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 .
Prior art cited in this office action:
Seki et al. (JP 2013062694 A, hereinafter “Seki”)
Bolton et al. (US 20160176375 A1, hereinafter “Bolton”)
Ogino (US 20100250052 A1, hereinafter “Ogino”)
Ui Shuichi (JP 2013244914 A, hereinafter “Shuichi”)
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/09/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 7-11, 13, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seki et al. (JP 2013062694 A, hereinafter “Seki”) in view of Bolton et al. (US 20160176375 A1, hereinafter “Bolton”) and in view of Ogino (US 20100250052 A1, hereinafter “Ogino”) and in view of Ui Shuichi (JP 2013244914 A, hereinafter “Shuichi”).
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 19:
Seki teaches an information processing device comprising a control unit (Seki [0007]-[0010], [0016]-[0019], where Seki teaches a communication system for sharing information between a seat <sheet> layout environment (a vehicle for example) and a portable terminal network device such as a tablet) that executes:
acquiring an output of a sensor that detects an object or bag on each of a plurality of seats of a vehicle (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0030], where Seki teaches information regarding whether a seat is occupied or not is obtained for each seat of the vehicle);
setting a seat setting for a seat on which the body of matter is not detected as able to be operated and setting a seat setting for a seat on which the body of matter is detected as not able to be operated (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]);
generating information regarding a permitted seat arrangement based on the seat settings (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032], where Seki teaches Furthermore, the vehicle control device 10 can determine whether the seat 103 or the like is movable, and can transmit the determination result to the portable information terminal 2 as movable seat information. For example, when the vehicle speed sensor 109 detects that the vehicle is moving, the vehicle control device 10 can determine that all the seats cannot be moved. Further, when a load is placed on the sheet 104 (FIG. 4A), the load may drop due to the movement of the sheet 104. Therefore, the vehicle control device 10 may determine that the seat 104 cannot be moved. However, even when a baggage is placed on the seat 104, if the seat sensor 104a detects that there is no object ahead, the vehicle control device 10 determines that the seat 105 is movable. A Further, when a person is seating on the seat 104 (FIG. 4B), the vehicle control device 10 may determine that the seat 104 and the seat 103 in front of the seat 104 cannot be moved for safety. . When the backrest of the seat 103 is greatly inclined (FIG. 4C), the vehicle control device 10 determines that the seat 103 is movable, and determines that the seat 104 is not movable for safety. May be. Furthermore, when the number of movable seats is one or more than a certain number, the vehicle control device 10 may determine that all the seats 103 to 108 cannot be moved. Thus, the vehicle control device 10 can determine whether each seat is movable based on information from the seat sensor 103a and the like. The determination criteria can be stored in the vehicle control device 10 in advance, and the determination criteria may be modified by the user according to the actual usage);
transmitting information regarding a permitted seat arrangement to a user terminal based on the output of the sensor (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032], where Seki teaches transmitting information to indicate whether a seat is occupied or not and allow for seat arrangement such that the seat is movable if it is determined that the seat is not occupied); and
based upon the information regarding the permitted seat arrangement transmitted to the user terminal when the predetermined conditions are met, displaying, on the user terminal, an image corresponding to a current seat state of the plurality of seats based on the information regarding the permitted seat arrangement, wherein a seat that cannot be operated is marked as being immovable and a seat that can be operated is marked as movable (Seki [0031], Seki teaches Furthermore, the vehicle control device 10 can determine whether the seat 103 or the like is movable, and can transmit the determination result to the portable information terminal 2 as movable seat information).
after transmitting the information regarding the permitted seat arrangement to the user terminal, receiving information regarding a request for seat arrangement from the user terminal and then transmitting a command to the vehicle to start performing the seat arrangement in accordance with the request (Seiki [0036]-[0041], FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing screens 2G to 2H for command input displayed when the user selects the custom mode. The user can adjust the seat position of the selected sheet on the screen and the inclination angle of the backrest by sliding the finger in the direction of the arrow displayed on the screen (screen 2G). Since the display of the sheet layout on the screen changes according to the movement of the user's finger, the user can adjust the sheet layout visually and intuitively. When the adjustment of one sheet is completed, the user can further select and adjust another sheet (screen 2H). In this way, after the user adjusts all the sheets whose sheet layout is to be changed, the user selects the “change determination” button on the screen, thereby determining the sheet layout change as displayed on the screen. Thereafter, a command for actually changing the seat layout of the vehicle is transmitted to the vehicle control device 10);
Seki fails to explicitly use the term “body matter” . However, the office interprets the “body of matter” and gives it the broadest reasonable interpretation as define in the dictionary, a body of matter can be any object such as bags, a person, a pet, etc. therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the system to not only detect the object listed above that is on the seat but any object that the applicant is referring to as “body of matter”.
Seiki fails to explicitly teach receiving, from the vehicle, a detection status of an electronic key of the vehicle and an activation status of the vehicle based on whether an ignition switch has been pressed to shut down the vehicle;
determining whether the electronic key is detected by the vehicle based on the detection status;
determining whether the function of the vehicle is stopped based on the activation status;
acquiring the output of the sensor of the vehicle while performing the seat arrangement in the vehicle; and
transmitting a command to the vehicle to stop performing the seat arrangement when the control unit determines based on the output of the sensor that there is a body of matter on a seat that is being operated during the performing of the seat arrangement.
However, Bolton teaches a remote automatic closure of power windows, sun roof and convertible top, wherein a processor is configured for receiving detection of a key fob, detecting if windows, Sun Roof or convertible closure is activated. Determining if the closing of the windows, the Sun Roof or the convertible top is stopped based on the detection of a person in the vehicle, for example. (Bolton [0018], [0034]-[0035], [0038]-[0039], [0042]). Bolton further teaches in the absence of a detected humanoid shape, program instructions executed a processor cause it to monitor a sunroof control switch, a precipitation detector or a passive entry system for signals indicating that the windows, top or sun roof should be closed. When such a signal is received, the processor sends a signal to the motor controller, which causes the motor controller to operate the window motor, sun roof motor or convertible top motor continuously, until the sunroof is fully closed. Humanoid detectors are monitored continuously during operation of a closure motor and if a humanoid is subsequently detected, the processor stops the motor until the motor can be operated safely, i.e., without someone being around the vehicle where they might be injured by the automatic closure (Bolton [0018]). Shuichi further teaches the seat position control device 1 monitors whether the driving state of the vehicle is continued. Whether or not the vehicle is in a driving state can be appropriately detected by the driving detection means 14. For example, if the shift lever is in the P range (step S10), the ignition switch is off, and the seat belt is not attached, it can be determined that the driving of the vehicle is finished (driving stop) (step S11). , S12). In addition to the above state, it may be determined by adding a state such as door opening / closing. When it is determined that the operation is stopped, the seat height setting means 15 reads the driving distance D stored in step S9 from the memory, and compares the driving distance D with a predetermined value d if the driving distance D is less than the predetermined value d in step S13, the boarding / exiting seat height H ′ is set so that the getting-on / off distance D ′ becomes the predetermined value d (step S14). And the boarding / alighting position control means 16 moves an electric seat to the position used as the set boarding surface height H 'at the time of boarding / alighting (step S15).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Seiki, Bolton and Shuichi as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to modify the system of Seiki such that detection of the electronic key fob is detected and/or the location of the key fob as one of the output sensors, determining if the ignition is switch off and whether there are other obstruction to the seat adjustment, and continue to monitor the body of matter on the seat to determine whether the body of matter become unstable on the seat and may drop as a result stop and transmit to the terminal that the seat cannot be moved, in order to increase safety and avoiding the moving of the seat while under certain conditions desired by the operator and/or the vehicle manufacturer.
The combination above fails to explicitly transmitting information regarding a permitted seat arrangement to a user terminal based on the output of the sensor when the control unit determines that the electronic key is not detected inside the vehicle and that the function of the vehicle is stopped and based on whether an ignition has been pressed to shut down the vehicle, the seat arrangement failure image including a reason for stopping an operation of the seat and being displayed on the user terminal.
However, Ogino teaches an in-vehicle monitor for monitoring vehicle status wherein controller controls the display to output image output information, which shows the existence of the obstacle. Then, the process ends. Thus, the monitor notifies the user of existence of the obstacle such as determines whether the obstacle exists near the seat so that the obstacle is stuck when the seat is operated. Based on the determination of possibility of sticking the obstacle with the seat, the controller determines allowance of the displacing the seat. When a remote keyless entry (RKE) is used the user is disposed outside of the vehicle. Further, the controller 11 controls the communication ECU 30 to transmit the information of existence of the obstacle to the mobile terminal 19 or another cell phone carried by the user. Further, the controller 11 controls the display 21 to output image output information, which shows the existence of the obstacle. Then, the process ends. Thus, the monitor 10 notifies the user of existence of the obstacle. Then, the process ends. (Ogino [0005]-[0006], [0013]-[0032], [0044]-[0049], fig. 4).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Seiki, Bolton Shuichi and Ogino as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to transmit the status of the allowed seat arrangement to a user display when the key is not detected and there is an obstacle that prevent the seat arrangement, in order to alert the user to take appropriate action to avoid destroying and object left in the car or liquid or chemical if the seat art not properly arranged, or whether a child is left in the car that prevent certain seat arrangement.
The combination fails to teach explicitly wherein when the command to the vehicle to stop performing the seat arrangement is transmitted, sending a notification of a seat arrangement failure to the user terminal, wherein the notification of the seat arrangement failure includes a seat arrangement failure image displayed on the user terminal.
However, Seiki teaches the vehicle control device 10 can determine whether the seat 103 or the like is movable, and can transmit the determination result to the portable information terminal 2 as movable seat information. For example, when the vehicle speed sensor 109 detects that the vehicle is moving, the vehicle control device 10 can determine that all the seats cannot be moved (Seiki fig 4 and corresponding paragraphs) Seiki further teaches . FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing screens 2D and 2E indicating the current actual vehicle seat layout and whether or not each seat is movable after communication is established. In the screen 2D, the non-movable sheet is displayed dark (black). On the screen 2E, when all seats are displayed dark (black), the sheet layout cannot be changed at all, and therefore only the “end” button for ending the application 215 is displayed (Seiki figure 8 and corresponding paragraphs). In other words, the status of the of the seats that can show whether the action was successful or not is obvious. And Bolton teaches in the absence of a detected humanoid shape, program instructions executed a processor cause it to monitor a sunroof control switch, a precipitation detector or a passive entry system for signals indicating that the windows, top or sun roof should be closed. When such a signal is received, the processor sends a signal to the motor controller, which causes the motor controller to operate the window motor, sun roof motor or convertible top motor continuously, until the sunroof is fully closed. Humanoid detectors are monitored continuously during operation of a closure motor and if a humanoid is subsequently detected, the processor stops the motor until the motor can be operated safely, i.e., without someone being around the vehicle where they might be injured by the automatic closure (Bolton [0018], claim 19). Ogino further teaches Ogino teaches since the obstacle exists in the one of the detection areas R1-R3 (the action fails/cannot be performed), and the operation instruction is input by the operation switch 18, the user is disposed in the vehicle. Thus, in this case, the controller 11 controls the compartment speaker 20 to output sound output information, which shows the existence of the obstacle. Further, the controller 11 controls the display 21 to output image output information, which shows the existence of the obstacle. Then, the process ends. Thus, the monitor 10 notifies the user of existence of the obstacle (Ogino [0044]-[0049]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to monitor the body of matter on the seat to detect if movement of the seat would make it fall or to monitor if a human or a human lamb such that no harm is brought to a person in the vehicle by moving the seats and to display it to the user for further action.
Regarding claims 2, 11 and 20:
Seki in view of Bolton, in view of Shuichi and in view of Ogino teaches wherein a relationship between the output of the sensor and the permitted seat arrangement is stored in a storage unit (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]).
Regarding claims 4 and 13:
Seki in view of Bolton, in view of Shuichi and in view of Ogino teaches wherein when the body of matter is detected on any of the seats, the control unit sets all the seats as seats that are not able to be operated, and generates the information regarding the permitted seat arrangement (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]).
Regarding claims 7 and 16:
Seki in view of Bolton, in view of Shuichi and in view of Ogino teaches wherein the control unit transmits a command to the vehicle stop performing the seat arrangement, when the control unit determines that there is the body of matter on any of the plurality of seats based on the output of the sensor (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]; Bolton [0018]).
Regarding claims 8 and 17:
Seki in view of Bolton, in view of Shuichi and in view of Ogino teaches wherein the control unit acquires image data captured by a camera, as the output of the sensor (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]).
Regarding claims 9 and 18:
Seki in view of Bolton, in view of Shuichi and in view of Ogino teaches wherein the control unit acquires an output of a seating sensor that outputs in accordance with a pressure applied to a seat, as the output of the sensor (Seki [0016]-[0021], [0023]-[0032]).
Conclusion
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/WEDNEL CADEAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 June 8, 2026
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