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 .
*Examiner Note: Claim language is bolded. Cited References are italicized. Examiner interpretations are preceded with an asterisk *.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/26/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-4 are currently pending and have been considered, as provided in more detail below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on December 13, 2025 have been fully considered but they are moot because the amendments made have presented a combination of elements directed towards newly added elements that have necessitated new grounds of rejection.
Response to Amendment
Regarding the previous rejections, the amendments made to the claims fail to overcome the prior art and have necessitated new grounds of rejection as outlined below. While the new ground of rejection may rely on previous references applied in the prior rejection of record, a new additional reference has been added to the combination and introduced for Applicant’s consideration given the amended independent claim. The new grounds of rejection are outlined below.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (US 2013/0054090) in view of Kusaka (US 2018/0326990 A1) and further in view of Ellis (US 2013/0197757 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shin discloses A vehicle controller (Fig. 4, 3300 and see at least para.
[0056] of Shin which describes “safe driving control module 3300 includes a handle controller 3302, an acceleration pedal controller 3304, a break controller 3306, a starting lock controller 3308, an automatic vehicle speed reduction controller 3310, and an automatic vehicle stop controller 3312”) comprising: a processer (Fig. 1, 200 and see at least para. [0043] of Shing which discloses “The emotion cognition processing apparatus 200 cognizes the user's emotion information and the vehicle's condition information from the sensing information that is provided by the multi-emotion sensor node 100”, *The emotion cognition processing apparatus includes processing circuitry which corresponds to the claimed processor) configured to estimate emotion of a driver (see at least para. [0043] of Shin which as discussed above describes “apparatus 200 cognizes the user's emotion information” , *The act of cognizing corresponds to determining/identifying the emotional state of the driver according to the broadest reasonable interpretation) based on biological information (see at least para. [0047] of Shin which discloses “The sensing information, as illustrated in FIG. 2, may include information about a pupil, face, skin conductance, oxygen saturation, voice, smell, body temperature, heart rate, etc which are sensed by their respective sensors“, *Examiner interprets this to be the biological information since para. [0014] of Applicant’s specification describes the biological information is, for example, an image of a driver captured by the camera of the sensor unit 14, but may be CO2 density of exhaled air of the driver measured by CO2 sensor of the sensor unit 14 or the heart rate of the driver) thereof;
Shin does disclose varying degrees of control which may correspond to determining an
intervention amount (see at least para. [0024] of Shin which discloses “the performing the selective safe driving service includes: displaying a drowsy driving state when a current condition of the driver is in the drowsy driving state; executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in the drowsy driving state to control a reduction in a vehicle speed, an intensity of a handle, or an intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity; performing a drowsy emotion service to perform guide broadcasting to a drowsy state with a vehicle terminal and ventilate air in the vehicle through the control of an air conditioning system; providing a music service for awaking drowsiness, and performing guide broadcasting for inducing parking of the vehicle onto a side road; continuously monitoring a drowsy state to induce parking of the vehicle onto the side road in operational connection to a maneuver patrol when the drowsy state is continuously maintained; controlling parking of the vehicle onto the side road to stop drowsy driving by linking up with the ECU; and informing the driver being awaked from the drowsy state to a drivable state”, *This corresponds to determining an intervention amount and determining a level or degree of control (i.e., reduction amount, intensity level). The reduction in speed, intensity of a handle or pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity to be equivalent to determining the intervention amount, as broadly as recited in this claim because these are all examples of varying degrees of control) of a driving assistance function based on the estimation result (see at least para. [0025] of Shin which discloses “executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in a fatigued state to control a safe speed of the vehicle and control safe driving to a destination in operational connection with a vehicle terminal navigation when it is determined that the fatigue and health condition of the driver is not the undrivable state” , * Examiner interprets the ECU-linked process to be what determines the intervention amount of driving assistance function. Also see at least para. [0072] which discloses “executes an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in the drowsy driving state in operation S302, thereby controlling the reduction in a vehicle speed, the intensity of a handle, and the intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity in operations S304, S306 and S308, respectively”, Examiner interprets the determining of the intensity of handle and pedal, etc. to be the claimed determining an intervention amount of a driving assistance function based on the estimation result. Also see at least para. [0085] which discloses “when it is determined in operation S508 that the driver is continuously driving the vehicle in a drunk state, the safe driving service apparatus 300 executes the ECU-linked process in operation S510, controls the parking of the vehicle onto a side road in operation S512, and controls a starting lock such that the driver cannot drive the vehicle in the drunk state any longer in operation S51”),
Shin may not explicitly disclose an intervention amount of a driving assistance function
based on the estimation result, the driving assistance function is a power steering configured to assist a steering wheel with a predetermined amount of intervention, the predetermined amount of intervention is variable based on the estimation result; and control the driving assistance function of the vehicle based on the determined intervention amount.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kusaka discloses determining an intervention
amount of a driving assistance function based on the estimation result (see at least para. [0006] of Kusaka which discloses “determining the drive assist intervention level to create a drive plan based on the received intervention level and the acquired biometric data”).
It would have been obvious toe one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to modify the driving assistance function of Shin to include determining an intervention amount of a driving assistance function based on the estimation result, as taught in Kusaka with a reasonable expectation of success in order to more precisely regulate the magnitude of vehicle assistance based on the driver’s condition, thereby improving driving safety and vehicle control. See para. [0006] of Kusaka for motivation.
Shin, as modified by Kusaka, may not explicitly disclose the driving assistance function is a
power steering configured to assist a steering wheel with a predetermined amount of intervention, the predetermined amount of intervention is variable based on the estimation result; and control the driving assistance function of the vehicle based on the determined intervention amount.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ellis discloses the driving assistance (Fig. 1, 50 and
see at least para. [0017] of Ellis which discloses “Electric power steering systems assist driver effort through the use of an electric motor which can act through a reversible gearbox and in certain cases, also an electromagnetic clutch. An electronic control unit (ECU) determines the degree of assistance that is rendered” and see at least para. [0023] of Ellis which discloses “the electric assist motor 50 provides power assist to aid in steering”, *This corresponds to driving assistance) function is a power steering (see at least para. [0017] of Ellis which discloses “ the electric motor assist hydraulic systems described above and in association with electric power steering (EPS). Electric power steering systems assist driver effort “) configured to assist a steering wheel with a predetermined amount of intervention (see at least para. [0014] of Ellis which discloses “appropriate levels of assistance are provided. Similarly, a steering wheel input mode can be used where the speed of the steering wheel movement is used to determine the degree of assistance required”, *The determined degree of assistance corresponds to a predetermined magnitude of steering assistance),
Kusaka further discloses the predetermined amount of intervention is variable based on
the estimation result (see at least para. [0006] of Kusaka which discloses “determining the drive assist intervention level to create a drive plan based on the received intervention level and the acquired biometric data”, *Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, this corresponds to the intervention level changing depending on the input. In other words, if the biometric data changes, then the intervention level changes which corresponds to a variable based on the estimation result);
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 driving assistance function of Shin to modify the predetermined amount of intervention to be variable based on the estimation result, as taught in Kusaka with a reasonable expectation of success in order to dynamically adjust the magnitude of vehicle assistance in accordance with the driver’s condition, thereby improving driving safety and the ability to control the vehicle. See para. [0006] of Kusaka for motivation.
Ellis further discloses and control the driving assistance function (see at least para. [0015]
of Ellis which discloses “the control unit can be programmed with a plurality of algorithms which calculate the appropriate steering assist level (current) based on monitored steering system conditions in view of a selected mode”) of the vehicle based on the determined intervention amount (see at least para. [0015] of Ellis which discloses “the control unit can host a lookup table(s) which map steering system conditions and vehicle modes, associating each with a pre-calibrated steering assist current level. Furthermore, the control unit can operate using a combination of a lookup table(s) and pre-programmed algorithms. The term MAP is used herein to reflect these types of methodologies for assessing steering system conditions and calculating power steering assist current, including, but not limited to, pre-programmed algorithms and lookup tables” and see at least para. [0050] of Ellis which discloses “The motor may be automatically controlled to provide varying levels of assistance at different operating conditions. For example, greater assistance may be provided at operating conditions where the benefit of the assistance (e.g., on reduced emissions, increased fuel economy, increased power, etc.) is higher, and less assistance may be provided at operating conditions where the benefit of the assistance is lower. Assistance provided and/or the operating conditions at which assistance is provided may be varied based on the power available to drive the motor and/or an expected driving range (e.g., a distance that the vehicle is expected to be driven between charges, such as for a plug-in hybrid vehicle). In this regard, the automotive vehicle may include an energy”, *Examiner interprets this to be evidence of the driving assistance function being controlled based on the determined intervention amount).
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 driving assistance function of Shin to include a power steering configured to assist a steering wheel with a predetermined amount of intervention; and control the driving assistance function of the vehicle based on the determined intervention amount, as taught in Ellis with a reasonable expectation of success in order to facilitate the driving of the steering motor and the improved operation of the power steering assist system with predetermined intervention levels controlled based on the determined intervention amount. See para. [0015] of Ellis for motivation.
Regarding claim 2, Shin et al., as modified by Kusaka and Ellis, disclose wherein the
processor (Fig. 1, 200 and see at least para. [0043] of Shin which discloses “The emotion cognition processing apparatus 200 cognizes the user's emotion information and the vehicle's condition information from the sensing information that is provided by the multi-emotion sensor node 100”, *Examiner interprets the emotion cognition processing apparatus to include the claimed processor) is configured to
estimate whether the emotion of the driver is comfortable (see at least para. [0051] of Shin which discloses “a driver emotion cognizer 2116 that analyzes information necessary for cognizing emotion on the basis of a driver's emotion conditions which have been sensed through the multi-channels”) based on the biological information (see at least para. [0113] of Shin which discloses “bio signals that are generated through the reaction of a person's autonomic nervous system in a driving environment to thereby cognize the emotions and driving conditions of a driver and passenger, and provides a safe driving control and service based on the cognized emotion information”, *Examiner interprets bio signals from a person’s nervous system to be biological information), and
increase the intervention amount of the driving assistance function when estimating that the emotion of the driver is comfortable (see at least para. [0016] of Shin which discloses “an engine control unit (ECU)-linked safe driving control module configured to control ECU-linked safe driving of a vehicle in accordance with to the emotion cognition information managed by the emotion information management unit; and an emotion care safe driving service module configured to provide an emotion care safe driving service to the vehicle when the vehicle is controlled by the ECU-linked safe driving control module”, *Examiner interprets that since the ECU control module is configured to control the safe driving of the vehicle, then the intervention amount of the driving assistance function is increased based on the emotion of the driver and see at least para. [0024] of Shin which discloses “the performing the selective safe driving service includes: displaying a drowsy driving state when a current condition of the driver is in the drowsy driving state; executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in the drowsy driving state to control a reduction in a vehicle speed, an intensity of a handle, or an intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity; performing a drowsy emotion service to perform guide broadcasting to a drowsy state with a vehicle terminal and ventilate air in the vehicle through the control of an air conditioning system; providing a music service for awaking drowsiness, and performing guide broadcasting for inducing parking of the vehicle onto a side road; continuously monitoring a drowsy state to induce parking of the vehicle onto the side road in operational connection to a maneuver patrol when the drowsy state is continuously maintained; controlling parking of the vehicle onto the side road to stop drowsy driving by linking up with the ECU; and informing the driver being awaked from the drowsy state to a drivable state”, *Examiner interprets the reduction in vehicle speed to be an increase in intervention since intervention occurs to change the speed. See at least para. [0025] of Shin which discloses “executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in a fatigued state to control a safe speed of the vehicle and control safe driving to a destination in operational connection with a vehicle terminal navigation when it is determined that the fatigue and health condition of the driver is not the undrivable state”).
Regarding claim 3, Shin et al., as modified by Kusaka and Ellis, disclose wherein the
processor is configured to estimate whether the driver feels sleepy based on the biological information (see at least para. [0069] of Shin which describes “the condition of the driver into a drowsy driving state … in accordance with the analysis result of the emotion recognition information”, *Examiner interprets the drowsy driving state to be the same condition in which the driver feels sleepy and see at least para. [0010] of Shin which discloses “the multi-emotion sensor node includes at least one of a heart rate sensor, a skin reaction sensor, a body temperature sensor, a voice sensor, an image sensor, an acceleration sensor, and a slope sensor”, *Examiner interprets these sensors to measure biological information to use in the estimation of whether the driver feels sleepy), and
decrease the intervention amount of the driving assistance function (see at least para. [0072] of Shin which discloses “controlling the reduction in a vehicle speed, the intensity of a handle, and the intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity in operations S304, S306 and S308, respectively” and see Fig. 7 which describes “induce stop of vehicle onto side road” at S322 which implies based upon Examiner interpretation that the intervention amount will be decreased because of the stop in S322 and S324 since para. [0011] of Applicant’s specification describes “driving assistance functions, specifically, assistance of a force necessary for handling (power steering), assistance of a steering amount of a steering wheel, and assistance of an operation amount of an accelerator or a brake” to be the driving assistance function then the intervention amount of the driving assistance function will be decreased since there is a stop of the vehicle which results in a stop of the handling/power steering. Also, see at least para. [0075] of Shin which discloses “when the driver has been awaked from the drowsy state, the safe driving service apparatus 300 informs that the driver has been awaked from the drowsy state to a drivable state in operation S328, and ends the ECU-linked drowsiness awaking service process in operation S330”, *Examiner interprets that since the ECU-linked drowsiness awakening service process is ended, then the intervention amount is decreased)
when estimating that the driver feels sleepy (see at least para. [0024] of Shin which discloses “the performing the selective safe driving service includes: displaying a drowsy driving state when a current condition of the driver is in the drowsy driving state; executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in the drowsy driving state to control a reduction in a vehicle speed, an intensity of a handle, or an intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity; … continuously monitoring a drowsy state to induce parking of the vehicle onto the side road in operational connection to a maneuver patrol when the drowsy state is continuously maintained; controlling parking of the vehicle onto the side road to stop drowsy driving by linking up with the ECU”).
Regarding claim 4, Shin et al., as modified by Kusaka and Ellis, disclose wherein the
processor is configured to estimate whether the driver is unable or inappropriate to drive (see at least para. [0025] of Shin which discloses “displaying a driver-fatigued state when a current condition of the driver is a fatigued or health-deteriorated state; executing a safe driving service process in accordance with a health condition of the driver to perform guide broadcasting for a fatigue and health condition… determining whether the fatigue and health condition reaches an undrivable threshold; reporting to an emergency service when it is determined that the fatigue and health condition of the driver is an undrivable state”, *Examiner interprets this as estimating whether the driver is unable or inappropriate to drive), and
increase the intervention amount of the driving assistance function when estimating that the driver is unable or inappropriate to drive (see at least para. [0024] of Shin which discloses “executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in the drowsy driving state to control a reduction in a vehicle speed, an intensity of a handle, or an intensity of a pedal in accordance with a drowsy intensity”, *Examiner interprets the reduction in vehicle speed to be an increase in intervention since intervention occurs to change the speed. See at least para. [0025] of Shin which discloses “executing an ECU-linked process for controlling safe driving in a fatigued state to control a safe speed of the vehicle and control safe driving to a destination in operational connection with a vehicle terminal navigation when it is determined that the fatigue and health condition of the driver is not the undrivable state”).
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Oudeyer (US 2003/0055654 A1) discloses a method and device for detecting and recognizing an emotion from biological information such as voice signals with the apparatus including a processor that can be used to control a vehicle. French et al. (US 2012/0150430 A1) discloses an enhanced navigation system allowing navigation route and destination planning according to user-specified criteria for the emotion state of persons along the route, at the destination, or both. The enhancement is accomplished by receiving a set of human emotion metrics corresponding to one or more parts of a navigation plan and includes an enhanced controller that receives information, including the new user preferences regarding emotion states of users, accesses the route data manager to obtain suitable routes and destinations data.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANA IVEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4896. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30 EST Monday-Friday.
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, Jelani Smith can be reached at 571-270-3969. 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.
/DANA D IVEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3662
/D.D.I/March 24, 2026
/JELANI A SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662