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 .
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 §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) 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).
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-21 of U.S. Patent No. 12167313 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other, take an example of claim 1 of the U.S. Patent No. 12167313 B2 and claim 1 of the Pending application (Please see the Table below):
US Patent NO 12167313 B2
Pending application 18930094
Reasoning
1. A method for sharing emergency data by an emergency management system (EMS), the method comprising: receiving an emergency alert comprising the emergency data, wherein the emergency data comprises a location of an electronic device; determining the location of the electronic device is within a first geofence associated with a first emergency service provider (ESP); establishing a geogate between the first geofence associated with the first ESP and a second geofence associated with a second ESP, wherein the geogate comprises a digital communication pathway for sharing data between geofences and ESPs and wherein the geogate can change between an open mode and a closed mode; and sharing the emergency data with the second ESP through the digital communication pathway of the geogate between the first geofence and the second geofence.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the geogate is established after a data sharing request from the first ESP is received.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the geogate is established after a data sharing request from the second ESP is received and accepted by the first ESP.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geogate is specific to an emergency associated with the emergency alert.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital communication pathway of the geogate is a general communication pathway not associated with a specific emergency alert, wherein the geogate allows sharing of emergency data regarding one or more emergency alerts.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the geogate is established for a predetermined duration for sharing data between ESPs, wherein the one or more emergency alerts are shared within the predetermined duration.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the geogate is established for no more than 24 hours.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second ESP is selected based on an emergency type of the emergency alert.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second ESP has a coverage area that is within the first geofence of the first ESP or overlaps with the first geofence of the first ESP.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital communication pathway of the geogate provides unidirectional data sharing from the first ESP to the second ESP.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital communication pathway of the geogate provides bidirectional data sharing between the first ESP and the second ESP.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the geogate allows sharing of emergency data in a format based on one or more of preferences of the first ESP, preferences of the second ESP, type of emergency, or compatibility of the second ESP.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a data sharing request from the first ESP or the second ESP, wherein the data sharing request comprises a geogate identifier associated with the first ESP.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: verifying the geogate identifier is associated with the second ESP; and sharing the emergency data with the second ESP responsive to an affirmative verification.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the geogate can change to a partially open mode.
16. A system comprising: an emergency management system (EMS) comprising a processor and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to: receive an emergency alert comprising emergency data, wherein the emergency data comprises a location of an electronic device; determine the location of the electronic device is within a first geofence associated with a first emergency service provider (ESP); establish a geogate between the first geofence associated with the first ESP and a second geofence associated with a second ESP, wherein the geogate comprises a digital communication pathway for sharing data between geofences and ESPs and wherein the geogate can change between an open mode and a closed mode; and share the emergency data with the second ESP through the digital communication pathway of the geogate between the first geofence and the second geofence; and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) at a computing device of the second ESP, the GUI configured to: display the emergency data comprising the location of the electronic device on an interactive map.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the GUI at the computing device of the second ESP is configured to display the first geofence of the first ESP.
18. The system of claim 16, wherein the geogate is established based at least on a rule for delegation from the first geofence to the second geofence.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein the second ESP is selected based on a type of emergency associated with the emergency alert.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is operative to establish the geogate for a predetermined duration for data sharing, thereby allowing one or more emergency alerts of the type of emergency to be shared during the predetermined duration.
21. The system of claim 16, wherein the GUI of the second ESP comprises a chat feature for text-based communication between the first ESP and the second ESP.
1. A method for sharing emergency data by an emergency management system (EMS), the method comprising: receiving, via an emergency response application of the EMS, a request from a first emergency service provider (ESP) to establish a link between the first ESP associated with a first geofence and a second ESP associated with a second geofence to share emergency data; displaying the request on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the emergency response application executed on a computing device of the second ESP; receiving a selection via the graphical user interface to accept or reject the request, wherein accepting the request establishes the link between the first ESP and the second ESP; and providing a geofence network ESP messaging interface on the GUI in association with the request for communication between the first ESP and the second ESP and displaying a message associated with the request on the geofence network ESP messaging interface.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the geofence network ESP messaging interface is a text-based chat interface associated with the request.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes an identifier of the first ESP and the message.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, on the GUI, an interactive map that displays geofences associated with a plurality of ESPs.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting the request establishes a link between the first geofence and the second geofence.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication on the geofence network ESP messaging interface that emergency data has been shared between the first ESP and the second ESP.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the GUI includes a geofences portion that displays linked geofences, wherein each geofence is associated with a specific ESP.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the EMS generates a unique ID for the link established between the first ESP and the second ESP responsive to receiving a selection to accept the request.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the GU includes an emergency assets portion that displays a list of emergency assets associated with one or more ESPs.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes restrictions on data categories for emergency data shared using the link between the first ESP and the second ESP.
11. A system, comprising: an emergency management system (EMS) comprising a processor and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to: receive, via an emergency response application of the EMS, a request from a first emergency service provider (ESP) to establish a link between the first ESP associated with a first geofence and a second ESP associated with a second geofence to share emergency data; display the request on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the emergency response application executed on a computing device of the second ESP; receive a selection via the graphical user interface to accept or reject the request, wherein accepting the request establishes the link between the first ESP and the second ESP; and provide a geofence network ESP messaging interface on the GUI in association with the request for communication between the first ESP and the second ESP and displaying a message associated with the request on the geofence network ESP messaging interface.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the geofence network ESP messaging interface is a text-based chat interface associated with the request.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the request includes an identifier of the first ESP and the message.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further caused to display on the GUI an interactive map that displays geofences associated with a plurality of ESPs.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein accepting the request establishes a link between the first geofence and the second geofence.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further caused to provide an indication on the geofence network ESP messaging interface that emergency data has been shared between the first ESP and the second ESP.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein the GUI includes a geofences portion that displays linked geofences, wherein each geofence is associated with a specific ESP.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the EMS generates a unique ID for the link established between the first ESP and the second ESP responsive to receiving a selection to accept the request.
19. The system of claim 1, wherein the GUI includes an emergency assets portion that displays a list of emergency assets associated with one or more ESPs.
20. The system of claim 11, wherein the request includes restrictions on data categories for emergency data shared using the link between the first ESP and the second ESP.
Further, the instant claims obviously encompass the claimed invention of U.S. Patent No. 12167313 B2and differ only in terminology. To the extent that the instant claims are broaden and therefore generic to the claimed invention of U.S. Patent No. 12167313 B2, in re Goodman 29 USPQ 2d 2010 CAFC 1993, states that a generic claim cannot be issued without a terminal disclaimer, if a species claim has been previously been claimed in a pending application. Nonetheless, the removal of said limitations from claim 1 of the present application made claim 1 a broader version of claim 1. Therefore, since omission of an element and its function in combination is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same function as before (In re Karlson (CCPA) 136 USPQ 184 (1963)), claim 1 is not patentably distinct from claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claims 1, 11, the prior art and Killpack (US Patent No 10708412 B1), Leavitt et al (US 20200314240 A1), Tsiatsikas et al (20220217235) and Trigg (US 20200074839 A1) either alone or in combination fails to teach, receiving a selection via the graphical user interface to accept or reject the request, wherein accepting the request establishes the link between the first ESP and the second ESP; and providing a geofence network ESP messaging interface on the GUI in association with the request for communication between the first ESP and the second ESP and displaying a message associated with the request on the geofence network ESP messaging interface.
Conclusion
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/KHAWAR IQBAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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