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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 5, 10-12 were cancelled or previously cancelled.
Claim 8 was previously withdrawn. [Note: this claim should be cancelled.
Claims 1 and 13 are amended.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9, and 13-20 are pending.
Pre-Brief Appeal Conference decision
A Pre-Brief Appeal Conference was held and the instant application has been reopened. A Non-final is now being offered with additional ART.
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Applicant’s arguments in the pre-brief appeal have been fully considered and are persuasive (see above). The 35 USC § 103 has been withdrawn. See new 35 USC § 103 below.
Claim Interpretation
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, 13 -20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JUN CHAN UNG [KR20060081844, now Ung], in view of Golgiri et al. [US 20190137990, now Golgiri], in view of Kubanek M, Bobulski J. Device for Acoustic Support of Orientation in the Surroundings for Blind People. Sensors (Basel). 2018 Dec 6;18(12):4309 [now acoustic], further in view of Gerull et al. [DE102011009960, now Gerull].
Claim 1
Ung discloses determining a relative position between a mobile device and a parked vehicle, wherein the relative position comprises a distance and direction between the mobile device and the parked vehicle, wherein the relative position comprises a distance and direction between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Abstract (“a direction and distance to a place where a registered vehicle is located when a vehicle position… calculating the direction and distance to the vehicle position based on the position notification signal received from the position sensor”); Tech- solution ¶16 ("by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position. For example, and hold the period of the output being ground away the ring tone from the speaker to the vehicle, the closer to the vehicle can shorten the period of the ring tone."); Tech-solution ¶ 20 ("the technical idea of the present invention that allows to determine the position of the vehicle receives the location announcement signal from the signal generating module attached to the vehicle can be readily applied by one skilled in the art within the protected range")]; and
causing one or more sounds to be emitted, wherein a volume or a pattern of the one or more sounds is based on the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Tech-solution ¶ 15 ("In addition, in the control portion 40 by the output through the speaker by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position.")].
Ung does not specifically disclose more sounds having a volume and a pattern to be emitted, wherein the volume changes in accordance with a change of the distance between the mobile device and the pattern changes in accordance with a change of the direction between the mobile device and the parked vehicle, and the pattern of the sounds is a high pitch for the vehicle in front of the mobile device, a low pitch for the vehicle behind the mobile device, between the high pitch and the low pitch for the vehicle to the right or to the left of the mobile device wherein the high pitch has a higher pitch than the low pitch but Ung does teach the output through the speaker by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position [Ung, Tech-solution ¶ 15]; (Note: Variable sound consists of a pattern); Note that it is obvious that the high pitch would be higher than the low pitch, just taking into consideration that they are indicating a pitch of the sound as an indicator.].
Golgiri teaches volume and pattern of sound based on location of the vehicle. [see at least Golgiri, ¶ 0034 (“the tethering controller 130 is configured to determine a location of a mobile device that is communicatively coupled to one or more of the communication nodes 126 relative to the exterior surface 102 of the vehicle 100. Further, the tethering controller 130 is configured to determine whether the mobile device in communication with one or more of the communication nodes 126 is within a tethering range (e.g., the tethering range 208) of the vehicle 100 and emits alert(s) based upon a position of the mobile device within the tethering range.”); 0047 (“the audio signal emitted by the speaker(s) of the vehicle 100 and the audio signal emitted by the speaker of the mobile device 204 may result in a dissonant sound and/or off-scale note when the mobile device 204 is along the outer boundary 306 of the tethering range 208 to provide a warning that the user 206 is about to move beyond the tethering range 208. In other examples, the speaker(s) of the vehicle 100 and the speaker of the mobile device 204 are synchronized to emit the audio alert(s) in an alternating and/or modulating pattern.”); ( Note: This is the same as a sound pattern and volume and is based on distance)].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Acoustic more specifically teaches sound variations depending on location of an object. [see at least Acoustic, Introduction (“by hearing sound signals, which enclose information about distances to obstacles in diverse points of the distance map take over by the sensor… which plays relevant sound signals (previously generated and saved to files) at the appropriate volume for right and left channels. The reproduced sounds are played by means of the earphones. The sensor and computer power supply was realized using a power bank. The operating system, program and sound files used by the computer are stored on memory card at the tenth speed class.”).
Note that the use of sound in this article is to distinguish a location and uses different/variable sounds or pitches to indicate the location would be the same if it is a parked car or another obstacle. It is the same concept of using sound variations to determine location. The volume, pitch or other variations based on location are design features, thus if there is a variable sound or pitch or indicator, it can be any of these things.
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the ability to acquire data without a GPS and monitor GPS data of Hong, further with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Gerull more specifically teaches causing one or more sounds having a volume and a pattern to be emitted, wherein the volume changes in accordance with a change of the distance between the mobile device and the pattern changes in accordance with a change of the direction between the mobile device and the parked vehicle, and the pattern of the sounds is a high pitch for the vehicle in front of the mobile device, a low pitch for the vehicle behind the mobile device, between the high pitch and the low pitch for the vehicle to the right or to the left of the mobile device, wherein the high pitch has a higher pitch than the low pitch [see at least Gerull, ¶ 0005 (“The principle of ultrasonic echo sounding used in parking aids is also suitable for detecting obstacles for blind and severely visually impaired people.“); 0006 (“A system for the orientation of blind people based on the principle of ultrasonic echo sounding is commercially available, namely the device UltraCane® (Long cane UltraCane, Sound Foresight Limited”); 0014 (The detection of an obstacle in each of the directions specified by the arrangement of the ultrasound transmitter-receiver heads is indicated to the blind person via a loudspeaker or headphones by a short acoustic signal, the characteristics of which, especially the pitch, are different for each of the directions, with the duration and/or intensity of the acoustic signal optionally increasing as the distance to the obstacle decreases.”)].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic, further with the use of pitch, volume and sounds to indicate direction and distance of Gerull. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 2
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the mobile device [see at least Ung, Tech-solution ¶ 15 ("In addition, in the control portion 40 by the output through the speaker by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position. For example, and hold the period of the output being ground away the ring tone from the speaker to the vehicle, the closer to the vehicle can shorten the period of the ring tone.")].
Acoustic more specifically teaches causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the mobile device [see at least Acoustic, Introduction].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, further with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Gerull more specifically teaches this limitation [see at least Gerull, ¶ 0014].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic, further with the use of pitch, volume and sounds to indicate direction and distance of Gerull. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 3
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Claim 6 ("The mobile communication control unit that displays the vehicle position, characterized in that the control module is configured to include the output of the variable output through a speaker to the output cycle of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module terminal.")].
Note: Output through a speaker can include the vehicle. A sound made by a vehicle to indicate location of that vehicle is well known in the art. (A sound is emitted from the car when you push the locate button on a fob.)
Acoustic more specifically teaches causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the mobile device [see at least Acoustic, Introduction].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, further with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 4
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses wherein the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle comprises a distance and a direction between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Claims 4 and 6; Tech-solution ¶ 1 ("a mobile terminal that displays the vehicle position according to the present invention for solving the above problems is an input unit having one or more of the buttons so that a predetermined number or character input, the destination of the vehicle location detection and a memory in which a unique ID that is registered and stored in the vehicle, if the predetermined position for receiving a position signal generating notification signals for radio transmission from the sensor module installed in the vehicle, the vehicle position the selected search through said input with location based on the location announcement signal received from the sensor control unit for calculating the direction and distance to the vehicle position, with an arrow indicating the direction and distance to the vehicle position calculated by the control unit is configured to include a display output characterized in that."), ¶15].
Claim 6
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses a frequency at which the one or more sounds are emitted is based on the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Tech-solution ¶16 ("by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the
distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position. For example, and hold the period of the output being ground away the ring tone from the speaker to the vehicle, the closer to the vehicle can shorten the period of the ring tone.")].
Acoustic more specifically teaches causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the mobile device [see at least Acoustic, Introduction].
Gerull more specifically teaches this limitation [see at least Gerull, ¶ 0014].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic, further with the use of pitch, volume and sounds to indicate direction and distance of Gerull. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 7
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses a pitch of the one or more sounds emitted is based on the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Fig.1, Tech- solution ¶16 ("by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position. For example, and hold the period of the output being ground away the ring tone from the speaker to the vehicle, the closer to the vehicle can shorten the period of the ring tone."); (Note: Variable-output can include pitch)].
Acoustic more specifically teaches causing the one or more sounds to be emitted from the mobile device [see at least Acoustic, Introduction].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the ability to acquire data without a GPS and monitor GPS data of Hong, further with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Gerull more specifically teaches this limitation [see at least Gerull, ¶ 0014].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic, further with the use of pitch, volume and sounds to indicate direction and distance of Gerull. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 8 (withdrawn)
Claim 9
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 1.
Ung further discloses transmitting a location of the mobile device to a remote computing device; and receiving the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle from the remote computing device [see at least Ung, Tech-solution ¶15 ("map data may be received from the service provider's server via the mobile communication network is connected to the service provider's server in the terminal itself, or embedded in the vehicle position when the search function is selected for the terminal if, therefore may be stored in a separate external memory may be used by being mounted to the terminal.")].
Claim 13
Claim 13 is the mobile device for the method of Claim 1 and the limitations are analogous to Claim 1. For the reasons given above with respect to Claim 1, claim 13 is rejected
Claim 16
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 13.
Ung further discloses wherein a volume of the one or more sounds emitted is based on the relative position between the mobile device and the parked vehicle [see at least Ung, Tech- solution ¶16 ("by the variable-output period of the notification sound according to the distance calculated by the position calculation module 42, the output section 50 If you do not check what is displayed audibly perceptible so that the vicinity of the vehicle position. For example, and hold the period of the output being ground away the ring tone from the speaker to the vehicle, the closer to the vehicle can shorten the period of the ring tone.")].
Gerull more specifically teaches this limitation [see at least Gerull, ¶ 0014].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the technology to produce variable sounds depending on a location of an object of Acoustic, further with the use of pitch, volume and sounds to indicate direction and distance of Gerull. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound.
Claim 17
Claim 17 has similar limitations to claim 6, therefore claim 17 is rejected with the same rationale as claim 6.
Claim 18
Claim 18 has similar limitations to claim 7, therefore claim 18 is rejected with the same rationale as claim 7.
Claim 19
Claim 19 has similar limitations to claim 8, therefore claim 19 is rejected with the same rationale as claim 8.
Claim 20
Claim 20 has similar limitations to claim 9, therefore claim 20 is rejected with the same rationale as claim 9.
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JUN CHAN UNG [KR20060081844, now Ung], in view of Golgiri et al. [US 20190137990, now Golgiri], , further in view of Harris Korn et al. [US20100318288, now Korn].
Claim 14
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 13.
Ung further discloses a mobile device [see at least Ung, Tech-solutions ¶1 ("a mobile terminal that displays the vehicle position according to the present invention")].
Neither Ung or Golgiri specifically disclose/teach a smart phone.
Korn also teaches wherein the mobile device is a smart phone [see at least Korn claims 2 and 3 ("wherein said locator device is one of: a cellular phone, a smartphone or a PDA and uses one of cellular phone or WiMAX locating technology to determine the location coordinates.")].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the ability to acquire data without a GPS and monitor GPS data of Hong and further with the use of a smart phone or key fob of Korn. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound and allow for a variety of techniques to provide more efficient ways to locate a parked vehicle.
Claim 15
Ung with Golgiri, Gerull and Acoustic disclose/teach the method of Claim 13.
Neither Ung, Golgiri or Hong specifically disclose/teach but Korn teaches the mobile device is a key fob [see at least Korn, ¶0003 (disclose a hand- held car locator device consisting of two parts, a transmitter/receiver in the vehicle, and a fob which is carried by the user."), 0008].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wireless phone to display the location of a vehicle of Ung with the sound patterns, volume and other features for locating a parked vehicle of Golgiri, with the ability to acquire data without a GPS and monitor GPS data of Hong and further with the use of a smart phone or key fob of Korn. Thus, providing a more robust, effective and safe process which will allow an individual to find their parked vehicle easily using sound and allow for a variety of techniques to provide more efficient ways to locate a parked vehicle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kubanek M, Bobulski J. Device for Acoustic Support of Orientation in the Surroundings for Blind People. Sensors (Basel). 2018 Dec 6;18(12):4309.
Shoval S, Borenstein J, Koren Y. The NavBelt--a computerized travel aid for the blind based on mobile robotics technology. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 1998 Nov;45(11):1376-86.
S. Blessenohl, C. Morrison, A. Criminisi and J. Shotton, "Improving Indoor Mobility of the Visually Impaired with Depth-Based Spatial Sound," 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision Workshop (ICCVW), Santiago, Chile, 2015, pp. 418-426.
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/JOAN T GOODBODY/
Examiner, Art Unit 3667
(571) 270-7952