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 .
Election/Restrictions
In response to restriction requirement of 01/13/2026, applicant elected group I with traverse. In view of remarks on page 7, claims 1-16, 19-20 are considered in this Office Action. Claims 17-18 are withdrawn. (Note, no traversal for this group).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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.
Claims 1, 4, 11 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(a) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Biondi [US 20180042584 A1].
As per claim 1, Biondi teaches a system for detecting sow physical change around estrus (Bondi Fig 5, ¶0029, ¶0232 BCS / weight for animals including female swine) comprising:
a control unit including at least one processor and at least one memory (Biondi Fig 5, ¶0120);
at least one three-dimensional measurement device (Biondi Fig 13 item 102, ¶0109 to ¶0110 3D scanner); and
a motorized movable mechanism attached to the at least one three-dimensional measurement device (Biondi Fig 13, ¶0259 “the apparatus D is moved along the air guideway 110 by the motor 111 by means of suitable motion transmission elements (e.g. belt, chain, screw)”),
wherein the control unit directs the motorized movable mechanism to obtain physical aspects of a sow on a periodic basis with images from the at least one three-dimensional measurement device (Biondi ¶0259 “…receives the release command of photography by means of suitable automatic trigger … communicating to the control unit 101 the optimal time in which the image is to be captured during the movement along the guideway.”).
As per claim 4, Biondi further teaches wherein the at least one three-dimensional measurement device includes a 3D camera (Bondi ¶0110).
As per claim 11, Biondi further teaches wherein the at least one three-dimensional measurement device provides posture recognition information to the control unit to determine a physical position of the sow (Biondi ¶0101 “method uses the principle of optical triangulation, … is essential in order to calculate the absolute coordinates in the space of detected objects.”, implies position / posture recognition information).
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.
Claim 5 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biondi.
As per claim 5, Biondi further teaches wherein the motorized movable mechanism includes at least one motor electrically connected to at least one driver (Biondi Fig 13, ¶0258, ¶0259 “the apparatus D is moved along the air guideway 110 by the motor 111 by means of suitable motion transmission elements (e.g. belt, chain, screw)”, driver for motor implied) in electronic communication with the control unit 101. However, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person to provide communication between the driver and with the main control unit 101 of the system, so as to perform different automatic functions of the motor described using the same controller, thereby reducing need for other components /controllers.
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biondi as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Freeman [US 20100324437 A1].
As per claim 3, Biondi does not expressly teach wherein the physical aspects of the sow include abdomen movement that is converted to a respiratory rate.
Freeman, in a related field of health assessment teaches, wherein the physical aspects of the sow include abdomen movement that is converted to a respiratory rate (Freeman ¶0026).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the apparatus in Biondi by integrating measurements as in Freeman so as to obtain physiological parameters regarding health of the subjects, in this case the livestock.
Claims 2, 6-7, 10, rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biondi as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Labrecque [US 20230057738 A1].
As per claims 2, 6, Biondi does not expressly teach wherein the physical aspects of the sow are selected from the group consisting of vulva volume, vulva width, vulval length, vulva height, vulva surface area, vulva base area, or vulva color, wherein the control unit includes a wireless module for transmitting sow physical data for analysis,
Labrecque, in a related field of detecting estrus in sows, teaches wherein the physical aspects of the sow are selected from the group consisting of vulva volume, vulva width, vulval length, vulva height, vulva surface area, vulva base area, or vulva color (Labrecque ¶0096), wherein the control unit includes a wireless module for transmitting sow physical data for analysis (Labrecque ¶0072).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi by integrating features of dimension analysis and wireless communication as in Labrecque. As per MPEP 2143(A), combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is rationale that may support a conclusion of obviousness include. In this case the prior art elements may be incorporated to yield predictable results of determining whether the sow is in estrus for insemination, and data controller to be connected without the need for any wires.
As per claim 7, Biondi further teaches wherein the motorized movable mechanism moves between a plurality of sow stalls to measures sow
Biondi does not expressly teach measures sow vulva volume.
Labrecque, in a related field of detecting estrus in sows, teaches detecting three dimensional information for sow vulva (Labrecque ¶0045-¶0049 “height or width of the vulva; again this relates to a degree of swelling of the area since height and width of the area is increased by swelling….d- outward protuberance of the vulva).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi by integrating features of dimension analysis as in Labrecque. As per MPEP 2143(A), combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is rationale that may support a conclusion of obviousness include. In this case the prior art elements may be incorporated to yield predictable results of determining whether the sow is in estrus for insemination.
As per claim 10, Biondi in view of Labrecque further teaches wherein the control unit initializes the at least one three-dimensional measurement device, moves the motorized movable mechanism to take images (Biondi Fig 13) of sow vulva volume (Labrecque ¶0045-¶0049), and then transmits sow vulva data for analysis (Biondi ¶0121, Labrecque ¶0072).
Claims 12-15, 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biondi as applied to claim 11, and further in view of Labrecque, and further in view of Kang [KR 20190097865 A, Translation used herein].
As per claim 12, Biondi does not expressly teach wherein after the determination of a sow being in a standing position, the control unit electrically accesses a deep learning model to ascertain a physical condition of the sow.
Labrecque, in a related field of detecting estrus in sows, teaches after the determination of a sow being in a standing position (Labrecque ¶0054-¶0055), the control unit electrically accesses a
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi by integrating features of dimension analysis as in Labrecque. As per MPEP 2143(A), combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is rationale that may support a conclusion of obviousness include. In this case the prior art elements may be incorporated to yield predictable results of determining whether the sow is in estrus for insemination.
Biondi in view of Labrecque does not expressly teach a deep learning model.
Kang in a related field of monitor livestock conditions teaches deep learning model (Kang page 5).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi in view of Labrecque by using deep learning model so as to reduce errors thereby improving the detection rate of estrus in cattle (Kang page 8).
As per claim 13, Biondi in view of Labrecque and Kang further teaches wherein after the control unit electrically accesses the deep learning model to ascertain the physical condition of a sow (Labrecque ¶0098, ¶0099 “the whole image of the rear profile the relevant vulva area so that a part of the algorithm requires that this area be first determined…), the control unit electrically accesses the deep learning model to ascertain a vulvar condition of the sow (Labrecque ¶0099 -¶0100).
As per claim 14, Biondi in view of Labrecque and Kang further teaches wherein after the control unit electrically accesses the deep learning model to ascertain the physical condition and the deep learning model to ascertain the vulvar condition of the sow, existing data and historical records are combined with the physical condition and the vulvar condition (Labrecque and Kang data bases for machine learning requires) to provide a treatment recommendation of the sow (Labrecque ¶0100” a warning can be provided to the farmer if the vulva area is too dirty and … signal provided to the farmer that action is necessary to clean the area before a suitable accurate determination can be made.”).
As per claim 15, Biondi in view of Labrecque and Kang further teaches wherein the physical condition, the vulvar condition, the existing data, and historical records of the sow are electronically transmitted to output selected from the group consisting of an electronic display and a webpage (Kang page 7 “the smart device 500 may visualize and display behavior type information and estrus detection information analyzed by the analysis server 300” ).
As per claim 19 , Biondi teaches claim 1 as discussed above. Biondi does not expressly teach obtaining measurements of sow vulva volume on a periodic basis and electronically accessing a deep learning model with the control unit to ascertain a physical condition of at least one the sow and electronically accessing a deep learning model to ascertain a vulvar condition of the at least one sow.
Labrecque, in a related field of detecting estrus in sows, teaches obtaining measurements of sow vulva volume on a periodic basis (Labrecque ¶0038) and electronically accessing a physical condition of at least one the sow (Labrecque ¶0098, ¶0099 “the whole image of the rear profile the relevant vulva area so that a part of the algorithm requires that this area be first determined…) and electronically accessing a deep learning model to ascertain a vulvar condition of the at least one sow (Labrecque ¶0100” a warning can be provided to the farmer if the vulva area is too dirty and … signal provided to the farmer that action is necessary to clean the area before a suitable accurate determination can be made.”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi by integrating features of dimension analysis as in Labrecque. As per MPEP 2143(A), combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is rationale that may support a conclusion of obviousness include. In this case the prior art elements may be incorporated to yield predictable results of determining whether the sow is in estrus for insemination.
Biondi in view of Labrecque does not expressly teach a deep learning model.
Kang in a related field of monitor livestock conditions teaches deep learning model (Kang page 5).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system in Biondi in view of Labrecque by using deep learning model so as to reduce errors thereby improving the detection rate of estrus in cattle (Kang page 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9, 16, 20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The prior art made of record (See PTO 892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, in that it relates to stalls and monitoring for livestock, estrus monitoring and vulvar region imaging ang monitoring. None of the references of record individually teach all the limitations of the noted claims and examiner does not find it obvious to modify the references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OOMMEN JACOB whose telephone number is (571)270-5166. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:00.
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, ANNE M KOZAK can be reached at 571-270-0552. 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.
/Oommen Jacob/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797