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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 04, 2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejections.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s claims filed on December 04, 2025 have been entered. Claims 1-5, 7, 9-15, 17, and 19-24 are still pending in this application with claims 1 and 11 being independent.
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 1-4, 7, 10-14, 17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aarts et al. (US Pub 2019/0357834) in view of Fields et al. (US Pub 2015/0254955) and in further view of Comploi, Dumene (US Pub 2017/0157521).
Regarding claim 1, Aarts discloses a method of optimizing a state of a rider of a vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving data from a wearable sensor worn by the rider of the vehicle, wherein the data is indicative of an emotional state of the rider (para 0024 – “monitoring may be performed by one or more sensors embedded within (or attached externally) to structures of the vehicle, in wearable(s) attached to the occupants, in mobile devices of the occupants, or any combination thereof”; para 0029, 0035, 0039, 0045);
Aarts does not disclose comparing the data received from the set of wearable sensor to stored wearable sensor data in which quantitative patterns present in the stored wearable sensor data are labelled as emotional states; determining a pattern of the emotional state of the rider based on the data received from the set of wearable sensors and the comparison to the stored wearable sensor data; detecting whether the emotional state of the rider is a favorable state; and adjusting an operational parameter of the vehicle in real time in response to detecting the favorable emotional state of the rider, wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle is based on maintaining the favorable emotional state.
Field discloses comparing the data received from the wearable sensor to stored wearable sensor data in which quantitative patterns present in the stored wearable sensor data are labelled as emotional states (para 0043-0047);
determining a pattern of the emotional state of the rider based on the data received from the wearable sensor and the comparison to the stored wearable sensor data (para 0046);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts with the teachings of Fields in order to select a stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator when the vehicle operator is determined to be in an emotionally impaired state (Fields, see abstract).
Aarts in view of Field does not explicitly detecting whether the emotional state of the rider is a favorable state; and adjusting an operational parameter of the vehicle in real time in response to detecting the favorable emotional state of the rider, wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle is based on maintaining the favorable emotional state.
Comploi discloses detecting whether the emotional state of the rider is a favorable state (para 0066-0067); and adjusting an operational parameter of the vehicle in real time in response to detecting the favorable emotional state of the rider, wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle is based on maintaining the favorable emotional state (para 0066-0067 – “step 560 involves operating the vehicle based on the occupant's state determined in step 550, and this may involve using the drive and navigation system to continue “as is” if the state is within a desired state range”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts in view of Fields with the teachings of Comploi in order to determine if the passenger is happy and this is the desired state, and the control signals would continue in the present mode (Comploi, see 0067).
Regarding claim 2, Fields discloses wherein detecting the emotional state of the rider comprises:
receiving a first set of emotional state indicative wearable sensor data that is captured prior to the adjusting; and receiving a second set of emotional state indicative wearable sensor data that is captured during the adjusting (para 0040 –“ continues to monitor the emotional state until the trip is complete (block 316), but other embodiments may continue monitoring for an extended period or may terminate monitoring prior to the completion of the trip under certain circumstances”, 0062-0063).
Regarding claim 3, see rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 4, Fields discloses wherein the detecting the emotional state of the rider includes detecting the emotional state of the rider as: an unfavorable state (see abstract – “emotionally impaired state”), or the favorable emotional state (para 0046).
Regarding claim 7, Fields discloses wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle further includes adjusting at least one of: a route of the vehicle, an in-vehicle audio content (para 0039, 0052), a speed of the vehicle, an acceleration of the vehicle, a deceleration of the vehicle, a first proximity to objects along the route, or a second proximity to objects along the route.
Regarding claim 10, Fields discloses wherein the training data set is sourced from at least one of: a stream of data from unstructured data sources, social media sources, wearable devices, in-vehicle sensors, a ride helmet, a rider headgear, or a rider voice system (para 0055).
Regarding claim 11, see rejection of claim 1. Aart discloses physiological condition of rider (para 0010, 0035) and neural network in taught by Fields in para 0047, 0049, 0051.
Regarding claim 12, see rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 13, see rejection of claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, see rejection of claim 4.
Regarding claim 17, see rejection of claim 7.
Regarding claim 19, see rejection of claim 9.
Regarding claim 20, see rejection of claim 10.
Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aarts et al. (US Pub 2019/0357834) in view of Fields et al. (US Pub 2015/0254955) and in view of Comploi, Dumene (US Pub 2017/0157521) and in further view of Ganguli et al. (US Pub 2019/0187705).
Regarding claim 5, Aarts discloses a method of optimizing a state of a rider of a vehicle (see abstract).
Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi does not disclose wherein adjusting the operational parameter includes adjusting a powertrain of the vehicle.
Ganguli discloses wherein adjusting the operational parameter includes adjusting a powertrain of the vehicle (para 0123).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi with the teachings of Ganguli in order to estimate an emotional state which may be used in evaluating the severity of the reaction that the passenger exhibits in response to the current vehicle motion and may be used to guide whether and/or how to adjust the motion planning (Ganguli, see 0123).
Regarding claim 15, see rejection of claim 5.
Claims 9 and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aarts et al. (US Pub 2019/0357834) in view of Fields et al. (US Pub 2015/0254955) and in view of Comploi, Dumene (US Pub 2017/0157521) and in further view of Taylor, Thomas Steven (US Pub 2018/0174457).
Regarding claim 9, Aarts discloses a method of optimizing a state of a rider of a vehicle (see abstract).
Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi does not disclose wherein comparing the data received from the set of wearable sensors to the stored wearable sensor data includes classifying patterns of emotional state indicative wearable sensor data and associating the emotional state indicative wearable sensor data to emotional states and changes thereto from a training data set.
Taylor discloses wherein comparing the data received from the set of wearable sensors to the stored wearable sensor data includes classifying patterns of emotional state indicative wearable sensor data and associating the emotional state indicative wearable sensor data to emotional states and changes thereto from a training data set (para 008, 0016, 0019, 0044, 0048).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi with the teachings of Taylor in order to soften the vehicle suspension to mitigate the elevated emotional state of the driver (Taylor, see 0003).
Regarding claim 21, Aarts discloses a method of optimizing a state of a rider of a vehicle (see abstract).
Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi does not disclose wherein the receiving the data from the set of wearable sensors comprises receiving data from at least two of: a ring, a finger ring, a thumb ring, or a toe ring, a wrist band, an ankle band, a skin patch, foot wear, or a glove.
Taylor discloses wherein the receiving the data from the set of wearable sensors comprises receiving data from at least two of: a ring, a finger ring, a thumb ring, or a toe ring, a wrist band, an ankle band, a skin patch, foot wear, or a glove (para 0048 - Sensors that generate human behavior/characteristic information may be part of wearable devices that the driver wears, such as a wrist-worn device, a head-worn device, a garment, a ring, shoes, etc; para 0016, 0019, 0022, 0044).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi with the teachings of Taylor in order to soften the vehicle suspension to mitigate the elevated emotional state of the driver (Taylor, see 0003).
Regarding claim 22, Aarts discloses a method of optimizing a state of a rider of a vehicle (see abstract).
Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi does not disclose wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle includes adjusting a suspension system of the vehicle.
Taylor discloses wherein adjusting the operational parameter of the vehicle includes adjusting a suspension system of the vehicle (para 0003).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aarts in view of Fields and Comploi with the teachings of Taylor in order to soften the vehicle suspension to mitigate the elevated emotional state of the driver (Taylor, see 0003).
Regarding claim 23, see rejection of claim 21.
Regarding claim 24, see rejection of claim 22.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAFIZ E HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-1811. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/NAFIZ E HOQUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693