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UNITED STA IBS p A IBNT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`UNITED STA TES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria., Virginia 22313-1450
`www.uspto.gov
`
`APPLICATION NO.
`
`FILING DATE
`
`FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
`
`ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
`
`CONFIRMATION NO.
`
`90/012,878
`
`05/24/2013
`
`7868912
`
`4079-117
`
`3806
`
`03/27/2014
`7590
`6449
`ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C.
`607 14th Street, N.W.
`SUIIB 800
`WASHINGTON, DC 20005
`
`EXAMINER
`
`BASEHOAR, ADAM L
`
`ART UNIT
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`3992
`
`MAIL DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`03/27/2014
`
`PAPER
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`Commissioner for Patents
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-·1450
`W"aAA"I.IJ:.'=ptO.QOV
`
`DO NOT USE IN PALM PRINTER
`
`(THIRD PARTY REQUESTER'S CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS)
`
`DINESH AGARWAL, P.C.
`
`5350 SHAWNEE ROAD
`
`SUITE 330
`
`ALEXANDRIA, VA 22312
`
`EX PARTEREEXAMINATION COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTAL FORM
`
`REEXAMINATION CONTROL NO. 90/012.878.
`
`PATENT NO. 7868912.
`
`ART UN IT 3992.
`
`Enclosed is a copy of the latest communication from the United States Patent and Trademark
`Office in the above identified ex parte reexamination proceeding (37 CFR 1.550(f)).
`
`Where this copy is supplied after the reply by requester, 37 CFR 1.535, or the time for filing a
`reply has passed, no submission on behalf of the ex parte reexamination requester will be
`acknowledged or considered (37 CFR 1.550(g)).
`
`PTOL-465 (Rev.07-04)
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 2
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`The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
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`DETAILED ACTION
`
`1.
`
`This Office action addresses original claims 1-22 and newly presented claims 23-44 of
`
`United States Patent Number 7,868,912 B2 (Venetianer et al), for which it has been determined
`
`in the Order Granting Ex Parte Reexamination (hereafter the "Order") mailed 06/20/2013 that a
`
`substantial new question of patentability was raised in the Request for Ex Parte reexamination
`
`filed on 05/24/2013 (hereafter the "Request"). A Non-Final Action was mailed 08/30/2013
`
`rejecting all original claims 1-22.
`
`2.
`
`This is a Final Action in response to the Patent Owner's (PO) response ("Amendment and
`
`Reply") filed 10/30/2013. By virtue of an amendment in said PO Amendment and Reply,
`
`original claim 5 has been cancelled and new claims 23-44 have been added. Said amendment
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`has been entered and made of record. Thus, claims 1-4 and 6-44 are now currently pending and
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`subject to this reexamination.
`
`3.
`
`Patent Owner's Amendment and Replay filed 10/30/2013 further includes accompanying
`
`3 7 C.F .R. 1.132 Declarations by Dr. Kenneth A. Zeger (hereafter the "Zeger Declaration"),
`
`Christopher Capuano (hereafter the "Capuano Declaration"), and Peter L. Venetianer (hereafter
`
`the "Venetianer Declaration"). Said Declarations, including their related Exhibits, have been
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`fully considered and made of record as discussed below.
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 3
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`Reexamination
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`4.
`
`The Patent Owner is reminded of the continuing responsibility under 37 CPR 1.565( a) to
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`apprise the Office of any litigation activity, or other prior or concurrent proceeding, involving
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`Patent No. 7,868,912 B2 throughout the course of this reexamination proceeding. The third
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`party requester is also reminded of the ability to similarly apprise the Office of any such activity
`
`or proceeding throughout the course of this reexamination proceeding. See MPEP §§ 2207, 2282
`
`and 2286.
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`Information Disclosure Statement
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`5.
`
`Regarding Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) submissions, MPEP 2256 recites the
`
`following: "Where patents, publications, and other such items of information are submitted by a
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`party (patent owner or requester) in compliance with the requirements of the rules, the requisite
`
`degree of consideration to be given to such information will be normally limited by the degree to
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`which the party filing the information citation has explained the content and relevance of the
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`information. The initials of the Examiner placed adjacent to the citations on the form
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`PTO/SB/08A and 08B or its equivalent, without an indication to the contrary in the record, do
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`not signify that the information has been considered by the Examiner any further than to the
`
`extent noted above."
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 4
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`Accordingly, the IDS submission filed by Patent Owner on 10/29/2013 has been
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`considered by the Examiner only with the scope required by MPEP 2256, unless otherwise
`
`noted.
`
`References Discussed in This Final Action
`
`• Gilge - (German Patent Publication No. DE 101 53 484 Al, published 05/08/2003.
`
`Reference to the Gilge Patent Publication will be made via its accompanying certified
`
`translation (See: Attachment C of the Request))
`
`• Lipton - ("ObjectVideo Forensics: Activity-Based Video Indexing and Retrieval For
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`Physical Security Applications," Intelligent Distributed Surveillance Systems (IDSS-04 ), The
`
`IEE, Savoy Place, London, U.K., February 23, 2004)
`
`• Courtney- (U.S. Patent No. 5,969,755, published 10/19/1999)
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`• Olson - ("Moving Object Detection and Event Recognition Algorithms for Smart Cameras,"
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`Proceedings of the 1997 Image Understanding Workshop, New Orleans, May 1997, pp. 159-
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`175)
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`• Brill - (U.S. Patent No. 6,628,835, published 09/30/2003)
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`• Day - ("Object Oriented Conceptual Modeling of Video Data," Proceedings on the Eleventh
`
`International Conference on Data Engineering, IEEE, March 1995, pp. 401-408)
`
`■ JP '783 - (Japanese Published Application No. 1997-130783, published 05/16/1997.
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`Reference to the JP '783 Published Application will be made via its accompanying certified
`
`translation (See: Attachment J of the Request))
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 5
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`Response to Arguments
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`6.
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`As noted above, the Patent Owner's Amendment and Reply, the Zeger Declaration, the
`
`Capuano Declaration, and the Venetianer Declaration, each filed on 10/30/2013, have been fully
`
`considered and are discussed below with regard to the rejections as set forth in the Non-Final
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`Action mailed 08/30/2013. Specifically, the PO's arguments that the Examiner considers
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`persuasive to overcome the prior art rejections set forth in the Non-Final Action are further
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`explained below. The Examiner notes that the Remarks in PO's Amendment and Reply appear
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`to be substantially similar (see: Amendment and Reply, p. 29: "The rejections (other than those
`
`of claim 5) are addressed by Dr. Zeger and summarized below") and/or mirror the arguments
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`presented in the expert Zeger Declaration. Therefore, most citations will only be made in
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`reference to the expert Zeger Declaration.
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`Priority Determination
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`7.
`
`In light of PO's arguments (see: Zeger Declaration, Paragraphs 45-58) and upon further
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`examination of the disclosure of the parent continuation-in-part (CIP) 09/987,707 application,
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`the Examiner agrees with PO that the limitations of the original claims of the Venetianer '912
`
`patent are adequately supported by the disclosure of the CIP '707 application. The PO has
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`shown that each claim limitation has been expressly, implicitly, or inherently supported in the
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`originally filed disclosure (see: MPEP 2163(II)(A)(3)(b)), whereby a person of ordinary skill in
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 6
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`the art would have understood, at the time the patent application was filed, that the description
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`supported those claim limitations. Therefore, for reexamination purposes, independent claims 1,
`
`6, 9, 12, and 18 as well as dependent claims 2-4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13-17, and 19-22 of the Venetian er
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`'912 patent are considered to at least have an effective filing date of 11/15/2001, the filing date
`
`of the CIP '707 application. Similarly, new claims 23-44 also appear to be adequately supported
`
`by the disclosure of the CIP '707 application.
`
`Specifically, the disclosure of the CIP '707 application at least teaches an embodiment
`
`wherein video attributes could be determined by processor at a first location (see: '707
`
`application, Paragraph 106: "video primitives are extracted in real time from the source video"),
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`said attributes could be forwarded to another computer system via a network whereby said
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`another computer system was capable of being tasked (see: '707 application, Paragraph 96:
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`"forwarding data ... video primitives ... to another computer system via a network ... tasking
`
`the ... another computer system") and/or was further capable of independently determining events
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`(see: '707 application, Paragraphs 148-151: "the system analyses archived video primitives with
`
`event discriminators to generate additional reports"). Said embodiment functionality at least
`
`providing sufficient support for the claim limitations (i.e., "separating the functionality of
`
`determining video attributes from that of determining events based on said video attributes",
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`"first and second separated processors ... separated locations explicitly carrying out said
`
`functionality", and "detected attributes received over a communications channel are independent
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`of the event to be determined by the processor") originally found lacking in the Order mailed
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`06/20/2013 (see: Order, pp. 7-9).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 7
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`The Gilge and Lipton References
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`8.
`
`As noted above, the Examiner now agrees that the limitations of the original claims of the
`
`Venetainer '912 patent appear to be fully supported by at least the disclosure of the parent CIP
`
`09/987,707 application. Said claims having been considered to have an effective filing date of at
`
`least 11/15/2001, the filing date of the '707 application. Therefore, the Gilge and Lipton
`
`references no longer qualify as proper prior art. Thus, all the rejections to the Gilge and Lipton
`
`references have been withdrawn.
`
`The Courtney Reference (in further view of Brill and Day)
`
`9.
`
`In light of PO's arguments (see: Zeger Declaration, Paragraphs 31-35 & 68-82) and upon
`
`further examination of the Courtney reference, the Examiner agrees with PO that the Courtney
`
`references does not specifically teach the limitations of the independence-based claim elements
`
`of the independent claims of Venetianer '912 patent. In light of the disclosure of the Venetainer
`
`'912 patent, the Examiner agrees that the three components to the independence-based claim
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`elements require, (1) determining/detecting an event that refers to one or more objects engaged
`
`in an activity by analyzing the determined/detected attributes; (2) detected attributes are
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`independent of the event detected; and (3) the identified event is not one of the detected
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`attributes. Specifically, with regard to the first and third listed components, the Examiner agrees
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`that an "event" may be referenced with respect to a location and/or time (see: Venetianer '912:
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`column 3, lines 44-46), but merely referencing an already determined/detected event with respect
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Page 8
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`to variably selected locations and/or times is not a determination/detection of a new independent
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`event. Therefore, the event querying/filtering system of Courtney fails to teach the
`
`independence-based claim elements because said event querying/filtering system relies on a list
`
`of predefined/predetermined "events" of interest (see: Courtney: column 3, lines 4-8; column 4,
`
`lines 62-67; column 10, lines 50-64). At best, resolving a real-time event query/filter (i.e., "Y =
`
`(C, T, V, R, E)") in Courtney appears to teach searching for an already predefined/predetermined
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`indexed "event" in relation to a specific time interval, spatial region, and V-object of a video clip
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`(see: Courtney: column 5, lines 4-23; column 10, lines 50-67; column 12, line 41-column 13, line
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`57; column 16, lines 16-28). As noted above, merely referencing an already determined/detected
`
`event with respect to variably selected locations and/or times is not a determination/detection of
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`a new independent event as required by the claims.
`
`Regarding the Brill reference, in light of PO' s arguments ( see: Zeger Declaration,
`
`Paragraphs 31-35 & 99-110) and upon further examination of the Brill, the Examiner agrees with
`
`PO that the Brill reference does not specifically teach the limitations of the independence-based
`
`claim elements of the independent claims of Venetianer '912 patent. Like the Courtney
`
`reference, Brill appears to teach wherein the defined simple events are merely constructed by
`
`relying on a list of predefined/predetermined events of interest (see: Brill: column 3, line 41-
`
`column 4, line 27; Figures 2, 6, and 7). Additionally, the defined complex events of Brill, which
`
`are based on a plurality of other predefined simple events, are found lacking for the same reason.
`
`The complex events of Brill cannot be considered independent as required by the claims.
`
`Therefore, the Brill reference does not remedy the deficiencies discussed above with regard to
`
`the Courtney reference.
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 9
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`Regarding the Day reference, the Examiner agrees with PO's arguments (see: Zeger
`
`Declaration, Paragraphs 117, 118, and 122) that the Day reference would not remedy the
`
`independence -based claim elements required by the claims of the Venetainer '912 patent and
`
`found lacking in the Courtney reference. Specifically, the Examiner found the expert arguments
`
`persuasive that even if the teachings of the event-indexing system of Courtney could be
`
`operationally combined with the teachings of the object-oriented conceptual modeling system of
`
`Day, the result of said combination would still consist of online query processing for predefined
`
`indexed events.
`
`Thus, all the rejections involving the Courtney reference have been withdrawn.
`
`The Olson Reference (in further view of Brill and Day)
`
`In light of PO's arguments (see: Zeger Declaration, Paragraphs 31-35 & 88-93) and upon
`
`further examination of the Olson reference, the Examiner agrees with PO that the Olson
`
`references does not specifically teach the limitations of the independence-based claim elements
`
`of the independent claims of Venetianer '912 patent. The Examiner notes that the moving object
`
`detection and event recognition system of Olson (see: Olson: Figures 2, 4, and 5) is substantially
`
`similar to the event querying/filtering system of Courtney discussed above. In fact, the event
`
`recognition features of the Olson system appear to be directly derived from the teachings of
`
`Courtney (see: Olson: pp. 162 & 164: "Our approach to event recognition is based on the video
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`database indexing work of Courtney [1997]"). Thus for the same reasons as discussed above
`
`with the regards to Courtney, the moving object detection and event recognition system of Olson
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 10
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`fails to teach the independence-based claim elements because said event recognition/filtering
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`relies on a list of predefined/predetermined "events" of interest to satisfy the user specified alarm
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`conditions (see: Olson, p. 165-166: "a user to specify alarm conditions interactively ... based on
`
`the locations of people and objects in the scene, the types of objects in the scene, the events in
`
`which the people and objects are involved, and the times at which the events occur ... user to
`
`specify alarm regions and conditions ... type of event, the type of object involved in the event, the
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`day of week and time of day of the event, where the event occurs.")
`
`Regarding the Brill reference, in light of PO's arguments (see: Zeger Declaration,
`
`Paragraphs 31-35 & 115) and upon further examination of the Brill, the Examiner agrees with
`
`PO that the Brill reference does not specifically teach the limitations of the independence-based
`
`claim elements of the independent claims of Venetianer '912 patent. Like the Olson reference,
`
`Brill appears to teach wherein the defined simple events are merely constructed by relying on a
`
`list of predefined/predetermined events of interest (see: Brill: column 3, line 41-column 4, line
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`27; Figures 2, 6, and 7). Additionally, the defined complex events of Brill, which are based on a
`
`plurality of other predefined simple events, are found lacking for the same reason. The complex
`
`events of Brill cannot be considered independent as required by the claims. Therefore, the Brill
`
`reference does not remedy the deficiencies discussed above with regard to the Olson reference.
`
`Regarding the Day reference, the Examiner agrees with PO's arguments (see: Zeger
`
`Declaration, Paragraphs 123, 124, and 127) that the Day reference would not remedy the
`
`independence -based claim elements required by the claims of the Venetainer '912 patent and
`
`found lacking in the Olson reference. Specifically, the Examiner found the expert arguments
`
`persuasive that even if the teachings of the moving object detection and event recognition system
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 11
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`of Olson could be operationally combined with the teachings of the object-oriented conceptual
`
`modeling system of Day, the result of said combination would still consist of online query
`
`processing for predefined indexed events.
`
`Thus, all the rejections involving the Olson reference have been withdrawn.
`
`The JP '783 Reference
`
`10.
`
`The JP '783 reference was relied upon only to teach limitations related to the "third
`
`processor" in original dependent claim 5. As noted above, original dependent claim 5 has been
`
`cancelled. Thus, all the rejections related to dependent claim 5 with regard to JP '783 have been
`
`withdrawn. Additionally, the disclosure of JP '783 does not appear to remedy the other prior art
`
`deficiencies discussed above.
`
`The Capuano and Venetianer Declarations - Objective Evidence of Non-Obviousness
`
`11. With regard to the filed Capuano and Venetianer Declarations, the PO additionally argues
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`that said Declarations, and accompanying Exhibits, present real-world evidence (i.e., achieved
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`commercial success in the relevant market, was copied by others, and received industry praise) to
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`strongly indicate non-obviousness of the claimed invention in the Venetianer '912 patent (see:
`
`Amendment and Reply, pp. 79-80). The Examiner notes that PO's arguments to this point are
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`considered moot in view of PO's persuasive arguments discussed above with regard to the
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`Courtney, Olson, Brill, and Day references.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 12
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`Claim Objections
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`12.
`
`Claim 32 is objected to because of the following informalities: Patent Owner states (see:
`
`Amendment and Reply, p. 77; Zeger Declaration, Paragraph 62) that added new independent
`
`claim 32 is similar to original patent claim 6, but additionally requires the new limitations of
`
`"first and second objects", "first and second objects coming together", and "filtering." New
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`independent claim 32 supposedly adding substantially similar new limitations as that of new
`
`independent claims 31 and 33. However, unlike new independent claims 31 and 33, new
`
`independent claims 32 does not contain the new limitation of "first and second objects coming
`
`together." Thus the record is unclear. Appropriate clarification and/or correction is required.
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`Claim Rejections
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC§ 112
`
`13.
`
`The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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`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.
`
`14.
`
`Claims 34-41 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
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`matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the
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`invention.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 13
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`As described in the specification of the Venetianer '912 patent, the Examiner notes that
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`there is descriptive overlap in the definitions on what can be considered an attribute/primitive
`
`(see: Venetianer '912: column 13, line 13-coumn 15, line 14: e.g., "contain activities ... carrying
`
`an object ... colliding ... motion ... appearance of an object ... movement of an object ... an stationary
`
`object leaving a scene; an object entering"), an event (see: Venetianer '912: column 3, lines 44-
`
`46: "objects engaged in an activity"; see: '707 application: Paragraphs 98-103: e.g., "an object
`
`appears ... a red object moves faster than 10 mis ... an object enters an area"), and/or an activity
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`(see: Venetianer '912: column 3, lines 29-32: e.g., "Examples ... entering; exiting; stopping;
`
`moving; raising; lowering; growing; and shrinking". As shown, attributes/primitives can
`
`specifically include activities and can include events such as motion and scene change related
`
`events. In light of that, the Examiner notes that each of the newly added independent claims 34-
`
`41 include a substantially similar variation of the new limitation, "wherein none of the detected
`
`attributes refers to the one or more objects engaged in an activity." The scope of said new
`
`limitation is indefinite as the specification does not make it clear to one of ordinary skill in the
`
`art the extent to which a detected attribute "refers" to an object engaged in activity. Even PO's
`
`provided example (See: Zeger Declaration, Paragraph 138) related to an event discriminator
`
`looking for a 'wrong way' event is unclear in the context of the new limitation. Specifically, the
`
`'wrong way' event discriminator is defined by at least an attribute with regards to motion (i.e.,
`
`"'wrong' direction of motion") which is directly related to an object "moving" (i.e., an activity).
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 14
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`STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR PATENT ABILITY AND/OR CONFIRMATION
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`15.
`
`Claims 1-4, 6-33, and 42-44 are patentable and/or confirmed.
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`The following is an Examiner's statement of reasons for patentability and/or confirmation
`
`of claims 1-4, 6-33, and 42-44 found in this reexamination proceeding. Claims 1-4, 6-33, and
`
`42-44 are confirmed over the prior art that was explained in the Request and determined to raise
`
`a substantial new question of patentability in the Order granting reexamination and over the prior
`
`art that was applied and discussed by the Examiner in the present reexamination proceeding
`
`because of the following:
`
`Regarding independent claim 1, as more specifically discussed above, the proposed prior
`
`art does not teach independence based claim elements of determining "a first event that is not
`
`one of the determined attributes" and "determines attributes independent of a selection of the
`
`first event."
`
`Regarding additional independent claims 6, 9, 12, 18, and 23-33, the additional
`
`independent claims each recite at least one substantially similar limitation as discussed above
`
`with regard to independent claim 1 and are thus patentable and/or confirmable based on the same
`
`rationale.
`
`Regarding dependent claims 2-4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13-17, 19-22, and 42-44, the claims are
`
`dependent on patentable and/or confirmable claims, and are therefore also patentable and/or
`
`confirmed.
`
`Any comments considered necessary by PA TENT OWNER regarding the above
`
`statement must be submitted promptly to avoid processing delays. Such submission by the
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 15
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`patent owner should be labeled: "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Patentability and/or
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`Confirmation" and will be placed in the reexamination file.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 16
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`Conclusion
`
`16.
`
`Patent owner's amendment filed 10/30/2013 necessitated the new grounds ofrejection
`
`presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP §
`
`706.07(a).
`
`A shortened statutory period for response to this action is set to expire 2 from the mailing
`
`date of this action.
`
`Extensions of time under 37 CFR 1.136(a) do not apply in reexamination
`
`proceedings. The provisions of 3 7 CFR 1.136 apply only to "an applicant" and not to parties in a
`
`reexamination proceeding. Further, in 35 U.S.C. 305 and in 37 CFR l.550(a), it is required that
`
`reexamination proceedings "will be conducted with special dispatch within the Office."
`
`Extensions of time in reexamination proceedings are provided for in 37 CFR
`
`l.SS0(c). A request for extension of time must specify the requested period of extension and it
`
`must be accompanied by the petition fee set forth in 37 CFR l.l 7(g). Any request for an
`
`extension in a third party requested ex parte reexamination must be filed on or before the day on
`
`which action by the patent owner is due, and the mere filing of a request will not effect any
`
`extension of time. A request for an extension of time in a third party requested ex parte
`
`reexamination will be granted only for sufficient cause, and for a reasonable time specified. Any
`
`request for extension in a patent owner requested ex parte reexamination for up to two months
`
`from the time period set in the Office action must be filed no later than two months from the
`
`expiration of the time period set in the Office action. A request for an extension in a patent
`
`owner requested ex parte reexamination for more than two months from the time period set in
`
`the Office action must be filed on or before the day on which action by the patent owner is due,
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 17
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`and the mere filing of a request for an extension for more than two months will not effect the
`
`extension. The time for taking action in a patent owner requested ex parte reexamination will
`
`not be extended for more than two months from the time period set in the Office action in the
`
`absence of sufficient cause or for more than a reasonable time.
`
`The filing of a timely first response to this final rejection will be construed as including a
`
`request to extend the shortened statutory period for an additional month, which will be granted
`
`even if previous extensions have been granted. In no event, however, will the statutory period for
`
`response expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of the final action. See MPEP §
`
`2265.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 18
`
`17.
`
`All correspondence relating to this ex parte reexamination proceeding should be directed
`
`as follows:
`
`By U.S. Postal Service Mail to:
`
`Mail Stop Ex Parte Reexam
`ATTN: Central Reexamination Unit
`Commissioner for Patents
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`By FAX to:
`
`(571) 273-9900
`Central Reexamination Unit
`
`By hand to:
`
`Customer Service Window
`Randolph Building
`401 Dulany St.
`Alexandria, VA 22314
`
`By EFS-Web:
`
`Registered users of EFS-Web may alternatively submit such correspondence via the
`electronic filing system EFS-Web, at
`
`https:/ /efs. uspto. gov/efile/m vportal/efs-registered
`
`EFS-Web offers the benefit of quick submission to the particular area of the Office that
`needs to act on the correspondence. Also, EFS-Web submissions are "soft scanned" (i.e.,
`electronically uploaded) directly into the official file for the reexamination proceeding, which
`offers parties the opportunity to review the content of their submissions after the "soft scanning"
`process is complete.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 90/012,878
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 19
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`Reexamination Legal Advisor or Examiner, or as to the status of this proceeding, should be
`
`directed to the Central Reexamination Unit at telephone number (571) 272-7705.
`
`/Adam L Basehoar/
`
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
`
`Conferees:
`
`/JDC/
`
`/ ALEXANDER KOSOWSKI/
`
`Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3992
`
`

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