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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Claims 1, 13, and 15 have been amended.
This FINAL Office Action is in response to the “Amendments and Remarks” received on 10/18/2025.
Response to Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks
Amendments and Remarks filed on 10/18/2025 have been fully considered and are addressed as follow:
Regarding the Claim Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Applicants “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
On page 10, applicant argues that “the determination criterion in Zhu is the number of laser data points.” However, the determination criterion is a number laser data points that fall within or outside an expected value such as an intensity value or a distance. As illustrated below, Zhu’s determination criterion is the number of laser data points (reflected light) based on an expected intensity value (intensity value can be null because the light was not received) [Zhu ¶ 100-103] or an expected measured distance above or below a surface [Zhu ¶ 0099]. Applicant does the same thing by measuring a “partial area” which includes the measurement of multiple light beams [Spec ¶ 0031].
On page 10, applicant argues that prior art Zhu does not teach “a point on the road is determine to be wet when light is projected toward the point and does not return, or when the measured distance of the light is longer than a predetermined value.” However, what is considered a point? On page 9, Applicant points to paragraphs 0019 of the specification as support for the amendment of claim 1. Paragraph 0019 states as follow.
“[0019] The distance to be measure is a length of the vehicle X (specifically, the ranging sensor 10) to a predetermined point of the road surface (a light irradiation position) along a predetermined direction (a measurement direction).”
A point on the road is being interpreted as a general area of the road where light (multiple light beams) is being projected towards which is taught by Zhu [0084].
On page 11, Applicant argues that Zhu only determines the road surface is wet based on the number of laser data points not associated with objects [0097] or a large number of water droplets are detected [0096]. However, Zhu also teaches determining the road surface is wet based on intensity values which is similar logic found in applicant’s specification. On page 9, Applicant points to paragraphs 0031 of the specification as support for the amendment of claim 1. Paragraph 0031 of applicant’s specification states as follows.
“[0031] For this reason, the reflected wave does not advance to the ranging sensor 10, or even if having advanced to the ranging sensor 10, the intensity of the reflected wave is significantly attenuated, and thus practically the ranging sensor 10 cannot receive the reflected light (that is, at the intensity within the assumed range). Therefore, when a partial area PA in which the reflected light of each light beam emitted by the ranging sensor 10 is not received by the ranging sensor 10 is included in the measurement area P (“Yes” in step S1), the determination unit 413 determines that the road surface indicated by the partial area PA is wet (step S2).”
Paragraph [100-103] of Zhu states as follows.
“For example, each data point may include an intensity value indicative of reflectivity of an object from which light was received by the laser as well as location information. … In this regard, when an object is wet, it may become darker and therefore, rather than increasing the intensity value of an object, the water may decrease the intensity value.”
Zhu does teach determining that the road surface is wet based on if the reflected light is not received. The intensity value could be so low that it would not even be received by the ranging sensor. Additionally, Zhu teaches using a distance threshold to indicate if the road surface is wet [0099] which was discussed in the previous office action. Therefore, Zhu does teach the limitation of “determination unit that determines that a point of the road surface to which the light is emitted is wet when the reflected light is not received by the ranging sensor, or when a measurement value measured by the ranging sensor is longer than a predetermined value”.
Additionally, the amendment of claim 1 “measures a distance to the road surface based on light reception state of the reflected light including time from the emission of the light to the reception of the reflected light of the emitted light” does not overcome the prior art. Zhu teaches emitting laser pulses/beams to a point of the road surface and measuring a distance. Paragraph [0084] of Zhu states as follows.
“In operation, the LIDAR rotates and (e.g., periodically) emits laser beams. Reflections from the emitted laser beams by objects in the environment are then received by suitable sensors. Time-stamping receipt of the reflected signals allows for associating each reflected signal (if any is received at all) with the most recently emitted laser pulse, and measuring the time delay between emission of the laser pulse and reception of the reflected light. The time delay provides an estimate of the distance to the reflective feature by scaling according to the speed of light in the intervening atmosphere.”
Therefore, the claim rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 remains. Applicant further remarks that the other independent claims 13 and 15 which recite similar features are allowable and the dependent claims are also allowable since they depend on allowable subject matter and the examiner respectfully disagrees. It is the examiner’s stance that all of the claimed subject matter has been properly rejected; therefore, the examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’ arguments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-8 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhu (EP 3456597).
With respect to claim 1: Zhu discloses a road surface condition determination system comprising [Zhu ¶ 0004 "devices and methods for detecting weather conditions including wet surfaces using vehicle onboard sensors"]:
a ranging sensor that is installed at a predetermined position on a vehicle, emits light toward a road surface in a measurement area around the vehicle and receives reflected light of the emitted Light, and measures a distance to the road surface based on a light reception state of the reflected light including time from the emission of the light to the reception of the reflected light of the emitted light; [Zhu ¶ 0043 "laser rangefinder/LIDAR unit 128" and ¶ 0084 “The time delay provides an estimate of the distance to the reflective feature by scaling according to the speed of light in the intervening atmosphere.”] and
a determination unit that determines that a point of the road surface to which the light is emitted is wet when the reflected light is not received by the ranging sensor [Zhu ¶ 0099-0100 and ¶ 0177"For pulses that do not result in a returning reflected signal, the distance in the point map can optionally be set to the maximum distance sensitivity of the LIDAR device" and ¶ 100-103 “For example, each data point may include an intensity value indicative of reflectivity of an object from which light was received by the laser as well as location information. … In this regard, when an object is wet, it may become darker and therefore, rather than increasing the intensity value of an object, the water may decrease the intensity value” This includes the light not being received. ], or when a measurement value measured by the ranging sensor is longer than a predetermined value [Zhu ¶ 0098 "a number of laser data points of the plurality of laser data points are associated with a location below an expected elevation of the surface on which the vehicle travels, and identifying the indication that the surface on which the vehicle travels is wet further based on the number of laser data points being above a threshold number" and ¶ 0099 "When the cloud includes at least one laser data point above the first threshold value and at least one laser data point below the second threshold value, the an indication that the roadway is wet can be made"].
With respect to claim 2: Zhu discloses the road surface condition determination system according to claim 1, wherein the ranging sensor measures distances to a plurality of points on the road surface in the measurement area [Zhu ¶ 0086 "a point cloud corresponding to objects in the environmental"], and the determination unit determines that the road surface is wet when the measurement area includes a partial area in which the reflected light is not received by the ranging sensor, or when the measurement area includes a partial area in which a measurement value measured by the ranging sensor is longer than a predetermined value [Zhu ¶ 0098-0099].
With respect to claim 3: Zhu discloses the road surface condition determination system according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines that the road surface is wet when a quantity of measurement results recognized as noise among measurement results regarding reflected light of a plurality of light beams emitted by the ranging sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and when a partial area in which the reflected light of the plurality of light beams emitted by the ranging sensor is not received is included in the measurement area [Zhu ¶ 0097 "include determining that a number of laser data points that are unassociated with the one or more objects in the environment exceeds a predefined threshold, and then identifying by the computing device an indication that a surface on which the vehicle travels is wet"].
With respect to claim 4: Zhu discloses the road surface condition determination system according to claim 1, wherein the ranging sensor is configured of a light sensor for obstacle detection or a light sensor for self-position estimation, which is installed in advance on the vehicle [Zhu ¶ 0036 "The computer system 112 may receive information from a sensor system 104, and base one or more control processes (such as the setting a heading so as to avoid a detected obstacle) upon the received information in an automated fashion."].
With respect to claims 5-8: Zhu discloses the road surface condition determination system according to claim 1, 2, 3, and 4, further comprising:
a reference data storage unit that stores, as reference data, information on a distance to the road surface that is measured by the ranging sensor for each position of the vehicle and each measurement direction when the vehicle or another vehicle travels on the road surface that is not wet, [Zhu ¶ 0118 "processing data provided by the various sensors may include processing environmental data that was obtained at a previous point in time and is expected to persist in the environment"] wherein in a case where the vehicle travels, the determination unit determines that the road surface is wet when a measurement value of the distance to the road surface in the measurement direction measured by the ranging sensor at a predetermined position is longer than a distance to the road surface at a relevant position and in the measurement direction in the reference data [Zhu ¶ 0099].
With respect to claim 13: Zhu discloses a road surface condition determination device comprising [Zhu ¶ 0004 "devices and methods for detecting weather conditions including wet surfaces using vehicle onboard sensors"]:
a determination unit that is connected to a ranging sensor, the ranging sensor being installed at a predetermined position on a vehicle, emitting light toward a road surface in a measurement area around the vehicle and receiving reflected light of the emitted light, and measuring a distance to the road surface based on a light reception state of the reflected light including time from the emission of the light to the reception of the reflected light of the emitted light [Zhu ¶ 0043 "laser rangefinder/LIDAR unit 128" and ¶ 0084 “The time delay provides an estimate of the distance to the reflective feature by scaling according to the speed of light in the intervening atmosphere.”], wherein
the determination unit determines that a point of the road surface to which the light is emitted is wet when the reflected light is not received by the ranging sensor [Zhu ¶ 0099-0100 and ¶ 0177"For pulses that do not result in a returning reflected signal, the distance in the point map can optionally be set to the maximum distance sensitivity of the LIDAR device and ¶ 100-103 “For example, each data point may include an intensity value indicative of reflectivity of an object from which light was received by the laser as well as location information. … In this regard, when an object is wet, it may become darker and therefore, rather than increasing the intensity value of an object, the water may decrease the intensity value” This includes the light not being received."], or when a measurement value measured by the ranging sensor is longer than a predetermined value [Zhu ¶ 0098 "a number of laser data points of the plurality of laser data points are associated with a location below an expected elevation of the surface on which the vehicle travels, and identifying the indication that the surface on which the vehicle travels is wet further based on the number of laser data points being above a threshold number" and ¶ 0099 "When the cloud includes at least one laser data point above the first threshold value and at least one laser data point below the second threshold value, the an indication that the roadway is wet can be made"].
With respect to claim 14: Zhu discloses a vehicle driving control device comprising:
An output unit that is connected to the road surface condition determination device of claim 13, and outputs an instruction to reduce a driving speed of the vehicle or stop the vehicle when the road surface condition determination device determines that the road surface is wet [Zhu ¶ 0034 "Example actions may include providing instructions to indicate a request to transition to a manual mode, or if remaining in autonomous mode then switching to a mode specific to wet roadways (i.e., driving at slower speeds, allowing for larger distances to accomplish braking, etc.)"].
With respect to claim 15: Zhu discloses a road surface condition determination method comprising [Zhu ¶ 0004 "devices and methods for detecting weather conditions including wet surfaces using vehicle onboard sensors"]:
Determining that a road surface, to a point of which light is emitted, is wet by means of a road surface condition determination device connected to a ranging sensor, when reflected light is not received by the ranging sensor [Zhu ¶ 0099-0100 and ¶ 0177"For pulses that do not result in a returning reflected signal, the distance in the point map can optionally be set to the maximum distance sensitivity of the LIDAR device"] or when a measurement value measured by the ranging sensor being installed at a predetermined position on a vehicle, being configured to emit light toward a road surface in a measurement area around the vehicle and receiving the reflected light of the emitted light, and configured to measure a distance to the road surface based on light reception state of the reflected light including time from the emission of the light to the reception of the reflected light of the emitted light [Zhu ¶ 0098 "a number of laser data points of the plurality of laser data points are associated with a location below an expected elevation of the surface on which the vehicle travels, and identifying the indication that the surface on which the vehicle travels is wet further based on the number of laser data points being above a threshold number" and ¶ 0099 "When the cloud includes at least one laser data point above the first threshold value and at least one laser data point below the second threshold value, the an indication that the roadway is wet can be made"].
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.
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 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu in view of Silver (US PGPub 2021/0132628).
With respect to claims 9-12: Zhu teaches the road surface condition determination system according to claim 5, 6, 7, and 8. Zhu further teaches a reference data storage unit temporarily stores information of measurement values for each vehicle position, time, and measurement direction, measured by the ranging sensor when the vehicle or another vehicle travels, regardless of a wet condition of the road surface [Zhu ¶ 0118 "processing data provided by the various sensors may include processing environmental data that was obtained at a previous point in time and is expected to persist in the environment"]. Zhu does not teach the determination unit determines whether the road surface is wet with respect to a position where the vehicle is scheduled to travel, by using the information of the measurement values which are measured using another vehicle and stored in the reference data storage unit within a predetermined time.
However, in a related field of invention, Silver does teach the determination unit determines whether the road surface is wet with respect to a position where the vehicle is scheduled to travel, by using the information of the measurement values which are measured using another vehicle and stored in the reference data storage unit within a predetermined time [Silver ¶ 0098].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the vehicle system for detecting weather conditions as taught by Zhu with the recording and sharing data between vehicles in a centralized database as taught by Silver in order to more effectively detect and respond to different levels of adverse weather conditions [Silver ¶ 0039].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/J.E.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3666 /SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666