DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
This communication is in response to applicant’s filing dated 10/10/2025. Claims 1-2 are amended. Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority for Application No. GB2114312.8, filed on 10/06/2021.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/31/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 10/10/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hwang et al., US 20220005353 A1, in view of Doig et al., US 20190339082 A1, and in view of Aoude et al., US 20190287402 A1, hereinafter referred to as Hwang, Doig and Aoude, respectively.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6-9, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al., US 20220005353 A1, in view of Doig et al., US 20190339082 A1, and in view of Aoude et al., US 20190287402, hereinafter referred to as Hwang, Doig and Aoude, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Hwang discloses a method of communication in an Intelligent Transport System, ITS, comprising, at an originating ITS station, ITS-S:
responsive to detecting a collision or risk of collision between at least two objects, sending a collision warning Decentralized Environmental Notification Message, DENM (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. V2X communication device can inform other V2X communication devices about the position, dynamics, and attributes of surrounding road users and other objects that are detected – See at least ¶77. For example, by comparing the received information with the state of the detected road user or object, the receiving V2X communication device may estimate the risk of collision with the road user or object – See at least ¶102).
Hwang fails to explicitly disclose wherein the DENM signals a collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision and includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively.
However, Doig teaches wherein the DENM signals a collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision and includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively (V2X messages that are defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) fall into two categories, namely Decentralized Environmental Notification Message (DENM) – See at least ¶40. A DENM message is an event triggered message that is sent only when a trigger condition is met. For example, such trigger may be a road hazard or an abnormal traffic condition, i.e. collision event – See at least ¶42. V2X vehicle updates its LDM and constructs an ITS message such as a “Perceived Object CAM” message and event triggered “DEMN ITS” message with information, i.e. two containers describing two objects about the non-V2X vehicle – See at least ¶159 and 167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hwang and include the feature of wherein the DENM signals a collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision and includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively, as taught by Doig, to allow for the transportation system to make better informed decisions with regard to transportation and traffic management (See at least ¶2).
The combination of Hwang and Doig fail to explicitly disclose the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision, wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S.
However, Aoude teaches:
the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision (The received data and messages are fused and applied to an artificial intelligence model to predict an action of a driver of the road vehicle or of a vulnerable road user or a collision risk for the road vehicle or both – See at least ¶10),
wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S (Roadside Equipment (RSE) that includes or makes use of sensors to monitor, track, detect, and predict motion (such as speed, heading, and position), behavior (e.g., high speed), and intent (e.g., will violate the stop sign) of ground transportation entities. The RSE also includes or can make use of a data processing unit and data storage. The ground transportation entities exhibit a wide range of behavior which depends on the infrastructure of the ground transportation network as well as the states of the entities themselves, the states of the drivers, and the states of other ground transportation entities. To capture the behaviors of the entities the RSE collects information from the sensors, other RSEs, OBEs, OPEs, local or central servers, and other data processing units – See at least ¶62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hwang and include the feature of the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision, wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S, as taught by Aoude, to predict if two vehicles are about to crash at the intersection based on heading and speed (See at least ¶3).
Regarding claim 2, Hwang discloses:
receiving, from an originating ITS-S, a collision warning Decentralized Environmental Notification Message, DENM, warning a collision or risk of collision between at least two objects (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. V2X communication device can inform other V2X communication devices about the position, dynamics, and attributes of surrounding road users and other objects that are detected – See at least ¶77. For example, by comparing the received information with the state of the detected road user or object, the receiving V2X communication device may estimate the risk of collision with the road user or object – See at least ¶102),
determining whether the receiving ITS-S corresponds to one of the at least two objects described in the received DENM (In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. a CPM message may include perceived object containers – See at least ¶161 and FIG. 8), and
in case of positive determining, triggering collision-related measures (The V2X vehicle may perform the triggering for transmitting (or generating) of the CPM message based on the detected states of the objects – See at least ¶223).
Hwang fails to explicitly disclose wherein the DENM includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively.
However, Doig teaches wherein the DENM signals a collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision and includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively (V2X messages that are defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) fall into two categories, namely Decentralized Environmental Notification Message (DENM) – See at least ¶40. A DENM message is an event triggered message that is sent only when a trigger condition is met. For example, such trigger may be a road hazard or an abnormal traffic condition, i.e. collision event – See at least ¶42. V2X vehicle updates its LDM and constructs an ITS message such as a “Perceived Object CAM” message and event triggered “DEMN ITS” message with information, i.e. two containers describing two objects about the non-V2X vehicle – See at least ¶159 and 167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hwang and include the feature of wherein the DENM signals a collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision and includes a description of the originating ITS-S and, in addition, at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively, as taught by Doig, to allow for the transportation system to make better informed decisions with regard to transportation and traffic management (See at least ¶2).
The combination of Hwang and Doig fail to explicitly disclose the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision, wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S.
However, Aoude teaches:
the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision (The received data and messages are fused and applied to an artificial intelligence model to predict an action of a driver of the road vehicle or of a vulnerable road user or a collision risk for the road vehicle or both – See at least ¶10),
wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S (Roadside Equipment (RSE) that includes or makes use of sensors to monitor, track, detect, and predict motion (such as speed, heading, and position), behavior (e.g., high speed), and intent (e.g., will violate the stop sign) of ground transportation entities. The RSE also includes or can make use of a data processing unit and data storage. The ground transportation entities exhibit a wide range of behavior which depends on the infrastructure of the ground transportation network as well as the states of the entities themselves, the states of the drivers, and the states of other ground transportation entities. To capture the behaviors of the entities the RSE collects information from the sensors, other RSEs, OBEs, OPEs, local or central servers, and other data processing units – See at least ¶62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hwang and include the feature of the at least two objects being involved in the collision event of the detected collision or risk of collision, wherein the at least two containers contain information about a distance relative to the originating ITS-S and information about a speed relative to the originating ITS-S, as taught by Aoude, to predict if two vehicles are about to crash at the intersection based on heading and speed (See at least ¶3).
Regarding claim 4, Hwang discloses wherein the originating ITS-S is a road-side unit (The V2X communication device is included in an intelligent transport system (ITS), and may perform some of or all the functions of the ITS system. The V2X communication device may correspond to a road side unit (RSU) of infrastructure – See at least ¶48).
Regarding claim 6, Hwang discloses wherein one of the containers includes a Station Identifier of the originating ITS-S or one of the containers includes a Station Identifier of an ITS-S separate from the originating ITS-S and obtained from a Cooperative Awareness Messages previously received from the separate ITS-S (The OSC field used to transmit information of its own vehicle may include ‘BasicContainer’ field and/or ‘StationData’ field – See at least ¶163. in cooperative awareness (CA) service, an upper bound and a lower bound of a transmission interval (or transmission period) of a CAM may be determined (or set) – See at least ¶171).
Regarding claim 7, Hwang discloses wherein one of the containers includes a classification field providing a classification of the corresponding described object and/or one of the containers includes coordinates of the corresponding described object as expressed in a local coordinate frame fixed to the originating ITS-S (The transmission interval of the CP message may be determined based on the trigger condition that is differently set depending on a classification of the object – See at least ¶11).
Regarding claim 8, Hwang discloses wherein the DENM includes containers only for objects involved in the collision (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. For example, by comparing the received information with the state of the detected road user or object, the receiving V2X communication device may estimate the risk of collision with the road user or object – See at least ¶102).
Regarding claim 9, Hwang discloses wherein the DENM includes an indication of a collision point, and further includes a container for each object perceived in an area surrounding the collision point (The vehicle transmitting the CPS message may acquire state information of surrounding objects by sensing (or detecting) the surrounding objects. if the surrounding objects sharply change, it means that there is a high possibility that there is a change in the driving state of the surrounding objects or there is a risk factor. In this case, the V2X vehicle sending the CPS message needs to send a message about the state of the surrounding objects to surrounding V2X vehicles in a short period – See at least ¶182).
Regarding claim 11, Hwang discloses wherein the DENM includes a link to a previous DENM (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54).
Regarding claim 12, Hwang discloses at least one microprocessor (Microprocessor – See at least ¶266).
Regarding claim 13, Hwang discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program which, when executed by a microprocessor or computer system in an Intelligent Transport System, ITS, station, ITS-S, causes the ITS-S to perform the method of Claim 1 (processor and memory – See at least ¶250).
Regarding claim 14, Hwang discloses a Management Container containing an eventPosition field indicating a geographical position of the collision of risk of collision, an actionlD field combining an identifier of the originating ITS-S and a sequence number, and a stationType field indicating a type of the originating ITS-S; a Situation Container containing information describing the collision or risk of collision; a Location Container containing information about the location of the collision or risk of collision; and a A La Carte Container containing a first container describing the originating ITS-S and, in addition, the at least two containers describing the at least two objects, respectively (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. V2X communication device can inform other V2X communication devices about the position, dynamics, and attributes of surrounding road users and other objects that are detected – See at least ¶77. For example, by comparing the received information with the state of the detected road user or object, the receiving V2X communication device may estimate the risk of collision with the road user or object – See at least ¶102).
Regarding claim 15, Hwang discloses wherein the DENM is a message notifying other ITS-S about the collision or risk of collisions between the at least two objects described by the at least two containers (The application support facility refers to a facility that supports a basic application. In the case of the V2X communication device, the facilities layer may support V2X messages/ITS messages, for example, a periodic message such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM) – See at least ¶54. V2X communication device can inform other V2X communication devices about the position, dynamics, and attributes of surrounding road users and other objects that are detected – See at least ¶77. For example, by comparing the received information with the state of the detected road user or object, the receiving V2X communication device may estimate the risk of collision with the road user or object – See at least ¶102).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al., US 20220005353 A1, in view of Doig et al., US 20190339082 A1, in view of Aoude et al., US 20190287402, applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Car 2 Car Communication Consortium, Triggering Conditions and Data Quality Pre-Crash Information, XP093024322, hereinafter referred to as Hwang, Doig, Aoude and Trigger Conditions, respectively.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude fail to disclose wherein a causeCode field of the DENM is set to a Collision Risk or Accident value.
However, “Trigger Conditions” teaches wherein a causeCode field of the DENM is set to a Collision Risk or Accident value (Causecode includes collisionRisk(97) – See at least page 11 of 15, under situation container section).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude and include the feature of wherein a causeCode field of the DENM is set to a Collision Risk or Accident value and a subCauseCode field of the DENM is set to a PreCrash value defining an imminent collision with a time to collision less than a threshold, as taught by trigger conditions, to enhancing road safety and traffic efficiency by means of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems.
Claim(s) 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al., US 20220005353 A1, in view of Doig et al., US 20190339082 A1, in view of Aoude et al., US 20190287402, as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Jha et al., US 20220332350 A1, hereinafter referred to as Hwang, Doig, Aoude and Jha, respectively.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude fail to disclose wherein at least one of the containers is a PerceivedObjectContainer as defined in ETSI TR 103 562 V2.1.1.
However, Jha teaches wherein at least one of the containers is a PerceivedObjectContainer as defined in ETSI TR 103 562 V2.1.1 (The employed DEs and DFs of the MCM may be taken from the ETSI TR103562. In addition to the ITS PDU Header, the MCM also includes various MCM parameters which include the following containers – See at least ¶135. Three additional containers are added to carry CPM parameters, including a Perceived Objects Container – See at least ¶155).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude and include the feature of wherein at least one of the containers is a PerceivedObjectContainer as defined in ETSI TR 103 562 V2.1.1, as taught by Jha, to detect an imminent collision between automotive vehicles.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude fail to disclose wherein the DENM further includes a Collision Data container indicating one or more predicted trajectories of the objects and/or a cause of the collision.
However, Jha teaches wherein the DENM further includes a Collision Data container indicating one or more predicted trajectories of the objects and/or a cause of the collision (The Planned Trajectory Container is used to share a planned/predicted trajectory as a cumulative result of one or more intentions over a predefined time in the future – See at least ¶141).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hwang, Doig and Aoude and include the feature of wherein the DENM further includes a Collision Data container indicating one or more predicted trajectories of the objects and/or a cause of the collision, as taught by Jha, to detect an imminent collision between automotive vehicles.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHMOUD M KAZIMI whose telephone number is (571)272-3436. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am-5pm.
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/MAHMOUD M KAZIMI/Examiner, Art Unit 3665