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 § 2146 et seq. 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).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-5, 7-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5, 7-21 of U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 (Application #19094597).
U.S. Application 19095963
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U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 1
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 1
1. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
obtaining proposed critical assets data representing proposed critical assets to be located at a critical asset site;
obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features at the critical asset site;
processing the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data to convert the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the proposed and/or existing environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed
environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
identifying potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the
critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the potential vulnerability of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential
threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of each of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
1. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to critical assets comprising:
identifying existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing and/or proposed critical assets at a critical asset site;
obtaining critical asset site data representing the existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/or proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/or proposed critical assets;
identifying potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the determined potential vulnerability of the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing and/ or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 2
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 2
2. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities ;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 3
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 3
3. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 4
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 4
4. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein the critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 5
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 5
5. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein the critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 7
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 7
7. The process of Claim 1 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
7. The process of claim 1 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 8
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 8
8. The process of Claim 1 wherein identifying potential vulnerabilities includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein identifying potential vulnerabilities includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 9
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 9
9. The process of Claim 1 further comprising:
obtaining potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
9. The process of claim 1 further comprising:
obtaining potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 10
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 10
10. The process of Claim 1 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
10. The process of claim 1 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 11
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 11
11. A system for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
a critical asset site;
critical asset site data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features and proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a 3D modeling system for processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including existing and/or proposed environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
threat mitigation feature data representing potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating potential vulnerabilities of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system receiving the 3D model data, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the proposed critical assets,
wherein the interactive 3D modeling system generates potential vulnerability data representing the vulnerability of the proposed critical assets
at the critical asset site, further wherein the interactive 3D modeling system processes the
potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of various potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a display device, the display device displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a user interface device, the user interface device dynamically interacting with the interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site and capable of selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
selected threat mitigation feature data representing parameters and location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site.
11. A system for identifying and mitigating threats to critical assets comprising:
a critical asset site;
critical asset site data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a 3D modeling system for processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/or proposed critical assets;
threat mitigation feature data representing potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating potential vulnerabilities of the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system receiving the 3D model data, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/ or proposed critical assets,
wherein the interactive 3D modeling system generates potential vulnerability data representing the vulnerability of the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site, further wherein the interactive 3D modeling system processes the potential vulnerability data and the
potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of various potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a display device, the display device displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a user interface device, the user interface device dynamically interacting with the interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site and capable of selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 12
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 12
12. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservo1rs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 13
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 13
13. The system of Claim 11 wherein the proposed critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 14
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 14
14. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 15
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 15
15. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
15. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 16
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 16
16. The system of Claim 11 wherein processing the proposed critical asset site data to convert the proposed critical asset site data into three-dimensional 3D model data is performed using a 3D mesh generation system.
16. The system of claim 11 wherein processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data is performed using a 3D mesh generation system.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 17
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 17
17. The system of Claim 11 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 18
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 18
18. The system of Claim 11 wherein generating the potential vulnerability data includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
18. The system of claim 11 wherein generating the potential vulnerability data includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 19
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 19
19. The system of Claim 11 further comprising:
potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
19. The system of claim 11 further comprising
potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 20
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 20
20. The system of Claim 11 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
20. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 21
U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 Claim 21
21. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
obtaining proposed critical assets data representing proposed critical assets to be located at a critical asset site;
obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features at the critical asset site;
using a 3D mesh generation system to process the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data to convert the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the proposed and/or existing environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to a gaming engine, the gaming engine transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and
the proposed critical assets;
generating one or more virtual light/illumination sources and using the one or more virtual light/illumination sources to identify potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the potential vulnerability of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential
threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of each of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
21. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to critical assets comprising:
identifying existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing and/or proposed critical assets at a critical asset site;
obtaining critical asset site data representing the existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
using a 3D mesh generation system to process the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/or proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to a gaming engine, the gaming engine transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing and/or proposed critical assets;
generating one or more virtual light/illumination sources and using the one or more virtual light/illumination sources to identify potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities
associated with the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the determined potential vulnerability of the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing and/or proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct
from each other. For example, Claim 1 of U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 (Application #19094597) discloses "identifying existing and/or proposed environmental features " while Application 19095963 Claim 1 discloses "obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features". It is obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art that the system has to obtain the (environmental) data after identifying the data, so as to further process such data. Therefore, U.S. PGPUB 20260187250 (Application #19094597) Claim 1 discloses all limitations of Application 19095963 Claim 1.
Claims 1-5, 7-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5, 7-21 of U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 (Application #19094610).
U.S. Application 19095963
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U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 1
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 1
1. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
obtaining proposed critical assets data representing proposed critical assets to be located at a critical asset site;
obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features at the critical asset site;
processing the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data to convert the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the proposed and/or existing environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed
environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
identifying potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the
critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the potential vulnerability of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential
threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of each of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
1. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to existing critical assets comprising:
identifying environmental features and existing critical assets at a critical asset site;
obtaining existing critical asset site data representing the environmental features and the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
processing the existing critical asset site data to convert the existing critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the environmental features and the existing critical assets;
providing the 3D existing critical asset site data to an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D existing critical asset site data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the environmental features and the existing critical assets;
identifying potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the determined potential vulnerability of the existing critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 2
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 2
2. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the existing critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 3
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 3
3. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the existing critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 4
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 4
4. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein the existing critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 5
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 5
5. The process of Claim 1 wherein the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein the existing critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 7
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 7
7. The process of Claim 1 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
7. The process of claim 1 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 8
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 8
8. The process of Claim 1 wherein identifying potential vulnerabilities includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein identifying potential vulnerabilities includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 9
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 9
9. The process of Claim 1 further comprising:
obtaining potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
9. The process of claim 1 further comprising:
obtaining potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 10
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 10
10. The process of Claim 1 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
10. The process of claim 1 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 11
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 11
11. A system for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
a critical asset site;
critical asset site data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features and proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a 3D modeling system for processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including existing and/or proposed environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
threat mitigation feature data representing potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating potential vulnerabilities of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system receiving the 3D model data, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the proposed critical assets,
wherein the interactive 3D modeling system generates potential vulnerability data representing the vulnerability of the proposed critical assets
at the critical asset site, further wherein the interactive 3D modeling system processes the
potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of various potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a display device, the display device displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
a user interface device, the user interface device dynamically interacting with the interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site and capable of selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
selected threat mitigation feature data representing parameters and location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site.
11. A system for identifying and mitigating threats to existing critical assets comprising:
a critical asset site;
critical asset site data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features and existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
a 3D modeling system for processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing critical assets;
threat mitigation feature data representing potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating potential vulnerabilities of the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system receiving the 3D model data, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the existing critical assets,
wherein the interactive 3D modeling system generates potential vulnerability data representing the vulnerability of the existing critical assets at the critical asset site, further wherein the interactive 3D modeling system processes the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of various
potential threat mitigation features for protecting
the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
a display device, the display device displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
a user interface device, the user interface device dynamically interacting with the interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site and capable of selecting one or more mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site; and
selected threat mitigation feature data representing parameters and location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing critical assets at the critical asset site.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 12
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 12
12. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site is selected from the group of critical asset sites consisting of:
electrical generation facilities;
electrical generation substations;
communication stations;
water production facilities;
reservoirs;
pumping stations;
airports;
sewage treatment facilities ;
government facilities;
law enforcement facilities;
military facilities;
nuclear facilities; and
oil and gas production facilities.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 13
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 13
13. The system of Claim 11 wherein the proposed critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the existing critical assets are selected from the group of critical assets consisting of:
electrical transformers;
electrical generators;
signal transmission towers;
power lines;
dams;
aqueducts;
control towers;
communication antennas; and
buildings.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 14
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 14
14. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data includes one or more of:
aerial LiDAR data;
terrestrial LiDAR data;
radar data;
infrared data;
photogrammetry data; and
CAD drawing data.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 15
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 15
15. The system of Claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
15. The system of claim 11 wherein the critical asset site data is collected using one or more of:
aircraft;
air drones;
land-based drones;
cameras;
radar systems;
satellites; and
public information systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 16
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 16
16. The system of Claim 11 wherein processing the proposed critical asset site data to convert the proposed critical asset site data into three-dimensional 3D model data is performed using a 3D mesh generation system.
16. The system of claim 11 wherein processing the critical asset site data to convert the critical asset site data into 3D model data is performed using a 3D mesh generation system.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 17
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 17
17. The system of Claim 11 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the interactive 3D modeling system is a gaming engine.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 18
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 18
18. The system of Claim 11 wherein generating the potential vulnerability data includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
18. The system of claim 11 wherein generating the potential vulnerability data includes the use of virtual light/illumination sources.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 19
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 19
19. The system of Claim 11 further comprising:
potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
19. The system of claim 11 further comprising
potential threat data representing potential threats to critical assets, the potential threat data being provided by one or more of:
local intelligence;
known available weapons systems;
potentially available weapons systems; and
worst-case scenario analysis.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 20
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 20
20. The system of Claim 11 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
20. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more mitigation features are selected from the group of mitigation features including:
physical walls;
ballistic curtains;
landscape features;
Kevlar structures;
radar detection systems;
infrared detection systems; and
visual detection systems.
U.S. Application 19095963 Claim 21
U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 Claim 21
21. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
obtaining proposed critical assets data representing proposed critical assets to be located at a critical asset site;
obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features at the critical asset site;
using a 3D mesh generation system to process the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data to convert the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the proposed and/or existing environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to a gaming engine, the gaming engine transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and
the proposed critical assets;
generating one or more virtual light/illumination sources and using the one or more virtual light/illumination sources to identify potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the potential vulnerability of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential
threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of each of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
21. A process for identifying and mitigating threats to existing critical assets comprising:
identifying environmental features and existing critical assets at a critical asset site;
obtaining existing critical asset site data representing the environmental features and the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
using a 3D mesh generation system to process the existing critical asset site data to convert the existing critical asset site data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the environmental features and the existing critical assets;
providing the 3D existing critical asset site data to a gaming engine, the gaming engine transforming the 3D existing critical asset site data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the environmental features and the existing critical assets;
generating one or more virtual light/illumination sources and using the one or more virtual light/illumination sources to identify potential vulnerabilities associated with the existing critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with
the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the determined potential vulnerability of the existing critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the existing critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the existing critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct
from each other. For example, Claim 1 of U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 (Application #19094610) discloses "identifying environmental features and existing critical assets at a critical asset site" while Application 19095963 Claim 1 discloses "obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features". It is obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art that the system has to obtain the (environmental) data after identifying the data, so as to further process such data. Therefore, U.S. PGPUB 20260187930 (Application #19094610) Claim 1 discloses all limitations of Application 19095963 Claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-21 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reason for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 1, it recites “A process for identifying and mitigating threats to proposed critical assets comprising:
obtaining proposed critical assets data representing proposed critical assets to be located at a critical asset site;
obtaining environmental feature data representing existing and/or proposed environmental features at the critical asset site;
processing the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data to convert the proposed critical assets data and the environmental feature data into 3D model data representing the critical asset site including the proposed and/or existing environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
providing the 3D model data to an interactive 3D modeling system, the interactive 3D modeling system transforming the 3D model data into an interactive 3D model representation of the critical asset site including the existing and/or proposed environmental features and the proposed critical assets;
identifying potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential vulnerability data representing the identified potential vulnerabilities associated with the proposed critical assets at the
critical asset site;
identifying potential threat mitigation features capable of mitigating the potential vulnerability of the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site and generating potential threat mitigation feature data representing the identified potential threat mitigation features;
processing the potential vulnerability data and the potential threat mitigation feature data to generate an interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
displaying the interactive visualization of the effectiveness of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
selecting one or more threat mitigation features based, at least in part, on the visualization of the effectiveness of each of the potential threat mitigation features for protecting the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site;
generating selected threat mitigation feature data representing structural parameters and the location of the selected threat mitigation features for the proposed critical assets at the critical asset site; and
using the selected threat mitigation feature data to generate critical asset site threat mitigation implementation plan data for the critical asset site.” in the context of Claim 1.
Zafar (US20240031398), abstract, the invention describes method for accelerating a threat mitigation of malicious cybersecurity activity includes: identifying, via one or more processors, a cybersecurity event associated with a third-party application or a third-party service of a subscriber; generating, via the one or more processors, a service-proposed remediation action for the cybersecurity event based on the identifying of the cybersecurity event; automatically assessing, via the one or more processors, the service-proposed remediation action against automated remediation criteria of the subscriber based on the generation of the service-proposed remediation action; automatically constructing, via the one or more processors, a remediation action application programming interface (API) request for the service-proposed remediation action based on the service-proposed remediation action satisfying the automated remediation criteria of the subscriber; and automatically executing, via the one or more processors, the remediation action API request to remediation or mitigate a suspected cybersecurity threat associated with the cybersecurity event.
Gourisetti et al (US20210110319), abstract, the invention describes methods for accessing an organizational framework describing an organization, wherein the organizational framework comprises one or more relational matrices defining matrixed interdependencies between business functions, business processes, engineering applications, assets, responsible entities, and facilities of the organization, and using the relational matrices to compute a criticality of an asset, engineering application, or business process, and using a computed criticality to compute a value at risk or a value of a consequence to the organization.
Findlay (US20200329068), abstract, the invention describes organization method with a software-based system that provides threat information gathering, incident reporting, and asset identification/valuation as part of its compounded intelligence and supports predictive context specific analysis of risks and countermeasures. Further, distributed countermeasure monitoring provides incident levels of known and unknown, or yet to be categorized threats.
The prior arts of record either alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the above quoted limitation of Claim 1. Therefore, Claim 1 is allowable over prior art.
Claims 2-10 depend from Claim 1 with respective additional limitations. Therefore, Claims 2-10 are allowable over prior art.
Claim 11 recites similar limitations as discussed above with regard to claim 1. Therefore, claim 11 is allowable over prior art.
Claims 12-20 depend from Claim 11 with respective additional limitations. Therefore, Claims 12-20 are allowable over prior art.
Claim 21 recites similar limitations as discussed above with regard to claim 1. Therefore, claim 21 is allowable over prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lewis et al (US20220414231), abstract, the invention describes an adversarial reinforcement learning system which is used to simulate a spatial environment. The system includes a simulation engine configured to simulate a spatial environment and various objects therein. The system further includes a first model configured to control objects in the simulation and a second model configured to control objects in the simulation. The first model generates a threat-mitigation input to control one or more objects in the simulation, and the second model generates a threat input to control one or more objects in the simulation. The system then executes a first portion of the simulation based at least in part of the threat mitigation input and the threat input.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIN SHENG whose telephone number is (571)272-5734. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-3:30PM 6:00PM-8:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Chan can be reached at 5712723022. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Xin Sheng/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
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