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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the Response to the Non-Final Office Action filed September 8, 2025. Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are presently pending and presented for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority based on British Patent Application No. GB1912568.1, filed September 2, 2019.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-7 and 9-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
An updated and detailed rejection follows below.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 11-16, and 20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tascione et al. (US 20180050704; hereinafter Tascione, already of record), in view of Green et al. (US 20170193715; hereinafter Green, already of record), further in view of Sells et al. (US 20090005928; hereinafter Sells), and further in view of Howell et al. (US 20090295559; hereinafter Howell, of record in IDS).
Regarding Claim 1,
Tascione teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture for a vehicle, (Tascione: Abstract) the vehicle comprising a plurality of on-board computing devices for hosting the diagnostics electrical architecture, (Tascione: Paragraph [0009]) and the diagnostics electrical architecture comprising:
one or more electronic control units each comprising a diagnostics server module arranged to perform diagnostic tasks to generate diagnostic object data; (Tascione: Paragraph [0009], [0036]; “The diagnostic system can further monitor the AV's on-board electronic control unit(s) (ECU), which itself can monitor various vehicle systems, such as the engine performance and temperature, chassis control (e.g., steering, braking, and acceleration control assist units), motor generator units (MGUs) (e.g., regenerative braking, turbo energy recovery system, etc.).”)
a service interface module (Tascione: Paragraph [0066], FIG. 5; Computer System 500) arranged to allow diagnostic communication between the one or more electronic control units and a network service bus of the vehicle, (Tascione: Paragraph [0066]; “...the diagnostic system 160, 200 can be implemented using one or more components of the computer system 500 shown in FIG. 5.”) the service interface module being arranged to receive the generated diagnostic object data; (Tascione: Paragraph [0041]; “...the on-board diagnostic system 200 can include a diagnostic aggregator 250 that can receive the diagnostic data 237 from each of the interfaces, and parse the diagnostic data 237 based on the data source or the particular AV system 280 or component of that system from which the diagnostic data 237 originated.”) and,
...
wherein the service interface module is arranged to transmit a diagnostic service notification over the network service bus,... (Tascione: Paragraph [0067]-[0068]; “...the computer system 500 can include a communication interface 550 that can enable communications over a network 560.”)
...
Tascione does not teach
...
a diagnostic services registry module arranged to store diagnostic services data indicative of diagnostic services provided by the service interface module, the diagnostic services data comprising diagnostic capability descriptions of the generated diagnostic object data,
...the diagnostic service notification being based on the generated diagnostic object data and the diagnostic services data retrieved from the diagnostic services registry.
wherein the diagnostic services registry module is further arranged to allow modules on-board and off-board the vehicle to subscribe thereto such that the modules dynamically learn the diagnostic services provided by the service interface module,
wherein the diagnostics electrical architecture is a hierarchical architecture having a component diagnostic layer, a system diagnostic layer, and a vehicle diagnostic layer at a higher level of the architecture than the system diagnostic layer.
However in the same field of endeavor, Green teaches
...
a diagnostic services registry module arranged to store diagnostic services data indicative of diagnostic services provided by the service interface module, (Green: Paragraph [0060]; Computing Device 110) the diagnostic services data comprising diagnostic capability descriptions of the generated diagnostic object data, (Green: Paragraph [0053])
...the diagnostic service notification being based on the generated diagnostic object data and the diagnostic services data retrieved from the diagnostic services registry. (Green: Paragraph [0048]; “The computer-executable instructions include a software application that, when executed by a processor, configures the processor to: output a catalog of diagnostic software modules available for utilization by a vehicle maintenance technician for analysis of vehicle data associated with a motor vehicle;”)
...
It would be obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the electrical diagnostics architecture of Tascione with the subscription based diagnostic services of Green for the benefit of providing cost effective distribution and utilization of software for diagnostic tools. (Green: Paragraph [0009])
Tascione, in view of Green, does not teach
...
wherein the diagnostic services registry module is further arranged to allow modules on-board and off-board the vehicle to subscribe thereto such that the modules dynamically learn the diagnostic services provided by the service interface module,
wherein the diagnostics electrical architecture is a hierarchical architecture having a component diagnostic layer, a system diagnostic layer, and a vehicle diagnostic layer at a higher level of the architecture than the system diagnostic layer.
However in the same field of endeavor, Sells teaches
...
wherein the diagnostic services registry module is further arranged to allow modules on-board and off-board the vehicle to subscribe thereto (Sells: Paragraph [0024]-[0025], [0028], [0035]; “...controller 24 and/or off-board system 22 may determine if machine 10 has a valid subscription to the visual diagnostic service. For example, controller 24 and/or off-board system 22 may search customer subscription information 52a for a subscription profile associated with the machine serial number contained on controller 24.”) such that the modules dynamically learn the diagnostic services provided by the service interface module, (Sells: Paragraph [0035]; “If such a profile is found, controller 24 and/or off-board system 22 may determine if the subscription is valid (e.g., has not expired, payments are up-to-date, etc.). If the subscription is valid, access may be granted to the visual diagnostic system.” Access to the “Visual Diagnostic Service” is given to the system when it is determined that the subscription is valid and up to date. Once the subscription is confirmed, the system is allowed to interface with and utilize the “Visual Diagnostic Service” (i.e. The module learns the diagnostic service(s) provided by service interface module); and [0036])
...
It would be obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the electrical diagnostics architecture of Tascione and Green with the diagnostic services subscription and services learning of Sells for the benefit of helping prevent downtime which can result in significant economic losses and missed deadlines. (Sells: Paragraph [0003], [0005])
Tascione, in view of Green, and further in view of Sells, does not teach
...
wherein the diagnostics electrical architecture is a hierarchical architecture having a component diagnostic layer, a system diagnostic layer, and a vehicle diagnostic layer at a higher level of the architecture than the system diagnostic layer.
However in the same field of endeavor, Howell teaches
...
wherein the diagnostics electrical architecture is a hierarchical architecture having a component diagnostic layer, (Howell: Paragraph [0015]-[0017], FIG. 1; Steering sub-system 20, Braking Sub-System 22, Engine Sub-System 24, Transmission Sub-System 26, Security Sub-System 28 and Air Bag Sub-System 30) a system diagnostic layer, (Howell: Paragraph [0015] -[0017] , FIG. 1; Vehicle Chassis System 14, Vehicle Powertrain System 16, and Vehicle Body System 18) and a vehicle diagnostic layer at a higher level of the architecture than the system diagnostic layer. (Howell: Paragraph [0015] -[0017] , FIG. 1; Vehicle Supervisor 12)
It would be obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the electrical diagnostics architecture of Tascione, Green, and Sells, with the electrical architecture of Howell for the benefit of scalable and flexible diagnostic architecture that enables the dynamic integration of multiple faults. (Howell: Paragraph [0014])
Regarding Claim 2,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the diagnostic service notification is generated in response to a change in diagnostic capabilities provided by the service interface module; (Green: Paragraph [0132]-[0133]; The system is able to send out notifications of inactive or expired service agreements. Update in change of subscription.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 3,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the diagnostic service notification is generated in response to a request for diagnostic capabilities received by the service interface module; (Green: Paragraph [0123]; The system is configured to send and receive data from the diagnostic application.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 4,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the generated service notification is transmitted off-board the vehicle. (Green: Paragraph [0043], [0045], [0051])
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 5,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the generated diagnostic capability notification is used to update the diagnostic register module. (Green: Paragraph [0065], [0098]; “Further, the digital distribution platform can provide updates to the diagnostic software application 112. The updates may include modifications to the diagnostic software application 112 as well as updates or changes to diagnostic software modules accessible therefrom.”)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 11,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A vehicle comprising a network architecture having a plurality of computing devices and hosting the diagnostics electrical architecture of Claim 1. (Tascione: Paragraph [0068])
Regarding Claim 12, the claim is analogous to Claim 1 limitations with the following additional limitations:
...
receiving into the service interface module the generated diagnostic object data; (Green: Paragraph [0123]; The system is configured to send and receive data from the diagnostic application)
retrieving diagnostic services data from the diagnostic service registry module, (Green: Paragraph [0073]; retrieving subscription level. The system checks to see if the vehicle requesting diagnostics is authorized to receive certain diagnostics.)
...
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 13,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the method of Claim 12. (Green: Paragraph [0041])
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 14
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the change in diagnostic capabilities is caused by an addition or removal of diagnostic tasks performed by the one or more electronic control units; (Green: Paragraph [0133]; The diagnostics system can deactivate or delete data associated with inactive service agreements.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 15
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the change in diagnostic capabilities is caused by addition or removal of an electronic control unit associated with the service interface module. (Green: Paragraph [0133]; Inactive service agreements cause the system to deactivate or delete associated diagnostic modules.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 16
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the request for diagnostic capabilities is received from a diagnostic tester off- board the vehicle. (Green: Paragraph [0097]-[0098]; The Diagnostic Application is in communication with a remote sever and technician.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 20,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the supervisory-level diagnostic service notification is used to update the diagnostic services registry module. (Green: Paragraph [0096]-[0098]; The Diagnostic Application is capable of locking and unlocking modules based on the subscription level of the user and is able to update the server with information regarding the subscription level.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, and Howell, is the same as stated for Claim 1 above.
Claims 7, 10, and 17-19, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tascione, in view of Green, in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, as applied to claims 1-5 and 11-13, above, and further in view of Chou et al. (US 6330499; hereinafter Chou, of record in IDS).
Regarding Claim 7,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1,...
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, does not teach
...wherein the vehicle service bus comprises an Ethernet backbone network; optionally the service interface module is directly connected to the Ethernet backbone network
However in the same field of endeavor, Chou teaches
...wherein the vehicle service bus comprises an Ethernet backbone network. (Chou: Column 3, Line 32-41)
It would be obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the electrical architecture of Tascione, in view of Green, and further in view of Sells, with the Ethernet backbone of Chou for the benefit of providing timely feedback to solve engineering and manufacturing problems. (Chou: Column 2, Line 1)
Regarding Claim 10,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, further in view of Howell, and further in view of Chou, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the diagnostics electrical architecture comprises at least one supervisory diagnostic layer, (Chou: Column 4, Line 39-43, FIG. 3; Client Computer Device (101)) and the component diagnostic layer comprises the one or more electronic units; (Chou: Column 4, Line 15-19, FIG. 3; ECU(s) (103) are connected to the Vehicle Bus Interface.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, Howell, and Chou, is the same as stated for Claim 7 above.
Regarding Claim 17
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, further in view of Howell, and further in view of Chou, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 10, wherein the at least one supervisory diagnostic layer comprises the service interface module; (Chou: Column 4, Line 54-61, FIG. 3; Fault Monitor (420))
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, Howell, and Chou, is the same as stated for Claim 7 above.
Regarding Claim 18
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, further in view of Howell, and further in view of Chou, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 10, wherein the at least one supervisory diagnostic layer comprises the diagnostic services registry module; (Green: Paragraph [0060]; The Diagnostic Application is installed on a mobile device which is in communication with the vehicle in a similar way as the Client Computer Device of Chou is in communication with the Vehicle Bus Interface. Therefore, the Diagnostic Application would be installed on the Client Computer Device and said device would have the functionalities described in Green. The Diagnostic Application stores information on the user profile and service agreement/level which indicates the diagnostic capabilities of the vehicle.)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, Howell, and Chou, is the same as stated for Claim 7 above.
Regarding Claim 19
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, further in view of Howell, and further in view of Chou, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, wherein the at least one supervisory diagnostic layer comprises a system diagnostic layer and a vehicle diagnostic layer at a higher level of the architecture than the system diagnostic layer, (Chou: Column 6, Line 55 – Column 7, Line 3, FIG. 3; Fault Monitor (420) is the system diagnostic layer and Diagnostic Client (421) is the vehicle diagnostic layer.) the vehicle diagnostic layer comprising the service interface module, (Chou: Column 6, Line 62 – Column 7, Line 3; The diagnostic client collects and classifies the trouble codes received from the ECU.) and the system diagnostic layer comprising an application service module comprising a local diagnostic agent arranged to aggregate the generated diagnostic service notifications received from the electronic control units to generate a supervisory-level diagnostic service notification. (Chou: Column 6, Line 55-61)
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, Howell, and Chou, is the same as stated for Claim 7 above.
Claims 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, as applied to claims 1-5 and 11-13, above, and further in view of Acharya et al. (US 20190268420; hereinafter Acharya, already of record).
Regarding Claim 6,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1,...
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, does not teach
...wherein the service interface module is deployed on communication middleware on one or more of the on-board computing devices.
However in the same field of endeavor, Acharya teaches
...wherein the service interface module is deployed on communication middleware on one or more of the on-board computing devices. (Acharya: Paragraph [0167])
It would be obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic diagnostics architecture of Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, and further in view of Howell, with the middleware of Acharya for the benefit of monitoring the software updates and diagnose and/or correct failures in the software updates. (Acharya: Paragraph [0169])
Regarding Claim 9,
Tascione, in view of Green, further in view of Sells, further in view of Howell, and further in view of Acharya, teaches
A diagnostics electrical architecture according to Claim 1, the diagnostics electrical architecture being arranged to provide conversion between Unified Diagnostics Services (UDS) protocol communication and service-oriented diagnostics communication. (Acharya: Paragraph [0048], [0070], [0102])
The motivation to combine Tascione, Green, Sells, Howell, and Acharya, is the same as stated for Claim 6 above.
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 should be directed to PAULO ROBERTO GONZALEZ LEITE whose telephone number is (571)272-5877. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
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/P.R.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3663 /ABBY J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663