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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Applicant submitted amendments and remarks on October 15, 2025. Therein, Applicant submitted substantive arguments. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 21-22 were added. No claims were cancelled.
The submitted claims are considered below.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes claim limitations that are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitations use the word “means” coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the word “means” is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are: "comprising means for automatically identifying an occupant of a seat of the vehicle" in claim 12 and “storage means of at least one predetermined position of the seat associated with a predefined vehicle driving condition”, “means for monitoring the vehicle dynamics”, “means for controlling said actuating devices”, and “means for monitoring vehicle dynamics are arranged to identify one of a plurality of predetermined vehicle driving dynamics as a function of signals coming from a plurality of driving systems including a propulsion system, a braking system, and a steering system” in claim 20.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 1-3, 5-6, 8, 11-13, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Numazawa, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20170267124) in view of Matsumoto, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 10793163).
Regarding claim 1, Numazawa, et al. teaches: A system for adjusting a position of an automotive seat, comprising actuating devices for moving the automotive seat or at least a part thereof, wherein the system further comprises: (Paragraph [0016]: "…vehicle seat apparatus configured to be mounted on a vehicle capable of traveling on a road, including a seat, a seat drive configured to drive the seat to transition a position and attitude of the seat between a first mode and a second mode, and circuitry configured to perform automatic driving of the vehicle, and give to the seat drive an instruction to transition the position and attitude of the seat from the first mode to the second mode when the vehicle is recognized to travel in a particular section of the road, on a condition that the automatic driving is performed [system for adjusting position and moving automotive seat].")
one or more memory units for storing at least one predetermined position of the automotive seat associated with a predefined road type or with a road region of a territory; (Paragraph [0042]: "The storage (9) may include a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), and may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3). The storage (9) may store, as seat information, information that indicates the position and the attitude of the seat in manual driving which are before making the transition to the relax mode [storing predetermined position of automotive seat]." ; Paragraph [0034]: "The vehicle controller (3) may make the determination during the relax mode and in accordance with an environment such as the road environment under which the vehicle (2) travels. In one implementation of the present invention, the original state may serve as a “first mode” and the relaxing mode may serve as a “second mode” [memory unit within controller makes selection of predetermined position according to current road type].")
a positioning system for geographic positioning of a vehicle; (Paragraph [0067]: "…vehicle controller (3) detects that the vehicle (2) is close to the particular location in the particular section. For example, a location such as the service area and the parking area (i.e., rest area) of a freeway may be set as a location to which a brief visit is to be made, when the driver performs setting of a destination and a traveling route by means of the navigation device of the traveling environment detector (7) before starting the traveling of the vehicle (2). Note that the freeway may serve as the particular section [determines position of vehicle through use of navigation system].")
a control system for controlling the actuating devices, the control system being configured to: (Paragraph [0034]: "The seat drive (5) may be a drive mechanism that moves the position or varies the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) (see FIG. 2) provided in the vehicle (2), and has devices including a link mechanism, an electric motor, an actuator, and an electric hydraulic device [actuating devices]. The seat drive (5) may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3), and move the position or vary the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) in accordance with an operation of the operation switches (4) [control system].")
select a predetermined position of the automotive seat from the one or more memory units according to the current road type or the road region of travel of the vehicle, (Paragraph [0042]: "The storage (9) may include a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), and may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3). The storage (9) may store, as seat information, information that indicates the position and the attitude of the seat in manual driving which are before making the transition to the relax mode [storing predetermined position of automotive seat]." ; Paragraph [0034]: "The vehicle controller (3) may make the determination during the relax mode and in accordance with an environment such as the road environment under which the vehicle (2) travels. In one implementation of the present invention, the original state may serve as a “first mode” and the relaxing mode may serve as a “second mode” [memory unit within controller makes selection of predetermined position according to current road type].")
and drive the actuating devices to control a movement of the automotive seat or of at least a part thereof to reach said selected position of the automotive seat (Paragraph [0034]: "The seat drive (5) may be a drive mechanism that moves the position or varies the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) (see FIG. 2) provided in the vehicle (2), and has devices including a link mechanism, an electric motor, an actuator, and an electric hydraulic device. The seat drive (5) may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3), and move the position or vary the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) in accordance with an operation of the operation switches (4) [actuating devices to control movement of seat to reach position].").
Numazawa, et al. does not teach identify a current road type or a road region of travel of the vehicle, wherein both the current road type and the road region of travel are identified by relative access road coordinates, based on a current geographic position of the vehicle.
In a similar field of endeavor (vehicle seat control system), Matsumoto, et al. teaches: identify a current road type or a road region of travel of the vehicle, wherein both the current road type and the road region of travel are identified by relative access road coordinates, based on a current geographic position of the vehicle (Col. 5, lines 20-27: "The vehicle system (1) includes, […] micro-processing unit (MPU) (60) [processor which determines road type] […] and a seat device (300) [seat adjustment tool]." ; Col. 6, lines 48-52: "The MPU (60) functions as, for example, a recommended lane determination unit (61), and holds second map information (62) in the storage device such as an HDD or a flash memory [information used to determine relative access road coordinates]." ; Col. 6, line 63 to Col. 7, lines 1-11: "…the second map information (62) may include road information, traffic regulation information, address information (address and postal code), facility information, telephone number information, and the like. The road information includes information indicating a type of a road, such as highways, toll roads, national roads, and prefectural roads, the number of lanes of roads, an area of an emergency parking zone, a width of each lane, a gradient of a road, a position of a road (three-dimensional coordinates including longitude, latitude, and height) [road region of travel], curvatures of curves of lanes, positions of merging and branching points of a lane, or information on signs or the like provided on a road [current road type based on current geographic position of vehicle identified by relative access road coordinates].").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill of the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Numazawa, et al. to include the teaching of Matsumoto, et al. based on a reasonable expectation of success and motivation to improve the control of the position of a seat on a vehicle relative to the drive control of a motor associated with a particular vehicle location (Matsumoto, et al. Col. 1, lines 21-39).
Regarding claim 2, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein said control system is configured to select in advance a predetermined position of the automotive seat on the basis of a current geographical position of the vehicle along a set navigation route (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0011]: "…On a condition that the traveling environment detector recognizes a particular location in the particular section, the controller gives, before the vehicle reaches the particular location, to the seat drive an instruction to automatically return the seat from the second mode to the first mode [controller selects in advance of predetermined position of seat with respect to geographical location].")
Regarding claim 3, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein said control system is configured to select a predetermined position of the automotive seat associated with a past road region of travel of the vehicle which has a same road type as the current road region of travel of the vehicle (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0011]: "The vehicle seat apparatus may further include a traveling environment detector that detects a traveling environment of the vehicle. On a condition that the traveling environment detector recognizes a particular location in the particular section, the controller gives, before the vehicle reaches the particular location [indicative of past road region repeating occurrence with approaching current region], to the seat drive an instruction to automatically return the seat from the second mode to the first mode [controller selects predetermined position of seat].").
Regarding claim 5, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein said control system is configured to signal to an occupant of the vehicle said selected position of the automotive seat and to constrain driving of the actuating devices for controlling the movement of the automotive seat or at least a part thereof according to a consent signal given by the occupant of the vehicle (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0056]: "When the vehicle controller (3) determines that the road along which the vehicle (2) currently travels does not correspond to the particular section in which the transition to the relax mode is possible, i.e., when NO is satisfied in step (S7), the vehicle controller (3) may continue placing the vehicle (2) in the automatic driving state without making the transition to the relax mode. In this case, any of the occupants including the driver may be allowed to operate the switch of the operation switches (4) directed to the relax mode where appropriate [partial restriction on operating controls - automatically keeping vehicle seat in regular mode because vehicle controller sends signal to occupant that relax mode transition is not possible].").
Regarding claim 6, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein said automotive seat is at least one of a driver's seat, a passenger's seat (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0033]: "Referring to FIG. 2, the operation switches (4) may be provided on a side surface of a seat cushion (27) of a driver's seat (21), for example. The side surface of the seat cushion (27) may be located on the driver's door side. The operation switches (4) may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3) [driver's seat as part of system]").
Regarding claim 8, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein the movement of the automotive seat includes at least one of a translation of the automotive seat, an adjustment of a lumbar support device, a rototranslation of a backrest (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0042]: "…For example, the position and the attitude of the seat may include a position in the front-rear direction of the seat, an angle of a seat back, a position in an up-down direction of the seat cushion (27), an inclination angle of the seat cushion (27), a position in an up-down direction of a headrest, and an angle of the headrest. One implementation may include a so-called seat memory mechanism that automatically adjusts, on the basis of the seat information stored in the storage (9), the position and the attitude of the seat suitable for the driver when the driver has seated on the seat and has performed a predetermined input operation [movement includes rototranslation of backrest].").
Regarding claim 11, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more memory units are configured to store a plurality of predetermined positions of the automotive seat for a plurality of occupants of the vehicle (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0042]: "The storage (9) may include a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), and may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3) [memory units]. The storage (9) may store, as seat information, information that indicates the position and the attitude of the seat in manual driving which are before making the transition to the relax mode. For example, the position and the attitude of the seat may include a position in the front-rear direction of the seat, an angle of a seat back, a position in an up-down direction of the seat cushion (27), an inclination angle of the seat cushion (27), a position in an up-down direction of a headrest, and an angle of the headrest. One implementation may include a so-called seat memory mechanism that automatically adjusts, on the basis of the seat information stored in the storage (9), the position and the attitude of the seat suitable for the driver when the driver has seated on the seat and has performed a predetermined input operation [plurality of predetermined positions for automotive seat]." ; Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0050]: "...the vehicle controller (3) may control the seat drive (5) to vary the attitude of any of the seats (21) to (26) to an attitude suitable for the corresponding occupant, when any of the occupants including the driver operates the operation switches (4) of corresponding one of the seats (21) to (26) (see FIG. 2A) [settings for automotive seat for plurality of vehicle occupants].").
Regarding claim 12, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 11, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 11, comprising means for automatically identifying an occupant of a seat of the vehicle (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0091]: "…the vehicle seat apparatus according to one implementation may first notify, by voice or any other method, the occupants that the automatic returning from the relax mode is to be performed when the position and the attitude of the seat are to be automatically returned to the state that is before the relax mode is carried out due to, for example, any of the reasons described above. With this control, the occupants are able to be prepared mentally and set for the movement of the seat, etc., and are thus able to deal with the movement of the seat, etc., smoothly [occupants are identified and message is communicated about seat changes].")
Regarding claim 13, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: A vehicle equipped with at least one automotive seat for an occupant, comprising the system for adjusting a position of the automotive seat of claim 1 (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0082]: "…the storage (9) may store in advance, in the form of data, several combinations of the positions and the attitudes of the seats that are variable or movable at the time of the relax mode. In this case, the occupant such as the driver may operate the operation switches (4) to select any of the combinations so that the seats are moved to their preset positions or varied to achieve their preset attitudes [seats for occupant for the position of adjusting seat position].")
Regarding claim 20, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1, comprising: storage means of at least one predetermined position of the seat associated with a predefined vehicle driving condition; (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0042]: "The storage (9) may include a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), and may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3). The storage (9) may store, as seat information, information that indicates the position and the attitude of the seat in manual driving which are before making the transition to the relax mode [storage means storing predetermined position of automotive seat]." ; Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0034]: "The vehicle controller (3) may make the determination during the relax mode and in accordance with an environment such as the road environment under which the vehicle (2) travels. In one implementation of the present invention, the original state may serve as a “first mode” and the relaxing mode may serve as a “second mode” [memory unit within controller makes selection of predetermined position according to vehicle driving condition].")
and means for monitoring the vehicle dynamics; (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0044]: "By executing the various calculations, the vehicle controller (3) may constantly monitor factors including the current traveling environment and the environment outside the vehicle (2) [monitoring vehicle dynamics].")
wherein said means for controlling said actuating devices are arranged for: identifying a vehicle driving condition during a predetermined period of time based on the vehicle dynamics, (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0044]: "…Upon the automatic driving, the vehicle controller (3) may execute various calculations on the basis of pieces of information supplied from the devices including the traveling environment detector (7) and the vehicle outside information detector (8). By executing the various calculations, the vehicle controller (3) may constantly monitor factors including the current traveling environment and the environment outside the vehicle (2) [identifying vehicle driving condition]. The vehicle controller (3) may further control the devices including the drive (10), the steering unit (11), and the brake unit (12) to perform the appropriate automatic driving in accordance with a current situation. The vehicle controller (3) may thus have the automatic driving function and may be able to perform the automatic driving operation of the vehicle (2) [based on a predetermined period of time linked with vehicle dynamics].")
selecting a predetermined seat position from the storage means according to the identified driving condition of the vehicle, (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0042]: "The storage (9) may include a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), and may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3). The storage (9) may store, as seat information, information that indicates the position and the attitude of the seat in manual driving which are before making the transition to the relax mode [storing predetermined position of automotive seat from storage means]. " ; Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0034]: "The vehicle controller (3) may make the determination during the relax mode and in accordance with an environment such as the road environment under which the vehicle (2) travels. In one implementation of the present invention, the original state may serve as a “first mode” and the relaxing mode may serve as a “second mode” [memory unit within controller makes selection of predetermined position according to current road type].")
and driving said actuating devices to control the movement of the seat or of at least a part thereof so as to reach said selected seat position, (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0034]: "The seat drive (5) may be a drive mechanism that moves the position or varies the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) (see FIG. 2) provided in the vehicle (2), and has devices including a link mechanism, an electric motor, an actuator, and an electric hydraulic device. The seat drive (5) may be coupled to the vehicle controller (3), and move the position or vary the attitude of each of the seats (21) to (26) in accordance with an operation of the operation switches (4) [actuating devices to control movement of seat to reach position].")
wherein the means for monitoring vehicle dynamics are arranged to identify one of a plurality of predetermined vehicle driving dynamics as a function of signals coming from a plurality of driving systems including a propulsion system, a braking system, and a steering system (Numazawa, et al. Paragraph [0044]: "…the vehicle controller (3) may constantly monitor factors including the current traveling environment and the environment outside the vehicle (2) [monitoring vehicle dynamics]. The vehicle controller (3) may further control the devices including the drive (10) [propulsion system], the steering unit (11) [steering system], and the brake unit (12) [braking system] to perform the appropriate automatic driving in accordance with a current situation.").
Regarding claim 22, Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. remain as applied to claim 1, and in a further embodiment, teach: The system of claim 1 wherein the current road type is identified from data on a road map (Matsumoto, et al. Col. 6, lines 32-37: "The first map information (54) [road map data] is, for example, information in which a road shape is expressed by a link indicating a road and nodes connected by a link [road type identification]. The first map information (54) may include a curvature of the road, Point Of Interest (POI) information, or the like [example].").
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Numazawa, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20170267124) and Matsumoto, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 10793163) in view of Arikan, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20130328861).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. does not teach the system of claim 1, wherein the predefined road type is one selected from a group comprising an urban road type, an extra-urban road type, a mountain road type, a fast-travel road type, a slow-travel road type.
In a reference that is reasonable pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (generation and selection of road data according to a specific road type), Arikan, et al. teaches: the system of claim 1, wherein the predefined road type is one selected from a group comprising an urban road type, an extra-urban road type, a mountain road type, a fast-travel road type, a slow-travel road type (Paragraph [0274]: "The map data (4915) provides data from which viewable map regions and routes can be generated [selecting predefined road type]. This map data, in some embodiments, includes […] natural features (e.g., rivers, lakes, mountain ranges [mountain road type], etc.), […] This descriptive data may include a form of way (i.e., whether the pathway is a single carriageway or a part of a dual carriageway, whether the pathway is a one-way path), the class of road to which the path belongs (e.g., motorway, local road, private road, bicycle path, etc.) [urban/extra-urban fast/slow travel speed road], as well as other information).").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill of the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. to include the teaching of Arikan, et al. based on a reasonable expectation of success and motivation to improve the process of generating and selecting maps for vehicle travel according to desired road parameters (Arikan, et al. Paragraphs [0004] - [0005]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on October 15, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant asserted that amended claim 1 was patentable over Numazawa, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20170267124) in view of Matsumoto, et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10793163) because the references did not meet the claim limitation of “identify a current road type or a road region of travel of the vehicle, wherein both the current road type and the road region of travel are identified by relative access road coordinates, based on a current geographic position of the vehicle”. The examiner disagrees. Applicant’s Specification provides examples of road types as a “…fast-travel road type”, which is defined as “highways […] long straightaways, wide-radius curves and infrequent stops, often for long journeys, allows the driver and passenger to have a relaxed posture, for example with the backrest tilted beyond the standard ergonomic angle setting relative to the vertical of the vehicle”, “slow-travel road type”, which is defined as “urban […] sudden turns and frequent accelerations and stops, often for short journeys, requires the driver to maintain a posture closer to the driving controls and with the seat higher for greater control of the road surface”, or a “extra-urban” road type, or “…mountainous regions, is characterized by frequent bends, accelerations and decelerations and driving on slopes, which requires the driver to have a more upright posture, for example with the seat inclined less than the standard ergonomic angle setting relative to the vertical of the vehicle, raised and close to the driving controls, and for the passenger, greater containment of the body by the backrest of the seat” (Page 1, line 27 – Page 2, lines 1-7). However, since the Applicant has not provided an explicit definition of the term “road type”, under the principle of Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI), Examiner is interpreting the term “road type” to mean “a particular kind, class, or group” of road (as provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary). Applicant’s Specification also generally describes an example of a region as a general location associated with the vehicle’s geography (Page 2, lines 23-27). However, since the Applicant’s has not provided an explicit definition of the term “region”, under the principle of Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI), Examiner is interpreting the term “region” to mean “a broad geographic area distinguished by similar features” (as provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary). Prior art reference Matsumoto, et al. teaches the process of using the second map information (62) to identify a “…highway” (Col. 7, line 5), which is equivalent to a specific class of road, and also teaches geographical information which consists of “…a position of a road (three-dimensional coordinates including longitude, latitude, and height)” (Col. 7, lines 7-9), which is equivalent to a specific geographical area with features defined by coordinates. Therefore, Examiner asserts that reference Matsumoto, et al. properly teaches to Applicant’s Specification. Subsequently, it would have been obvious to combine Matsumoto, et al. with Numazawa, et al. because Numazawa, et al. teaches a system for to adjust an automotive seat position (Paragraph [0016]) which selects a predetermined position of the automotive seat as a function of the current road type (Paragraphs [0042] and [0034]).
Applicant also asserted that amended claim 1 was patentable over Numazawa, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20170267124) in view of Matsumoto, et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10793163) because the references did not meet the claim limitation of “select a predetermined position of the automotive seat from the one or more memory units according to the current road type or the road region of travel of the vehicle”. The examiner disagrees. Applicant’s Specification provides examples of road types as a “…fast-travel road type”, which is defined as “highways […] long straightaways, wide-radius curves and infrequent stops, often for long journeys, allows the driver and passenger to have a relaxed posture, for example with the backrest tilted beyond the standard ergonomic angle setting relative to the vertical of the vehicle”, “slow-travel road type”, which is defined as “urban […] sudden turns and frequent accelerations and stops, often for short journeys, requires the driver to maintain a posture closer to the driving controls and with the seat higher for greater control of the road surface”, or a “extra-urban” road type, or “…mountainous regions, is characterized by frequent bends, accelerations and decelerations and driving on slopes, which requires the driver to have a more upright posture, for example with the seat inclined less than the standard ergonomic angle setting relative to the vertical of the vehicle, raised and close to the driving controls, and for the passenger, greater containment of the body by the backrest of the seat” (Page 1, line 27 – Page 2, lines 1-7). However, since the Applicant has not provided an explicit definition of the term “road type”, under the principle of Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI), Examiner is interpreting the term “road type” to mean a particular kind, class, or group of road (as provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary). Prior art reference Numazawa, et al. uses a memory unit of “…a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM)” which selects a predetermined position of “…seat information” (Paragraph [0042]) by enabling the determination of the mode of the seat position to be made under the condition of “…an environment such as the road environment under which the vehicle (2) travels” (Paragraph [0034]), which is the equivalent to characterizing a particular kind of road. Therefore, Examiner asserts that reference Numazawa, et al. properly teaches to Applicant’s Specification. Subsequently, it would have been obvious to combine Numazawa, et al. with Matsumoto, et al. because Matsumoto, et al. teaches the process of identifying a road type and a region with respect to road coordinates and a current geographic position of the vehicle (Col. 6, line 63 to Col. 7, lines 1-11).
Therefore, it can be concluded that since the combination of Numazawa, et al. and Matsumoto, et al. reads on the claim limitations “identify a current road type or a road region of travel of the vehicle, wherein both the current road type and the road region of travel are identified by relative access road coordinates, based on a current geographic position of the vehicle” and “select a predetermined position of the automotive seat from the one or more memory units according to the current road type or the road region of travel of the vehicle”, as stated in amended claim 1, the arguments presented by the Applicant are not persuasive, and the rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sugiyama (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20180093589) teaches a seat apparatus on a vehicle which enables improved operability of steering operations while maintaining driver holding ability at the time of cornering.
Saigo, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20190366888) teaches a seat control apparatus on a vehicle which includes units for occupant weight recognition, occupant sitting state recognition, lateral acceleration, and seat adjustment control.
Applicant is considered to have implicit knowledge of the entire disclosure once a reference has been cited. Therefore, any previously cited figures, columns and lines should not be considered to limit the references in any way. The entire reference must be taken as a whole; accordingly, the Examiner contends that the art supports the rejection of the claims and the rejection is maintained.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/TORRENCE S MARUNDA II/ Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ANGELA Y ORTIZ/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663