Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 USC 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the application file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on July 10, 2024 has been considered by the examiner and made of record in the application file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clark (US Patent 10,943,463 B1).
Consider claim 1 (and similarly applied to claims 16 and 17). Clark discloses a method for autonomously identifying an emergency, wherein the method comprising the steps of:
monitoring, by a first device (300/120A in fig. 3 in conjunction with column 14 lines 55 – column 15 lines 2), sensor data from at least one sensor (214) of or connected to the first device (column 5 lines 18-40),
detecting or receiving, by the first device, an abnormality in the sensor data of the at least one sensor (column 6 lines 18-40),
initiating an abnormality state and storing, by the first device, the sensor data from the at least one sensor having the abnormality (column 13 lines 38-49),
generating, by the first device, a message comprising the abnormal sensor data (column 6 lines 41-63), and
broadcasting, by the first device, the generated message to all further devices over all types of available networks communicatively connectable to the first device (column 6 lines 64 – column 7 lines 50).
Clark further shows a device having a processor connected to a non-transitory memory having code of an application stored thereon, the processor configured to run the code such that the device performs a method when the processor runs the code as recited in claim 16 (column 12 lines 30-40) and a system for autonomously identifying an emergency, wherein system comprises a plurality of devices, the plurality of devices including a first device and a second device communicatively connectable to the first device, each of the devices having a processor connected to a non-transitory memory having code of an application stored thereon, the processor configured to run the code such that the device performs a method when the processor runs the code as is recited in claim 17 (fig. 1, column 12 lines 30-40).
Consider claim 2 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses wherein the first device has a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium having an application stored thereon, the application having code that is runnable by the processor (column 12 lines 30-40).
Consider claim 3 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses checking, by the first device, all available types of networks to which the first device is communicatively connectable for broadcasting of the generated message (column 7 lines 12-22, lines 35-50).
Consider claim 4 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses wherein the available networks include at least one communication network (column 7 lines 12-22, lines 35-50).
Consider claim 5 and as applied to claim 4. Clark discloses wherein the at least one communication network is a Wireless mesh network (WMN), a Wi-Fi network, a Bluetooth network, a cellular network, a data network, a telecommunications network, a local area network (LAN), and/or a Wide Area Network (WAN) (column 7 lines 12-22, lines 35-50).
Consider claim 6 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses the first device receiving a message comprising abnormal sensor data of at least one sensor of a second device; the first device validating the sensor data from the at least one sensor having the abnormality of the first device with the abnormal sensor data of the received message, and the first device automatically initiating a call to an emergency service in response to a match of the validated data (column 29 lines 49 - column 30 lines 7).
Consider claim 7 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses initiating, by the first device, an alarm to the first device, in case of no match of the validated data, automatically initiating, by the first device, a call to an emergency service in response to the alarm not being deactivated by a user of the first device (column 29 lines 49 - column 30 lines 7).
Consider claim 8 and as applied to claim 7. Clark discloses returning, the first device into an initial idle state in response to the alarm being deactivated by the user of the first device (column 29 lines 49 - column 30 lines 7).
Consider claim 9 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses wherein the first device is a smart device (column 5 lines 10-16).
Consider claim 10 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses wherein the sensor data from the at least one sensor having the abnormality comprises: a flag indicating the state of the first device regarding the abnormal sensor data, a type of the alarm with regard to an environmental attribute, and/or a time at which the abnormal sensor data was generated (column 6 lines 41-63).
Consider claim 11 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses wherein the first device detects amendments of one or more environmental attributes using the at least one sensor of the first device, wherein the one or more environmental attributes is one or more of altitude, humidity, temperature, pressure, chemicals, gas, smoke, level, accelerometer, gyroscope, and motion (column 5 lines 17-32, column 12 lines 59 – column 13 lines 4).
Consider claim 12 and as applied to claim 1. Clark discloses the first device receiving a message comprising abnormal sensor data of at least one sensor of a second device; the first device validating the sensor data from the at least one sensor having the abnormality of the first device with the abnormal sensor data of the received message, the validating including: comparing, by the first device, the stored sensor data from the at least one sensor having the abnormality of the first device with the received abnormal sensor data from the message of the second device; and the first device automatically initiating a call to an emergency service in response to a match of the validated data (column 6 lines 41-63, column 29 lines 49 - column 30 lines 7).
Consider claim 13 and as applied to claim 12. Clark discloses wherein the abnormal sensor data comprises a state of the second device, a type of alarm related to an environmental attribute, and/or a time at which the abnormal sensor data was generated (column 6 lines 41-63).
Consider claim 14 and as applied to claim 12. Clark discloses wherein a time frame is less than 60 seconds for the abnormal sensor data (column 6 lines 41-63).
Consider claim 15 and as applied to claim 12. Clark discloses wherein in case the validation matches, each connected device confirms a broadcasting stop (column 6 lines 41-63, column 29 lines 49 - column 30 lines 7).
Relevant Prior Art Directed to State of Art
Govindassamy (US Patent 10,681,521 B1) is relevant prior art not applied in the rejections above. Govindassamy discloses emergency notification systems, such as Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) and AMBER alerts, as well as emergency help request systems, such as E911, are generally centralized systems. Often the first responders for emergencies may not be near the people who need assistance which may sometimes cause unacceptable delays in responding to emergencies. A method and apparatus are disclosed that offer a distributed and decentralized emergency notification and response system that informs and engages the people in the immediate vicinity of the person requiring assistance and enables dissemination of more detailed information beyond what may be provided by conventional emergency services systems.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M BRANDT whose telephone number is (571)270-1098. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
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/CHRISTOPHER M BRANDT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 July 24, 2026
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