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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1, 3, 5-14, and 16-20 have been amended. Claims 2, 4, and 15 have been canceled. Claim 22 has been added.
Claims 1, 3, 5-14, and 16-22 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 11-13, filed 07/15/2025, with respect to claims 1-3 and 5-21 rejections under 35 USC 112(a) and 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 112(a) and 112(b) rejections of claims 1-3 and 5-21 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 13-14, with respect to claims 1-3 and 5-21 rejections under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 101 rejections of claims 1-3 and 5-21 have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-3, 5-13, 15-17, and 19-20 rejections under 35 USC 102(a)(1) and claims 14, 18, and 21 rejections under 35 USC 103, respectively, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments pertain to newly amended claim limitations that were not addressed in the prior Office Action of record dated 03/26/2025, and will be described in the detailed rejection below.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5-13, 16-17, 19-20, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (20170132923; hereinafter Li, already of record) in view of Aoude et al. (10235882; hereinafter Aoude).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches a method comprising (Li: Abstract):
generating at least one computed datum using a computing device based on measured or sensed data, the at least one computed datum indicating a road comportment status relating to a behavior of a first vulnerable road user on a road, which is a person (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data, wherein the preset sharing condition includes that the front road condition forces running vehicles to stop or slow down ... the first V2X communication module 104 generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27):
generating, by a communication terminal belonging to the first vulnerable road user, an awareness message, which integrates the at least one computed datum indicating the behavior of the first vulnerable road user (Li: “the first vehicle terminal 10 includes an acquisition module 102 and a first vehicle and peripheral device (Vehicle-to-X, V2X) communication module 104 which are respectively connected with a first processor 106; wherein the acquisition module 102 is used for acquiring current road condition data when detecting that the current road condition accords with a sharing condition ... the first V2X communication module 104 is used for sharing the running data sharing packet to a vehicular temporary network as a first broadcast message” ¶ 21), the awareness message being intended for at least one assistance device of a second road user, which is a person sharing the road with the first vulnerable road user and configured to command a vehicle of the second road user to adapt its comportment on the road (Li: “The second vehicle terminal 20 includes a second V2X communication module 202; wherein the second V2X communication module 202 is used for receiving the first broadcast message” ¶ 22, “the second V2X communication module 202 is used for acquiring the running data sharing packet from the first broadcast message, generating a second broadcast message” ¶ 51); and
transmitting the awareness message to for the at least one assistance device of the second road user using the communication terminal of the first vulnerable road user (Li: “the first V2X communication module 104 generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27, see also ¶ 28, wherein:
the first vulnerable road user is a pedestrian or a person using a non-motorized vehicle (see obviousness discussion below pertaining to Aoude);
the second road user is a user of a motorized vehicle (Li: “the second vehicle terminal 20 shares the running data sharing packet to the vehicular temporary network of the second vehicle” ¶ 28): and
the transmitted awareness message is configured to cause the assistance device of the second road user to generate a warning awareness message (Li: “the second display 208 is used for displaying the marked map data and displaying the adjusted running route information” ¶ 51) and/or issue a command that controls the motorized vehicle.
While Li does not explicitly recite that the first vulnerable road user is a pedestrian or a person using a non-motorized vehicle, in a similar field of endeavor, Aoude teaches the claim limitation of the first vulnerable road user being a pedestrian (Aoude: “The alert can also be sent directly through the cellular or other network to a mobile phone or other device equipped to receive alerts and possessed by a pedestrian ... The system can also track pedestrians and broadcast information related to their state (position, speed, and other parameters) to the other entities so that the other entities can take action to avoid dangerous situations” Col. 11 Lines 41-52). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of effective filing and with a reasonable expectation for success, to have modified the communication system of Li so that it explicitly includes the element of the first vulnerable user as being a pedestrian, as taught by Aoude, in order to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety (Aoude: Col. 9 Lines 26-39, Col. 11 Lines 49-52).
Regarding claim 3, Li in view of Aoude teaches wherein generating the at least one computed datum includes a computation type of at least one of the following types (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data ... the first V2X communication module 104 generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27, see also ¶ 29, 31):
a computation on the basis of at least one measured datum regarding a current status of the first vulnerable road user (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data” ¶ 27, see also ¶ 29, 31);
a navigation computation allowing information relating to a route to be reproduced for the first vulnerable road user (Li: “no matter the front vehicle or the rear vehicle acquiring the front road condition (e.g. bump, pit, jam, accumulated water, a large amount of large-sized transport vehicles and the like) in time can benefit the rear vehicle to make a running route planning or a driving operation” ¶ 18, see also ¶ 43, 48, 51); and
a prediction computation for predicting a route on the basis of data regarding the current status of the first vulnerable road user (Li: “running data sharing packet to a vehicular temporary network as a first broadcast message; the first processor 106 is further used for adjusting running route information according to the road condition data to obtain adjusted running route information” ¶ 43, see also 48, 51, 53, 73).
Regarding claim 5, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein transmitting the awareness message comprises at least one of the following types:
a direct transmission for an assistance device of the at least one assistance device of the second road user that is situated in a transmission cell of the first vulnerable road user (Li: Fig. 1 Elements 10, 20, “the second V2X communication module 202 is used for acquiring the running data sharing packet from the first broadcast message, generating a second broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet, and sharing the second broadcast message to the vehicular temporary network” ¶ 51, see also ¶ 58), and
a transmission via a mobile communication network (Li: Fig. 1 Element 10, 20, 30, Fig. 5 , “When the fixed terminal 30 and the second vehicle terminal 20 are in the same vehicular temporary network, the fixed terminal 30 may receive the second broadcast message sent by the vehicular temporary network of the second vehicle terminal 20” ¶ 58, see also ¶ 51).
Regarding claim 6, Li teaches a method for assisting a second road user, which is a person, the method being implemented by an assistance device of the second road user and comprising (Li: Abstract):
receiving an awareness message from a communication terminal of the first vulnerable road user, the awareness message integrating at least one computed datum indicating a road comportment status relating to a behavior of the first vulnerable road user on the road (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data, wherein the preset sharing condition includes that the front road condition forces running vehicles to stop or slow down ... the first V2X communication module 104 generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27, “the second vehicle terminals 20 in the established vehicular temporary network can acquire the first broadcast message send by the first V2X communication module 104” ¶ 28);
processing the awareness on the basis of at least one datum regarding a status of the second road user (Li: “the second vehicle terminal 20 analyzes the first broadcast message to obtain the running data sharing packet, and then the second vehicle terminal 20 shares the running data sharing packet to the vehicular temporary network of the second vehicle through the second V2X communication module 202” ¶ 28); and
performing an action using the assistance device based on the processing of the awareness message comprising (Li: “adjusting the running route information according to the road condition position data to obtain adjusted running route information” ¶ 51):
generating a warning awareness message (Li: “the second display 208 is used for displaying the marked map data and displaying the adjusted running route information” ¶ 51); and/or
issuing a command that controls the motorized vehicle,
wherein:
the first vulnerable road user is a pedestrian or a person using a non-motorized vehicle (see obviousness discussion below pertaining to Aoude); and
the second road user is a user of a motorized vehicle (Li: “the second vehicle terminal 20 shares the running data sharing packet to the vehicular temporary network of the second vehicle” ¶ 28).
While Li does not explicitly recite that the first vulnerable road user is a pedestrian or a person using a non-motorized vehicle, in a similar field of endeavor, Aoude teaches the claim limitation of the first vulnerable road user being a pedestrian (Aoude: “The alert can also be sent directly through the cellular or other network to a mobile phone or other device equipped to receive alerts and possessed by a pedestrian ... The system can also track pedestrians and broadcast information related to their state (position, speed, and other parameters) to the other entities so that the other entities can take action to avoid dangerous situations” Col. 11 Lines 41-52). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of effective filing and with a reasonable expectation for success, to have modified the communication system of Li so that it explicitly includes the element of the first vulnerable user as being a pedestrian, as taught by Aoude, in order to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety (Aoude: Col. 9 Lines 26-39, Col. 11 Lines 49-52).
Regarding claim 7, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the processing comprises modifying a driving assistance datum on the basis of the awareness message and the at least one datum regarding the status of the second road user (Li: “the second V2X communication module 202 is used for acquiring the running data sharing packet from the first broadcast message, generating a second broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet, and sharing the second broadcast message to the vehicular temporary network ... acquiring current running route information, and adjusting the running route information according to the road condition position data to obtain adjusted running route information” ¶ 51, see also ¶ 48, 53, 90).
Regarding claim 8, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein performing the action comprising generating the warning awareness message for the second road user if a result of the processing identifies a risk. (Li: “the road condition data not only can be shared on the basis of V2X communication technology, but also can assist a vehicle in planning a subsequent running route ... The first display 110 may display the front road condition picture data, and display the adjusted running route information and the like for a user” ¶ 48, see also ¶ 41, 93)
Regarding claim 9, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the processing comprises a computation of an updated route on the basis of the awareness message and the at least one datum regarding the status of the second road user (Li: “the second V2X communication module 202 is used for acquiring the running data sharing packet from the first broadcast message, generating a second broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet, and sharing the second broadcast message to the vehicular temporary network ... acquiring current vehicle position data; the second processor 204 is used for acquiring the road condition position data from the road condition data” ¶ 51, Note: Wherein the second communication module is based on the second road user, see also ¶ 22, 28, 53).
Regarding claim 10, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein a performing the action comprises issuing the command that controls the motorized vehicle through a piece of equipment selected from the group consisting of a brake, a steering wheel, and an accelerator (Li: “no matter the front vehicle or the rear vehicle acquiring the front road condition (e.g. bump, pit, jam, accumulated water, a large amount of large-sized transport vehicles and the like) in time can benefit the rear vehicle to make a running route planning or a driving operation (e.g. braking, overtaking and the like)” ¶ 18).
Regarding claim 11, Li teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code instructions stored thereon for executing a method when said program is executed by a processor (Li: “It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, devices or computer program products ...” ¶ 97, see also ¶ 98, 99, 100)
In regards to the remainder of claim 11, the claim recites analogous limitations to previously rejected claim 1, and is therefore rejected under the same premise.
Regarding claim 16, Li in view of Aoude teaches the driving assistance device according to claim 13, wherein the action comprises issuing the command and the command is configured to adjust at least one of a route (Li: “In this embodiment, the road condition data not only can be shared on the basis of V2X communication technology, but also can assist a vehicle in planning a subsequent running route ... adjust the running route information according to the front road condition information to obtain adjusted running route information”), a direction of travel and a speed of the second road user.
Regarding claim 17, Li teaches the driving assistance device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to identify a risk based on the processing of the awareness message (“the second V2X communication module 202 is used for acquiring the running data sharing packet from the first broadcast message ... the second processor 204 is used for acquiring the road condition position data from the road condition data” ¶ 51), and the action is selected from the group consisting of:
generating a warning message for the second road user based on the identified risk (Li: “acquiring current running route information, and adjusting the running route information according to the road condition position data to obtain adjusted running route information; the second display 208 is used for displaying the marked map data and displaying the adjusted running route information” ¶ 51);
changing movement of the motorized vehicle of the second road user based on the identified risk (Li: “a running route planning or a driving operation (e.g. braking, overtaking and the like)” ¶ 18); and
adjusting a route of the motorized vehicle of the second road user based on the identified risk (Li: “the second display 208 is used for displaying the marked map data and displaying the adjusted running route information” ¶ 51).
Regarding claim 22, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving the awareness message using the assistance device of the second road user (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data, wherein the preset sharing condition includes that the front road condition forces running vehicles to stop or slow down ... the first V2X communication module 104 generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27, “the second vehicle terminals 20 in the established vehicular temporary network can acquire the first broadcast message send by the first V2X communication module 104” ¶ 28);
processing the awareness message on the basis of at least one datum regarding a status of the second road user (Li: “the second vehicle terminal 20 analyzes the first broadcast message to obtain the running data sharing packet, and then the second vehicle terminal 20 shares the running data sharing packet to the vehicular temporary network of the second vehicle through the second V2X communication module 202” ¶ 28); and
performing an action using the assistance device based on the processing of the awareness message comprising:
generating a warning awareness message (Li: “adjusting the running route information according to the road condition position data to obtain adjusted running route information” ¶ 51); and/or
issuing a command that controls the motorized vehicle.
In regards to claim(s) 12 and 13, the claim(s) recite analogous limitations to claim(s) 1 and 6, respectively, and are therefore rejected under the same premise.
In regards to claim(s) 19 and 20, the claim(s) recite analogous limitations to claim(s) 16 and 17, and are therefore rejected under the same premise.
Claim(s) 14, 18, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Aoude, as applied to claims 1, 3, 5-13, 16-17, 19-20, and 22, in further view of Ross et al. (20170108875; hereinafter Ross, already of record).
Regarding claim 14, Li in view of Aoude teaches the assistance device according to claim 13, wherein the assistance device is implemented in a device from among a group consisting of:
a driving aid device, (Li: ¶ 18)
a navigation device, (Li: ¶ 43)
a control device of the motorized vehicle,
an autonomous driving device (see obviousness discussion below pertaining to Ross).
While Li remains silent regarding a control device of the motorized vehicle, an autonomous driving device, in a similar field of endeavor, Ross teaches the claim limitation of a control device of the motorized vehicle and an autonomous driving device (Ross: “One or more of the vehicles 150 may include controllers 180 that represent hardware circuitry that includes and/or is connected with one or more processors (e.g., microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, and/or integrated circuits) that can control movement of the vehicles” ¶ 23, “Operations of the vehicle may be controlled (e.g., autonomously) based on the updated information” ¶ 18). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of effective filing and with a reasonable expectation for success, to have modified the driving assistance system of Li so that it also includes the element of a vehicle control device and an autonomous vehicle, as taught by Ross, in order to improve wireless and automated communication and control of the vehicle (Ross: ¶ 47).
Regarding claim 18, Li in view of Aoude teaches the method of claim 1, wherein:
the communication terminal includes or forms the computing device ((Li: “It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, devices or computer program products ...” ¶ 97, see also ¶ 98, 99, 100);
generating the at least one computed datum comprises (Li: “the acquisition module 102 of the first vehicle terminal 10 detects the running road condition in real time, and when detecting that the front road condition accords with a sharing condition, the acquisition module 102 takes charge of data acquisition on the front road condition to obtain road condition data, ... generates a first broadcast message according to the running data sharing packet and shares the first broadcast message to a vehicular temporary network through wireless communication” ¶ 27):
measuring an acceleration of the communication terminal using an accelerometer of the communication terminal (see obviousness discussion below pertaining to Ross), and
generating the at least one computed datum (Li: (“the acquisition module 102 is used for acquiring current road condition data when detecting that the current road condition accords with a sharing condition” ¶ 21, see also ¶ 18) based on the measured acceleration using the communication terminal (see obviousness discussion below pertaining to Ross).
While Li remains silent regarding measuring an acceleration of the communication terminal using an accelerometer of the communication terminal ... based on the measured acceleration using the communication terminal, in a similar field of endeavor, Ross teaches the claim limitation of an accelerometer to measure acceleration (Ross: “another data source 170 may be an accelerometer determining vibrations or accelerations of the vehicle 150 as the vehicle information” ¶ 22). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of effective filing and with a reasonable expectation for success, to have modified the data collection system of Li so that it also includes the element of an accelerometer, as taught by Ross, in order to improve status determination with vehicle movement (Ross: ¶ 22).
In regards to claim(s) 21, the claim(s) recite analogous limitations to claim(s) 18, and are therefore rejected under the same premise.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Uchiyama (20180324694) is in the similar field of endeavor as the claimed invention of communication systems.
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.
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/C.P./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ABBY J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663