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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/15/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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 § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 9 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being RICCI by US 20140309886 A1.
Re claim 1. RICCI discloses (abstract – FIG.1) a method for controlling (FIG.13) a vehicle welcoming [0659] a user (driver), comprising:
recognizing (FIG.14 – process 1400 – steps 1404-1412 OR [0471, 0551, 0581-0583] – user settings determined by profile identification and user profile [0575] using various ways to identify users by way of RFID [0639]), by a processor of the vehicle (FIG.2), an identification (ID) (i.e. RFID) of a target vehicle key (FIG.2 – mobile device 212 carried by user 216);
searching (FIG.14 – steps 1416-1420), by the processor, a correspondence [0575] for a welcoming manner corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key [0584], the correspondence comprising a plurality of IDs (FIG.12A-12D) of a plurality of vehicle keys [0344] and a plurality of welcoming manners (e.g. user profile settings which encompass various user preferences including not limited to, lights, sounds, pedal settings, user home page preferences) corresponding to the IDs of the vehicle keys [0658-0659];
controlling, by the processor [0553], the vehicle to perform a first welcoming action (FIG.12A-12D – [0540, 0849-0852]) in the welcoming manner ([0659] including user greeting to identified driver 3030 and/or settings specific to user profile 1240 contained in settings portion 1224 in data structure 1200); and
obtaining, by the processor, a charging status (e.g., low battery charge voltage) of the vehicle [0633], and determining whether the charging status of the vehicle is greater (e.g. charging status threshold would be needed as a parameter to determine a low battery charge to trigger a warning of a low battery charge/vehicle malfunction) than a charging status threshold ([0633] vehicle control system notes that a vehicle warning has been triggered, such as an actual or potential engine or other vehicle malfunction (e.g., low battery charge)), wherein the charging status threshold is for determining whether to execute an additional welcoming action (e.g. battery charge indicator [0659] – [0633] vehicle control system notes that a vehicle warning has been triggered, such as an actual or potential engine or other vehicle malfunction (e.g., low battery charge)) corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key ([0659] triggered warning would be determined based on user profile settings, as part of home page 3000, included within “my dash” 3026 – commonly user home pages can include many different vehicle functions or alerts, such as alerts/warnings of various kinds), the charging status is a remaining state of charge of the vehicle (e.g. battery charge indicator – is interpreted as a remaining state of charge, given that a remaining charge is illustrated by battery charge indication), and the welcoming manner comprises configurations of lights [0123, 0486-0487, 0607, 0659], music [0005, 0123, 0470, 0819], or pedal stretching/retraction functions [0540, 0852] according to the ID of the target vehicle key [0540, 0849, 0852].
Re claim 9. RICCI (as applied for claim 1) a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (i.e. the vehicle system described above requires at least one medium for storage operating in conjunction with processor(s) and database(s)), storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
recognizing an identification (ID) of a target vehicle key;
searching a correspondence for a welcoming manner corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key, the correspondence comprising a plurality of IDs of a plurality of vehicle keys and a plurality of welcoming manners corresponding to the IDs of the vehicle keys;
controlling a vehicle to perform a first welcoming action in the welcoming manner; and
obtaining a charging status of the vehicle, and determining whether the charging status of the vehicle is greater than a charging status threshold, wherein the charging status threshold is for determining whether to execute an additional welcoming action corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key, the charging status is a remaining state of charge of the vehicle, and the welcoming manner comprises configurations of lights, music, or pedal stretching/retraction functions according to the ID of the target vehicle key.
Re claim 17. RICCI (as applied for claims 1 and 9) a vehicle, comprising an apparatus for controlling welcoming a user of the vehicle, wherein the apparatus comprises a storage medium storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
recognizing an identification (ID) of a target vehicle key;
searching a correspondence for a welcoming manner corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key, the correspondence comprising a plurality of IDs of a plurality of vehicle keys and a plurality of welcoming manners corresponding to the IDs of the vehicle keys;
controlling the vehicle to perform a first welcoming action in the welcoming manner; and obtaining, by the processor, a charging status of the vehicle, and determining whether the charging status of the vehicle is greater than a charging status threshold, wherein the charging status threshold is for determining whether to execute an additional welcoming action corresponding to the ID of the target vehicle key, the charging status is a remaining state of charge of the vehicle, and the welcoming manner comprises configurations of lights, music, or pedal stretching/retraction functions according to the ID of the target vehicle key.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS E GARCIA whose telephone number is (571)270-1354. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-6pm F 9-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Zimmerman can be reached at (571) 272-3059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CARLOS E. GARCIA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2686
/Carlos Garcia/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686 12/29/2025