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 .
DETAILED ACTION
RESPONSE TO ARGUMENTS
Applicant’s amendments and remarks filed on 12/15/25 have been fully considered but are not persuasive for Claims 1-16. Accordingly, the rejections stand. The rejections to Claims 17-20 are withdrawn.
The rejections to Claims 1, 11, 19 under 35 U.S.C. section 112(b) are withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/15/25.
Regarding Applicant’s remarks on Pages 9-12, Applicant’s amendments and remarks filed on 12/15/25 have been fully considered but are not persuasive for Claims 1-16. Accordingly, the rejections stand. The rejections to Claims 17-20 are withdrawn. Examiner respectfully submits the prior art ROSS does anticipate Claims 1, 5-7, and 11-15 as amended whereby Examiner has provided additional citations to ROSS to read upon the newly added language (See rejection contained herein). Claims 1 and 11 do not disclose with specificity if the ‘input associated’ is a user input or a generated signal input. Claim 1 and Claim 11 recite ‘receiving an input to end video data capture’ whereby the means or type of ‘input’ is silent within the claimed limitation. Accordingly, the rejections stand for the independent as well as dependent claims for the reasons stated above.
FINAL REJECTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2):
(a) Novelty; Prior Art.— A person shall be entitled to a patent unless: (2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122 (b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(b) Exceptions: (2) Disclosures appearing in applications and patents.— A disclosure shall not be prior art to a claimed invention under subsection (a)(2) if: (A) the subject matter disclosed was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor; (B) the subject matter disclosed had, before such subject matter was effectively filed under subsection (a)(2), been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a joint inventor or another who obtained the subject matter disclosed directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor; or (C) the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, were owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.
Claims 1, 5-7, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over ROSS et al. (US Patent No: 8,781,292).
As per Claim 1 ROSS discloses A method for capturing video data by a recording device, the method comprising (Fig. 1 officer 20 wears device for video capture [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32]):
capturing video data by the recording device worn by a user (Fig. 1 officer 20 wears device for video capture [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] worn specifically [col. 8 lines 29-30]); receiving an input to end video data capture (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive stop recording signal [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]); analyzing the input to determine one or more input attributes (at least one attribute as the state of change - signaled input recording device signaled [col. 15 lines 5-19])
determining, based at least on the one more input attributes associates with receipt of the input to end the video data capture (at least one attribute for signaled input recording device signaled the attribute of a state change for data capture [col. 15 lines 5-19]), that the input to end the video data capture comprises an abnormal input (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] recording device signaled to stop but not desirable [col. 15 lines 5-19]);
responsive to the abnormal input, transmitting a request for confirmation to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] continue to record until permission is granted to officer 20 to stop recording [col. 15 lines 5-19]); and responsive to determining the request is unconfirmed and while the request is unconfirmed (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] recording device commanded to stop but should continue to record until permission is granted to officer 20 to stop recording [col. 15 lines 5-19]), continuing to capture the video data by the recording device (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] continue to record until permission is granted to officer 20 to stop recording thereby waiting to cease the recording and continues to record to prevent prematurely ending recording [col. 15 lines 5-19]).
As per Claim 5 ROSS discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second input to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]); determining that the second input to end the video data capture comprises a normal input (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] recording device commanded to stop and permission granted to officer 20 to stop recording [col. 15 lines 5-19]); and responsive to the second input, ending the video data capture by the recording device (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]).
As per Claim 6 ROSS discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second input to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]); determining that the second input to end the video data capture comprises a second abnormal input (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] recording device successively commanded to stop but should continue to record until permission is granted – see said analysis for Claim 1 [col. 15 lines 5-19]); responsive to the second abnormal input, transmitting a second request for confirmation to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 [col. 11 lines 45-48] successively continue to record until permission is granted to officer 20 to stop recording [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]); receiving confirmation to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]); and responsive to receiving the confirmation, ending the video data capture by the recording device (Figs. 1-6 device 18 may receive each/subsequent start/stop recording signals [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]).
As per Claim 7 ROSS discloses The method of claim 6, wherein the confirmation to end the video data capture comprises one or more of (See said analysis for Claim 6): a button press (Figs. 1-6 [col. 9 lines 25-29, col. 12 lines 48-51] and see [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19]), a verbal input (one of), an interaction with a screen (one of), or an indication provided via a user interface (one of).
As per Claim 11 ROSS discloses A recording device, comprising (Figs. 1-6 officer 20 wears device for video capture [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32]):
an image sensor configured to capture video data (Figs. 1-6 recording device 18 [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32]); a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions (Figs. 1-6 [col. 10 lines 25-40]); and a processor communicatively coupled to the image sensor and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the processor further configured to execute the computer-readable instructions (Figs. 1-6 [col. 10 lines 25-40]), wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations comprising (Figs. 1-6 [col. 10 lines 25-40]):
capturing, via the image sensor (Figs. 1-6 recording device 18 [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32]), the video data (Fig. 1 officer 20 wears device for video capture [Abstract] [col. 2 lines 35-37] [col. 3 lines 28-32] worn specifically [col. 8 lines 29-30]); analyzing the input to determine one or more input attributes (See said analysis for Claim 1); determining, based at least on the one more input attributes associates with receipt of the input to end the video data capture, that the input to end the video data capture comprises an abnormal input (See said analysis for Claim 1); responsive to the abnormal input, providing a request for confirmation to end the video data capture (See said analysis for Claim 1); and responsive to determining the request is unconfirmed and while the request is unconfirmed, continuing to capture the video data by the recording device (See said analysis for Claim 1).
As per Claim 12 ROSS discloses The recording device of claim 11, wherein the processor further performs operations comprising (See said analysis for Claim 11): receiving a second input to end the video data capture (See said analysis for Claim 5); determining that the second input to end the video data capture comprises a normal input (See said analysis for Claim 5); and responsive to the second input, ending the video data capture by the recording device (See said analysis for Claim 5).
As per Claim 13 ROSS discloses The recording device of claim 12, wherein the normal input comprises a button press having a length in a predetermined range of time (Figs. 1-6 button pressing at request of user [col. 9 lines 25-29, col. 12 lines 48-51] [col. 11 lines 45-48]).
As per Claim 14 ROSS discloses The recording device of claim 13, wherein the predetermined range of time comprises between N seconds and M seconds (Figs. 1-6 button pressing at request of user [col. 9 lines 25-29, col. 12 lines 48-51] [col. 11 lines 45-48]) (Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify ROSS to teach a specific range of seconds because Applicant has not disclosed that between three seconds and five seconds provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant's invention to perform equally well with other ranges of seconds because performance of said invention is not tied to a distinct range of seconds.)
As per Claim 15 ROSS discloses The recording device of claim 11, wherein the processor further performs operations comprising (See said analysis for Claim 11): receiving a second input to end the video data capture (See said analysis for Claim 6); determining that the second input to end the video data capture comprises a second abnormal input (See said analysis for Claim 6); responsive to the second abnormal input, transmitting a second request for confirmation to end the video data capture (See said analysis for Claim 6); receiving confirmation to end the video data capture (See said analysis for Claim 6); and responsive to receiving the confirmation, ending the video data capture by the recording device (See said analysis for Claim 6).
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ROSS et al. (US Patent No: 8,781,292) in view of MENDIOLA et al. (US Pub. No.: 2019-0245917)
As per Claim 2 ROSS discloses The method of claim 1, wherein
ROSS does not disclose but MENDIOLA discloses the abnormal input comprises a button press hold lasting more than a threshold amount of time (Figs. 1-5 abnormal repeatably-pressed basis for threshold amount of time [0266]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include abnormal input comprises a button press hold lasting more than a threshold amount of time taught by MENDIOLA into the system of ROSS because of the benefit taught by MENDIOLA to include specifics on abnormal input conditions that may occur during a user-interaction whereby ROSS is concerned with abnormal inputs from a user during critical system operations and would benefit from specific user-input actions to detect and trap for further analysis with regards to legitimate user input actions.
As per Claim 3 ROSS discloses The method of claim 2, wherein
ROSS does not disclose but MENDIOLA discloses the threshold amount of time is N seconds or M seconds (Figs. 1-5 abnormal repeatably-pressed basis for threshold amount of time [0266]) (Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify MENDIOLA to teach specific threshold of seconds because Applicant has not disclosed that the threshold amount of time is 3 seconds or 5.5 seconds provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant's invention to perform equally well with other amounts of seconds because performance of said invention is not tied to a distinct amount of seconds) (The motivation that applied in Claim 2 applies equally to Claim 3).
As per Claim 4 ROSS discloses The method of claim 1, wherein
button presses are received prior to the input to end the video data capture (Figs. 1-6 presses occurring may include during capture [col. 9 lines 25-29, col. 12 lines 48-51] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19])
ROSS does not disclose but MENDIOLA discloses the abnormal input comprises a plurality of button presses, each button press of the plurality of button presses lasting less than a threshold amount of time, and the plurality of button presses (Figs. 1-5 abnormal repeatably-pressed basis for threshold amount of time [0266]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 2 applies equally to Claim 4).
Claims 8-10, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ROSS et al. (US Patent No: 8,781,292) ROSS et al. (US Patent No: 8,781,292) in view of MENDIOLA et al. (US Pub. No.: 2019-0245917 in view of WANG et al. (US Pub. No.: 2024-0103695).
As per Claim 8 ROSS discloses The method of claim 6, further comprising establishing a communications channel with a remote entity and transmitting, via the communications channel (Figs. 1-6 [col. 3 lines 25-30] [col. 14 lines 11-17]),
ROSS does not disclose but WANG discloses transmitting a notification, the notification indicating the ending the video data capture by the recording device (Figs. 1-19 prompt notification [0011-0012] [0216-0217]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include transmitting a notification, the notification indicating the ending the video data capture by the recording device taught by WANG into the system of ROSS because of the benefit taught by WANG to include additional UI features to include prompting the user for ending of video capture which is a crucial test for ROSS which is concerned with proper ending instructions for ending video recording and would benefit from the ability to send a visual cue to assist a user with proper termination of video recording which is a vital goal of ROSS.
As per Claim 9 ROSS discloses The method of claim 6, further comprising
responsive to receiving the confirmation indicating the ending video data capture by the recording device (Figs. 1-6 presses to end capture [col. 9 lines 25-29, col. 12 lines 48-51] [col. 11 lines 45-48] [col. 15 lines 5-19])
ROSS does not disclose but WANG discloses transmitting an alert to the user of the recording device, the alert indicating the ending the video data capture by the recording device (Figs. 1-19 prompt notification [0011-0012] [0216-0217]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 8 applies equally to Claim 9).
As per Claim 10 ROSS discloses The method of claim 9, wherein
ROSS does not disclose but WANG discloses the alert comprises one or more of a visual alert (Figs. 1-19 prompt notification [0011-0012] [0216-0217]), an audio alert (one of), or a haptic alert (one of) (The motivation that applied in Claim 8 applies equally to Claim 10).
As per Claim 16 ROSS discloses The recording device of claim 11, wherein transmitting the request for confirmation comprises (See said analysis for Claim 11)
ROSS does not disclose but WANG discloses displaying, via a user interface of the recording device, a confirmation prompt (Figs. 1-19 prompt notification on a display [0011-0012] [0216-0217]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 8 applies equally to Claim 16).
Allowable Subject Matter
REASON FOR ALLOWANCE
As per Claim 17, the following is an Examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the closest prior art obtained from an Examiner’s search (ROSS, US Patent No: 8,781,292; MENDIOLA, US Pub. No.: 2019-0245917; WANG, US Pub. No.: 2024-0103695) does not teach nor suggest in detail the limitations:
“A method for receiving a user input for a recording device, the method comprising: receiving the user input via a user interface, the user interface associated with a recording device state and configured to execute a recording device action to modify the recording device state; determining a set of input attributes associated with the user input; determining, based at least on the recording device action, a set of thresholds configured to determine whether the user input is permitted to modify the recording device state; determining that the set of input attributes associated with the user input satisfies the set of thresholds; determining, based at least on the set of thresholds being satisfied by the set of input attributes, that the user input is an abnormal input; providing a request for confirmation to a user of the recording device, the request for confirmation requesting a confirmation input from the user; and suppressing the recording device action from modifying the recording device state while the request for confirmation is unconfirmed”
as well as the combination of all the limitations within the independent claims and the enabling portions of the specification.
The closest prior art of record ROSS does not teach or suggest in detail at least determining a set of input attributes associated with a user input or teach determining based at least on the recording device action, a set of thresholds configured to determine whether the user input is permitted to modify the recording device state. The prior art is also silent as to determining that the set of input attributes associated with the user input satisfies the set of thresholds as well as silent to determining based at least on the set of thresholds being satisfied by the set of input attributes as amended and presented by the Applicant.
ROSS discloses a method for capturing video data by a recording device worn by a user. The prior art also discloses receiving an input to end video data capture, analyzing the input to determine an input attribute and determining based on the input attribute associated with receipt of the input to end the video data capture, that the input to end the video data capture comprises an abnormal input. The prior art also discloses responsive to that abnormal input, transmitting a request for confirmation to end the video data capture and responsive to determining the request is unconfirmed and while the request is unconfirmed, continuing to capture the video data by the recording device.
Whereas, as stated above, Applicant’s claimed invention recites a method for receiving a user input for a recording device via a user interface, the user interface associated with a recording device state and configured to execute a recording device action to modify the recording device state. The claims further recite determining a set of input attributes associated with the user input, as well as determining, based at least on the recording device action, a set of thresholds configured to determine whether the user input is permitted to modify the recording device state. The invention then claims determining that the set of input attributes associated with the user input satisfies the set of thresholds as well as determining, based at least on the set of thresholds being satisfied by the set of input attributes, that the user input is an abnormal input; providing a request for confirmation to a user of the recording device, the request for confirmation requesting a confirmation input from the user. Finally, the invention claims suppressing the recording device action from modifying the recording device state while the request for confirmation is unconfirmed.
So as indicated by the above statements, Applicant’s arguments and amendment have been considered persuasive, in light of the claim limitations as well as the enabling portions of the specification.
The dependent claims further limit the independent claims and are considered allowable on the same basis as the independent claims as well as for the further limitations set forth.
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.”
Claims 17-20 are allowed.
Conclusion
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 Eileen Adams whose telephone number is (571) 270-3688. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thurs from 7:30-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4688.
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/EILEEN M ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481