Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/979,752

SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, SURVEILLANCE METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 13, 2024
Examiner
HILAIRE, CLIFFORD
Art Unit
2488
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
NEC Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allow Rate
313 granted / 438 resolved
+13.5% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
470
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
47.9%
+7.9% vs TC avg
§102
19.6%
-20.4% vs TC avg
§112
28.9%
-11.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 438 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 § 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Thomas Guzik [US 20110018998 A1]. Regarding claim 1, Thomas teaches: 1. An event surveillance system for surveillance of an event venue (i.e. This subject matter of the present application relates to aggregating and correlating distributed media- ¶0002), comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory (i.e. An application host 630- fig. 6… PC 1370- fig. 13… Host 1420- fig. 14… PC 1514- fig. 15…FIGS. 12A and 12B show a non-client based commercial application of the present platform, a network operations center ("NOC") of a law enforcement agency- ¶0237… A system, comprising: a processor; and memory storing components executable by the processor- claim 8) and configured to execute the instructions to: determine a surveillance-desired area where surveillance should be enhanced based on collected information regarding a predetermined area (i.e. the client device may be the mobile client 500 worn by a police officer, and the recipient web service may be a server that is located the NOC- ¶0163… The analysis module 1603 may analyze each of data assets 1602 for relevant information that assists in the determination that one or more responders are to be dispatched to an event shown- ¶0318… the dispatch module 1604 may automatically dispatch one or more responders (e.g., police officers) to the location of the event when the captured event occurred within a predetermined time period (e.g., 15 minutes) of the current time- ¶0322); receive, from an operator, input specifying a number of candidate terminals (i.e. mobile clients 500- figs. 5 and 8… Consider the case where the recipient device 802 is a repeater device in a police car and a police officer 803 is wearing the mobile client 500 configured with the platform 700 as disclosed- ¶0171) to be moved to the surveillance-desired area (i.e. The dispatch module 1604 may also provide the user 1607 with the ability to alter or override any automatic dispatch decisions made by the dispatch module 1604, such as canceling the automatic dispatch or altering the number of responders to dispatch- ¶0334); determine the candidate terminals from among a plurality of portable imaging terminals based on a position (i.e. within a predetermined range of the location of the event- ¶0331) of the surveillance-desired area and the specified number of candidate terminals (i.e. a predetermined number of responders are responding to the location- ¶0331); and output a notification to the candidate terminals (i.e. wherein the dispatching includes dispatching the at least one responder via a live dispatcher or dispatching the at least one responder via an application that automatically alerts at least one responder within a predetermined range of the event- claim 6) prompting to move to the surveillance-desired area (i.e. During automatic dispatch, the dispatch module 1604 may dispatch one or more responders (e.g., police officers) within a predetermined range of the location of the event. However, if there are no responders available or an insufficient number of responders available within the predetermine range, the dispatch module 1604 may progressively increase the range until a predetermined number of responders are responding to the location. For example, the dispatch module 1604 may be preconfigured to send three responders to an event that involves gunfire noise, two responders to an event that involves an alarm, and one responder to an event that involves a scream. Moreover, the predetermined range to the location of the event may also vary according to the type of event. For example, the dispatch module 1604 may attempt to dispatch available responders within a 10-block radius of an event that involves a scream, dispatch available responders within a 20-block radius of an event that involves an alarm, and dispatch available responders within a 30-block radius of an even that involves gunfire noise- ¶0331). Regarding claim 2, Thomas teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Thomas further teaches: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to acquire position information of a portable imaging terminal on which predetermined application software (i.e. Client 500 may utilize a software application by which the user enters metadata values via the 10 key pads or via a touch screen 570. Such traditional button entry would be handled via button entry function 552- ¶0112, fig. 5) has been installed (i.e. In additional to capturing media and triggering events, client 500 includes metadata collection functions 550. For example, samples of location metadata may be collected by location service receiver 551. Geolocation metadata may include Global Positioning System ("GPS") metadata. However, because GPS is prone to error from GPS signals bouncing off of buildings in urban settings, geolocation metadata may alternatively be determined by triangulating signal strength or weakness from different cell towers with known locations. For relatively immobile clients, receiver 551 may collect geolocation metadata via internet protocol ("IP") address- ¶0110). Regarding claim 3, Thomas teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Thomas further teaches: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to acquire position information of a portable imaging terminal that has transmitted an expression of participation in the surveillance (i.e. In additional to capturing media and triggering events, client 500 includes metadata collection functions 550. For example, samples of location metadata may be collected by location service receiver 551. Geolocation metadata may include Global Positioning System ("GPS") metadata. However, because GPS is prone to error from GPS signals bouncing off of buildings in urban settings, geolocation metadata may alternatively be determined by triangulating signal strength or weakness from different cell towers with known locations. For relatively immobile clients, receiver 551 may collect geolocation metadata via internet protocol ("IP") address- 0110). Regarding claim 4, Thomas teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Thomas further teaches: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: identify a dense area in which a number of portable imaging terminal (i.e. 20-block radius of an event that involves an alarm, and dispatch available responders within a 30-block radius of an even that involves gunfire noise- ¶0331) or a density of portable terminals is equal to or greater than a threshold (i.e. However, if there are no responders available or an insufficient number of responders available within the predetermine range, the dispatch module 1604 may progressively increase the range until a predetermined number of responders are responding to the location- ¶0331), based on the position information of the plurality of portable imaging terminals; and determine at least one candidate terminal to be moved to the surveillance-desired area from among the portable imaging terminals present in the identified dense area (i.e. During automatic dispatch, the dispatch module 1604 may dispatch one or more responders (e.g., police officers) within a predetermined range of the location of the event. However, if there are no responders available or an insufficient number of responders available within the predetermine range, the dispatch module 1604 may progressively increase the range until a predetermined number of responders are responding to the location. For example, the dispatch module 1604 may be preconfigured to send three responders to an event that involves gunfire noise, two responders to an event that involves an alarm, and one responder to an event that involves a scream. Moreover, the predetermined range to the location of the event may also vary according to the type of event. For example, the dispatch module 1604 may attempt to dispatch available responders within a 10-block radius of an event that involves a scream, dispatch available responders within a 20-block radius of an event that involves an alarm, and dispatch available responders within a 30-block radius of an even that involves gunfire noise. - ¶0331). Regarding claim 5, Thomas teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Thomas further teaches: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: acquire index information serving as an indicator of degree of necessity for surveillance; and change the threshold based on the acquired index information (i.e. in other scenarios, the capture of a certain event (e.g., gunfire noise) at a location or the indication of a wanted suspect is at the location may be sufficient to trigger an automatic dispatch of one or more responders, assuming the event or wanted suspect is captured within the predetermined time period of the current time. In still other scenarios, the dispatch module 1604 may automatically dispatch one or more responders when the number of data assets 1602 depicting an event that is occurring at a particular time within the predetermined time period reaches a predetermined threshold (e.g., 10 data assets), regardless of the exact nature of event. In such a scenario, the assumption may be that the event has gained sufficient notoriety as an event 1501 that an official response is warranted- ¶0330… the dispatch module 1604 may dispatch responders such that the number of responders is proportional to the number of data assets received that capture the event. In other words, the more numerous the data assets that capture the event, the greater the number of responders dispatched to the location of the event- ¶0332). Regarding claims 6-10, method claims 6-10 corresponds to apparatus claims 1-5, and therefore is also rejected for the same rationale as listed above. Regarding claims 11-15, computer-readable medium storing instructions claims 11-15 corresponds to apparatus claims 1-5, and therefore is also rejected for the same rationale as listed above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLIFFORD HILAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-8397. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30-1400. 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) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SATH V PERUNGAVOOR can be reached at (571)272-7455. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. CLIFFORD HILAIRE Primary Examiner Art Unit 2488 /CLIFFORD HILAIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 13, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+15.7%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 438 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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