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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the application filed on 10/07/2024 and the response and amendments filed 5/11/2026.
Claims 1, 10, 11, 13, 16, and 20 have been amended.
No claims have been added.
No claims have been cancelled.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS(s)) submitted on 10/07/2024, 12/19/2024, and 3/19/2026 have been received and considered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-10, filed 5/11/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of newly amended claims 1, 13, and 20 under 35 USC 102 and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive regarding the prior art failing to teach “causing […] the AUV to hover at the underwater position” as required by the amended claims. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made as necessitated by amendment in view of Brussieux (EP 1868004), Jin (CN 110536830), and Edwards (NPL cited below).
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 (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 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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brussieux (EP 1868004, hereinafter “Brussieux,” all citations and excerpts taken from the attached machine translation) in view of Jin et al (CN 110536830, hereinafter “Jin,” all citations and excerpts taken from the attached machine translation).
Regarding Claim 1, Brussieux teaches:
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 8 “According to a particular characteristic, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by […] an unmanned underwater vehicle,”)
comprising: one or more propulsion devices that propel the AUV; (Brussieux Pg 4 ¶ 11 lines 1-2 “The autonomous underwater vehicle used in this embodiment is […] self propelled by a propeller,”)
one or more sensors that generate sensor data indicative of a signature of a vessel; (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 7 lines 1-2 “The solution provided is a portable device for measuring the magnetic signature of a boat comprising several magnetic sensors integral with marine mobile means self-propelled by propulsion means,”)
memory; (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 11 “this portable device comprises means for acquiring signals from said magnetic sensors and data storage means relating to these signals,”)
and processing circuitry (Brussieux Pg 4 ¶ 11 lines 1-3 “The autonomous underwater vehicle used in this embodiment is […] its trajectory can be controlled remotely or programmed,”)
that: determines an underwater position at which the AUV collects the sensor data; controls the one or more propulsion devices to move the AUV to the underwater position; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 9 lines 2-3 “the craft is programmed to describe an underwater trajectory that preferably, it goes to the vertical of the boat as well as to both sides so as to be able to evaluate the signature of the boat in all directions,”)
controls, using the one or more propulsion devices, the AUV […] at the underwater position as the vessel performs a series of maneuvers around the AUV; receives the sensor data from the one or more sensors while the AUV […] at the underwater position during the series of maneuvers by the vessel; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 5-8 “the machine is programmed to go to land on the bottom and its engine is stopped so as to eliminate any electromagnetic emission due to the engine of the machine 1. The vessel whose magnetic signature is to be determined is then moved along a determined path and the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory”)
and stores the sensor data in the memory. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 7-8 “the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory,”)
Brussieux does not teach:
[…] to hover […] hovers […]
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Jin teaches:
[…] to hover […] hovers […] (Jin Pg 3 ¶ 8 “In application method for multiple underwater vehicle corresponding to the scheme 1, wherein in order to survey the underwater vehicle setting different exploration task and the investigation depth of a plurality of underwater aircraft is to make multiple submerging of underwater aircraft to each depth setting for surveying, exploration task so as to execute the plurality of underwater navigation in the set each survey depth setting, record and/or execution result transmission task for surveying,” and Pg 9 ¶ 2 lines 1-4 “can make the hovering-type first 1 underwater vehicle 30A of the sailing speed slower than the 2 underwater vehicle 30B. In addition, because the first underwater vehicle 30A has 1 vertical side thruster or horizontal side thrusters, compared to the 2-underwater vehicle 30B high freedom of movement, it can keep the position even in places of the presence of water or the like,” together describing a hovering underwater vehicle keeping position (hovering), and doing so at a variable depth, for the purposes of surveying, which is analogous to the measurement of Brussieux)
Brussieux and Jin are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle control for taking measurements. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the stopping of the sensing machine on the bottom of Brussieux with the simple substitution of Jin’s hovering station-keeping at a variable depth in order to perform measurement. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated adding Jin’s capability of measuring with a static vehicle at a variable depth, thus not limiting stationary measurements to an arbitrary and shallow depth as in Brussieux as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and furthermore by preventing collisions by controlling depth (Jin Pg 5 ¶ 7) according to MPEP 2143(I)(G).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the signature comprises an acoustic signature of the vessel. (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 10 “In addition, a portable device according to the invention may comprise, in addition, at least one sensor preferably selected from the following list and for measuring a quantity other than the magnetic signature of a boat: a hydrophone intended to measure the pressures and acoustic noises […] an active acoustic sounder to measure acoustic hull indexes, anechoic coatings and acoustic wake indexes.”)
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the signature comprises a magnetic signature of the vessel. (Brussieux Pg 1 ¶ 2 “The present invention relates to the field of apparatus for measuring magnetic quantities and more particularly to a portable station for measuring the magnetic signature of a naval vessel.”)
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the signature comprises an electronic signature of the vessel. (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 10 “In addition, a portable device according to the invention may comprise, in addition, at least one sensor preferably selected from the following list and for measuring a quantity other than the magnetic signature of a boat: […] an electromagnetic field or electric current sensor,”)
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
a first positioning system that determines a first surface position of the AUV (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 line 1 “The machine is positioned on the surface of the water and put into operation by action on the remote control,” teaching a first surface position)
relative to the vessel, (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 11 lines 1-2 “A device according to the invention may comprise a relative acoustic positioning system with respect to the boat,” teaching a first relative positioning system)
wherein the processing circuitry determines a second surface position of the AUV relative to the vessel or the first surface position, (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 9 “According to another characteristic enabling in particular to be able to determine the magnetic characteristics of a building all around it and below, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by an unmanned underwater vehicle and a device according to the invention comprises means programming the trajectory of the submarine mobile means according to the relative position between the boat and these mobile means,” teaching establishing a trajectory (which includes a second position) to be able to determine the characteristics (signature))
and controls the one or more propulsion devices to move the AUV from the first surface position to the second surface position. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 2-4 “The motor then drives the propeller 12 of the machine 1 and the signal acquisition means 6 begin to record the signals from the magnetometer 5 and the hydrophone 8, the latter making it possible to determine the relative position of the machine 1 compared to the boat,” describing driving the propeller to move to a second position)
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 5 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry controls the one or more propulsion devices to move the AUV from the second surface position to the underwater position. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 4-6 “In the case where the bottom is shallow, typically less than 30 m, the machine is programmed to go to land on the bottom and its engine is stopped so as to eliminate any electromagnetic emission due to the engine of the machine 1,” teaching moving to an underwater position after driving with the propeller (moving to a second position), as modified by Jin’s hovering and depth control)
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 6 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
a second positioning system that generates underwater position information for the AUV, (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 11 “A device according to the invention may comprise a relative acoustic positioning system with respect to the boat, for example of the 'short base' type, or absolute relative to the terrestrial reference, for example of the 'underwater GPS' type, or other,” teaching the use of a second type of positioning system)
wherein the processing circuitry confirms that the AUV is at the underwater position based on the underwater position information. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 2-4 “The motor then drives the propeller 12 of the machine 1 and the signal acquisition means 6 begin to record the signals from the magnetometer 5 and the hydrophone 8, the latter making it possible to determine the relative position of the machine 1 compared to the boat,” teaching that the relative position is monitored as the process is in progress)
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 7 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the first positioning system comprises a satellite navigation system, and wherein the second positioning system comprises an acoustic system. (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 11 “A device according to the invention may comprise a relative acoustic positioning system with respect to the boat, for example of the 'short base' type, or absolute relative to the terrestrial reference, for example of the 'underwater GPS' type, or other,” teaching the alternate use of both GPS (satellite navigation) and acoustic navigation)
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the determining the underwater position of the AUV […] (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 11 “A device according to the invention may comprise a relative acoustic positioning system with respect to the boat, for example of the 'short base' type, or absolute relative to the terrestrial reference, for example of the 'underwater GPS' type, or other,” teaching the alternate use of both GPS (satellite navigation) and acoustic navigation)
Brussieux does not teach:
[…] comprises determining an underwater pose for the AUV.
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Jin teaches:
[…] comprises determining an underwater pose for the AUV. (Jin Pg 13 ¶ 9 lines 1-5 “Furthermore, the position estimating unit 27 C based on the record in the navigation recording portion 27 D of the underwater vehicle 30 to the navigation path, the estimated present away from the direction of the underwater vehicle 30 control area X, movement control mechanism 27 based on the estimated result to control the moving mechanism 23 so as to improve the control precision and moving efficiency of the water control mechanism 20,” teaching estimation of position and direction, which describe a pose as interpreted by ¶ 0040 of the instant specification as “the underwater pose refers to both position and orientation of the AUV 104 in the underwater environment”)
Brussieux and Jin are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle control for taking measurements. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the acoustic positioning determination of Brussieux with the simple addition of Jin’s estimation of position and direction. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated by improving the control precision and moving efficiency of the vehicle (Jin Pg 13 ¶ 9) according to MPEP 2143(I)(G).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry determines the underwater position based on the series of maneuvers. (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 9 “According to another characteristic enabling in particular to be able to determine the magnetic characteristics of a building all around it and below, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by an unmanned underwater vehicle and a device according to the invention comprises means programming the trajectory of the submarine mobile means according to the relative position between the boat and these mobile means,” teaching establishing a trajectory (which includes a second position) according to (based on) the relative position between the boat and the device, the relative position describing the maneuvers being made)
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 1 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry: controls the one or more propulsion devices to move the AUV to other underwater positions around the vessel as the vessel remains stationary; and receives additional sensor data from the one or more sensors at each other underwater position. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 2-4 “The motor then drives the propeller 12 of the machine 1 and the signal acquisition means 6 begin to record the signals from the magnetometer 5 and the hydrophone 8, the latter making it possible to determine the relative position of the machine 1 compared to the boat,” and Pg 5 ¶ 9 “In the case where the seabed is deep, the boat is immobilized while the craft is programmed to describe an underwater trajectory that --> preferably, it goes to the vertical of the boat as well as to both sides so as to be able to evaluate the signature of the boat in all directions,” describing moving the craft (AUV) to along a trajectory (multiple other underwater positions) to record signals)
Regarding Claim 13, Brussieux teaches:
A method, comprising: determining, for a first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 8 “According to a particular characteristic, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by […] an unmanned underwater vehicle,”)
a first underwater position at which the first AUV collects first sensor data used to determine a first signature of a vessel; controlling the first AUV to move to the first underwater position; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 9 lines 2-3 “the craft is programmed to describe an underwater trajectory that preferably, it goes to the vertical of the boat as well as to both sides so as to be able to evaluate the signature of the boat in all directions,”)
controlling the first AUV […] at the first underwater position as the vessel performs a series of maneuvers around the first AUV; collecting the first sensor data while the first AUV […] at the first underwater position during the series of maneuvers by the vessel; ; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 5-8 “the machine is programmed to go to land on the bottom and its engine is stopped so as to eliminate any electromagnetic emission due to the engine of the machine 1. The vessel whose magnetic signature is to be determined is then moved along a determined path and the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory”)
and storing the collected first sensor data in an onboard memory of the first AUV. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 7-8 “the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory,”)
Brussieux does not teach:
[…] to hover […] hovers […]
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Jin teaches:
[…] to hover […] hovers […] (Jin Pg 3 ¶ 8 “In application method for multiple underwater vehicle corresponding to the scheme 1, wherein in order to survey the underwater vehicle setting different exploration task and the investigation depth of a plurality of underwater aircraft is to make multiple submerging of underwater aircraft to each depth setting for surveying, exploration task so as to execute the plurality of underwater navigation in the set each survey depth setting, record and/or execution result transmission task for surveying,” and Pg 9 ¶ 2 lines 1-4 “can make the hovering-type first 1 underwater vehicle 30A of the sailing speed slower than the 2 underwater vehicle 30B. In addition, because the first underwater vehicle 30A has 1 vertical side thruster or horizontal side thrusters, compared to the 2-underwater vehicle 30B high freedom of movement, it can keep the position even in places of the presence of water or the like,” together describing a hovering underwater vehicle keeping position (hovering), and doing so at a variable depth, for the purposes of surveying, which is analogous to the measurement of Brussieux)
Brussieux and Jin are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle control for taking measurements. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the stopping of the sensing machine on the bottom of Brussieux with the simple substitution of Jin’s hovering station-keeping at a variable depth in order to perform measurement. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated adding Jin’s capability of measuring with a static vehicle at a variable depth, thus not limiting stationary measurements to an arbitrary and shallow depth as in Brussieux as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and furthermore by preventing collisions by controlling depth (Jin Pg 5 ¶ 7) according to MPEP 2143(I)(G).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 13 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
transmitting the stored first sensor data to a post-mission processor that determines the first signature of the vessel. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 10 lines 1-4 “On board the vessel, the sealed hood is removed and the processing means arranged on board the boat are connected to the data storage means 10 and the recorded data are downloaded by the processing means and then processed so as to determine, in a known manner , the magnetic signature of the boat,”)
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 13 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein controlling the first AUV to move to the first underwater position comprises: determining a first surface position of the first AUV (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 line 1 “The machine is positioned on the surface of the water and put into operation by action on the remote control,” teaching a first surface position)
relative to the vessel; (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 11 lines 1-2 “A device according to the invention may comprise a relative acoustic positioning system with respect to the boat,” teaching a first relative positioning system)
controlling the first AUV to move from the first surface position (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 2-4 “The motor then drives the propeller 12 of the machine 1 and the signal acquisition means 6 begin to record the signals from the magnetometer 5 and the hydrophone 8, the latter making it possible to determine the relative position of the machine 1 compared to the boat,” describing driving the propeller to move to a second position)
to a second surface position relative to the vessel; (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 9 “According to another characteristic enabling in particular to be able to determine the magnetic characteristics of a building all around it and below, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by an unmanned underwater vehicle and a device according to the invention comprises means programming the trajectory of the submarine mobile means according to the relative position between the boat and these mobile means,” teaching establishing a trajectory (which includes a second position) to be able to determine the characteristics (signature))
and controlling the first AUV to submerge at the second surface position and move to the first underwater position. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 4-6 “In the case where the bottom is shallow, typically less than 30 m, the machine is programmed to go to land on the bottom and its engine is stopped so as to eliminate any electromagnetic emission due to the engine of the machine 1,” teaching moving to an underwater position after driving with the propeller (moving to a second position))
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 13 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the first underwater position is determined based on the series of maneuvers. (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 9 “According to another characteristic enabling in particular to be able to determine the magnetic characteristics of a building all around it and below, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by an unmanned underwater vehicle and a device according to the invention comprises means programming the trajectory of the submarine mobile means according to the relative position between the boat and these mobile means,” teaching establishing a trajectory (which includes a second position) according to (based on) the relative position between the boat and the device, the relative position describing the maneuvers being made)
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 13 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
determining, for the first AUV, a second underwater position at which the first AUV collects second sensor data used to determine the first signature of the vessel; controlling the first AUV to move to the second underwater position; collecting the second sensor data while the first AUV is at the second underwater position; and storing the second sensor data in the onboard memory. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 2-4 “The motor then drives the propeller 12 of the machine 1 and the signal acquisition means 6 begin to record the signals from the magnetometer 5 and the hydrophone 8, the latter making it possible to determine the relative position of the machine 1 compared to the boat,” and Pg 5 ¶ 9 “In the case where the seabed is deep, the boat is immobilized while the craft is programmed to describe an underwater trajectory that --> preferably, it goes to the vertical of the boat as well as to both sides so as to be able to evaluate the signature of the boat in all directions,” teaching describing (determining) a trajectory, moving the craft (AUV) along that trajectory (multiple other underwater positions) to record signals)
Claim(s) 9 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brussieux in view of Jin and Edwards (Magnetic Signature Assessment System using Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUVs) Phase 2, 8/31/2011, hereinafter “Edwards”).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 7 as described above. Brussieux does not teach:
wherein the underwater position information comprises underwater position information from one or more other AUVs deployed for obtaining the signature of the vessel or from the vessel.
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Edwards teaches:
wherein the underwater position information comprises underwater position information from one or more other AUVs deployed for obtaining the signature of the vessel or from the vessel. (Edwards Pg 3 ¶ 3 lines 7-9 “Initially, the AUVs will be deployed to a location where they will create a formation so that they can take the appropriate data for signature assessment when the ship passes over them,” teaching the use of multiple AUVs deployed in a formation (at multiple positions))
Brussieux and Edwards are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle sensing for determining vessel signatures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the determined sensing craft trajectory for sensing the magnetic signature of a vessel of Brussieux with the addition of the multiple AUVs in formation of Edwards. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated by an improved ability to assess the signature of a vehicle quickly, such as before operation in a hostile environment (Edwards Abstract lines 8-11).
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Brussieux and Jin teaches the elements of Claim 13 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
[…] second sensor data used to determine a second signature of the vessel, the second signature being different than the first signature; […] (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 10 “In addition, a portable device according to the invention may comprise, in addition, at least one sensor preferably selected from the following list and for measuring a quantity other than the magnetic signature of a boat: a hydrophone intended to measure the pressures and acoustic noises an electromagnetic field or electric current sensor a particle velocity sensor for measuring wake waves --> an optical sensor to measure photoluminescence an active acoustic sounder to measure acoustic hull indexes, anechoic coatings and acoustic wake indexes,” teaching the collection of data for determination of different signatures than a magnetic signature)
[…] and storing the second sensor data in an onboard memory of the second AUV. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 7-8 “the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory,”)
Brussieux does not teach:
determining, for a second AUV, a second underwater position at which the second AUV collects […]
[…] controlling the second AUV to move to the second underwater position;
and collecting the second sensor data while the second AUV is at the second underwater position; […]
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Edwards teaches:
determining, for a second AUV, a second underwater position at which the second AUV collects […] controlling the second AUV to move to the second underwater position; and collecting the second sensor data while the second AUV is at the second underwater position; […] (Edwards Pg 3 ¶ 3 lines 7-9 “Initially, the AUVs will be deployed to a location where they will create a formation so that they can take the appropriate data for signature assessment when the ship passes over them,” teaching the use of multiple AUVs deployed in a formation (at multiple positions))
Brussieux and Edwards are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle sensing for determining vessel signatures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the determined sensing craft trajectory for sensing the multiple signatures of a vessel of Brussieux with the addition of the multiple AUVs in formation for sensing signatures of Edwards. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated by an improved ability to assess the signature of a vehicle quickly, such as before operation in a hostile environment (Edwards Abstract lines 8-11).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Brussieux, Jin, and Edwards teaches the elements of Claim 18 as described above. Brussieux further teaches:
wherein the first signature corresponds to a magnetic signature of the vessel, and wherein the second signature corresponds to an acoustic signature of the vessel. (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 10 “In addition, a portable device according to the invention may comprise, in addition, at least one sensor preferably selected from the following list and for measuring a quantity other than the magnetic signature of a boat: a hydrophone intended to measure the pressures and acoustic noises […] an active acoustic sounder to measure acoustic hull indexes, anechoic coatings and acoustic wake indexes,” teaching the collection of data for determination of both magnetic and acoustic signatures, as applies to the previously taught multiple AUVs of Edwards)
Regarding Claim 20, Brussieux teaches:
A system, comprising: a first […] autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) (Brussieux Pg 3 ¶ 8 “According to a particular characteristic, the self-propelled marine mobile means are constituted by […] an unmanned underwater vehicle,”)
that collect first data indicative of a first signature of a vessel; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 9 lines 2-8 “the craft is programmed to describe an underwater trajectory that preferably, it goes to the vertical of the boat as well as to both sides so as to be able to evaluate the signature of the boat in all directions, […] the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory,”)
a second group […] (Brussieux Pg 2 ¶ 1 “These polygons are most commonly composed of a set of sensors respectively acoustic, magnetic and electromagnetic placed on the bottom or suspended in the water column, connected to a system of recording and analysis of signals by means of a set of cables and transmission systems,” teaching the background method of measurement of separate vessel properties with groups of separate sensor arrangements)
[…]that collect second data indicative of a second signature of the vessel, the second signature being different than the first signature, (Brussieux Pg 6 ¶ 10 “In addition, a portable device according to the invention may comprise, in addition, at least one sensor preferably selected from the following list and for measuring a quantity other than the magnetic signature of a boat: a hydrophone intended to measure the pressures and acoustic noises […] an active acoustic sounder to measure acoustic hull indexes, anechoic coatings and acoustic wake indexes,” teaching the collection of data for determination of both magnetic and acoustic signatures)
wherein the first and second groups of AUVs are controlled to hover at respective underwater positions to collect the first and second data while the vessel performs a series of maneuvers; (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 7 lines 5-8 “the machine is programmed to go to land on the bottom and its engine is stopped so as to eliminate any electromagnetic emission due to the engine of the machine 1. The vessel whose magnetic signature is to be determined is then moved along a determined path and the storage means records the magnetic and acoustic data from the vessel for the duration of said trajectory” teaching the first AUV maintaining position underwater as the vessel moves on a path around the AUV as described in Claim 1 but not teaching hovering, while Pg 2 ¶ 1 “These polygons are most commonly composed of a set of sensors respectively acoustic, magnetic and electromagnetic placed on the bottom or suspended in the water column, connected to a system of recording and analysis of signals by means of a set of cables and transmission systems,” teaches the background method of measurement of separate vessel properties with groups of separate sensor arrangements which are suspended in the water column, i.e. hovering)
and a post-mission processor that: determines the first signature based on the first data; and determines the second signature based on the second data. (Brussieux Pg 5 ¶ 10 lines 1-4 “On board the vessel, the sealed hood is removed and the processing means arranged on board the boat are connected to the data storage means 10 and the recorded data are downloaded by the processing means and then processed so as to determine, in a known manner , the magnetic signature of the boat,” as applies to the magnetic and acoustic signatures taught in Pg 6 ¶ 10)
Brussieux does not teach:
[…] group of […group] of AUVs […]
[…] wherein the first […] groups of AUVs are controlled to hover […]
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Edwards teaches:
[…] group of […group] of AUVs […] group of AUVs […] (Edwards Pg 3 ¶ 3 lines 7-9 “Initially, the AUVs will be deployed to a location where they will create a formation so that they can take the appropriate data for signature assessment when the ship passes over them,” teaching the use of multiple AUVs for signature assessment)
Brussieux and Edwards are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle sensing for determining vessel signatures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the determined sensing craft trajectory for sensing the multiple signatures of a vessel of Brussieux with the addition of the multiple AUVs in formation for sensing signatures of Edwards, in the manner of separate formations of sensors used to sense separate properties disclosed in the background of Brussieux. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated by an improved ability to assess the signature of a vehicle quickly, such as before operation in a hostile environment (Edwards Abstract lines 8-11).
The combination of Brussieux and Edwards does not teach:
[…] wherein the first […] AUVs are controlled to hover […]
Within the same field of endeavor as Brussieux, Jin teaches:
[…] wherein the first […] AUVs are controlled to hover […] (Jin Pg 3 ¶ 8 “In application method for multiple underwater vehicle corresponding to the scheme 1, wherein in order to survey the underwater vehicle setting different exploration task and the investigation depth of a plurality of underwater aircraft is to make multiple submerging of underwater aircraft to each depth setting for surveying, exploration task so as to execute the plurality of underwater navigation in the set each survey depth setting, record and/or execution result transmission task for surveying,” and Pg 9 ¶ 2 lines 1-4 “can make the hovering-type first 1 underwater vehicle 30A of the sailing speed slower than the 2 underwater vehicle 30B. In addition, because the first underwater vehicle 30A has 1 vertical side thruster or horizontal side thrusters, compared to the 2-underwater vehicle 30B high freedom of movement, it can keep the position even in places of the presence of water or the like,” together describing a hovering underwater vehicle keeping position (hovering), and doing so at a variable depth, for the purposes of surveying, which is analogous to the measurement of Brussieux)
Brussieux and Jin are considered analogous because they both relate to underwater vehicle control for taking measurements. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the stopping of the sensing machine on the bottom of Brussieux with the simple substitution of Jin’s hovering station-keeping at a variable depth in order to perform measurement. This modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as motivated adding Jin’s capability of measuring with a static vehicle at a variable depth, thus not limiting stationary measurements to an arbitrary and shallow depth as in Brussieux as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and furthermore by preventing collisions by controlling depth (Jin Pg 5 ¶ 7) according to MPEP 2143(I)(G).
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 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.
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/ZACHARY E. F. GLADE/Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/KITO R ROBINSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
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