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
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 11, 12, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Benedetto (US 2023/0213546).
Claim 1: Benedetto discloses An impact detection system, comprising: processing circuitry comprising one or more processors; and memory storing instructions (fig 1, para 0009), that when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to:
process positioning data to determine a position of a portable device within an interactive environment (para 0013-0017)
compare the position of the portable device to a location of a boundary within the interactive environment (para 0013-0017)
identify an occurrence of an impact event based on the position of the portable device and the location of the boundary (para 0013-0017) and
update an impact profile for the portable device based on the occurrence of the impact event (para 0013-0017).
Claim 11: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: process acceleration data to determine an acceleration of the portable device within the interactive environment; and identify the occurrence of the impact event based on a change in the acceleration of the portable device, the position of the portable device, and the location of the boundary (para 0013-0020)
Claim 12: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: process acceleration data to determine an acceleration of the portable device within the interactive environment; and in response to the acceleration of the portable device indicating a possible impact event: process the positioning data to determine the position of the portable device within the interactive environment; and compare the position of the portable device to the location of the boundary within the interactive environment; identify the occurrence of the impact event based on the position of the portable device and the location of the boundary; and update the impact profile for the portable device based on the occurrence of the impact event (para 0013-0020)
Claim 19: Benedetto discloses A method of operating an impact detection system, the method comprising: processing positioning data to determine a position of a portable device; comparing the position of the portable device to respective locations of one or more boundaries within an interactive environment; identifying an occurrence of an impact event for the portable device based on the position of the portable device corresponding to a respective location of a first surface of the one or more surfaces; updating an impact profile for the portable device based on the occurrence of the impact event; and assessing the updated impact profile for the portable device using one or more machine learning algorithms to identify maintenance operations due for the portable device (para 0013-0020)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claim(s) 2-10, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Benedetto (US 2023/0213546) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yeh (US 2022/0317782).
Claim 2: Benedetto discloses the use of motion and elevation sesnsors to determine location of the device (para 0013-0017). Benedetto does not specifically disclose the positioning data comprises a signal generated by ultra-wideband (UWB) circuitry.
In a similar field of endeavor, Yeh discloses a system for monitoring the position of user devices within a preset region wherein the positioning data comprises a signal generated by ultra-wideband (UWB) circuitry (para 0037, 0039-0041)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Yeh in order to detect and track the position of the mobile user device (Yeh para 0005, 0006, 0037)
Claim 3: Benedetto discloses Benedetto discloses the use of motion and elevation sesnsors to determine location of the device (para 0013-0017). Benedetto does not specifically disclose UWB readers in the interactive environment that are configured to read UWB tags in the portable device to generate the positioning data.
In a similar field of endeavor, Yeh discloses a system for monitoring the position of user devices within a preset region wherein the positioning data comprises a signal generated by ultra-wideband (UWB) circuitry and UWB readers in the interactive environment that are configured to read UWB tags in the portable device to generate the positioning data (fig 1, para 0022, 0037, 0039-0041)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Yeh in order to detect and track the position of the mobile user device (Yeh para 0005, 0006, 0037)
Claim 4: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: determine a region of the portable device that contacts the boundary based on the position and the orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment during the occurrence of the impact event (para 0014-0018); and update the impact profile for the portable device to record the region of the portable device that contacts the boundary (para 0014-0018)
Benedetto does not specifically disclose the instructions to process the positioning data to determine an orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment.
In a similar field of endeavor, Yeh discloses a system for monitoring the position of user devices within a preset region wherein the system processes the positioning data to determine an orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment (para 0037-0039).
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Yeh in order to detect and track the position of the mobile user device (Yeh para 0005, 0006, 0037)
Claim 5: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to update the impact profile for the portable device by adding the impact event to a respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the region of the portable device (para 0013-0020)
Claim 6: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to update the impact profile for the portable device by adding the impact event to a respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the region of the portable device (para 0013-0020)
Claim 7: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to instruct the portable device to provide the alert as an audible alarm, a visual alarm, or both (para 0013-0020)
Claim 8: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: input the respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the region of the portable device into a machine learning algorithm to determine whether maintenance should be performed for the portable device; and provide an alert in response to determining that the maintenance should be performed for the portable device (para 0013-0020)
Claim 9: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: identify an additional occurrence of an additional impact event based on the position of the portable device and the location of the boundary; determine an additional region of the portable device that contacts the boundary based on the position and the orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment during the additional occurrence of the additional impact event; and update the impact profile for the portable device to record the additional region of the portable device that contacts the boundary (para 0013-0020)
Claim 10: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: update the impact profile for the portable device by adding the additional impact event to a respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the additional region of the portable device; and compare the respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the additional region of the portable device to a respective threshold for the additional region of the portable device; and provide an additional alert in response to the respective tracked quantity of occurrences of impact events associated with the additional region of the portable device meeting or exceeding a respective threshold for the additional region of the portable device (para 0013-0020)
Claim 13: Yeh discloses the portable device, wherein the portable device is configured to facilitate interactions with interactive elements in the interactive environment, and the portable device comprises a handheld targeting device, a wand, a toy, a figurine, an article of clothing, a wearable accessory, augmented reality (AR) glasses, virtual reality (VR) glasses, or any combination thereof (fig 1, para 0005, 0006, 0022, 0037, 0039-0041)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Yeh in order to detect and track the position of the mobile user device (Yeh para 0005, 0006, 0037)
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh (US 2022/0317782) in view of Benedetto (US 2023/0213546).
Claim 14: Yeh discloses An interactive system, comprising: a portable device configured to be carried by a user through an interactive environment, wherein the portable devices comprises an array of ultra-wideband (UWB) tags; UWB readers in the interactive environment, wherein the UWB readers are configured to communicate with the UWB tags to generate positioning data indicative of a position of the portable device (fig 1, para 0005, 0006, 0022, 0037, 0039-0041);
Further, Benedetto discloses a control system comprising one or more processors; and memory storing instructions, that when executed by the control system, cause the control system to:
process the positioning data to determine the position of the portable device; compare the position of the portable device to respective locations of one or more boundaries within the interactive environment; and identify an occurrence of an impact event based on the position of the portable device corresponding to a respective location of a first boundary of the one or more boundaries (para 0013-0020)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention of Yeh such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Benedetto in order to monitor for the impact and damage of the portable device (Benedetto para 0013-0020)
Claim 15: Yeh discloses the instructions, when executed by the control system, cause the control system to: process the positioning data to determine an orientation of the portable device (para 0037-0039); and
Benedetto discloses determine a region of the portable device that contacts the first boundary based on the position and the orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment during the occurrence of the impact event (Benedetto para 0013-0020)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention of Yeh such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Benedetto in order to monitor for the impact and damage of the portable device (Benedetto para 0013-0020)
Claim 16: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the control system, cause the control system to: process the positioning data to derive an acceleration of the portable device within the interactive environment; and in response to the acceleration of the portable device indicating a possible impact event: process the positioning data to determine the position of the portable device; compare the position of the portable device to the respective locations of the one or more boundaries within the interactive environment; and identify the occurrence of the impact event based on the position of the portable device corresponding to the respective location of the first boundary of the one or more boundaries (Benedetto para 0013-0020)
Claim 17: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the control system, cause the control system to: update an impact profile for the portable device based on the occurrence of the impact event; and assess the updated impact profile for the portable device using one or more machine learning algorithms to identify maintenance operations due for the portable device (Benedetto para 0013-0020)
Claim 18: Yeh discloses the portable device is configured to facilitate interactions with interactive elements in the interactive environment, and the portable device comprises a handheld targeting device (fig 1, para 0005, 0006, 0022, 0037, 0039-0041)
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Benedetto (US 2023/0213546) as applied to claim 19 above, and further in view of Yeh (US 2022/0317782).
Claim 20: Benedetto discloses the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: determining a region of the portable device that contacts the first surface based on the position and the orientation of the portable device during the occurrence of the impact event (para 0014-0018)
Benedetto does not specifically disclose the instructions to process the positioning data to determine an orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment.
In a similar field of endeavor, Yeh discloses a system for monitoring the position of user devices within a preset region wherein the system processes the positioning data to determine an orientation of the portable device within the interactive environment (para 0037-0039).
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations as taught by Yeh in order to detect and track the position of the mobile user device (Yeh para 0005, 0006, 0037)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additionally cited prior art comprises additional embodiments of collision avoidance systems for mobile devices or hand-held electronics.
For example:
Wang (US 2019/0043259), Taylor (US 9779605), Bond (US 10535199), Chiarella (US 2020/0103521) disclose virtual reality or augmented reality devices having preset boundaries in an environment and detect collision of a user device with those boundaries.
Zheng (US 2019/0357618), Wilson (US 2018/0054502) disclose drop detection and impact sensing devices for cellular phones or bicycle helmets.
Nguyen (US 2019/0340909) discloses an industrial safety system for detecting surroundings of a device equipped user and having a predetermined boundary around the user for collision avoidance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER M BYTHROW whose telephone number is (571)270-1468. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 830am-5pm.
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, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER M BYTHROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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