DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicant Amendment and Argument filed on 06/17/2025. This Action is made FINAL.
Claims 1-16 are pending for examination.
Claims 17-20 are withdrawn.
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 .
Response to Amendment
Amendments to independent claim 13 adding “comprising a processor comprising hardware”, no longer permit the claim to be interpreted as software per se and therefore the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 fand 13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed 06/17/2025 see Remarks page 11 with respect to the rejections of claims 8 and 10-12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the arguments, applicant argues against Official Notice. However, in light of the amendments, examiner believes the claimed limitation is taught by Penilla as discussed in the rejection below. The claim recites “associated, by the server and at the data store, a plurality of user devices with the first user account” as Penilla teaches an administrator user account which can grant access (for example to family members) each with their own devices with login credentials to be useable to operate the vehicle, Penilla teaches the association of a plurality of devise which are associated with the first user account as the first user account has administrative control over the users profiles which are associated with the users devices.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8 and 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Penilla et al (US 20160198002 A1) henceforth referred to as Penilla and further in view of LaCroix et al (US 20210207967 A1) henceforth referred to as LaCroix.
Regarding Claim 1, Penilla teaches A computer-implemented method comprising (para [0049] line 2-5 : “The methods, systems and apparatus include electronics of vehicles that drive display devices in vehicles and communicate wirelessly with Internet services.”):
associating, by a server and in a data store maintained by the server, a first user account of a first primary user with a vehicle, wherein (para [0051] line 1-7 : “In one embodiment, a user can access cloud services for a vehicle manufacturer and identify the particular vehicle from selected choices. The user can then identify a customization profile for the vehicle by defining the look and feel of a UI display, arrangement of vehicle controls on displays, add and associate third party APPS to the vehicle display, and save the configuration.”):
the data store stores a plurality of user accounts, each respective user account of the plurality of user accounts being associated with one or more respective vehicles, a respective primary user, and one or more respective user profiles (para [0086} : “In one embodiment, logins are user specific, not vehicle specific, so any family member can use their login on any family vehicle and the vehicle will perform based on the metrics and restrictions dictated by the login used to operate the vehicle.”, para [0091 : “A parent can set up a login to the family vehicle for their child that only allows the child to drive within a certain radius. For example the vehicle may only be used to drive between home and school. A map can be outlined on the account management interface by a parent when setting up the child's login to support the home to school restriction intended.”, as the system is designed for use in real world applications, it would not be limited to the use of only one family, and therefore it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the system would have multiple user accounts for users were each user would have the same capabilities of settings regarding profiles of family members);
each user account is configured to receive input from the corresponding primary user to grant one or more other users access to the vehicles (para [0096] : “Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance.”); and
each respective user profile indicates one or more preferred vehicle attribute settings for a user of the respective user profile (para [0097] : “However, User 1 can make changes on behalf of User 2. The full range of settings over a vehicle that applies to a given role or login is a super set of settings. User 2 may have access to a subset of settings that User 1 allows changes to by User 2.”);
associating, by the server and in the data store, the first user account with a first user profile, wherein the first user profile includes one or more first preferred vehicle attribute settings (para [0052] line 1-2 : “The configuration, in one embodiment, is saved to the profile of the user.”);
upon receiving an indication that the user is approaching the vehicle, causing, by the server, the user account to be automatically logged into at the vehicle (para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”, para [0106] line 1-9 : “The pairing request may be automatically sent by the users device to cloud services 120. The pairing request can include sending the model of the vehicle 200, that may have been obtained by the users mobile device from the vehicle 200 directly. In the illustrated example, the pairing request by the users mobile device can include identification of the vehicle that the user has come in close proximity to. A pairing module 170, can then communicate with a mapping engine 118 that determines information associated with car 200.”);
in response to logging into the user account, retrieving, by the server, a user profile associated with the user account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”); and
causing, by the server, the user profile to be loaded at the vehicle such that attributes of the vehicle are modified based on one or more preferred vehicle attribute settings stored in the user profile (para [0086] line 1-5 : “Additionally, combinations of settings or setting profiles (such as “sport” where your seat moves to sport position for additional support, suspension stiffens, throttle response becomes aggressive etc.) can be set as well instead of individually setting use characteristics.”). However Penilla does not explicitly teach receiving an indication, from the first primary user, to grant a second user account of a second user access to the vehicle as a guest user, wherein the second user account is distinct from the first user account, and wherein a second primary user of the second user account is distinct from the first primary user of the first user account, and the second user login and user profile retrieval and loading.
However, in a similar field of endeavor (vehicle account access systems), LaCroix teaches receiving an indication, from the first primary user, to grant a second user account of a second user access to the vehicle as a guest user, wherein the second user account is distinct from the first user account, and wherein a second primary user of the second user account is distinct from the first primary user of the first user account (para [0036] : “Here, the first user mobile device 150 may be loaded with a special app that enables the first user to grant vehicle access to other users, such as the second user with the second user mobile device 160.”), and
second user login and user profile retrieval and loading (as Penilla teaches the limitations as claimed with a user account, the combination with Lacroix giving access to a second user account teaches the limitations as claimed as the system of Penilla will carry out the same functions with the access granted to the second user account).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify system of Penilla with the second user access of LaCroix to increase the ease of which a user could grant access to a vehicle to a second user.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and in the data store, the first user account with a user device, wherein the user device is a smartphone, a key fob, a key card, or a short-range wireless access device (para [0112] line 1-17 : “As illustrated, when the user Bob approaches the vehicle 200, the Bob's mobile device 110a can identify the closest car, which may be car A. In this example, Bob is identified to be proximate to the car having an ID 1528ABC. In one embodiment, when the user comes in proximity to the car 200, the car can beep or light up when enabled, it can open the doors to allow the user to access the vehicle when the logic has paired the user to the vehicle, the profile of the user can be transferred to the vehicle, the use of the vehicle is managed by the user's online account (storing historical use data and any billing information), automatic payment for use can be made from predefined payment arrangements stored in the profile, and use of the vehicle can be restricted to predefined rules, based on the profile. Accordingly, the profile database 160 can include both profiles of the user, such as user settings, as well as profile restrictions that may be set by the car sharing service.”).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 2, further Penilla teaches wherein receiving the indication that the user device is approaching the vehicle comprises:
receiving an indication of user interaction with the user device within a predefined vicinity of the vehicle (para [0104] line 1-3 : “FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user (Bob) that may wish to utilize a car 200, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.”, para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”, Fig. 7, Fig. 7 shows User Bob with a device message asking for Bob to confirm pairing with a nearby vehicle.).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, the first user account with a secondary vehicle (para [0071] line 1-18 : “If the user wishes to use his or her custom configuration in another vehicle, the user can login to the custom configuration or user account from another vehicle. If the other vehicle does not have all the system components needed to define the custom configuration, the custom configuration can be supplemented with other similar components automatically. In other embodiments, the custom configuration can be transferred from one vehicle to another, or when the user buys a new vehicle. In another embodiment, the custom configuration can be adjusted based on the driver. The custom configuration can also be preset remotely from the Internet, using the cloud services. The custom configuration can also be configured to provide limited use of certain systems or the vehicle, such as when a guest is driving the vehicle. In other embodiments, restrictions can be placed on the vehicle speed, location of driving, and automatic notifications for the user or the master user of the vehicle. The master user of the vehicle can have a master account with administrator credentials.”);
causing, by the server, the first user account to be automatically logged into the secondary vehicle (para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”, para [0106] line 1-9 : “The pairing request may be automatically sent by the users device to cloud services 120. The pairing request can include sending the model of the vehicle 200, that may have been obtained by the users mobile device from the vehicle 200 directly. In the illustrated example, the pairing request by the users mobile device can include identification of the vehicle that the user has come in close proximity to. A pairing module 170, can then communicate with a mapping engine 118 that determines information associated with car 200.”);
in response to logging into the first user account at the secondary vehicle, retrieving, by the server, the first user profile associated with the first user account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”); and
causing the first user profile to be loaded at the secondary vehicle such that attributes of the secondary vehicle are modified based on the one or more first preferred vehicle attribute settings stored in the first user profile (para [0071] line 1-18 : “If the user wishes to use his or her custom configuration in another vehicle, the user can login to the custom configuration or user account from another vehicle. If the other vehicle does not have all the system components needed to define the custom configuration, the custom configuration can be supplemented with other similar components automatically. In other embodiments, the custom configuration can be transferred from one vehicle to another, or when the user buys a new vehicle. In another embodiment, the custom configuration can be adjusted based on the driver. The custom configuration can also be preset remotely from the Internet, using the cloud services. The custom configuration can also be configured to provide limited use of certain systems or the vehicle, such as when a guest is driving the vehicle. In other embodiments, restrictions can be placed on the vehicle speed, location of driving, and automatic notifications for the user or the master user of the vehicle. The master user of the vehicle can have a master account with administrator credentials.”).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, the user account with a plurality of user profiles, each user profile of the plurality of user profiles being associated with the first user (para [0080] line 1-10 : “In one embodiment, the profile can be managed at a user account saved to a central or cloud distributed system, to manage access. Any vehicle can be abstracted so that any user can log into any vehicle if they have an account that allows access to that vehicle. For instance, a vehicle owner with the role of “administrator” (e.g., an administrator of a user account that has a profile associated therewith or multiple/sub profiles) can create logins for his or her vehicle(s) for additional users such as his or her children, spouse, mechanic, and valet driver among other applications.”); and
determining that one of the plurality of user profiles is specified as a preferred user profile,
wherein retrieving, by the server, the first user profile associated with the first user account comprises retrieving the preferred user profile such that attributes of the vehicle are modified based on preferred vehicle attribute settings stored in the preferred user profile (para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”, para [0106] line 1-9 : “The pairing request may be automatically sent by the users device to cloud services 120. The pairing request can include sending the model of the vehicle 200, that may have been obtained by the users mobile device from the vehicle 200 directly. In the illustrated example, the pairing request by the users mobile device can include identification of the vehicle that the user has come in close proximity to. A pairing module 170, can then communicate with a mapping engine 118 that determines information associated with car 200.”, para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”), The system configuring a vehicle according to a user login indicates the logged in user is a preferred user profile).
Regarding Claim 8, Penilla the combination of Penilla and LaCroix the combination of Penilla and LaCroix x teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, a plurality of user devices with the first user account (para [0031] : “The recommending is processed by a server that receives data from the vehicle over a network and sends action recommendations to one or more predefined user devices associated with the user account.”, para [0061] line 1-11 : “In other embodiments, the electronics of a vehicle can synchronize with a user's portable electronics. The user's electronics can include, for example mobile devices that include smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, etc. The various computing devices of the vehicle, and or the computing devices of the user (smart devices) can be connected to the Internet or to each other. Provided that a user has access or account access to the cloud service, the cloud processing services on the Internet can provide additional processing information to the electronics of the vehicle.”, para [0096] : “FIG. 2 shows two different types of users and an example of how the user is organized, in accordance with one embodiment. In this example, User 1 is an administrator of a vehicle login system over vehicles he or she owns. User 1 has the ability to add or remove logins, roles and vehicles to his login system. Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance. In this case, a family member “User 2” is shown.”, Fig. 2, Fig. 2 shows each user has their own device with login credentials),
wherein logging into the vehicle is performed in response to determining that any of the plurality of user devices are approaching the vehicle (para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, a plurality of user devices with the first user account (para [0031] : “The recommending is processed by a server that receives data from the vehicle over a network and sends action recommendations to one or more predefined user devices associated with the user account.”, para [0061] line 1-11 : “In other embodiments, the electronics of a vehicle can synchronize with a user's portable electronics. The user's electronics can include, for example mobile devices that include smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, etc. The various computing devices of the vehicle, and or the computing devices of the user (smart devices) can be connected to the Internet or to each other. Provided that a user has access or account access to the cloud service, the cloud processing services on the Internet can provide additional processing information to the electronics of the vehicle.”, para [0096] : “FIG. 2 shows two different types of users and an example of how the user is organized, in accordance with one embodiment. In this example, User 1 is an administrator of a vehicle login system over vehicles he or she owns. User 1 has the ability to add or remove logins, roles and vehicles to his login system. Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance. In this case, a family member “User 2” is shown.”, Fig. 2, Fig. 2 shows each user has their own device with login credentials);
receiving an indication from a primary user associated with the user account to provision a first user device for a temporary user of the vehicle (para [0080] line 1-13 : “In one embodiment, the profile can be managed at a user account saved to a central or cloud distributed system, to manage access. Any vehicle can be abstracted so that any user can log into any vehicle if they have an account that allows access to that vehicle. For instance, a vehicle owner with the role of “administrator” (e.g., an administrator of a user account that has a profile associated therewith or multiple/sub profiles) can create logins for his or her vehicle(s) for additional users such as his or her children, spouse, mechanic, and valet driver among other applications. Logins can be created for individuals or for roles such as the role of “child” where all users with the role “child” would have the same vehicle specifications applied to the vehicle they will be logging into.”, para [0082] line 1-10 : “Logins can have “role” specific settings and privileges or settings and privileges set only by the administrator that cannot be overridden by the user of the login. For instance, an administrator may create a login for “John” their 16-year-old son. The administrator can apply settings to John's login that John cannot override such as the maximum speed the vehicle can travel. For instance, Although the vehicle may have the ability to travel at a speed of 130 mph, John's login will only allow the vehicle to travel at a speed up to 90 mph.”, para [0084] line 1-22 : “Login settings that can be set and remotely administered include but are not limited to, driving characteristics (rate of speed, fuel consumption guidelines) location based settings (GPS aided travel restrictions, travel radius boundaries, dynamically loading maps, dynamically loading directions, dynamically loading fuel, charge and battery service and purchase locations etc.), time of day based use restrictions (day driving only for example), automatic purchase settings (financial institution linking for automatic purchasing of fuel, charge time, batteries, car washes, etc.), fuel settings (Electric only, fuel only, hybrid only etc.), refueling routing and purchase (incentive based re-fueling maps, incentive based refueling offers etc.) driving characteristic settings (sport, comfortable, soft, off-road, high performance, economy mode), entertainment system settings (radio memory settings, internet access or restriction, streaming services settings), comfort & HVAC settings (climate control, seat positions, seat heater/cooler, suspension/ride settings, entry lighting, remote start, remote stop etc.) tracking/metric settings (camera/video recording guidelines, mileage, top speed, average speed, MPG, wear and tear settings and notifications, historical travel maps).”);
associating, by the server and at the data store, the first user device with a guest account associated with the vehicle (para [0079] line 1-10 : “In one embodiment, vehicle settings are saved to either a memory number button on the vehicle or synced to a key fob, or accessible via an interface or voice activation. In one example, a vehicle operator profile is provided to allow users to maintain their individualized profiles, settings and accounts for vehicles from any internet connected device or be able to login to their vehicle physically in or near the vehicle by the use of a fob, thumb print, eye scan and or manual login using an input device that interacts with the vehicle's login system.”);
in response to logging into the guest account, retrieving, by the server a guest profile associated with the guest account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”); and
causing, by the server, the guest profile to be loaded at the vehicle such that attributes of the vehicle are modified based on one or more preferred vehicle attribute settings stored in the guest profile (para [0086] line 1-5 : “Additionally, combinations of settings or setting profiles (such as “sport” where your seat moves to sport position for additional support, suspension stiffens, throttle response becomes aggressive etc.) can be set as well instead of individually setting use characteristics.”).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, a plurality of user devices with the first user account (para [0031] : “The recommending is processed by a server that receives data from the vehicle over a network and sends action recommendations to one or more predefined user devices associated with the user account.”, para [0061] line 1-11 : “In other embodiments, the electronics of a vehicle can synchronize with a user's portable electronics. The user's electronics can include, for example mobile devices that include smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, etc. The various computing devices of the vehicle, and or the computing devices of the user (smart devices) can be connected to the Internet or to each other. Provided that a user has access or account access to the cloud service, the cloud processing services on the Internet can provide additional processing information to the electronics of the vehicle.”, para [0096] : “FIG. 2 shows two different types of users and an example of how the user is organized, in accordance with one embodiment. In this example, User 1 is an administrator of a vehicle login system over vehicles he or she owns. User 1 has the ability to add or remove logins, roles and vehicles to his login system. Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance. In this case, a family member “User 2” is shown.”, Fig. 2, Fig. 2 shows each user has their own device with login credentials); and
receiving an indication from a primary user associated with the first user account to provision a first user device of the plurality of user devices for a secondary user (para [0080] line 1-13 : “In one embodiment, the profile can be managed at a user account saved to a central or cloud distributed system, to manage access. Any vehicle can be abstracted so that any user can log into any vehicle if they have an account that allows access to that vehicle. For instance, a vehicle owner with the role of “administrator” (e.g., an administrator of a user account that has a profile associated therewith or multiple/sub profiles) can create logins for his or her vehicle(s) for additional users such as his or her children, spouse, mechanic, and valet driver among other applications. Logins can be created for individuals or for roles such as the role of “child” where all users with the role “child” would have the same vehicle specifications applied to the vehicle they will be logging into.”, para [0082] line 1-10 : “Logins can have “role” specific settings and privileges or settings and privileges set only by the administrator that cannot be overridden by the user of the login. For instance, an administrator may create a login for “John” their 16-year-old son. The administrator can apply settings to John's login that John cannot override such as the maximum speed the vehicle can travel. For instance, Although the vehicle may have the ability to travel at a speed of 130 mph, John's login will only allow the vehicle to travel at a speed up to 90 mph.”, para [0084] line 1-22 : “Login settings that can be set and remotely administered include but are not limited to, driving characteristics (rate of speed, fuel consumption guidelines) location based settings (GPS aided travel restrictions, travel radius boundaries, dynamically loading maps, dynamically loading directions, dynamically loading fuel, charge and battery service and purchase locations etc.), time of day based use restrictions (day driving only for example), automatic purchase settings (financial institution linking for automatic purchasing of fuel, charge time, batteries, car washes, etc.), fuel settings (Electric only, fuel only, hybrid only etc.), refueling routing and purchase (incentive based re-fueling maps, incentive based refueling offers etc.) driving characteristic settings (sport, comfortable, soft, off-road, high performance, economy mode), entertainment system settings (radio memory settings, internet access or restriction, streaming services settings), comfort & HVAC settings (climate control, seat positions, seat heater/cooler, suspension/ride settings, entry lighting, remote start, remote stop etc.) tracking/metric settings (camera/video recording guidelines, mileage, top speed, average speed, MPG, wear and tear settings and notifications, historical travel maps).”);
associating, by the server and at the data store, the first user device with a guest account associated with the vehicle (para [0079] line 1-10 : “In one embodiment, vehicle settings are saved to either a memory number button on the vehicle or synced to a key fob, or accessible via an interface or voice activation. In one example, a vehicle operator profile is provided to allow users to maintain their individualized profiles, settings and accounts for vehicles from any internet connected device or be able to login to their vehicle physically in or near the vehicle by the use of a fob, thumb print, eye scan and or manual login using an input device that interacts with the vehicle's login system.”),
logging into the guest account at the vehicle (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”); and
in response to logging into the guest account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”):
retrieving, by the server, a user profile of the secondary user associated with the guest account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration, as mentioned above is stored in the database of the vehicle manufacturer, or a database held by a 3rd party that cooperates with the vehicle manufacturer to provide cloud services.”, para [0108] line 1-9 : “The mapping engine 118, in this example includes a map or that communicates with the automakers database to identify the settings, applications, APIs, or modules that allow integration of Bob's user profile from the user profiles database 160 so that Bob's profile can be sent to car 200. In the illustrated example, the mapping engine, the of the mapper, will obtain Bob's profile 160 for cloud services and obtain vehicle information for the user interfaces of the vehicle desired for use by the user.”); and
causing, by the server, the user profile of the secondary user to be loaded at the vehicle such that attributes of the vehicle are modified based on one or more preferred vehicle attribute settings stored in the user profile of the secondary user (para [0086] line 1-5 : “Additionally, combinations of settings or setting profiles (such as “sport” where your seat moves to sport position for additional support, suspension stiffens, throttle response becomes aggressive etc.) can be set as well instead of individually setting use characteristics.”). However, Penilla does not explicitly teach a plurality of user devices.
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Penilla and LaCroix teaches The method of claim 1, further Penilla teaches further comprising:
associating, by the server and at the data store, a plurality of user devices with the first user account (para [0031] : “The recommending is processed by a server that receives data from the vehicle over a network and sends action recommendations to one or more predefined user devices associated with the user account.”, para [0061] line 1-11 : “In other embodiments, the electronics of a vehicle can synchronize with a user's portable electronics. The user's electronics can include, for example mobile devices that include smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, etc. The various computing devices of the vehicle, and or the computing devices of the user (smart devices) can be connected to the Internet or to each other. Provided that a user has access or account access to the cloud service, the cloud processing services on the Internet can provide additional processing information to the electronics of the vehicle.”, para [0096] : “FIG. 2 shows two different types of users and an example of how the user is organized, in accordance with one embodiment. In this example, User 1 is an administrator of a vehicle login system over vehicles he or she owns. User 1 has the ability to add or remove logins, roles and vehicles to his login system. Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance. In this case, a family member “User 2” is shown.”, Fig. 2, Fig. 2 shows each user has their own device with login credentials); and
receiving an indication from a primary user associated with the first user account to associate a first user device of the plurality of user devices with a user account associated with another user (para [0080] line 1-13 : “In one embodiment, the profile can be managed at a user account saved to a central or cloud distributed system, to manage access. Any vehicle can be abstracted so that any user can log into any vehicle if they have an account that allows access to that vehicle. For instance, a vehicle owner with the role of “administrator” (e.g., an administrator of a user account that has a profile associated therewith or multiple/sub profiles) can create logins for his or her vehicle(s) for additional users such as his or her children, spouse, mechanic, and valet driver among other applications. Logins can be created for individuals or for roles such as the role of “child” where all users with the role “child” would have the same vehicle specifications applied to the vehicle they will be logging into.”, para [0082] line 1-10 : “Logins can have “role” specific settings and privileges or settings and privileges set only by the administrator that cannot be overridden by the user of the login. For instance, an administrator may create a login for “John” their 16-year-old son. The administrator can apply settings to John's login that John cannot override such as the maximum speed the vehicle can travel. For instance, Although the vehicle may have the ability to travel at a speed of 130 mph, John's login will only allow the vehicle to travel at a speed up to 90 mph.”, para [0084] line 1-22 : “Login settings that can be set and remotely administered include but are not limited to, driving characteristics (rate of speed, fuel consumption guidelines) location based settings (GPS aided travel restrictions, travel radius boundaries, dynamically loading maps, dynamically loading directions, dynamically loading fuel, charge and battery service and purchase locations etc.), time of day based use restrictions (day driving only for example), automatic purchase settings (financial institution linking for automatic purchasing of fuel, charge time, batteries, car washes, etc.), fuel settings (Electric only, fuel only, hybrid only etc.), refueling routing and purchase (incentive based re-fueling maps, incentive based refueling offers etc.) driving characteristic settings (sport, comfortable, soft, off-road, high performance, economy mode), entertainment system settings (radio memory settings, internet access or restriction, streaming services settings), comfort & HVAC settings (climate control, seat positions, seat heater/cooler, suspension/ride settings, entry lighting, remote start, remote stop etc.) tracking/metric settings (camera/video recording guidelines, mileage, top speed, average speed, MPG, wear and tear settings and notifications, historical travel maps).”); and
associating, by the server and at the data store, the first user device with the first user account of said another user (para [0079] line 1-10 : “In one embodiment, vehicle settings are saved to either a memory number button on the vehicle or synced to a key fob, or accessible via an interface or voice activation. In one example, a vehicle operator profile is provided to allow users to maintain their individualized profiles, settings and accounts for vehicles from any internet connected device or be able to login to their vehicle physically in or near the vehicle by the use of a fob, thumb print, eye scan and or manual login using an input device that interacts with the vehicle's login system.”).
Regarding Claim 13, Penilla teaches A computer-implemented system comprising :
a data store (Fig.6, Fig. 6 shows system using database 115); and
a server, comprising a processor comprising hardware, the processing being configured to (Fig.6, Fig. 6 shows system using cloud services 120 which fundamentally require the use of a server):
associate, in the data store maintained by the server, a first user account of a first primary user a vehicle, wherein: (para [0051] line 1-7 : “In one embodiment, a user can access cloud services for a vehicle manufacturer and identify the particular vehicle from selected choices. The user can then identify a customization profile for the vehicle by defining the look and feel of a UI display, arrangement of vehicle controls on displays, add and associate third party APPS to the vehicle display, and save the configuration.”);
the data store stores a plurality of user accounts, each respective user account of the plurality of user accounts being associated with one or more respective vehicles, a respective primary user, and one or more respective user profiles(para [0086} : “In one embodiment, logins are user specific, not vehicle specific, so any family member can use their login on any family vehicle and the vehicle will perform based on the metrics and restrictions dictated by the login used to operate the vehicle.”, para [0091 : “A parent can set up a login to the family vehicle for their child that only allows the child to drive within a certain radius. For example the vehicle may only be used to drive between home and school. A map can be outlined on the account management interface by a parent when setting up the child's login to support the home to school restriction intended.”, as the system is designed for use in real world applications, it would not be limited to the use of only one family, and therefore it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the system would have multiple user accounts for users were each user would have the same capabilities of settings regarding profiles of family members);
each user account is configured to receive input from the corresponding primary user to grant one or more other users access to the vehicles (para [0096] : “Since User 1 is an administrator, he or she can add more logins and or roles to the system to allow a family member to have access to the family vehicles for instance.”); and
each respective user profile indicates one or more preferred vehicle attribute settings for a user of the respective user profile (para [0097] : “However, User 1 can make changes on behalf of User 2. The full range of settings over a vehicle that applies to a given role or login is a super set of settings. User 2 may have access to a subset of settings that User 1 allows changes to by User 2.”);
associate, in the data store, the first user account with a first user profile, wherein the first user profile includes one or more first preferred vehicle attribute settings (para [0052] line 1-2 : “The configuration, in one embodiment, is saved to the profile of the user.”);
upon receiving an indication that the user is approaching the vehicle, causing, by the server, the user account to be automatically logged into at the vehicle (para [0105] line 1-11 : “Once the user has located a proximate vehicle, such as car 200, the user may approach the vehicle so as to utilize the vehicle 200. In one embodiment, when the user approaches the vehicle, and comes in close proximity to the vehicle as detected by the geo-location of the users mobile device, a pairing request can be detected. The pairing request may be triggered once the proximity zone of the car 200 and the proximity zone of the user substantially or partially overlap. The proximity zone's may overlap when the user comes in close proximity to the vehicle, such as within a few feet, within a mile, or the user has touched or bumped the vehicle.”, para [0106] line 1-9 : “The pairing request may be automatically sent by the users device to cloud services 120. The pairing request can include sending the model of the vehicle 200, that may have been obtained by the users mobile device from the vehicle 200 directly. In the illustrated example, the pairing request by the users mobile device can include identification of the vehicle that the user has come in close proximity to. A pairing module 170, can then communicate with a mapping engine 118 that determines information associated with car 200.”);
in response to logging into the user account, retrieving, by the server, a user profile associated with the user account (para [0077] line 1-6 : “In one embodiment, the custom user interface configuration can be transferred to the vehicle. The custom configuration,