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 .
Status of Claims
Pending
1-7
Rejected
1-7
112b
3 and 5
102
1-2, 5, and 7
103
3-4, and 6
Response to Amendment
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed on 30October2025. As directed by the amendment: claims 1-3 has (have) been amended, no claims has/have been cancelled, and new claims 6 and 7 has/have been added. Thus, claims 1-7 are presently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
The amendments to the claims affected the prior scope thereby necessitating further search and consideration. The instant office action has been made FINAL.
Applicant's arguments filed on 30October2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to the applicant’s argument that Balva does not disclose physical condition information includes at least one of a presence of illness of the user, an injury of the user, and a body temperature of the user, see arguments page 8, the examiner respectfully partially agrees. The 102 rejection has been updated and upheld since the claimed limitation only requires at least one piece of information and the physical condition has been omitted. Hochberg also teaches injury as a physical condition in [0176] which can be used in a 103 rejection for claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 3 and 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 contains the limitation the response speed that is a speed at which the result of the route search is provided by a server apparatus corresponding to the mobility service, to be faster than in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that a physical condition of the user is good, as the required specification in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that [[a]]the physical condition of the user is poor which is indefinite. It is unclear whether a faster response is required if the user is in a good or poor condition because of the phrasing.
Claim 5 contains the limitation "the candidate service" which is indefinite. It is unclear if "the candidate service" is one of the “at least one candidate service”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Balva US 20210140777.
Balva discloses,
Claim 1; A control apparatus comprising a controller(414), configured to, upon acquiring travel request information indicating a travel request([0049] Step 502) of a user([0049] Step 502 receives various trip requests from various potential customers) from a terminal apparatus of the user(402), automatically select at least one candidate service from among a plurality of mobility services([0051] Various potential routing solutions can be analyzed which includes provider efficiency) based on at least one piece of information from among schedule information on the user([0022] At least some of the requests can be received from, or on behalf of, an object being transported or scheduled to be transported), schedule information on the user([0022] At least some of the requests can be received from, or on behalf of, an object being transported or scheduled to be transported), weather information for a scheduled travel date and time([0085] Weather is an environmental metric), and day of week information for the scheduled travel date([0065] The data can also be analyzed for specific time periods or occurrences, such as days of the week), acquire a result of a route search using the at least one candidate service([0052] A specific routing solution can then be selected 512 from the remaining solutions, where the solution can be selected based at least in part upon the optimized quality scores), and transmit the result to the terminal apparatus(Fig. 5 Step 516 has to display on the same device the user used to request the transportation).
Claim 2; Wherein the controller is configured to determine a required specification for, among the plurality of mobility services, a mobility service to be selected as the at least one candidate service([0051] At least one optimization procedure is performed 510 with respect to at least some of the potential solutions) based on at least one of the physical condition information([0092] Physical exertion is a metric which is determined based on the users physical condition such as age and cargo), the schedule information([0022] At least some of the requests can be received from, or on behalf of, an object being transported or scheduled to be transported), the weather information([0085] Weather is an environmental metric), and the required specification includes at least one of a response speed of the result of the route search using the mobility service([0028] The optimization approaches and route offerings can be updated over time based on other available data, as may relate to more recent ride data, ridership requests, traffic patterns, construction updates, and the like), a time tolerance for a departure time or arrival time for preforming the route search using the mobility service([0032] In some embodiments a rider can provide a target time, while in others the riders can provide time windows or acceptable ranges, among other such options. Another factor can relate to the relative trip delay, either as expected or based upon historical data for similar routes).
Claim 5; Wherein the controller is configured to acquire correspondence information associating the physical condition information, the schedule information, the weather information, and the day of week information with the mobility service and select the candidate service based on the correspondence information([0091] to [0093] discloses physical conditions, [0022] discloses that a schedule can be set, [0085] Weather is an environmental metric, [0065] discloses that day of the week is a consideration, All the metrics all feed into the same route generation system to generate the highest quality route for the user).
Claim 7; Wherein the controller is configured to determine a required specification for, among the plurality of mobility services, a mobility service to be selected as the at least one candidate service based on at least one of the physical condition information([0092] Physical exertion is a metric which is determined based on the users physical condition such as age and cargo), schedule information on the user([0022] At least some of the requests can be received from, or on behalf of, an object being transported or scheduled to be transported), weather information for a scheduled travel date and time([0085] Weather is an environmental metric), and day of week information for the scheduled travel date([0065] The data can also be analyzed for specific time periods or occurrences, such as days of the week), and the required specification includes at least one of a response speed that is a speed at which the result of the route search is provided by a server apparatus corresponding to the mobility service([0028] The optimization approaches and route offerings can be updated over time based on other available data, as may relate to more recent ride data, ridership requests, traffic patterns, construction updates, and the like), a time tolerance for a departure time or arrival time for performing the route search using the mobility service([0032] In some embodiments a rider can provide a target time, while in others the riders can provide time windows or acceptable ranges, among other such options. Another factor can relate to the relative trip delay, either as expected or based upon historical data for similar routes).
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balva US 20210140777 in view of Hochberg US 20210223051.
Regarding claim(s) 4, Balva discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for claim(s) 1 and 2.
However, Balva fails to disclose:
Claim 3; Wherein the controller is configured to determine the response speed that is a speed at which the result of the route search is provided by a server apparatus corresponding to the mobility service, to be faster than in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that a physical condition of the user is good, as the required specification in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that the physical condition of the user is poor.
Hochberg teaches a similar device in the same field of transportation services.
Hochberg teaches,
Claim 3; Wherein the controller is configured to determine the response speed that is a speed at which the result of the route search is provided by a server apparatus corresponding to the mobility service, to be faster than in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that a physical condition of the user is good, as the required specification in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that the physical condition of the user is poor([0178] Embodiments of the present disclosure may allow for the dynamic re-assignment of rideshare vehicles. For example, passenger assignments may be changed between a time of initial assignment and a time of picking up the passenger. This may enhance the experience of users when a vehicle to which they are initially assigned is delayed, for example, on account of traffic, weather, wrong turns, or the like. In addition, the dynamic re-assignment may be used to allow the fleet of rideshare vehicles to handle urgent requests. For example, users having a medical emergency, family emergency, running late for a flight, or the like, may be prioritized to increase aggregate satisfaction across all users).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the controller is configured to determine the response speed that is a speed at which the result of the route search is provided by a server apparatus corresponding to the mobility service, to be faster than in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that a physical condition of the user is good, as the required specification in a case in which the physical condition information indicates that the physical condition of the user is poor. as taught by Hochberg, for the purpose of [0178] increasing aggregate satisfaction across all users.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balva US 20210140777 in view of Klein US 20170169366.
Regarding claim(s) 4, Balva discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for claim(s) 1 and 2.
However, Balva and Hochberg fails to disclose:
Claim 4; Wherein the controller is configured to determine no ride sharing as the required specification for the availability of ride sharing in a case in which the schedule information indicates that the user is on duty.
Klein teaches a similar device in the same field of travel requests.
Klein teaches,
Claim 4; Wherein the controller is configured to determine no ride sharing(Note: The examiner is interpreting this limitation as no carpooling) as the required specification for the availability of ride sharing in a case in which the schedule information indicates that the user is on duty([0039] discloses an intended user pickup or drop-off can be identified automatically from statistical models that identify a user's normal travel schedule based on geolocation and timestamp history (e.g., a user's normal commute schedule on weekday mornings and evenings), or can be determined from calendar, email, or other information available on a user's mobile device, [0071] discloses that a user can consent to the use of their data with a ride sharing scheduling system and create repeat events at predetermined intervals, [0077] discloses that if the user is in a hurry which they would be if they were heading to work and the system would know when they were heading to work because the system has access to their data; the user can reject ride-sharing requests).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the controller is configured to determine no ride sharing as the required specification for the availability of ride sharing in a case in which the schedule information indicates that the user is on duty as taught by Klein, for the purpose of providing better service by predicting the users’ needs autonomously using current and past data or habits.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balva US 20210140777 in view of Ricci US 20180013211.
Regarding claim(s) 6, Balva discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for claim(s) 1.
Balva further discloses,
Claim 6; further comprising: a communication interface(406) configured to communicate with the terminal apparatus of the user and with a plurality of server apparatuses([0041] Discloses that 406 communicates with the verious servers and 402), each of the plurality of server apparatuses configured to perform the route search using a mobility service of the plurality of mobility services(Fig. 4 shows that the provider environment 408 is configured to perform route searches).
However, Balva fails to disclose:
Claim 6; wherein the controller is configured to transmit a search request for the route search in accordance with an input format of an application program interface (API) of a server apparatus among the plurality of server apparatuses to the server apparatus via the communication interface, the server apparatus corresponding to the selected at least one candidate service.
Ricci teaches a similar device in the same field of travel requests.
Ricci teaches,
Claim 6; wherein the controller is configured to transmit a search request for the route search in accordance with an input format of an application program interface (API) of a server apparatus among the plurality of server apparatuses to the server apparatus via the communication interface, the server apparatus corresponding to the selected at least one candidate service([0168] Discloses that an API can be used, [0003] discloses that transportation or ride sharing is are one of the fields that the API can be used in).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the controller is configured to transmit a search request for the route search in accordance with an input format of an application program interface (API) of a server apparatus among the plurality of server apparatuses to the server apparatus via the communication interface, the server apparatus corresponding to the selected at least one candidate service as taught by Ricci, for the purpose of [0168] translating allowing multiple different systems that store data differently to communicate with each other.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John Merino whose telephone number is (703)756-4721. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thu 8am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin Piateski can be reached at (571) 270-7429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/John C Merino/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/Erin M Piateski/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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