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 .
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(s) 21-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schobel et al. (Schobel), U.S. Publication No. 2020/0359175.
Regarding Claims 21, 28 and 35, Schobel discloses a system (shown in figure
4), comprising:
one or more processors (i.e., processor 1204; see figure 12); and
a memory (i.e., memory 1202; see figure 12), that stores program instructions
that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the one or more processors to implement a geofence service, wherein the geofence service is configured to:
receive an geospatial index and an geometric representation of one or more locations for a geofence identified by a geofence identifier (i.e., the parent defines an expected location as a geofence… the parent defines the geofence specification in terms of, for example, geographic coordinates, distance measures… The created geofence may accurately track the boundaries of a location (e.g., walls of a building) or may be an approximate shape that encloses the location (e.g., a circle large enough to encompass the entire building); see paragraph [0024] and figure 3);
store the geospatial index at a data store according to the geofence identifier (i.e., the parent may confirm creation of the expected location configuration using confirmation control 318 of stage 310. In some embodiments, selecting confirmation control 318 causes monitoring device 140 to automatically transmit the new expected location configuration to server device 110 for transmission to monitored device 138; see paragraph [0070]); and
make the geofence available for detecting devices within the one or more locations according to the geospatial index (i.e., monitored device 138 may be configured to compare its current location with the expected location provided in the expected location configuration. For example, monitored device 138 may compare its current location to the geofence provided in the expected location configuration. Monitored device 138 may use the comparison to determine whether monitored device 138 is inside or outside the geofence.; see paragraph [0034]).
Schobel further discloses the monitored device 140 may generate the geofence identifier using encryption keys (see paragraph [0038]) and monitoring device 140 may be configured to encrypt the expected location configuration and transmit it to server device 110 along with an identifier of, for example, monitored device 138. As noted above, any communications between monitored device 138 and monitoring device 140 may be end-to-end encrypted (see paragraph [0053]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Schobel’s encrypting of geofence identifier and expected location configuration (in other words, geofence specification; see paragraph [0024]) as “encrypted geospatial index” and “encrypted geometric representation” for securing and protecting messages from unauthorized access.
Regarding Claims 22, 29 and 36, Schobel discloses the system, method and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media as described above. Schobel further discloses wherein to make the geofence available for detecting the devices, the geofence service is configured to send a notification to an event bus indicating that the geofence service is available (see paragraph [0070]).
Regarding Claims 23, 30 and 37, Schobel discloses the system, method and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media as described above. Schobel further discloses wherein to make the geofence available for detecting the devices, the geofence service is configured to send a notification to a client indicating that the geofence service is available (see paragraph [0041]), wherein the notification is sent via an interface through which the encrypted geospatial index is received (see paragraph [0053]).
Regarding Claims 24, 31 and 38, Schobel discloses the system, method and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media as described above. Schobel further discloses wherein the geofence service unable to decrypt the encrypted geospatial index and the encrypted geometric representation to identify the one or more locations (see paragraph [0053]).
Regarding Claims 25, 32 and 39, Schobel discloses the system, method and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media as described above. Schobel further discloses wherein the geofence service implements a query engine, wherein the query engine is configured to access the encrypted geospatial index to determine whether a device is located within the geofence (see paragraphs [0075] and [0076]).
Regarding Claims 26, 33 and 40, Schobel discloses the system, method and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media as described above. Schobel further discloses wherein the geofence service is configured to provide the encrypted geospatial index to a downstream service (see paragraph [0072]).
Regarding Claims 27 and 34, Schobel discloses the system and method as
described above. Schobel further discloses wherein the geofence service is configured to provide the encrypted geometric representation of the one or more locations to the downstream service (see paragraph [0072]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jacobson et al., U.S. Publication No. 2021/0400053 discloses PREVENTING
DATA MANIPULATION AND PROTECTING USER PRIVACY IN DETERMINING ACCURATE LOCATION EVENT MEASUREMENTS
Olsen et al., U.S. Patent No. 11,414,111 discloses a System And Method For Railroad Personnel Safety Assurance
Kim, U.S. Publication No. 2011/0208797 discloses Geolocation-Based Management Of Virtual Applications
Kerr et al., U.S. Patent No. 12,192,183 discloses a Network Based Hyperlocal Authentication With A Gateway Component
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANTELL LAKETA HEIBER whose telephone number is (571)272-0886. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9am to 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Addy, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/SHANTELL L HEIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
September 3, 2026
Prosecution Insights