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 .
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8 of Remarks, filed on 06/12/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 2 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
Regarding to claim 2, applicant argues that “No Motivation to Combine Zhao and Koh” and “The Examiner's Position Risks Improper Hindsight Bias”. The examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant’s argument. In response to applicant’s argument, Koh teaches the plurality of light-emitting units are arranged in N circles centered on the target landing point, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Fig. 1). Koh’s teaching of N circles arrangement is for guiding the aircraft to land vertically, which is in the same field as Zhao, and is an alternative solution to Zhao as well. Combing Zhao and Koh would provide an alternative solution for guiding aircraft to recognizing the landing pad and to land safely.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 3-16 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao (CN 109407700 A, IDS) in view of Koh et al. (US 2022/0033105 A1).
As to claim 1, Zhao discloses an guiding apparatus for aircraft landing, wherein comprising: a light-emitting array (Fig. 1-2, QR code, para. 0011-0013), disposed in a target landing area of an aircraft, comprising at least one light-emitting unit (Fig. 1-2, QR code, para. 0011-0013) located at a target landing point and a plurality of light-emitting units arranged around the at least one light-emitting unit; a light-emitting control unit, electrically connected to the light-emitting array, and configured to control the light-emitting array to emit lights in accordance with preset light-emitting timing (Fig. 2-3, para. 0034-0035, 0040, 0084-0086). Zhao does not explicitly disclose the plurality of light-emitting units are arranged in N circles centered on the target landing point, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. However, Koh teaches the plurality of light-emitting units are arranged in N circles centered on the target landing point, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Fig. 1). Koh’s teaching of N circles arrangement is for guiding the aircraft to land vertically, which is in the same field as Zhao, and is an alternative solution to Zhao as well. Combing Zhao and Koh would provide an alternative solution for guiding aircraft to recognizing the landing pad and to land safely. Therefore, given the teaching of Koh, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have readily recognized the desirability and advantages of modifying the apparatus of Zhao, by employing the well-known or conventional features of arranged in N circles centered on the target landing point, to aid aircraft landing.
As to claims 7 and 22, Zhao further discloses a method/computer readable medium for guiding aircraft landing, wherein comprising the step of: controlling the guiding apparatus for aircraft landing according to claim 1 to emit light in accordance with preset light-emitting timing (para. 0077-0086).
As to claims 8 and 15, Zhao further discloses an aircraft landing control method, wherein comprising the steps of: controlling the guiding apparatus for aircraft landing according to claim 1 to emit light in accordance with a preset light-emitting timing (para. 0034-0037); gathering light signals emitted by the light-emitting array on the aircraft, and controlling the aircraft to land to the target landing point by outputting corresponding flight control instructions in accordance with the gathered light signals (para. 0066-0067).
As to claims 9 and 16, Zhao further discloses wherein the step of outputting corresponding flight control instructions in accordance with the gathered light signals comprises: identifying the light-emitting timing and light-emitting positions of the light signals (para. 0066-0067); matching the light-emitting timing with the preset light-emitting timing to calculate the position of each light-emitting unit (para. 0066-0067); obtaining the real-time position, attitude and target landing point of the aircraft in accordance with the positions of the light-emitting units (para. 0082-0086).
As to claim 10, Zhao further discloses wherein the step of identifying the light-emitting timing and light-emitting positions of the light signals comprises: obtaining the movement trajectory of bright spots, the movement trajectory comprises the positions of the bright spots in each frame; determining the light-emitting timing and light-emitting positions of each light-emitting unit in accordance with the movement trajectory of the bright spots (para. 0073-0082).
As to claim 3, the feature of the distance between the light-emitting units arranged in the M-th circle and the target landing point is preset multiples of the distance between the light-emitting units arranged in the M−1st circle and the target landing point, where M is an integer greater and 1<M≤N, is design choice.
As to claim 4, Koh further teaches wherein the circle is of regular or irregular shape (Fig. 1).
As to claims 5-6, the use of timing code to emit light for different light units is also design choice.
As to claims 11-14, comparing the position of two bright spots via a threshold distance in two consecutive frames to determine whether they are same bright spot is well known and obvious to do.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ce Li Li whose telephone number is (571)270-5564. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 10AM-7PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter D Nolan can be reached at 571-270-7016. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CE LI . LI
Examiner
Art Unit 3661
/PETER D NOLAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3661
Prosecution Insights