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 .
This office action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 04/02/2026. Claims 1 and 2 are currently pending in this application.
The applicant's amendment and arguments to the claims rejection are fully considered, however, they still failed to overcome the applied references, as is explained in greater detail below in the body of the rejection.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20150357996 (Hu) in view of US 20200343986 (Aggarwal).
Regarding claim 1, Hu teaches “A vehicle (Par. 0022 and FIG 2: a vehicle 10) comprising:
a radio receiver configured to receive a radio signal (Par. 0022 and FIG 2: a vehicle 10 provided with the radio receiving device 100. Par. 0018: FIG. 1 is a function block diagram illustrating a radio receiving device 100); and
a controller (Par. 0018: FIG. 1: a control unit 140), the controller configured to receive a radio signal recommendation list…” “…when a strength of the received radio signal is less than a specified value (paragraphs 0025 – 0026: In Step S310, as the vehicle 10 moves, the radio receiver 120 receives the radio information at a first frequency of the radio (e.g. the frequency F1) and plays the radio information through the speaker device 130 (“receive a radio signal”). In Step S320, the control unit 140 continuously detects a first signal strength of the radio information at the first frequency F1. In Step S330, the control unit 140 compares the first signal strength with a default value to determine whether the first signal strength is smaller than the default value. If so, Step S340 is performed, and the control unit 140 obtains the current geographic location information of the radio receiving device 100 via the positioning module 110. In Step S350, the control unit 140 checks a radio network frequency list according to the geographic location information to obtain a second frequency of the radio corresponding to the geographic location information (“receive a radio signal recommendation list”).),
compare a strength of at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list with the strength of the received radio signal (paragraph 0027: if the second frequency of the radio is found, the control unit 140 moves on to Step S370 to detect a second signal strength of the radio information at the second frequency F2 and determine whether the second signal strength (“a strength of at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list”) is larger than the first signal strength (“the strength of the received radio signal”).), and
determine whether to receive the recommended radio signal based on a comparison result (paragraph 0027: If the second signal strength is larger than the first signal strength, the control unit 140 moves on to Step S380 and determines whether the second signal strength is larger than the default value. If the second signal strength is larger than the first signal strength and the default value, the control unit 140 moves on to Step S390 to control the radio receiver 120 to receive the radio information at the second frequency F2 of the radio and play the radio information through the speaker device 130.).”
Hu does not disclose that the radio network frequency list is received “from a server” as well as “wherein the server is configured to receive information about whether destination is set from the vehicle, and determine whether a radio signal is recommendable based on radio signal information corresponding to a polygon area when the destination is not set.”
In similar art, Aggarwal teaches “receive a radio signal recommendation list from a server (paragraph 0056 and FIG 1 disclose a remote computer 110 (“a server”) which includes a radio station database 115 that includes mappings of radio frequencies and one or more radio station attributes mapped to one or more reported user locations. Paragraphs 0080 – 0082: At step 605, at least one user location that is associated with a travel trajectory of the user is identified. At step 610, data indicative of the user location(s) are provided to a remote computer 110. At step 615, in response to providing the one or more user locations, a list of radio stations is provided (“receive a radio signal recommendation list from a server”). At step 620, the mappings are stored in a local database 103 on a client device)”.
Additionally, Aggarwal teaches or fairly suggests “the server is configured to receive information about whether destination is set from the vehicle (paragraph 0080: Alternatively (at step 605), a user may provide a travel plan to a travel plan module, such as travel plan module 105, which can determine a travel trajectory for the travel plan (i.e., a path from a starting location to a destination). This corresponds to setting a destination. Paragraph 0081: at step 615, provided from the remote computer list of radio stations includes all radio stations that are available on the travel trajectory (e.g., radio stations that include locations and/or coverage areas that include the provided location(s)). Since the radio stations are provided from the remote computer for the entirety of the travel trajectory, the remote computer must necessarily know the trajectory, which directly corresponds to the limitation that “the server is configured to receive information about whether destination is set from the vehicle” since otherwise the remote computer would not be able to provide the disclosed list for the entirety of the trajectory), and determine whether a radio signal is recommendable based on radio signal information corresponding to a polygon area when the destination is not set (Initially, interpreting the language of this limitation, it does not seem to control what happens in case when the destination is set. Therefore, within the broadest reasonable interpretation, determining whether a radio signal is recommendable in all cases regardless of whether the destination is or is not set will also meet this limitation.
In view of this, paragraphs 0080 – 0081: At step 605, at least one user location that is associated with a travel trajectory of the user is identified. Alternatively, a user may provide a travel plan to a travel plan module, such as travel plan module 105, which can determine a travel trajectory for the travel plan (i.e., a path from a starting location to a destination). At step 610, data indicative of the user location(s) are provided to a remote computer (“the server”).
As may be seen, this description presents two alternatives: in the first alternative, only a specific user location is provided to the remote computer without the complete trajectory including the destination; in the second alternative, the entirety of the travel trajectory including the destination is provided to the remote computer.
At step 615, in response to providing the one or more user locations, a list of radio stations is provided. For example, station selection module may determine, based on the mappings in radio station database 115 and the provided locations, one or more radio stations of interest to the user. The provided list of radio stations includes all radio stations that are available on the travel trajectory (e.g., radio stations that include locations and/or coverage areas that include the provided location(s)). This corresponds to the case when “the destination is set”. Alternatively, the station selection module 130 can provide a list of radio stations that includes only radio stations that satisfy the radio station selection criteria and are within range of the provided locations. This appears to correspond to the case when only the current locations are provided to the remote computer without providing the entirety of the travel trajectory including the destination, which would be the same as the claimed “when the destination is not set”. Paragraph 0085: At step 635, one or more proximate radio stations is identified based on the mappings in the local database. The proximate radio stations can be identified based on the proximity of the current location of the user to one or more locations stored with the radio stations in the local database. For example, proximate radio streams may include radio stations stored with coverage areas that include the current location. Paragraph 0086: At step 640, data indicative of one or more of the proximate radio stations is outputted to the user as a suggestion. This process corresponds to the claimed “determine whether a radio signal is recommendable based on radio signal information corresponding to … an area” since the radio stations provided are within the range of the provided locations and/or with coverage areas that include the current location. With respect to the requirement that the area is to be “a polygon” area, as explained above, paragraph 0085 discloses radio stations stored with coverage areas that include the current location. However, paragraph 0059 and FIG 2 further explain that the coverage areas, although shown as circular, a coverage area may be of any closed shape and not necessarily circular. Therefore, a coverage area being “a polygon area” is also within the limits of the disclosure).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the application to utilize disclosed by Aggarwal process of selecting and transmitting the recommended list of radio stations/frequencies depending on the user’s location, with the system of Hu. Doing so would have provided, to the client device, the most updated list of the radio stations/frequencies specifically tailored to the current location of the user and/or along the trajectory including the destination of the travel thus improving the user’s experience while traveling.
Regarding claim 2, Hu teaches “wherein the controller is configured to:
receive at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list when the strength of the at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list exceeds the strength of the currently received radio signal (paragraph 0027: If the second signal strength is larger than the first signal strength, the control unit 140 moves on to Step S380 and determines whether the second signal strength is larger than the default value. If the second signal strength is larger than the first signal strength and the default value, the control unit 140 moves on to Step S390 to control the radio receiver 120 to receive the radio information at the second frequency F2 of the radio and play the radio information through the speaker device 130.); and
re-receive a radio signal recommendation list when the strength of the at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list is equal to or less than the strength of the currently received radio signal (paragraph 0028: If the second signal strength (“the strength of the at least one recommended radio signal included in the radio signal recommendation list”) is smaller than the first signal strength (“is … less than the strength of the currently received radio signal”), the control unit 140 returns to Step S340 from Step S370 to obtain the current geographic location information through the positioning module 110 again so as to repeat Steps S340-S390 which includes the step of “re-receive a radio signal recommendation list”. Although Hu does not disclose that return to step S340 is performed also when the second signal strength is “equal to” the first signal strength, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the application to include this specific condition into the decision tree simply as design choice with predictable results, the results being that there would be no jumping back and forth between first and second frequency (ping-pong) when the signal strengths of the first and second signals are equal.).”
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GENNADIY TSVEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3198. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5:30.
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/GENNADIY TSVEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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