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 .
Acknowledgment
The Preliminary Amendment filed on 11/29/2024 has been received and placed of record. Accordingly, claim 20 has been cancelled and claims 1-19 are pending in the instant application.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamamoto et al (US 2003/0109265; art cited by applicant).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yamamoto teaches a method for determining a position of a first wireless device (claim 1, "A positional information providing apparatus") in an underground environment ([0174], "Here, when mobile phone 30 is positioned in between tall buildings, underground, etc. "), the method comprising: obtaining a plurality of position estimations of the first wireless device in the underground environment, wherein the plurality of position estimations are obtained from different positioning services (claim 1, "a receiving means for receiving, from a terminal requesting measurement, identification information identifying a mobile communication terminal to be measured, and measuring quality conditions indicating conditions regarding the quality of the measurement; (...) received measuring quality conditions from among a plurality of measuring systems able to measure position of the mobile communication terminal"), obtaining quality indicators indicating respective qualities of the plurality of position estimations in the underground environment (claim 1, "measuring quality conditions indicating conditions regarding the quality of the measurement; (...) received measuring quality conditions from among a plurality of measuring systems able to measure position of the mobile communication terminal"), selecting a position estimation out of the plurality of position estimations based on the obtained quality indicators (claim 1, "a selecting means for selecting a measuring system suitable for said received measuring quality conditions from among a plurality of measuring systems able to measure position of the mobile communication terminal identified by said received identification information;"), and determining the position of the first wireless device based on the selected position estimation (claim 1, "an acquiring means for acquiring the positional information of said mobile communication terminal based on the measuring system selected by said selecting means; and a transmitting means for transmitting positional information acquired by said acquiring means to a terminal designated to be notified.").
Regarding independent claim 13, the claim is a corresponding apparatus claim and recites similar subject matter as in claim 1. Therefore, similar rationale is applied as for claim 1.
Regarding dependent claims 2 and 14, Yamamoto further teaches wherein at least one quality indicated by the quality indicators is based on a precision associated with a positioning service. See [0006], [0008], [0012] and [0018].
Regarding dependent claims 3 and 15, Yamamoto further teaches wherein the precision is determined when using the associated positioning service to obtain at least one position estimation. See [0006], [0008], [0012] and [0018].
Regarding dependent claims 4 and 16, Yamamoto further teaches wherein at least one quality indicated by the quality indicators is based on a time since the respective position estimation occurred. See [0056], [0060] and [0062].
Regarding dependent claims 5 and 17, Yamamoto further teaches wherein at least one quality indicated by the quality indicators is based on the respective position estimation. See [0006], [0008], [0012] and [0018].
Regarding dependent claim 11, Yamamoto further teaches wherein obtaining the plurality of position estimations of the first wireless device comprises obtaining a position estimation and a respective quality indicator from a second wireless device. See [0006], [0008], [0012] and [0018].
Regarding dependent claim 12, Yamamoto further teaches wherein obtaining the quality indicators comprises estimating at least one quality metric of the plurality of position estimations. See [0006], [0008], [0012] and [0018].
Regarding dependent claim 18, Yamamoto further teaches a system for determining a position of a first wireless device in an underground environment, wherein the system is comprising a control unit and the first wireless device, the system being configured to perform the method according to claim 1. See rationale as for claim 1.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 6-10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto et al (US 2003/0109265; art cited by applicant) in view of Dupray et al (US 2013/0285855).
Regarding dependent claim 6, Yamamoto teaches all subject matter claimed except to further teach wherein at least one quality indicated by the quality indicators is based on a signal strength and/or signal quality between the first wireless device and one or more access points of the one or more different radio positioning services. However, using a signal strength and/or signal quality as quality indicators is notoriously well-known in the art of digital communications. For example, Dupray, from the same field of endeavor, teaches monitoring signal characteristics, such as MS signal strength. See [0055] and [0204]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamamoto by employing the teachings as taught by Dupray so as to use signal strength as quality indicator.
Regarding dependent claim 7, Yamamoto as modified by Dupray further teaches wherein the one or more different radio positioning services comprises radio positioning using any one or more out of: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and 5G New Radio (NR). See [0025] and [0088].
Regarding dependent claim 8, Yamamoto as modified by Dupray further teaches wherein the one or more radio positioning estimations are estimated when the first wireless device broadcast a radio signal to any one or more respective access points of the one or more different radio positioning services. See [0076] and [0103].
Regarding dependent claim 9, Yamamoto as modified by Dupray further teaches wherein the plurality of position estimations comprises at least one position estimation estimated using a former position and a movement of the first wireless device. See [0216], [0309] and [0310].
Regarding dependent claim 10, Yamamoto as modified by Dupray further teaches wherein the at least one position estimation is estimated by matching the former position and the movement of the first wireless device (10) with a predefined set of paths of the underground environment. See [0216], [0309] and [0310].
Regarding dependent claim 19, Yamamoto as modified by Dupray fails to further teach a computer program comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform actions according to the method of claim 1. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to implement the method of claim 1 into a computer instructions to be executed by a processor since it is just a matter of implementing the instructions into a computer or machine readable medium and such implementation would not involve any inventive feature in according to the well-developed computing technology.
Conclusion
Examiner's note: Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References Abrudan et al (US 12,072,429), Mitsuya et al (US 2013/0143597), Kitsunezuka (US 2022/0034989), Frish et al (US 2023/0258453) and Lindgren et al (US 2024/0340610) are cited because they are pertinent to the method and apparatus for determining a position of a first wireless device in an underground environment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DON NGUYEN VO whose telephone number is (571) 272-3018. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 6:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth N Vanderpuye, can be reached on 571-272-3078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DON N VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
