CTNF 19/041,387 CTNF 96185 DETAILED ACTION This is the first Office action on the merits and is responsive to the papers filed 01/30/2025. Claims 1-5 are currently pending and examined below. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/30/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 07-04-01 AIA 07-04 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. 07-05 AIA Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because Step 1: Claim 5 is directed to a computer program. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a computer program is not one of: a process, machine, manufacture and composition of matter. The Examiner suggests the Applicant to amend claim 5 to “a program stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for causing a computer to perform the information processing method according to claim 1”. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Bertrand et al. (US 20190137993 A1; hereinafter Bertrand) . Regarding claim 1, Bertrand discloses: An information processing method for remotely operating a marine vessel (Fig. 1: marine vessel 100) using a mobile terminal (Fig. 1: handheld device 200), the information processing method comprising causing the mobile terminal to perform ([0033] “a handheld device 200 for controlling one or more motors of the marine vessel 100”): detecting a tilt of the mobile terminal from a neutral posture ([0043] “a determined direction in which the housing is pointing and a determined tilt (e.g., downwards) of the handheld device 200”); and transmitting, to the marine vessel, a command for generating a propulsive force corresponding to at least a first propulsion direction out of a plurality of propulsion directions in response to the detecting of the tilt of the mobile terminal from the neutral posture ([0043] “the controller 202 may be configured to generate at least one control signal for a motor (e.g., trolling motor 120, primary motor 122, or thruster 124), or for multiple motors, based on a determined direction in which the housing is pointing and a determined tilt (e.g., downwards) of the handheld device 200”). Regarding claim 2, Bertrand discloses: wherein: the mobile terminal is a terminal including a touch panel display (Figs. 5A, 6F, 6G, 6H: user interface 220); and the mobile terminal is configured to further perform: detecting a touch operation on the touch panel display ([0065] “The user interface 220 of the handheld device 200 may include a display device 240 and a touch-sensitive input device 224 (e.g., a touchpad, touch panel, trackpad, or the like)”); and transmitting, to the marine vessel, a command for generating a propulsive force corresponding to a second propulsion direction different from the first propulsion direction out of the plurality of propulsion directions in response to the detecting of the touch operation on the touch panel display ([0065] “a touch-sensitive input device 224 (e.g., a touchpad, touch panel, trackpad, or the like) that enable a user to select or enter the directional measurement, the orientation measurement, and a selection or a numeric value associated with the directional measurement or the orientation measurement”). Regarding claim 3, Bertrand discloses: wherein: the tilt of the mobile terminal from the neutral posture is a tilt about an axis in a right-left direction, a tilt about an axis in an up-down direction, or a tilt about an axis in a front-rear direction ([0039] an orientation (e.g., pitch, roll, yaw, etc.) of the handheld device 200); the first propulsion direction is a turning direction of the marine vessel ([0042] generate at least one control signal for a motor (e.g., trolling motor 120, primary motor 122, or thruster 124), or for multiple motors, based on the orientation measurement (e.g., based on the pitch, roll, and/or yaw of the housing of the handheld device 200)); the touch operation is a slide touch operation in the up-down direction on the touch panel display ([0066] swipe up or swing down) or a slide touch operation in the right-left direction on the touch panel display ([0066] swipe left or swipe right); and the second propulsion direction is the front-rear direction of the marine vessel ([0066] “store a swipe up input and associate the input with an orientation measurement, such as a tilt angle θ (+5 degrees, +10 degrees, etc.)… store a swipe down input and associate the input with an orientation measurement, such as a tilt angle θ (−5 degrees, −10 degrees, etc.)”) and/or the right-left direction of the marine vessel ([0066] “store a swipe right input and associate the input with a directional measurement, such as a predetermined directional change angle α 1 (e.g., +45 degrees, +90 degrees, etc.)… store a swipe left input and associate the input with a directional measurement, such as a predetermined directional change angle α (e.g., −45 degrees, −90 degrees, etc.)”). Regarding claim 4, Bertrand discloses: wherein the mobile terminal is configured to further perform: acquiring an amount of the tilt of the mobile terminal from the neutral posture ([0059] “utilize a combination of the directional measurement (e.g., direction D, directional change angle α1, etc.) and the orientation measurement (e.g., tilt angle θ1)”); determining a magnitude of the propulsive force in the first propulsion direction according to the acquired amount of the tilt ([0059] “to generate one or more control signals… to move the marine vessel as desired”); and transmitting a command for specifying the determined magnitude of the propulsive force to the marine vessel ([0059] “to generate one or more control signals transmitted to one or motors of the marine vessel 100 to move the marine vessel as desired”). Regarding claim 5, Bertrand discloses: A program for causing a computer to perform the information processing method ([0046] “The memory 206 can be a tangible, computer-readable storage medium that provides storage functionality to store various data and or program code associated with operation of the controller 202, such as software programs and/or code segments, or other data to instruct the processor 204, and possibly other components of the handheld device 200/controller 202, to perform the functionality described herein”) according to claim 1 (see rejection set forth above for claim 1, claim 5 is rejected for substantially the same reasons and based on the same teaching of Bertrand cited). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAYSUN WU whose telephone number is (571)272-1528. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-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, Hunter Lonsberry can be reached on (571)272-7298. 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. /PAYSUN WU/Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /DONALD J WALLACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 2 Art Unit: 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 3 Art Unit: 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 4 Art Unit: 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 5 Art Unit: 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 6 Art Unit: 3665 Application/Control Number: 19/041,387 Page 7 Art Unit: 3665
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