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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/30/2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 11-13, 16, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites the limitation " The method of Claim 11" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 12 recites the limitation " The method of Claim 12" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation " The system for capturing 4D data of Claim 22" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation " The method of Claim 28" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the data structure" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
1: Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2023/0319255 A1 Smits et al.
2: As for Claim 1, Smits et al depicts in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 9A and teaches in Paragraph [0146] An autonomous module for capturing 4D data comprising: a housing (scaffolding 901 and camera pod housing 903); a computer-based controller inside the housing with non-transitory memory media (202 with memory 204) (Paragraph [0064]); and a plurality of sensors (within camera pod 903) mounted to the housing (901) and responsive to the controller (202) (Paragraph [0148]), the plurality of sensors (903) configured to capture 3D data over time (Paragraph [0140]), the plurality of sensors (903) being at least one of an RGB camera, a depth camera, an IR camera, and a microphone (Paragraph [0163 and 0183]); a transceiver for transmitting data to a server (sensing server 402) (Paragraphs [0088 and 0103]); and wherein the 3D data over time (4D data) is recorded on the memory media; and wherein the controller is configured to autonomously time-stamp recorded 3D data (Paragraph [0113]) and transmit data to the server (Paragraph [0099]).
3: As for Claim 5, Smits et al depicts in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 9A and teaches in Paragraph [0146] A system for capturing 4D data (3D video), the system comprising: a plurality of sensor modules (903), each sensor module (903) comprising: a computer-based controller with non-transitory memory media (202 with memory 204) (Paragraph [0064]); a plurality of sensors (within 903) responsive to the controller (202) (Paragraph [0148]), the plurality of sensors (sensors within 903) configured to capture 3D data over time (Paragraph [0140]), the plurality of sensors (903) being at least one of an RGB camera, a depth camera, an IR camera, and a microphone (Paragraph [0163 and 0183]); a clock module (Paragraph [0109]); and a position module for determining relative position and orientation of the sensor module (Paragraphs [0003 and 0044]); a wireless transceiver (Paragraph [0146]); and wherein the controller (202) is configured to: receive captured data from the plurality of sensors (903), the data being 3D data over time (Paragraph [0140]); time-stamp the captured data using time data from the clock module (Paragraph [0113]); and transmit the time-stamped data to a server (Paragraph [0099]).
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.
4: Claim(s) 2-4, 6-10, 14, 15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0319255 A1 Smits et al in view of USPN 10,310,091 Trevino et al.
5: As for Claim 2, Smits et al teaches in Paragraph [0109 and 0111] wherein the time-stamped data from each of the plurality of sensor modules is synchronized via a clock module. However, does not teach the clock module being at least one of an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) and a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC).
Trevino et al teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 and Column 4, Lines 1-14 a GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips to provide microsecond precision timing to around 100 nanoseconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips as taught by Trevino et al for the timing system of Smits et al in order to improve the precision of the synchronization.
6: As for Claim 3, Smits et al further teaches in Paragraphs [0064 and 0077] a GPS receiver and wherein the controller receives GPS time data.
7: As for Claim 4, Smits et al further teaches in Paragraphs [0003 and 0044] positioning modules responsive to the controller such that the controller may determine relative positioning and orientation of the module.
8: As for Claim 6, Smits et al teaches in Paragraph [0109 and 0111] wherein the time-stamped data from each of the plurality of sensor modules is synchronized. However, does not teach the synchronization is to within about 10 microseconds.
Trevino et al teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 and Column 4, Lines 1-14 a GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips to provide microsecond precision timing to around 100 nanoseconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips as taught by Trevino et al for the timing system of Smits et al in order to improve the precision of the synchronization.
9: As for Claim 7, Trevino et al further teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 wherein the clock module is at least one of an QOCXO and a CSAC.
10: As for Claim 8, Smits et al further teaches in Paragraphs [0064 and 0077] wherein each controller comprises a GPS receiver and wherein the controller receives GPS time data.
11: As for Claim 9, Smits et al further teaches in Paragraphs [0003 and 0044] wherein each controller of each sensor module is configured to relay sensor module position and orientation data.
12: As for Claim 10, Smits et al depicts in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 9A and teaches in Paragraph [0146] A method for capturing 4D data (3D video) comprising the steps of: placing a plurality of sensor modules (903) about a volume of space, each sensor module (903) comprising: a computer-based controller with non-transitory memory media (202 with memory 204) (Paragraph [0064]); a plurality of sensors (sensors within 903) responsive to the controller (202) (Paragraph [0148]), the plurality of sensors (903) configured to capture 3D data over time (Paragraph [0140]), the plurality of sensors (903) being at least one of an RGB camera, a depth camera, an IR camera, and a microphone (Paragraph [0163 and 0183]); a clock module (Paragraph [0109]); and position module for determining relative position and orientation of the sensor module (Paragraphs [0003 and 0044]); a wireless transceiver (Paragraph [0146]) in communication with a server (Paragraph [0099]); capturing 3D data over time via each of the plurality of sensor modules (903); time-stamping captured 3D data over time using time data (Paragraph [0140]); transmitting time-stamped data to a server (Paragraph [0099]); However, does not teach the synchronization is to within about 10 microseconds.
Trevino et al teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 and Column 4, Lines 1-14 a GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips to provide microsecond precision timing to around 100 nanoseconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips as taught by Trevino et al for the timing system of Smits et al in order to improve the precision of the synchronization.
13: As for Claim 14, Smits et al teaches in Paragraph [0109 and 0111] wherein the time-stamped data from each of the plurality of sensor modules is synchronized. However, does not teach the synchronization is to within about 10 microseconds.
Trevino et al teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 and Column 4, Lines 1-14 a GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips to provide microsecond precision timing to around 100 nanoseconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips as taught by Trevino et al for the timing system of Smits et al in order to improve the precision of the synchronization.
14: As for Claim 15, Trevino et al further teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 wherein the clock module is at least one of an OCXO, a CSAC, and a GPS clock.
15: As for Claim 17, Smits et al depicts in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 9A and teaches in Paragraph [0146] A method for capturing 4D data (3D video), comprising: deploying a plurality of sensor modules (903) around a designated volume of space (see Figure 9A), each sensor module (903) comprising an autonomous computer-based controller with non-transitory memory media (202 with memory 204) (Paragraph [0064]), a plurality of sensors (sensors within 903), and a transceiver (Paragraph [0146]); capturing 3D data over time via each of the sensors modules (903); time-stamping the captured 3D data (Paragraph [0140]); transmitting the time-stamped data to a server with a time code (Paragraph [0099]); and synchronizing the time-stamped data from the plurality of sensor modules (Paragraph [0142]). However, does not teach the synchronization is to within about 10 microseconds.
Trevino et al teaches on Column 3, Lines 13-44 and Column 4, Lines 1-14 a GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips to provide microsecond precision timing to around 100 nanoseconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the GPS based time stamp system that uses a GPS system with CSAC chips as taught by Trevino et al for the timing system of Smits et al in order to improve the precision of the synchronization.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES M HANNETT whose telephone number is (571)272-7309. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM-5:00 PM Monday thru Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached at 571-272-7406 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES M HANNETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
JMH
September 28, 2026
