DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-3, 5-6 are amended.
Claims 1-10 are pending.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application filed in DE 102022211976.2 on 11/11/2022 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bennington (US 20220050211).
Regarding Claim 1, Bennington discloses the following limitations:
A method for detecting multi-level roads on the basis of GNSS, comprising: (Bennington - [0282] The disclosed technology also includes methodology to pre-process 2D map data to determine what radio frequency propagation algorithms to use for a GNSS Forecast. A 2D map has information that can indicate obscurations and multipath. Pre-processing to determine rural areas, suburban, urban, roads, tunnels, overpasses, etc. can be used to determine a general amount of obscurations and multipath in a region.)
acquiring theoretically trackable GNSS satellites at a location; acquiring actually tracked GNSS satellites at the location; (Bennington - [0148] GNSS positioning engines and receivers are regularly determining what satellites to track and use as a part of their position and time calculations. [0278] The disclosed technology also includes methodology to combine, de-combine, and improve GNSS Forecasts for different GNSS system types, such as constellations and frequencies. The GNSS Forecast is computed for each GNSS constellation, satellite and frequency for each point in the point cloud.)
generating a point cloud representation using the actually tracked and theoretically trackable GNSS satellites; (Bennington – [0278], [0147] In some cases, the disclosed GNSS Forecasts can be applied to improve GNSS positioning engine (PE) 636 performance. The PE 636 is the function that computes the position of the device.
discovering an untracked subset of the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites that cannot be tracked at the location based on a comparison between the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites and the actually tracked GNSS satellites at the location; and (Bennington – [0076] An automated daily upload 228 provides to orbit prediction service 225 the GPS almanac data set that every GPS satellite transmits, which includes information about the state of the GPS satellite constellation, as well as coarse data on every satellite in orbit. The orbital position of each satellite is known as the ephemeris data. Automated daily upload 228 provides the raw satellite navigation system data in Receiver Independent Exchange Format (RINEX). [0172] Using a GNSS Forecast, a vehicle can plan its path/route to ensure that it has the best GNSS signals available and know where and when its performance will be impacted.)
detecting a road level as part of the detected positions when, in the point cloud representation, the untracked subset of the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites are situated in a particular region corresponding to a roadway-like pattern. (Bennington – [0148], [0278], [0282])
Regarding Claims 2, Bennington further discloses:
wherein: the acquiring of the actually tracked GNSS satellites includes receiving GNSS signals from the actually tracked GNSS satellites. (Bennington – [0148], [0018] providing improved information about the reliability of the signals being processed by GNSS receivers,)
Regarding Claims 3, Bennington further discloses:
wherein: the acquiring of the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites includes calculating the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites using almanac data and ephemeris data. (Bennington – [0076])
Regarding Claims 4, Bennington further discloses:
wherein the almanac data and ephemeris data for calculating the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites are acquired via an internet and/or mobile communications network. (Bennington – [0076], [0087] RINEX downloader and validator service 316 receives RINEX automatically downloaded from NASA HTTPS server 318.)
Regarding Claims 5, Bennington further discloses:
wherein the roadway-like pattern is specified as an elongate shape. (Bennington – [0278], [0282])
Regarding Claims 6, Bennington further discloses:
wherein: the acquiring of the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites includes acquiring all of the GNSS satellites in the field of view of the location independent of signal receiving conditions. (Bennington – [0019] calculating GNSS satellites visible from the cuboids using the 3D map and, using at least the calculated visibility,)
Regarding Claims 7, Bennington further discloses:
A control device for the GNSS receiver configured to perform a method according to claim 1. (Bennington – [0306] A tangible non-transitory computer readable storage medium loaded with computer program instructions that, when executed on processors, cause the processors to implement the methods described above.)
Regarding Claims 8, Bennington further discloses:
A computer program for performing a method according to claim 1. (Bennington – [0306])
Regarding Claims 9, Bennington further discloses:
A machine-readable storage medium on which the computer program according to claim 8 is stored. (Bennington – [0306])
Regarding Claims 10, Bennington further discloses:
A locating system for a vehicle which is configured to perform a method according to claim 1. (Bennington – [0019] The technology disclosed addresses providing dilution of precision (DOP) forecasts for GNSS navigation for routing of vehicles or alerting humans in vehicles.)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 6-8, filed 12/15/2025, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Applicant argues that “Bennington Does Not Disclose Detecting Road Level Based on Actually Tracked Satellites”. The examiner disagrees, Bennington is clearly cited for disclosing “pre-process 2D map data to determine what radio frequency propagation algorithms to use for a GNSS Forecast… Pre-processing to determine rural areas, suburban, urban, roads, tunnels, overpasses, etc.” where Bennington [0148] further describes GNSS Forecast tracking determination based on satellite visibility. It is clear that a GNSS Forecast provides information for both “actually tracked GNSS satellites” and “an untracked subset of the theoretically trackable GNSS satellites”.
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 8, filed 12/15/2025, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the dependent claims are allowable due to the dependency on the independent claims. The examiner disagrees due to the above-mentioned rejections.
Applicant's remaining arguments amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims is understandable and distinguishable from other inventions.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure or directed to the state of art is listed on the enclosed PTO-892.
The following is a brief description for relevant prior art that was cited but not applied:
Yadav (US 20220383024) describes detecting and coding a grade-separated road intersection based on image data and elevation data derived from vehicle location sensor data (e.g., GPS data).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON JAMES HENSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge can be reached at 571-272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRANDON JAMES HENSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ROBERT W HODGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645