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 .
Detailed action
Claims 1-14 are pending and being considered.
Claims 1-4, 6-7 and 11-13 have been amended.
Claims 14 have been newly added.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/18/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the application 17/739835. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to 102/103
Applicant’s argument filled on 02/13/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive but are moot in view new grounds of rejections. The arguments do not apply to the current art being used.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “…and storing a determination result of the (iii) determining in the memory…..” should read as “….and storing a determination result of the Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The claim recites “in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period: obtaining a last detection result from the memory; determining whether the last detection result is a latest detection result; and, when the last detection result is not the latest detection result, setting” it is unclear what happens when the detection result is not the latest result. the phrase ”when the last detection result is not the latest detection result, setting” is incomplete.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over INOUE (WO 2019225369) (attached PDF of the document is used for examination) in view of UNAGAMI et al (hereinafter UNAGAMI) (US 20170026386).
Regarding claim 1 INOUE teaches an anomaly detection method used by an anomaly detection system in an in-vehicle network system in which a plurality of electronic control units is connected (INOUE on [0002 and 0008] teaches a method for detecting an unauthorized ECU connected to a vehicle network. See on [0058-0060] teaches plurality of ECUs connected);
wherein at least one electronic control unit among the plurality of electronic control units determines whether a received message satisfies a rule for detecting an anomaly of a message in the in-vehicle network system, (INOUE on [0061-0063] teaches electronic control unit ECU having transceiver that receives a determination signa C (frame data). The transceiver 22 has a unique voltage threshold, determines "0" or "1" (logical value) in accordance with the received determination signal C on the basis of the voltage threshold, and outputs a signal (i.e., used for detecting anomaly) representing the logical value of "0" or "1". See on [0065-0066 and 0069] teaches the determination signal C having a predetermined voltage pattern is received, the transceiver 22 determines the logical value "0" when the voltage level is higher than the unique voltage threshold, and determines the logical value "1" when the voltage level is lower than the unique voltage threshold. Based on such a determination result, the transceiver 22 generates a logical value signal which is response signal A (i.e., detection result));
and transmits a detection result indicates whether the received message satisfies the rule, to a network in response to the received message satisfying the(INOUE on [0069] teaches the transceiver of the ECU transmits response A (i.e., detection result satisfying rule based on unique voltage threshold) to CAN bus B i.e., network. The response signal is received by the relay device 10 via CAN bus B);
the anomaly detection method comprising;
(i) receiving the detection result from the network (INOUE on [0069] teaches the transceiver of the ECU transmits response A (i.e., detection result) to CAN bus B (i.e., network interpreted in view of [page 32 line 5-10] wherein network is a bus). The response signal is received by the relay device 10 via CAN bus B);
and storing the detection result received in a memory (INOUE on [0039] teaches storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C);
(ii) determining whether the detection result is received within a predetermined time period (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period);
(iii) in response to the detection result being received within the predetermined time period, determining that the at least one electronic control unit is: normal when the detection result, received from the network, indicates that the received message satisfies the rule and anomalous when the detection result indicates that the received message does not satisfy the rule (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is within pre-determined time period and determines that there is no response signal A that does not match the corresponding voltage pattern of the LUT among all the received response signals A (step S104: NO), the processing unit 11 is connected to the ECU in the in-vehicle communication system 100. It is determined that there is no abnormality i.e., ECU is normal when the detection result satisfies rule of matching with voltage pattern to detect abnormality and abnormal when the voltage pattern matching differs [0022 and 0042]);
and storing a determination result of the determining in the memory in association with the detection result (INOUE on [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0019-0021 and 0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C);
(iv) in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period, (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU);
and(INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU. See on [0104, 0109, 0113 and 0118-0119] teaches the processing unit 11 notifies the user by displaying the determination result in step S 105 on the display unit (not shown) of the vehicle 1, or notifies the user with sound or voice via a speaker);
wherein the anomaly detection method is performed by the anomaly detection system, with the anomaly detection system being different and physically separate from the at least one electronic control unit and connected to the at least one electronic control unit via the network (INOUE Fig 1 block 100, 10, 20-50 and text on [0058] teaches four ECUs 20-50 and on-vehicle relay device 10 within in-vehicle communication system 100 i.e., ECUs are different and physically separate from relay device 10).
INOUE teaches notifying the state of electronic control unit, but fails to explicitly teach setting flag information in a message for notifying state of ECU, however UNAGMI from analogous art teaches
(UNAGAMI Fig 3 and text on [0087-0089] teaches format of an error frame specified in the CAN protocol. The error frame is constituted by an error flag (primary), an error flag (secondary), and an error delimiter. The error flag (primary) is used to inform any other node of the occurrence of an error. A node that has detected an error transmits 6 consecutive dominant bits in order to inform any other node of the occurrence of the error. See on [0072] teaches the head unit 200 has a function of receiving a frame, and has a function of receiving frames transmitted from the ECUs 400a to 400d and displaying various states on a display).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by transmitting an error flag in CAN message indicating state of the ECU. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 2 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches
INOUE On [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] determination signal (frame data) C to be transmitted from the transmission unit 13 i.e., storing determination result in association with detection result in memory);
setting includes storing a last determination result in the memory in association with a last detection result received a last time (INOUE On [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] determination signal (frame data) C to be transmitted from the transmission unit 13 i.e., storing determination result in association with detection result in memory. See on [0105 and 0114] when it is determined that there is a response signal A that does not match the corresponding voltage pattern of the LUT among all received response signals A (step S 104): YES), as described above, if it is determined that the reception of the response signal A from the ECU 20-50 is not completed even after a lapse of a predetermined time (step S 102: NO), it is determined that there is an abnormality in the connection of the ECU in the in-vehicle communication system 100 (step S 107). See on [0108] teaches when the response signal A cannot be received even after the lapse of a predetermined time after the output of the determination signal C, it may be determined that the designated ECU is removed from the CAN bus B).
wherein the (i) receiving includes periodically receiving the detection result from the network, (UNAGAMI on [0050, 0070, 0150, 0164 and 0221-0223] teaches and periodically transmits a data frame indicating the state to the bus)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by periodically transmitting CAN message indicating state of the ECU. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 4 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches wherein the (ii) determining includes outputting the message including the detection result when the detection result is received within the predetermined time and the detection result indicates anomaly (INOUE on [0104, 0109, 0113 and 0118-0119] teaches the processing unit 11 notifies the user by displaying the determination result in step S 105 and determination result in s107 indicating anomaly).
Regarding claim 5 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches wherein the at least one electronic control unit includes at least two electronic control units, and the (ii) determining includes: determining, for each of the at least two electronic control units, whether the detection result is received within the predetermined time (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is within pre-determined time period and determines that there is no response signal A that does not match the corresponding voltage pattern of the LUT among all the received response signals A (step S104: NO), the processing unit 11 is connected to the ECU in the in-vehicle communication system 100. It is determined that there is no abnormality i.e., ECU is normal when both the detection result satisfies rule of matching with voltage pattern to detect abnormality and the response signal A is received with pre-determined time period);
and when the detection result is not received within the predetermined time from an electronic unit among the at least two electronic units, storing the determination result in the memory in association with the detection result from the electronic control unit (INOUE Fig 7 block S102, S107 and text on [0098 and 0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that the ECU is anomalous and the processing is transferred to step 107. See on [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0019-0021 and 0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C).
Regarding claim 6 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 5 above, INOUE further teaches wherein the message in the (iii) outputting includes detection results of the at least two electronic control units and determination results in association with the detection results of the at least two electronic control units (INOUE on [0058-0060 and 0080-0083] teaches plurality of EUCs for which the result is stored).
Regarding claim 7 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches further comprising: determining a state of a vehicle in the in-vehicle network system, wherein the (ii) determining includes determining whether to associate the determination result with the detection result according to the state of the vehicle (INOUE on [0078A signal (hereinafter referred to as an IG signal) indicating the off state is given from the IG switch S. When the vehicle 1 starts to move from the stop state, for example, when the IG switch S is switched from the OFF state to the ON state, the on-vehicle relay device 10 performs the determination process).
Regarding claim 8 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches wherein the network is an in-vehicle network through which the plurality of electronic control units transmits and receive messages (INOUE Fig 1 block 100, 10, 20-50 and text on [0058] teaches in-vehicle communication system through which plurality of ECUs are connected for exchanging message).
Regarding claim 9 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above UNAGAMI teaches wherein the network is inside the at least one electronic control unit (UNAGAMI Fig 8 and text on [0110] teaches ECU includes transmission/reception unit within ECU).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by having network is inside the at least one electronic control unit. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 10 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches wherein the at least one electronic control unit determines whether a controller area network (CAN) message, an Ethernet (registered trademark) message, or a system log of an electronic control unit as the received message satisfies the predetermined rule (INOUE on [0058] teaches CAN message).
Regarding claim 11 INOUE teaches a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including a program, the program, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to execute an anomaly detection method, the anomaly detection method comprising (INOUE on [0070] teaches memory for storing instructions executed by processor);
receiving a detection result from a network (INOUE on [0069] teaches the transceiver of the ECU transmits response A (i.e., detection result) to CAN bus B (i.e., network interpreted in view of [page 32 line 5-10] wherein network is a bus). The response signal is received by the relay device 10 via CAN bus B);
the detection result being received from at least one electronic control unit among a plurality of electronic control units in an in-vehicle network system (INOUE on [0002 and 0008] teaches a method for detecting an unauthorized ECU connected to a vehicle network. See on [0058-0060] teaches plurality of ECUs connected);
the plurality of electronic control units being connected (INOUE on [0002 and 0008] teaches a method for detecting an unauthorized ECU connected to a vehicle network. See on [0058-0060] teaches plurality of ECUs connected);
the at least one electronic control unit determining whether a received message satisfies a rule for detecting an anomaly of a message in the in-vehicle network system (INOUE on [0061-0063] teaches electronic control unit ECU having transceiver that receives a determination signa C (frame data). The transceiver 22 has a unique voltage threshold, determines "0" or "1" (logical value) in accordance with the received determination signal C on the basis of the voltage threshold, and outputs a signal (i.e., used for detecting anomaly) representing the logical value of "0" or "1". See on [0065-0066 and 0069] teaches the determination signal C having a predetermined voltage pattern is received, the transceiver 22 determines the logical value "0" when the voltage level is higher than the unique voltage threshold, and determines the logical value "1" when the voltage level is lower than the unique voltage threshold. Based on such a determination result, the transceiver 22 generates a logical value signal which is response signal A (i.e., detection result));
and transmitting the detection result that indicates whether the received message satisfies the rule to the network (INOUE on [0069] teaches the transceiver of the ECU transmits response A (i.e., detection result satisfying rule based on unique voltage threshold) to CAN bus B i.e., network. The response signal is received by the relay device 10 via CAN bus B);
and storing the detection result received in a memory of the computer (INOUE on [0039] teaches storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C);
(ii) determining whether the detection result is received within a predetermined time period (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period);
(iii) in response to the detection result being received within the predetermined time period, determining as a determination result, that the at least one electronic control unit is: normal when the detection result, received from the network, indicates that the received message satisfies the rule and anomalous when the detection result indicates that the received message does not satisfy the rule (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is within pre-determined time period and determines that there is no response signal A that does not match the corresponding voltage pattern of the LUT among all the received response signals A (step S104: NO), the processing unit 11 is connected to the ECU in the in-vehicle communication system 100. It is determined that there is no abnormality i.e., ECU is normal when the detection result satisfies rule of matching with voltage pattern to detect abnormality and abnormal when the voltage pattern matching differs [0022 and 0042]);
and storing the determination result in the memory in association with the detection result (INOUE on [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0019-0021 and 0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C);
in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period, (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU);
and(INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU. See on [0104, 0109, 0113 and 0118-0119] teaches the processing unit 11 notifies the user by displaying the determination result in step S 105 on the display unit (not shown) of the vehicle 1, or notifies the user with sound or voice via a speaker);
wherein the computer is physically separate from the at least one electronic control unit and connected to the at least one electronic control unit via the network (INOUE Fig 1 block 100, 10, 20-50 and text on [0058] teaches four ECUs 20-50 and on-vehicle relay device 10 within in-vehicle communication system 100 i.e., ECUs are different and physically separate from relay device 10).
INOUE teaches notifying the state of electronic control unit, but fails to explicitly teach setting flag information in a message for notifying state of ECU, however UNAGMI from analogous art teaches
(UNAGAMI Fig 3 and text on [0087-0089] teaches format of an error frame specified in the CAN protocol. The error frame is constituted by an error flag (primary), an error flag (secondary), and an error delimiter. The error flag (primary) is used to inform any other node of the occurrence of an error. A node that has detected an error transmits 6 consecutive dominant bits in order to inform any other node of the occurrence of the error. See on [0072] teaches the head unit 200 has a function of receiving a frame, and has a function of receiving frames transmitted from the ECUs 400a to 400d and displaying various states on a display).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by transmitting an error flag in CAN message indicating state of the ECU. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 12 INOUE teaches an anomaly detection system in an in-vehicle network system in which a plurality of electronic control units is connected, (INOUE on [0002 and 0008] teaches system for detecting an unauthorized ECU connected to a vehicle network. See on [0058-0060] teaches plurality of ECUs connected);
wherein at least one electronic control unit among the plurality of electronic control units:
determines whether a received message satisfies a rule for detecting an anomaly of a message in the in-vehicle network system; (INOUE on [0061-0063] teaches electronic control unit ECU having transceiver that receives a determination signa C (frame data). The transceiver 22 has a unique voltage threshold, determines "0" or "1" (logical value) in accordance with the received determination signal C on the basis of the voltage threshold, and outputs a signal (i.e., used for detecting anomaly) representing the logical value of "0" or "1". See on [0065-0066 and 0069] teaches the determination signal C having a predetermined voltage pattern is received, the transceiver 22 determines the logical value "0" when the voltage level is higher than the unique voltage threshold, and determines the logical value "1" when the voltage level is lower than the unique voltage threshold. Based on such a determination result, the transceiver 22 generates a logical value signal which is response signal A (i.e., detection result));
and transmits a detection result that indicates whether the received message satisfies the rule, to a network (INOUE on [0069] teaches the transceiver of the ECU transmits response A (i.e., detection result satisfying rule based on unique voltage threshold) to CAN bus B i.e., network. The response signal is received by the relay device 10 via CAN bus B);
the anomaly detection system comprises: a memory which stores the detection result received from the network (INOUE on [0070] teaches relay device 10 comprising a memory and processor);
a processor determines whether the detection result is received within a predetermined time period (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period);
the processor which, in response to the detection result being received within the predetermined time period, determine as a determination result, that the at least one electronic control unit is: normal when the detection result, received from the network, indicates that the received message satisfies the rule and anomalous when the detection result indicates that the received message does not satisfy the rule (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0097-0105] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is within pre-determined time period and determines that there is no response signal A that does not match the corresponding voltage pattern of the LUT among all the received response signals A (step S104: NO), the processing unit 11 is connected to the ECU in the in-vehicle communication system 100. It is determined that there is no abnormality i.e., ECU is normal when the detection result satisfies rule of matching with voltage pattern to detect abnormality and abnormal when the voltage pattern matching differs [0022 and 0042]);
and stores the determination result of the determining in the memory in association with the detection result (INOUE on [0039] storage unit that stores the determination signal and a voltage pattern of the identification data and the response signal of each communication device in association with each other. See on [0019-0021 and 0041] voltage pattern stored in the storage unit in accordance with the one determination signal. See on [0082] teaches storing the response signal A and determination signal C);
the processor which, in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period, (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU);
and the processor which in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period or the at least one electronic control unit being determined to be anomalous, outputting the message, the message including at least one of: the detection result in association with the determination result; or the flag information (INOUE Fig 7 block S101, S102, S104 S105 and text on [0103-0109] teaches the processing unit of relay device determines whether or not the response signal A is within pre-determined time period and when it is determined that the response signal is not within pre-determined time period it is determined that there is abnormality in the connection of the ECU and notifying the user the determination result indicating the state of the ECU. See on [0104, 0109, 0113 and 0118-0119] teaches the processing unit 11 notifies the user by displaying the determination result in step S 105 on the display unit (not shown) of the vehicle 1, or notifies the user with sound or voice via a speaker);
the anomaly detection system is different and physically separate from the at least one electronic control unit and connected to the at least one electronic control unit via the network (INOUE Fig 1 block 100, 10, 20-50 and text on [0058] teaches four ECUs 20-50 and on-vehicle relay device 10 within in-vehicle communication system 100 i.e., ECUs are different and physically separate from relay device 10).
INOUE teaches notifying the state of electronic control unit, but fails to explicitly teach setting flag information in a message for notifying state of ECU, however UNAGMI from analogous art teaches
(UNAGAMI Fig 3 and text on [0087-0089] teaches format of an error frame specified in the CAN protocol. The error frame is constituted by an error flag (primary), an error flag (secondary), and an error delimiter. The error flag (primary) is used to inform any other node of the occurrence of an error. A node that has detected an error transmits 6 consecutive dominant bits in order to inform any other node of the occurrence of the error. See on [0072] teaches the head unit 200 has a function of receiving a frame, and has a function of receiving frames transmitted from the ECUs 400a to 400d and displaying various states on a display).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by transmitting an error flag in CAN message indicating state of the ECU. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 13 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, INOUE further teaches
wherein the at least one electronic control unit periodically transmits the detection result, and the anomaly detection system periodically waits to receive the detection result for the predetermined time period (UNAGAMI on [0050, 0070, 0150, 0164 and 0221-0223] teaches and periodically transmits a data frame indicating the state to the bus)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of UNAGAMI into the teaching of INOUE by periodically transmitting CAN message indicating state of the ECU. One would be motivated to do so in order to properly and efficiently detect abnormality in ECU based flag in a message indicating current state of ECU (UNAGAMI [0009-0012]).
Claims 3 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over INOUE (WO 2019225369) (attached PDF of the document is used for examination) in view of UNAGAMI et al (hereinafter UNAGAMI) (US 20170026386) and further in view of HAGA et al (hereinafter HAGA) (WO 2016075865) (attached PDF of the document is used for examination).
Regarding claim 3 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 2 above, the combination fails to explicitly teach wherein the (i) receiving further includes storing the detection result received, in association with a time when the detection result was received, and the (ii) determining includes determining whether the detection result received last time is a latest detection result, based on a time in associated with the detection result received last time when the detection result is not received within the predetermined time, and storing the determination result in the memory in association with the detection result received last time when the detection result received last time is not the latest detection result, however HAGA further teaches wherein the (i) receiving further includes storing the detection result received, in association with a time when the detection result was received, and the (ii) setting includes determining whether the last detection result received last time is a latest detection result, based on a time in associated with the detection result received last time and storing the determination result in the memory in association with the detection result received last time when the detection result received last time is not the latest detection result (HAGA on [0159-0160] teaches storing the update result along with date and time when detection is not within predetermined time period).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of HAGA into the combined teaching of INOUE and UNAGAMI by determining includes determining whether the detection result received last time is a latest detection result, based on a time in associated with the detection result received last time when the detection result is not received within the predetermined time. One would be motivated to do so in order to mitigate the risk of detected anomaly using the combined detection result and the determination result stored in memory (HAGA [0006-0009]).
Regarding claim 14 the combination of INOUE and UNAGAMI teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above, the combination fails to explicitly teach the anomaly detection method further comprising: in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period: obtaining a last detection result from the memory; determining whether the last detection result is a latest detection result; and, when the last detection result is not the latest detection result, setting, however HAGA from analogous art teaches
the anomaly detection method further comprising: in response to the detection result not being received within the predetermined time period: obtaining a last detection result from the memory; determining whether the last detection result is a latest detection result; and, when the last detection result is not the latest detection result, setting (HAGA on [0159-0160] teaches storing the update result along with date and time when detection is not within predetermined time period).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the teaching of HAGA into the combined teaching of INOUE and UNAGAMI by determining includes determining whether the detection result received last time is a latest detection result, based on a time in associated with the detection result received last time when the detection result is not received within the predetermined time. One would be motivated to do so in order to mitigate the risk of detected anomaly using the combined detection result and the determination result stored in memory (HAGA [0006-0009]).
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.
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/MOEEN KHAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2436