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 communication is in response to applicant’s filing dated 11/17/2025. Claims 1 and 12 have been amended. Claims 7-8, 13 and 17 have been canceled. Claims 1-6, 9-12, 14-16 and 18-20 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority for Application No. KR1020230110060, filed on 08/22/2023.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/17/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/17/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6, 9-12, 14-16 and 18-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Li Hean, CN114537398A, in view of Katsuhiko Sato, US 20200369281 A1 and in view of Laigang et al., EP3726496B1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-12, 14-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li Hean, CN114537398A, in view of Katsuhiko Sato, US 20200369281 A1, and in view of Laigang et al., EP3726496B1, hereinafter referred to as Hean, Sato and Laigang, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Hean discloses a driver assistance method, comprising:
recognizing a sign indicating a driving direction of a lane in which the vehicle is driving and a stop line at an intersection by a front camera installed at the vehicle, the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign being a direction in which the vehicle is expected to drive at the intersection upon entering the intersection by driving along the lane in which the vehicle is driving (In order to obtain the road attribute information, i.e. recognizing a sign, of the intersection, on the one hand, the obtaining module can directly read the road shape information stored in the map by means of the positioning and navigation unit. Obtaining module can also be connected to a plurality of cameras, (i.e. front camera) which allows the acquisition module to receive in real time images of the road environment around the vehicle, and to identify information such as the number of lanes at the intersection, lane widths, lane boundary positions – See at least page 5, lines 1-12. Obtaining module may read the navigation route from the positioning and navigation unit, for example, and thereby determine whether the vehicle intends to turn or go straight at the intersection – See at least page 5, lines 13-18. A first vehicle in front of the vehicle can also be observed in the intersection area, the first vehicle is driving in the adjacent lane to the right of the vehicle and has crossed the stop line to enter the intersection – See at least page 9, lines 1-11),
confirming an intention of a driver to drive, at the intersection, in a same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign (The obtaining module is configured to obtain the driving intention of the vehicle and the road attribute information, i.e. sign, about the intersection when the vehicle 100 is about to pass or is passing through the intersection – See at least page 4, lines 40-44); and
wherein the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign is a left turn direction or a right turn direction (In this case, the driving intention includes, for example, the driving behavior planned for the vehicle at the intersection, in particular the straight-ahead behavior, the left-turn behavior, and the right-turn behavior – See at least page 5, lines 39-50).
Hean fails to explicitly disclose determining a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control.
However, Sato teaches determining a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control (The internal sensor is composed of a plurality of detection means, such as a vehicle speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor and an acceleration sensor, for measuring physical quantities representing the movement state of the vehicle, and their measurement values are input into the ACC controller, i.e. cruise control – See at least ¶28);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of determining a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
The combination of Hean and Sato fail to disclose recognizing, by the front camera, a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving and controlling a speed of the vehicle to a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign.
However, Laigang teaches:
recognizing, by the front camera, a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving (In view of this, the safety speeds of different road segments should be affected by the curvature of the lane. According to an embodiment of the invention, the curvature of the lane may be acquired by a navigation software that comes with the vehicle. Alternatively, the curvature of the lane may be directly acquired from the high-precision map information – See at least ¶29. Preferably, another image capturing device (i.e. front camera) may be used to capture a lane image of the lane where the vehicle is located, to extract lane line information therefrom to directly calculate, or to help determine, or correct the curvature previously acquired from the map information – See at least ¶30) and
controlling a speed of the vehicle to a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign (According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the safety speed is associated with the road segment. In other words, on road segments with different curvatures, different safety speeds will be recommended to the driver. As an example, on a curved road segment with a relatively large curvature, the safety speed recommended to the driver is 30 km/h; in a curved road segment with a relatively small curvature, the safety speed recommended to the driver is 70 km/h; and in a road segment with the curvature of 0, the safety speed is 110 km/h – See at least ¶38. It can be derived from the above that the curvature of the lane is negatively correlated with the safety speed of the corresponding road segment. In other words, as the curvature decreases, the safety speed increases; and as the curvature increases, the safety speed decreases (i.e. inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line – See at least ¶39).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of recognizing, by the front camera, a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving and controlling a speed of the vehicle to a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign, as taught by Laigang, for determining safety speed information of a road.
Regarding claim 2, Hean, as modified, discloses wherein the confirming of the intention of the driver comprises determining whether the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with a direction of a turn signal light which is on (the acquisition module is also connected to turn indicators of the vehicle in order to be able to infer the driver's expected driving behavior at the intersection based on the triggering of specific vehicle components – See at least Page 5, lines 12-17).
Regarding claim 3, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the confirming of the intention of the driver further comprises determining whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value.
However, Sato teaches wherein the confirming of the intention of the driver further comprises determining whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value (The environmental condition estimating part acquires the absolute position of the vehicle itself by matching the vehicle's own position information by positioning means such as a GPS and map information, and on the basis of external data such as the image data and point cloud data obtained by the external sensor, estimates positions of lane markings of the vehicle's own driving lane and the neighboring lane, and positions and speeds of other vehicles. In addition, it acquires the movement state of the vehicle itself from internal data measured by the internal sensor – See at least ¶30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the confirming of the intention of the driver further comprises determining whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 4, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the determining of the driving state comprises determining whether the cruise control of the vehicle is activated.
However, Sato teaches wherein the determining of the driving state comprises determining whether the cruise control of the vehicle is activated (The internal sensor is composed of a plurality of detection means, such as a vehicle speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor and an acceleration sensor, for measuring physical quantities representing the movement state of the vehicle, and their measurement values are input into the ACC controller, i.e. cruise control – See at least ¶28).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the determining of the driving state comprises determining whether the cruise control of the vehicle is activated, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 5, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the determining of the driving state further comprises determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a set speed of the cruise control if the cruise control is activated.
However, Sato teaches wherein the determining of the driving state further comprises determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a set speed of the cruise control if the cruise control is activated (Since the front predetermined distance XF′ and rear predetermined distance XR′ that define the predetermined areas for the specific area also vary depending on the vehicle speeds V, VF, and Vr of the vehicle, vehicle ahead, and vehicle behind, respectively, a lookup table for the specific section storing calculated values for each of the speed of the vehicle (V) and relative speed (ΔV) for each is prepared, and corresponding values are applied by a reference process – See at least ¶77).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the determining of the driving state further comprises determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a set speed of the cruise control if the cruise control is activated, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 6, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein if both of left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are turned on, it is determined that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on.
However, Sato teaches wherein if both of left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are turned on, it is determined that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on (the automated driving controller (path generating part) constantly generates a target path for changing lanes from a currently driving lane to a neighboring lane on the basis of the external information (lane markings of the lane), i.e. sign – See at least ¶46. The automated lane change target path is a path that leads to a state of driving at the center of the neighboring lane by performing lane change from the currently driving lane and automated lane change to the neighboring lane is executed by automatic steering by determination of the system or the driver's lane change instructions or approval by blinker operation – See at least ¶47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein if both of left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are turned on, it is determined that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 9, Hean fails to explicitly disclose determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed; and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, controlling the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration.
However, Sato teaches determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed; and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, controlling the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration (The partially automated lane change system (PALS) is a system that automatically performs lane change by determination of the system itself or the driver's instructions or approval, and is implemented by combining longitudinal control (speed control and inter-vehicle distance control) by the ACC controller – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of determining whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed; and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, controlling the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 10, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line.
However, Sato teaches wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line (The partially automated lane change system (PALS) is a system that automatically performs lane change by determination of the system itself or the driver's instructions or approval, and is implemented by combining longitudinal control (speed control and inter-vehicle distance control) by the ACC controller – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 11, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection.
However, Sato teaches wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection (The partially automated lane change system (PALS) is a system that automatically performs lane change by determination of the system itself or the driver's instructions or approval, and is implemented by combining longitudinal control (speed control and inter-vehicle distance control) by the ACC controller – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the controlling of the vehicle according to the required acceleration comprises determining the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 12, Hean discloses a driver assistance system, comprising:
a front camera configured to: recognizing a sign indicating a driving direction of a lane in which the vehicle is driving and a stop line at an intersection, the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign being a direction in which the vehicle is expected to drive at the intersection upon entering the intersection by driving along the lane in which the vehicle is driving (In order to obtain the road attribute information, i.e. recognizing a sign, of the intersection, on the one hand, the obtaining module can directly read the road shape information stored in the map by means of the positioning and navigation unit. Obtaining module can also be connected to a plurality of cameras, (i.e. front camera) which allows the acquisition module to receive in real time images of the road environment around the vehicle, and to identify information such as the number of lanes at the intersection, lane widths, lane boundary positions – See at least page 5, lines 1-12. Obtaining module may read the navigation route from the positioning and navigation unit, for example, and thereby determine whether the vehicle intends to turn or go straight at the intersection – See at least page 5, lines 13-18. A first vehicle in front of the vehicle can also be observed in the intersection area, the first vehicle is driving in the adjacent lane to the right of the vehicle and has crossed the stop line to enter the intersection – See at least page 9, lines 1-11),
confirming an intention of a driver to drive, at the intersection, in a same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign (The obtaining module is configured to obtain the driving intention of the vehicle and the road attribute information, i.e. sign, about the intersection when the vehicle 100 is about to pass or is passing through the intersection – See at least page 4, lines 40-44); and
wherein the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign is a left turn direction or a right turn direction (In this case, the driving intention includes, for example, the driving behavior planned for the vehicle at the intersection, in particular the straight-ahead behavior, the left-turn behavior, and the right-turn behavior – See at least page 5, lines 39-50).
Hean fails to explicitly disclose a processor configured to determine a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control.
However, Sato teaches a processor configured to determine a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control (The internal sensor is composed of a plurality of detection means, such as a vehicle speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor and an acceleration sensor, for measuring physical quantities representing the movement state of the vehicle, and their measurement values are input into the ACC controller, i.e. cruise control – See at least ¶28);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of a processor configured to determine a driving state of a vehicle in a cruise control, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
The combination of Hean and Sato fail to disclose recognize a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving and if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign, control the speed of the vehicle to be a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line.
However, Laigang teaches:
recognizing, by the front camera, a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving (In view of this, the safety speeds of different road segments should be affected by the curvature of the lane. According to an embodiment of the invention, the curvature of the lane may be acquired by a navigation software that comes with the vehicle. Alternatively, the curvature of the lane may be directly acquired from the high-precision map information – See at least ¶29. Preferably, another image capturing device (i.e. front camera) may be used to capture a lane image of the lane where the vehicle is located, to extract lane line information therefrom to directly calculate, or to help determine, or correct the curvature previously acquired from the map information – See at least ¶30) and
if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign, control the speed of the vehicle to be a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line (According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the safety speed is associated with the road segment. In other words, on road segments with different curvatures, different safety speeds will be recommended to the driver. As an example, on a curved road segment with a relatively large curvature, the safety speed recommended to the driver is 30 km/h; in a curved road segment with a relatively small curvature, the safety speed recommended to the driver is 70 km/h; and in a road segment with the curvature of 0, the safety speed is 110 km/h – See at least ¶38. It can be derived from the above that the curvature of the lane is negatively correlated with the safety speed of the corresponding road segment. In other words, as the curvature decreases, the safety speed increases; and as the curvature increases, the safety speed decreases (i.e. inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line – See at least ¶39).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of recognize a curvature of a guidance line guided by the lane in which the vehicle is driving and if it is confirmed that the driver intends to drive in the same direction as the driving direction of the lane indicated by the sign, control the speed of the vehicle to be a predetermined safe speed which is inversely proportional to the curvature of the guidance line, as taught by Laigang, for determining safety speed information of a road.
Regarding claim 14, Hean fails to explicitly disclose a turn signal light sensor configured to detect whether a turn signal light of the vehicle is on, wherein the controller is configured to receive a detection signal of the turn signal light of the vehicle from the turn signal light sensor, and determine whether the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with a direction of the turn signal light which is on.
However, Sato teaches a turn signal light sensor configured to detect whether a turn signal light of the vehicle is on, wherein the controller is configured to receive a detection signal of the turn signal light of the vehicle from the turn signal light sensor, and determine whether the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with a direction of the turn signal light which is on (the automated driving controller (path generating part) constantly generates a target path for changing lanes from a currently driving lane to a neighboring lane on the basis of the external information (lane markings of the lane), i.e. sign – See at least ¶46. The automated lane change target path is a path that leads to a state of driving at the center of the neighboring lane by performing lane change from the currently driving lane and automated lane change to the neighboring lane is executed by automatic steering by determination of the system or the driver's lane change instructions or approval by blinker operation – See at least ¶47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of a turn signal light sensor configured to detect whether a turn signal light of the vehicle is on, wherein the controller is configured to receive a detection signal of the turn signal light of the vehicle from the turn signal light sensor, and determine whether the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with a direction of the turn signal light which is on, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 15, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein if the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with the direction of the turn signal light which is on, the controller is configured to determine whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value.
However, Sato teaches wherein if the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with the direction of the turn signal light which is on, the controller is configured to determine whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value (The environmental condition estimating part acquires the absolute position of the vehicle itself by matching the vehicle's own position information by positioning means such as a GPS and map information, and on the basis of external data such as the image data and point cloud data obtained by the external sensor, estimates positions of lane markings of the vehicle's own driving lane and the neighboring lane, and positions and speeds of other vehicles. In addition, it acquires the movement state of the vehicle itself from internal data measured by the internal sensor – See at least ¶30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein if the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane matches with the direction of the turn signal light which is on, the controller is configured to determine whether an absolute value of a difference between a left side lateral offset value of the vehicle and a right side lateral offset value of the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 16, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein if the turn signal light sensor detects that both of the left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are on, the controller is configured to determine that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on.
However, Sato teaches wherein if the turn signal light sensor detects that both of the left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are on, the controller is configured to determine that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on (the automated driving controller (path generating part) constantly generates a target path for changing lanes from a currently driving lane to a neighboring lane on the basis of the external information (lane markings of the lane), i.e. sign – See at least ¶46. The automated lane change target path is a path that leads to a state of driving at the center of the neighboring lane by performing lane change from the currently driving lane and automated lane change to the neighboring lane is executed by automatic steering by determination of the system or the driver's lane change instructions or approval by blinker operation – See at least ¶47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein if the turn signal light sensor detects that both of the left and right turn signal lights of the vehicle are on, the controller is configured to determine that the driving direction indicated by the sign indicating the driving direction of the lane does not match with the direction of the turn signal light which is on, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 18, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed, and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, the controller is configured to control the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration.
However, Sato teaches wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed, and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, the controller is configured to control the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration (The partially automated lane change system (PALS) is a system that automatically performs lane change by determination of the system itself or the driver's instructions or approval, and is implemented by combining longitudinal control (speed control and inter-vehicle distance control) by the ACC controller – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to the predetermined safe speed, and if the speed of the vehicle is not equal to the predetermined safe speed, the controller is configured to control the vehicle according to a required acceleration of the vehicle by determining the required acceleration, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 19, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line at the intersection.
However, Sato teaches wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line at the intersection (The external sensor is composed of a plurality of detection means for inputting lane markings, i.e. recognizing a sign, on a road defining the vehicle's own driving lane – See at least ¶26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a distance from the vehicle to the stop line at the intersection until the vehicle reaches the stop line at the intersection, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Regarding claim 20, Hean fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection.
However, Sato teaches wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection (The partially automated lane change system (PALS) is a system that automatically performs lane change by determination of the system itself or the driver's instructions or approval, and is implemented by combining longitudinal control (speed control and inter-vehicle distance control) by the ACC controller – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hean and include the feature of wherein the controller is configured to determine the required acceleration of the vehicle based on a difference between the predetermined safe speed and the speed of the vehicle after the vehicle passes the stop line at the intersection, as taught by Sato, to enable a host vehicle to travel smoothly near an intersection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kobana et a. US9707973B2, discloses a start signal output unit that outputs a control start signal; a consent confirmation unit that inquires of a driver, when receiving the control start signal from the start signal output unit, whether the driver consents to execution of an emergency evacuation control for stopping a vehicle at a safe position regardless of a driving operation of the driver, and receives a reply to the inquiry from the driver.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHMOUD M KAZIMI whose telephone number is (571)272-3436. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am-5pm.
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/M.M.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3665