DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 13-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claims 13-19, line 1 of each claim – change “The location measurement method” to “The electronic device”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 9-11, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stenborg (IDS reference US 2018/0204347) in view of Shimizu (JP 2008185507).
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Regarding claims 1 and 20, Stenborg discloses in Fig 1-2 above a non-transitory computer readable storage medium containing instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processor to perform a location measurement method (i.e. system 200 with image processing unit 208 comprising processor(s) to perform the method) ([0042]-[0043]; [0058]), the method comprising:
acquiring an image of surrounding of the electronic device (i.e. image processing unit 208) having a processor and a memory (Fig 1 – 102; [0044]; [0058]);
acquiring first location information of the electronic device (Fig 1 – 106; [0047]);
comparing the image of surrounding of the electronic device with a pre-stored image map (i.e. 3D map) ([0050]-[0053]);
calculating a correction value for correcting the first location information according to the comparison result between the surrounding image and the pre-stored image map (Fig 1 – 110; [0048]-[0053]);
acquiring second location information by correcting the first location information using the calculated correction value (Fig 1 – 112 and 114; [0054]-[0055]).
Stenborg does not explicitly disclose providing location-based guidance based on the second location information as claimed. Shimizu teaches in the same field of endeavor providing location-based guidance based on the second location information (Fig 6, 9-10; pages 7, 9 of the descriptions of the cited figures). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Stenborg in view of Shimizu to incorporate the step of providing location-based guidance based on the second location information as taught by Shimizu to gain the advantages of suppressing navigation errors and properly providing route guidance for a navigation device; and also since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
While patent drawings are not drawn to scale, relationships clearly shown in the drawings of a reference patent cannot be disregarded in determining the patentability of claims. See In re Mraz, 59 CCPA 866, 455 F.2d 1069, 173 USPQ 25 (1972).
Regarding claim 11, Stenborg discloses in Fig 1-2 above an electronic device (i.e. image processing unit 208), comprising:
processor (i.e. system 200 with image processing unit 208 comprising processor(s) to perform the method) ([0042]-[0043]; [0058]); and
a memory stores instructions executed by the processor ([0058]);
wherein the processor configured to:
acquire an image of surrounding of the electronic device (Fig 1 – 102; [0044]; [0058]);
acquire first location information of the electronic device (Fig 1 – 106; [0047]);
compare the image of surrounding of the electronic device with a pre-stored image map (i.e. 3D map) ([0050]-[0053]);
calculate a correction value for correcting the first location information according to the comparison result between the surrounding image and the pre-stored image map (Fig 1 – 110; [0048]-[0053]);
acquire second location information by correcting the first location information using the calculated correction value (Fig 1 – 112 and 114; [0054]-[0055]).
Stenborg does not explicitly disclose provide location-based guidance based on the second location information as claimed. Shimizu teaches in the same field of endeavor provide location-based guidance based on the second location information (Fig 6, 9-10; pages 7, 9 of the descriptions of the cited figures). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Stenborg in view of Shimizu to incorporate provide location-based guidance based on the second location information information as taught by Shimizu to gain the advantages of suppressing navigation errors and properly providing route guidance for a navigation device; and also since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
While patent drawings are not drawn to scale, relationships clearly shown in the drawings of a reference patent cannot be disregarded in determining the patentability of claims. See In re Mraz, 59 CCPA 866, 455 F.2d 1069, 173 USPQ 25 (1972).
Regarding claims 9-10 and 19, Stenborg does not explicitly disclose providing location-based guidance and displaying the route guidance as claimed. Shimizu teaches in the same field of endeavor providing location-based guidance and displaying the route guidance (Fig 6, 9-10; pages 7, 9 of the descriptions of the cited figures). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Stenborg in view of Shimizu to incorporate providing location-based guidance and displaying the route guidance as taught by Shimizu to gain the advantages of suppressing navigation errors and properly providing route guidance for a navigation device; and also since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
While patent drawings are not drawn to scale, relationships clearly shown in the drawings of a reference patent cannot be disregarded in determining the patentability of claims. See In re Mraz, 59 CCPA 866, 455 F.2d 1069, 173 USPQ 25 (1972).
For applicant's benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 and 12-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The cited prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2021/0072405 discloses an apparatus and method for generating distribution information may include periodically generating GNSS information including GNSS positioning information and a positioning time, generating image information including an image of at least one or more facility object, at the positioning time, while a vehicle drives, obtaining precise positioning information for a capturing position at the positioning time based on the image information, a high-definition map, and the GNSS information, calculating a positioning difference which is a difference between the GNSS positioning information and the precise positioning information, and generating distribution information including the GNSS information, the positioning difference, and the precise positioning information. The high-definition map includes information for feature point spatial coordinates and a property for each facility object.
US 11,125,891 discloses a data processing method and apparatus. The invention provides an electronic device including: a communication module; a first location calculating module; a second location calculating module; and a first processor electrically connected to at least one of the first location calculating module and/or the second location calculating module. The first processor may be configured to: identify property information of at least one application that is driven by the first processor and requests location information; determine a location accuracy level on the basis of the identified property information of the at least one application; and select one of the first location calculating module and/or the second location calculating module in order to calculate the location of the electronic device by using a signal obtained through the communication module, according to the determined location accuracy level.
US 9,503,857 discloses a method of location information in a mobile device capable of improving position accuracy of the mobile device using a database (DB) of peripheral auxiliary data when GPS and navigation are performed in the mobile device, and an apparatus thereof. The method of providing location information in a mobile device includes acquiring initial location information of the mobile device when a location based service is executed, transmitting the acquired initial location information to a server, receiving auxiliary data corresponding to the initial location information from the server, classifying satellites to be used to determine a location with reference to the auxiliary data, and determining the location based on a satellite signal of a satellite having a high weight through the classification of the satellites.
US 7,418,372 discloses a model predictive control apparatus includes an initial solution generation section, an abnormality handling section, and an objective function adjustment section. The abnormality handling section performs initial solution generation when it is determined that performed optimization is abnormal. The initial solution generation section generates an initial optimal value of a future time series control input in accordance with an initial objective function, without reference to a candidate value of the time series control input. The objective function adjustment section adjusts the current objective function so that the current objective function varies stepwise with time toward the normal objective function when it is determined that the current objective function is different from the normal objective function.
CN 111323024 discloses a positioning method and device, device, storage medium, wherein the method comprises: the first satellite signal to obtain the position where the electronic device, the first fingerprint feature and the first image. The first satellite signal to satellite positioning of the electronic device from the map to determine at least one second fingerprint feature associated with the electronic device the position according to the first finger print characteristic and the at least one second finger print characteristic, to fingerprint locating the electronic device, from the at least one second finger print characteristic screening out at least one target fingerprint feature from the map obtaining refers to visual data respectively corresponding to fingerprint characteristic of each of the target according to the first environmental image and the visual data obtained by the electronic device for visual location to obtain the target location result.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG P NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3445. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 10:00-10:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JACK KEITH can be reached at (571) 272-6878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUONG P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646
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