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
This Office action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on October 15, 2025.
Claims 1-8 are pending and examined below.
Claims 1, 7, and 8 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been considered but are moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection. In these arguments applicant relies on the amended claims and not the original ones. See below rejections under 35 USC § 103 for response to arguments.
It is noted that the amendments directed to “information explaining content of the software update” or optionally, “information explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update”, as well as the recitation that the second data has a higher information granularity of explanatory information than the first date, merely specify the content or level of details of explanatory information presented to a user. These limitations do not change the functional operation of the claimed server or the software update process. Rather, they relate only to the informational content displayed to a user for approval of the update. Accordingly, these limitations do not patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0253301 (hereinafter “Harata”), in view of US 2021/0255805 (hereinafter “Harata2”), further in view of DE 112020004103 (hereinafter “Harata3”), and further in view of US 2023/0048368 (hereinafter “Pirwani”).
In the following claim analysis, Applicant’s claim language is in bold text and Examiner’s explanations are enclosed in square brackets.
As per claim 1, Harata discloses A server configured to send data for updating software on a vehicle control device though wireless communication (Harata, Fig. 1, ¶ 33, a vehicle program rewriting system 1 includes a center device 3 on a communication network 2 side, a vehicle-side system 4 on a vehicle side, and a display terminal 5), the server comprising:
one or more memories configured to store a program (Harata, ¶ 47, the rewrite target ECU 19 writes the received write data into a flash memory (corresponding to a non-volatile memory) to rewrite an application program); and
one or more processors configured to
execute the program (Harata, ¶ 98, a processor programmed to execute one or more particular functions embodied in computer programs), and
set first data and second data, the first data to be displayed on an in-vehicle display in order to obtain user’s approval to the software update (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 48, When a user recognizes the campaign notification with the mobile terminal 6 or the in-vehicle display 7 and gives approval for program update by using the mobile terminal 6 or the in-vehicle display 7, the rewriting of the application program is performed), the second data to be displayed on user equipment in order to obtain the user’s approval to the software update from the user equipment (Harata, Fig. 9, ¶ ¶ 70-72, when the guidance screen 29 of the campaign notification is displayed on the mobile terminal 6, a “normal procedure” button 29a, a “connect to operator” button 29b, an “automatic response” button 29c, and a “later” button 29d are displayed, so that a user can select any of the buttons. When the user operates the “normal procedure” button 29a, the user subsequently conducts operation for approving the program update by using the mobile terminal 6; ¶ 73, the QR code displayed on the mobile terminal 6 … a scanner to read the QR code displayed on the mobile terminal 6 [the read user's personal information and the like as approval information to be displayed on the mobile terminal 6]; ¶ 49, When the user-oriented management WEB 24a determines that a user has approved a program update by using the mobile terminal 6, the management WEB 24a transmits approval information indicating that the user has approved the program update by using the mobile terminal 6 (corresponding to second approval information [second data to be displayed on the mobile terminal 6]); ¶ 69, the user giving the approval for the program update by using any of the mobile terminal 6, the approval information transmission unit 8g transmits approval information [to be displayed on the mobile terminal 6 in order to obtain the user’s approval to the software update] to the master device 11).
Harata does not appear to explicitly disclose the first data being license information. However, in an analogous art to the claimed invention in the field of software update, Harata2 teaches the first data being license information (Harata2, ¶ 473, when a license contract is not established, the master device 11 displays the content that “the program cannot be updated because the license is not valid; please contact your dealer” on the in-vehicle display 7. Consequently, it is possible to present the reason why the vehicle condition is not suitable for updating a program or the like to the user, and thus to present appropriate information to the user).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Harata’s techniques with Harata2’s teaching. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to determine whether or not the vehicle is a vehicle in which a program would be updated against the intention of the user, or a vehicle in which installation would fail after download even when the download is successful by determining whether or not a license contract is established, whether or not a vehicle position is within a predetermined range registered in advance by the user, whether or not a setting of an alarm function of the vehicle is validated, whether or not trouble information regarding the ECU 19 is generated, and determining whether or not a vehicle condition is a condition suitable for downloading a distribution package (Harata2, ¶ 468).
Harata as modified discloses the first data being license information (Harata2, ¶ 473), but does not appear to explicitly disclose the information, which includes information explaining content of the software update. However, in an analogous art to the claimed invention in the field of software update, Harata3 teaches the information, which includes information explaining content of the software update (Harata3, pg. 49, para. 3, if the user operates the "Check Details" button 510a in this state, as in 46 1, the CGW (central gateway) 13 performs switching of display contents of the check operation screen 510 and displays details of the completion of activation on the on-vehicle display 7. FIG. The CGW 13 displays a function added or changed due to the update [explaining content of the software update]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Harata’s techniques as modified with Harata3’s teaching. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to keep a vehicle informed by displaying each stage of a software update and allowing the user to review corresponding details to improve user experience.
Harata as modified does not appear to explicitly disclose the second data being license information, which includes information explaining content of the software update or information explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update, the second data having higher information granularity of explanatory information than the first data. However, in an analogous art to the claimed invention in the field of software update, Parwani teaches the second data being license information (Parwani, ¶ 51, The processor then may obtain private data of the occupant, as needed. Transport data 118 may include any data associated with a transport 120, including vehicle identification information, license/registration information), which includes information explaining content of the software update (Parwani, ¶ 51, The processor then may obtain private data of the occupant, as needed. Transport data 118 may include any data associated with a transport 120, including vehicle identification information, license/registration information, technical details, installed options, current levels of hardware and software components [explaining content of the software update], hardware and/or software versions [explaining content of the software update], service information) or information explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update (Parwani, ¶ 51, The processor then may obtain private data of the occupant, as needed. Transport data 118 may include any data associated with a transport 120, including vehicle identification information, license/registration information, technical details [explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update], installed options, current levels of hardware and software components, hardware and/or software versions, service information [explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update]), the second data having higher information granularity of explanatory information than the first data (Parwani, ¶ 51, The processor then may obtain private data of the occupant, as needed. Transport data 118 may include any data associated with a transport 120, including vehicle identification information, license/registration information, technical details, installed options, current levels of hardware and software components, hardware and/or software versions, service information [Examiner’s remarks: The transport data taught by Parwani ¶ 51 includes multiple detailed vehicle parameters, which provide more detailed explanatory information regarding the vehicle and software environment than Harata3 teaching as Harata3’s teaching does not include the optional claim limitation “information explaining how to use the vehicle after the software update”, thereby the information taught by Parwani having higher information granularity]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Harata’s techniques as modified with Parwani’s system. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to provide additional technical parameters regarding the vehicle system and software configuration that allows the system to more accurately identify, describe, and manage software updates applicable to the vehicle, thereby improving update management and ensuring compatibility between the vehicle system and the software update.
As to claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Harata as modified further discloses The server according to claim 1, wherein an information amount of character information included in the second data is greater than an information amount of character information included in the first data (Parwani, ¶ 51, The processor then may obtain private data of the occupant, as needed. Transport data 118 may include any data associated with a transport 120, including vehicle identification information, license/registration information). The motivation to combine the references is the same as set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 4, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Harata as modified further discloses The server according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, when the user views part way through the second data using the user equipment (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 49, When the user-oriented management WEB 24a determines that a user has approved a program update by using the mobile terminal 6, the management WEB 24a transmits approval information indicating that the user has approved the program update by using the mobile terminal 6 (corresponding to second approval information)) and then further views the first data using the in-vehicle display (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ ¶ 49-50, when the user-oriented management WEB 24a determines that a user has approved a program update by using the in-vehicle display 7, the user-oriented management WEB 24a transmits approval information indicating that the user has approved the program update by using the in-vehicle display 7 (corresponding to third approval information)), set the first data to be displayed on the in-vehicle display to be data following a part of the second data that has already been viewed using the user equipment (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 50, when the user-oriented management WEB 24a determines that a user has approved a program update by using the in-vehicle display 7 [i.e., the first data is displayed on the in-vehicle display], … indicating that the user has approved the program update by using the in-vehicle display 7 (corresponding to third approval information [following a part of the second data that has already been viewed as shown in ¶ 49])).
As to claim 5, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Harata further discloses The server according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, when the user views part way through the first data using the in-vehicle display (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 48, When a user recognizes the campaign notification with … the in-vehicle display 7 and gives approval for program update by using … the in-vehicle display 7 … ) and then further views the second data using the user equipment (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 49, reception of a program update approval that is given by a user using the mobile terminal 6), set the second data to be displayed on the user equipment to be data following a part of the first data that has already been viewed using the in-vehicle display (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 49, a user has approved a program update by using the mobile terminal 6, … by using the mobile terminal 6 (corresponding to second approval information)).
As to claim 6, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Harata further discloses The server according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, when the user views part way through the first data using the in-vehicle display (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 48, When a user recognizes the campaign notification with … the in-vehicle display 7 and gives approval for program update by using … the in-vehicle display 7 … ) and then further views the second data using the user equipment (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 49, reception of a program update approval that is given by a user using the mobile terminal 6), set the second data to be displayed on the user equipment to be data including a part of the first data that has already been viewed using the in-vehicle display (Harata, Fig. 3, ¶ 49, a user has approved a program update by using the mobile terminal 6, … by using the mobile terminal 6 (corresponding to second approval information)).
As to claim 7, the claim is a non-transitory storage medium claim corresponding to the non-transitory storage medium claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rational set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 8, the claim is a method claim corresponding to the server claim 7. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rational set forth in the rejection of claim 7.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harata, in view of Harata2, further view of Harata3, further in view of Pirwani, and further in view of US 2020/0142661 (hereinafter “Cansino”).
As to claim 3, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Harata as modified does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein: the second data includes video information; and the first data does not include the video information. However, in an analogous art to the claimed invention in the field of utilizing a mobile device, Cansino teaches wherein: the second data includes video information (Cansino, ¶ 179, the mobile device 2410 may separate the audio and video streams); and the first data does not include the video information (Cansino, ¶ 179, the mobile device 2410 may separate the audio and video streams so that the audio stream is communicated through the in-vehicle infotainment system).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Harata’s system with the system taught by Cansino including that the second data includes video information; and the first data does not include the video information. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to adapt a secondary display and the secondary display is standalone device, such as the mobile device used for displaying various types of data including video streams to make the mobile device more user friendly and to enrich user experience.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 112158133 A teaches display content according to the control instruction after receiving the control instruction of the display controller; capable of updating the display content in real time; and displaying to the vehicle user; and
CN 109271617 A teaches the vehicle after delivery to the user, according to the user service subscription information to generate an updated user manual, the service subscription information identification number associated with the user of the vehicle and includes an optional configuration information of at least one model, the updated user manual comprises optional configuration information corresponding to the new function introducing content.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAXIN WU whose telephone number is (571) 270-7721. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (7 am - 11:30 am; 1:30- 5 pm).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner' s supervisor, Wei Mui can be reached at (571) 272-3708. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAXIN WU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2191