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
This action is in reply to the Application Number 18/506,630 filed on 11/10/2023.
Claims 1-19 are currently pending and have been examined.
This action is made FINAL in response to the “Amendment” and “Remarks” filed on 09/10/2025.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-8, 10-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0070307 A1) in view of Lich (U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0251395 A1).
Regarding Claim 1:
Welch teaches:
An apparatus for providing a virtual driver service, comprising:, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-17th paragraphs))
a virtual driver to a projected area inside a vehicle; a driving information derivation unit configured to derive driving information based on navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle, wherein the navigation information includes a driving route between a departure point and a destination point and wherein the driving information includes at least one of a steering timing, an acceleration timing, and a braking timing determined based on the driving route; and a virtual driver control unit configured to control a movement of the virtual driver based on the at least one of the steering timing, the acceleration timing, and the braking timing,, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
a hologram output unit configured to output a first hologram of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
wherein the hologram output unit outputs the first hologram of the virtual driver in which the movement of the virtual driver is reflected., (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 2:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 1. Welch further teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the virtual driver control unit is configured to control the movement of the virtual driver so that the virtual driver performs virtual manipulation of a steering device based on the driving information and a position of the steering device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Regarding Claim 3:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 1. Welch further teaches:
[…] a virtual steering device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 21st-22nd paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein if a steering device of the vehicle is built in the vehicle, the hologram output unit is further configured to output a second hologram of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th paragraph and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 4:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 3. Welch further teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 3, wherein the virtual driver control unit is configured to control the movement of the virtual driver so that the virtual driver performs virtual manipulation of the virtual steering device based on the driving information., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Regarding Claim 5:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 1. Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising: a communication unit configured to communicate with at least one of a vehicle device or a user device., (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 21st and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 6:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 5. Welch further teaches:
[…] the virtual driver from the user device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-27th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 5, wherein the communication unit is configured to receive setting information of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 15th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 7:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 6. Welch further teaches:
[…] the virtual driver based on the received setting information., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-27th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 6, further comprising: an adjustment unit configured to adjust a position of the projected area, a posture of the virtual driver, and positions of body parts of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 15th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 8:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 5. Welch further teaches:
[…] receive navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle from at least one of the user device or the vehicle device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 5, wherein the communication unit is configured to, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 21st and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 10:
Welch teaches:
A method for providing a virtual driver service, comprising:, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-17th paragraphs))
deriving driving information based on navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle, wherein the navigation information includes a driving route between a departure point and a destination point and wherein the driving information includes at least one of a steering timing, an acceleration timing, and a braking timing determined based on the driving route; controlling a movement of the virtual driver based on the at least one of the steering timing, the acceleration timing, and the braking timing;, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
outputting a first hologram of a virtual driver to a projected area inside a vehicle;, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
and outputting the first hologram of the virtual driver in which the movement of the virtual driver is reflected., (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 11:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 10. Welch further teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 10, further comprising: controlling the movement of the virtual driver so that the virtual driver performs virtual manipulation of a steering device based on the driving information and a position of the steering device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Regarding Claim 12:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 10. Welch further teaches:
[…] a virtual steering device if a steering device of the vehicle is built in the vehicle., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 21st-22nd paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 10, further comprising: outputting a second hologram of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th paragraph and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 13:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. Welch further teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 12, further comprising: controlling the movement of the virtual driver so that the virtual driver performs virtual manipulation of the virtual steering device based on the driving information., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Regarding Claim 14:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 10. Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 10, further comprising: communicating with at least one of a vehicle device or a user device., (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 21st and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 15:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 14. Welch further teaches:
[…] the virtual driver from the user device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-27th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 14, further comprising: receiving setting information of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 15th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 16:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 15. Welch further teaches:
[…] the virtual driver based on the received setting information., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-27th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 15, further comprising: adjusting a position of the projected area, a posture of the virtual driver, and positions of body parts of, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 15th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 17:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 14. Welch further teaches:
[…] receiving navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle from at least one of the user device or the vehicle device., (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 14, wherein the communicating with at least one of a vehicle device or a user device includes:, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 13th and 16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 21st and 24th-25th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Regarding Claim 19:
Welch teaches:
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program including a sequence of instructions for providing a virtual driver service, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-17th paragraphs))
derive driving information based on navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle, wherein the navigation information includes a driving route between a departure point and a destination point and wherein the driving information includes at least one of a steering timing, an acceleration timing, and a braking timing determined based on the driving route; control a movement of the virtual driver based on the at least one of the steering timing, the acceleration timing, and the braking timing;, (See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs))
Welch does not teach but Lich teaches:
output a first hologram of a virtual driver to a projected area inside a vehicle;, (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
and output the first hologram of the virtual driver in which the movement of the virtual driver is reflected., (See (Lich: Detailed Description of the Invention – 12th-16th paragraphs and Description of the Exemplary Embodiments – 19th-21st and 24th-26th paragraphs))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch with these above aforementioned teachings from Lich in order to create a user-friendly apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Lich’s device for projecting an object in a space inside a vehicle in order to output a hologram of a virtual driver inside of a vehicle and control the movement of the virtual driver to perform virtual control of the vehicle. Combining Welch and Lich would thus “project an object in a space of a vehicle, which displays an object artificially.” (Lich: Summary of the Invention – 5th paragraph)
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0070307 A1) in view of Lich (U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0251395 A1) in further view of Yoshioka (JP 2019121048 A).
Regarding Claim 9:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 1. Welch does not teach but Yoshioka teaches:
The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising: a conversation service providing unit configured to recognize a spoken voice of a passenger in the vehicle and enable the virtual driver to have a conversation with the passenger based on the recognized voice., (“In any one of the configurations (2) to (4), the moving body includes an image output unit that outputs an image of a virtual driver for talking with the passenger into the vehicle. Do. (6) In the configuration of the above (5), the mobile unit performs preliminary conversation when the passenger gets in, and based on the prior conversation and / or the image of the passenger at the time of the passenger, the passenger profile of the passenger A passenger profile estimation means for estimating information is provided. (7) In the configuration described in (6), the video output unit changes the video of the virtual driver in accordance with the passenger profile information or the timing at which the question timing control unit causes a question to be output. It features.” (Yoshioka: Description) Yoshioka further mentions “The question timing control means 101 controls the timing of asking a question to the passenger, and controls the conversation between the virtual driver and the passenger projected on the hologram. Although the virtual driver itself does not speak words, one or more speakers in the car emit sounds towards the passengers as if the virtual driver were singing. Also, the question timing control means 101 controls the language, voice quality (male's voice, female's voice, young person's voice, elderly person's voice etc.), tempo of the words emitted by the virtual driver 11, and questions to the passengers Control the timing of By doing this, it is possible to create an atmosphere that is easy to talk with, instead of asking mechanical questions to passengers who have trouble with conversation. The question timing control means 101 controls the timing of asking a question to the passenger, and controls the conversation between the virtual driver and the passenger projected on the hologram. Although the virtual driver itself does not speak words, one or more speakers in the car emit sounds towards the passengers as if the virtual driver were singing. Also, the question timing control means 101 controls the language, voice quality (male's voice, female's voice, young person's voice, elderly person's voice etc.), tempo of the words emitted by the virtual driver 11, and questions to the passengers Control the timing of By doing this, it is possible to create an atmosphere that is easy to talk with, instead of asking mechanical questions to passengers who have trouble with conversation.” (Yoshioka: Description) Yoshioka further states “The speech analysis means 102 includes a speech recognition device for speech recognition of the speech of the passenger and converting it into text information, analyzes the speech of the passenger who has converted the text, and refers to the speech support database 120 described later. Extract the most appropriate response to the spoken word. The corresponding language may be a foreign language or dialect. In addition, in the case of a passenger who can not emit voice, means other than voice (for example, gesture, body language, "speakable character pad", etc.) may be used. Although the question timing control means 101 and the conversation analysis means 102 are separately configured in FIG. 2, both may be put together and configured as a conversation control means.” (Yoshioka: Description))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch in view of Lich with these above aforementioned teachings from Yoshioka in order to create an effective and safe apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Yoshioka’s mobile body, system, destination narrowing method, and program for narrowing down destination through conversation with passenger in order to recognize a spoken voice of a passenger in a vehicle and enable a virtual driver to have a conversation with the passenger based on the recognized voice. Combining Welch and Yoshioka would thus “provide a mobile system capable of narrowing down destinations from conversations with a passenger even if the passenger has a problem in conversation” (Yoshioka: Description).
Regarding Claim 18:
Welch in view of Lich, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 10. Welch does not teach but Yoshioka teaches:
The method for providing a virtual driver service of Claim 10, further comprising: recognizing a spoken voice of a passenger in the vehicle and enabling the virtual driver to have a conversation with the passenger based on the recognized voice., (“In any one of the configurations (2) to (4), the moving body includes an image output unit that outputs an image of a virtual driver for talking with the passenger into the vehicle. Do. (6) In the configuration of the above (5), the mobile unit performs preliminary conversation when the passenger gets in, and based on the prior conversation and / or the image of the passenger at the time of the passenger, the passenger profile of the passenger A passenger profile estimation means for estimating information is provided. (7) In the configuration described in (6), the video output unit changes the video of the virtual driver in accordance with the passenger profile information or the timing at which the question timing control unit causes a question to be output. It features.” (Yoshioka: Description) Yoshioka further mentions “The question timing control means 101 controls the timing of asking a question to the passenger, and controls the conversation between the virtual driver and the passenger projected on the hologram. Although the virtual driver itself does not speak words, one or more speakers in the car emit sounds towards the passengers as if the virtual driver were singing. Also, the question timing control means 101 controls the language, voice quality (male's voice, female's voice, young person's voice, elderly person's voice etc.), tempo of the words emitted by the virtual driver 11, and questions to the passengers Control the timing of By doing this, it is possible to create an atmosphere that is easy to talk with, instead of asking mechanical questions to passengers who have trouble with conversation. The question timing control means 101 controls the timing of asking a question to the passenger, and controls the conversation between the virtual driver and the passenger projected on the hologram. Although the virtual driver itself does not speak words, one or more speakers in the car emit sounds towards the passengers as if the virtual driver were singing. Also, the question timing control means 101 controls the language, voice quality (male's voice, female's voice, young person's voice, elderly person's voice etc.), tempo of the words emitted by the virtual driver 11, and questions to the passengers Control the timing of By doing this, it is possible to create an atmosphere that is easy to talk with, instead of asking mechanical questions to passengers who have trouble with conversation.” (Yoshioka: Description) Yoshioka further states “The speech analysis means 102 includes a speech recognition device for speech recognition of the speech of the passenger and converting it into text information, analyzes the speech of the passenger who has converted the text, and refers to the speech support database 120 described later. Extract the most appropriate response to the spoken word. The corresponding language may be a foreign language or dialect. In addition, in the case of a passenger who can not emit voice, means other than voice (for example, gesture, body language, "speakable character pad", etc.) may be used. Although the question timing control means 101 and the conversation analysis means 102 are separately configured in FIG. 2, both may be put together and configured as a conversation control means.” (Yoshioka: Description))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Welch in view of Lich with these above aforementioned teachings from Yoshioka in order to create an effective and safe apparatus, method, and computer program for providing virtual driver service. At the time the invention was filed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Welch’s autonomous human controller simulation system with Yoshioka’s mobile body, system, destination narrowing method, and program for narrowing down destination through conversation with passenger in order to recognize a spoken voice of a passenger in a vehicle and enable a virtual driver to have a conversation with the passenger based on the recognized voice. Combining Welch and Yoshioka would thus “provide a mobile system capable of narrowing down destinations from conversations with a passenger even if the passenger has a problem in conversation” (Yoshioka: Description).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on September 10th, 2025 with regard to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
With regard to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection, the limitations are taught in Welch as has been set forth above, contrary to the Applicant’s assertions. Therefore, the Applicant’s amendments and arguments are insufficient to overcome these prior art rejections.
More specifically, Welch mentions “The present invention includes […] and injects medicine through a syringe into an IV port, respectively.” Furthermore, Welch states “Before an autonomous system would initiate a lane change, […] (via the real input signals associated with sideways-looking sensors).” Welch further states “A virtual human exhibiting reliable control of an autonomous system can also be […] the virtual human should appear to be the one initiating the action.” Finally, Welch mentions “As vehicle 10 navigates, […] simulated actions.” See (Welch: Brief Summary of the Invention – 16th-24th paragraphs and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments – 61st, 68th, and 77th-79th paragraphs) In doing so, Welch addresses the Applicant’s limitation of "a driving information derivation unit configured to derive driving information based on navigation information for autonomous driving of the vehicle, wherein the navigation information includes a driving route between a departure point and a destination point and wherein the driving information includes at least one of a steering timing, an acceleration timing, and a braking timing determined based on the driving route; and a virtual driver control unit configured to control a movement of the virtual driver based on the at least one of the steering timing, the acceleration timing, and the braking timing" as set forth by the Applicant in claim 1 and similarly in claims 10 and 19.
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 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/J.R.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3667
/VIVEK D KOPPIKAR/Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3667
October 7, 2025