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 action is in response to the Applicant’s arguments and amendments filed on 1/26/2026. Applicant amended claims 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-12 and 15-18; and canceled claims 13, 14 and 20. Claims 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-12 and 15-19 are pending and are examined below.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR § 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.114.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 1/26/2026 has been entered.
RESPONSE TO REMARKS AND ARGUMENTS
In regards to the claim objections, Applicant’s amendments filed on 1/26/2026 obviate the claim objections – accordingly, the claim objections are withdrawn.
In regards to the claim rejections under § 103, Applicant’s arguments and amendments filed on 1/26/2026 have been fully 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.
CLAIM REJECTIONS—35 U.S.C. § 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 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.
Claims 1, 9, 11, 12 and 17-19 are rejected under § 103 as being unpatentable over Gerlach et al. (US20160034238A1; “Gerlach”) in view of Baalu et al. (US20170174228A1; “Baalu”) and in view of Maleitzke (US11945445B1; “Maleitzke”).
As to claim 1, Gerlach discloses a computer-implemented method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) securely connecting a mobile software application on a smartphone to an in-vehicle network of the vehicle (“FIG. 2A shows that the system 200 has a head unit 201 and a mobile device 202 that is communicatively coupled to the head unit 201.” ¶ 39 and FIG. 2A. Continuing, a user may press a button to invoke “an application context provided by a mobile application stored on the mobile device 202,” and “upon selection of the button 237, the system 200 will initiate a connection using mirroring technology (e.g., MIRRORLINK™) to the mobile device 202, and follow a deep link … to a specific application context 236” of a mobile software application. ¶ 45.);
(b) establishing communications between the mobile software application and the in- vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions (A user may press a button to invoke “an application context provided by a mobile application stored on the mobile device 202,” and “upon selection of the button 237, the system 200 will initiate a connection using mirroring technology (e.g., MIRRORLINK™) to the mobile device 202, and follow a deep link … to a specific application context 236” of a mobile software application. ¶ 45. See also ¶ 40 which discusses “mobile music application” and “mobile review and recommendation application” which meet the BRI of vehicle functions as music playing and displaying information are vehicle functions.);
(c) presenting the mobile software application to the user on an in-vehicle display by displaying icons representing said plurality of vehicle functions (Various icons associated with mobile applications may be displayed on a head unit 201 – see at least ¶ 39 and FIG. 2a.);
(d) receiving from the user a selection of a vehicle function using the mobile software application presented on the in-vehicle display (“upon selection of the button 237, the system 200 will initiate a connection using mirroring technology (e.g., MIRRORLINK™) to the mobile device 202, and follow a deep link … to a specific application context 236” of a mobile software application. ¶ 45.);
(e) presenting to the user the information about the selected vehicle function (“FIG. 2D shows that the mobile device 202 has rendered the application context 236, and that the application context 236 has been mirrored onto the head unit 201.” ¶ 46 and FIG. 2D.); and
(f) in response to selection of the vehicle function via the mobile software application, controlling the selected vehicle function (“By selecting the state indicator 245, a deep link may be followed such that the mobile music application 244 a may be invoked on the mobile device 202 and may navigate directly to an application context in which a user may change the state of the mobile music application 244 a from ‘Playing’ to a different state.” ¶ 47.).
Gerlach fails to explicitly disclose:
enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions including a climate control function; and
controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions.
Nevertheless, Baalu teaches:
enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions including a climate control function (“The input provided by the user may be transmitted to the interface system (e.g., via a CAN bus or other interconnect) and passed along to the mobile device if the mobile device is connected and active. The mobile device may interpret the user input, generate a control signal for adjusting a vehicle climate control system, and send the control signal to the interface system. The interface system may pass the control signal to the climate control system (e.g., via the CAN bus or other interconnect), and the climate control system may change an operating state in accordance with the control signal.” ¶ 43.); and
controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions (See at least ¶ 43.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application.
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 Gerlach to include the features of: enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions including a climate control function; and controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions, as taught by Baalu, with a reasonable expectation of success because these features are useful as “[b]y utilizing the computing resources of the mobile device to provide a user interface for controlling vehicle systems, the cost and complexity of an in-vehicle computing system may be reduced.” (Baalu, ¶ 54.) Additionally, adding in Baalu’s climate control is a natural and obvious extension to Gerlach’s disclosed vehicle functions as climate control is a common and frequently adjusted vehicle function that a driver interacts with.
The combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose:
receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode;
presenting to the user the information about the selected wellness mode; and
in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle via a music application of the smartphone.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches:
receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle (“In some implementations, the smart mode focus is the ambiance of the vehicle. For instance, the driver can desire to meditate prior to returning to work after lunch. A ‘Meditation’ smart mode can set therapeutic temperatures, play relaxing music, recline the seat, or more. If properly equipped, the smart mode can utilize methods of aromatherapy to help relax the driver.” Emphasis added; col. 10, ll. 20-26. “The vehicle can present a subset of the ranked smart modes 510. The ranked smart modes can be displayed to the user on a display screen in the center of the dashboard of the vehicle and selected with a touch screen input.” Col. 11, ll. 51-54; see also FIG. 1.); and
presenting to the user the information about the selected wellness mode (“A display screen 110 is depicted in the center of the dashboard. The dashboard screen displays selections of different smart modes 100.” See col. 4, ll. 33-38 and FIG. 1.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application. Maleitzke teaches: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle, and displaying information about the selected wellness mode.
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the features of: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle; and presenting to the user the information about the selected wellness mode, as taught by Maleitzke, with a reasonable expectation of success because these features are useful to “improve the safety of the vehicle and comfort of the driver, and can reduce pollution and energy waste while a driver or other vehicle occupant is operating a vehicle.” (Maleitzke, col. 1, ll. 29-33.)
While Maleitzke does not explicitly disclose that its wellness mode plays an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle via a music application of the smartphone, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claim limitation at issue in light of the combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke.
First, Gerlach discloses playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle via a music application of the smartphone through selection of a function through a mobile software application presented on an in-vehicle display (“A mobile audio streaming application (e.g. SPOTIFY™) could send information about a currently streamed song …. This additional information could be placed in an in-vehicle application context associated with the in-vehicle media application 210 a. Thus, for example, ‘Spotify’ could be an audio source alongside in-vehicle audio sources.” ¶ 72. “When the deep link is followed, the mobile device 202 can select a mobile music player application to perform the necessary actions as to arrive at an application context in which the requested music is played.” ¶ 102. See also ¶ 45 which discloses how the deep link functions (discussed supra).).
Turning to Maleitzke, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to configure Maleitzke’s playing of music to be reproduced from Gerlach’s music application because Gerlach’s music application represents a well-known source of audio in a vehicular environment. Hence, with a reasonable expectation of success it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arrive at the predictable result of a wellness mode that, in addition to controlling cabin climate, reproduces audio sourced from a smartphone music application.
Independent claim 18 is rejected for at least the same reasons as claim 1 as the claims recite similar subject matter but for minor differences.
As to claim 9, the combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose: said controlling step further comprises at least one of changing ambient lighting to a color selected by the user, activating seat massage, and activating seat ventilation.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches: activating seat ventilation (“A smart mode can control one or more features of the vehicle including … air conditioned or heated seats.” Col. 5, ll. 14-22.).
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the feature of: activating seat ventilation, as taught by Maleitzke, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful to “improve the safety of the vehicle and comfort of the driver, and can reduce pollution and energy waste while a driver or other vehicle occupant is operating a vehicle.” (Maleitzke, col. 1, ll. 29-33.)
As to claim 11, the combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose: wherein, once selected by the user, the wellness mode is configured to remain active for a predetermined period of time.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches: wherein, once selected by the user, the wellness mode is configured to remain active for a predetermined period of time (“A user can exit a smart mode at any time by several methods. A driver can select “Exit” on the user interface, a driver can shift a vehicle out of park, a smart mode can have a timer associated with it, or more.” Emphasis added; col. 10, ll. 33-36.).
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the feature of: wherein, once selected by the user, the wellness mode is configured to remain active for a predetermined period of time, as taught by Maleitzke, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful to “improve the safety of the vehicle and comfort of the driver, and can reduce pollution and energy waste while a driver or other vehicle occupant is operating a vehicle.” (Maleitzke, col. 1, ll. 29-33.)
As to claim 12, Gerlach discloses: a step (g) of synchronizing the software application with a vehicle state (“By selecting the state indicator 245, a deep link may be followed such that the mobile music application 244 a may be invoked on the mobile device 202 and may navigate directly to an application context in which a user may change the state of the mobile music application 244 a from ‘Playing’ to a different state.” ¶ 47.).
As to claim 17, Gerlach fails to explicitly disclose: presenting to the user the information about the selected wellness mode comprises accessing the in-vehicle network and obtaining vehicle data related to the selected wellness mode.
Nevertheless Baalu teaches: presenting to the user the information about a selected vehicle function comprises accessing the in-vehicle network and obtaining vehicle data related to the selected vehicle function (“The interface system 202 may pass information from the CAN bus to an external mobile device 208 in order to leverage the processor and other computing resources of the mobile device 208 for controlling a display 210 …. The display 210 may display images to provide visual feedback related to navigation, media playback, telephone, vehicle system control (e.g., cabin temperature control, cruise control settings, odometer output/settings, vehicle diagnostics control, vehicle operating mode control, etc.), and/or other vehicle-related functions.” ¶ 24.)
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 Gerlach to include the feature of: presenting to the user the information about the selected vehicle function comprises accessing the in-vehicle network and obtaining vehicle data related to the selected vehicle function, as taught by Baalu, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful as “[b]y utilizing the computing resources of the mobile device to provide a user interface for controlling vehicle systems, the cost and complexity of an in-vehicle computing system may be reduced.” (Baalu, ¶ 54.)
The combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose performing the above in relation to a wellness mode.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches: presenting to the user the information about the selected wellness mode (“A display screen 110 is depicted in the center of the dashboard. The dashboard screen displays selections of different smart modes 100.” See col. 4, ll. 33-38 and FIG. 1.).
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the feature of: presenting to the user the information about a selected vehicle function comprises accessing the in-vehicle network and obtaining vehicle data related to the selected vehicle function, as taught by Maleitzke, to yield the claim limitation at issue with a reasonable expectation of success because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that presenting Maleitzke’s wellness mode would constitute a natural and obvious extension of Baalu’s presenting of a vehicle function via vehicle data obtained through an in-vehicle network.
As to claim 19, Gerlach discloses: a vehicle comprising the computer program product of claim 18 (System 100 is illustrated as part of a vehicle – see ¶ 27 and FIG. 1a.).
Claims 2 and 15 are rejected under § 103 as being unpatentable over Gerlach in view of Baalu and in view of Maleitzke as applied to claim 1 – further in view of Graney (US20180265094A1; “Graney”).
As to claim 2, the combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke fails to explicitly disclose: wherein the plurality of vehicle functions further comprise a plurality of radio favorites, a plurality of sound profiles and a plurality of climate control modes.
Nevertheless, Graney teaches: wherein a plurality of vehicle functions comprise a plurality of radio favorites (“user preferences 500” may comprise “radio preferences 523” – see at least ¶¶ 44, 56 and FIG. 5.), a plurality of sound profiles (“user preferences 500” may comprise “streaming preferences 524 refer to preferred sources of streaming audio and/or video content (e.g., music, movies, videos, and/or other audio and/or visual content) for the user” – see at least ¶¶ 44, 57 and FIG. 5.) and a plurality of climate control modes (“user preferences 500” may comprise “climate preferences 510” – see at least ¶¶ 44, 52 and FIG. 5.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application. Maleitzke teaches: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle, and displaying information about the selected wellness mode. Graney teaches: wherein a plurality of vehicle functions comprise a plurality of radio favorites, a plurality of sound profiles, and a plurality of climate control modes.
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 Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke to include the feature of: wherein a plurality of vehicle functions comprise a plurality of radio favorites, a plurality of sound profiles, and a plurality of climate control modes, as taught by Graney, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful “for improved implementation of user preferences, for example with respect to climate and entertainment options.” (Graney, ¶ 4.)
As to claim 15, the combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke fails to explicitly disclose: creating at least one space associated with a specific user of the vehicle, wherein the at least one space comprises a plurality of personalized features associated with the specific user of the vehicle.
Nevertheless, Graney teaches: creating at least one space associated with a specific user of the vehicle, wherein the at least one space comprises a plurality of personalized features associated with the specific user of the vehicle (“The user preference implementation system … 100 receives a user's preferences for various settings (e.g., including for climate and entertainment systems) for a plurality of vehicles, including the vehicle 10, and implements the user's preferences for the vehicle 100.” ¶ 17. Note: A user’s preferences meets the BRI of a space associated with a specific user because such provides a plurality of personalized features associated with the specific user of the vehicle.).
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 Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke to include the feature of: creating at least one space associated with a specific user of the vehicle, wherein the at least one space comprises a plurality of personalized features associated with the specific user of the vehicle, as taught by Graney, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful “for improved implementation of user preferences, for example with respect to climate and entertainment options.” (Graney, ¶ 4.)
Claim 4 is rejected under § 103 as being unpatentable over Gerlach in view of Baalu, in view of Maleitzke and in view of Graney as applied to claim 2 — further in view of Kuenzner (US20100194691A1; “Kuenzner”).
As to claim 4, the combination of Gerlach, Baalu, Maleitzke and Graney fails to explicitly disclose: wherein each of the plurality of sound profiles is configured to update vehicle sound settings including treble, bass, fader, or surround, with one icon press on a dashboard or a touchscreen of the vehicle.
Nevertheless, Kuenzner teaches: wherein each of the plurality of sound profiles is configured to update vehicle sound settings including treble, bass, fader, or surround, with one icon press on a dashboard or a touchscreen of the vehicle (“The sound profile may comprise up to five setting values (volume, bass, treble, balance, fade).” ¶ 7. The operator can access the control key “with the touch of a button” – see at least ¶ 15.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application. Maleitzke teaches: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle, and displaying information about the selected wellness mode. Graney teaches: wherein a plurality of vehicle functions comprise a plurality of radio favorites, a plurality of sound profiles, and a plurality of climate control modes. Kuenzner teaches: wherein each of the plurality of sound profiles is configured to update vehicle sound settings including treble, bass, fader, or surround, with one button press on a dashboard or a touchscreen of the vehicle.
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 Gerlach, Baalu, Maleitzke and Graney to include the feature of: wherein each of the plurality of sound profiles is configured to update vehicle sound settings including treble, bass, fader, or surround, with one icon press on a dashboard or a touchscreen of the vehicle, as taught by Kuenzner, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful for enabling a user to control ordinary volume features with enhanced functionality. Indeed, Kuenzner’s teaching represents a natural and obvious extension of Maleitzke’s smart mode, wherein multiple vehicle functions are changed through one icon press — that is, the claimed sound settings are common vehicle settings which a driver typically interacts with; in view of Kuenzner, it would have been obvious to configure a smart mode of Maleitzke to configure said sound settings.
Claims 6, 7 and 10 are rejected under § 103 as being unpatentable over Gerlach in view of Baalu and in view of Maleitzke as applied to claim 1 — further in view of Berlitz et al. (DE102006030300C5; “Berlitz”).
As to claim 6, Gerlach fails to explicitly disclose: wherein said controlling step further comprises lowering a cabin temperature.
Nevertheless Baalu teaches: wherein said controlling step further comprises lowering a cabin temperature (“The mobile device may receive sensed data via the interface system regarding the current temperature in the cabin and the state of the climate control system in order to generate a control signal defining a particular action to be performed by the climate control system to achieve the desired cabin temperature indicated by the user input.” ¶ 44. Note: Achieving a desired cabin temperature necessarily entails lower a cabin temperature as lowering a cabin temperature is the only way to achieve a desired cabin temperature when said desired cabin temperature is lower than an actual cabin temperature.).
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 Gerlach to include the feature of: wherein said controlling step further comprises lowering a cabin temperature, as taught by Baalu, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful as “[b]y utilizing the computing resources of the mobile device to provide a user interface for controlling vehicle systems, the cost and complexity of an in-vehicle computing system may be reduced.” (Baalu, ¶ 54.)
The combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose: turning on seat ventilation.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches: turning on seat ventilation (“A smart mode can control one or more features of the vehicle including … air conditioned or heated seats.” Col. 5, ll. 14-22.).
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the feature of: activating seat ventilation, as taught by Maleitzke, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful to “improve the safety of the vehicle and comfort of the driver, and can reduce pollution and energy waste while a driver or other vehicle occupant is operating a vehicle.” (Maleitzke, col. 1, ll. 29-33.)
The combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke fails to explicitly disclose: changing ambient light to blue.
Nevertheless, Berlitz teaches: turning on ambient light to blue (“If cooling is to be provided by the air conditioning, the interior or ambient lighting would be changed more towards blue to visually support this cooling operation, since blue is interpreted as a rather cool color.” ¶ 12.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system or lighting system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application; and lowering a cabin temperature. Maleitzke teaches: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle, and displaying information about the selected wellness mode; and controlling seat ventilation. Berlitz teaches: turning on ambient light to blue.
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 Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke to include the feature of: turning on ambient light to blue, as taught by Berlitz, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful for providing further features to a user who wishes to cool down, thereby enhancing user comfort.
As to claim 7, Gerlach fails to explicitly disclose: wherein said controlling step further comprises lowering a cabin temperature.
Nevertheless Baalu teaches: wherein said controlling step further comprises increasing a cabin temperature (“The mobile device may receive sensed data via the interface system regarding the current temperature in the cabin and the state of the climate control system in order to generate a control signal defining a particular action to be performed by the climate control system to achieve the desired cabin temperature indicated by the user input.” ¶ 44. Note: Achieving a desired cabin temperature necessarily entails increasing a cabin temperature as increasing a cabin temperature is the only way to achieve a desired cabin temperature when said desired cabin temperature is higher than an actual cabin temperature.).
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 Gerlach to include the feature of: wherein said controlling step further comprises lowering a cabin temperature, as taught by Baalu, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful as “[b]y utilizing the computing resources of the mobile device to provide a user interface for controlling vehicle systems, the cost and complexity of an in-vehicle computing system may be reduced.” (Baalu, ¶ 54.)
The combination of Gerlach and Baalu fails to explicitly disclose: turning on seat heating.
Nevertheless, Maleitzke teaches: turning on seat heating (“A smart mode can control one or more features of the vehicle including … air conditioned or heated seats.” Col. 5, ll. 14-22.).
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 Gerlach and Baalu to include the feature of: activating seat heating, as taught by Maleitzke, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful to “improve the safety of the vehicle and comfort of the driver, and can reduce pollution and energy waste while a driver or other vehicle occupant is operating a vehicle.” (Maleitzke, col. 1, ll. 29-33.)
The combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke fails to explicitly disclose: changing ambient light to red.
Nevertheless, Berlitz teaches: turning on ambient light to blue (“If the driver sets the air conditioning to heat the interior, the interior lighting is set to red to visually support this heating operation, as people interpret red as a warm, pleasant color.” ¶ 12.).
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 Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke to include the feature of: turning on ambient light to red, as taught by Berlitz, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful for providing further features to a user who wishes to warm up, thereby enhancing user comfort.
As to claim 10, the combination of Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke fails to explicitly disclose: changing ambient light within the vehicle.
Nevertheless, Berlitz teaches: changing ambient light within the vehicle (“If cooling is to be provided by the air conditioning, the interior or ambient lighting would be changed more towards blue to visually support this cooling operation, since blue is interpreted as a rather cool color.” ¶ 12.).
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 Gerlach, Baalu and Maleitzke to include the feature of: changing ambient light within the vehicle, as taught by Berlitz, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful for enhancing user comfort.
Claim 16 is rejected under § 103 as being unpatentable over Gerlach in view of Baalu, in view of Maleitzke and in view of Graney as applied to claim 15 — further in view of Wu et al. (US20210316711A1; “Wu”).
As to claim 16, the combination of Gerlach, Baalu, Maleitzke and Graney fails to explicitly disclose: switching between a plurality of spaces associated with multiple users of the vehicle.
Nevertheless, Wu teaches: switching between a plurality of spaces associated with multiple users of the vehicle (“The memory 310 can store one or more user profiles 255 for users of the vehicle 100.” ¶ 19.).
Gerlach discloses: a method for presenting information about a vehicle function to a user of a vehicle and controlling the vehicle function, wherein the method comprises at least the steps of establishing communications between a mobile software application and an in-vehicle network and enabling the mobile software application to monitor and control a plurality of vehicle functions, and controlling a user-selected vehicle function based on an input by the user via the mobile software application through an in-vehicle display. Baalu teaches: a mobile software application configured to activate or adjust a climate control system of a vehicle based on an input by the user via the mobile software application. Maleitzke teaches: receiving from the user with a single icon press a selection of a wellness mode, wherein in response to selection of the wellness mode, controlling the climate control function of the vehicle functions and playing an audio soundtrack on a sound system of the vehicle, and displaying information about the selected wellness mode. Graney teaches: creating at least one space associated with a specific user of the vehicle, wherein the at least one space comprises a plurality of personalized features associated with the specific user of the vehicle. Wu teaches: switching between a plurality of spaces associated with multiple users of the vehicle.
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 Gerlach, Baalu, Maleitzke and Graney with the feature of: switching between a plurality of spaces associated with multiple users of the vehicle, as taught by Wu, with a reasonable expectation of success because this feature is useful for accounting for more than one user, thereby enhancing user satisfaction. In fact, one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that Graney’s invention would account for multiple users – in this regard, Wu provides the explicit teaching that such is known in the prior art.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Mario C. Gonzalez whose telephone number is (571) 272-5633. The Examiner can normally be reached M–F, 10:00–6:00 ET.
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/MARIO C GONZALEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3668