DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on May 17, 2023 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8-11 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishihara (US 8,958,396).
Ishihara discloses a system and method for train control in a wireless communication system, generally shown in figure 1. The system is comprised of an onboard wireless communication device 22 and wayside wireless communication devices 10A, 10B, wherein the onboard wireless communication device is configured to generate control information for train control and provide a first control command to a first base station through a first interface based on the control information and
provide a second control command to a second base station through a second interface based on the control information. The signal is shown to transmit between transceiver 24 and the various wayside ground control apparatus 10A and 10B and additional wayside wireless apparatus 12A1, 12A2, 12B1 and 12B2. Each wayside device receives a unique signal based on the control and movement of the train. The wayside wireless communication devices are configured to acquire the first control command from the first base station through the first interface; acquire the second control command from the second base station through the second interface and analyze the first control command and the second control command to determine whether the first control command and the second control command are abnormal. The system further generates an operating signal corresponding to one of the first control command and the second control command that is determined to be normal.
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) 5-7, 12-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishihara (US 8,958,396) in view of Fisher et al (US 2021/0155275).
Ishihara disclose the control system and method as described above. However, Ishihara does not specifically show the use of a virtual private network (VPN) for communication between the onboard control systems and the wayside system. Fisher et al discloses a wireless warning system for workers on a railway track with transceivers in wireless communication with an oncoming locomotive across a virtual private network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied a VPN, like that of Fisher et al, to a control system, like that of Ishihara, with the expected result of securing the signals between a dedicated transmitter and receiver so that signals are not crossed and confused between m7ultiple locomotives.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
October 15, 2025\
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