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 .
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 29, 43 and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP-2923864.
Regarding independent claim 29:
EP-2923864 discloses a system comprising: a communication module (100) and a processor (110); wherein the processor (110) is operable to, determine, that an item (370) is attached to a vehicle (270) forming a vehicle combination (a combination of the vehicle 270 and trailer 370); establish, a connection via the communication module (fig. 5), between the vehicle (270) and the item (370); receive, a message from the item (370) comprising a specification of the item (see paragraph 0024-0025), wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 370, see paragraph 0024-0025) and determine, a safety zone for the vehicle combination.
EP-2923864 discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the processor is operable to calculate, an overall length, an overall height, and an overall weight of the vehicle combination. In EP-2923864, the height and the weight of the trailer are compared to respective restriction limits due to the route, e.g. presence of a tunnel. It is therefore obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to consider the height and weight of the towing vehicle. Indeed, the greater between a height of the towing vehicle and of the trailer is obvious to one that is relevant for comparison with a route restriction, like the tunnel. Also the total weight of the vehicle and the trailer is obvious the relevant parameter for a route weight restriction such as weight limit of a bridge in order to improve driving safety.
Regarding independent claim 43:
EP-2923864 discloses a method comprising: determining, that an item (370) is attached to a vehicle (270) forming a vehicle combination (a vehicle 270 and a trailer 370); establishing, a connection via a communication module (100), between the vehicle (270) and the item (370) that is attached to the vehicle; receiving, a message from the item comprising a specification of the item being attached (see paragraph 0024-0025), wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 370, see paragraph 0025); and determining, a safety zone for the vehicle combination.
EP-2923864 discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that method steps of calculating, an overall length, an overall height, and an overall weight of the vehicle combination. In EP-2923864, the height and the weight of the trailer are compared to respective restriction limits due to the route, e.g. presence of a tunnel. It is therefore obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to consider the height and weight of the towing vehicle. Indeed, the greater between a height of the towing vehicle and of the trailer is obvious to one that is relevant for comparison with a route restriction, like the tunnel. Also the total weight of the vehicle and the trailer is obvious the relevant parameter for a route weight restriction such as weight limit of a bridge in order to improve driving safety.
Regarding claim 46:
EP-2923864 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (260) having stored thereon instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising: determining, that an item (370) is attached to a vehicle (270) forming a vehicle combination (a vehicle 270 and a trailer 370); establishing, a connection via a communication module (see fig. 5), between the vehicle (270) and the item (370) that is attached to the vehicle; receiving, a message from the item comprising a specification of the item being attached, wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 370, see paragraph 0024-0025); and determining, a safety zone for the vehicle combination.
EP-2923864 discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that a computer system to perform operations comprising calculating, an overall length, an overall height, and an overall weight of the vehicle combination. In EP-2923864, the height and the weight of the trailer are compared to respective restriction limits due to the route, e.g. presence of a tunnel. It is therefore obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to consider the height and weight of the towing vehicle. Indeed, the greater between a height of the towing vehicle and of the trailer is obvious to one that is relevant for comparison with a route restriction, like the tunnel. Also the total weight of the vehicle and the trailer is obvious the relevant parameter for a route weight restriction such as weight limit of a bridge in order to improve driving safety.
Claims 29-35, 40-41, and 43-48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266).
Regarding independent claims 29-35 and 40-41:
Dotzler discloses a system comprising: a communication module (24) and a processor (20); wherein the processor (20) is operable to, determine, that an item (14) is attached to a vehicle (12) forming a vehicle combination (a combination of the vehicle 12 and trailer 14); establish, a connection via the communication module (fig. 1), between the vehicle (12) and the item (14); receive, a message from the item (14) comprising a specification of the item, wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 14); to calculate, an overall length (total length of the tractor 12 and trailer 14), an overall height (since the height of the trailer is higher than the height of the tractor, therefore the overall height is a height of the trailer 14, see fig. 1) of the vehicle combination and determine, a safety zone for the vehicle combination; wherein the item is a trailer (14); wherein the item carries a load, wherein the load is an equipment (see paragraph 0021); wherein the connection is wireless (see paragraph 0020); wherein the communication module is operable for providing two way communication with the item (see fig. 1); wherein the message further comprises an width of the item (a width of the trailer 14, see paragraph 0017); wherein the weight of the item is determined by adding an empty weight of the item and a carrying load on the item (see paragraph 0021); wherein the system further comprises a camera (18) coupled with a computer vision system (26); wherein the camera (18) is mounted on the vehicle (12) such that a change in data from the camera (18) is used to detect that the item (14) is being attached to the vehicle (12).
Dotzler discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the processor is operable to calculate an overall weight of the vehicle combination. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to additionally considering the weight of the tractor in order to improve driving safety.
Regarding independent claims 43-45:
Dotzler discloses a method comprising: determining, that an item (14) is attached to a vehicle (12) forming a vehicle combination (a vehicle 12 and a trailer 14); establishing, a connection via a communication module (24), between the vehicle (12) and the item (14) that is attached to the vehicle; receiving, a message from the item comprising a specification of the item being attached (first data), wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 24); calculating, an overall length (total length of the tractor 12 and trailer 14), an overall height (since the height of the trailer is higher than the height of the tractor, therefore the overall height is a height of the trailer 14, see fig. 1), and the vehicle combination and determining, a safety zone for the vehicle combination; wherein the item is a trailer (14); wherein the item carries a load, wherein the load is an equipment (see paragraph 0021); wherein the message further comprises an width of the item (a width of the trailer 14, see paragraph 0017)
Dotzler discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that calculating an overall weight of the vehicle combination. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to additionally considering the weight of the tractor in order to improve driving safety.
Regarding claims 46-48:
Dotzler discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (30) having stored thereon instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising: determining, that an item (14) is attached to a vehicle (12) forming a vehicle combination (a vehicle 12 and a trailer 14); establishing, a connection via a communication module (see fig. 1), between the vehicle (12) and the item (14) that is attached to the vehicle; receiving, a message from the item comprising a specification of the item being attached, wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item (length, weight and height of the trailer 12); calculating, an overall length (total length of the tractor 12 and trailer 14) and overall height (since the height of the trailer is higher than the height of the tractor, therefore the overall height is a height of the trailer 14, see fig. 1) of the vehicle combination and determining, a safety zone for the vehicle combination; wherein the weight of the item is determined by adding an empty weight of the item and a carrying load on the item (see paragraph 0021); wherein the item is detected using an RFID (42) technology.
Dotzler discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that a computer system to perform operations comprising calculating an overall weight of the vehicle combination. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to additionally considering the weight of the tractor in order to improve driving safety.
Claim 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) in view of Lucrecio (U.S. 11,115,732).
Regarding claim 42, Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the communication module supports a communication protocol, wherein the communication protocol comprises one or more of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), WebSocket, Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) and Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP).
Lucrecio teaches the invention wherein the communication module supports a communication protocol, wherein the communication protocol comprises one or more of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), WebSocket, Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) and Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) (see column 5, lines 30-60). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to use the one of the communication protocol as taught by Lucrecio in order to provide better communication for improving safety.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 36-39 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 36, the closest prior art as to EP-2923864 and Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the safety zone comprises one or more of a stopping distance, a trailing distance, a turn radius, a maximum permissible height, a maximum permissible weight, and a lane change distance.
Regarding claim 37, the closest prior art as to EP-2923864 and Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the system considers one or more of the overall length, an overall width, the overall weight, and an attachment mode to determine one of a stopping distance, a lane changing distance, a turning radius, and a safe trailing distance.
Regarding claim 38, the closest prior art as to EP-2923864 and Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the system upon receiving a signal and data from the item that is attached, alerts a driver of contact zones on a route, due to one or more of the overall length, the overall height, an overall width, and the overall weight.
Regarding claim 39, the closest prior art as to EP-2923864 and Dotzler (U.S. 2018/0039266) discloses every element of the invention as discussed above except that the system provides a warning by highlighting a turn that would be difficult or not possible to make.
Conclusion
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/TOAN C TO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614 January 15, 2026