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 § 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.
Claims 1-3, 7, 8, 11-13, 15, 16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Farres et al. (US 2022/0250598).
In Re claims 1 and 7, Farres et al. disclose a vehicle (par. 0002), comprising: a park brake (4); a service brake (1); a controller (2, 20) configured to be able to receive a park brake request (see 7 and par. 0133+) in a mode when the vehicle is moving (service braking mode), and attempt to simultaneously apply both the parking and service brake; and a valve (see 8, 20, and 40) provides an anti-compounding function when sufficient pressure exists (pars. 0133-0137; figs. 6 and 7). The examiner notes that use of the service brakes in a normal driving condition (Farres et al disclose “rolling” in par. 0099) is understood the encompass applicant’s claimed threshold.
In Re claim 2, see pneumatic isolation valve (20).
In Re claims 3, 8, and 18, the braking operations are made by a driver (Abstract, par. 0099, 0106).
In Re claims 11-13, see Abstract and par. 0133 regarding a threshold pressure (Th_1).
In Re claim 15, see rejection of claims 1 and 7 above regarding the apparatus claims. Farres et al. further disclose that the vehicle can be a tractor/trailer vehicle (par. 0096).
In Re claim 16, the threshold pressure (Th_1) is interpreted to encompass applicant’s claimed “lack of response of the service brake”.
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 4, 5, 9, 10, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farres et al. (US 2022/0250598) as applied to claims 1, 7, and 15 above, and further in view of Hayes et al. (US 2025/0033616)).
In Re claims 4, 5, 9, 10, 17, and 19, Farres et al. fail to disclose the use of an automated driving module/system (ADM or ADS) to make automated external braking commands.
Hayes et al. disclose equipping a tractor/trailer type vehicle (par/. 0001) with an ADS (130) to externally provide braking operation requests based on sensed operation parameters (see par. 0017). An automated driving system in a tractor/trailer enables the vehicle to navigate and operate on highways with little to no human input, managing essential driving tasks like acceleration, braking, and steering to improve logistics efficiency and road safety. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the vehicle of Farres et al. to include an ADS, as taught by Hayes et al., to enable the vehicle to navigate and operate with little to no human input, improving operational efficiency and road safety.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6, 14, and 20 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.
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 THOMAS W IRVIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3095. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at 571-272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THOMAS W IRVIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
Prosecution Insights