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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-5 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogasawara et al. (US 2022/0354387 A1, cited in IDS) in view of Nishizumi (JP 2020126553A, cited in IDS, English translation attached).
As to claim 1, Ogasawara et al. discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium (Fig.4: main memory 103) storing a program that causes a computer to execute a process ([0069]: “A program for the processor 102 to perform various types of control or calculations is stored in the main memory 103 in advance”), the process including:
causing an imaging unit (Fig.4: camera 100), which captures an image including a target person, to start capturing the image (Fig.5: step S5: instruction to start image capturing) when a state of the target person estimated from data acquired by an acquisition unit (Fig.4: sensor 105) that acquires the data on the state of the target person is a predetermined state (Fig. 5: steps S1-S4; [0082-0084]: step S1: acquire sensor data; S2: calculate user’s body motion from user’s acceleration data acquired in step S1; S3 and S4: determine whether user’s body motion satisfy criterion; if yes, determine that fall has occurred).
Ogasawara et al. fails to disclose detecting the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit.
However, Nishizumi teaches detecting the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit ([0027-0028]: the control unit 11 recognizes the actions of the person being monitored from the images captured by the camera 13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ogasawara et al. with the teaching of Nishizumi to detect the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit, so as to verify or further determine the user’s condition after the wearable sensor detects an abnormality, thereby improving monitoring reliability and reducing erroneous determinations based solely on sensor data.
As to claim 4, Ogasawara et al. in view of Nishizumi discloses the non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the process further includes a process of starting distribution of the image captured by the imaging unit when the state of the target person detected based on the image is the predetermined state (Ogasawara et al.: Fig.5: steps S4-S7; [0085-0086]: when the determination unit determines the user’s fall has occurred, the imaging control unit instructs the camera 100 to start capture an image of the user and record the imaging data; the acquired imaging data is stored in the storage unit and transmitted to an external terminal device or the like).
As to claim 5, Ogasawara et al. in view of Nishizumi discloses the non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the process further includes storing the image used for detecting the state of the target person when the state of the target person detected based on the image is the predetermined state (Nishizumi: [0016]: “(c) if it is determined in step (b) that the event has occurred, associating the event with the image of the observation area where the event occurred and storing it in a storage unit”).
As to claim 12, Ogasawara et al. in view of Nishizumi discloses the non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the data on the state of the target person is data other than a visible light image (Ogasawara et al.: [0051]: sensor 105 measures user’s acceleration signal).
As to claim 13, Ogasawara et al. discloses a watching system (Fig.1: monitoring system) comprising:
an acquisition unit (Fig.1: sensor data acquisition unit 10) configured to acquire data on a state of a target person ([0051]: The sensor data acquisition unit 10 acquires information on the user's activity measured by the sensor 105.);
an imaging unit (Fig.1: camera 100); and
a control unit (Fig.1: imaging control unit 12) configured to:
cause the imaging unit to start capturing an image including the target person when a state of the target person is a predetermined state ([0060]: “when the occurrence of an abnormality in the user's activity is detected by the data analysis unit ii, the imaging control unit 12 instructs the camera 100 to start capturing an image of the user and record imaging data”).
Ogasawara et al. fails to disclose detecting a state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit.
However, Nishizumi teaches detecting a state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit ([0027-0028]: the control unit 11 recognizes the actions of the person being monitored from the images captured by the camera 13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ogasawara et al. with the teaching of Nishizumi to detect the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit, so as to verify or further determine the user’s condition after the wearable sensor detects an abnormality, thereby improving monitoring reliability and reducing erroneous determinations based solely on sensor data.
As to claim 14, Ogasawara et al. discloses a control device (Fig.1) comprising: a control unit (Fig.1: imaging control unit 12) configured to, when a state of a target person estimated from data acquired by an acquisition unit (Fig.1: sensor data acquisition unit 10), which acquires the data on the state of the target person, is a predetermined state, cause an imaging unit, which captures an image including the target person, to start capturing the image ([0060]: “when the occurrence of an abnormality in the user's activity is detected by the data analysis unit ii, the imaging control unit 12 instructs the camera 100 to start capturing an image of the user and record imaging data”).
Ogasawara et al. fails to disclose detecting the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit.
However, Nishizumi teaches detecting a state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit ([0027-0028]: the control unit 11 recognizes the actions of the person being monitored from the images captured by the camera 13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ogasawara et al. with the teaching of Nishizumi to detect the state of the target person based on the image captured by the imaging unit, so as to verify or further determine the user’s condition after the wearable sensor detects an abnormality, thereby improving monitoring reliability and reducing erroneous determinations based solely on sensor data.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 6-11 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nishikado et al. (US 2019/0046080 A1) discloses a monitoring device that senses a predetermined event regarding a monitoring target person to notify the event; acquire an image including at least a video; determine, based on the acquired image, whether or not multiple persons are on the image; and start, in a case where it is determined that the multiple persons are on the image, storing the acquired video to store the video in a video storage.
Yildiz et al. (US 12,393,273 B1) discloses devices that determine to record an event based on an emotional state and a scene understanding of an environment.
Shepher (US 2002/0080033 A1) discloses a system and method for remotely ascertaining movement or non-movement of an individual in order to determine a possible emergency condition.
Jeon et al. (US 2017/0178476 A1) discloses a surveillance server includes: a communication interface configured to communicate with a network camera; and a processor configured to determine an event based on at least one image received from the network camera during a first period, determine an activation time of the network camera based on the event, and transmit an event reaction request including information about the activation time to the network camera during a second period after the first period.
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/ZHENZHEN WU/Examiner, Art Unit 2637
/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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