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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/13/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/7/2026 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 6, 12-14, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrett (US 20140191886 A1) in view of Nguyen (US 20250225839 A1) and further in view of Qi et al (US 20230410809 A1, hereinafter Qi).
Consider claims 1, 17, and 18, Barrett discloses a vehicle location sharing method and apparatus comprising:
a memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions for vehicle location sharing (paragraphs 53-54); and a
processor in communication with the memory (paragraph 53), the processor configured by the computer- readable instructions for:
displaying a function interface for providing a location sharing function of a first account logged in to an in-vehicle terminal (The vehicle 102 and the mobile device 110 may allow an occupant of a vehicle 102 to easily and safely share the vehicle's location 116 by way of simple inputs, such as voice commands or a simple series of button presses that can be safely made while a vehicle is in motion., paragraph 26; The head unit 204 includes a display 204A…The head unit 204 additionally includes an input interface, which may include any input device configured to receive user input effective to operate the head unit 204 and potentially other aspects of the vehicle in which the head unit 204 is installed. For example, the input interface of the head unit 204 includes one or more buttons 204B, 204C and/or the display 204A itself when implemented as a touchscreen display., paragraph 35);
receiving a trigger operation on the location sharing function (The system 200 shares the vehicle's location upon receiving an appropriate input from an occupant of the vehicle. The input may include a voice command, a press of a button 204B, 204C, 208A and 208B (also referred to herein as a "button press"), a touch-screen input, a combination of inputs, or the like, paragraph 43);
displaying a candidate account list on the function interface based on the trigger operation, the candidate account list comprising at least one candidate account having an association relationship with a first account (The occupant's input may direct the system 200 to transmit the location description to one or more particular receiving systems… The user's input may also include a generic phrase such as "share my location," which may cause the system 200 to transmit a location description to a default receiving system and/or to prompt the user to identify the desired one or more receiving systems. Although described as voice commands, physical inputs may also be used. For example, a first button press may direct the system 200 to share the vehicle's location and a second button press may indicate to which one or more receiving systems the system 200 should transmit the location description, paragraph 50); and
displaying a location sharing result in response to receiving a selection operation on the second account, the location sharing result comprising a result of geographical location information of the in-vehicle terminal shared from the first account to the second account (The system 200 may indicate that the location description has been transmitted in response to the occupant's input. The system 200 may display a visual indication 226 that the location description has been transmitted to the desired receiving services, paragraph 51; Although described as voice commands, physical inputs may also be used. For example, a first button press may direct the system 200 to share the vehicle's location and a second button press may indicate to which one or more receiving systems the system 200 should transmit the location description, paragraph 50).
However, Barrett does not expressly disclose
transmitting, through the first account, a location sharing message to a second account in the at least one candidate account;
monitoring a receipt of a sharing acceptance signal of the second account, wherein the sharing acceptance signal indicates the acceptance of the location sharing message by the second account;
displaying, while the sharing acceptance signal is not received, a sharing waiting information message on the function interface wherein the sharing waiting information message indicates waiting for confirmation of the location sharing message by the second account; and
displaying a sharing process information on the function interface in response to receiving the sharing acceptance signal of the second account;
In the same field of endeavor, Nguyen discloses
transmitting, through the first account, a [location] sharing message to a second account in the at least one candidate account (The social gaming server 1408 may be configured to transmit an invitation to accept or decline the bonus game feature to the at least one selected available remote user 1404a-1404n, paragraph 157; The user may select at least one social contact from the social contacts list 1914. As illustrated, using a touch screen display, the user selected “Zack” 1928. The user's selection of the at least one social contact may be transmitted to the social game server for processing, paragraph 218);
monitoring a receipt of a sharing acceptance signal of the second account, wherein the sharing acceptance signal indicates the acceptance of the [location] sharing message by the second account (The social gaming server 1408 may be configured to wait up to a predetermined period of time for acceptance or decline of the invitation, paragraph 158);
displaying, while the sharing acceptance signal is not received, a sharing waiting information message on the function interface wherein the sharing waiting information message indicates waiting for confirmation of the [location] sharing message by the second account (The session log window 2108 can also be automatically and periodically updated to reflect the events from the social gaming session. For example, the session log window 2108 can display “Waiting for Zack's responses”, Fig 20 and paragraph 226); and
displaying a sharing process information on the function interface in response to receiving the sharing acceptance signal of the second account (the session log window 2108 can display … “Zack accepted your invitation ….”, Fig. 21 A and paragraph226).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Nguyen with the teachings of Barrett in order to improve the graphical user interface of Barrett.
While Barret discloses the user’s input may include voice, or buttons in the system 200 (see paragraph 50), the combination of Barret and Nguyen does not expressly disclose displaying a function interface for providing a location sharing function of a first account logged in to a first application installed in an in-vehicle terminal, the function interface being provided by the first application and being displayed on a user interface of an operating system of the in-vehicle terminal or a second application installed in the in-vehicle terminal;
In the same field of endeavor, Qi discloses displaying a function interface for providing a location sharing function of a first account logged in to a first application installed in an in-vehicle terminal, the function interface being provided by the first application and being displayed on a user interface of an operating system of the in-vehicle terminal or a second application installed in the in-vehicle terminal (For example, if the intention of the user is “sharing a location with a friend in real time” after “sharing a location with a friend”, after the foregoing steps are performed, the mobile terminal sends interface data to the in-vehicle terminal, and the in-vehicle terminal may, for example, draw the interface shown in (1) or (2) in FIG. 9 based on the interface data, see display 803 in Fig.8, Fig. 9, and paragraph 167).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Qi with the teachings of Barrett and Nguyen in order to allow the in-vehicle terminal to be connected to a mobile terminal to use some applications on the mobile terminal.
Consider claim 2, and as applied to claim 1 above, Qi discloses wherein the first application includes a social function, and the first account is logged in to the first application (see “ Social software” in Fig. 8); Barret discloses
displaying the candidate account list further comprises:
obtaining the at least one candidate account provided by the social function in the first application based on the trigger operation (The user's input may also include a generic phrase such as "share my location," which may cause the system 200 to transmit a location description to a default receiving system and/or to prompt the user to identify the desired one or more receiving systems, paragraph 50); and
displaying the candidate account list based on the at least one candidate account (The occupant's input may direct the system 200 to transmit the location description to one or more particular receiving systems. For example, a user's voice input may include the phrase "Tweet my location," which may prompt the system 200 to determine the vehicle's location and transmit the location description as a Twitter message commonly described as a "Tweet." By way of further example, a user's voice input may include the phrase "Facebook my location…Although described as voice commands, physical inputs may also be used. For example, a first button press may direct the system 200 to share the vehicle's location and a second button press may indicate to which one or more receiving systems the system 200 should transmit the location description, paragraph 50).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Qi with the teachings of Barrett and Nguyen in order to allow the in-vehicle terminal to be connected to a mobile terminal to use some applications on the mobile terminal.
Consider claims 6 and 19, and as applied to claims 1 and 18 respectively above, Barrett discloses wherein receiving the trigger operation further comprises: receiving a touch operation on a location sharing control displayed on the function interface; or, receiving a voice input signal used to control the in-vehicle terminal, wherein the voice input signal is used as the trigger operation when the voice input signal comprises a keyword corresponding to the location sharing function (The system 200 shares the vehicle's location upon receiving an appropriate input from an occupant of the vehicle. The input may include a voice command, a press of a button 204B, 204C, 208A and 208B (also referred to herein as a "button press"), a touch-screen input, a combination of inputs, or the like, paragraph 43).
Consider claims 12 and 20, and as applied to claims 1 and 18 respectively above, Barrett discloses wherein displaying the location sharing result further comprises:
receiving a voice input signal to control the in-vehicle terminal (The system 200 shares the vehicle's location upon receiving an appropriate input from an occupant of the vehicle. The input may include a voice command, paragraph 43);
determining a second account, having an association relationship with the voice input signal, in the at least one candidate account, and displaying the location sharing result of the second account (The user's input may also include a generic phrase such as "share my location," which may cause the system 200 to transmit a location description to a default receiving system and/or to prompt the user to identify the desired one or more receiving systems, paragraph 50; The system 200 may indicate that the location description has been transmitted in response to the occupant's input. The system 200 may display a visual indication 226 that the location description has been transmitted to the desired receiving services. The visual indication 226 may be receiving-service specific, such as an image, logo or icon representing the receiving service. The visual indication 226 may appear on the display 204A for a period of time and disappear. Alternately or additionally, the system 200 may indicate that the location description has been transmitted through computer-generated or pre-recorded verbal feedback, by causing one or more of the displays 204A and 206A and/or a portion thereof to flash, by playing an audible indication, or the like, paragraph 51).
Consider claim 13, and as applied to claim 12 above, Barrett discloses wherein before receiving the voice input signal, the method further comprises:
displaying a voice selection prompt corresponding to each candidate account in the candidate account list, the voice selection prompt indicating a corresponding voice input content during the selection of the candidate account (The user's input may also include a generic phrase such as "share my location," which may cause the system 200 to transmit a location description to a default receiving system and/or to prompt the user to identify the desired one or more receiving systems. Although described as voice commands, physical inputs may also be used. For example, a first button press may direct the system 200 to share the vehicle's location and a second button press may indicate to which one or more receiving systems the system 200 should transmit the location description, paragraph 50).
Consider claim 14, and as applied to claim 1 above, Barrett discloses transmitting the location sharing message to the second account in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account, wherein the location sharing message comprises a location sharing link and provides an entry of a location sharing applet, hosted by the first application, to the second account (a location description configured to identify the determined location of the vehicle is transmitted in response to the input. In some embodiments, the location description may include a nickname, make or model of the vehicle. The location description may be posted to a site accessible via the internet, paragraph 64).
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrett in view of Nguyen, further in view of Qi, and further in view of Roy et al (US 20190234743 A1, hereinafter Roy).
Consider claim 3, and as applied to claim 2 above, the combination of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi does not expressly disclose wherein displaying the candidate account list further comprises:
superimposing and displaying a window floating layer on the function interface; and displaying the candidate account list in the window floating layer based on the at least one candidate account.
In the same field of endeavor, Roy disclose wherein displaying the candidate account list further comprises:
superimposing and displaying a window floating layer on the function interface; and displaying the candidate account list in the window floating layer based on the at least one candidate account (see Fig. 12D).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Roy with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to improve the user interface in a location sharing application.
Consider claim 4, and as applied to claim 2 above, Roy discloses displaying the function interface further comprises:
displaying the function interface in the second application, the function interface comprising a function card provided by the first application, wherein the function card comprises a location sharing control configured to receive the trigger operation (selecting the share button 98 may cause the mobile application 10 to initiate sharing the selected location or destination, see Fig. 12C and paragraph 91).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Roy with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to improve the user interface in a location sharing application.
Consider claim 5, and as applied to claim 4 above, Barrett discloses displaying an authorization login interface through which the second application invokes the first application; and receiving an authorization operation triggered on the authorization login interface to instruct the second application to invoke the first account logged in to the first application for login (The system 200 may employ an appropriate application programming interface (API) to transmit the location description. In some embodiments, the system 200 is provided the necessary permissions to transmit to the receiving systems ahead of time. For example, the system 200 may be provided with usernames, passwords and other login information ahead of transmitting to the receiving systems. Some receiving systems, particularly social media, may require the system 200 be authorized to transmit information to the receiving systems, paragraph 49).
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrett in view of Nguyen, further in view of Qi, and further in vi w of Van Os et al (US 20090325603 A1, hereinafter Van Os).
Consider claim 7, and as applied to claim 1 above, the combination of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi does not expressly disclose
wherein displaying the location sharing result further comprises:
displaying the location sharing result on a location sharing control in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account through the location sharing control; or,
displaying a location sharing interface in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account, the location sharing interface comprising the location sharing result.
In the same field of endeavor, Van Os discloses wherein displaying the location sharing result further comprises:
displaying the location sharing result on a location sharing control in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account through a location sharing control; or,
displaying a location sharing interface in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account, the location sharing interface comprising the location sharing result (FIG. 8 illustrates an example map display 802 showing locations for the sending device 100 and the receiving device 710. The geographic location of the mobile device 100 (Greg's mobile device) can be represented on the map display 802 by a placemark 804. When Mike touches the placemark 804 a graphical object 808 is displayed on the map display 802 with geographic location data (e.g., address) or other related information (e.g., phone number, email, vcard, link), see Figs. 708 and paragraph 68).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Van Os with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to trigger a map display on a second device showing the location of a first device.
Consider claim 8, and as applied to claim 7 above, Van Os discloses wherein displaying the location sharing interface further comprises:
displaying a location sharing situation on the location sharing control in response to receiving the selection operation on the second account; and
displaying the location sharing interface in response to receiving a touch operation on the location sharing control (FIG. 8 illustrates an example map display 802 showing locations for the sending device 100 and the receiving device 710. The geographic location of the mobile device 100 (Greg's mobile device) can be represented on the map display 802 by a placemark 804. When Mike touches the placemark 804 a graphical object 808 is displayed on the map display 802 with geographic location data (e.g., address) or other related information (e.g., phone number, email, vcard, link), see Figs. 708 and paragraph 68).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Van Os with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to trigger a map display on a second device showing the location of a first device.
Consider claim 9, and as applied to claim 8 above, Van Os discloses wherein displaying the location sharing interface further comprises:
displaying the location sharing interface in a location sharing vignette of the second application, wherein the location sharing vignette is a service platform in the second application for providing the location sharing function (see Fig. 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Van Os with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to trigger a map display on a second device showing the location of a first device.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrett in view of Nguyen, further in view of Qi, further in view of Van Os, and further in view of Seo et al (US 20140240440 A1, hereinafter Seo).
Consider claim 11, and as applied to claim 7 above the combination of Barrett, Nguyen, Qi and Van Os does not expressly disclose wherein the location sharing interface comprises a sharing account presentation region and a map presentation region; and
displaying the location sharing interface further comprises:
displaying a waiting identity in the sharing account presentation region in response to not receiving the sharing acceptance signal of the second account indicating waiting for confirmation of the location sharing message by the second account, and displaying the geographical location information of the in-vehicle terminal in the map presentation region, or
displaying an account identity of the second account in the sharing account presentation region in response to receiving a sharing acceptance signal of the second account, and displaying the geographical location information of the in-vehicle terminal in the map presentation region, wherein the account identity comprises an identity of a receiving account which receives the geographical location information.
In the same field of endeavor, Seo discloses wherein the location sharing interface comprises a sharing account presentation region and a map presentation region; and
displaying the location sharing interface further comprises:
displaying a waiting identity in the sharing account presentation region in response to not receiving a sharing acceptance signal of the second account indicating waiting for confirmation of a location sharing message by the second account, and displaying the geographical location information of the in-vehicle terminal in the map presentation region, or
displaying an account identity of the second account in the sharing account presentation region in response to receiving a sharing acceptance signal of the second account, and displaying the geographical location information of the in-vehicle terminal in the map presentation region, wherein the account identity comprises an identity of a receiving account which receives the geographical location information (The displaying may include displaying, on the map, a first identifier of each of the plurality of terminals having accepted the location sharing at a location of each of the plurality of terminals having accepted the location sharing, and displaying, on an outside of the map, a second identifier of each of the plurality of terminals having accepted the location sharing, paragraph 82).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Seo with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen, Qi and Van Os to achieve more interactive communication by enabling a variety of information to be shared between users during communication.
Claims 15-16 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrett in view of Nguyen, further in view of Qi, and further in view of Kim (US 10509095 B1).
Consider claims 15 and 21, and as applied to claims 1 and 18 respectively above, the combination of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi does not expressly disclose wherein after displaying the location sharing result, the method further comprises:
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to a location sharing process satisfying a termination condition
In the same field of endeavor, Kim discloses wherein after displaying the location sharing result, the method further comprises:
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to a location sharing process satisfying a termination condition (the location sharing server 200 may allow a location sharing service to be deactivated, in operation S311, when the ignition off state of the vehicle is verified while a location sharing service is provided (Fig. 7 and col. 10, ll. 37-40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Kim with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to maintain location sharing setting information between a vehicle device and a target service node at the time of restart after the ignition is turned off.
Consider claim 16, and as applied to claim 15 above, Kim discloses wherein the ending location sharing further comprises:
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to the first account logging out in the first application;
or,
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to stalling and power failure of a vehicle corresponding to the in-vehicle terminal (the location sharing server 200 may allow a location sharing service to be deactivated, in operation S311, when the ignition off state of the vehicle is verified while a location sharing service is provided (Fig. 7 and col. 10, ll. 37-40);
or,
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to receiving a location sharing termination operation;
or,
ending location sharing between the first account and the second account in response to a location obtaining failure state lasting for a threshold duration.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Kim with the teachings of Barrett, Nguyen and Qi to maintain location sharing setting information between a vehicle device and a target service node at the time of restart after the ignition is turned off.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERMAN VIANA DI PRISCO whose telephone number is (571)270-1781. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:30-5:00 EST.
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/GERMAN VIANA DI PRISCO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642