DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
In the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims 1-20 have been considered and examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Respond to Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 03/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-20 has been fully considered and the results as followings:
On page 8 of Applicant’s remarks, Applicant argues that the combination of Li, Mott, and Landers does not teach the claimed invention because Landers zones are unconditionally restricted based on location alone while the claimed invention recites “determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone with which the detected behavior is not permitted.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant because as discussed in the Final rejection mailed on 12/12/2025, the rejection relied upon Landers to disclose determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone (Landers: Abstract, column 10 lines 44-column 12 lines 27, column 13 lines 32-50, column 14 lines 4-24, FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: Individual zones are defined within a multi-zone assisted guidance region by storing a zone GPS data point target width, assigning GPS data points located within a perimeter and within the target width to a second zone, allotting GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the second zone and within the target width to a first zone; and finally ascribing unassigned GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the first zone to a safe zone. If there is not enough total width between perimeter points in a region to provide all zones at the target width, a data point width of more exterior zones are preferentially electronically maintained at the target width and more interior zones are reduced or eliminated. In addition, adjacent guidance zones have unique stimulation that acts through different neurological access channels to provide behavioral guidance to an animal) with which the detected behavior is not permitted (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert).
As in Landers teachings, the corrective actions are triggered based on the locations of the animal and whether the animal continues to move away from the safe zone based on proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and/or speed of travel from a sensor, e.g. the inertial sensor (Landers: column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 66-column 17 lines 20, FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6).
On page 9 of Applicant’s remarks, Applicant argued that the combination of Li and Mott does not teach the limitations of "the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence, the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device." Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new combination of references including prior art being used in the current rejection (see below for detail) under new grounds of rejection, necessitated by amendment.
On page 10 of Applicant’s remarks, Applicant argued that the combination of Li, Mott, and Bonge does not teach the limitations of “ "track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesirable behavior over the predetermined period;" "output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior;" and "output a message to an associated device in response to determining a change in the animal's behavior exceeds a predetermined change in the animal's behavior, wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior." Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new combination of references including prior art being used in the current rejection (see below for detail) under new grounds of rejection, necessitated by amendment.
As a result, Applicant arguments are not deemed persuasive, and the previous rejections pertaining to the previous set of claims are sustained. Therefore, due to the claimed amendments, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejections necessitated by amendments is made in view of following reference/combinations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and further in view of Landers et al. (Landers – US 10,064,390 B1).
As to claim 1, Li discloses a collar comprising:
a strap (Li: FIG. 3 the strap 370) configured to be worn by an animal (Li: [0040], [0042],[0064], [0067]-[0068], FIG. 1 the animal 110, and FIG. 3 the monitoring device 300: the animal control system 100 may include a monitoring device 120 worn on the animal 110, a storage device 130, one or more terminals 140, and a network 150. In some embodiments, the monitoring device 120, the storage device 130, and/or the terminal(s) 140 may be connected to and/or communicate with each other via a wireless connection, a wired connection, or a combination thereof);
an accelerometer configured to detect movement (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242) and output movement data (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242, FIG. 7 and FIG. 9: the motion signal generation module 730 may be configured to detect a motion and generate a motion signal representing the motion. The motion signal may indicate one or more motion parameters of the animal. Exemplary motion parameters may include an acceleration, a motion frequency, a motion amplitude, or the like, or any combination thereof. The motion signal generation module 730 may be electrically connected to the motion signal processing module 740 and transmit the motion signal to the motion signal processing module 740 for further processing);
memory storing instructions (Li: [0050], [0059]-[0060], [0062], [0075], and FIG. 1 the storage 260: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure); and
one or more processors (Li: FIG. 2 the processor 210) in communication with the accelerometer and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (Li: [0075], [0080]-[0099], and FIG. 4-11: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure), are configured to cause the collar to:
detect, based at least in part on the data (Li: [0041]-[0043], [0057], [0078], [0083]-[0084], [0114]-[0121], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 5: he processor 210 may determine whether the animal is barking based on the motion signal indicating a motion parameter of the mouth or the neck of the animal. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may determine whether the motion parameter exceeds a first threshold value or is within a first preset range. If the motion parameter exceeds the first threshold value or is within the first preset range, the processor 210 may determine that the animal is barking. For example, when the animal is barking, the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration of the neck are within a range of [2 g, 4 g], [0.2 g, 1 g], and [4 g, 6 g], respectively, wherein g represents the gravitational acceleration. If one or more of the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration are within their respective range, it may be determined that the animal is barking), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Li: [0039], [0041], [0046], [0074], and FIG. 1: In some embodiments, the animal control system 100 may be used to control and/or correct one or more unwelcome actions of the animal 110 including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof. For illustration purposes, the present disclosure is described with reference to systems and methods for control and/or correct animal barking, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure ); and
output one or more corrective actions in response to detecting the behavior (Li: [0039]-[0041], [0046], [0122], and FIG. 1: The processor may be configured to analyze the status information of the animal 110 to detect an occurrence of unwelcome actions. The correction component may be configured to perform one or more correction operations (e.g., generate a vibration or an electric shock) on the animal 110 if the animal 110 exhibits an unwelcome behavior).
While Li discloses the collar device comprising one or more sensors (FIG. 2 the sensors 240) for detecting status information of an animal (Li: [0039], [0041], [0046], [0057]-[0058], [0074], and FIG. 1: The sensor(s) 240 may be configured to obtain status information including, for example, location information, motion information, sound information, environmental information, physiological information, or the like, or any combination thereof, of the animal) and activating correction components to control actions of the animal (Li: [0036], [0039], [0041], [0046], [0054], [0061], [0074], [0144], and FIG. 1: the animal control system 100 may be used to control and/or correct one or more unwelcome actions of the animal 110 including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof), Li does not explicitly disclose the method steps of a geolocation sensor configured to detect an approximate location of the collar and output location data; and
the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal;
determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone in which the detected behavior is not permitted, the detected behavior being permitted when the collar is located outside the predetermined zone; and
output one or more corrective actions in response to both detecting the behavior and determining that the collar is located within the predetermined zone.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring conditions of an animal to implement a geolocation sensor configured to detect an approximate location of the collar and output location data; and the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott, which discloses a geolocation sensor (Mott: FIG. 3 the GPS receiver 302) configured to detect an approximate location of the collar and output location data (Mott: [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], and FIG. 3-4: In one non-limiting embodiment, GPS receiver 302 can transmit latitude and longitude data to geo-fence detector 304 via storage 308 or, alternatively, indirectly to storage 308 via CPU 310. A geo-fence can be a virtual fence or safe space defined for a given pet. The geo-fence can be defined based on a latitude and/or longitudinal coordinates and/or by the boundaries of a given WLAN connection signal. For example, geo-fence detector 304 receives the latitude and longitude data representing the current location of the device 300 and determines whether the device 300 is within or has exited a geo-fence zone. If geo-fence detector 304 determines that the device 300 has exited a geo-fence zone the geo-fence detector 304 can transmit the notification to CPU 310 for further processing. After the notification has been processed by CPU 310, the notification can be transmitted to the mobile device either directly or via the server); and the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: detect, based at least in part on the movement data (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5: The data can include, for example, data related to location or movement of the pet. In certain non-limiting examples, the wearable device can include one or more sensors, which can allow the wearable device to detected movement of the pet. In some non-limiting embodiments, the sensor can be a collar mounted triaxial accelerometer, which can allow the wearable device to detect various body movements of the pet. The various body movement can include, for example, any bodily movement associated with itching, scratching, licking, walking, drinking, eating, sleeping, and shaking, and/or any other bodily movement associated with an action performed by the pet).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li and Mott, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li to include a geolocation sensor configured to detect an approximate location of the collar and output location data; and the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott. The motivation for this is to determine an activity of an animal based on sensing information associated with a wearable device of the animal.
While the combination of Li and Mott discloses the collar device comprising one or more sensors (FIG. 2 the sensors 240) for detecting status information of an animal (Li: [0039], [0041], [0046], [0057]-[0058], [0074], and FIG. 1: The sensor(s) 240 may be configured to obtain status information including, for example, location information, motion information, sound information, environmental information, physiological information, or the like, or any combination thereof, of the animal) and activating correction components to control actions of the animal (Li: [0036], [0039], [0041], [0046], [0054], [0061], [0074], [0144], and FIG. 1: the animal control system 100 may be used to control and/or correct one or more unwelcome actions of the animal 110 including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof), the combination of Li and Mott does not explicitly disclose the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone in which the detected behavior is not permitted, the detected behavior being permitted when the collar is located outside the predetermined zone; and
output one or more corrective actions in response to both detecting the behavior and determining that the collar is located within the predetermined zone.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone in which the detected behavior is not permitted, the detected behavior being permitted when the collar is located outside the predetermined zone; and
output one or more corrective actions in response to both detecting the behavior and determining that the collar is located within the predetermined zone, a suggested by Landers, which discloses
the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone (Landers: Abstract, column 10 lines 44-column 12 lines 27, column 13 lines 32-50, column 14 lines 4-24, FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: Individual zones are defined within a multi-zone assisted guidance region by storing a zone GPS data point target width, assigning GPS data points located within a perimeter and within the target width to a second zone, allotting GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the second zone and within the target width to a first zone; and finally ascribing unassigned GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the first zone to a safe zone. If there is not enough total width between perimeter points in a region to provide all zones at the target width, a data point width of more exterior zones are preferentially electronically maintained at the target width and more interior zones are reduced or eliminated. In addition, adjacent guidance zones have unique stimulation that acts through different neurological access channels to provide behavioral guidance to an animal) in which the detected behavior is not permitted (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert), the detected behavior being permitted when the collar is located outside the predetermined zone (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert); and
output one or more corrective actions in response to both detecting the behavior (Landers: Abstract, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22-47, column 17 lines 2-20, and FIG. 2-6: Likewise, tracking movement of the collar in combination with a compass within the collar may be used to determine what direction of travel is in a forward direction. Dogs do not run backwards. Consequently, if the GPS determination indicates a sudden reversal of direction without an associated reversal of direction by the compass, then this may also be discarded or ignored) and determining that the collar is located within the predetermined zone (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, and Landers it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li and Mott to include the one or more processors are configured to cause the collar to: determine, based at least in part on the location data, that the collar is located within a predetermined zone in which the detected behavior is not permitted, the detected behavior being permitted when the collar is located outside the predetermined zone; and
output one or more corrective actions in response to both detecting the behavior and determining that the collar is located within the predetermined zone, as suggested by Landers. The motivation for this is to maintain an animal to stay within a predetermined zone.
As to claim 2, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the collar of claim 1, wherein detecting the behavior of the animal is performed at least in part by a machine learning model (Mott: [0109], [0115], [0117]-[0122], [0127]-[0129], and FIG. 5-7: Using this machine learning tool, health indicators, also referred to as behaviors of the pet wearing the device, can be determined. The one or more health indicators comprise a metric for itching, scratching, licking, walking, drinking, eating, sleeping, and shaking. The metric can be, for example, the distance walked, time slept, and/or an amount of itching by a pet).
As to claim 3, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the collar of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to:
receive geo-fence data indicative of a geographical area in which the detected behavior is permissible (Mott: [0093]-[0099], [0103]-[0106], [0214]-[0215], and FIG. 3-4: The geo-fence can be defined based on a latitude and/or longitudinal coordinates and/or by the boundaries of a given WLAN connection signal. For example, geo-fence detector 304 receives the latitude and longitude data representing the current location of the device 300 and determines whether the device 300 is within or has exited a geo-fence zone. If geo-fence detector 304 determines that the device 300 has exited a geo-fence zone the geo-fence detector 304 can transmit the notification to CPU 310 for further processing. After the notification has been processed by CPU 310, the notification can be transmitted to the mobile device either directly or via the server); and
determine whether the collar is in the geographical area based at least in part on the geo-fence data (Mott: [0093]-[0099], [0103]-[0106], [0214]-[0215], and FIG. 3-4: The geo-fence can be defined based on a latitude and/or longitudinal coordinates and/or by the boundaries of a given WLAN connection signal. For example, geo-fence detector 304 receives the latitude and longitude data representing the current location of the device 300 and determines whether the device 300 is within or has exited a geo-fence zone. If geo-fence detector 304 determines that the device 300 has exited a geo-fence zone the geo-fence detector 304 can transmit the notification to CPU 310 for further processing. After the notification has been processed by CPU 310, the notification can be transmitted to the mobile device either directly or via the server).
As to claim 4, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 3 further comprising the collar of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to receive data indicative of a predetermined zone (Landers: Abstract, column 10 lines 44-column 12 lines 27, column 13 lines 32-50, column 14 lines 4-24, FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: Individual zones are defined within a multi-zone assisted guidance region by storing a zone GPS data point target width, assigning GPS data points located within a perimeter and within the target width to a second zone, allotting GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the second zone and within the target width to a first zone; and finally ascribing unassigned GPS data points located interior of and distinct from the first zone to a safe zone. If there is not enough total width between perimeter points in a region to provide all zones at the target width, a data point width of more exterior zones are preferentially electronically maintained at the target width and more interior zones are reduced or eliminated. In addition, adjacent guidance zones have unique stimulation that acts through different neurological access channels to provide behavioral guidance to an animal), the predetermined zone being an area within the geographical area where a predetermined behavior is not permitted (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert).
As to claim 5, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 4 further comprising the collar of claim 4, wherein the predetermined behavior comprises the animal attempting to relieve itself, and wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from relieving itself (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert).
As to claim 6, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 5 further comprising the collar of claim 5, wherein outputting the one or more corrective actions configured to guide the animal wearing the collar to a designated zone where the predetermined behavior is permitted (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: The first alert zone 14 assigned with a numeric value of “2” may be used to generate a vibration which is preferably very distinct from the comforting tone or “good dog” recording of safe zone 16. This vibration will preferably gently alert the dog of the transition out of safe zone 16 and to the need to return thereto. Furthermore, this first alert zone vibration may be varied in both intensity and frequency when desired, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as to be further representative of such factors as proximity to adjacent zones, direction of travel, and speed of travel. The purpose of the first alert stimulation is not to invoke pain in any way, or to provide any punishment. Consequently, a gentle vibration or distinct tone is preferred. The purpose is simply to catch the attention of the dog and communicate to the dog that the dog has left the safe zone, so that the dog can elect to move back into the safe zone. This first alert is provided in real time, so that the dog will understand the purpose of the alert).
As to claim 9, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the collar of claim 1, further comprising a microphone configured to detect sound and output sound data (Li: [0057], [0065], [0077], and FIG. 2 the audio sensor 241: The audio sensor 241 may be configured to detect an ambient sound of the audio sensor 241 and generate a sound signal representing the ambient sound. The ambient sound may include, for example, a sound (e.g., barking, howl) generated by the animal, a sound generated by another animal, a sound generated by a human, an environmental noise, etc.),
wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to: detect, based at least in part on the sound data, the action of the animal (Li: Abstract, [0037]-[0042], [0051], [0094]-[0099], FIG. 1-2, and FIG. 5: The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling baking of an animal that wears a monitoring device. The systems may obtain status information of the animal from the monitoring device, and determine whether the animal is barking based on the status information. The systems may also obtain a first audio signal representing a first sound from the monitoring device in response to a determination that the animal is barking, and determine whether an anti-bark operation needs to be performed on the animal based on the first audio signal. The systems may further cause the monitoring device to perform the anti-bark operation on the animal in response to a determination that the anti-bark operation needs to be performed on the animal);
associate the action to a behavior of the animal selected from among the plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal; and output one or more corrective actions based at least in part on detecting the behavior (Li: Abstract, [0037]-[0042], [0051], [0094]-[0099], FIG. 1-2, and FIG. 5: After the target audio signal is extracted, the processor 210 may determine one or more acoustic feature values of the target sound based on the target audio signal. Exemplary acoustic features of the target sound may include a frequency, an amplitude, a phase, or the like, or any combination thereof. The processor 210 may further determine whether an anti-barking operation needs to be performed on the animal based on the acoustic feature value(s). Merely by way of example, a certain acoustic feature value of the target audio signal may be compared with a corresponding third threshold value. If the acoustic feature value is greater than its corresponding third threshold value, the processor 210 may determine that the anti-bark operation needs to be performed on the animal).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and Landers et al. (Landers – US 10,064,390 B1) and further in view of Charych (Charych – US 8,917,172 B2).
As to claim 7, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 4 except for the claimed limitations of the collar of claim 4, wherein the predetermined behavior comprises the animal jumping onto furniture, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from jumping up onto the furniture.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement wherein the predetermined behavior comprises the animal jumping onto furniture, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from jumping up onto the furniture, a suggested by Charych, which discloses wherein the predetermined behavior comprises the animal jumping onto furniture (Charych: Abstract, column 2 lines 19-30, column 4 lines 6-15, column 6 lines 44-column 7 lines 26, column 7 lines 41-67, FIG. 1, and FIG. 4: A plurality of passive RFID tags 10a-10h are located around the house, at least one in each area from which an animal is to be excluded or to which an animal is to be restricted. It will be understood that, depending on the area(s) to be covered and the range of the tags, a single tag might cover more than one room, or several tags might be needed within a single room. If there is a specific item or smaller area to be covered, a tag might be allocated to that--for example, a tag can be inserted into the cushions of a couch or chair to keep a pet off the furniture), and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from jumping up onto the furniture (Charych: Abstract, column 2 lines 19-30, column 4 lines 6-15, column 6 lines 44-column 7 lines 26, FIG. 1, and FIG. 4: The alarm 46 is preferably an ultrasonic transducer, such as that made by Ceramic Transducer Design Company. The ultrasonic alarm 46 around the pet's neck, when activated by the controller 40, will create an uncomfortable sound heard only by the pet, that will cause the pet to back away from the restricted area until the sound is no longer heard. It will be understood that other forms of alarm are possible, including the electrical shock system as used in prior art dog-training collars, in which an alarm activation would result in giving the pet a mild shock).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, Landers, and Charych, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and Landers to include wherein the predetermined behavior comprises the animal jumping onto furniture, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from jumping up onto the furniture, as suggested by Charych. The motivation for this is to prevent an animal to enter a restricted zone.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and Landers et al. (Landers – US 10,064,390 B1) and further in view of McClellan (McClellan – US 2024/0324558 A1).
As to claim 8, Li, Mott, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 4 further comprising the collar of claim 4, wherein the predetermined behavior comprises barking, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from barking .
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement wherein the predetermined behavior comprises barking, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from barking, a suggested by McClellan, which discloses wherein the predetermined behavior comprises barking (McClellan: [0011], [0049], and FIG. 5: the microphone 354: The wearable may further comprise an accelerometer configured to determine a soundwave pattern associated with a bark of the pet from the sound data), and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone (McClellan: [0011], [0051], [0059], [0070], and FIG. 1: The wearable may further comprise a microphone configured to obtain sound data. The operations may further comprise upon a determination that the location of the wearable is in a no-bark zone and the sound data has exceeded a defined sound threshold, transmitting a feedback response to the pet wearing the wearable, the feedback response including at least one of an audible alert, a vibration, or a low-voltage shock. The wearable may further comprise an accelerometer configured to determine a soundwave pattern associated with a bark of the pet from the sound data), the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from barking (McClellan: Abstract, [0011], [0048]-[0051], [0059], [0070], FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 the feedback module 356: Accordingly, if the wearable 302 determines that the pet is producing an unwanted sound in one or more zones of the structure 100, the wearable 302 may be configured to provide training feedback to the pet that bears the wearable 302 in order to create a no-bark zone 114. Similar to the process described above, the user, in learning mode while configuring a region, may trace the ground area in which the user would like to create the no-bark zone 114, and the system 10 may automatically recognize that spatially defined region as the no-bark zone 114 and assign it the desired attributes. For example, the attributes may include providing training feedback to the pet through the wearable 302 when the system 10 detects the pet within the no-bark zone 114 and the wearable 302 detects a bark from the pet).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, Landers, and McClellan, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and Landers to include wherein the predetermined behavior comprises barking, and
wherein, in response to detecting the predetermined behavior and determining that the collar is located in the predetermined zone, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to output the one or more corrective actions to discourage the animal from barking, as suggested by McClellan. The motivation for this is to provide training feedback to a pet in a no-bark zone.
Claims 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and McClellan (McClellan – US 2024/0324558 A1).
As to claim 10, Li discloses a collar comprising:
a strap (Li: FIG. 3 the strap 370) configured to be worn by an animal (Li: [0040], [0042],[0064], [0067]-[0068], FIG. 1 the animal 110, and FIG. 3 the monitoring device 300: the animal control system 100 may include a monitoring device 120 worn on the animal 110, a storage device 130, one or more terminals 140, and a network 150. In some embodiments, the monitoring device 120, the storage device 130, and/or the terminal(s) 140 may be connected to and/or communicate with each other via a wireless connection, a wired connection, or a combination thereof);
an accelerometer configured to detect movement (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242) and output data (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242, FIG. 7 and FIG. 9: the motion signal generation module 730 may be configured to detect a motion and generate a motion signal representing the motion. The motion signal may indicate one or more motion parameters of the animal. Exemplary motion parameters may include an acceleration, a motion frequency, a motion amplitude, or the like, or any combination thereof. The motion signal generation module 730 may be electrically connected to the motion signal processing module 740 and transmit the motion signal to the motion signal processing module 740 for further processing);
memory storing instructions (Li: [0050], [0059]-[0060], [0062], [0075], and FIG. 1 the storage 260: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure); and
one or more processors (Li: FIG. 2 the processor 210) in communication with the accelerometer and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (Li: [0075], [0080]-[0099], and FIG. 4-11: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure), are configured to cause the collar to:
detect, based at least in part on the data (Li: [0041]-[0043], [0057], [0078], [0083]-[0084], [0114]-[0121], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 5: the processor 210 may determine whether the animal is barking based on the motion signal indicating a motion parameter of the mouth or the neck of the animal. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may determine whether the motion parameter exceeds a first threshold value or is within a first preset range. If the motion parameter exceeds the first threshold value or is within the first preset range, the processor 210 may determine that the animal is barking. For example, when the animal is barking, the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration of the neck are within a range of [2 g, 4 g], [0.2 g, 1 g], and [4 g, 6 g], respectively, wherein g represents the gravitational acceleration. If one or more of the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration are within their respective range, it may be determined that the animal is barking), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Li: [0039], [0041], [0046], [0074], [0144], and FIG. 1: In some embodiments, the animal control system 100 may be used to control and/or correct one or more unwelcome actions of the animal 110 including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof. For illustration purposes, the present disclosure is described with reference to systems and methods for control and/or correct animal barking, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure ); and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal is indicative of the animal being alerted (Li: [0046], [0050]-[0051], [0054]-[0055], [0059], [0061]-[0062], [0122], and FIG. 2: The correction component(s) 270 may be configured to perform a specific operation on the animal to control actions of the animal, for example, a punishment or comfort operation if the animal exhibits an unwelcome behavior, a reward operation if the animal does not exhibit an unwelcome behavior in a preset period, or the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the correction component(s) 270 may include a sound generator 271, a vibration generator 272, and a shock generator 273, and a spray generator 274) to a potential threat or unusual occurrence (Li: [0039]: unwelcome actions including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof, [0041], [0046], [0054], [0061], [0074], [0144], and FIG. 1: The monitoring device 120 may be configured to monitor the animal 110 and optionally apply one or more correction operations on the animal 110 if the animal 110 performs an unwelcome action. For example, the monitoring device 120 may include a sensor, a processor, and a correction component. The sensor may be configured to obtain status information relating to the animal 110, such as audio information, motion information, physiological information, etc. The processor may be configured to analyze the status information of the animal 110 to detect an occurrence of unwelcome actions. The correction component may be configured to perform one or more correction operations (e.g., generate a vibration or an electric shock) on the animal 110 if the animal 110 exhibits an unwelcome behavior), the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device (Li: [0039]-[0041], [0046], [0061], [0074], [0122], and FIG. 1: The processor may be configured to analyze the status information of the animal 110 to detect an occurrence of unwelcome actions. The correction component may be configured to perform one or more correction operations (e.g., generate a vibration or an electric shock) on the animal 110 if the animal 110 exhibits an unwelcome behavior).
Li does not explicitly disclose the method steps of detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal within a monitored area; and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence, the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring conditions of an animal to implement detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott, which discloses detect, based at least in part on the movement data (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5: The data can include, for example, data related to location or movement of the pet. In certain non-limiting examples, the wearable device can include one or more sensors, which can allow the wearable device to detected movement of the pet. In some non-limiting embodiments, the sensor can be a collar mounted triaxial accelerometer, which can allow the wearable device to detect various body movements of the pet. The various body movement can include, for example, any bodily movement associated with itching, scratching, licking, walking, drinking, eating, sleeping, and shaking, and/or any other bodily movement associated with an action performed by the pet).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li and Mott, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li to include detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott. The motivation for this is to determine an activity of an animal based on sensing information associated with a wearable device of the animal.
The combination of Li and Mott does not explicitly disclose a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal within a monitored area; and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence, the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal within a monitored area; and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence, the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device, a suggested by McClellan, which discloses a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal within a monitored area (McClellan: [0011], [0038], [0051]-[0059], [0067], [0070], FIG. 1 and FIG. 5: Exemplary settings may include zone name, zone category, such as vertical zone, no-go zone, no-go zone with early warning, no-solicitation zone, no-bark zone, etc., feedback selection, such as enable beep (gradual or static), enable vibration (gradual or static), enable shock (gradual or static), allow for automated feedback based on severity, etc., and day/time active. Zones can be configured globally and then each region can be configured individually. When the system 10 detects that the wearable 302 is approaching, has entered, or has exited a defined zone, the system 10 may deliver a notification to the mobile computing device 306 indicating the status of the wearable 302 with respect to the specific zone); and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence (McClellan: Abstract, [0038], [0044]-[0047], [0051]-[0059], [0067], [0070], and FIG. 5), the behavior comprising at least one of barking (McClellan: [0011], [0049], and FIG. 5: the microphone 354: The wearable may further comprise an accelerometer configured to determine a soundwave pattern associated with a bark of the pet from the sound data), pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device (McClellan: Abstract, [0011], [0048]-[0051], [0059], [0070], FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 the feedback module 356: Accordingly, if the wearable 302 determines that the pet is producing an unwanted sound in one or more zones of the structure 100, the wearable 302 may be configured to provide training feedback to the pet that bears the wearable 302 in order to create a no-bark zone 114. Similar to the process described above, the user, in learning mode while configuring a region, may trace the ground area in which the user would like to create the no-bark zone 114, and the system 10 may automatically recognize that spatially defined region as the no-bark zone 114 and assign it the desired attributes. For example, the attributes may include providing training feedback to the pet through the wearable 302 when the system 10 detects the pet within the no-bark zone 114 and the wearable 302 detects a bark from the pet).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, and McClellan, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li and Mott, to include a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal within a monitored area; and
in response to determining that the behavior of the animal within the monitored area is indicative of the animal being alerted to a potential threat or unusual occurrence, the behavior comprising at least one of barking, pacing, or being still and upright, output one or more signals to an associated device, as suggested by McClellan. The motivation for this is to provide training feedback to a pet in a predetermined zone.
As to claim 11, Li, Mott, and McClellan disclose the limitations of claim 10 further comprising the collar of claim 10, wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a user device (Li: [0040], [0043], [0045]-[0048], [0056] and FIG. 1-2 the terminal device 140 and McClellan: FIG. 4 the mobile computing device 306) to display a message indicative of the animal wearing the collar being alerted (Li: [0040], [0043], [0045]-[0048], [0056] and FIG. 1-2 the terminal device 14: As another example, the terminal(s) 140 may receive a monitoring result (e.g., an occurrence of an unwelcome action of the animal 110) from the monitoring device 120, and display the monitoring result to the user, and optionally generate an alarm (e.g., a sound, light, message) regarding the monitoring result. In some embodiments, the terminal(s) 140 may be connected to and/or communicate with the monitoring device 120 and/or the storage device 130. For example, the terminal(s) 140 may transmit an instruction inputted by the user to the monitoring device 120 to remotely control the monitoring device 120, Mott: Abstract, [0007]-[0010], [0086]-[0088], [0093], [0096], [0100]-[0102], [0113]-[0114], [0197], and FIG. 1 the mobile device 104: For example, the pet owner or caregiver can receive a short message service, an alert or notification, such as a push alert, an electronic mail message on a mobile device, or any other type of message or notification. The message or notification can request the pet owner or caregiver to confirm the health indicator identified by the activity recognition algorithm or model. In some non-limiting embodiments the message or notification can indicate a time during which the data, information, or metrics were collected, and McClellan: [0045], [0051]-[0052], [0062]-[0069], and FIG. 5-6: the system 10 may deliver a notification to the mobile computing device 306 indicating that the pet has exited the structure 100. If the system 10 detects that the wearable 302 has exited the structure perimeter 106g and the mobile computing device 306 has also exited the structure perimeter 106g (indicating that the pet owner is accompanying the pet), the system 10 may not deliver any notification to the mobile computing device 306, and the system 10 may switch to communicating directly with the mobile computing device 306, which communicates with the wearable 302 via Bluetooth. In such implementations, GPS tracking, coordinates, accelerometer data, etc., of the wearable 302 are transmitted to the mobile computing device 306 via Bluetooth and the mobile computing device 306 transmits the data to the primary anchor 120a through cellular connection with the cloud network 304).
As to claim 14, Li, Mott, and McClellan disclose the limitations of claim 10 further comprising the collar of claim 10, wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a light to turn on (Mott: [0106], [0214]-[0215], FIG. 4, and FIG. 29: If in method 400 the server determines that a wearable device has not exited a geo-fence zone, method 400 can continue to monitor the device location in step 402, either discretely or continuously. Alternatively, if method 400 determines that a device has exited a geo-fence zone, a sensor can send a signal instructing the wearable device to turn on an illumination device, as shown in step 406. The illumination device, for example, can include a light emitting diode (LED) or any other light. The illumination device can be positioned within the housing of the wearable device, and can illuminate at least the top cover of the wearable device, also referred to as a wearable device. In yet another example, the illumination device can light up at least a part and/or a whole surface of the wearable device).
Claims 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and McClellan (McClellan – US 2024/0324558 A1) and further in view of Riley (Riley – US 10,064,391 B1).
As to claim 12, Li, Mott, and McClellan disclose the limitations of claim 11 further comprising the collar of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the collar to: receive, from the user device, instructions to output one or more corrective actions (Li: [0040], [0043], [0045]-[0048], [0056] and FIG. 1-2 the terminal device 14: The terminal(s) 140 may be configured to enable a user interaction between a user and the animal control system 100. For example, the terminal(s) 140 may receive an instruction from the user to cause the monitoring device 120 to monitor the animal 110 or apply a correction action on the animal 110. As another example, the terminal(s) 140 may receive a monitoring result (e.g., an occurrence of an unwelcome action of the animal 110) from the monitoring device 120, and display the monitoring result to the user, and optionally generate an alarm (e.g., a sound, light, message) regarding the monitoring result), except for the claimed limitations of receive, from the user device, instructions to output one or more corrective actions after being alerted.
However, it has been known in the art of animal monitoring system to implement receive, from the user device, instructions to output one or more corrective actions after being alerted, as suggested by Riley, which discloses receive, from the user device, instructions to output one or more corrective actions (Riley: Abstract, column 6 lines 55-column 7 lines 17, column 7 lines 30-53, column 8 lines 3-11, and FIG. 2-4: The collar command unit also includes a receiver for receiving an event signal from a remote device, such as a building occupant protection system or cellular telephone, which is indicative of an emergency situation. When the pet exhibits the undesirable behavior, the controller allows the stimulator to deliver a deterrent stimulus. However, when the event signal is received, the controller overrides the stimulator feature, preventing the delivery of the deterrent stimulus to the pet. Additionally or alternately, the collar may include a transmitter for transmitting a response to the remote device and a tracking chip for tracking the location of the pet during or after the event) after being alerted (column 6 lines 55-column 7 lines 17, column 7 lines 30-53, column 8 lines 3-11, column 10 lines 20-29, column 14 lines 48-column 15 lines 14, and FIG. 2-4: When an event signal is generated (step 303) by the building occupant protection system (and/or the hazard detectors 8), the signal is communicated wirelessly to a first remote device (e.g., cellular phone of the occupant or the computer of a third-party monitoring company of the building occupant protection system) (step 552) for action by an operator of the device (step 553). If the operator of the device does not elect to deliver an event signal (step 553), no signal is transmitted to the collar command unit 4 (step 554), and the behavior feature is not overridden. However, if the operator of the first remote device chooses to deliver an event signal (step 553), an event signal is transmitted to the receiver 7 associated with the collar command unit 4 (step 304). In this instance, the event mode is activated, and the behavior feature is overridden (step 306). With the event mode activated, the transmitter 7 may transmit a wireless signal to the first remote device or to a second remote device, such as an alarm unit in the building occupant protection system (step 411). When an event signal is no longer received (step 412), the operator sends a second signal to re-enable the stimulator 13 (not shown), or the counting mechanism 17 indicates the event time period has expired (step 415)).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, McClellan, and Riley, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and McClellan, to include receive, from the user device, instructions to output one or more corrective actions after being alerted, as suggested by Riley. The motivation for this is to determine a situation of an animal before performing a correction action in response to a detect event.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and McClellan (McClellan – US 2024/0324558 A1) and further in view of Anderson et al. (Anderson – US 2017/0265432 A1).
As to claim 13, Li, Mott, and McClellan disclose the limitations of claim 10 except for the claimed limitations of the collar of claim 10, wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a camera to turn on.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a camera to turn on, a suggested by Anderson, which discloses wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a camera to turn on (Anderson: Abstract, [0064], [0066], [0077], and FIG. 1 the camera 130: For example, the GPS location sensor can detect that the pet, or at least the collar 100, has not moved in the last thirty minutes, in response to the sensor input the collar 100 can go into a sleep mode and turn off various sensors and only send out an intermittent location ping until movement is again detected, in this manner, power can be conserved by changing into various modes based on sensed data. In yet another example, the audio sensor or microphone in combination with an accelerometer can detect for example when a dog is barking, in response to a detected barking over a predetermined timeframe, in response the collar 100 can then activate the optical sensor or camera so as to detect or otherwise capture an image or video of what the dog is barking at. It is thus contemplated herein that various sensors can be primary sensors and can cause the collar 100 to enter various modes wherein various sensor subsets are activated or deactivated in response to sensor input. It will be appreciated that the collar system and application can have a predetermined mode set, and in some instances custom modes can be created or certain sensors can be manually controlled using the mobile application).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, McClellan, and Anderson, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and McClellan, to include wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause a camera to turn on, as suggested by Anderson. The motivation for this is to monitor surrounding in response to a behavior of an animal.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1) and McClellan (McClellan – US 2024/0324558 A1) and further in view of Bonge et al. (Bonge – US 2016/0021506 A1).
As to claim 15, Li, Mott, and McClellan disclose the limitations of claim 10 except for the claimed limitations of the collar of claim 10, wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause one or more doors to lock.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause one or more doors to lock, a suggested by Bonge, which discloses wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause one or more doors to lock (Bonge: Abstract, [0009], [0013], [0054], [0079], and FIG. 6-8 the automatic pet door 12: FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of the remote transceiver 13. An antenna 114, a transceiver 115, a wireless protocol processor 116 and a decryption module 117 are similar to the antenna 14, the transceiver 15, the wireless protocol processor 16 and the decryption module 17 of the animal-worn device 1. Processor 111 may contain pre-programmed logic to execute programs when the animal-worn device 1 comes within a predetermined distance. These programs may activate outputs at the animal-worn device 1 or change the state of a remote transceiver switch 112 from open to closed and vice versa. The remote transceiver switch 112 may thereby control other selected apparatuses that may be switch controlled, such as electric lights, automatic food dispensers, radios and the like. For example, the remote transceiver may be part of a pet door such as the automatic pet door 12 to control the opening and closing of the pet door 12 when the animal 3 is within the predetermined distance. Alternatively, an analog control device may be used in place of the switch 112 to control analog apparatuses).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, McClellan, and Bonge, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and McClellan, to include wherein the one or more signals are configured to cause one or more doors to lock, as suggested by Bonge. The motivation for this is to control a door in response to determining a presence of an animal within a predetermined distance of the door.
Claims 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1), Bonge et al. (Bonge – US 2016/0021506 A1), and Landers et al. (Landers – US 10,064,390 B1).
As to claim 16, Li discloses a collar comprising:
a strap (Li: FIG. 3 the strap 370) configured to be worn by an animal (Li: [0040], [0042],[0064], [0067]-[0068], FIG. 1 the animal 110, and FIG. 3 the monitoring device 300: the animal control system 100 may include a monitoring device 120 worn on the animal 110, a storage device 130, one or more terminals 140, and a network 150. In some embodiments, the monitoring device 120, the storage device 130, and/or the terminal(s) 140 may be connected to and/or communicate with each other via a wireless connection, a wired connection, or a combination thereof);
an accelerometer configured to detect movement (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242) and output data (Li: [0057], [0078], [0083], [0117], [0131]-[0134], FIG. 2 the motion sensor 242, FIG. 7 and FIG. 9: the motion signal generation module 730 may be configured to detect a motion and generate a motion signal representing the motion. The motion signal may indicate one or more motion parameters of the animal. Exemplary motion parameters may include an acceleration, a motion frequency, a motion amplitude, or the like, or any combination thereof. The motion signal generation module 730 may be electrically connected to the motion signal processing module 740 and transmit the motion signal to the motion signal processing module 740 for further processing);
memory storing instructions (Li: [0050], [0059]-[0060], [0062], [0075], and FIG. 1 the storage 260: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure); and
one or more processors (Li: FIG. 2 the processor 210) in communication with the accelerometer and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (Li: [0075], [0080]-[0099], and FIG. 4-11: The storage 260 may store data/information relating to the monitoring device 120 and/or the animal (e.g., one or more voiceprint features of the animal). In some embodiments, the storage 260 may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the storage 260 may store one or more programs and/or instructions for the processor 210 to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure), are configured to cause the collar to:
detect, based at least in part on the data (Li: [0041]-[0043], [0057], [0078], [0083]-[0084], [0114]-[0121], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 5: the processor 210 may determine whether the animal is barking based on the motion signal indicating a motion parameter of the mouth or the neck of the animal. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may determine whether the motion parameter exceeds a first threshold value or is within a first preset range. If the motion parameter exceeds the first threshold value or is within the first preset range, the processor 210 may determine that the animal is barking. For example, when the animal is barking, the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration of the neck are within a range of [2 g, 4 g], [0.2 g, 1 g], and [4 g, 6 g], respectively, wherein g represents the gravitational acceleration. If one or more of the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration are within their respective range, it may be determined that the animal is barking), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Li: [0039], [0041], [0046], [0074], [0144], and FIG. 1: In some embodiments, the animal control system 100 may be used to control and/or correct one or more unwelcome actions of the animal 110 including, for example, barking, jumping, moving into an off-limit area, exhibiting an aggressive action toward human or other animals, or the like, or any combination thereof. For illustration purposes, the present disclosure is described with reference to systems and methods for control and/or correct animal barking, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure );
track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time (Li: [0061] and FIG. 2: The correction component(s) 270 may be configured to perform a specific operation on the animal to control actions of the animal, for example, a punishment or comfort operation if the animal exhibits an unwelcome behavior, a reward operation if the animal does not exhibit an unwelcome behavior in a preset period, or the like), and
output a message to an associated device in response to determining a change in the animal's behavior exceeds a predetermined change in the animal's behavior (Li: [0039]-[0041], [0046], [0061], [0074], [0122], and FIG. 1: The processor may be configured to analyze the status information of the animal 110 to detect an occurrence of unwelcome actions. The correction component may be configured to perform one or more correction operations (e.g., generate a vibration or an electric shock) on the animal 110 if the animal 110 exhibits an unwelcome behavior).
Li does not explicitly disclose the method steps of detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesired behavior over the predetermined period; output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior; and wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring conditions of an animal to implement detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott, which discloses detect, based at least in part on the movement data (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5), a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal (Mott: [0078], [0081], [0088]-[0091], [0093]-[0096], [0099]-[0103], [0114]-[0115], and FIG. 4-5: The data can include, for example, data related to location or movement of the pet. In certain non-limiting examples, the wearable device can include one or more sensors, which can allow the wearable device to detected movement of the pet. In some non-limiting embodiments, the sensor can be a collar mounted triaxial accelerometer, which can allow the wearable device to detect various body movements of the pet. The various body movement can include, for example, any bodily movement associated with itching, scratching, licking, walking, drinking, eating, sleeping, and shaking, and/or any other bodily movement associated with an action performed by the pet), track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time (Mott: [0082], [0126], [0201]-[0203], and FIG. 1: In certain non-limiting embodiments, tracking device 102 can transmit any data tracked or monitored data continuously to the network. In other non-limiting embodiments, tracking device 102 can discretely transmit any tracked or monitored data. Discrete transmittal can be transmitting data after a finite period of time); and
output a message to an associated device in response to determining a change in the animal’s behavior exceeds a predetermined change in the animal’s behavior (Mott: Abstract, [0007]-[0010], [0086]-[0088], [0093], [0096], [0100]-[0102], [0107]-[0109], [0113]-[0114], [0197], and FIG. 1 the mobile device 104: For example, during the first few instances of detecting a wearable device exiting the geo-fence zone, method 400 can continue to prompt the user to confirm that they are aware of the location of the wearable device. As method 400 receives either a confirmation or denial from the user, method 400 can train a learning machine located in the server to identify conditions associated with exiting the geo-fence zone. For example, after a few prompt confirmations, a server can determine that on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 7:30 AM, a tracking device repeatedly exits the geo-fence zone (i.e., conforming to a morning walk of a pet). Relatedly, server can learn that the same event (e.g., a morning walk) can occur later on weekends (e.g., between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM). The server can therefore train itself to determine various times when the wearable device exits the geo-fence zone, and not react to such exits. For example, between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM on the weekend, even if an exit is detected the server will not instruct the wearable device to turn on illumination device 406).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li and Mott, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li to include detect, based at least in part on the movement data, a behavior of the animal selected from among a plurality of predetermined behaviors of the animal, as suggested by Mott. The motivation for this is to determine an activity of an animal based on sensing information associated with a wearable device of the animal.
The combination of Li and Mott does not explicitly disclose track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesired behavior over the predetermined period; and wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesired behavior over the predetermined period; and wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior, a suggested by Bonge, which discloses track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesired behavior over the predetermined period; and wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior (Bonge: Abstract, [0015], [0086], [0089], [0093]-[0095], and FIG. 18: The second bark control graphical interface 132 displays one embodiment of a graphical representation of the bark history of the animal 3. Similar graphical representations including charts, tables or the like may be included in the “Bark Control” application to show the progress of the animal 3 over the course of the bark control training In this embodiment, the second bark control graphical interface 132 shows a line graph 75 representing the number of barks by the animal 3 that have occurred on a daily basis throughout the month of January. Other similar graphs may be included, such as representing the number of barks over a different period of time, such as hourly, monthly or annually, or representing specific types of bark over time, or comparing different types of barks by the animal 3. The “Bark Control” application may also be able to send alerts, such as via email, SMS, website postings (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or instant messaging, alerting the user that the animal is barking. These alerts may include information regarding the type of barking, such as whether the barking is excited, excessive or whether the animal is howling).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, and Bonge, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li and Mott, to include track the behavior of the animal over a predetermined period of time by determining a frequency of at least one undesired behavior over the predetermined period; and wherein the change comprises a change in frequency of the undesirable behavior, as suggested by Bonge. The motivation for this is to monitor animal behaviors over a period of time.
The combination of Li, Mott, and Bonge does not explicitly disclose output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior, a suggested by Landers, which discloses output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior (Landers: Abstract, column 14 lines 45-column 15 lines 18, column 15 lines 31-64, column 16 lines 22 - column 18 lines 54, and FIG. 2-3, and FIG. 6: If instead the collar unit detects movement away from the safe zone, the collar unit will deliver a second alert zone stimulus to the dog. In the preferred embodiment, this second alert zone stimulus is a medium electrical impulse stimulation selected to provide tactile stimulation that does not invoke pain. If the collar unit detects movement that isn't getting closer or further away, it delivers the “first alert” vibration to the dog. In this manner, the dog is continually and immediately rewarded for movement toward the safe zone, is reminded through auditory stimulation for indeterminate movement, and receives tactile stimulation for movement away. The dog will thereby be directed back into the safe zone. As the dog is crossing back into the second alert zone from the “out of bounds” zone, the collar unit will preferably combine the comforting tone of the safe zone with a medium level vibration until the dog is in the safe zone. At that time, the collar unit will revert from this wayward dog shepherding mode back to the initial containment mode. This allows appropriate pet behavior to be rewarded, thereby improving training effectiveness and success).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, and Bonge to include output one or more corrective actions of a severity based at least in part on a historical proclivity of the animal for engaging in the undesirable behavior as suggested by Landers. The motivation for this is to maintain an animal to stay within a predetermined zone.
As to claim 17, Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 16 further comprising the collar of claim 16, wherein tracking the behavior of the animal over the period of time comprises tracking at least one of an activity type (Li: [0039]-[0041], [0046], [0061], [0074], [0122], and FIG. 1: The processor may be configured to analyze the status information of the animal 110 to detect an occurrence of unwelcome actions. The correction component may be configured to perform one or more correction operations (e.g., generate a vibration or an electric shock) on the animal 110 if the animal 110 exhibits an unwelcome behavior), an activity level, a frequency of activity, and a time of day of activity over the period of time (Mott: Abstract, [0007]-[0010], [0086]-[0088], [0093], [0096], [0100]-[0102], [0107]-[0109], [0113]-[0114], [0197], and FIG. 1 the mobile device 104: For example, during the first few instances of detecting a wearable device exiting the geo-fence zone, method 400 can continue to prompt the user to confirm that they are aware of the location of the wearable device. As method 400 receives either a confirmation or denial from the user, method 400 can train a learning machine located in the server to identify conditions associated with exiting the geo-fence zone. For example, after a few prompt confirmations, a server can determine that on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 7:30 AM, a tracking device repeatedly exits the geo-fence zone (i.e., conforming to a morning walk of a pet). Relatedly, server can learn that the same event (e.g., a morning walk) can occur later on weekends (e.g., between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM). The server can therefore train itself to determine various times when the wearable device exits the geo-fence zone, and not react to such exits. For example, between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM on the weekend, even if an exit is detected the server will not instruct the wearable device to turn on illumination device 406).
As to claim 18, Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 16 further comprising the collar of claim 16, wherein, in response to determining the change in the animal's behavior exceeds the predetermined change in the animal's behavior, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to output a recommendation for medication for the animal (Mott: [0123] and FIG. 5: the server can determine a health recommendation or fitness nudge for the pet based on the wellness assessment. A fitness nudge, in certain non-limiting embodiments, can be an exercise regimen for a pet. For example, a fitness nudge can be having the pet walk a certain number of steps per day and/or run a certain number of steps per day. The health recommendation or fitness nudge, for example, can provide a user with a recommendation for treating the potential wellness or health risk to the pet. Health recommendation, for example, can inform the user of the wellness assessment and recommend that the user take the pet to a veterinarian for evaluation and/or treatment, or can provide specific treatment recommendations, such as a recommendation to feed pet a certain food or a recommendation to administer an over the counter medication).
As to claim 20, Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 16 further comprising the collar of claim 16, wherein, in response to determining the change in the animal's behavior exceeds the predetermined change in the animal's behavior, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to recommend a time to take the animal for a walk (Mott: [0123] and FIG. 5: the server can determine a health recommendation or fitness nudge for the pet based on the wellness assessment. A fitness nudge, in certain non-limiting embodiments, can be an exercise regimen for a pet. For example, a fitness nudge can be having the pet walk a certain number of steps per day and/or run a certain number of steps per day. The health recommendation or fitness nudge, for example, can provide a user with a recommendation for treating the potential wellness or health risk to the pet. Health recommendation, for example, can inform the user of the wellness assessment and recommend that the user take the pet to a veterinarian for evaluation and/or treatment, or can provide specific treatment recommendations, such as a recommendation to feed pet a certain food or a recommendation to administer an over the counter medication).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Li – US 2020/0390063 A1) in view of Mott et al. (Mott – US 2022/0367059 A1), Bonge et al. (Bonge – US 2016/0021506 A1), and Landers et al. (Landers – US 10,064,390 B1), and further in view of Manion et al. (Manion – US 2020/0289374 A1).
As to claim 19, Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers disclose the limitations of claim 16 further comprising the collar of claim 16, wherein, in response to determining the change in the animal's behavior exceeds the predetermined change in the animal's behavior (Li: [0041]-[0043], [0057], [0078], [0083]-[0084], [0114]-[0121], [0131]-[0134], and FIG. 5: he processor 210 may determine whether the animal is barking based on the motion signal indicating a motion parameter of the mouth or the neck of the animal. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may determine whether the motion parameter exceeds a first threshold value or is within a first preset range. If the motion parameter exceeds the first threshold value or is within the first preset range, the processor 210 may determine that the animal is barking. For example, when the animal is barking, the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration of the neck are within a range of [2 g, 4 g], [0.2 g, 1 g], and [4 g, 6 g], respectively, wherein g represents the gravitational acceleration. If one or more of the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration are within their respective range, it may be determined that the animal is barking and Mott: [0122], [0175]-[0176], and FIG. 5: based on the received data, one or more health indicators of the pet can be determined. For example, the health indicators can include a metric for licking, scratching, itching, walking, and/or sleeping by the pet. For example, a metric can be the number of minutes per day a pet spends sleeping, and/or the number or minutes per day a pet spends walking, running, or otherwise being active. Any other metric that can indicate the health of a pet can be determined), except for the claimed limitations of the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to automatically output an order for medication for the animal.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring/training pet behaviors to implement the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to automatically output an order for medication for the animal, a suggested by Manion, which discloses the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to automatically output an order for medication for the animal (Manion: Abstract, [0022]-[0026], [0041]-[0042], and FIG. 1-2: the controller 206 may also include other sensors 230. For example, the other sensors 230 may include a temperature sensor configured to monitor the temperature of the animal wearing the collar 200, an activity sensor configured to monitor physical activity of the animal, a heart sensor configured to monitor cardiac activity of the animal, a motion sensor configured to monitor specific movements of the animal (beyond normal activity) such as biting and/or scratching by the animal, a latch or closing sensor configured to monitor that the collar is appropriately attached to the animal, and other similar sensors. Based upon the output of the additional sensors 230, the controller 206 may be configured to alter the treatment program 208 or to otherwise alter the dispensing of the medication. For example, if the medication to be dispensed is a topical heart medication used to control an animal's heart rate and/or blood pressure, the controller 206 may use information from a heart activity sensor to determine if the dosage of the heart medication should be adjusted. For instance, if the heart activity sensor detects that the animal is exhibiting high blood pressure and/or heart rate, the medication dosage can be increased until the animal's heart activity returns to a normal level).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Li, Mott, Bonge, Landers, and Manion, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the animal control system of Li, Mott, Bonge, and Landers, to include the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the collar to automatically output an order for medication for the animal, as suggested by Manion. The motivation for this is to provide medication an animal based on sensing information from an animal.
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Mundell et al., US 2023/0337637 A1, discloses system and method for characterizing and monitoring health of an animal based on gait and postural movements.
Ehrman et al., US 2022/0279760 A1, discloses corrective collar utilizing geolocation technology.
Gibbs, US 2020/0404886 A1, discloses animal behavior management system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG PHAM whose telephone number is (571)-270-3668. The examiner can normally be reached 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM.
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/QUANG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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