DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al., US 2020/0057488 in view of Kondo et al., US 6,104,864, further in view of Biancale et al., US 2022/0024549.
1. Johnson teaches a sailboat racing rule enforcement system comprising:
a camera for recording video of at least one racing sailboat [camera/imaging system 108, Figs. 1A, 1B, paras. 46, 76, 85, 93];
a mobile computing device for controlling said camera [controller 130, Figs. 1A, 1B, paras. 49, 51, 72, 76, 86, 93];
a GPS antenna for resolving a current position of said camera [GNSS 146 determines position of structure 101, to which imaging system is mounted, Fig. 1A, paras. 45, 47, 73, 85, 105-107];
a processor for determining a desired position of said camera [camera/imager orientation is adjusted (as desired) based on control signals, paras. 76, 86, 103, 114] based on a GPS position selected from a group including a position of a mark of a race course, a position of a sailboat [position of sailboat, and thus camera, is based on GNSS 146, Fig. 1A, paras. 45, 47, 73, 85, 105-107], a position of two racing sailboats, a position of reference marks on the sailboat, and combinations of these;
an electric motor for moving said camera from the current position to the desired position [actuator 109, pan/tilt motors to adjust position/orientation of imaging system in order to capture desired image, Fig. 1B, paras. 65, 76, 86, 103, 162] to record a video of at least one boat [e.g. boat 213, Figs. 2, 3, paras. 94, 121, 128]. Johnson is silent on racing boats in particular, and on analyzing video for rule violations. Kondo teaches a boat racing management system including analyzing the video of the at least one racing sailboat for racing rule violations [Figs. 2, 6-8, 14, 20, 22, 23, col. 2, 13-48; col. 12, 49-64; col. 13, 55-63; col. 16, 62-64; col. 24, 39-67].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the references, using Johnson’s technique to ensure a fair competition without manually watching each competing boat.
The above references are silent on AI software for analyzing boat images. Biancale teaches a system for imaging and measuring positions of objects in water, including using software including AI to do so.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to incorporate Biancale, automating the measurement of distances to obviate the need for manual computation and improving efficiency of race monitoring.
2. Johnson teaches the sailboat racing rule enforcement system of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device comprises a smartphone [smartphone, paras. 67, 185].
3. Johnson teaches the sailboat racing rule enforcement system of claim 1, wherein there is a GPS antenna on at least one sailboat [paras. 47, 49, 79, 92].
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson, Kondo, and Biancale as cited above in view of Reeds, US 5,731,788.
4 (from 1). The above references are silent on GPS on a marker. Reeds teaches a race management system wherein there is a GPS antenna on at least one mark of a racecourse [GPS on a start line buoy, Figs. 1, 7; col. 4, 5-37; cols. 11-12, 46-12].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the references, placing GPS on buoys in order to establish the location of race markers enabling the measurement of distances therefrom and improving the efficiency and accuracy of race management.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy R Newlin whose telephone number is (571)270-3015. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 Mountain Time.
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/TIMOTHY R NEWLIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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