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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-14, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4, 6-11, 13-18 and 20-21 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the current amendments to the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 has been amended to recite “receiving, from the management server…configuration information…comprising one or more vehicle network communication parameters including bus protocol.” Claims 8 and 15 have been amended similarly. Paragraph 0027 of the specification states:
“The recording system 210 may also include a communications device 216, which may include substantially any wired or wireless device, or related modem, etc., for providing wired or wireless communications utilizing various protocols to send/receive electronic signals internally to features and systems within the vehicle 102 and/or to external devices including the management server 104 and/or management devices 106. In an example, the communications device 216 may communicate using one or more radio technologies (e.g.,3GPP radio access technologies, IEEE 802.11, or Bluetooth®).”
The specification additionally teaches that a vehicle data bus is used to connect components within the vehicle with the telematics device, and that the data bus may use known protocols such as Controller Area Network [see paragraphs 0068-0069 of the specification and Figure 2 of the drawings]. However, the specification is silent on the telematics device receiving a bus protocol as the configuration information used to enable communications between the telematics device and components of the vehicle.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-11, 13-18 and 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berkobin (US Patent Application Publication 2014/0343751) in view of Hering (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0071882) in view of Jefferies (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0297398) in view of Ban (CN 107817786 A) and further in view of McClellan (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0294690).
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Berkobin discloses a method of vehicle location tracking by a telematics device [0008], comprising:
detecting an activation of a vehicle [0013] [0028-0029] [0076];
receiving vehicle data including a vehicle identification number (VIN) and sensor data associated with the vehicle in response to the detecting the activation of the vehicle [0023, 0052, 0054-0055];
correlating the VIN to the sensor data [0023] [0052];
determining whether a change of VIN condition occurred for the telematics device based on a comparison of the VIN with a previously recorded VIN [0057];
in response to the change of VIN condition occurring,
transmitting, to the management server, an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Berkobin does not disclose receiving from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with one or more components of the vehicle.
Hering discloses a method for a telematics device (32) for a vehicle that includes, in response to a change of VIN condition occurring, transmitting, to a management server (20), an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0015-0016] [0021] [0024-0030].
Hering teaches that VIN and the indication can be used to determine if the VIN has been illegally installed in a vehicle [0028]. In this situation, Hering teaches that known telematics devices can be configured to establish communications with one or more additional third parties, such as a police department or vehicle owner [0016] [0028], thereby for example preventing thieves from imitating a non-stolen vehicle [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the configuration step disclosed by Hering with the known telematics device disclosed by Berkobin in response to receiving the indication and the VIN being transmitted because these steps can be used to notify a third party of a stolen vehicle.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, does not disclose receiving, from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of the telematics device for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of the vehicle.
Jefferies discloses receiving from a management server (970) in response to an indication of a change of VIN condition and a VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of a telematics device (“control module”) for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of a vehicle (303) via a vehicle data bus (513) [0008, the control module includes at least a processor, modem, antennas and transceivers connected with the processor] [0050, 0054, where the VIN is transmitted to the management server] [0056, 0066 where the server contains a number of tables or associations between vehicles and control modules, and an indication of a change of VIN condition is sent to the server when a control module is installed in a different vehicle and the association is updated by pairing the control module to the new vehicle and unpairing the control module from the old vehicle] [0071, where association or pairing the control module with the new vehicle enables communications between the control module and one or more components, such as the doors, of the new vehicle].
Jefferies teaches that receiving the configuration from the management server allows the telematics device to be correctly associated with a new vehicle when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles [0056]. Jefferies suggests that transferring telematics devices between vehicles would be useful in the context of a fleet of vehicles which are compatible with interchangeable telematics devices, such as a rental car share or agency [0003] [0057]. Jefferies teaches that enabling communications between the telematics device and components of the vehicle is response to information from the management server allows billing to take place based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is installed in, how long the device is installed, etc. [0056, 0058, 0067].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable communications between a telematics device an one or more components of a vehicle in response to receiving configuration information from a remote management server as disclosed by Jefferies using the telematics device in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering, in order to enable vehicle functions when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles of fleet, such as a rental car share, or to enable billing based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is used in or an amount of time the telematics device is used.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications or the configuration information including a bus protocol.
Ban discloses the configuration information including a bus protocol [0078].
Ban teaches that “during the usual offline testing process, the normal operation of the vehicle-mounted equipment is not assessed. If the problematic vehicle-mounted terminal is installed and distributed, the remote service platform will be unable to monitor the vehicle normally, posing a safety hazard and failing to meet relevant requirements, while also increasing after-sales maintenance costs” [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the testing by sending information on the bus protocol to the vehicle-mounted equipment as disclosed by Ban in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, to ensure the remote server will be able to interact normally with vehicle components.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, Jeffries and Ban, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications.
McClellan discloses reporting to a management server (105) hours of service data in response to enabled communications [0077, where McClellan defines a plurality of conditions in which communications are enabled]; and
reporting, to the management server, vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications [0029, 0042, 0055, 0057, 0091, as shown in Figure 3].
McClellan teaches that hours of service data is information that is normally contained in reporting to federal entities to ensure that drivers do not exceed regulated limits of on the duration of vehicle operation [0013, 0016, 0053]. McClellan teaches that reporting the vehicle location to the server when communications are enabled may allow help to be dispatched to the vehicle [0055], for example in the case of accidents or unauthorized vehicle movement such as theft [0059].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to report to the management server disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, the hours of service data and vehicle location in response to communications being enabled between a telematics device on the vehicle and the server as disclosed by McClellan because hours of service data is a form of data normally transmitted to a management server from fleet vehicles to comply with federal regulations and because the vehicle location can be used to dispatch assistance to the vehicle at the time of an event or exception.
Regarding claim 2, Berkobin further discloses transmitting, in response to the change of VIN condition occurring, a notification to a computing device indicating the change of VIN condition [0014] [0057].
Regarding claim 3, Berkobin further discloses wherein the sensor data includes data from one or more of an odometer, a location determining system, or an engine hours tracker [0012-0013].
Regarding claim 4, Berkobin further discloses receiving the vehicle data from an engine control module (ECM) of the vehicle [0008] [0076] [0081].
Regarding claim 6, Berkobin further discloses wherein receiving the vehicle data including the VIN and the sensor data associated with the vehicle includes receiving vehicle location information from a location determining system, and wherein correlating the VIN to the sensor data includes correlating the VIN to the vehicle location information [0055-0057].
Regarding claim 7, Berkobin further discloses configuring the one or more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with the one or more components of the vehicle, based on the configuration information [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Regarding claim 8, Berkobin discloses a telematics device for a vehicle [0008], comprising:
a memory storing instructions [0017] [0020]; and
one or more processors coupled with the memory [0017] [0020] and configured to:
detect an activation of a vehicle [0013] [0028-0029] [0076];
receive vehicle data including a vehicle identification number (VIN) and sensor data associated with the vehicle in response to the activation of the vehicle being detected [0023, 0052, 0054-0055];
correlate the VIN to the sensor data [0023] [0052];
determine whether a change of VIN condition occurred for the telematics device based on a comparison of the VIN with a previously recorded VIN [0057];
in response to the change of VIN condition occurring,
transmit, to the management server, an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Berkobin does not disclose in response to the change of VIN condition occurring,
receive from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with one or more components of the vehicle.
As discussed above, the telematics device disclosed by Berkobin is configured to transmit the indication to the management server when the change of VIN condition occurs.
Hering discloses a method for a telematics device (32) for a vehicle that includes, in response to a change of VIN condition occurring, transmitting, to a management server (20), an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0015-0016] [0021] [0024-0030].
Hering teaches that VIN and the indication can be used to determine if the VIN has been illegally installed in a vehicle [0028]. In this situation, Hering teaches that known telematics devices can be configured to establish communications with one or more additional third parties, such as a police department or vehicle owner [0016] [0028], thereby for example preventing thieves from imitating a non-stolen vehicle [0004].
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, does not disclose the one or more processors configured to receive, from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of the telematics device for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of the vehicle.
Jefferies discloses receiving from a management server (970) in response to an indication of a change of VIN condition and a VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of a telematics device (“control module”) for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of a vehicle (303) via a vehicle data bus (513) [0008, the control module includes at least a processor, modem, antennas and transceivers connected with the processor] [0050, 0054, where the VIN is transmitted to the management server] [0056, 0066 where the server contains a number of tables or associations between vehicles and control modules, and an indication of a change of VIN condition is sent to the server when a control module is installed in a different vehicle and the association is updated by pairing the control module to the new vehicle and unpairing the control module from the old vehicle] [0071, where association or pairing the control module with the new vehicle enables communications between the control module and one or more components, such as the doors, of the new vehicle].
Jefferies teaches that receiving the configuration from the management server allows the telematics device to be correctly associated with a new vehicle when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles [0056]. Jefferies suggests that transferring telematics devices between vehicles would be useful in the context of a fleet of vehicles which are compatible with interchangeable telematics devices, such as a rental car share or agency [0003] [0057]. Jefferies teaches that enabling communications between the telematics device and components of the vehicle is response to information from the management server allows billing to take place based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is installed in, how long the device is installed, etc. [0056, 0058, 0067].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable communications between a telematics device an one or more components of a vehicle in response to receiving configuration information from a remote management server as disclosed by Jefferies using the telematics device in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering, in order to enable vehicle functions when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles of fleet, such as a rental car share, or to enable billing based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is used in or an amount of time the telematics device is used.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications or the configuration information including a bus protocol.
Ban discloses the configuration information including a bus protocol [0078].
Ban teaches that “during the usual offline testing process, the normal operation of the vehicle-mounted equipment is not assessed. If the problematic vehicle-mounted terminal is installed and distributed, the remote service platform will be unable to monitor the vehicle normally, posing a safety hazard and failing to meet relevant requirements, while also increasing after-sales maintenance costs” [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the testing by sending information on the bus protocol to the vehicle-mounted equipment as disclosed by Ban in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, to ensure the remote server will be able to interact normally with vehicle components.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, Jeffries and Ban, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications.
McClellan discloses reporting to a management server (105) hours of service data in response to enabled communications [0077, where McClellan defines a plurality of conditions in which communications are enabled].
McClellan teaches that hours of service data is information that is normally contained in reporting to federal entities to ensure that drivers do not exceed regulated limits of on the duration of vehicle operation [0013, 0016, 0053].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to report to the management server disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, the hours of service data in response to communications being enabled between a telematics device on the vehicle and the server as disclosed by McClellan because hours of service data is a form of data normally transmitted to a management server from fleet vehicles to comply with federal regulations.
Regarding claim 9, Berkobin further discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: transmit, in response to the change of VIN condition occurring, a notification to a computing device indicating the change of VIN condition [0014] [0057].
Regarding claim 10, Berkobin further discloses wherein the sensor data includes data from one or more of an odometer, a location determining system, or an engine hours tracker [0012-0013].
Regarding claim 11, Berkobin further discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: receive the vehicle data from an engine control module (ECM) of the vehicle [0008] [0076] [0081].
Regarding claim 13, Berkobin further discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: receive the vehicle data including the VIN and the sensor data associated with the vehicle includes receiving vehicle location information from a location determining system, and correlate the VIN to the sensor data includes correlating the VIN to the vehicle location information [0055-0057].
Regarding claim 14, Berkobin further discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: configure the one or more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with the one or more components of the vehicle, based on the configuration information [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Regarding claim 15, Berkobin discloses a computer-readable medium for a telematics device [0008], comprising computer executable instructions to:
detect an activation of a vehicle [0013] [0028-0029] [0076];
receive vehicle data including a vehicle identification number (VIN) and sensor data associated with the vehicle in response to the activation of the vehicle being detected [0023, 0052, 0054-0055];
correlate the VIN to the sensor data [0023] [0052];
determine whether a change of VIN condition occurred for the telematics device based on a comparison of the VIN with a previously recorded VIN [0057];
in response to the change of VIN condition occurring,
transmit, to the management server, an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Berkobin does not disclose receiving from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with one or more components of the vehicle. Berkobin does not disclose the computer-readable medium is non-transitory.
Hering discloses a method for a telematics device (32) for a vehicle that includes, in response to a change of VIN condition occurring, transmitting, to a management server (20), an indication of the change of VIN condition with the VIN [0015-0016] [0021] [0024-0030].
Hering teaches that VIN and the indication can be used to determine if the VIN has been illegally installed in a vehicle [0028]. In this situation, Hering teaches that known telematics devices can be configured to establish communications with one or more additional third parties, such as a police department or vehicle owner [0016] [0028], thereby for example preventing thieves from imitating a non-stolen vehicle [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the configuration step disclosed by Hering with the known telematics device disclosed by Berkobin in response to receiving the indication and the VIN being transmitted because these steps can be used to notify a third party of a stolen vehicle.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, does not disclose the one or more processors configured to receive, from the management server in response to the indication and the VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of the telematics device for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of the vehicle. Berkobin, as modified by Hering, does not disclose the computer-readable medium is non-transitory.
Jefferies discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions to receive from a management server (970) in response to an indication of a change of VIN condition and a VIN being transmitted, configuration information to configure one or more parameters of a telematics device (“control module”) for enabling communications between the telematics device and one or more components of a vehicle (303) via a vehicle data bus (513) [0121, where the computer-readable medium is non-transitory] [0008, the control module includes at least a processor, modem, antennas and transceivers connected with the processor] [0050, 0054, where the VIN is transmitted to the management server] [0056, 0066 where the server contains a number of tables or associations between vehicles and control modules, and an indication of a change of VIN condition is sent to the server when a control module is installed in a different vehicle and the association is updated by pairing the control module to the new vehicle and unpairing the control module from the old vehicle] [0071, where association or pairing the control module with the new vehicle enables communications between the control module and one or more components, such as the doors, of the new vehicle].
Jefferies teaches that receiving the configuration from the management server allows the telematics device to be correctly associated with a new vehicle when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles [0056]. Jefferies suggests that transferring telematics devices between vehicles would be useful in the context of a fleet of vehicles which are compatible with interchangeable telematics devices, such as a rental car share or agency [0003] [0057]. Jefferies teaches that enabling communications between the telematics device and components of the vehicle is response to information from the management server allows billing to take place based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is installed in, how long the device is installed, etc. [0056, 0058, 0067]. Jeffries teaches that the instructions to enable communications between the telematics device and vehicle components may be executed on any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or by transmitted data signals [0121].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable communications between a telematics device an one or more components of a vehicle in response to receiving configuration information from a remote management server as disclosed by Jefferies using the telematics device in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering, in order to enable vehicle functions when the telematics device is transferred between vehicles of fleet, such as a rental car share, or to enable billing based on a number of vehicles the telematics device is used in or an amount of time the telematics device is used. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to embody the computer executable instructions disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering, on a non-transitory computer readable medium as disclosed by Jeffries because a non-transitory computer readable medium or transmission of control signals are equally effective to enable communications between the telematics device and vehicle components.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications or the configuration information including a bus protocol.
Ban discloses the configuration information including a bus protocol [0078].
Ban teaches that “during the usual offline testing process, the normal operation of the vehicle-mounted equipment is not assessed. If the problematic vehicle-mounted terminal is installed and distributed, the remote service platform will be unable to monitor the vehicle normally, posing a safety hazard and failing to meet relevant requirements, while also increasing after-sales maintenance costs” [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the testing by sending information on the bus protocol to the vehicle-mounted equipment as disclosed by Ban in the vehicle disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, to ensure the remote server will be able to interact normally with vehicle components.
Berkobin, as modified by Hering, Jeffries and Ban, does not disclose reporting, to the management server, hours of service data or vehicle location data in response to the enabled communications.
McClellan discloses reporting to a management server (105) hours of service data in response to enabled communications [0077, where McClellan defines a plurality of conditions in which communications are enabled].
McClellan teaches that hours of service data is information that is normally contained in reporting to federal entities to ensure that drivers do not exceed regulated limits of on the duration of vehicle operation [0013, 0016, 0053].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to report to the management server disclosed by Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, the hours of service data in response to communications being enabled between a telematics device on the vehicle and the server as disclosed by McClellan because hours of service data is a form of data normally transmitted to a management server from fleet vehicles to comply with federal regulations.
Regarding claim 16, Berkobin further discloses computer executable instructions to: transmit, in response to the change of VIN condition occurring, a notification to a computing device indicating the change of VIN condition [0014] [0057].
Regarding claim 17, Berkobin further discloses wherein the sensor data includes data from one or more of an odometer, a location determining system, or an engine hours tracker [0012-0013].
Regarding claim 18, Berkobin further discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: receive the vehicle data from an engine control module (ECM) of the vehicle [0008] [0076] [0081].
Regarding claim 20, Berkobin further discloses computer executable instructions to: configure the one or more parameters of the telematics device for communicating with the one or more components of the vehicle, based on the configuration information [0008-0009] [0034-0035] [0057].
Claim(s) 5, 12 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berkobin (US Patent Application Publication 2014/0343751) in view of Hering (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0071882) in view of Jefferies (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0297398) in view of Ban (CN 107817786 A) in view of McClellan (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0294690) and further in view of Hassib (US Patent Application Publication 2013/0190967).
Regarding claim 5, Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, discloses the method of claim 1 as discussed above but does not disclose maintaining a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data; and adding the vehicle data to the database.
Hassib discloses systems and methods for telematics monitoring and communications (Title) including maintaining a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data, and adding the vehicle data to the database [0050] [0056] [0118].
Hassib teaches that it may be desirable to store a database of vehicle information for actuarial purposes in determining insurance rates and for consumer protection applications related to a vehicle’s operational background [0008] [0041]. A database may provide desired information in an easy to understand format [0056].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the step or function of maintaining the database disclosed by Hassib with the method disclosed by Berkobin to facilitate storage of insurance information and information for consumer protection applications.
Regarding claim 12, Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, discloses the device of claim 8 as discussed above but does not disclose wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: maintain a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data; and add the vehicle data to the database.
Hassib discloses systems and methods for telematics monitoring and communications (Title) including maintaining a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data, and adding the vehicle data to the database [0050] [0056] [0118].
Hassib teaches that it may be desirable to store a database of vehicle information for actuarial purposes in determining insurance rates and for consumer protection applications related to a vehicle’s operational background [0008] [0041]. A database may provide desired information in an easy to understand format [0056].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the step or function of maintaining the database disclosed by Hassib with the device disclosed by Berkobin to facilitate storage of insurance information and information for consumer protection applications.
Regarding claim 19, Berkobin, as modified by Hering and Jeffries, discloses the medium of claim 15 as discussed above but does not disclose computer executable instructions to: maintain a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data; and add the vehicle data to the database.
Hassib discloses systems and methods for telematics monitoring and communications (Title) including maintaining a database of vehicle information including previously stored vehicle data, and adding the vehicle data to the database [0050] [0056] [0118].
Hassib teaches that it may be desirable to store a database of vehicle information for actuarial purposes in determining insurance rates and for consumer protection applications related to a vehicle’s operational background [0008] [0041]. A database may provide desired information in an easy to understand format [0056].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the step or function of maintaining the database disclosed by Hassib with the device disclosed by Berkobin to facilitate storage of insurance information and information for consumer protection applications.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berkobin (US Patent Application Publication 2014/0343751) in view of Hering (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0071882) in view of Jefferies (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0297398) in view of Ban (CN 107817786 A) in view of McClellan (US Patent Application Publication 2008/0294690) and further in view of Hines (US Patent Application Publication 2007/0236342).
Regarding claim 22, Berkobin, as modified by Hering, Jeffries and McClellan, discloses the method of claim 1 as discussed above but does not disclose wherein the telematics device is further configured to alert a driver when one or more vehicle parameters are not within a threshold.
Hines discloses a telematics device (115) that is configured to alert a driver when one or more vehicle parameters are not within a threshold [0030]. Hines teaches that there has been a need in the art to monitor vehicle speed and notify a driver when a speed limit is exceeded since modern cars use improved suspension and noise cancellation techniques that eliminate common passive speed indicators, leading to drivers inadvertently driving with excess speed [0005]. Hines teaches that excess speed can lead to hazardous and up to deadly situations for the driver, other vehicles and pedestrians on the same or adjacent roadways [0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the telematics device disclosed by Berkobin to alert the driver when a vehicle speed is not within a threshold as disclosed by Hines to allow a driver to avoid inadvertently driving with excess speed, thereby preventing speeding violations and hazardous driving situations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor,
Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571) 272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where
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/JOSHUA CAMPBELL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747