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 .
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.
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 and 18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,444,198 (hereinafter reference patent). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they are obvious variants of each other.
Current Application
Reference Patent
1. An apparatus for operating an Unmanned Mobile Machine ("UMM") to perform incident surveillance, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory, wherein the
one or more processors are configured to:
obtain, from a UMM capturing video of a potential incident, an indication
of a charge level of a battery of the UMM;
determine, based at least in part on the charge level, whether to dispatch a
second UMM to a location associated with the UMM;
transmit, based on determining to dispatch the second UMM, a command
to the second UMM to travel to the location associated with the UMM; and
based on arrival of the second UMM to the location, transmit, to the UMM, a retreat command to retreat to a launching cradle for charging.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit, based on determining to dispatch the second UMM, a second command to capture video of the potential incident.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to select the second UMM based at least in part on a second charge level of the second UMM.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive, from the second UMM located at the location, information regarding the potential incident including an interaction of the second UMM at the location.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the information as a video or audio recorded by an input device of the second UMM at the location.
6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the information as an action indication of an action taken by the second UMM in an attempt to rectify the potential incident.
7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to command, based on the information regarding the potential incident, the second UMM to track a subject identified in the information.
8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the command including transmitting multiple commands to each of multiple UMMs, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the information as multiple information from each of the multiple UMMs located at the location.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an incident clearing indication that the potential incident is cleared; and transmit, to the second UMM and based on receiving the incident clearing indication, a retreat command related to leaving the location.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive an indication of the potential incident from the UMM.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to separately perform tracking of the UMM using radar or frequency.
12. An apparatus for surveilling a potential incident, comprising:
a memory;
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory;
a camera; and
a navigation, drive, and flight (NDF) system configured to travel to locations associated with an arca, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
perform, via the camera, an interaction related to a potential incident at a location to acquire information regarding the potential incident;
transmit the information regarding the potential incident; and
retreat, via the NDF system, to a launching cradle during the interaction related to the potential incident and based on arrival of a second Unmanned Mobile Machine (UMM) at the location.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to retreat, via the NDF system, to the launching cradle based on receiving a retreat command related to leaving the location.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the information as video from the camera recorded at the location associated with the potential incident.
15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the information as an action indication of an action taken by the apparatus in an attempt to rectify the potential incident.
16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to track a subject at the location of the potential incident based on a received command.
17. A computer-implemented method for operating an Unmanned Mobile Machine ("UMM") to perform incident surveillance, comprising:
obtaining, from a UMM capturing video of a potential incident, an indication of a charge level of a battery of the UMM;
determining, based at least in part on the charge level, whether to dispatch a second UMM to a location associated with the UMM;
transmitting, based on determining to dispatch the second UMM, a command to the second UMM to travel to the location associated with the UMM; and
based on arrival of the second UMM to the location, transmitting, to the UMM, a retreat command to retreat to a launching cradle for charging.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting, based on determining to dispatch the second UMM, a second command to capture video of the potential incident.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising selecting the second UMM based at least in part on a second charge level of the second UMM.
20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising receiving, from the second UMM located at the location, information regarding the potential incident including an interaction of the second UMM at the location.
1. An apparatus for operating an Unmanned Mobile Machine (“UMM”) to perform incident surveillance, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor communicatively coupled with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive an indication of a potential incident within an area associated with a building;
transmit a command to the UMM to travel to a location associated with the potential incident and capture video of the potential incident;
receive, from the UMM located at the location, information regarding the potential incident including an interaction of the UMM at the location;
obtain, from the UMM at the location, a charge indication of a charge level;
transmit, based at least in part on the charge level, a second command to a second UMM to travel to the location associated with the potential incident and capture video of the potential incident;
based on arrival of the second UMM to the location, transmit, to the UMM, a retreat command to retreat to a launching cradle for charging; and
receive, from the second UMM located at the location, second information regarding the potential incident including a second interaction of the second UMM at the location.
See claim 1 of reference patent above.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to select the second UMM based at least in part on a second charge level of the second UMM.
See claim 1 of reference patent above.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive the information as a video or audio recorded by an input device of the UMM at the location.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive the information as an action indication of an action taken by the UMM in an attempt to rectify the potential incident.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to command, based on the information regarding the potential incident, the UMM to track a subject identified in the information.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the command including transmitting multiple commands to each of multiple UMMs, and wherein the processor is configured to receive the information as multiple information from each of the multiple UMMs located at the location.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive an incident clearing indication that the potential incident is cleared; and transmit, to the second UMM and based on receiving the incident clearing indication, a retreat command related to leaving the location.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive the indication of the potential incident from the UMM.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to separately perform tracking of the UMM using radar or frequency.
10. An apparatus for surveilling a potential incident, comprising:
a memory;
a processor communicatively coupled with the memory;
a camera; and
a navigation, drive, and flight (NDF) system configured to travel to locations associated with a building, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive, from a building management system, a command to travel to a location associated with a potential incident;
travel, via the NDF system, to the location associated with the potential incident;
perform, via the camera, an interaction related to the potential incident to acquire information regarding the potential incident;
transmit, to the building management system, the information regarding the potential incident; and
retreat to a launching cradle based on receiving, from the building management system, based on arrival of a second Unmanned Mobile Machine (UMM) at the location, and during the interaction related to the potential incident, a retreat command related to leaving the location.
See claim 10 of reference patent above.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the information as video from the camera recorded at the location associated with the potential incident.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the information as an action indication of an action taken by the apparatus in an attempt to rectify the potential incident.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to track a subject at the location of the potential incident based on a command received from the building management system.
14. A computer-implemented method for operating an Unmanned Mobile Machine (“UMM”) to perform incident surveillance, comprising:
receiving, by a building management system, an indication of a potential incident within an area associated with a building;
transmitting, by the building management system, a command to the UMM to travel to a location associated with the potential incident and capture video of the potential incident;
receiving, from the UMM located at the location, information regarding the potential incident including an interaction of the UMM at the location;
obtaining, from the UMM at the location, a charge indication of a charge level;
transmitting, based at least in part on the charge level, a second command to a second UMM to travel to the location associated with the potential incident and capture video of the potential incident;
based on arrival of the second UMM to the location, transmitting, to the UMM, a retreat command to retreat to a launching cradle for charging; and
receiving, from the second UMM located at the location, second information regarding the potential incident including a second interaction of the second UMM at the location.
See claim 14 of reference patent above.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising selecting the second UMM based at least in part on a second charge level of the second UMM.
See claim 14 of reference patent above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG Q DANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1116. The examiner can normally be reached IFT.
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/HUNG Q DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484
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