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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/15/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-16 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.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 6-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch et al. (US 2024/0278683 A1), Spence et al. (US 2021/0192975 A1) and Inada et al. (US 2019/0299993 A1).
For claim 1, Welch discloses a method of controlling system limit of a vehicle performing a circuit mode, the method comprising:
determining, by a controller, whether the vehicle arrives at a circuit and enters the circuit mode (Para. 0032, 0039, 0045, 0051, 0052, where known track can be automatically detected by GPS and the vehicle the vehicle can enter track mode or associated mode for the track);
determining, by a controller, whether safe travel is required based on racing situation information in the circuit upon determining that the vehicle enters the circuit mode (Abstract, para. 0003-0012, 0020, where the vehicle performance is determined to be limited for a safer travel based on the racing situation information in the racetrack during the race and limit power based on driver skill level); and performing, by the controller, system limit release control for releasing a limit state of a vehicle system for vehicle driving upon determining, by the controller, that the safe travel is unnecessary (Para. 0022, 0037, where a limit state of the vehicle system is released upon determining that safe travel or limited control is unnecessary).
Welch does not specifically disclose the racing situation information acquired from the video information captured by the camera of the vehicle during travel of the vehicle in the circuit. Spence in the same field of the art discloses the racing situation information acquired from the video information captured by the camera of the vehicle during travel of the vehicle in the circuit (Para. 0006, 0027, 0040, 0044, 0058, 0059, 0104, where the vehicle includes cameras that assist in determining the location of the vehicle along a racetrack relative to various objects during travel of the vehicle in the racing situation). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present claimed invention to modify the invention of Welch to acquire from the video information of the racing situation information captured by the camera of the vehicle during travel of the vehicle in the circuit, as taught by Spence to visually identify and verify the driving situation surrounding the vehicle and to provide appropriate travel support.
Welch further does not specifically disclose performing the system limit release control includes changing and applying a fail-safe condition for a device or a part of the vehicle system. Inada in the same field of the art discloses performing the system limit release control includes changing and applying a fail-safe condition for a device or a part of the vehicle system (Abstract, para. 0003, 0006, 0037, 0038, 0048, where the safety equipment associated with the vehicle functions may be modified, canceled or enabled based on travel modes). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present claimed invention to modify the invention of Welch to perform the system limit release control includes changing and applying a fail-safe condition for a device or a part of the vehicle system, as taught by Inada to allow dynamically adjusting the performance of the vehicle for different needs.
For claim 2, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the vehicle enters the circuit mode includes: recognizing, by the controller, a current location of the vehicle by receiving input of a GPS signal received through a GPS receiver of the vehicle or a signal related to a vehicle location received from a vehicle external device through a communication unit of the vehicle, and determining, by the controller, that the vehicle arrives at the circuit based on the recognized current location of the vehicle and circuit location information (Para. 0051, 0052, where the GPS automatically determines when the vehicle arrives at the circuit based on the current location and circuit location information).
For claim 3, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 2, further comprising, upon determining that entry into the circuit mode is selected by a driver in addition to determining that the vehicle arrives at the circuit, determining, by the controller, that the vehicle enters the circuit mode (Para. 0003, 0033-0035, where the driver may select the track mode and the system enters into the track mode).
For claim 6, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle system is a vehicle driving system comprising a driving device configured to drive the vehicle (at least para. 0004, where the motor configured to drive the vehicle).
For claim 7, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle system is a power electric (PE) system comprising a driving motor configured to drive the vehicle, an inverter configured to drive and control the driving motor, and a battery connected to the driving motor through the inverter so that the battery is allowed to be charged and discharged (at least para. 0019, where the vehicle system is a power electric system having a driving motor, inverter and battery that allow charging and discharging).
For claim 8, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the fail-safe condition comprises an entry criterion for determining and performing entry of a power reduction mode for limiting output of a device or a part of the vehicle system and a release criterion for determining and performing release of the power reduction mode (Welch - at least para. 0042, 0052, where the control system changes or adjust part of the vehicle system by entering or releasing from power limiting states based on the monitored conditions of the vehicle such as certain temperature associate with parts of the vehicle system threshold is to be exceeded; Inada - Abstract, para. 0003, 0006, 0037, 0038, 0048).
For claim 9, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 8, wherein: the device or the part of the vehicle system comprises at least one of a driving motor configured to drive the vehicle, or a battery connected to the driving motor through an inverter so that the battery is allowed to be charged and discharged, a state variable for determining entry and release of the power reduction mode according to the entry criterion and the release criterion is a temperature or a battery state of charge (SOC), and the temperature among the state variables comprises at least one of a driving motor temperature or a battery temperature detected by sensors (at least para. 0039, 0041, 0042, 0047, 0052, where the motor or battery performance is controlled to be limited or released based on the temperature and SOC of the battery system).
For claim 10, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 9, wherein: the entry criterion and the release criterion of the power reduction mode are an entry temperature and a release temperature of the power reduction mode for at least one of the driving motor temperature or the battery temperature, and performing the system limit release control comprises changing the entry temperature and the release temperature to higher temperatures than temperatures during system limit and applying the temperatures (Para. 0019-0023, where at least one of the motor or battery temperature are permit to be higher to max amount for qualify mode compare to endurance mode).
For claim 11, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 9, wherein: the entry criterion and the release criterion of the power reduction mode are an entry reference amount and a release reference amount of the power reduction mode for a reduction amount of the battery SOC, and performing the system limit release control comprises changing the entry reference amount and the release reference amount to higher values than values during system limit (Para. 0019-0023, 0047, where the operating parameters for the SOC of the battery associate with the power output limiting varies between the qualify mode and endurance mode where the qualify mode allow higher values than during system limit).
For claim 12, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the vehicle system is a vehicle driving system comprising a driving device configured to drive the vehicle, performing the system limit release control comprises varying a command value for limit of the vehicle system, and the command value comprises at least one of a maximum vehicle speed, required torque (Para. 0031, 0034, 0043, where the commands for power, speed and acceleration are varied to provide the demanded power, speed and acceleration to be max performance or to be limited. Allowing max performance in propulsion and in power and acceleration are providing and varying the required torque).
For claim 13, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 12, wherein performing the system limit release control comprises at least one of:
changing the required torque according to an accelerator pedal input value to required torque set to a higher value than a value during system limit under the same accelerator pedal input value condition (Para. 0031, 0034-0036, 0044, 0045, where various performing modes changes the required torque or propulsion power according to the accelerator pedal input value set to be higher value than value during system under limited modes based on pedal map).
For claim 14, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the vehicle system comprises a driving motor configured to drive the vehicle, and performing the system limit release control comprises changing an operating point and an execution amount of regenerative braking of the driving motor differently from an operating point and an execution amount of regenerative braking during system limit (Para. 0052, where the propulsion system charge or regen limits are change to maximize performance for racing or track session different compare to driving mode outside racing).
For claim 15, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the vehicle system comprises a battery connected to a driving motor configured to drive the vehicle through an inverter so that the battery is allowed to be charged and discharged, and performing the system limit release control comprises releasing charge/discharge power limit of the battery (Para. 0052, where the charge/discharge power limit of the battery is changed to optimize at maximum performance for track mode).
For claim 16, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the vehicle system comprises at least one of a vehicle air conditioning system, and performing the system limit release control comprises performing power limit for reducing used power of at least one of the vehicle air conditioning system compared to used power during system limit (Para. 0019, 0040, 0052, where at least the air conditioning system performance or power used is limited during different vehicle operating modes).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch et al. (US 2024/0278683 A1), Spence et al. (US 2021/0192975 A1) and Inada et al. (US 2019/0299993 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jung et al. (An Autonomous System for Head-to-Head Race: Design, Implementation and Analysis; Team KAIST at the Indy Autonomous Challenge, 16 Mar 2023, arXiv:2303.09463v1, pp. 1-35) and Staff Report (What the flags mean in NASCAR, https://nascar101.nascar.com/2021/06/28/what-the-flags-mean-in-nascar/) as supporting document.
For claim 4, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 1, but does not specifically disclose determining, by the controller, whether the safe travel is required based on racing flag information acquired during travel of the vehicle in the circuit as racing situation information in the circuit. Jung in the same field of the art discloses determining, by the controller, whether the safe travel is required based on racing flag information acquired during travel of the vehicle in the circuit as racing situation information in the circuit (Section 3, para. 1; section 5.4.2, para. 2, 6; Fig. 28, section 7, para. 2, where the autonomous race cars identify race flags and affects the operations of the race cars based on the race flags). Staff Report provides the well-known meaning of various race flags and rules that regulates the operations of the race cars corresponding to each of the various flags (see flags guide). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present claimed invention to modify the invention of Welch to determine whether the safe travel is required based on racing flag information acquired during travel of the vehicle in the circuit as racing situation information in the circuit, as taught by Jung to appropriately control the operations and performance of the race cars to comply with regulations associate with racing flag information.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch et al. (US 2024/0278683 A1), Spence et al. (US 2021/0192975 A1), Inada et al. (US 2019/0299993 A1), Jung et al. (An Autonomous System for Head-to-Head Race: Design, Implementation and Analysis; Team KAIST at the Indy Autonomous Challenge, 16 Mar 2023, arXiv:2303.09463v1, pp. 1-35) and Staff Report (What the flags mean in NASCAR, https://nascar101.nascar.com/2021/06/28/what-the-flags-mean-in-nascar/) as supporting document as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Jungel et al. (A Real-Time Auto-Adjusting Vision System for Robotic Soccer, https://web.archive.org/web/20110429005857/http://martin-loetzsch.de/publications/rc03-vision.pdf, pp. 1-12).
For claim 5, Welch, as modified, discloses the method of claim 4, when a current racing flag is a green flag or a blue flag from the racing flag information; determining, by the controller, that the safe travel is unnecessary (as taught by Jung and the race flag information by Staff Report) but does not specifically disclose the racing flag information acquired from video information captured by a camera of the vehicle. Jungel, in the same robotic control field discloses the flag information acquired from video information captured by a camera of the robot (Last paragraph of page 4, fig. 7; section 2.5, para. 2 and 3). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present claimed invention to combine the teachings of Welch, Jung and Jungel to acquire racing flag information from video information captured by the camera of the vehicle and accurately complying driving operations and mode switching based on recognized race flag information by the vision of the camera.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(http://web.archive.org/web/20230325125513/https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-92CA3DCA-EDA3-4243-861E-2C770F5506FD.html) Track Mode discloses a vehicle operating mode that modifies the operations of a number of vehicle devices and safety systems for enhancing the performance of the vehicle.
(US 2019/0111925 A1) Sata discloses an automatic vehicle driving mode system switching driving operations of the vehicle based on GPS locations and recognizes and switch driving modes to track mode when vehicle arrives to a track.
(US 2017/0080948 A1) Lubbers et al. discloses a vehicle mode adjusting system including change modes between track, safe, sport modes.
(US 2018/0257631 A1) Fodor et al. discloses a system providing various vehicle driving modes including track mode.
(Autonomous Vehicles on the Edge: A Survey on Autonomous Vehicle Racing, 8 June 2022, Intelligent Transportation Systems, volume 3, 2022, pp. 458-488) Zheng et al. discloses an autonomous vehicle racing system that utilizes vehicle visions to recognizes road situations on a track and control the vehicles based on inputs including flags and speed limits.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sze-Hon Kong whose telephone number is (571)270-1503. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM-5 PM Mon-Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abby Lin can be reached at (571) 270-3976. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SZE-HON KONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657