DETAILED ACTIONS
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim this application being a Continuation of the U.S. Application No. 17/078,235, filed on October 23, 2020 and U.S. Application No. 18/385,598, filed on October 31, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (“IDS”) filed on 10/10/2024 was reviewed and the listed references were noted.
Drawings
The 12-page drawings have been considered and placed on record in the file.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-14 are pending.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent No. US 11,854,275 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims of the instant application are obvious variant of the corresponding ones in the U.S Patent No. US 11,854,275 B2.
Instant Application (18/912,264)
U.S. Patent No. US 11,854,275 B2
Claim 1: A system for detecting symptoms of occupant illness, the system comprising:
user interface;
a storage configured to maintain a visualization application and audio data from an audio source; and
a processor in communication with the storage and the user interface, and programmed to:
receive a background image from a camera of an area that occupants are occupying,
receive the audio data generated from the audio source,
execute a classification model configured to classify portions of the audio data as indicating symptoms of illness,
determine a location of the symptoms of illness based on the classified portions of the audio data, and
execute the visualization application to display, in the user interface, an overlaid image overlaid onto the background image, the overlaid image including, for each determined location of symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the symptoms of illness occurred at that location
Claim 1: A system for detecting symptoms of occupant illness, the system comprising:
user interface;
a storage configured to maintain a visualization application and radar data from a radar source; and
a processor in communication with the storage and the user interface, and programmed to:
receive a background image from a camera of an area that occupants are occupying,
receive the radar data from the radar source,
execute a human-detection model configured to detect the occupants based on the radar data,
execute an activity-recognition model or vital-signs-recognition model configured to recognize radar-based symptoms of illness in the detected occupants based on the radar data,
determine a location of the radar-based recognized symptoms of illness utilizing the radar data from the radar source, and
execute the visualization application to display, in the user interface, an overlaid image overlaid onto the background image, the overlaid image including, for each determined location of symptoms, an indicator that the radar-based recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location, wherein the overlaid image includes a color-coded heat map that varies in intensity corresponding to a number of recognized symptoms of illness at that location.
Claim 3: The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to:
receive audio data from an audio source,
execute one or more models to determine audible symptoms of illness based on the audio data,
fuse the audible symptoms of illness with the radar-based symptoms of illness and the image-based symptoms of illness, and
execute the visualization application based on the fused audible symptoms of illness and the radar-based symptoms of illness and the image-based symptoms of illness.
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.
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 1, 3-8, and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masticola et al. (US 20080279420 A1), hereinafter referred to as Masticola, in view of Chaurasia et al. (US 20210390807 A1), hereinafter referred to as Chaurasia, in view of Bozorgtabar et al., (US 20190328300 A1), hereinafter referred to as Bozorgtabar.
Claim 1
Masticola discloses a system for detecting symptoms of occupant illness (Masticola, Fig. 2), the system comprising:
user interface (Masticola, para. 0017, “input/output interfaces);
a storage (Masticola, para. 0017, “one or more program storage devices (e.g., hard disk, magnetic floppy disk, RAM, ROM, CD ROM, etc.)”) configured to maintain a visualization application (Masticola, para. 0017, “present invention is preferably implemented as an application”) and audio data from an image source (Masticola, Fig. 2, Audio Cough Tracker 205); and
a processor (Masticola, para. 0011, “a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for syndromic surveillance”) in communication with the storage (Masticola, para. 0017, “one or more program storage devices (e.g., hard disk, magnetic floppy disk, RAM, ROM, CD ROM, etc.)”) and the user interface (Masticola, para. 0017, “input/output interfaces), and programmed to:
receive a background image from a camera (Masticola, Fig. 2, conventional video camera) of an area that occupants are occupying (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”, para. 0030, “cough head motion tracker 210 identifies individuals who show jerking head motions related to coughing. As shown in FIG. 2, the cough head motion tracker 210 is operatively connected to a motion video camera. In one embodiment, the cough head motion tracker 210 may analyze the recorded video for head motions related to coughing. Heads of individuals in the video may be isolated using any of a variety of video recognition techniques known to those skilled in the art”, in Fig. 2 the conventional video camera can record a video of the area that occupants are occupying),
execute a classification model (Masticola, para. 0028, “The audio cough tracker 205 may differentiate between different types of coughs as well as between a cough sound and a non-cough sound by comparing a detected audible symptom with known data, such as a database of audible cough samples. Alternate embodiments of the present invention may include neural networks, as well as other artificial intelligence mechanisms and techniques, for "learning" audible symptoms in a variety of applications.”) configured to classify portions of the audio data as indicating symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”),
determine a location of the recognized symptoms of illness based on the classified portions of the audio data (Masticola, para. 0009, “The method includes the steps of detecting syndromic data associated with infectious disease and sickness among a plurality of people using a plurality of monitoring devices; probabilistically fusing the syndromic data from the plurality of monitoring devices; locating individuals exhibiting the syndromic data; verifying the locations of the individuals and the syndromic data for consistency among the plurality of monitoring devices; and transmitting the location of a potentially infected individual exhibiting the probabilistically fused syndromic data to a responder for tracking the potentially infected individual”, Fig. 2, Position Tracker 225).
Masticola discloses outputting the location of the identified individuals to have syndromes detected by the syndrome identifier (Masticola, para. 0038), but Masticola does not explicitly disclose execute the visualization application to display, in the user interface, the image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location.
However, Chaurasia teaches execute the visualization application (Chaurasia, para. 0060, “the host device 70 may be configured with an application program that assigns devices of the discrete systems to a particular device (entity) class (e.g., common space device, dedicated space device, outdoor lighting, unitary controller, and so on)”) to display, in the user interface (Chaurasia, para. 0073, “the controller 102 may include a user interface 132 including a display and a means for receiving user input (e.g., touch screens, buttons, keyboards, etc.)”), the image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location (Chaurasia, para. 0158, “Once the symptom detection module 402 has determined the presence and/or severity of an illness 420, the symptom detection module 402 may generate an alert 422 generally indicating that the person or occupant should undergo additional health screening. The alert may be transmitted to a supervising party, such as, but not limited to, a health care team located within the facility, a facility manager, a manager, etc. The alert 422 may be sent to a device of the supervising party, such as, but not limited, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a laptop or desktop computer, a security console, a radio, etc. The alert 422 may include an identity of the person, a location within the building or area of the person, the symptom(s) detected, and/or a determined severity. In some cases, the alert may include a small video and/or audio recording of the event which triggered the alert.”, the image is one of the frames of the video of the event and it also includes the identity of the person, a location within the building or area of the person, the symptom(s) detected, and/or a determined severity).
Masticola and Chaurasia are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of illness risk detection. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method as taught by Masticola to incorporate the teachings of Chaurasia to execute the visualization application to display, in the user interface, the image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location. Such a modification is the result of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. The motivation for the proposed modification would have been to help limit the spread of a disease within a building (Chaurasia, para. 0003).
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia does not explicitly disclose an overlaid image overlaid onto the background image, the overlaid image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location.
However, Bozorgtabar teaches an overlaid image overlaid onto the background image, the overlaid image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location (Bozorgtabar, para. 0036, “FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a teleconference display in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The display screen 50 may include the real-time video image of the patient subject 51 from the low-quality signals. Diagnostic alerts may be overlaid thereon, including a textural alert 52 specifying the nature of the symptom detected, pointer alerts 53a and 53b referencing the detected symptoms and drawing attention to the areas of the patient subject responsible for displaying the symptoms, and/or a replay video box 54 in which a video clip around the key frame is displayed, for example, in a repeating loop”, the alert also implies that the symptom happens wherever the patient’s location is currently at).
Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of illness risk detection. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method as taught by Masticola and Chaurasia to incorporate the teachings of Bozorgtabar of an overlaid image overlaid onto the background image, the overlaid image including, for each location of recognized symptoms of illness, an indicator displaying information that the recognized symptoms of illness occurred at that location. Such a modification is the result of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. The motivation for the proposed modification would have been so that the health care provider may be made aware of the findings in a timely manner to guide the health care consultation accordingly (Bozorgtabar, para. 0018).
Claim 3
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar discloses the system of claim 1 (Masticola, Fig. 2), wherein the system includes a plurality of audio sources, and the processor is configured to determine the location of the symptoms of illness based on a triangulation of audio data output from the plurality of audio sources (Masticola, [para. 0026], “the audio cough tracker 205 is operatively connected to phased audio array 240. The phased audio array 240 includes a plurality of receivers for receiving sound candidates. The phased audio array 240 may be present, for example, in a room in a three-dimensional configuration. It should be appreciated that the phased audio array 240 may be configured in any of a variety of configurations, as contemplated by those skilled in the art. Ideally, the phased audio array 240 should be configured in such a manner that necessary information can be properly derived from the sound candidates. For example, in one embodiment, the phased audio array 240 may be configured such that the angle and direction of the sound candidates can be accurately determined.”, [para. 0029], “The audio cough tracker 205 may determine the location of the source/sources of the audible symptoms using any of a variety of source localization techniques known to one skilled in the art. For example, the phased audio array 240 may be configured in such a manner that the location of the source can be determined by analyzing the direction and angle of the sound candidate.”).
Claim 4
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar discloses the system of claim 1 (Masticola, Fig. 2), wherein the processor (Masticola, para. 0011, “a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for syndromic surveillance”) is further programmed to aggregate the recognized symptoms of illness over time to determine a time-series aggregation, wherein the indicator at each location changes based on the time-series aggregation at that location (Chaurasia, Abstract, “An illustrative method may include storing one or more illness behavioral models, capturing and storing over time a history of behaviors for each of a plurality of occupants of the building, identifying one or more current behaviors of a particular one of the plurality of occupants, determining whether the current behaviors of the occupant match one or more of the behaviors defined in the one or more illness behavioral models, determining whether the current behaviors of the occupant deviate from behaviors captured and stored in the history of behaviors for the occupant, and issuing an alert directing that the occupant undergo additional health screening when the current behaviors of the occupant match one or more of the behaviors defined in the illness behavioral models or deviate from behaviors captured and stored in the history of behaviors for the occupant”, para. 0093, “one or more skin temperatures of the user 158 (which may be acquired over a period of time during one or more previous times that the access card 164 was presented to the card reader by the user) may be used to determine a normal skin temperature for the particular user”).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, apply to Claim 4 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the system recited in Claim 4 is met by Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar.
Claim 5
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar discloses the system of claim 1 (Masticola, Fig. 2), wherein the processor (Masticola, para. 0011, “a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for syndromic surveillance”) is further programmed to: receive image data from an audio source (Masticola, Fig. 2, conventional video camera), execute one or more models to determine image-based symptoms of illness based on the image data (Masticola, para. 0030, “cough head motion tracker 210 identifies individuals who show jerking head motions related to coughing. As shown in FIG. 2, the cough head motion tracker 210 is operatively connected to a motion video camera. In one embodiment, the cough head motion tracker 210 may analyze the recorded video for head motions related to coughing. Heads of individuals in the video may be isolated using any of a variety of video recognition techniques known to those skilled in the art”), fuse the audible symptoms of illness with the image-based symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0021, “syndromic data from the plurality of monitoring devices is probabilistically fused (at 110)”), and execute the visualization application based on the fused audible symptoms of illness and the image-based symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0038, “output of the position tracker is transmitted to the response system 230, which, as shown in FIG. 2, transmits the locations of the identified individuals to a portable position systems 235 held by the responder”, Chaurasia teaches outputting an alert using a display of the video of the event).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, apply to Claim 5 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the system recited in Claim 5 is met by Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar.
Claim 6
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar discloses the system of claim 5 (Masticola, Fig. 2), wherein the processor (Masticola, para. 0011, “a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for syndromic surveillance”) is further programmed to: receive radar data from a radar source (Masticola, para. 0034, “fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature”, in the specification para. 0080, “radar source 126 can include infrared (IR) radar”, execute a human-detection model configured to detect the occupants based on the radar data (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”, para. 0036, “detected individuals have combined symptoms (i.e., a syndrome), which potentially indicates a more serious illness”, para. 0034, “The fever monitor 215 identifies individuals who may be showing signs of a fever. As shown in FIG. 2, the fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature. The fever monitor 215 may also locate individuals. For example, the entire physical area recorded by the fever monitor 215 may be divided into a three-dimensional grid. Thus, the location of the source may be recorded using a coordinate system based on the three-dimensional grid.”), execute an activity-recognition model or vital-signs-recognition model configured to recognize radar-based symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0019, “temperature-related symptoms (e.g., fever, hypothermia) may be detected using an infrared video device”, body temperature is a vital sign and it is used to detect fever or hypothermia, in the specification para. 0080, “radar source 126 can include infrared (IR) radar”) in the detected occupants based on the radar data (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”, para. 0036, “detected individuals have combined symptoms (i.e., a syndrome), which potentially indicates a more serious illness”, para. 0034, “The fever monitor 215 identifies individuals who may be showing signs of a fever. As shown in FIG. 2, the fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature. The fever monitor 215 may also locate individuals. For example, the entire physical area recorded by the fever monitor 215 may be divided into a three-dimensional grid. Thus, the location of the source may be recorded using a coordinate system based on the three-dimensional grid.”), fuse the recognized radar-based symptoms of illness with the audible symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0021, “syndromic data from the plurality of monitoring devices is probabilistically fused (at 110)”), and execute the visualization application based on the fused radar-based symptoms of illness, audible symptoms of illness, and image-based symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0038, “output of the position tracker is transmitted to the response system 230, which, as shown in FIG. 2, transmits the locations of the identified individuals to a portable position systems 235 held by the responder”, Chaurasia teaches outputting an alert using a display of the video of the event).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, apply to Claim 8 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the system recited in Claim 8 is met by Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar.
Claim 7
The combination of Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar discloses the system of claim 1 (Masticola, Fig. 2), wherein the processor (Masticola, para. 0011, “a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for syndromic surveillance”) is further programmed to: receive radar data from a radar source (Masticola, para. 0034, “fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature”, in the specification para. 0080, “radar source 126 can include infrared (IR) radar”, execute a human-detection model configured to detect the occupants based on the radar data (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”, para. 0036, “detected individuals have combined symptoms (i.e., a syndrome), which potentially indicates a more serious illness”, para. 0034, “The fever monitor 215 identifies individuals who may be showing signs of a fever. As shown in FIG. 2, the fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature. The fever monitor 215 may also locate individuals. For example, the entire physical area recorded by the fever monitor 215 may be divided into a three-dimensional grid. Thus, the location of the source may be recorded using a coordinate system based on the three-dimensional grid.”), execute an activity-recognition model or vital-signs-recognition model configured to recognize radar-based symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0019, “temperature-related symptoms (e.g., fever, hypothermia) may be detected using an infrared video device”, body temperature is a vital sign and it is used to detect fever or hypothermia, in the specification para. 0080, “radar source 126 can include infrared (IR) radar”) in the detected occupants based on the radar data (Masticola, para. 0022, “The individuals exhibiting the syndromic data are located (at 115). In one embodiment, as described in greater detail below, the individuals may be located, for example, using data collected from a plurality of monitoring devices, such as a audio monitoring device and a video monitoring device.”, para. 0036, “detected individuals have combined symptoms (i.e., a syndrome), which potentially indicates a more serious illness”, para. 0034, “The fever monitor 215 identifies individuals who may be showing signs of a fever. As shown in FIG. 2, the fever monitor 215 is operatively connected to an infrared video camera, which can determine an individual's temperature. The fever monitor 215 may also locate individuals. For example, the entire physical area recorded by the fever monitor 215 may be divided into a three-dimensional grid. Thus, the location of the source may be recorded using a coordinate system based on the three-dimensional grid.”), fuse the recognized radar-based symptoms of illness with the audible symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0021, “syndromic data from the plurality of monitoring devices is probabilistically fused (at 110)”), and execute the visualization application based on the fused radar-based symptoms of illness and audible symptoms of illness (Masticola, para. 0038, “output of the position tracker is transmitted to the response system 230, which, as shown in FIG. 2, transmits the locations of the identified individuals to a portable position systems 235 held by the responder”, Chaurasia teaches outputting an alert using a display of the video of the event).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, apply to Claim 8 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the system recited in Claim 8 is met by Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar.
Claims 8 and 10-14 are rejected for similar reasons as those described in claims 1 and 3-7 respectively. The additional elements in Claims 8 and 10-14 (Masticola in view of Chaurasia in view of Bozorgtabar) discloses a method (Masticola, Fig. 1). The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, apply to Claims 8 and 10-14 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the method recited in Claims 8 and 10-14 is met by Masticola, Chaurasia, and Bozorgtabar.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if double patenting rejection is overcome and if rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 2 and 9 would be allowable for disclosing “wherein the overlaid image includes a color-coded heat map that varies in intensity corresponding to a number of recognized symptoms of illness at that location”. In the closest prior art that was found, Rezaei “DeepSOCIAL: Social Distancing Monitoring and Infection Risk Assessment in COVID-19 Pandemic” discloses generating a heatmap by overlaying the image wherein the map varies in intensity based on the infection risk. However, Rezaei fails to teach that the overlaid image includes a color-coded heat map that varies in intensity corresponding to a number of recognized symptoms of illness at that location. The zones in Rezaei corresponds to a number of people breaking the social distancing rules rather than the number of people having radar-based recognized symptom of illness occurring in a certain location as required by the dependent claims 2 and 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DENISE G ALFONSO whose telephone number is (571)272-1360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 - 5:30.
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/DENISE G ALFONSO/Examiner, Art Unit 2662
/AMANDEEP SAINI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2662
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