Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Art Unit – Location
The Art Unit location of your application in the USPTO may have changed. To aid in correlating any papers for this application, all further correspondence regarding this application should be directed to Art Unit 2682.
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 one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Image capture unit in claim 2
GPS unit in claim 2
Data packaging unit in claim 2
Data transmission/reception unit in claim 2
Display unit in claim 2
Drive control unit in claim 3
Feature extraction unit in claim 4
Road surface condition determination unit in claims 4, 5, and 6
Communication unit in claim 4
Image conversion unit in claim 7
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 respectively in US 2025/0029399 A1.
Camera [0011]
Global Positioning System receiver [0015]
CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVER FIG. 4
COMMUNICATION NETWORK FIG. 4
Display 150 FIG. 3
ECU or MCU [0074]
CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVER FIG. 4
CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVER FIG. 4
CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVER FIG. 4
CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVER FIG. 4
As taught by the method in FIG. 8.
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 Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 6 cites “the plurality of driving vehicles”. The Examiner understands the claim to mean “a plurality of driving vehicles. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusama et al. (US 2020/0198643 A1) “Kusama” in view of Jang (KR 10-1936769 B1) Machine Translation “Jang”.
1. Kusama teaches: A control system ("information processing system " [0011]. FIG. 1) using road surface recognition of a driving vehicle ("The vehicle acquires an image obtained by imaging a road on which a host vehicle is located" [ABSTRACT]) , the system comprising: a vehicle-attached ("VEHICLE 10" [FIG. 2]) device configured for transmitting ("COMMUNICATION UNIT 11" [FIG. 2]) , to a central management server ("server 20" [0021]), road surface information including the ("The positioning unit 12 includes a receiver compatible with a satellite positioning system. The receiver is compatible with, for example, a global positioning system (GPS)" [0028]) and road surface image information of a driving vehicle ("to acquire an image obtained by imaging a road on which a host vehicle is located." [0006]; the degree of difficulty in traveling on the road due to snow cover is determined by using the image actually imaged by the vehicle 10. [0023]); and the central management server configured for determining a road surface condition ("The server stores the degree of difficulty in traveling for each of one or more roads, and provides information to a client by using the stored degree of difficulty in traveling for each of one or more roads." [ABSTRACT]) .
Kusama does not explicitly teach where the information processing system provides data for road surface conditions in real time.
However, Jang provides a system which provides road surface condition data in real time.
“This road weather information system (RWIS) provides measured weather data and road condition information in real time” [0006]
The information processing system of Kusama which determines the degree of difficulty in traveling due to a vehicle based camera image of snow covered on a road can be modified by Jang to provide information in real time.
The motivation for the combination is provided by Jang to provide a system to reduce “the fatality rate of traffic accidents caused by slippery roads” [0002].
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle-attached device includes: an image capture unit ("IMAGING UNIT 13" [FIG. 2] of Kusama) attached to the driving vehicle ("VEHICLE 10" [FIG. 2] of Kusama), the image capture unit configured for continuously capturing the road surface image information ("snow cover is determined by using the image actually imaged by the vehicle 10" [0023] of Kusama) ; a global positioning system (GPS) unit configured for recognizing location information (“POSITIONING UNIT 12" FIG. 2 having e.g. GPS" [0028] of Kusama) of a road surface captured by the image capture unit in real time; a data packaging unit configured for packaging the real-time location information and road surface image information of the driving vehicle ("CONTROLLER 15" [0026] shown in FIG. 2 of Kusama); a data transmission/reception unit ("COMMUNICATION UNIT 11" [0026] FIG. 2 of Kusama) configured for transmitting the packaged road surface information to the central management server (server "20" [FIG. 1] of Kusama) and receiving the real-time road surface condition information from the central management server ("The server stores the degree of difficulty in traveling for each of one or more roads, and provides information to a client by using the stored degree of difficulty in traveling for each of one or more roads." [ABSTRACT] of Kusama) ; and a display unit configured for visually outputting the real-time road surface condition information ("DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY IN TRAVELING: LOW" [FIG. 6] of Kusama) .
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the central management server includes: a feature vector extraction unit configured for extracting a feature vector based on the transmitted real-time road surface information; a road surface condition determination unit configured for determining the road surface condition by extracting the real-time feature vector extracted by the feature vector extraction unit and a feature vector of a dry road surface, a wet road surface, an iced road surface, or a snowy road surface, stored in a database and calculating similarity between the feature vectors; and a communication unit configured for transmitting the determined real-time road surface condition information to the driving vehicle and receiving the road surface information from the driving vehicle (“Any image recognition algorithm such as pattern matching, feature extraction" [0036] of Kusama to determine a snow covered road surface.) .
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
7. The system of claim 4, wherein the central management server further includes an image conversion unit configured for converting the determined real-time road surface condition information to be displayed as image information on a driving route map (a real-time driving map showing "DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY IN TRAVALING: LOW" [FIG. 6] of Kusama.) .
8. The method of claim 8 has been analyzed in view of the method of Kusama “INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD” [TITLE] and further in view of claim 1.
Claim 8 is rejected in a similar manner to claim 1.
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
9. The method of claim 9 has been analyzed in view of the method of Kusama “INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD” [TITLE] and further in view of claim 2.
Claim 9 is rejected in a similar manner to claim 2.
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
10. The method of claim 10 has been analyzed in view of the method of Kusama “INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD” [TITLE] and further in view of claim 4.
Claim 10 is rejected in a similar manner to claim 4.
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
Claims 3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusama et al. (US 2020/0198643 A1) “Kusama” in view of Jang (KR 10-1936769 B1) Machine Translation “Jang” and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2016/0001780 A1) “Lee”.
3. Kusama and Jang teach: The system of claim 1, having a vehicle-attached device.
Kusama and Jang do not explicitly teach a drive control unit controlling driving information of the driving vehicle based on the real-time location information, based on the road surface condition information received from the central management server.
However, Lee teaches: a drive control unit controlling driving information of the driving vehicle based on the real-time location information, based on the road surface condition information received from the central management server ("brake drive unit 753 may control an operation of a brake mounted at each wheel to reduce speed of the vehicle 200" [0121]) .
The system of Kusama and Jang detecting a snow covered road can be modified by Lee to control the driving information of the driving vehicle based on the road condition information received from the central management server to reduce speed of the vehicle in a state where the road surface is classified as a snow covered state.
The motivation for the combination is provided by Lee “to provide a driver assistance apparatus that is capable of recognizing a road surface state” [0007] and to provide a “brake drive unit” for “the road surface data.” [0009].
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
11. The method of claim 11 has been analyzed in view of the method of Kusama “INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD” [TITLE] and further in view of claim 3.
Claim 11 is rejected in a similar manner to claim 3.
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusama et al. (US 2020/0198643 A1) “Kusama” in view of Jang (KR 10-1936769 B1) Machine Translation “Jang” and further in view of Brockway et al. (US 6,456,288 B1) “Brockway”.
5. Kusama and Jang teach the system of claim 4, having a road surface condition determination unit configured to determine the road surface condition.
Kusama and Jang do not explicitly teach where a predetermined length by determining a local road surface condition in units of 1 m or less, and verifying validity of the accumulated local road surface conditions for the predetermined length.
However Brockway teaches a predetermined length by determining a local road surface condition in units of 1 m or less, and verifying validity of the accumulated local road surface conditions for the predetermined length (“an original twenty-five-meter source imagery resolution data set contains a one-meter model of a road rather than the original road that was captured at twenty-five-meter resolution” [Col. 5 lines 7-10]. Such that “the one-hundred-meter imagery blends into the fifty-meter imagery, which blends into the twenty-five-meter imagery, because all resolution sets are derived from the highest-resolution image data.” [Col. 5 lines 16-19].)
The determination of the road surface condition of Kusama can be modified by Brockway to teach a predetermined length of one hundred meters using a resolution of 1 meter.
The motivation for the combination is provided by Brockway “The present invention enables creation of a database comprised of high-resolution models incorporated into lower-resolution source imagery.” [Col. 1 lines 63-65].
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the road surface condition determination unit is configured to verify the validity based on reliability of the road surface information received from the plurality of driving vehicles ("The server 20 receives the degree of difficulty in traveling for each of one or more roads from one or a plurality of vehicles 10 and stores the degree of difficulty in traveling. " [0022] of Kusama.) .
Therefore, the Applicant’s claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and the claim is rejected.
Relevant Prior Art
Choi et al. KR 10-2022-0029902
Abstract
The present invention relates to a road surface monitoring system and a method, which includes: a central server; a vehicle traveling along a road surface; a road surface detection sensor provided in the vehicle and sensing road surface condition information; a position sensor provided in the vehicle and configured to detect current location information of the vehicle; and a communication unit for transmitting measurement information including road surface condition information received from the road surface sensor, current location information received from the position sensor, and time information to the central server. Accordingly, it is possible to promptly perform a repair work by immediately identifying damage and cracks in the road surface.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TED W BARNES whose telephone number is (571) 270-1785. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benny Tieu can be reached at 571-272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TED W. BARNES/ Ph.D. Electrical Engineering
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2682
/TED W BARNES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682