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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1, the preamble states “a golf course condition reporting” while the body of the claim barely discloses any features relating to a golf course condition but only mention a water saturation level of an area of soil.
Claims 2-17 are also rejected for incorporating the deficiencies of their base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
The prior art fails to disclose a golf course condition reporting system comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: acquire data regarding a water saturation level of at least one area of a golf hole; generate a graphical user interface based on the data, the graphical user interface including a saturation rating corresponding to the golf hole; and transmit the graphical user interface to a user device.
Nor does the prior art disclose a golf course condition reporting system comprising: at least one sensor configured to acquire data regarding a water saturation level of an area of soil of a golf hole; at least one sprinkler configured to provide water to the area of soil; a user device configured to receive a user input regarding a current condition of the golf hole; and one or more processing circuits configured to: acquire the data; acquire the user input; transmit a command to the at least one sprinkler based on the data; and generate a graphical user interface for display on the user device based on the data and the user input.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Meadows et al. (U.S. Patent No. 7,118,498) disclose a personal golfing assistant system includes a handheld device and a GPS receiver that enables the user to survey and/or electronically capture geophysical golf data. The system can be used during the course of play to mark a ball location automatically, determine the distance to golf course targets or objects, analyze golf related data and generate statistics. The system provides a graphical display of useful golf-related information and can send a set of parameters tailored for a specific course to a real time tunable GPS to adjust for optimal performance and can adjust measurements to compensate for environmental condition changes. There is also provided a method for collecting and uploading golf course geographic information to an internet accessible server, processing the uploaded data, distributing data upon an authorized user request and downloading the requested data to an electronic device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERTRUDE ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE whose telephone number is (571)272-6954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 7:30-8:00 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ramya P Burgess can be reached at 571-272-6011. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GERTRUDE ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661
Prosecution Insights