the operation end set the feeding time”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to track amounts of feed eaten by the set of livestock animals (Page11, Detail description,paragraph2, lines 7-13: “the binding relation is input into the cloud server platform 1”, and Page 11, Detail description, paragraph9, lines 38-40: “step 10: the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3 and 9, the feeding parameters comprise feeding time, feeding curves, feeding quantity maximum values, feeding quantity minimum values, feeding states, actual food consumption and residual feed amount”).
Regarding claim 12, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above).
Gu teaches wherein the one or more devices includes a plurality of electronic feeding devices configured to provide feed the set of livestock animals (Page 10, Detail description, paragraph 5, lines 49-52: “networking intelligent gateway transfer 4 to the cloud server platform 1 afterwards, via the cloud service platform with each thing networking intelligent domestic animal electronic feeder in the feeding system, include: each sub-machine in the main machine and the sub-machine group is bound with each livestock through the equipment ID identification and the livestock identity identification, so that the feeding rule aiming at each livestock is customized, the targeted feeding is carried out on each livestock, and the accurate feeding aiming at the individual livestock is realized”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit”);
wherein the plurality of electronic feeding devices are configured to communicate data to the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 3, lines 14-18: “step 4: the cloud server platform 1 maps the feeding plan of each livestock in the fence to the corresponding electronic feeder host 5 and electronic feeder sub-machine according to the binding relationship between the feeding plan and the feeding equipment ID of each livestock in the fence and the identity ID of the livestock in the fence, which are stored in the cloud server platform in the step 3, transmits the mapping content to the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4 through wireless signals, and stores the mapping content in the Internet of things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 4, lines 19-21: “5: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 wirelessly networks each electronic feeder host 5 in the system under a host channel, and
stores feeding plans of each livestock in the fence, which are issued by each electronic feeder host 5 and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines, in the storage unit 54 in each electronic feeder host 5”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34: “8: each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 8, lines 35-37: “step 9: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1 and stores the feeding states and equipment states in the cloud server platform 1”)
indicating amounts of food eaten by each of the set of livestock animals (Page 3, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 16-19: “the feeding parameters in the step 10 include feeding time, feeding curve, feeding amount maximum, feeding amount minimum, feeding state, actual feed intake and feed remaining amount, the cloud server platform and the operation end set the feeding time”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to track amounts of feed eaten by the set of livestock animals (Page11, Detail description,paragraph2, lines 7-13: “the binding relation is input into the cloud server platform 1”, and Page 11, Detail description, paragraph9, lines 38-40: “step 10: the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3 and 9, the feeding parameters comprise feeding time, feeding curves, feeding quantity maximum values, feeding quantity minimum values, feeding states, actual food consumption and residual feed amount”).
Gu teaches wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is.
However, Gu is silent on configured to provide a user interface.
Shinsuke teaches configured to provide a user interface (The display unit 212) for a user (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0030: “The display unit 212 is a display device or the like that displays information and the like to the user”, and Paragraph, 0038: “The status information of the sow includes, for example, completion of fertilization, during conception, during lactation, during weaning, during estrus, and the like as normal status. The abnormal status includes, for example, relapse, pregnancy emotional delay, infertility, miscarriage, delivery delay, weaning delay, non-estrus, poor condition, termination delay, death, and the like. In addition, the timing, which is the date and time of transition to these statuses, is included as linked history information”)
Gu teaches indicating which of the set of livestock animals are below target feeding levels (Page9, Detail description, paragraph6, lines 43-47: “the user can inquire the alarm information of each sub-machine in the sub-machine group of thing networking intelligent domestic animal electron feeder host computer and management, control, include: equipment disconnection, equipment execution motor, solenoid valve fault, feeding amount exceeding maximum value, feeding amount lower than minimum value, water temperature overhigh, water temperature over low, actual food consumption lower than a warning value, feed residual amount higher than a warning value and the like.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu’s feeding system with Shinsuke’s user interface because a user can monitor livestock status information and input event result information through a user interface of a personal electronic device, and such a modification would have allowed livestock requiring attention to be presented to the user and permitted user input for updating status information, thereby facilitating livestock management operations and reducing omission of required livestock management events (Shinsuke, paragraph, 0073, 0089,0092, and 0097).
Regarding claim 14, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the user interface is configured to display a listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals.
Shinsuke teaches wherein the user interface is configured to display a listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201. FIG. On this screen, the sows of the state are searchable by sorting them by farm, pig house, pig farm, and situation. In addition, main mating and farrowing are displayed as events of the week, and sows of the week related to farrowing are displayed as a list. Among the displayed sows, the number of elapsed days exceeding a predetermined condition is highlighted by color. In this way, the target livestock is presented to the user in the form of an alert, list”);
Gu does not teach user interface is configured to display respective timers until next required check in for the set of farrowing livestock animals.
Shinsuke teaches user interface is configured to display respective timers until next required check in for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups”);
Gu does not teach wherein the listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals is sorted according to the times remaining on the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals
Shinsuke teaches wherein the listing of the set of farrowing livestock animals is sorted according to the times remaining on the respective timers for the set of farrowing livestock animals (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0058: “In addition, the event schedule master information includes information prescribed about the timing at which the next event should be performed after a certain event has been implemented. More specifically, it includes event interval information indicating the interval between events”, Paragraph, 0059: “Fig. 2 shows an example of event interval information. The event interval information is stored as scheduled date master information that can be set for each farm. The set event interval is, for example, the expected number of days for estrus relapse, the number of days to be relapsed, the expected pregnancy period (number of days), the scheduled lactation period (the number of days), and the expected age of the first termination. The starting point for the duration (days) calculation is the relative duration from the previous event to the next event. Regarding the age, it is the age from birth, or the age from weaning, which is the age at weaning” and Paragraph, 0075: “In addition, the livestock extraction unit 111 uses the history information to calculate an interval from the timing when the status of the livestock or group of livestock is transitioned to the extraction timing, and compares the interval with the event interval specified in the event interval information. Thus, it has a function of determining whether an event has been performed on livestock or livestock groups”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu’s feeding system with Shinsuke’s display and timing functionality because presenting target livestock to a user in the form of an alarm and a list allows livestock requiring attention to be readily identified by the user (Shinsuke, Paragraph, 0087) and displaying the timing/seven-schedule functionality allows livestock associated with scheduled events to be identified and presented to the user correctly (Shinsuke, Paragraph, 0074).
Regarding claim 15,
Gu teaches A system (an intelligent livestock electronic feeding system) (Abstract and Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13), comprising:
a backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13);
Gu does not teach a personal electronic device communicatively connected to the backend system.
wherein the personal electronic device is configured to provide a user interface for a user to
Shinsuke teaches a personal electronic device (the terminal device 201) communicatively connected to the backend system (a livestock information management server 101) (Paragraph, 0026: “the terminal device 201 used by the user are connected via a network NW”, Paragraph, 0028: “The terminal device 201 is, for example, a PC, a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a device such as a mobile phone”, and Paragraph, 0032: “the livestock information management server 101 is connected to two or more terminal devices and two or more users via the network NW”);
wherein the personal electronic device (the terminal device 201) is configured to provide a user interface (The display unit 212) for a user (Paragraph, 0087: “FIG. 6 shows a list of sows, which is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 212 of the terminal device 201”, Paragraph, 0030: “The display unit 212 is a display device or the like that displays information and the like to the user”, and Paragraph, 0038: “The status information of the sow includes, for example, completion of fertilization, during conception, during lactation, during weaning, during estrus, and the like as normal status. The abnormal status includes, for example, relapse, pregnancy emotional delay, infertility, miscarriage, delivery delay, weaning delay, non-estrus, poor condition, termination delay, death, and the like. In addition, the timing, which is the date and time of transition to these statuses, is included as linked history information”)
Gu teaches to monitor and update statuses of a set of livestock animals in the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13)
(Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 3, line14-16: “other customized parameters such as feeding time, feeding times, maximum and minimum feeding amount boundaries and feeding curve parameters of each sub-machine are modified”, Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 40-42: “a feeding state query is carried out, and a user can query parameters such as feeding plans, fed times, fed amounts, current feeding running states, actual feed intake, feed surplus”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph2, lines 7-13: “The biological indexes comprise day/week age, weight of pigs, pregnancy history of pigs, pregnancy farrowing records of pigs, cases of pigs, drug use history of pigs”, “the like are input into the cloud server platform 1 through the operation end 2, the biological indexes, the feeding plan, the electronic feeder host 5 equipment ID, the electronic feeder sub-machine equipment ID and the corresponding binding of the identity ID of the livestock in the fence in the step 2 are bound correspondingly, and the binding relation is input into the cloud server platform 1”, and Page 9, Detail description, paragraph5, lines 38-39: “a user can set a feeding curve, a maximum feeding amount value and a minimum feeding amount value of each sub-machine”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to determine statuses of the set of livestock animals based on data from one or more sensors (Page8, Detailed description, paragraph 6, lines 14-16: “the cloud server platform feeds parameters, such as: feeding time, feeding curve, water temperature of feeding water, actual feed intake of livestock and residual feed; growth parameters of livestock, such as: backfat, body weight, cases, number of born piglets, total weight of the born piglets and cases of the born piglets”, Page 6, Detailed description, paragraph 11, lines 47: “detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors”, and Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 9, lines 38-40: “step 10: the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3”, Page 3, Detailed description, paragraph 2, line 5: “according to the control command to execute the feeding plan, detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors”, and Page10, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 11-12: “The execution equipment comprises a motor, an electromagnetic valve, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a material level sensor, a water temperature sensor and a liquid level sensor which are connected,”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is communicatively connected with the one or more sensors (Page9, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 14-16: “the cloud server platform feeds parameters, such as: feeding time, feeding curve, water temperature of feeding water, actual feed intake of livestock and residual feed; growth parameters of livestock”, Page 10, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 13-17: “the feed blanking amount of the feeder is controlled through a transmission structure by controlling the start/stop of the motor, the current sensor, the voltage sensor, the material level sensor, the water temperature sensor and the liquid level sensor are all connected with a digital-analog acquisition unit 56”, Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 6, lines 28-29: “feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit”, Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34: “each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, and Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 8, lines 35-37: “: the internet of things intelligent gateway 4 uploads the feeding states and equipment states of all the feeders in the whole internet of things feeding system to the cloud server platform 1 and stores the feeding states and equipment states in the cloud server platform”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to adjust operation of one or more devices based on the statuses of the set of livestock animals in the backend system (Page8, Detailed description, paragraph 6, lines 14-16: “the cloud server platform feeds parameters, such as: feeding time, feeding curve, water temperature of feeding water, actual feed intake of livestock and residual feed; growth parameters of livestock”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 9, line 38: “the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3 and 9, the feeding parameters comprise feeding time, feeding curves, feeding quantity maximum values, feeding quantity minimum values, feeding states, actual food consumption and residual feed amount, the cloud server platform and the operation end set the feeding time, the feeding curves, the feeding quantity maximum values and the feeding quantity minimum values of the electronic feeder hosts and the corresponding electronic feeder sub-machines”, Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 6, lines 28-29: “Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 7, lines 33-34”, each electronic feeder host 5 transmits the feeding state and the equipment state of the feeder managed by the local electronic
feeder and each electronic feeder sub-machine managed by the local electronic feeder host to the internet-of-things intelligent gateway 4”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, line 25: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan controlling feeding equipment to”, and Page 11, Detail description, column2, line 7-13: “step 3: feeding experts make feeding plans according to biological indexes of each livestock. the biological indexes comprise day/week age, weight of pigs, pregnancy history of pigs, pregnancy farrowing records of pigs, cases of pigs, drug use history of pigs”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu’s feeding system with Shinsuke’s personal electronic device and user interface because a user can monitor livestock status information and input event result information through a personal electronic device, and such a modification would have allowed livestock requiring attention to be presented to the user and permitted user input for updating status information, thereby facilitating livestock management operations and reducing omission of required livestock management events (Shinsuke, paragraph, 0073, 0089,0092, and 0097).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu in view of Shinsuke and “Schick” (US8132538).
Regarding claim 8, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above)
Gu teaches wherein the one or more devices include an electronic feeding device (Page 9, Detail description, paragraph 2, line 4, “The internet of things intelligent gateway 4 is connected with an electronic feeder host 5”, and Page 9, Detail description, paragraph3, line 12: “The electronic feeder main machine 5 and the electronic feeder sub-machines”);
wherein the backend system (a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to cause the electronic feeding device to dispense a first type of feed for one of the set of livestock animals during gestation (Page 5, Detail description, column 4, lines 12-16: “The key of the breeding management in the breeding stage is that the feeding is strictly limited in the gestation period and the pregnant sows can fully take food in the lactation period, and the purpose of strictly limiting the feeding of the pregnant sows is to improve the food intake of the lactating sows and enable the total daily intake nutrition of the lactating sows to meet the basic requirements of milk production; sows are raised in the positioning pens during both gestation and lactation.”, and Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine and corresponds to each livestock in the fence in the step S6, controlling feeding equipment to carry out blanking according to the control command by each electronic feeder to execute the feeding plan, feeding back a feeding state and an equipment state through each sensor and an internal detection circuit”);
Gu teaches wherein the backend system(a cloud server platform 1) (Page 8, Detail description, Paragraph 3, lines 12-13) is configured to cause the electronic feeding device to dispense feed for the one of the set of livestock animals after birthing (Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 6, lines 26-29: “forming a control command according to the feeding plan which is made for each electronic feeder host 5 and each electronic feeder sub-machine”, Page 11, Detail description, paragraph 2, lines 7-8, “step 3: feeding experts make feeding plans according to biological indexes of each livestock in the location fence, wherein the biological indexes comprise day/week age, weight of pigs, pregnancy history of pigs, pregnancy farrowing records of pigs”, Page 5, Background, paragraph4, lines 12-14: “The key of the breeding management in the breeding stage is that the feeding is strictly limited in the gestation period and the pregnant sows can fully take food in the lactation period, and the purpose of strictly limiting the feeding of the pregnant sows is to improve the food intake of the lactating sows”). However, Gu does not explicitly teach dispense a second type of feed.
Schick teaches dispense a second type of feed (Column 8, lines 17-24: “It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system and method for automatically identifying Sows that it has been determined require a special diet or rations from that being fed to the main population of Sows in a large pen environment where a mass feeding system Such as Trickle Feeding is being utilized”, Column 12, lines 39-43: “Such feeding a feeding apparatus slowly releases a stream of food pellets”, and Column 17, lines 19-24: “Sows, as shown in FIG. 2, that have been visually identified by the grower as being “light” may be directed to exit apparatus 30 through gate 52 into area 58 where they may be fed a different diet from that being fed to the other sows in regular feeding area 12, which diet may include either extra feed or feed having different nutritional features.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu’s feeding system to utilize Schick’s feeding techniques that provide feed formulations having nutritional characteristics appropriate for a sow’s physiological condition because supplying feed having nutritional features tailed to the condition of the sow. Such modification would by providing feed having nutritional features appropriate for the sow’s condition (Schick, Col. 17, lines 20-29)
Claim 13 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu in view of Shinsuke and “Shim” (KR 20200055839 A).
Regarding claim 13, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 7 (See rejection of claim 7 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the one or more devices includes one or more climate control devices.
Shim teaches wherein the one or more devices includes one or more climate control devices (Paragraph 0032: “ach of the plurality of pig cages 1000 basically includes a sow cage 110, a piglet cage 120, an air conditioning supply panel part 200, and a sensing device part 300, and a ventilation device as necessary. 400, a humidifying device 500, a lighting device 600, a motion detection sensor 700 and a piglet oil device 800 may be further included”).
Gu does not teach wherein the backend system is configured to control the one or more climate control devices based on statuses of the set of livestock animals.
Shim teaches wherein the backend system is configured to control the one or more climate control devices based on statuses of the set of livestock animals (Paragraph 0031: “he big data generation and construction system (hereinafter referred to as a system) of pig growth condition information of the”, Paragraph 0077: “it is possible to control the ventilation device 400 or the humidifying device 500 through the management control unit 2000”, and Paragraph 0104: “Different humidity among the humidity corresponding to the humidity information (information having a certain range) in the growth condition information according to the breeding type of the piglet and the status of the sow (pregnancy, during lactation), and the age of the piglet, each sow cage 110 )”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu in view of Shinsuke with Shim to incorporate one or more collimate control devices as taught by Shim because controlling ventilation and humidifying devices through a management control unit would have maintained humidity conditions suitable for growth (Shim, Paragraph 0077).
Regarding claim 20, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the one or more sensors includes temperature sensors configured to monitor temperature of crates housing the set of livestock animals.
Shim teaches wherein the one or more sensors includes temperature sensors configured to monitor temperature of crates housing the set of livestock animals (Paragraph 0071: “Referring to FIG. 6, the temperature sensing sensor unit 310 includes a first temperature sensing sensor 311 sensing the temperature in the sow cage 110 and a second temperature sensing sensor sensing the temperature in the piglet cage 120 ( 312)”, and Paragraph 0072: “Here, the first temperature sensor 311 detects the temperature in the sow cage 110 and controls the temperature in the sow cage 110, the temperature in the sow cage 110, which is the basic data of the management control unit 2000 The second temperature detection sensor 312 detects the temperature in the piglet cage 120 and controls the temperature in the piglet cage 120, which is the basic data of the management control unit 2000 for the piglet cage 110 ”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu in view of Shinsuke with Shim to incorporate one or more temperature sensors as taught by Shim because sensing temperatures in sow or piglet crates and providing the sensed temperature information to a management control unit for controlling the temperature of the respective crates. Such modification would have maintained suitable condition for farrowing and growth in the crate. (Shim, Paragraph 0071 and 0072).
Regarding claim 21, Gu teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the one or more sensors includes sensors configured to monitor CO2 levels in crates housing the set of livestock animals.
Shim teaches wherein the one or more sensors includes sensors configured to monitor CO2 levels in crates housing the set of livestock animals (Paragraph 0070: “the carbon dioxide sensing sensor unit 330,”, and Paragraph 0079: “The carbon dioxide detection sensor unit 330 includes a first carbon dioxide detection sensor 331 for detecting the carbon dioxide concentration in the sow cage 110 and a second carbon dioxide detection sensor 332 for detecting the carbon dioxide concentration in the piglet cage 120).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu in view of Shinsuke with Shim to incorporate one or more CO2 monitoring sensors as climate control devices as taught by Shim because controlling ventilation devices through a management control unit would have maintained ventilation conditions suitable for growth (Shim, Paragraph 0077).
Claim 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu in view of Shinsuke and Rooda
Regarding claim 16, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu teaches wherein the backend system (Page 8, Detail description, paragraph3, lines 12-16: “a cloud server platform 1”)
is configured to determine the statuses of the set of livestock animals based on the data from the one or more sensors (Page 3, Detailed description, paragraph 2, line 5: “according to the control command to execute the feeding plan, detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors
(Page9, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 14-16: “the cloud server platform feeds parameters, such as: feeding time, feeding curve, water temperature of feeding water, actual feed intake of livestock and residual feed; growth parameters of livestock, such as: backfat, body weight, cases, number of born piglets, total weight of the born piglets and cases of the born piglets”, Page10, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 11-12: “The execution equipment comprises a motor, an electromagnetic valve, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a material level sensor, a water temperature sensor and a liquid level sensor which are connected”, Page 6, Detailed description, paragraph 11, lines 47: “detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors”, and Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 9, lines 38-40: “step 10: the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3 and 9”) and
However, Gu is silent on observations input by users via the user interface.
Rooda teaches observations input by users via the user interface (Paragraph, 0028: “The technician can also tag during the stream when individual births (or stillbirths) have occurred and when the litter farrowing has completed as indicated by the expelling of the placenta”, and 0029: “The database in which library of tagged action events 120 is stored can be a relational database such as Post Gres along with an image store such as AWS S3”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu with Rooda to utilize user-entered observations as taught by Rooda because tagging farrowing-related events and storing events in a database, where the tagged event library is used for real-time comparison and analysis of continuously recorded images, thereby providing additional livestock-status information that may be used in determining livestock status (Rooda, Paragraphs, 0025,0028-0029 ).
Regarding claim 17, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu teaches wherein the backend system (Page 8, Detail description, paragraph3, lines 12-16: “a cloud server platform 1”)
is configured to determine the statuses of the set of livestock animals based on the data from the one or more sensors (Page 3, Detailed description, paragraph 2, line 5: “according to the control command to execute the feeding plan, detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors
(Page9, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 14-16: “the cloud server platform feeds parameters, such as: feeding time, feeding curve, water temperature of feeding water, actual feed intake of livestock and residual feed; growth parameters of livestock, such as: backfat, body weight, cases, number of born piglets, total weight of the born piglets and cases of the born piglets”, Page10, Detailed description, paragraph 3, lines 11-12: “The execution equipment comprises a motor, an electromagnetic valve, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a material level sensor, a water temperature sensor and a liquid level sensor which are connected”, Page 6, Detailed description, paragraph 11, lines 47: “detecting feeding states and equipment states through the sensors”, and Page 11, Detailed description, paragraph 9, lines 38-40: “step 10: the cloud server platform 1 obtains historical feeding parameters of livestock in each fence according to the data stored in the steps 3 and 9”) and
However, Gu is silent on observations input by users via the user interface.
Rooda teaches observations input by users via the user interface (Paragraph, 0028: “The technician can also tag during the stream when individual births (or stillbirths) have occurred and when the litter farrowing has completed as indicated by the expelling of the placenta”, and 0029: “The database in which library of tagged action events 120 is stored can be a relational database such as Post Gres along with an image store such as AWS S3”) and
Gu does not teach records from previous farrowing cycles of the set of livestock.
Rooda teaches records from previous farrowing cycles of the set of livestock (Paragraph, 0029: “The database in which library of tagged action events 120 is stored can be a relational database such as PostGres along with an image store such as AWS S3”, and “all related records of that farrowing (filename, time, date, sow identification, duration of parturition, number of births and stillbirths, tag indices and classifications and any other relevant information) can be grouped together and saved in mass storage 213 or system memory 204 for safekeeping and later upload and/or analysis.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu with Rooda to incorporate records from previous farrowing cycles in determining livestock statuses because storing farrowing-related records associated with a particular sow, including sow identification, during of parturition, number of births and stillbirths, and other relevant information, for safekeeping and later upload and/or analysis. Such incorporation including a library of tagged action events for comparison with continuously recorded images in real time would have allowed historical farrowing records to be retained and utilized in subsequent analysis and status determination (Rooda, Paragraph, 0025, 0029).
Regarding claim 18, Gu teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the one or more sensors includes one or more cameras.
Rooda teaches wherein the one or more sensors includes one or more cameras (Paragraph, 0008: “Another method for still-birthing alerting uses a visual camera to identify when a newborn piglet has dropped from the birth canal and is a separate object through the use of edge detection, contour mapping, or other means of identifying separate objects.”, and Paragraph, 0021: “System 100 incorporates an image capture device 102 for capturing images 104 of an animal 200 (shown in FIGs. 3-7) during parturition”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu with Rooda to incorporate one or more cameras because capturing images of an animal during parturition and identifying when a new born piglet has dropped from the birth canal would have provided image information regarding farrowing progress and farrowing-related events (Rooda, Paragraph, 0008,0021).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu in view of Shinsuke and further “Makarychev” (US10750724 B1).
Regarding claim 19, Gu in view of Shinsuke teaches the system of claim 15 (See rejection of claim 15 above)
Gu does not teach wherein the one or more sensors includes a set of biometric sensors configured to be worn by the set of livestock animals.
Makarychev teaches wherein the one or more sensors includes a set of biometric sensors (Column 3, lines 48-57: “sensing data associated with animal 308. For example , Monitoring device 305 may include for example a barometer or any other suitable device for sensing a barometric pressure ( e.g. , ambient pressure ) . Monitoring device 305 may include any suitable sensing components such as , for monitoring device 305 may include location sensors ( e.g. , 50 example , a thermocouple , a resistance temperature detector GPS and / or GNSS components as disclosed above ) and / or sensors for sensing a rate of change of a position of animal 308 such as an accelerometer”)
configured to be worn by the set of livestock animals (Column 3, lines 15-17: “Monitoring device 305 may be any suitable device that may be attached to, embedded in, and/or worn by an animal 308”, and Column 10, lines 63-65: “Also for example as illustrated in FIG. 2, a connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection) may be confirmed between user device 320 and monitoring device 305 attached to or worn by animal 308”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gu with Makarychev to incorporate a monitoring device including one or more sensors attached to, embedded in, and/or worn by livestock because a monitoring device configured to be worn by livestock would have communicated with a user device and such sensor data would have allowed a user to monitor characteristics of the livestock, thereby facilitating collection and communication of animal-monitoring information (Makarychev, Col3, lines 15-17; Col3, lines 48-57; Col10, lines 63-65).
Claim 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Yajima” (US20190133087 in view of Makarychev.
Regarding claim 22,
Yajima teaches A system (system 1) (Paragraph, 0107: “In the system 1 of this embodiment, each of the relay apparatuses 20 receives biological information of the respective livestock animals A from the sensor devices 10 respectively worn by the livestock animals A (individuals), processes it into individual information, and transmits it to the management apparatus 30 (management server 301”), comprising:
a backend system (The management server 301) (Paragraph, 0140: “The management server 301 that has received a search start instruction from the terminal apparatus 302 or the terminal apparatus 303 starts a search process of the livestock animal A using the mobile object 40 (ST23), Paragraph, 0085: “The management server 301 is configured to include the individual extraction unit 32, the position capturing unit 33, and the storage unit 34 and execute monitoring of a state of each livestock animal A, position capturing processing, and the like”);
a personal electronic device (the terminal apparatus 302) communicatively connected to the backend system (Paragraph, 0137, “a UI (User Interface) image 511 including information of a specific livestock animal A as a search target is ds played on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 302 (FIG. 7A). In this example, the UI image 511 includes identification information (UID), position information, past history, and the like of the livestock animal A (sensor device) that has been judged as abnormal”, Paragraph, 0135: “Search information acquired in the search information acquisition step (ST22) of FIG. 4 is transmitted to each of the terminal apparatuses 302 and 303 from the management server 301”, and Paragraph, 0085: “The terminal apparatuses 302 and 303 are each configured by an information processing apparatus communicable with the management server 301 via the network N”);
wherein the personal electronic device is configured to provide a user interface (a UI (User Interface) image 511) for a user to monitor and update statuses of a set of livestock animals in the backend system (Paragraph, 0088: “the terminal apparatuses 302 and 303 each include a communication unit 51 communicable with the management server 301, a display unit 52 that, displays the individual information and position information of each livestock animal A, a history of biological information, the mobile object information, and the like transmitted from the management server 301”, Paragraph, 0137: “a UI (User Interface) image 511 including information of a specific livestock animal A as a search target is ds played on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 302 (FIG. 7A)”) ;
wherein the user interface is configured to display a list of the set of livestock animals and their status (Paragraph, 0088: “the terminal apparatuses 302 and 303 each include a communication unit 51 communicable with the management server 301, a display unit 52 that, displays the individual information and position information of each livestock animal A, a history of biological information, the mobile object information, and the like transmitted from the management server 301”);
wherein the list is organized (Paragraph, 0088: “a display unit 52 that, displays the individual information and position information of each livestock animal A”, Paragraph, 0137: “a UI (User Interface) image 511 including information of a specific livestock animal A as a search target is ds played on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 302 (FIG. 7A). In this example, the UI image 511 includes identification information (UID), position information, past history, and the like of the livestock animal A (sensor device) that has been judged as abnormal. The position information may be displayed in characters, or the position of the livestock animal A (estimated area) may be displayed on a map image displayed on the display.”, Paragraph, 0302: “the management server 301 (position capturing unit 33) estimates the position of the specific livestock animal at a reception time of that data and generates position information related to that position (ST64). The generated position information is stored in the storage unit 34”, Paragraph, 0095: “By configuring the mobile object 40 such that it can track the specific livestock animal, it becomes possible to display not only a position of a still individual but also a position of a moving individual”).
However, Yajima is silent on according to the geolocation of the set of livestock animals,
Makarychev teaches according to the geolocation of the set of livestock animals (Column 3, lines 31-36: “Monitoring device 305 may include position-finding components such as Global Positioning System (GPS) components, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) components, and/or similar components that may determine a geographic location of animal 308”, Column 8, lines 30-35:
“User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 8, lines 30-35: “User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 10, lines 52-62: “illustrated in FIG. 1, a connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection) may be confirmed between user device 310 of user 312 and monitoring device 305 attached to or worn by animal 308 via communication system 315 (e.g., Bluetooth communication). FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary situation in which user 312 is situated in relatively close proximity to animal 308 and a safe status for animal 308 can be accordingly made based on the proximity of user 312 to animal 308 (e.g., animal 308 is safe because it is in close proximity of user 312 who may care for or protect animal 308)”, Column11, lines 14-17: “system 300 queries data from the devices to confirm the proximity of user 312 to animal 308”, Column 14, lines 15-18: “a user's electronic device via Bluetooth, which may provide the ability to detect an owner near an animal and thereby assign the safe status to an animal without further method or process steps”, and Column 11, lines 11-16: “system 300 may communicate with monitoring device 305 and user devices 310 and 320 to confirm a presence of user 312 near animal 308”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yajima’s livestock-display interface with Makarychev’s proximity determination because Makarychev determines and confirms the proximity between a user device and an animal, thereby allowing animals that are near the user’s location to be identified and presented to the user (Makarychev, Col10, lines 52-62; Col11, lines 14-17).
Regarding claim 23, Yajima teaches the system of claim 22 (See rejection of claim 22 above).
Yajima teaches wherein the user interface is configured to filter the list to show a subset of the set of livestock animals (Paragraph, 0088: “a display unit 52 that, displays the individual information and position information of each livestock animal A, Paragraph, 0137: “a UI (User Interface) image 511 including information of a specific livestock animal A as a search target is ds played on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 302 (FIG. 7A). In this example, the UI image 511 includes identification information (UID), position information, past history, and the like of the livestock animal A (sensor device) that has been judged as abnormal. The position information may be displayed in characters, or the position of the livestock animal A (estimated area) may be displayed on a map image displayed on the display”).
However, Yajima is silent on that are in close proximity to the personal electronic device.
Makarychev teaches that are in close proximity to the personal electronic device (Column 3, lines 31-36: “Monitoring device 305 may include position-finding components such as Global Positioning System (GPS) components, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) components, and/or similar components that may determine a geographic location of animal 308”, Column 8, lines 30-35:
“User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 8, lines 30-35: “User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 10, lines 52-62: “illustrated in FIG. 1, a connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection) may be confirmed between user device 310 of user 312 and monitoring device 305 attached to or worn by animal 308 via communication system 315 (e.g., Bluetooth communication). FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary situation in which user 312 is situated in relatively close proximity to animal 308 and a safe status for animal 308 can be accordingly made based on the proximity of user 312 to animal 308 (e.g., animal 308 is safe because it is in close proximity of user 312 who may care for or protect animal 308)”, Column11, lines 14-17: “system 300 queries data from the devices to confirm the proximity of user 312 to animal 308”, Column 14, lines 15-18: “a user's electronic device via Bluetooth, which may provide the ability to detect an owner near an animal and thereby assign the safe status to an animal without further method or process steps”, and Column 11, lines 11-16: “system 300 may communicate with monitoring device 305 and user devices 310 and 320 to confirm a presence of user 312 near animal 308”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yajima’s livestock-display interface with Makarychev’s proximity determination because Makarychev determines and confirms the proximity between a user device and an animal, thereby allowing animals that are near the user’s location to be identified and presented to the user (Makarychev, Col10, lines 52-62; Col11, lines 14-17).
Regarding claim 24, Yajima teaches the system of claim 22 (See rejection of claim 22 above)
Yajima teaches wherein the user interface (a UI (User Interface) image 511) is configured to dynamically filter the list to show a subset of the set of livestock animals (Paragraph, 0088: “a display unit 52 that, displays the individual information and position information of each livestock animal A”, Paragraph, 0137: “a UI (User Interface) image 511 including information of a specific livestock animal A as a search target is ds played on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 302 (FIG. 7A). In this example, the UI image 511 includes identification information (UID), position information, past history, and the like of the livestock animal A (sensor device) that has been judged as abnormal. The position information may be displayed in characters, or the position of the livestock animal A (estimated area) may be displayed on a map image displayed on the display”, Paragraph, 0095: “By configuring the mobile object 40 such that it can track the specific livestock animal, it becomes possible to display not only a position of a still individual but also a position of a moving individual. In other words, the mobile object 40 also includes a function as a display body (instruction body) that displays (instructs) a position of a searched livestock animal (specific individual) in a form recognizable by pasture-related officials (users) including a manager”, Paragraph, 0139: “a UI image 521 including identification information (UID) of a specific livestock animal as a search target is displayed on a display (display unit 52) of the terminal apparatus 303 (FIG. 8A)”).
Yajima is silent on that are in close proximity to a geolocation of the personal electronic device.
Makarychev teaches that are in close proximity to a geolocation of the personal electronic device (Column 3, lines 31-36: “Monitoring device 305 may include position-finding components such as Global Positioning System (GPS) components, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) components, and/or similar components that may determine a geographic location of animal 308”, Column 8, lines 30-35:
“User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 8, lines 30-35: “User 312 may also enter geographic coordinates via the exemplary disclosed user device and/or utilize global positioning components of the exemplary disclosed user device as described above to transmit real-time data to system 300 defining zone 330”, Column 10, lines 52-62: “illustrated in FIG. 1, a connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection) may be confirmed between user device 310 of user 312 and monitoring device 305 attached to or worn by animal 308 via communication system 315 (e.g., Bluetooth communication). FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary situation in which user 312 is situated in relatively close proximity to animal 308 and a safe status for animal 308 can be accordingly made based on the proximity of user 312 to animal 308 (e.g., animal 308 is safe because it is in close proximity of user 312 who may care for or protect animal 308)”, Column11, lines 14-17: “system 300 queries data from the devices to confirm the proximity of user 312 to animal 308”, Column 14, lines 15-18: “a user's electronic device via Bluetooth, which may provide the ability to detect an owner near an animal and thereby assign the safe status to an animal without further method or process steps”, and Column 11, lines 11-16: “system 300 may communicate with monitoring device 305 and user devices 310 and 320 to confirm a presence of user 312 near animal 308”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yajima’s livestock-display interface with Makarychev’s proximity determination because Makarychev determines and confirms the proximity between a user device and an animal, thereby allowing animals that are near the user’s location to be identified and presented to the user (Makarychev, Col10, lines 52-62; Col11, lines 14-17).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MORGAN S SHIM whose telephone number is (571)272-9032. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30AM-4:30PM.
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, Robert(Tse) Chen can be reached at (571) 272-3672. 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.
/MORGAN SANGJO SHIM/Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/PATRICK FERNANDES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
Prosecution Insights