DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
This action is in response to Applicant’s filing on May 12, 2026, and is made Final. This action is being examined by James H. Miller, who is in the eastern time zone (EST), and who can be reached by email at James.Miller1@uspto.gov or by telephone at (469) 295-9082.
Interviews
Interviews are “indispensable to advance the prosecution of a patent application.” MPEP § 713. Accordingly, the following Examiner’s guidance and suggested workflow maximizes this benefit to Applicant by: (1) avoiding back and forth telephone calls for scheduling, (2) permitting Examiner out-of-office notifications to the Applicant when emailing the agenda, and (3) permitting real-time document collaboration and screen sharing.
Interviews are available by telephone or, preferably, by video conferencing using the USPTO’s web-based collaboration platform. Applicants are strongly encouraged to schedule via the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) portal at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If an interview is needed more quickly than permitted by the AIR scheduling tool, note this in the AIR remarks for consideration. The Examiner routinely considers such urgent requests when practicable.
An agenda submitted when filing the AIR is strongly encouraged, because Examiners use agendas when determining whether to grant an interview. The AIR has character limits, so send the agenda contemporaneously to James.Miller1@uspto.gov and reference the AIR.
After-Final Interviews Requests are granted only at the Examiner’s discretion and only if disposal or clarification for appeal may be accomplished with only nominal further consideration. MPEP § 713.09. An advance agenda explaining how the interview advances prosecution—e.g., through targeted arguments, identified Examiner error, or proposed claim amendments—is strongly suggested.
For GRANTED requests, expect an email within two (2) business days confirming a date/time slot and collaboration tool access instructions. For DENIED requests, the record will include an explanation for the denial.
The examiner is generally available for interviews, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.
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 Status
The status of claims is as follows:
Claims 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 are now pending and examined with Claims 1, 10, and 19 in independent form.
No Claims are presently amended.
Claims 25 and 25 are presently added.
No Claims are presently cancelled.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's Amendment has been reviewed against Applicant’s Specification filed Aug. 16, 2023, [“Applicant’s Specification”] and accepted for examination.
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. § 103 Argument
Applicant argues prior art Enriquez Figs. 10 and 14 do not provide both an automatic display upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced location and a second automatic display upon detecting the vehicle at the parking location and “are actually just a single detection according to the references and therefore not indicative of the claimed features.” Applicant’s Reply at 10–11.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. First, Claim 1 does not require that two determinations be made by different sensors. Arguments must be commensurate with the claim’s scope. Second, the rejection did not rely on Fig. 10 for the “further detect” limitation. The welcome interface limitation was mapped to Enriquez, ¶ 121, where the vehicle’s current location is determined, a merchant is identified based on geo-fencing, and retrieved merchant information is displayed on the in-vehicle touchscreen. The “further detect” and “further display” were mapped to Enriquez, ¶¶ 114, 115, and the rejection further cited Fig. 9 and ¶¶ 105, 106, and 108 (fuel pumps within a gas station) for the same limitation. Non-Final Act. at 9–11. Enriquez ¶ 106 discloses that “[a]s vehicle 910 approaches the refueling station, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 910 coincides with or is near the location of the refueling station,” and ¶¶ 107,108 describe resulting automatic menu generation for the fuel station. The refueling station is the merchant location the vehicle recognized as having reached and the fuel pump is the discrete location within that location at which the vehicle stops, and the transaction is conducted. Enriquez expressly discloses a refueling station (Fig. 9), a drive-thru station (Fig. 10) and a parking facility (Fig. 11) as merchant locations containing access devices where the vehicle performs a transaction. The point of interest and the vehicle parking location are therefore not coextensive in Enriquez, contrary to Applicant’s assertion otherwise. Further, the rejection of Claim 23 maps exactly that relationship (i.e., a point of interest = gas station and vehicle parking location = fuel pump).
Examiner’s Statement of Eligibility Under 35 U.S.C. § 101
The claims are eligible under 35 USC § 101. Applicant’s Reply filed Aug. 1, 2025, at 18 (practical application discussion) are persuasive. Non-Final Act. at 4. The rejection of Claims 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 under § 101 was withdrawn in the Non-Final Office Action mailed Dec. 12, 2025 [“Non-Final Office Action”]. Id.
Independent Claims are directed to a statutory category, recite an abstract idea exception of certain methods of organizing human activity involving parking and payment information, but integrate the abstract idea exception into a practical application at Step 2A, Prong Two. Independent Claims recite an in-vehicle, location-based sequence in which one or more sensors are controlled “to determine a location of the vehicle and an operating state of the vehicle” and to “monitor and update the location of the vehicle and the operating state of the vehicle over time”; the system “detect[s] an entry of the vehicle into a predetermined geo-fenced location” comprising a point of interest; a display device is automatically controlled “to show a welcome interface upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced location”; the system further detects whether “the vehicle has moved to a predetermined specialized region within the geo-fenced location” and “is currently located” at that region, which comprises a vehicle parking location; and a display device is further automatically controlled to show information about the vehicle parking location and payment details upon detecting the vehicle at the parking location and at least partly process the payment details for the use of the vehicle parking location. These limitations, in combination, are indicative of practical application of the recited commercial exception. MPEP § 2106.05(e).
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 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enriquez et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2017/0127230) [“Enriquez”] in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2022/0005017) [“Lee”].
Regarding Claim 1, Enriquez discloses
A system mounted within a vehicle comprising: a processor of the vehicle; and a memory in communication with the processor, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to
(See at least ¶ 3, “an in-vehicle computing system may include a user interface, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may store a set of computer executable instructions including an in-vehicle access application that has a proximity mode of operation and a tolling mode of operation.” See also ¶¶ 51, 52)
control one or more sensors to determine a location of the vehicle and
(See at least ¶ 46, “vehicle 100 may include a positioning satellite receiver 170 such as a GPS receiver to receive satellite signals that can be demodulated and decoded to determine the location of vehicle 100.” See also, ¶ 58.)
an operating state of the vehicle, in which the vehicle operating state indicates at least whether the vehicle is stationary;
(See at least ¶ 59, “in-vehicle computing system 150 can determine that vehicle 100 is in a stopped position when the vehicle status signal indicates that a transmission mode of the vehicle is in park, and that vehicle 100 is moving when the vehicle status signal indicates that a transmission mode of the vehicle is in drive … in-vehicle computing system 150 can determine that vehicle 100 is in a stopped position when the vehicle status signal indicates that vehicle 100 has been motionless (e.g., zero or near-zero speed such as less than 5 mph, etc.) for over a threshold amount of time (e.g., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.).”
monitor and update the location of the vehicle and the operating state of the vehicle over time based on sensor data obtained by controlling the one or more sensors to determine the location of the vehicle and the operating state of the vehicle;
(See at least ¶ 20, “The in-vehicle computing system may monitor the state of the vehicle. Depending on the state of the vehicle, the in-vehicle access application can be activated into different modes of operation.” “Process 200 may begin at block 202 by receiving a vehicle status signal from a vehicle communication bus. The vehicle status signal may include vehicle information from the ECUs of the vehicle and/or information from various sensors of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle status signal may include information indicating the speed of the vehicle and/or the transmission mode that the vehicle is in.” ¶ 65. “At block 204, process 200 may determine, based on a first state of the vehicle status signal at a first point in time, that the vehicle is in a stopped position.” ¶ 66. “At block 208, process 200 may determine, based on a second state of the vehicle status signal at a second point in time, that the vehicle is moving or in motion.” ¶ 68. “When a vehicle is determined to be in a stopped position, a first mode of operation of the in-vehicle access application can be activated. When a vehicle is determined to be moving, a second mode of operation of the in-vehicle access application can be activated.” Abstract. Enriquez thus performs repeated, successive determinations of both locations and operating states at different [points in time and condition what the in-vehicle application presents on the results of those successive determinations. ¶¶ 20, 65, 66, 68.)
detect an entry of the vehicle into a predetermined geo-fenced location based on the sensor data, the predetermined geo-fenced location comprising a point of interest;
(See at least ¶ 60, “In some embodiments, geo-fencing (e.g., via use of GPS or beacons), visual awareness (e.g., using a camera of vehicle 100), and/or location of vehicle 100 can be used to detect a nearby access device.” “As vehicle 910 approaches the refueling station, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 910 coincides with or is near the location of the refueling station.” ¶ 106. “At block 1402, the current location of the vehicle is determined, for example, by a navigation subsystem of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a merchant at the location of or nearby the vehicle can be identified based on geo-fencing or location of the vehicle.” ¶ 121. “Navigation application 164 may also display nearby places of interests and/or nearby merchants on user interface 154.” The refueling station of ¶ 106 and the parking rea of ¶ 114 each correspond to the claimed geo-fenced location comprising a point of interest.)
automatically control a display device to show a welcome interface upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced location, thereby indicating the presence of the vehicle at the point of interest
(See at least Fig. 14 and associated text ¶ 121, “At block 1402, the current location of the vehicle is determined, for example, by a navigation subsystem of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a merchant at the location of or nearby the vehicle can be identified based on geo-fencing or location of the vehicle …At block 1404, merchant information associated with the merchant is retrieved.” “At block 1406, the in-vehicle access application may display the retrieved merchant information (e.g., merchant name, location, point-of-sale terminal information, goods and/or services and associated prices offered by the merchant, etc.) on a user interface of the in-vehicle computing system. For example, the in-vehicle access application may generate a graphical user interface with the merchant information, and display the merchant information on the touchscreen of the in-vehicle computing system to allow a user to choose which goods and/or services to purchase [welcome screen].” This display is generated automatically as a consequence of the location determination and merchant identification of Block 1402, without user request, and identifies the merchant at whose location the vehicle is present, indicating the presence of the vehicle at the point of interest. ¶ 121. “When vehicle 1110 arrives at the parking area, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 1110 coincides with or is nearby the location of the parking area.” ¶ 114. “Based on this information, the in-vehicle access application may generate a parking menu 1126 that can be displayed on the screen of the vehicle infosystem.” ¶ 115. See also ¶¶ 106, 107, 108 (automatic menu generation for a fuel station); ¶ 111 (automatic menu generation for a drive-thru restaurant)).
further detect whether the vehicle has moved to a predetermined specialized region [fuel pump, parking space] within the geo-fenced location [refueling station, parking area], and is currently located at the predetermined specialized region, the predetermined specialized region comprising a vehicle parking location of the point of interest [merchant];
(Enriquez discloses specialized regions within a larger merchant geo-fence location, namely, fuel pumps within a refueling station and parking spaces within a parking area. See at least Fig. 9 and associated text ¶¶ 105, 106, 108. “As vehicle 910 approaches the refueling station, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 910 coincides with or is near the location of the refueling station.” ¶ 106. The refueling station is the merchant location at which the vehicle is recognized as having arrives and an individual fuel pump is a discrete pump within that location the vehicle stops and the transaction is conducted. ¶¶ 105–108. The refueling pumps and the refueling station are not the same location. The refueling station contains multiple pumps and arrival at the station does not mean the vehicle is ant any particular pump. ¶¶ 20, 65, 66, 105–108. This is the same relationship relied on in the rejection of Claim 23. “When vehicle 1110 arrives at the parking area, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 1110 coincides with or is nearby the location of the parking area. Using the location of vehicle 1110, the in-vehicle access application may retrieve merchant information about the parking area … The merchant information may include, for example, the number of spaces in the parking area and the monetary amount per time unit to park in the parking area. [0115] Based on this information, the in-vehicle access application may generate a parking menu 1126 that can be displayed on the screen of the vehicle infosystem. For example, parking menu 1126 may allow the user to enter the parking space number and select the amount of time the user intends to park at this location. Once a user has entered the parking space number and the amount of time, the in-vehicle access application may request the user to select a transaction method (e.g., transaction account) to complete the transaction.” The parking area containing a plurality of numbered spaces, each separately identifiable and chargeable confirms that the parking area and the individual spaces are distinct locations. ¶¶ 114, 115; ¶¶ 110, 111, 112, Fig. 10 (drive-thru stations within restaurant).
further automatically control the display device to show information about the vehicle parking location and payment details upon detecting the vehicle at the parking location, based at least on detecting the vehicle is currently located at the vehicle parking location of the point of interest; and
(See at least ¶ 114, “When vehicle 1110 arrives at the parking area, the vehicle's navigation subsystem may recognize that the location of vehicle 1110 coincides with or is nearby the location of the parking area. Using the location of vehicle 1110, the in-vehicle access application may retrieve merchant information about the parking area.” “parking menu 1126 may allow the user to enter the parking space number and select the amount of time the user intends to park at this location. Once a user has entered the parking space number and the amount of time, the in-vehicle access application may request the user to select a transaction method (e.g., transaction account) to complete the transaction. In some embodiments, the in-vehicle access application may require additional verification via a consumer verification method (e.g., pin, password, biometric, etc.) to authenticate the transaction. Transact ion information including account credentials (e.g., PAN or token, transaction cryptogram, etc.) as well as location information can be transmitted to parking meter station 1120 to purchase parking credits for vehicle 1110.” ¶ 115. Parking menu 1126 displays information about the vehicle parking location (the number of spaces in the parking area and the monetary amount per unit of time to park) together with payment details and is generated automatically based on the determined location of the vehicle. ¶¶ 114, 115. Menu generations occurs when the vehicle stops at a fuel pump of the refueling station. ¶¶ 105–108. “When a vehicle is determined to be in a stopped position, a first mode of operation of the in-vehicle access application can be activated.” Abstract; see also ¶¶ 20, 65, 66. “The in-vehicle computing system can display the transaction amount and request authentication information (e.g., PIN, passcode, biometric data, etc.) from the user to complete the transaction.”) ¶ 117. “PIN entry menu 1226 may display the transaction amount and a keypad on a touch screen that a user can engage with to enter the user's PIN.” ¶ 118.)
through the screen of the display device of the vehicle, at least partly process the payment details for the use of the vehicle parking location,
(See at least ¶ 115, “Once a user has entered the parking space number and the amount of time, the in-vehicle access application may request the user to select a transaction method (e.g., transaction account) to complete the transaction … Transaction information including account credentials (e.g., PAN or token, transaction cryptogram, etc.) as well as location information can be transmitted to parking meter station 1120 to purchase parking credits for vehicle 1110.” See also, ¶¶ 112, 118, Figs. 11, 12, 13.)
thereby displaying the status of the parking use [PIN entry menu 11226] and, [… Lee, infra].
(Examiner interprets “displaying the status of the parking use” in view of the specification as displaying an “authorization screen”. Spec. ¶ 47.
See at least ¶ 117, “The in-vehicle computing system can display the transaction amount and request authentication information (e.g., PIN, passcode, biometric data, etc.) from the user to complete the transaction. Once the user has provided the authentication information requested by the consumer verification method, the in-vehicle access application can send account credentials to the access device to complete the transaction.” “[T]he in-vehicle access application may display a PIN entry menu 1226 on the user interface (e.g., touchscreen) of the in-vehicle computing system. PIN entry menu 1226 can be displayed after the user has placed an order with a merchant via the in-vehicle access application, or in response to receiving a transaction amount from an access device.” ¶ 118.)
Enriquez discloses displaying the status of the parking use and transaction completion. ¶ 117. Enriquez does not explicitly disclose upon completion of payment, details of the payment. Thus, Enrique does not disclose but Lee discloses:
thereby displaying … upon completion of payment, details of the payment.
(See at least ¶ 74, Interface 503 may display an amount spent, a discount amount, and an amount paid.” “When the received input result for payment indicates an instruction to make an in-vehicle payment, server 200 may perform an automatic payment for the fee to be paid based on automatic payment information registered in advance in relation to the user corresponding to the payment information and the vehicle plate number of the outgoing vehicle. Server 200 may transmit a notification of payment completion to vehicle access control system 140 and/or local server 130 when confirming the completion of automatic payment.” See also, Claim 15.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined displaying upon completion of payment, details of the payment, as explained in Lee, with the automatic location-based merchant interface display system of Enriquez, in the same field of in-vehicle payment invention, with the motivation to provide a compete in-vehicle payment experience to improve user convenience and encourage adoption of automated payment systems.
Regarding Claim 3, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1 and memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
Enriquez further discloses
wherein the memory further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: use an in-vehicle payment centralized server of the vehicle [in-vehicle computing system 150] to initiate a payment facilitator server [access device/remote server] that electronically collects payment under an authorized payment vendor [“transaction processing network”].
(See at least ¶ 50, “In-vehicle computing system 150 can be mounted in the center console, dashboard, rear console, or other locations in vehicle 100.” “In-vehicle access application 162 enables in-vehicle computing system 150 to interact with an access device. The access device can be nearby or in proximity to vehicle 100 or can be remote at some distance away from vehicle 100 (e.g., a remote server).” ¶ 54. “The in-vehicle access application may request the user to select a transaction method (e.g., transaction account) to complete the transaction. … Once the user has confirmed the transaction, transaction information including account credentials (e.g., PAN or token, transaction cryptogram, etc.) can be transmitted to the access device [remote server] … Upon receiving the transaction information, the access device may verify the user's account credentials and confirm the transaction.” ¶ 112. “A "transaction processing network" may include a network that can process and route transaction request messages. An exemplary transaction processing network may include data processing subsystems, networks, and operations used to support and deliver authorization services, exception file services, transaction scoring services, and clearing and settlement services.” ¶ 40; see also ¶ 55.)
Regarding Claim 6, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1 and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to monitor and update the operating state of the vehicle based on controlling the one or more sensors over time
Enriquez further discloses
wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to monitor and update the operating state of the vehicle based on controlling the one or more sensors over time to determine that a gear selector of the vehicle has been placed into park.
(See at least ¶ 59, “in-vehicle computing system 150 can determine that vehicle 100 is in a stopped position when the vehicle status signal indicates that a transmission mode of the vehicle is in park, and that vehicle 100 is moving when the vehicle status signal indicates that a transmission mode of the vehicle is in drive … in-vehicle computing system 150 can determine that vehicle 100 is in a stopped position when the vehicle status signal indicates that vehicle 100 has been motionless (e.g., zero or near-zero speed such as less than 5 mph, etc.) for over a threshold amount of time (e.g., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.).” See also, ¶¶ 66, 116 (parked).)
Regarding Claim 7, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1 and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to monitor and update the operating state of the vehicle based on controlling the one or more sensors over time
Enriquez further discloses
wherein instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to monitor and update the operating state of the vehicle based on controlling the one or more sensors over time to determine that that the vehicle is stationary.
(See at least ¶¶ 59, in-vehicle computing system 150 can determine that vehicle 100 is in a stopped position when the vehicle status signal indicates that vehicle 100 has been motionless (e.g., zero or near-zero speed such as less than 5 mph, etc.) for over a threshold amount of time (e.g., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.).” See also, ¶¶ 66, 116 (parked).)
Regarding Claim 10, Enriquez discloses
A method for operating a system within a vehicle, the method comprising steps of:
(See at least ¶ 4, Fig. 14 (method).
The remaining limitations of Claim 10 are not substantively different than those presented in Claim 1 and are therefore, rejected, mutatis mutandis, based on Enriquez and Lee for the same rationale presented in Claim 1 supra.
The resolution of the remaining Graham factual inquiries to support a conclusion of obviousness that a particular known technique was recognized as part of the ordinary skill in the pertinent art is substantively the same as that presented in Claim 1 supra, and is incorporated in its entirety herein, mutatis mutandis, to support the rejection of Claim 10.
Regarding Claim 12, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The method of claim 10
Enrique further discloses
further comprising initiating a call using an in-vehicle payment centralized server of the vehicle [“in-vehicle computing system 150”] to a backend service to authorize a transaction that sends an authorized payment token from the vehicle to a payment facilitator server that electronically collects payment under an authorized payment vendor.
(See at least ¶ 50, “In-vehicle computing system 150 can be mounted in the center console, dashboard, rear console, or other locations in vehicle 100.” “In-vehicle access application 162 enables in-vehicle computing system 150 to interact with an access device. The access device can be nearby or in proximity to vehicle 100 or can be remote at some distance away from vehicle 100 (e.g., a remote server).” ¶ 54. “The in-vehicle access application may request the user to select a transaction method (e.g., transaction account) to complete the transaction. … Once the user has confirmed the transaction, transaction information including account credentials (e.g., PAN or token, transaction cryptogram, etc.) can be transmitted to the access device [remote server] … Upon receiving the transaction information, the access device may verify the user's account credentials and confirm the transaction.” ¶ 112. “A "transaction processing network" may include a network that can process and route transaction request messages. An exemplary transaction processing network may include data processing subsystems, networks, and operations used to support and deliver authorization services, exception file services, transaction scoring services, and clearing and settlement services.” ¶ 40. “The account credentials may include account parameters such as an account identifier or a token associated with an account that can be used as a substitute for the account identifier.” ¶ 55; see also ¶¶ 31, 55.)
Regarding Claims 15 and 16, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The method of claim 10.
The remaining limitations of Claims 15 and 16 are not substantively different than those presented in Claims 6 and 7, respectively, and are therefore, rejected, mutatis mutandis, based on Enriquez and Lee for the same rationale presented in Claims 6 and 7, respectively, supra.
Regarding Claim 19, Enriquez discloses
A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor of a vehicle system, cause the processor to
(See at least ¶ 125)
The remaining limitations of Claim 19 are not substantively different than those presented in Claim 1 and are therefore, rejected, mutatis mutandis, based on Enriquez and Lee for the same rationale presented in Claim 1 supra.
The resolution of the remaining Graham factual inquiries to support a conclusion of obviousness that a particular known technique was recognized as part of the ordinary skill in the pertinent art is substantively the same as that presented in Claim 1 supra, and is incorporated in its entirety herein, mutatis mutandis, to support the rejection of Claim 19.
Regarding Claim 20, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19
The remaining limitations of Claim 20 is not substantively different than those presented in Claim 12 and is therefore, rejected, mutatis mutandis, based on Enriquez and Lee for the same rationale presented in Claim 12, supra.
Regarding Claim 21, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1 and instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to
Enriquez further discloses
wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to
detect, based at least on any of monitoring and updating the location, the entry of the vehicle into the predetermined geo-fenced location
(See at least ¶ 78, “When vehicle 410 establishes network connectivity, the in-vehicle access application of vehicle 410 may send the vehicle's location 472 to remote tolling server 450. Upon receiving location 472, remote tolling server 450 may use location information 474 of vehicle 410 to query a toll authority database 455 to obtain toll road information about toll roads within a geographic area of vehicle 410 (e.g., within a 5 mile radius, 10 mile radius, 20 mile radius, 50 mile radius, 100 mile radius, etc.).” See also, ¶¶ 46, 77, 106.
detect … by controlling transmission, from the vehicle, to an external server and
(See at least ¶ 49, “Vehicle 100 may also include a wireless communication subsystem 190 to enable network connectivity for vehicle 100. Wireless communication subsystem 190 may include one or more wireless transceivers that use WiFi, WiMax, or other types of wireless network communication protocols to connect vehicle 100 to an external network (e.g., the Internet) such that vehicle 100 can communicate with remote servers.” “When vehicle 410 establishes network connectivity, the in-vehicle access application of vehicle 410 may send the vehicle's location 472 to remote tolling server 450.” ¶ 78.)
to receive, from the external server, an indication whether the vehicle has entered into the predetermined geo-fenced location,
(See at least ¶ 82, “Upon determining that the registered transaction method of the user has sufficient funds to cover the toll amounts, remote tolling server 450 may then send the communication protocol information 484 to vehicle 410 to enable the in-vehicle access application of vehicle 410 to configure the vehicle's tunable transponder for the appropriate toll roads.” “Upon authorization, remote tolling server 450 may send a verification code to the in-vehicle access application of vehicle 410” ¶ 84. “Upon receiving location 472, remote tolling server 450 may use location information 474 of vehicle 410 to query a toll authority database 455 to obtain toll road information about toll roads within a geographic area of vehicle 410 (e.g., within a 5 mile radius, 10 mile radius, 20 mile radius, 50 mile radius, 100 mile radius, etc.).” ¶ 78; see also, Fig. 8.
the external server is external to the vehicle.
(See at least ¶ 78, “When vehicle 410 establishes network connectivity, the in-vehicle access application of vehicle 410 may send the vehicle's location 472 to remote tolling server 450.”)
Regarding Claim 23, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1 and he point of interest and the vehicle parking location
Enriquez further discloses
wherein the point of interest is at a gas station and the vehicle parking location is at a fuel pump.
(See at least Fig. 9, ¶¶ 105, 106, 107, 108.)
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enriquez and Lee and further in view of Macfarlane et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2011/0072368) [“Macfarlane”].
Regarding Claim 22, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1
Enriquez discloses automatically controlling, based on detecting entry of the vehicle into the predetermined geo-fenced location, the display device of the vehicle to show the welcome interface … by the display device. Enriquez does not disclose “show the welcome interface overlapped over a display of a map.” Thus, Enriquez does not disclose but Macfarlane discloses:
the display device … to show [markup language content] overlapped over a display of a map by the display device
(See at least Abstract, “overlaying the markup language content received by the markup language renderer on the map data output by the map display program”. See also, Claims 1, 5.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined to showing markup language content (welcome screen) overlapped over a display of a map by the display device, as explained in Macfarlane, with the known in-vehicle payment and merchant interface system of Enriquez, in the same field of in-vehicle payment invention, with the motivation to provide a unified infotainment interface to improve user experience and convenience by reducing interface switching and enhance map data in a personal navigation device. Macfarlane, ¶¶ 2, 3.
Claims 24 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enriquez and Lee and further in view of Shah (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2019/0122447) [“Shah”].
Regarding Claim 24, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1
Enriquez discloses determining the current location of the vehicle, identifying a merchant based on geo-fencing or vehicle location, retrieving merchant information, and displaying merchant information on the in-vehicle user interface. Enriquez, ¶ 121. Enriquez discloses the welcome interface. See Claim 1 mapping supra. Enriquez discloses that when the vehicle arrives at a parking area, for example, the navigation subsystem recognizes the vehicle’s location at or near the parking area, retrieves parking information, and generates a parking menu on the vehicle display. Enriquez, ¶¶ 114, 115 (cited supra). Enriquez discloses a parking/payment interface and transaction processing through the in-vehicle system. Enriquez, ¶¶ 115, 117, 118 (cited supra). Thus, Enriquez does not disclose but Shah discloses:
wherein further detecting whether the vehicle has moved to the predetermined specialized region within the geo-fenced location and is currently located at the predetermined specialized region
(See at least Shah, ¶ 74, “At operation 802, the server system 102 receives geo-location information corresponding to a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 106) at predefined intervals. In some cases, the pre-defined intervals may be very low so that the geolocation information can be received on a continuous basis. Accordingly, the geo-location information of the vehicle may be near real time information of the exact position of the vehicle.” Shah, ¶ 75, “At operation 804, the server system 102 determines if the vehicle is utilizing a service at a service location based on the geo-location information of the vehicle received at predefined time intervals. The server system 102 checks if the geo-location of the vehicle corresponds to a service location, where the service location is at least one of a parking lot, a toll road or a HOV lane. Based on the information, the server system 102 further determines if the vehicle has been parked at the parking lot or if the vehicle has taken the toll road or the HOV lane.” Claim 2, “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the service is a vehicle parking service and the service location is a parking lot comprising a plurality of parking slots.” Claim 3, “The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: determining, by the server system, if a geo-location of the vehicle corresponds to a geo-location of a parking slot from among the a plurality of parking slots; and determining, by the server system, a position of the vehicle, arrival time of the vehicle in the parking slot and the departure time of the vehicle from the parking slot, wherein the fee for utilizing the parking slot is determined based on the position, the arrival time, the departure time and a set of parking rules and tariff associated with the parking slot.” Claim 10 (specialized region), “The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: provisioning, by the server system, a digital platform to the service provider to create a virtual parking zone for each parking slot in a parking lot, wherein each virtual parking zone is associated with at least one: a geo-fence associated with respective set of parking rules and tariff, and a QR code, and wherein each of the geo-fence and the QR code is configured to facilitate tracking of the usage of the respective parking slot.” Shah, ¶ 49, “The motion detector 218 is configured to determine whether the vehicle is in motion or is at rest. For example, upon determining the geo-location of the vehicle and determining that the geo-location corresponds to a service location (e.g., a parking lot), if the motion detector 218 suggests that the vehicle is at rest for a pre-determined time period, the server system 102 may determine that the vehicle is parked at a parking slot within the parking lot.”)
is implemented at a time that is both: after automatically controlling the display device to show the welcome interface upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced location, thereby indicating the presence of the vehicle at the point of interest, and
(Shah discloses determining that the vehicle is parked at a particular parking slot within a parking lot based on geo-location and vehicle at rest information. Shah. ¶ 49, Claims 3, 10. Enrique discloses automatically controlling the vehicle display to show the welcome interface upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced merchant location. See Claim 1 mapping; Enriquez, ¶ 121. The resulting Enriquez-Shah combination would be configured such that, after Enriquez welcome interface is displayed upon entry into the broader merchant geo-fenced location, the system continues to monitor vehicle location information and performs the Shah parking slot determination when the vehicle reaches and is parked within that location (such as at a particular fuel pump). Enriquez further discloses displaying a parking menu containing parking and payment information. Enriquez ¶¶ 114, 115. Shah discloses calculating a parking fee and communicating a bill to the in-vehicle interface when the vehicle is determined to be utilizing the parking service at the service location. Shah, ¶¶ 76, 77. In the combination, the Shah parking slot determination is performed before the Enriquez parking/payment interface is displayed because Shah’s automatically determined parking slot identity would be supplied to Enriquez’s parking menu and payment system in place of Enriquez’s user entered parking space number (Enriquez, ¶ 115). Thus, the Shah specialized region determination is performed at a time that is both after the Enriquez welcome interface display and before the Enriquez parking/payment interface display.
before further automatically controlling the display device to show the information about the vehicle parking location and the payment details upon detecting the vehicle at the parking location, based at least on detecting the vehicle is currently located at the vehicle parking location of the point of interest.
(See at least Shah, ¶ 76, “At operation 806 the server system 102 calculates a fee associated with the service if the vehicle is determined to be utilizing the service at the service location. For instance, the server system 102 determines a parking duration and the distance travelled on a toll road (or on the HOV lane) and based on that, a fee associated with one or more of a parking service and a toll road use service ( or the HOV lane service) is determined. The server system 102 communicates the bill indicating the fee to the operator at the IVD 110.” Shah, ¶ 77, “At operation 808 the server system 102 facilitates a payment of the fee from a payment account linked with the vehicle. For facilitating payment transactions, the server system 102 may receive authorization from an owner, an operator or a driver of the vehicle through the display unit 216.” Shah, ¶ 30, “The server system generates a bill for the service utilized by the vehicle, and the bill is displayed at a display interface linked with the IVD present in the vehicle.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Enriquez location based in vehicle merchant and parking payment system with Shah’s automated parking slot determination technique with the motivation to provide a first location based interface when the vehicle reaches the broader merchant location, followed by a second location based determination when the vehicle reaches and parks at the individual service location. The modification would replace Enriquez’s manual parking space number entry (Enriquez, ¶ 115) and reduce the risks of input error, and associating the payment transaction with the automatically determined parking space or fuel service location. TA person of ordinary skill would have reasonable expectation of success because both Enriquez and Shah use vehicle location information and in-vehicle interfaces in connection with parking related payment functions. This is a predictable use of Shah’s known automated location determination technique to improve Enriquez’s similar in-vehicle payment system.
Regarding Claim 25, Enriquez and Lee disclose:
The system of claim 1
Enriquez and Lee disclose:
wherein further automatically controlling the display device to show the information about the vehicle parking location and the payment details upon detecting the vehicle at the parking location, based at least on detecting the vehicle is currently located at the vehicle parking location of the point of interest, comprises:
(See Claim 1 mapping supra. Alternatively, See Shah, Claim 24 mapping supra.)
[…]
detecting the entry of the vehicle into the predetermined geo-fenced location based on the sensor data, the predetermined geo-fenced location comprising the point of interest, and
(See at least Claim 1 mapping supra.)
automatically controlling the display device to show the welcome interface upon detecting entry into the geo-fenced location, thereby indicating the presence of the vehicle at the point of interest.
(See at least Claim 1 mapping supra)
Enriquez does not expressly disclose but Shah discloses:
detecting that the vehicle has entered the specialized region and has parked
(See at least Shah, ¶ 49, “The motion detector 218 is configured to determine whether the vehicle is in motion or is at rest. For example, upon determining the geo-location of the vehicle and determining that the geo-location corresponds to a service location (e.g., a parking lot), if the motion detector 218 suggests that the vehicle is at rest for a pre-determined time period, the server system 102 may determine that the vehicle is parked at a parking slot within the parking lot.” Claim 3, “The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: determining, by the server system, if a geo-location of the vehicle corresponds to a geo-location of a parking slot from among the a plurality of parking slots; and determining, by the server system, a position of the vehicle, arrival time of the vehicle in the parking slot and the departure time of the vehicle from the parking slot, wherein the fee for utilizing the parking slot is determined based on the position, the arrival time, the departure time and a set of parking rules and tariff associated with the parking slot.” Claim 10 (specialized region), “The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: provisioning, by the server system, a digital platform to the service provider to create a virtual parking zone for each parking slot in a parking lot, wherein each virtual parking zone is associated with at least one: a geo-fence associated with respective set of parking rules and tariff, and a QR code, and wherein each of the geo-fence and the QR code is configured to facilitate tracking of the usage of the respective parking slot.”
at a time that is after both of:
The Claim 24 rationale is incorporated by reference for the timing limitation. In the Enriquez-Lee-Shah combination, after detecting entry into the broader merchant geo-fence location and displaying the welcome interface, the system continues location monitoring and determines that the vehicle has reached Shah’s individual parking slot within the broader merchant location and has parked according to Shah’s vehicle at rest determination. Shah, Claims 3, 10, Spec. ¶ 49. Thus, the entered and parked detection occurs after both the broader geo-fenced entry detection and the welcome interface display.
The modified system uses the Enriquez parking area detection and Shah individual parking slot geo-location and arrival determination, together with Shah’s parked vehicle determination, as the condition for automictically controlling the display to show parking location and payment information Enriquez, ¶¶ 114, 115; Shah, ¶ 49, Claims 3, 10.
The resolution of the remaining Graham factual inquiries to support a conclusion of obviousness that a particular known technique was recognized as part of the ordinary skill in the pertinent art is substantively the same as that presented in Claim 24 supra, and is incorporated in its entirety herein, mutatis mutandis, to support the rejection of Claim 25. Specifically, for the reasons set forth in Claim 24, a person or ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to replace Enrique’s manual parking space number entry with Shah’s automatic individual slot and parked vehicle determination with a reasonable expectation of success. The modification would reduce the risk of manual entry error and associate the parking transaction with the parking slot actually occupied by the vehicle.
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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/JAMES H MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3694
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