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 .
Response to Arguments/Amendments
The amendment, and augments filed February 19th, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the Application.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claims under 35 U.S.C 103 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s filing of the Terminal disclaimer removes the prior Double Patenting.
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, 4-9, 11, and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170293635, to Peterson et al. (hereinafter Peterson), and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8346751, to Jin et al (hereinafter Jin), and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20130042180 , to Sai et al (hereinafter Sai).
Regarding claim 1, and commensurate claim 11, Peterson teaches, A method for providing a digital map, said method comprising: (See at least paragraph [0063] “be used to characterize the location, geometry, and attribution of real-world phenomena at various details, spatial scales and locations which can be represented on a DGGS globe 301 of a graphical user interface 300”). accepting pre-existing data representative of spatial measurements of features within a real-world or data-based environment; (See at least paragraph [0061] “data values from many distributed and various types of any geospatial data source (i.e. GIS data source) can be quantized and sampled to specific cells that correspond to the overall geometry of the original data source to form feature or thematic based cell collections containing geospatial cell values 104 (also referred to as DGGS data values 104).”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0061] “FIG. 8. When a value is sampled 808 and quantized into a cell 809 it means that the value is applicable to the physical area represented by the cell and so the value is associated with the cell.”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0108] “A DGGS encoder 202 is a server that can take conventional geospatial data sources 201 and process them into a collection of DGGS cells 102, DGGS tiles 103, together with the data values 104 and/or the aggregated data summaries 105.”).
and generating a digital map comprising objects from the data representative of one or more features, (See at least paragraph [0063] “ As examples, an area marked as a forest can be displayed using a color such as green or 3D models of trees can be generated on that same area, a mesh can be drawn on the terrain to represent elevation, and other elements can be displayed such as annotations indicating the land type, icons of buildings, lines for roads and clouds representing weather data. Measurements like gross domestic product or education level, which do not represent physical objects, can be displayed as bars or icons.”).
wherein the objects comprise one or more of points, polygons, or lines; (See at least paragraph [0006-0008] “These attributes are formally organized using either vector geometries or raster imagery and recorded in complex, large and dynamic information formats with various methods of spatial reference, spatial scales, and semantic models. In one method of organization, vectors describe precise shapes of features and boundaries—as an example polygons outlining protected parkland—with attribution linked to the feature. In another method of organization, images cover a generalized area of the ground with specific attributes encoded as discrete values—as an example type of land cover—in each pixel. Spatial reference can also be attributed to objects described in a database table wherein some field(s) of a table describe the location of the object—as an example a tabular list of caribou with a reference to their location at a specified time. It is presently a non-trivial operation to integrate these sources of data sufficient for spatial analysis operations. The present data integration process requires co-registration of data to a common geometry and schema. In particular, the current practice for combining the spatial data is accomplished by tabular, spatial joining and/or gridding and resampling of the data. There are various technical challenges that must be overcome which include, but are not limited to, spatial and temporal conflation between variable geometries, attribute ontologies, accuracies, and resolutions. It is particularly challenging that points on a lattice of geographic coordinate systems created primarily for navigation do not have an implied area to represent information about a phenomenon; points essentially have no dimension and so when comparing data of two points additional data or interpretation is required and using coordinate pairs to relate and join database tables, for example, is problematic.”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0063] “the DGGS globe 301 provides a visual representation of the DGGS geospatial data and can include associated statistics based on queries from users. As examples, an area marked as a forest can be displayed using a color such as green or 3D models of trees can be generated on that same area, a mesh can be drawn on the terrain to represent elevation, and other elements can be displayed such as annotations indicating the land type, icons of buildings, lines for roads and clouds representing weather data. Measurements like gross domestic product or education level, which do not represent physical objects, can be displayed as bars or icons.”).
and presenting to the user text messages comprising indications of empty space or attributes of the objects when grid-based mode is utilized. (See at least paragraph [0062] “The data values 104 can represent different attributes for the associated collection of cells 102. As an example, in FIG. 1, the data values 104 on the left represented by letters may be towns and the data values 104 on the right represented by numbers may be elevations.”).
Peterson fails to explicitly disclose, however Jin teaches, wherein the digital map comprises a plurality of navigational modes comprising: a tree-based mode comprising an object menu accessible in a hierarchical manner, the object menu comprising objects within the environment, (See [Column 4 lines 16-38] “FIG. 2 depicts hierarchical category index 200 such as is used in one presently practiced embodiment of the present invention. Hierarchical category index 200 is generally stored in information database 112. At the top level of hierarchical category index 200 is one or more category families 202. Within each category family 202 is one or more sub-families 204. Each sub-family 204 in turn comprises one or more categories 206. Each sub-family 204 in turn comprises one or more categories 206. Within information database 112 each category 206 is indexed to, i.e., associated with, one or more items 208 that have been categorized. Within information database 112 each item is also associated with a location on a map, i.e., a particular geo-coordinate. Geo-coordinates, usually given by a data pair comprising a specific longitude and latitude, are well known. In one current embodiment, items 208 include businesses that are listed in a "yellow pages" directory, and category families 202, sub-families 204, and categories 206 represent different classifications of such businesses 208. Items 208 could also include residences, other institutions and/or geographic features such as park trails, bikes trails, restrooms, bus stations, airports, automatic teller machines (ATMs), scenic views, statues, monuments, historical points, pay phones, train stations, subway Stations, etc.”).
and presenting to the user the object menu when tree-based mode is utilized; (See [Col. 5 Lines 2-20] “Search area 302 accepts user input relating to categories or items to be searched. As discussed in more detail below, search area 302 may present the user with a form 420 such as is depicted in FIG. 4B, a list of frequently-searched category families 202, sub-families 204, and categories 206 as depicted in FIG. 4C, or, as depicted in FIG. 4D, a list of all available category families 202 displayed in category browser 404. As described in more detail below, category browser 404 may be used to navigate to all category families 202 and all sub-families 204 and categories 206. In addition, as is also described in more detail below, category families 202 and all sub-families 204 and categories 206 may be accessed by using category box 406, item in item box 408, or frequently searched categories link 400.”).
Additionally, Sai discloses, and a grid-based mode comprising a text message whenever a user moves to a new location within the environment; (See at least paragraph [Abstract] “A map is displayed on a display module of a device and a grid is overlaid onto the displayed map using a rendering module. Each cell of the grill corresponds to a location on the map. Further, a user selection is received using the input module concerning a cell of the grid from the displayed map. Information associated with a selected cell is retrieved using the location module within the device and a speech segment relating to the information is output using an output module.”).
Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, mapping systems. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Peterson to incorporate the teachings of Jin, and Sai, and Jin for the purposes of applying grid based audio feedback and Hierarchical category index will aid in the user clearly understanding the surrounding due.
Regarding claim 4, and commensurate claim 14, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai disclose the claimed features of claim 1 and Peterson further disclose, wherein the data representative of spatial measurements of features within a real-world is accepted from an external vector data source. (See at least paragraph [0061] “The source geospatial data may be in the format of vector features, raster coverages, tabular lists and other data that has geospatial reference as discussed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 8,400,451. However, as the grid cells of various resolutions are aligned, the geospatial cell values 104 for a given DGGS cell are automatically aligned and thus fused or integrated with all other values sampled into the given DGGS cell. An example of a method 800 for performing this alignment is shown in FIG. 8. When a value is sampled 808 and quantized into a cell 809 it means that the value is applicable to the physical area represented by the cell and so the value is associated with the cell..”).
Regarding claim 5, and commensurate claim 15, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai disclose the claimed features of claim 1 and Peterson further disclose, further comprising accepting data associated with features within the real-world or data-based environment. (See at least paragraph [0062] “The data values 104 can represent different attributes for the associated collection of cells 102. As an example, in FIG. 1, the data values 104 on the left represented by letters may be towns and the data values 104 on the right represented by numbers may be elevations.”).
Regarding claim 6, and commensurate claim 16 Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai disclose the claimed features of claim 1 and Peterson further discloses, wherein the data associated with features comprise numeric or statistical data. (See at least paragraph [0062] “The progressive transmission and reception of DGGS data values 104 and/or summaries 105 encoded to DGGS tiles 103 is herein referred to as data streams 106 (also known as geopackets). The data values 104 can represent different attributes for the associated collection of cells 102. As an example, in FIG. 1, the data values 104 on the left represented by letters may be towns and the data values 104 on the right represented by numbers may be elevations.”).Further, (See at least paragraph [0063] “Measurements like gross domestic product or education level, which do not represent physical objects, can be displayed as bars or icons.”).
Regarding claim 7, and commensurate claim 17, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai and disclose the claimed features of claim 6, Peterson further discloses, further comprising presenting to the user text messages comprising data associated with features when grid-based mode is utilized. (See at least paragraph [0031] “and display the resulting collection of cell values and resulting aggregated spatial statistics in at least one of a DGGS legend and at least a portion of the DGGS globe.”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0018] “the method further comprises applying a data stream decoder to transform data streams to formats that can be read and displayed at the client terminal.”).
Regarding claim 8, and commensurate claim 18, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai and disclose the claimed features of claim 1, Peterson further discloses, wherein the data representative of spatial measurements of features within a real-world is accepted from a plurality of data sources, which may be internal or external, and generating the digital map further comprises resolving boundaries between any different geometries or relationships provided by the plurality of data sources, and further comprising dynamically adjusting the scale of the digital map whereby the objects may be filtered based on the level of granularity, and the text message may be proportionately adjusted by conversion to a different coordinate system. (See at least paragraph [0007] “spatial and temporal conflation between variable geometries, attribute ontologies, accuracies, and resolutions.”) Further, (See at least paragraph [0061] “as the grid cells of various resolutions are aligned, the geospatial cell values 104 for a given DGGS cell are automatically aligned and thus fused or integrated with all other values sampled into the given DGGS cell. An example of a method 800 for performing this alignment is shown in FIG. 8. When a value is sampled 808 and quantized into a cell 809 it means that the value is applicable to the physical area represented by the cell and so the value is associated with the cell.”)
Regarding claim 9, and commensurate claim 19 Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai and disclose the claimed features of claim 1, Peterson further discloses, wherein generating the digital map further comprises assigning specific properties to the features, wherein the specific properties assigned to the features include text messages representing contexts such as coordinates, location, name of the feature, and/or sounds associated with the feature, which may be accessed by a user virtually navigating to the feature. (See at least paragraph [0112] “There are some cases where there are file types that are files of files like a GDB file. Regardless of how the schema is stored, the data is separated into single schemas and each record can have metadata including spatial reference system, time, geometries, attributes, and spatial extent.”).
Claims 2-3, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170293635, to Peterson et al. (hereinafter Peterson), and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8346751, to Jin et al (hereinafter Jin), and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20130042180 , to Sai et al (hereinafter Sai), and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20130326425, to Forstall et al (hereinafter Forstall).
Regarding claim 2, and commensurate claim 12, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai disclose the claimed features of claim 1, Peterson fails to explicitly, however Forstall discloses, further comprising a navigational mode comprising a first-person-based mode configured to enable navigation at a selected direction at a specified rate, (See at least paragraph [0017] “the 3D turn-by-turn navigation is an animated rendering of navigated route that is rendered from the vantage point of a virtual camera that traverses along the direction of the route based on the traversal direction and speed of the user, which in some embodiments is captured by directional data (e.g., GPS data, triangulated cell-tower data, etc.) associated with the device”). comprising one or more text messages indicating changes to the navigation or proximity to surrounding objects, and presenting to the user one or more text messages indicating changes to the navigation or proximity to surrounding objects when first-person mode is utilized. (See at least paragraph [0020] “The mapping application of some embodiments provide realistic-looking road signs that are used during navigation and during the browsing of an identified route. In some embodiments, the signs are textured images that bear a strong resemblance to actual highway signs, and they include instructional arrows, text, shields, and distance. The mapping application of some embodiments presents a wide number of variants in a large number of different contexts. For maneuvers that are close together, a secondary sign is presented hanging just beneath the primary sign. Signs are presented in different colors according to the regional norms in some embodiments. Also, as one maneuver is passed during navigation, the mapping application animates the sign away with a motion that mimics a sign passing overhead on the highway. When a maneuver is approached, the mapping application draws attention to the sign with a subtle animation (e.g., a shimmer across the entire sign).”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0468] “ the application displays a realistic sign 5784 that identifies the distance to the next junction maneuver in the navigated route and some other pertinent information. The application also displays a top bar that includes some information about the navigation as well as End and Overview buttons, for respectively ending the navigation and obtaining an overview of the remaining portion of the navigated route or the entire portion of the navigated route in other embodiments.”). Still further, (See at least paragraph [0485] “The third stage 6015 illustrates that the mapping application displays an instruction sign 6060, which is the sign for the first instruction. The mapping application has replaced the clear control 255 and the start control 2060 with an end control 5570 and an overview control 6075 in the top bar 140. The end control 5570 is for ending the navigation of the route and the overview control 6075 is for showing the entire route in the map view by adjusting the zoom level of the displayed map if adjusting the zoom level is necessary to show the entire route. In some embodiments, the mapping application displays in the top bar 140 the estimated arrival time, the amount of time to get to the destination, and the remaining distance to the destination as shown.”).
Peterson as modified by Forstall are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, mapping systems. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai to incorporate the teachings of Forstall for the purposes of applying navigational instructions in rider for the user to be able to reach its destination.
Regarding claim 3, and commensurate claim 13, Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai disclose the claimed features of claim 2, Peterson fails to explicitly, however Forstall discloses, further comprising accepting input from the user to switch between navigational modes; (See at least paragraph [0017] “The mapping application of some embodiments allows the user to stop navigation in both overview and full-screen modes by selecting a control to end navigation at any time while navigating. The mapping application of some embodiments also allows the user to modify the turn-by-turn navigation view to see alternative three-dimensional (3D) views or to present a two-dimensional (2D) view at any time while navigating”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0015] “ The navigation mode has many novel features. One novel feature is that at any time while navigating, the user can move between a full-screen mode that presents a display view optimized for turn-by-turn directions and an overview mode that presents a display view of the remaining route that better accommodates browsing”). Still further (See at least paragraph [0481] “the applications of some embodiments allow a three dimensional mode to be turned on and off by use of a 3D button 5960. The 3D button 5960 is essential to turn-by-turn navigation feature, where it has a role as an indicator and toggle. When 3D is turned off, the camera will maintain a 2D navigation experience, but when 3D is turned on, there may still be some top-down perspectives when 3D viewing angles are not appropriate (e.g., when going around a corner that would be obstructed in 3D mode).”).
wherein when a user switches between grid-based mode and first-person-based mode, the speed, zoom level and/or orientation are preserved. (See at least paragraph [0016] “Continuity between the overview mode and the full-screen mode is achieved by an in-place transition in the map and a constant set of controls.”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0488] “ the virtual camera map performs a combination of translation, zoom, and rotation operations in order to reach the start of the route for navigation”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai to incorporate the teachings of Forstall for the same purposes as claim 2.
Claims 10, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170293635, to Peterson et al. (hereinafter Peterson), and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8346751, to Jin et al (hereinafter Jin), and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20130042180 , to Sai et al (hereinafter Sai), and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170318407, to Meister et al (hereinafter Meister).
Regarding claim 10, and commensurate claim 20 Peterson as modified by Jin, and Sai and disclose the claimed features of claim 1, Peterson fails to explicitly disclose, however Meister teaches, wherein each of the contexts of the text messages are associated with one or more of the plurality of navigational modes whereby the text messages accessed by the user navigating to the feature is the context associated with the navigation mode being used by the user. (See at least paragraph [0109], ““guide mode” in which a user instruction to provide navigation assistance results in the process 600 instantiating a 3D object corresponding to a 3D virtual guide”). Further, (See at least paragraph [0038-0039] “form a list of 3D objects, where each 3D object in the list of 3D objects includes an audio label containing data describing the feature; generate an audio clip containing vocalized information describing the identified feature generated using the audio label of each 3D object in the list of 3D objects; and output spatial sound announcing the list of 3D objects by modifying the audio clips generated using the audio labels of each of the 3D objects in the list of 3D objects based upon the position of the 3D object relative to the location and orientation of the user within the 3D spatial model to encode audio cues as to location. In a yet further additional embodiment again, execution of the spatial exploration application by the processor further directs the processor to output spatial sound to announce the list of 3D objects in a predetermined order that assists with understanding a spatial relationship between features of the real world environment.”). Still further, (See at least paragraph [0040] “output spatial sound in the form of auditory affordances that alert the user to a location of a real world feature for which a vocalized description is available.”).
Peterson as modified by Meister are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, mapping systems. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Meister as modified by Jin, and Sai to incorporate the teachings of Meister guide mode for the purposes of guiding the user to reach the destination.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Wesam Almadhrhi whose telephone number is (571) 270-3844. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30 AM - 5PM Mon-Fri Eastern Alt Fri.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anne Antonucci can be reached on (313) 446-6519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WESAM NMN ALMADHRHI/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/ANNE MARIE ANTONUCCI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666