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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) data gathering and concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim is directed to an abstract idea with additional generic computer elements which amounts to simply implementing the abstract idea on a computer. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional limitations (obtaining reading motion data, predicting, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit … to obtain a prediction result, activating… detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit…) only store and retrieve information in memory, explain that these are well-understood, routine, conventional computer functions as recognized by the court decisions listed in MPEP § 2106.05(d).
Re claim 1. An electronic fence warning alarm method, wherein the method comprises:
obtaining reading motion data of a device; (data gathering)
predicting, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result; and (concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion))
activating, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence. (data outputting)
Re claim 2. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Re claim 3. Mathematical calculations and concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Re claim 4. Mathematical calculations, formulas and equations.
Re claim 5. Data outputting.
Re claim 6. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and data outputting.
Re claim 7. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 8. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and data processing.
Re claim 9. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 10. Same as for claim 1.
Re claim 11. Same as for claim 1.
Re claim 12. Mathematical relationships.
Re claim 13. Mathematical relationships.
Re claim 14. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Re claim 15. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Re claim 16. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 17. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 18. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 19. Data gathering and processing, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) and mathematical calculations.
Re claim 20. Concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by JERNIGAN (US 20170223499 A1).
Re claim 1. JERNIGAN discloses (abstract) an electronic fence warning method, wherein the method comprises:
obtaining motion data of a device; [0031-0032]
predicting, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result; and [0141] (claims 2 and 4)
activating, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence. [0141] (broadly interpreted: … requiring confirmation before entering a geofence as described in the Venus flytrap algorithm, the geofence is not activated when the user is not intending to enter the geofence. – conversely geofence is activated if and when user is predicted to enter geofence)
2. JERNIGAN discloses [0066, 0174] the method according to claim 1, wherein before the obtaining motion data of a device, the method further comprises:
positioning the device to obtain position information of the device;
determining whether the position information of the device is within a preset position range; and
obtaining the motion data of the device when the position information of the device is within the preset position range.
5. JERNIGAN discloses [0030, 0114-0118, 0131-0146] the method according to claim 1, wherein the activating, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence comprises:
when the prediction result indicates that the device is entering the electronic fence or the device is leaving the electronic fence, activating the detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence.
6. JERNIGAN discloses [0147-0155, 0168] the method according to claim 5, wherein when the prediction result indicates that the device is leaving the electronic fence, and the electronic fence is a geographic electronic fence, the activating the detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence comprises:
positioning the device to obtain position information of the device;
determining, according to the position information, whether the device has left the electronic fence; and
when it is determined, according to the position information, that the device has left the electronic fence, sending a warning indicating that the device leaves the electronic fence.
7. JERNIGAN discloses [0042, 0147-0155, 0168] the method according to claim 6, wherein when it is determined, according to the position information, that the device has left the electronic fence, the method further comprises:
obtaining a distance and a direction of the device relative to a center of the electronic fence according to the position information; [0030-0033]
determining whether the distance is greater than a radius of the electronic fence and less than a first preset threshold; [0030-0033]
when it is determined that the distance is greater than the radius of the electronic fence and less than the first preset threshold, obtaining the motion data of the device, and predicting, according to the motion data, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence to obtain a new prediction result; [0101]
when the new prediction result indicates that the device is entering the electronic fence, positioning the device to obtain position information of the device; [0120-0121, 0147]
determining, according to the position information, whether the device has entered the electronic fence; and when it is determined, [0105-0106]
according to the position information, that the device has entered electronic fence, sending a warning indicating that the device enters the electronic fence; or, [0154, 0168]
when it is determined, according to the position information, that the device does not enter the electronic fence, continuing to execute the operation of obtaining the motion data of the device, and predicting, according to the motion data, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence. [0151-0153]
8. JERNIGAN discloses [0052, 0067-0072, 0090-0095] the method according to claim 5, wherein when the prediction result indicates that the device is leaving the electronic fence, and the electronic fence is a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) electronic fence, the activating the detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence comprises:
performing Wi-Fi scanning, and detecting whether the device has left the electronic fence; and
when it is detected that the device has left the electronic fence, sending a warning indicating that the device leaves the electronic fence.
9. JERNIGAN discloses [0042, 0096-0101, 0114, 0134, 0175-0177] the method according to claim 8, wherein when it is detected that the device has left the electronic fence, the method further comprises:
obtaining positioning data when the device enters the electronic fence for the first time;
calculating a distance and a direction between the device and the positioning data;
when the distance is greater than a coverage range of the electronic fence and less than a second preset threshold, obtaining the motion data of the device, and predicting, according to the motion data, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence to obtain a new prediction result;
when the new prediction result indicates that the device is entering the electronic fence, performing Wi-Fi scanning, and detecting whether the device has entered the electronic fence; and when it is detected that the device has entered electronic fence, sending a warning indicating that the device enters the electronic fence; or, when it is detected the device does not enter the electronic fence, continuing to execute the operation of obtaining the motion data of the device, and predicting, according to the motion data, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence.
10. As for claim 1, an electronic device (FIG.2), comprising:
a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program runnable on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the instructions to:
obtain motion data of a device;
predict, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result; and
activate, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence.
11. As applied for claim 1, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when run by a processor, is configured to execute the instructions to:
obtain motion data of a device:
predict, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result; and
activate, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence.
12. JERNIGAN discloses [0118, 0169, 0172-0174] the method according to claim 2, wherein the motion data of the device comprises: acceleration information of the device sensed by an acceleration sensor and motion direction information of the device sensed by a direction sensor.
13. JERNIGAN discloses [0066, 0104, 0133-0137, 0174] the method according to claim 2, wherein
the preset position range is set as an electronic fence range, or
the preset position range is set as the electronic fence range and a range close to a periphery of the electronic fence.
14. JERNIGAN discloses [0042, 0059-0060, 0102-0106, 0139-0145, 0151, 0162] the method according to claim 6, wherein, after positioning of the device is completed, the method further comprises:
determining whether the state of the device relative to the geographic electronic fence is consistent with a previous fence state: and
sending a fence state warning notification if the state of the device relative to the geographic electronic fence is inconsistent with the previous fence state.
15. JERNIGAN discloses [0018, 0042, 0154, 0168, 0175-0177] the method according to claim 8, wherein, after performing Wi-Fi scanning of the device is completed, the method further comprises:
determining whether the state of the device relative to the Wi-Fi electronic fence is consistent with a previous fence state; and
sending a fence state warning notification if the state of the device relative to the Wi-Fi electronic fence is inconsistent with the previous fence state.
16. As for claim 2, the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein before the obtain motion data of a device, the processor is further configured to run the computer program to execute the instructions to:
position and detect the device to obtain position information of the device;
determine whether the position information of the device is within a preset position range; and
obtain the motion data of the device when the position information of the device is within the preset position range.
17. As for claim 2, the storage medium according to claim 11, wherein before the obtain motion data of a device, the computer program, when run by the processor, is further configured to:
position and detect the device to obtain position information of the device;
determine whether the position information of the device is within a preset position range; and obtain the motion data of the device when the position information of the device is within the preset position range.
20. As for claim 5, the storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the activate, according to the prediction result, detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence comprises:
when the prediction result indicates that the device is entering the electronic fence or the device is leaving the electronic fence, activate the detection on the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JERNIGAN (US 20170223499 A1) in view of LI et al. (US 20180020953 A1).
However, JERNIGAN fails to explicitly disclose:
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predicting, according to the motion data, a state of the device entering or leaving an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result comprises:
calculating number of steps of walking and a direction of walking of the device according to the motion data; and
predicting, according to the number of steps of walking and the direction of walking of the device, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence to obtain the prediction result.
18. The storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the predict, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result comprises:
calculate number of steps of walking and a direction of walking of the device according to the motion data; and
predict, according to the number of steps of walking and the direction of walking of the device, the state describing the device's entry or exit from the electronic fence to obtain the prediction result.
LI teaches (abstract) in a similar field of invention, a process using a calculation of number of steps of walking [0068-0069] and direction of walking [0084] of a person using a wearable device, for the purpose of determining a proper state of either entering or exiting any fence or perimeter.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try a calculation of number of steps of walking and a direction of walking of a person using a device in order to more precisely determine an appropriate enter or exit status.
Claim(s) 4 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JERNIGAN (US 20170223499 A1) in view of WU et al. (US 11526811 B1).
However, JERNIGAN fails to explicitly disclose:
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predicting, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result comprises:
inputting the motion data to a trained prediction model to obtain the prediction result of the state of device entering or leaving the electronic fence.
19. The storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the predict, according to the motion data, a state describing the device's entry or exit from an electronic fence to obtain a prediction result comprises:
input the motion data to a trained prediction model to obtain the prediction result of the state of device entering or leaving the electronic fence.
WU teaches (abstract) in a similar field of invention, using a trained prediction model (c.11, l.36-46), using inputted motion data for the purpose of helping predict routes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try inputting motion data into trained prediction model in order to more accurately predicting a state of entering or exiting.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS E GARCIA whose telephone number is (571)270-1354. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-6pm F 9-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Zimmerman can be reached at (571) 272-3059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CARLOS E. GARCIA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2686
/Carlos Garcia/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686 7/14/2026
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