DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is in reply to papers filed on 2026-08-19. Claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 1, 8, 18 is/are independent.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7, 10, 17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. No prior art reference of record discloses using a trained neural network to stylize respective earth imagery tiles when generating stylized map tiles.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
With respect to claim(s) 1 (see page(s) 8 of Applicant’s Remarks), Applicant argues generally that the prior art of record (in particular, U.S. Publication 20050270299 to Rasmussen et al. (hereinafter "Rasmussen '299") in view of U.S. Publication 20130325341 to van Os et al. (hereinafter "van Os '341")) does not disclose the newly added features of the claim. However, Yuhao Kang, Song Gao, Robert E. Roth, Full Paper about Map Style Transfer accepted at the International Journal of Cartography, https://geography.wisc.edu/geods/archives/1192 (2019-05-04) (hereinafter "Kang 2019-05-04") discloses those features. As detailed in the rejections below, it would have been obvious to have added the features of Kang 2019-05-04 to the system of Rasmussen '299, as Kang 2019-05-04 itself explicitly suggests. Accordingly, Applicant's arguments are unpersuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the remaining claim(s) is/are based on Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and have been considered as detailed above.
Information Disclosure Statement PTO-1449
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) submitted by applicant on 2026-08-19, 2026-06-26 has/have been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Form PTO-1449 signed and attached hereto.
Summary of Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103
The following table summarizes the rejections set forth in detail below of the claims over the prior art.
Claim No.
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980
1
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
2
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
3
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
4
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
5
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
6
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
7
8
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
9
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
10
11
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
12
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
13
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
14
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
15
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
16
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
17
18
[Wingdings font/0xFC]
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 that 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) 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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 8, 16, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 20050270299 to Rasmussen et al. (hereinafter "Rasmussen '299") in view of U.S. Publication 20130325341 to van Os et al. (hereinafter "van Os '341") in view of Yuhao Kang, Song Gao, Robert E. Roth, Full Paper about Map Style Transfer accepted at the International Journal of Cartography, https://geography.wisc.edu/geods/archives/1192 (2019-05-04) (hereinafter "Kang 2019-05-04"). Rasmussen '299 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2). . van Os '341 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2). Kang 2019-05-04 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1).
Per claim 1 (independent):
Rasmussen '299 discloses a system comprising one or more computer processor devices and memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processor devices, configure the system to perform automated operations (processor(s), memory, computer readable media, storage, executable instructions [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0027, 0036-0037, Fig. 2])
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose retrieving multiple earth imagery tiles corresponding to a geographical area to be viewable via a map-based graphical user interface (GUI) for a social media platform
However, Rasmussen '299 discloses retrieving multiple vector tiles corresponding to a geographical area to be viewable via a map-based graphical user interface (GUI) for a platform (adds points of interest to maps [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0053])
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose each earth imagery tile comprising a photographic image of a corresponding portion of the Earth's surface
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose based on the multiple earth imagery tiles, in a process comprising using a trained neural network to stylize respective earth imagery tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles
However, Rasmussen '299 discloses based on the multiple vector tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles (pre-builds map tiles at multiple zoom levels [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0042, 0050-0052]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0047, 0053-0055])
Rasmussen '299 discloses at a server system, in response to receiving from a user device a request for display of a target area in an instance of the map-based GUI on the user device, retrieving a set of stylized map tiles corresponding to the target area, and transmitting the set of stylized map tiles to the user device for display in the map-based GUI (user device requests nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]; system serves to user device nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0047, 0053-0055])
Further:
van Os '341 discloses retrieving multiple earth imagery tiles corresponding to a geographical area to be viewable via a map-based graphical user interface (GUI) for a social media platform, each earth imagery tile (mesh builders [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211] receive imagery and produce map tiles [van Os '341 ¶ 0547-0551] for social media [van Os '341 ¶ 0257, 0396, 0401-0404])
van Os '341 discloses each earth imagery tile comprising a photographic image of a corresponding portion of the Earth's surface (nodes and/or clients use a plurality of mesh builders [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211] to generate vector map tiles from raw imagery [van Os '341 ¶ 0547-0551] for different types of devices [van Os '341 ¶ 0551-0557])
van Os '341 discloses based on the multiple earth imagery tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles (nodes and/or clients use a plurality of mesh builders [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211] to generate vector map tiles from raw imagery [van Os '341 ¶ 0547-0551] for different types of devices [van Os '341 ¶ 0551-0557])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the imagery ingestion and social media of van Os '341 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
retrieving multiple earth imagery tiles corresponding to a geographical area to be viewable via a map-based graphical user interface (GUI) for a social media platform, each earth imagery tile
each earth imagery tile comprising a photographic image of a corresponding portion of the Earth's surface
based on the multiple earth imagery tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because ingesting imagery and producing vector tiles and rendering them would allow the system to go from raw inputs to a rendered interface. Further, social media is an obvious application for such a mapping application because users often use social media to learn about places and people they would like to visit in person. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been further motivated to combine them at least because van Os '341 teaches [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211, ¶ 0547-0551] modifying a mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] such as that of Rasmussen '299 to arrive at the claimed invention; because van Os '341 and Rasmussen '299 are in the same field of endeavor; because doing so constitutes use of a known technique (turning raw imagery into graphical map tiles for social media [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211, ¶ 0547-0551]) to improve similar devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) in the same way; because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (turning raw imagery into graphical map tiles for social media [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211, ¶ 0547-0551]) to known devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) ready for improvement to yield predictable results; and because the modification amounts to combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Here, (1) the prior art included each element (as detailed above); (2) one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and in this combination, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (mapping platform displays maps [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] for social media generated from raw imagery [van Os '341 ¶ 0208-0211, ¶ 0547-0551]); (3) one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable; and (4) other considerations do not overcome this conclusion.
Further:
Kang 2019-05-04 discloses based on the multiple earth imagery tiles, in a process comprising using a trained neural network to stylize respective earth imagery tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles (GAN generates map tiles in multiple styles [Kang 2019-05-04])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 with the tile styles generated by machine learning of Kang 2019-05-04 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
based on the multiple earth imagery tiles, in a process comprising using a trained neural network to stylize respective earth imagery tiles, generating multiple stylized map tiles
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because generating tile styles by machine learning would allow the system to go from raw inputs to a rendered interface following the visual style of whatever inspiration map or required map the user desired. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been further motivated to combine them at least because Kang 2019-05-04 teaches modifying a mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] such as that of Rasmussen '299 to arrive at the claimed invention; because Kang 2019-05-04 and Rasmussen '299 are in the same field of endeavor; because doing so constitutes use of a known technique (tile styles generated by machine learning [Kang 2019-05-04]) to improve similar devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) in the same way; because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (tile styles generated by machine learning [Kang 2019-05-04]) to known devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) ready for improvement to yield predictable results; and because the modification amounts to combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Here, (1) the prior art included each element (as detailed above); (2) one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and in this combination, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (mapping platform displays maps [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] with tile styles generated by machine learning [Kang 2019-05-04]); (3) one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable; and (4) other considerations do not overcome this conclusion.
Per claim 6 (dependent on claim 1):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 discloses generate a respective set of stylized map tiles for each of a plurality of zoom levels (pre-builds tiles at multiple zoom levels [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0042, 0050-0052]; user device requests nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]; system serves to user device nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0047, 0053-0055])
Per claim 8 (independent):
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 16 (dependent on claim 8):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 8 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 6 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 18 (independent):
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Claim(s) 2-5, 9, 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of U.S. Publication 20040217980 to Radburn et al. (hereinafter "Radburn '980"). Radburn '980 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2).
Per claim 2 (dependent on claim 1):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose maintaining at the server system a cache of stylized map tiles
However, Rasmussen '299 discloses maintaining at the server system a storage of map tiles (pre-builds map tiles at multiple zoom levels [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0042, 0050-0052]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0047, 0053-0055])
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose in response to receiving the request for display of the target area, identifying within the set of stylized map tiles corresponding to the target area one or more cached stylized map tiles, being stylized map tiles that are available in the cache
However, Rasmussen '299 discloses in response to receiving the request for display of the target area, identifying within the set of stylized map tiles corresponding to the target area one or more map tiles, being map tiles that are available in the storage (user device requests nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0047, 0053-0055])
Rasmussen '299 discloses retrieving the one or more cached stylized map tiles from the cache for transmission to the user device (system serves to user device nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074])
Rasmussen '299 discloses retrieving the one or more map tiles from the storage for transmission to the user device (system serves to user device nearby tiles at zoom level [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074])
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses maintaining at the server system a cache of stylized map tiles (caches nearby map tiles at multiple zoom levels [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Radburn '980 ¶ 0218-0221, 0009])
Radburn '980 discloses in response to receiving the request for display of the target area, identifying within the set of stylized map tiles corresponding to the target area one or more cached stylized map tiles, being stylized map tiles that are available in the cache (caches nearby map tiles at multiple zoom levels [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079])
Radburn '980 discloses retrieving the one or more cached stylized map tiles from the cache for transmission to the user device (caches nearby map tiles at multiple zoom levels [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
maintaining at the server system a cache of stylized map tiles
in response to receiving the request for display of the target area, identifying within the set of stylized map tiles corresponding to the target area one or more cached stylized map tiles, being stylized map tiles that are available in the cache
retrieving the one or more cached stylized map tiles from the cache for transmission to the user device
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because ingesting imagery and producing vector tiles and rendering them would allow the system to go from raw inputs to a rendered interface. Further, social media is an obvious application for such a mapping application because users often use social media to learn about places and people they would like to visit in person. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been further motivated to combine them at least because Radburn '980 teaches [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079; ¶ 0218-0221, 0009] modifying a mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] such as that of Rasmussen '299 to arrive at the claimed invention; because Radburn '980 and Rasmussen '299 are in the same field of endeavor; because doing so constitutes use of a known technique (tile caching [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079; ¶ 0218-0221, 0009]) to improve similar devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) in the same way; because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (tile caching [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079; ¶ 0218-0221, 0009]) to known devices and/or methods (mapping platform [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074]) ready for improvement to yield predictable results; and because the modification amounts to combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Here, (1) the prior art included each element (as detailed above); (2) one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and in this combination, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (mapping platform displays maps [Rasmussen '299 ¶ 0076, 0080, 0074] from cached tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0016-0017, 0063, 0079; ¶ 0218-0221, 0009]); (3) one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable; and (4) other considerations do not overcome this conclusion.
Per claim 3 (dependent on claim 1):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose generation of each stylized map tile comprises retrieving a target earth imagery tile together with a set of neighbor earth imagery tiles immediately bordering the target earth imagery tile
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose generating an expanded earth imagery tile based on the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles, the expanded earth imagery tile having an expanded area relative to that of the target earth imagery tile
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose stylizing the expanded earth imagery tile, thereby generating an expanded stylized tile
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose cropping the expanded stylized tile to produce the respective stylized map tile
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses generation of each stylized map tile comprises retrieving a target earth imagery tile together with a set of neighbor earth imagery tiles immediately bordering the target earth imagery tile (stitches together neighboring tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0137-0145]; displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16])
Radburn '980 discloses generating an expanded earth imagery tile based on the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles, the expanded earth imagery tile having an expanded area relative to that of the target earth imagery tile (stitches together neighboring tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0137-0145]; displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16])
Radburn '980 discloses stylizing the expanded earth imagery tile, thereby generating an expanded stylized tile (stitches together neighboring tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0137-0145]; displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Radburn '980 ¶ 0218-0221, 0009])
Radburn '980 discloses cropping the expanded stylized tile to produce the respective stylized map tile (stitches together neighboring tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0137-0145]; displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16]; rendering from vector data necessitates at least one visual style [Radburn '980 ¶ 0218-0221, 0009])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 2, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
generation of each stylized map tile comprises retrieving a target earth imagery tile together with a set of neighbor earth imagery tiles immediately bordering the target earth imagery tile
generating an expanded earth imagery tile based on the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles, the expanded earth imagery tile having an expanded area relative to that of the target earth imagery tile
stylizing the expanded earth imagery tile, thereby generating an expanded stylized tile
cropping the expanded stylized tile to produce the respective stylized map tile
Per claim 4 (dependent on claim 3):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 3 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose generate the expanded earth imagery tile in a procedure comprising stitching together the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles to compose a macro tile
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose cropping the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses generate the expanded earth imagery tile in a procedure comprising stitching together the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles to compose a macro tile (stitches together neighboring tiles [Radburn '980 ¶ 0137-0145]; displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16])
Radburn '980 discloses cropping the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile (displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 2, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
generate the expanded earth imagery tile in a procedure comprising stitching together the target earth imagery tile and its set of neighbor tiles to compose a macro tile
cropping the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile
Per claim 5 (dependent on claim 4):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 4 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose crop the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile such that the target earth imagery tile is centered in the expanded earth imagery tile, and such that a buffer zone extends continuously around a periphery of the target earth imagery tile
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses crop the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile such that the target earth imagery tile is centered in the expanded earth imagery tile, and such that a buffer zone extends continuously around a periphery of the target earth imagery tile (displays only a smaller portion of stitched tiles on screen in container area [Radburn '980 ¶ 0007, 0086-0089, Fig. 6, 15, 16]; centers target tile [Radburn '980 Abstract, ¶ 0020])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 2, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
crop the expanded earth imagery tile from the macro tile such that the target earth imagery tile is centered in the expanded earth imagery tile, and such that a buffer zone extends continuously around a periphery of the target earth imagery tile
Per claim 9 (dependent on claim 8):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 8 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 2 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 11 (dependent on claim 8):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 8 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 3 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 12 (dependent on claim 11):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose the target earth imagery tile is square, the set of neighbor tiles comprise eight tiles touching respective sides and vertices of the target earth imagery tile
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses the target earth imagery tile is square, the set of neighbor tiles comprise eight tiles touching respective sides and vertices of the target earth imagery tile (square tiles have 8 neighbors [Radburn '980 ¶ 0089, Fig. 6])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 2, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
the target earth imagery tile is square, the set of neighbor tiles comprise eight tiles touching respective sides and vertices of the target earth imagery tile
Per claim 13 (dependent on claim 11):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 4 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 14 (dependent on claim 13):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 13 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 5 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 15 (dependent on claim 14):
Rasmussen '299 in view of van Os '341 in view of Kang 2019-05-04 in view of Radburn '980 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 14 above, incorporated herein by reference
Rasmussen '299 does not disclose the buffer zone has a width of between 50 and 150 pixels
Further:
Radburn '980 discloses the buffer zone has a width of between 50 and 150 pixels (tiles are 100 pixels wide/ high [Radburn '980 ¶ 0079, 0087])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 2, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Rasmussen '299 with the tile caching of Radburn '980 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
the buffer zone has a width of between 50 and 150 pixels
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because a buffer the same width as one tile would have been obvious to try. Further, a buffer of between 50 and 150 pixels is an arbitrary design choice; Applicant's Specification does not disclose that it serves any particular purpose nor achieves any particular result. Accordingly, any size in the range of the size of a tile would have been obvious to have tried.
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 extension fee 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE C PARSONS whose telephone number is (571)270-1475. The examiner can normally be reached on MTWRF 7:30-4:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung Kim can be reached on (571) 272-3804. 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/apply/forms.
/THEODORE C PARSONS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
Prosecution Insights