DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 8/3/26 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 12,050,757 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Claims 1-20 are pending and the examiner has removed the double patenting rejection.
The applicant argues, regarding the 101 rejection of claims 1-12:
Claim 1, as amended, recites a series of affirmative acts of a computer-implemented metho. Among other things, claim 1 recites: (i) "capturing a first video stream using at least one camera coupled to a first wearable sensor system"; (ii) "establishing a communication channel between the first wearable sensor system and a second wearable sensor system"; (iii) "capturing a second video stream using at least one camera coupled to the first wearable sensor system"; and (iv) "sending, to the second wearable sensor system and in association with the communication channel established between the first wearable sensor system and the second wearable sensor system, the second video stream."
These are concrete acts performed using expressly recited physical components. The claim requires capture of physical-world imagery by at least one camera coupled to a wearable sensor system, establishment of a communication channel between wearable sensor systems, and transmission of captured video data between those systems. The claim therefore recites a series of actions performed by identified hardware operating on information derived from the real world.
The examiner respectfully disagrees, because although the capturing is performed by at least one camera, the generating, establishing, sending and generating aren’t performed by expressly recited physical components. Therefore, the generating, establishing, sending and generating are nothing more than software instructions and software instructions are non-statutory under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 1 is directed to a method of sharing content between wearable sensor systems comprising the steps of generating, establishing, sending and generating that amount to nothing more than software instructions. Software instructions are non-statutory under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 2-12 depend from claim 1 and contain additional instructions, for example claim 2 contains the steps of detecting, detecting, generating and generating, therefore claims 2-12 are rejected under the same rationale as claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 13 (claim 17 is similar in scope), the prior art doesn’t teach:
capturing a first video stream using at least one camera coupled to a first wearable sensor system, the first video stream corresponding to a first portion of a real-world space;
generating, for display towards a first user, a first presentation output based on information from the first video stream;
establishing a communication channel between the first wearable sensor system and a second wearable sensor system;
capturing a second video stream using at least one camera coupled to the first wearable sensor system, the second video stream corresponding to a second portion of the real-world space, wherein the second video stream corresponds to a concurrent timespan with the first video stream;
sending, to the second wearable sensor system and in association with the communication channel established between the first wearable sensor system and the second wearable sensor system, the second video stream; and
generating, for display towards a second user, a second presentation output based on information from the second video stream.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAURICE L MCDOWELL, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 2pm-10pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Said A. Broome can be reached at 571-272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAURICE L. MCDOWELL, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612
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