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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) filed on 01/13/2025 has been acknowledged
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202110303026, filed on 03/22/2021.
Status of Application
Claims 1-5, 9-15, 19-23, and 25-27 are pending.
Claims 1, 11, and 19 are the independent claims.
This Final Office Action is in response to the “Amendments and Remarks” received on 05/12/2026.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9-15, 19-23 and 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20210046941-A1 to Visintainer et al (“Visintainer”) in view of US-20180061230-A1 to Madigan et al (“Madigan”), further in view of US-20210302195-A1 (“Miura”).
Regarding claim 1, Visintainer teaches an apparatus (Visintainer Fig. 2) comprising:
obtain historical information and real-time status information of a road (Visintainer Fig. 2 and [0037] “specific and temporary road events” and [0040] “number of lanes”);
process and analyze the historical information and the real-time status information to obtain a time attribute of a map element, wherein the map element comprises a node-level map element, a road-level map element, or a lane-level map element (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity” and [0039] “time of change of the following traffic light phases”)
generate, based on the historical information and the real-time status information, a first map message comprising map element information describing the map element and comprising the time attribute, wherein the map element information comprises node-level map element information, road-level map element information, or lane-level map element information change (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity.” and [0040] “message to provide motor-vehicles with geographical information concerning the road. The message can describe the topology of road intersections or of specific road segments: geographical coordinates of the road segment or intersection, number of lanes, motor-vehicles allowed to use them, allowed driving direction. The message also contains geographical information describing the area of validity, which is what happens in case the extension of a restricted traffic area must be described.”);
send the first map message (Visintainer [0030] “Basic Safety Messages are safety messages transmitted by motor-vehicles to Nearby Motor-Vehicles”); and
send a second map message at a moment and in response to a change of the map element, wherein the second map message comprises a changed version of the map element information or the time attribute, and wherein the moment is based on when the changed version changed (Visintainer [0032] “The transmission of Basic Safety Messages takes place according to two criteria: either periodically (Periodic Basic Safety Message Broadcast), every 100 ms, or upon occurrence of an event (Event-Driven Basic Safety Message Broadcast)” and [0073] “Indeed, whereas for the road events, elements, and signs some dozens of messages per second may be expected, for the Remote Motor-Vehicles one or two orders of magnitude may be expected (100 or even 1000 communicating motor-vehicles), depending on how heavy the traffic is.”).
Visintainer does not teach that the apparatus is a roadside unit (RSU) comprising at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the RSU to:
obtain historical information and real-time status information of a road from a sensing device,
send the first map message towards a vehicle that is separate from the RSU in order to prompt the vehicle to plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute and to guide the vehicle based on the navigation route; and
sending a second map message towards the vehicle, at a moment.
Visintainer also does not explicitly state to process and analyze the historical information and the real-time status information to obtain a time attribute of a map element, wherein when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a element information.
However, Madigan teaches (underlined is what Visintainer doesn’t teach) a roadside unit (RSU) comprising (Madigan Fig. 1 ref 150):
at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the RSU to (Madigan [0031]):
obtain historical information and real-time status information of a road from a sensing device (Madigan [0054] “The event data source 145 may also generate and/or store information for unplanned or other ad hoc events. For example, the event data source 145 may generate or store data for a car crash that occurred at an intersection or other segment of road, which may have been detected using one or more of the sensors 118, 119, 132, or 122 described above. The event data source 145 may generate or store data indicating a large number of pedestrians at, for example, an intersection. The large number of pedestrians may be detected using, for example, signals from the pedestrian's mobile devices 130, traffic cameras 120C at the intersection, audio sensors at the intersection, or any other sensors described herein. The event data source 145 may generate or store other types of events, such as an AMBER alert or other wireless emergency alert information (e.g., information describing the child, the last known location, the time, etc.).”);
process and analyze the historical information and the real-time status information to obtain a time attribute of a map element (Madigan Fig. 3B), wherein
when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information (Madigan [0053] – [0054] “The system 100 may comprise one or more event data sources 145. The event data source 145 may store event information for a building 125, as described above. The event data source 145 may generally store event information from one or more calendars (e.g., electronic calendars), such as the event's start time, end time, duration, location” and [0088] “For example, the computing device may determine that the traffic device switched from a red light to a green light. In step 340, the computing device may also determine a time that the status of the traffic device changes (e.g., one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light).”), and
wherein the map element comprises a node-level map element, a road-level map element, or a lane-level map element (Madigan [0054] – [0055] and [0088] “traffic signals”);
generate, based on the historical information and the real-time status information, a first map message comprising map element information describing the map element and comprising the time attribute, wherein the map element information comprises node-level map element information, road-level map element information, or lane-level map element information change (Madigan [0053] – [0054] “The system 100 may comprise one or more event data sources 145. The event data source 145 may store event information for a building 125, as described above. The event data source 145 may generally store event information from one or more calendars (e.g., electronic calendars), such as the event's start time, end time, duration, location” and [0088] “For example, the computing device may determine that the traffic device switched from a red light to a green light. In step 340, the computing device may also determine a time that the status of the traffic device changes (e.g., one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light).”);
send the first map message towards a vehicle that is separate from the RSU in order (Madigan Fig. 1 ref 150 and[0051] “traffic device 120A may also comprise a transceiver 124 for transmitting and receiving data” and [0088] “a traffic device, which may comprise one or more traffic signals, may transmit, via its transceiver and to a vehicle and infrastructure computing device, information indicative of a status of the one or more traffic signals” and [0079] “A computing device, such as the vehicle and infrastructure control server 150, may contact (e.g., call, broadcast, or otherwise communicate) a broadcast or emergency receiver 185 in response to receiving sensor or other data.”) to prompt the vehicle to plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute and to guide the vehicle (Madigan [0104] – [0105]) based on the navigation route (Madigan [0099] – [0107] “may generate one or more recommended driving routes (e.g., navigation routes) in response to receiving sensor or other data. For example, the computing device may generate navigation routes based on intersection risk scores, risk scores for one or more other segments of road, and/or insurance cost data…. Intersection route risk scores may be based on one or more static factors and/or one or more dynamic factors. Static factors may include, for example, past accident information and the like. Dynamic factors may include, for example, information regarding the risk level of other vehicles on the road, the time of day, the current weather, etc. If there is an accident at an intersection, the risk score of the intersection may increase. In some instances, the risk score may increase significantly over a short period of time, such as if the accident at the intersection has not cleared.”); and
send a second map message towards the vehicle at a moment (Madigan Fig. 1 ref 150 and [0079]-[0081] “A computing device, such as the vehicle and infrastructure control server 150, may contact (e.g., call, broadcast, or otherwise communicate) a broadcast or emergency receiver 185 in response to receiving sensor or other data.”) and in response to a change of the map element, wherein the second map message comprises a changed version of the map element information or the time attribute, and wherein the moment is based on when the changed version changed (Madigan [0081] “The vehicle and infrastructure control server 150, the traffic device 120, and/or the vehicle 110, may communicate with vehicles, such as sending instructions or other data, in response to receiving sensor or other data. For example, the computing device and/or intersection infrastructure may broadcast the status of the intersection (e.g., the color of the light, an anomaly at the intersection, such as an accident, etc.) to nearby vehicles. “[0107] “Dynamic factors may include, for example, information regarding the risk level of other vehicles on the road, the time of day, the current weather, etc. If there is an accident at an intersection, the risk score of the intersection may increase. In some instances, the risk score may increase significantly over a short period of time, such as if the accident at the intersection has not cleared”).
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 apparatus of Visintainer to incorporate the teachings of Madigan such that the apparatus is a roadside unit (RSU) that contains at least one memory, configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the RSU:
to process and analyze the historical information and the real-time status information to obtain a time attribute of a map element, wherein when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information, and
send the first map message towards a vehicle that is separate from the RSU in order to prompt the vehicle to plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute and to guide the vehicle based on the navigation route.
Send a second map message towards the vehicle at a moment.
Doing so would ensure that the system can inform individuals to avoid unsafe road conditions and to generate driving routes in response to data (Madigan [0002] and [0099]).
Visintainer as modified by Madigan does not teach that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change. However, Miura teaches that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change (Miura Abstract “a first storage unit configured to store a local map data set created or updated at a first time; a map information acquisition unit configured to acquire at least a part of a distribution map data set from a map data distribution system via a wireless communication network; a second storage unit configured to associate and store (i) data that is acquired by the map information acquisition unit, from among data constituting a first distribution map data set created or updated at a second time, and (ii) information indicating a first acquisition time when the data is acquired, or information indicating the second time; and a second determination unit configured to determine whether the map data distribution system has stored a second distribution map data set created or updated at a third time.” and [0289]-[0290]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to further incorporate the teachings of Miura to Visintainer as modified by Madigan such that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change. Doing so would ensure that map information is up to date (Miura [0290]).
Regarding claim 2, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Madigan further discloses that when the time attribute indicates a valid period of the map element information, the time attribute comprises a confidence of the valid period, a valid start time of the map element information, a valid end time of the map element information, or a valid duration of the map element information (Madigan [0053] – [0054] “The system 100 may comprise one or more event data sources 145. The event data source 145 may store event information for a building 125, as described above. The event data source 145 may generally store event information from one or more calendars (e.g., electronic calendars), such as the event's start time, end time, duration, location” and [0088] “For example, the computing device may determine that the traffic device switched from a red light to a green light. In step 340, the computing device may also determine a time that the status of the traffic device changes (e.g., one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to further incorporate the teachings of Madigan to Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura such that when the time attribute indicates a valid period of the map element information, the time attribute comprises a confidence of the valid period, a valid start time of the map element information, a valid end time of the map element information, or a valid duration of the map element information. Doing so would ensure that the system can inform individuals to avoid unsafe road conditions and to generate driving routes in response to data (Madigan [0002] and [0099]).
Regarding claim 3, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 2. Visintainer further discloses that the valid duration is based on a timestamp indicated by a MinuteOftheYear field in the first map message (Visintainer [0037] & [0039]).
Regarding claim 4, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 2. Visintainer further discloses that the time attribute is null when the map element information is permanently valid (Visintainer [0040] discusses permanent road conditions and does not include time).
Regarding claim 5, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Visintainer further discloses that when the time attribute indicates that, within each time period of a plurality of time periods, the map element information corresponding to the time period remains unchanged, the time attribute further indicates a confidence of each of the time periods or two groups of the map element information respectively corresponding to two adjacent time periods in the time periods are different (Visintainer [0045], [0096], [0098], and [0100] history implies that the information being used is unchanged).
Regarding claim 9, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Visintainer further discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the RSU to further send the first map message in a broadcast mode, a multicast mode, or a unicast mode (Visintainer [0031] & [0032]).
Regarding claim 10, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Visintainer further discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the RSU to further send the first map message by periodically sending the first map message or to further send the second map message by periodically sending the second map message (Visintainer [0032] & [0072]).
Regarding claim 11, Visintainer teaches an apparatus in a vehicle and comprising (Visintainer Fig. 1-2):
receive a first map message (Visintainer Abstract “The advanced driver assistance system is further configured to receive V2V messages transmitted by V2V communications systems of Remote Motor-Vehicles”) comprising map element information describing a map element and comprising a time attribute of the map element information (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity” and [0039] “time of change of the following traffic light phases”),
wherein the map element information comprises node-level map element information, road-level map element information, or lane-level map element information (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity” and [0039] “time of change of the following traffic light phases”),
wherein the map element comprises a node-level map element, a road-level map element, or a lane-level map element (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity” and [0039] “time of change of the following traffic light phases”),
wherein the time attribute is based on historical information and real-time status information of a road (Visintainer Fig. 2 and [0037] “specific and temporary road events” and [0040] “number of lanes”), and
obtain the map element information and the time attribute from the first map message (Visintainer [0037] “message to warn motor-vehicles of specific and temporary road events, such as, for example, presence of ice on the road, presence of emergency vehicles, i.e., ambulances, presence of men at work on the road. The message indicates the type of event with the respective reference position and the corresponding time validity” and [0039] “time of change of the following traffic light phases”); and
receive a second map message at a moment and in response to a change of the map element, wherein the second map message comprises a changed version of the map element information or the time attribute, and wherein the moment is based on when the changed version changed Visintainer [0032] “The transmission of Basic Safety Messages takes place according to two criteria: either periodically (Periodic Basic Safety Message Broadcast), every 100 ms, or upon occurrence of an event (Event-Driven Basic Safety Message Broadcast)” and [0073] “Indeed, whereas for the road events, elements, and signs some dozens of messages per second may be expected, for the Remote Motor-Vehicles one or two orders of magnitude may be expected (100 or even 1000 communicating motor-vehicles), depending on how heavy the traffic is.”).
Visintainer does not explicitly teach at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:
receive a first and second map message originating from a roadside unit (RSU) that is separate from the vehicle.
plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute; and guide the vehicle based on the navigation route
wherein the time attribute is based on historical information and real-time status information of a road from a sensing device
Visintainer also does not explicitly state receive a first map message comprising map element information describing a map element and comprising a time attribute of the map element information, wherein when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information.
However, Madigan teaches (underlined is what Visintainer doesn’t teach) an apparatus comprising (Madigan Fig. 1):
at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to (Madigan [0031]):
receive map messages originating from a roadside unit (RSU) that is separate from the vehicle (Madigan Fig. 1 ref 150 and[0051] “traffic device 120A may also comprise a transceiver 124 for transmitting and receiving data” and [0088] “a traffic device, which may comprise one or more traffic signals, may transmit, via its transceiver and to a vehicle and infrastructure computing device, information indicative of a status of the one or more traffic signals” and [0079] “A computing device, such as the vehicle and infrastructure control server 150, may contact (e.g., call, broadcast, or otherwise communicate) a broadcast or emergency receiver 185 in response to receiving sensor or other data.”).
receive (Madigan Fig. 1) a first map message comprising map element information describing a map element and comprising a time attribute of the map element information (Madigan Fig. 3B and [0054] – [0055] and [0088] “traffic signals”),
wherein the time attribute is based on historical information and real-time status information of a road from a sensing device (Madigan [0054] “The event data source 145 may also generate and/or store information for unplanned or other ad hoc events. For example, the event data source 145 may generate or store data for a car crash that occurred at an intersection or other segment of road, which may have been detected using one or more of the sensors 118, 119, 132, or 122 described above. The event data source 145 may generate or store data indicating a large number of pedestrians at, for example, an intersection. The large number of pedestrians may be detected using, for example, signals from the pedestrian's mobile devices 130, traffic cameras 120C at the intersection, audio sensors at the intersection, or any other sensors described herein. The event data source 145 may generate or store other types of events, such as an AMBER alert or other wireless emergency alert information (e.g., information describing the child, the last known location, the time, etc.).”);
wherein when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information (Madigan [0053] – [0054] “The system 100 may comprise one or more event data sources 145. The event data source 145 may store event information for a building 125, as described above. The event data source 145 may generally store event information from one or more calendars (e.g., electronic calendars), such as the event's start time, end time, duration, location” and [0088] “For example, the computing device may determine that the traffic device switched from a red light to a green light. In step 340, the computing device may also determine a time that the status of the traffic device changes (e.g., one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light).”);
plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute (Madigan [0104] – [0105]); guide the vehicle based on the navigation route (Madigan [0099] – [0107] “may generate one or more recommended driving routes (e.g., navigation routes) in response to receiving sensor or other data. For example, the computing device may generate navigation routes based on intersection risk scores, risk scores for one or more other segments of road, and/or insurance cost data…. Intersection route risk scores may be based on one or more static factors and/or one or more dynamic factors. Static factors may include, for example, past accident information and the like. Dynamic factors may include, for example, information regarding the risk level of other vehicles on the road, the time of day, the current weather, etc. If there is an accident at an intersection, the risk score of the intersection may increase. In some instances, the risk score may increase significantly over a short period of time, such as if the accident at the intersection has not cleared.”); and
receive (Madigan Fig. 1) a second map message at a moment and in response to a change of the map element, wherein the second map message comprises a changed version of the map element information or the time attribute, and wherein the moment is based on when the changed version changed (Madigan [0107] “Dynamic factors may include, for example, information regarding the risk level of other vehicles on the road, the time of day, the current weather, etc. If there is an accident at an intersection, the risk score of the intersection may increase. In some instances, the risk score may increase significantly over a short period of time, such as if the accident at the intersection has not cleared”).
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 apparatus of Visintainer to incorporate the teachings of Madigan such that the apparatus contains at least one memory, configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:
receive map messages originating from a roadside unit (RSU) that is separate from the vehicle.
receive a first map message comprising map element information describing a map element and comprising a time attribute of the map element information, wherein when the time attribute comprises status change time points comprising a first time point and a second time point, the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information;
plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute; and guide the vehicle based on the navigation route
Doing so would ensure that the system can inform individuals to avoid unsafe road conditions and to generate driving routes in response to data (Madigan [0002] and [0099]).
Visintainer as modified by Madigan does not teach that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change. However, Miura teaches that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change (Miura Abstract “a first storage unit configured to store a local map data set created or updated at a first time; a map information acquisition unit configured to acquire at least a part of a distribution map data set from a map data distribution system via a wireless communication network; a second storage unit configured to associate and store (i) data that is acquired by the map information acquisition unit, from among data constituting a first distribution map data set created or updated at a second time, and (ii) information indicating a first acquisition time when the data is acquired, or information indicating the second time; and a second determination unit configured to determine whether the map data distribution system has stored a second distribution map data set created or updated at a third time.” and [0289]-[0290]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to further incorporate the teachings of Miura to Visintainer as modified by Madigan such that the first time point is when a map element information valid period starts and the second time point is when there is a map element information change. Doing so would ensure that map information is up to date (Miura [0290]).
Regarding claim 12, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 11. Claim 12 also recites analogous limitations to claim 2, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 13, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 12. Claim 13 also recites analogous limitations to claim 3, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 14, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 12. Claim 14 also recites analogous limitations to claim 4, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 15, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 11. Claim 15 also recites analogous limitations to claim 5, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Claim 19 recites analogous limitations to claim 1, which was disclosed by Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura shown above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 20, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 19. Claim 20 also recites analogous limitations to claim 2, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 21, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 20. Claim 21 also recites analogous limitations to claim 3, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 22, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 20. Claim 22 also recites analogous limitations to claim 4, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 23, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 19. Claim 23 also recites analogous limitations to claim 5, which was disclosed by Visintainer as above, and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 25, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Visintainer further discloses that the sensing device is a camera or a radar (Visintainer [0006]).
Regarding claim 26, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 19. Visintainer further discloses that the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the RSU to further send the first map message in a broadcast mode, a multicast mode, or a unicast mode (Visintainer [0032] “Periodic Basic Safety Message Broadcast”).
Regarding claim 27, Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teach all of the elements of the current invention in claim 19. Visintainer further discloses that the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the RSU to further send the first map message by periodically sending the first map message or to further send the second map message by periodically sending the second map message (Visintainer [0032] and [0072] “target selection process is carried out periodically, for example every 100 ms, which is a reasonable amount of time for the frequency of transmission of the Basic Safety Messages,”).
Response to Arguments/Remarks
With respect to Applicant’s remarks filed on 05/12/2026; Applicant's “Amendments and Remarks” have been fully considered. Applicant’s remarks will be addressed in sequential order as they were presented.
With respect to the claim objections under, applicants “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered.
With respect to the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, applicants “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered. Applicant has amended the independent claim and these amendments have changed the scope of the original application and the Office has supplied new grounds for rejection attached below in the FINAL office action and therefore the prior arguments are considered moot.
However, even though applicant has amended the scope of the claims and the Office has provided new mapping of cited prior art below, the Office is still using some of the same cited prior art, thus the Office will attempt to address all remarks that remain relevant
Applicant remarks:
Applicant argues that Visintainer as modified by Madigan does not teach “an RSU sending the first map message towards a vehicle that is separate from the RSU in order to prompt the vehicle to plan a navigation route based on the map element information and the time attribute and to guide the vehicle based on the navigation route.”.
In addition, Visintainer's basic safety messages are between vehicles. Visintainer, I 30. In contrast, Madigan's information indicative of a status of the one or more traffic signals is from a traffic device to a vehicle. See Madigan, I 88. It would not be obvious to combine Madigan with Visintainer because doing so would render Visintainer unsatisfactory for its intended purpose of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. See MPEP § 2143.01 (V).
Visintainer as modified by Madigan fails to disclose the RSU sending a second map message towards the vehicle, at a moment, and in response to a change of the map element, wherein the second map message comprises a changed version of the map element information or the time attribute, and wherein the moment is based on when the changed version changed.
Office’s response:
Please see the updated mapping above for these limitations, specifically that Madigan teaches the RSU separate from the vehicle while Visintainer as modified by Madigan (Because this is a 103, both arts must be analyzed in combination, not individually) teaches the remaining parts of that limitation.
The office respectfully disagrees that it would be not obvious as combining Madigan to Visintainer would ensure that the system can inform individuals to avoid unsafe road conditions and to generate driving routes in response to data (Madigan [0002] and [0099]).
Please see the updated mapping of Madigan for that limitation. Note that map element, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, with no further definition, is data. Madigan teaches sending map messages in response to a change of data, while Visintainer already disclosed map element, which applicant did not argue. Therefore, the office believes that Visintainer as modified by Madigan and Miura teaches all of the amended claims.
It is the Office’s stance that all of applicant arguments have been considered and the rejections remain. Applicant further argues that the other independent claims which recite similar features are allowable and the dependent claims are also allowable since they depend on allowable subject and the Office respectfully disagrees. It is the Office's stance that all of the claimed subject matter has been properly rejected; therefore the Office's respectfully disagrees with applicant' s arguments.
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.N./Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/Hitesh Patel/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3667
8/5/26
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