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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 116. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 120, 122, 132. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 4, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”).
Consider claim 1, Zhang et al. disclose a system for estimating vehicular pollution, the system comprising:
one or more processors (“uses a smart phone-based traffic data real-time collection system” (see Page 5, paragraph 2));
and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-usable instructions (“The traffic data acquisition system writes an API application program based on the android smartphone operating system” (see Page 5, paragraph 19)) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
determine a velocity of the UE (“the position information and speed information can be obtained” (see Page 5, paragraph 19)); and
estimate a total number of vehicles in the first location (“In order to obtain the number of vehicles in the road section and the traffic flow of the section of the road section, the method of adding the number of vehicles in the parallel cells and the total traffic flow of the parallel section” (see Page 5, paragraph 14)).
However, Zhang et al. fail to disclose a system that is configured to:
receive an indication that a user equipment (UE) has registered with a base station within the telecommunications network; and
based on a determination that the UE's velocity is above a predetermined threshold, determine that the UE is traveling in a vehicle in a first location.
In the same field of endeavor, Bonnetain discloses a system for using mobile phone data to estimate urban mobility wherein the system is configured to:
receive an indication that a user equipment (UE) has registered with a base station within the telecommunications network (Bonnetain makes reference to recorded network events, which include “handover events (i.e., base station change during an established communication) and network attachment/detachment events” (see Page 4, Section 1.3.1, paragraph 1)); and
based on a determination that the UE's velocity is above a predetermined threshold, determine that the UE is traveling in a vehicle in a first location (using the trajectory data collected via the network event tracking approach, “we apply a simple, yet effective, speed-based heuristic to infer the transportation mode” (see Page 79, Section 4.7, paragraph 1). From the same dataset, positional data can also be approximated).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. with the teachings of Bonnetain in order to filter out data from nonvehicular movement.
Consider claim 4, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, further disclose wherein the UE's velocity is determined based on a handover time between the UE registering with the base station and subsequently registering with a second base station or utilizing accelerometric sensor data from the UE (the system “records the data of the GPS module and the acceleration sensor module [of the UE] in real time” to determine
vehicle location and velocity (see Page 5, paragraph 19)).
Consider claim 7, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, further disclose wherein the one or more processors is further configured to estimate greenhouse gas emissions for the first location based on the total number of vehicles (“At this point, the emission factors of different types of vehicles can be calculated, combined with the vehicle type look-up table to obtain the emission factors of each pollutant of each type of vehicle, and brought into the source intensity calculation formula, combined with the traffic flow of corresponding types of vehicles…the formula adds the same pollutants emitted by different types of vehicles, and finally obtains the total emissions of different pollutants in the road section” (see Page 8, paragraph 15)).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”) and further in view of Choueifaty et al. (US 10373172 B2).
Consider claim 2, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose wherein the UE includes any equipment that uses a chip card and a chip.
In the same field of endeavor, Choueifaty et al. disclose a system for monitoring vehicle emissions wherein the UE includes any equipment that uses a chip card and a chip (referring to Figure 2c, “The automobile 52 may include various units/modules or elements which are configured to implement and/or perform at least some of the different operations/steps illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, such as: a communication module comprising a transmission unit 52a and a receiving unit 52b (e.g. a SIM card embedded in the car electronic system)” (see Figure 2c, Column 29, line 23-29)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al., by implementing a UE that uses a chip card and a chip equipment as disclosed in Choueifaty in order to permit the UE to access a telecommunications network for data collection purposes.
Claims 3, 8, 11, 15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”) and further in view of Thibault et al. (US 20140031061 A1).
Consider claim 3, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose a system wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour.
In the same field of endeavor, Thibault et al. disclose a system for monitoring a vehicle wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour (“In an aspect, it can be detected whether the device 102a is in a moving vehicle…the speed threshold to determine a moving vehicle can be a low speed (e.g., 10 MPH)” (see paragraph 0033)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain, by implementing a predetermined movement threshold of 10 miles per hour as disclosed in Thibault et al., in order to exclude extraneous data collected from non-vehicular movement.
Consider claim 8, Zhang et al. disclose a method for measuring greenhouse gas emissions utilizing a telecommunications network, the method comprising:
determining a total number of vehicles at a first location (“obtain[ing] the number of vehicles in the road section and the traffic flow of the section of the road section” (see Page 5, paragraph 14) using positional and speed information which are obtained via a GPS module);
and based on the total number of vehicles, estimating greenhouse gas emissions for the first location (“At this point, the emission factors of different types of vehicles can be calculated, combined with the vehicle type look-up table to obtain the emission factors of each pollutant of each type of vehicle, and brought into the source intensity calculation formula, combined with the traffic flow of corresponding types of vehicles…the formula adds the same pollutants emitted by different types of vehicles, and finally obtains the total emissions of different pollutants in the road section” (see Page 8, paragraph 15)).
However, Zhang et al. fail to disclose a method comprising identifying a plurality of user equipment (UE) devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold.
In the same field of endeavor, Bonnetain discloses a method comprising:
identifying a plurality of user equipment (UE) devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold (using the trajectory data collected via the network event tracking approach, “we apply a simple, yet effective, speed-based heuristic to infer the transportation mode” (see Page 79, Section 4.7, paragraph 1). From the same dataset, positional data for a plurality of UE devices can also be approximated);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. by configuring it to identify a plurality of UE devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold as disclosed in Bonnetain in order to filter out data from nonvehicular movement.
However, Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain fail to disclose a method comprising:
based on the velocity above a predetermined threshold, determining that the plurality of UE devices is moving in a vehicle and determining a total number of vehicles at a first location based on analyzing one or more occupancy criteria, wherein the one or more occupancy criteria comprises a velocity for each UE device of the plurality of UE devices.
In the same field of endeavor, Thibault et al. disclose a method comprising:
based on the velocity above a predetermined threshold, determining that the plurality of UE devices is moving in a vehicle (referring to Figure 1, “it can be detected whether the device 102a is in a moving vehicle. For example, based on one or more of speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, motion sensing device sensitivity, type of device and paths of known roads near the device 102a…Moreover, the same detection mechanism can be used to determine whether two or more devices are likely to be in the same vehicle, based on the speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, and paths of known roads near the devices” (See paragraph 0033));
determining a total number of vehicles at a first location based on analyzing one or more occupancy criteria, wherein the one or more occupancy criteria comprises a velocity for each UE device of the plurality of UE devices (Zhang et al. discusses “obtain[ing] the number of vehicles in the road section and the traffic flow of the section of the road section” (see Page 5, paragraph 14) using positional and speed information which are obtained via a GPS module. Thibault et al. discloses analyzing velocity data for multiple UEs in the same vehicle (See
paragraph 0033)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain with the teachings of Thibault et al. in order to avoid overcounting the total number of vehicles in one location.
Consider claim 11, and as applied to claim 8 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose a method wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour.
In the same field of endeavor, Thibault et al. disclose a method for monitoring a vehicle wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour (“In an aspect, it can be detected whether the device 102a is in a moving vehicle…the speed threshold to determine a moving vehicle can be a low speed (e.g., 10 MPH)” (see paragraph 0033)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, by implementing a predetermined movement threshold of 10 miles per hour as disclosed by Thibault et al. in order to exclude extraneous data collected from non-vehicular movement.
Consider claim 15, Zhang et al. disclose a system for measuring vehicular greenhouse gas emissions, the system comprising:
one or more processors (“uses a smart phone-based traffic data real-time collection system” (see Page 5, paragraph 2)); and
one or more computer-readable media storing computer-usable instructions (“The
traffic data acquisition system writes an API application program based on the android smartphone operating system” (see Page 5, paragraph 19)) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
determine a total number of vehicles at a first location (“obtain[ing] the number of vehicles in the road section and the traffic flow of the section of the road section” (see Page 5, paragraph 14) using positional and speed information which are obtained via a GPS module);
and based on the total number of vehicles, estimate greenhouse gas emissions for the first location (“At this point, the emission factors of different types of vehicles can be calculated, combined with the vehicle type look-up table to obtain the emission factors of each pollutant of each type of vehicle, and brought into the source intensity calculation formula, combined with the traffic flow of corresponding types of vehicles…the formula adds the same pollutants emitted by different types of vehicles, and finally obtains the total emissions of different pollutants in the road section” (see Page 8, paragraph 15)).
However, Zhang et al. fail to disclose a system that is configured to identify a plurality of user equipment (UE) devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold.
In the same field of endeavor, Bonnetain discloses a system comprising:
identifying a plurality of user equipment (UE) devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold (using the trajectory data collected via the network event tracking approach, “we apply a simple, yet effective, speed-based heuristic to infer the transportation mode” (see Page 79, Section 4.7, paragraph 1). From the same dataset, positional data for a plurality of UE devices can also be approximated);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. by configuring it to identify a plurality of UE devices moving at a velocity above a predetermined threshold as disclosed in Bonnetain in order to filter out data from nonvehicular movement.
However, Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain fail to disclose a system comprising determining based on the velocity above a predetermined threshold that the plurality of UE devices is moving in a vehicle and determining a total number of vehicles at a first location based on analyzing one or more occupancy criteria, wherein the one or more occupancy criteria comprises a velocity for each UE device of the plurality of UE devices.
In the same field of endeavor, Thibault et al. disclose a system configured to:
based on the velocity above a predetermined threshold, determine that the plurality of UE devices is moving in a vehicle (referring to Figure 1, “it can be detected whether the device 102a is in a moving vehicle. For example, based on one or more of speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, motion sensing device sensitivity, type of device and paths of known roads near the device 102a…Moreover, the same detection mechanism can be used to determine whether two or more devices are likely to be in the same vehicle, based on the speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, and paths of known roads near the devices” (See paragraph 0033));
determine a total number of vehicles at a first location based on analyzing one or more occupancy criteria, wherein the one or more occupancy criteria comprises a velocity for each UE device of the plurality of UE devices (Zhang et al. discusses “obtain[ing] the number of vehicles in the road section and the traffic flow of the section of the road section” (see Page 5, paragraph 14) using positional and speed information which are obtained via a GPS module. Thibault et al. discloses analyzing velocity data for multiple UEs in the same vehicle (See paragraph 0033)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain with the teachings of Thibault et al. in order to avoid overcounting the total number of vehicles in one location.
Consider claim 18, and as applied to claim 15 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose a system wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour.
In the same field of endeavor, Thibault et al. disclose a system for monitoring a vehicle wherein the predetermined threshold to determine a vehicle is in motion is 10 miles per hour (“In an aspect, it can be detected whether the device 102a is in a moving vehicle…the speed threshold to determine a moving vehicle can be a low speed (e.g., 10 MPH)” (see paragraph 0033)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al., by implementing a predetermined movement threshold of 10 miles per hour as disclosed by Thibault et al. in order to exclude extraneous data collected from non-vehicular movement.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”) and further in view of Sanchez (WO 2021195059 A1).
Consider claim 5, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by
Bonnetain, fail to disclose a system further comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Sanchez discloses a system providing renewing carbon offsets for a driving period of a user comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of the vehicle (Process 100 in Figure 1A includes “estimating the amount of total carbon emission of the user’s driving period is based upon fuel-consumption driving data and/or vehicle information collected for the one or more vehicle trips made by the user… For example, the vehicle information indicate various specifications of the vehicle operated by the user, such as model/year/make” (see paragraph 0029). System 200 in Figure 2 implements the method 100, and in one embodiment “the server 206 includes various software applications stored in the memory 232 and executable by the processor 230. For example, these software applications include specific programs, routines, or scripts for performing functions associated with the method 100” (see paragraph 0052). It is reasonable to assume one of these functions is the estimation for the amount of total carbon emission, which would require vehicle specifications such as make and model to be communicated to the server via the network 204).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, by implementing a technique to communicate vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of the vehicle as disclosed by Sanchez in order to more accurately calculate the emissions output unique to each vehicle.
Consider claim 6, and as applied to claim 1 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose wherein the one or more processors is further configured to
communicate vehicle information to a data storage to maintain and store the vehicle information.
In the same field of endeavor, Sanchez discloses wherein the one or more processors is further configured to communicate vehicle information to a data storage to maintain and store the vehicle information (“the vehicle information are identified using a unique identifier of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle identification number (VIN)), which may be supplied by the user or collected from a manufacturer of the vehicle” (see paragraph 0032). Referring to Figure 2, data is collected on “various operating parameters of the vehicle, such as speed, acceleration, braking, location, engine status, fuel level, as well as other suitable parameters…According to certain embodiments, the collected data are stored in the memory 218 before being transmitted to the server 206 using the communications unit 220 via the network 204” (see Figure 2, paragraph 0052). The described vehicle information can reasonably be assumed to be part of this transmission, given that the described vehicle information is integral to the calculation of emissions and that said calculation takes place on the server side (see paragraph 0054)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, by implementing a technique wherein the one or more processors is further configured to communicate vehicle information to a data storage to maintain and store the vehicle information as disclosed by Sanchez in order to apply these parameters to subsequent usage data from the same vehicle.
Claims 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”), further in view of Thibault et al. (US 20140031061 A1), and further in view of Choueifaty et al. (US 10373172 B2).
Consider claim 9, and as applied to claim 8 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain, fail to disclose a method wherein the UE is a vehicle with a SIM card.
In the same field of endeavor, Choueifaty et al. disclose a method for monitoring vehicle emissions wherein the UE includes any equipment that uses a chip card and a chip (referring to Figure 2c, “The automobile 52 may include various units/modules or elements which are configured to implement and/or perform at least some of the different operations/steps illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, such as: a communication module comprising a transmission unit 52a and a receiving unit 52b (e.g. a SIM card embedded in the car electronic system)” (see Figure 2c, Column 29, line 23-29)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, by implementing an integrated vehicular SIM card as disclosed by Choueifaty et al. in order to collect data on vehicles even if the operator travels without a cellular device.
Consider claim 16, and as applied to claim 15 above, Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain fail to disclose wherein the UE is a vehicle with a SIM card.
In the same field of endeavor, Choueifaty et al. disclose a system for monitoring vehicle emissions wherein the UE includes any equipment that uses a chip card and a chip (referring to Figure 2c, “The automobile 52 may include various units/modules or elements which are configured to implement and/or perform at least some of the different operations/steps illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, such as: a communication module comprising a transmission unit 52a and a receiving unit 52b (e.g. a SIM card embedded in the car electronic system)” (see Figure 2c, Column 29, line 23-29)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, by implementing an integrated vehicular SIM card as disclosed by Choueifaty et al. in order to collect data on vehicles even if the operator travels without a cellular device.
Claims 10 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”), further in view of Thibault et al. (US 20140031061 A1), and further in view of Bauman et al. (US 20080316006 A1).
Consider Claim 10, and as applied to claim 8 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., fail to disclose a method wherein the UE is a mobile device connected to a vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Bauman et al. disclose a method for communicating vehicle data via Bluetooth to a cell phone wherein the UE is a mobile device connected to a vehicle (“The communications module wirelessly communicates the diagnostic data to a Bluetooth enabled cell phone in the vehicle using Bluetooth communications. The cell phone communicates the diagnostic data to an Internet server via the Internet” (see paragraph 0008)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., by connecting a mobile device to the vehicle as disclosed by Bauman et al. in order to access vehicle specifications and sensor data, and forward these to the network.
Consider Claim 17, and as applied to claim 15 above, Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., fail to disclose a system wherein the UE is a mobile device connected to a vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Bauman et al. disclose a system for communicating vehicle data via Bluetooth to a cell phone wherein the UE is a mobile device connected to a vehicle (“The communications module wirelessly communicates the diagnostic data to a Bluetooth enabled cell phone in the vehicle using Bluetooth communications. The cell phone communicates the diagnostic data to an Internet server via the Internet” (see paragraph 0008)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., by connecting a mobile device to the vehicle as disclosed by Bauman et al. in order to access vehicle specifications and sensor data, and forward these to the network.
Claims 12-14, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN105426636 B) in view of Bonnetain (“Unlocking the potential of mobile phone data for large scale urban mobility estimation”), further in view of Thibault et al. (US
20140031061 A1), and further in view of Sanchez (WO 2021195059 A1).
Consider Claim 12, and as applied to claim 8 above, Zhang et al., as modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., fail to disclose a method further comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices.
In the same field of endeavor, Sanchez discloses a method providing renewing carbon offsets for a driving period of a user further comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices (Process 100 in Figure 1A includes “estimating the amount of total carbon emission of the user’s driving period is based upon fuel-consumption driving data and/or vehicle information collected for the one or more vehicle trips made by the user…For example, the vehicle information indicate various specifications of the vehicle operated by the user, such as model/year/make” (see paragraph 0029). System 200 in Figure 2 implements the method 100, and may include one or more sensors (element 224) which “monitor the vehicle 210 by collecting data associated with various operating parameters of the vehicle, such as speed, acceleration, braking, location, engine status, fuel level, as well as other suitable parameters” (see paragraph 0051). In one embodiment of System 200, “the server 206 includes various software applications stored in the memory 232 and executable by the processor 230. For example, these software applications include specific programs, routines, or scripts for performing functions associated with the method 100” (see paragraph 0052). It is reasonable to assume one of these functions is the estimation for the amount of total carbon emission, which would require vehicle information such as make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices to be communicated to the server via the network 204).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., by implementing a technique to communicate information including a make and model of the vehicle as well as the velocity and position of each of the UE devices to the telecommunications network as disclosed by Sanchez in order to more accurately calculate the emissions output unique to each vehicle and determine the occupancy of each vehicle.
Consider Claim 13, and as applied to claim 12 above, Thibault et al. as combined with Zhang et al., Bonnetain, and Sanchez further teach a method wherein the occupancy criteria further comprises a distance between each UE device (“the same detection mechanism can be used to determine whether two or more devices are likely to be in the same vehicle, based on the speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, and paths of known roads near the devices” (See paragraph 0033). Given that the mechanism makes use of location data from two devices travelling in the same vehicle, it follows that a distance between said devices can be determined.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, Thibault et al., and Sanchez by implementing a method wherein the occupancy criteria further comprises a distance between each UE device as disclosed by Thibault et al. in order to more accurately de-duplicate data from devices that are travelling in the same vehicle.
Consider Claim 14, and as applied to claim 13 above, Zhang et al. as modified by
Bonnetain, Thibault et al., and Sanchez further disclose a method further comprising creating a visual depiction of greenhouse gases in the first location (“provide a visual interface for travelers in a graphical way to understand the concentration of street air pollutants in real time” (see Page 4, paragraph 10)).
Consider Claim 19, and as applied to claim 15 above, Zhang et al. as modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al. fail to disclose a system further comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices.
In the same field of endeavor, Sanchez discloses a system providing renewing carbon offsets for a driving period of a user further comprising communicating vehicle information to the telecommunications network including a make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices (Process 100 in Figure 1A includes “estimating the amount of total carbon emission of the user’s driving period is based upon fuel-consumption driving data and/or vehicle information collected for the one or more vehicle trips made by the user…For example, the vehicle information indicate various specifications of the vehicle operated by the user, such as model/year/make” (see paragraph 0029). System 200 in Figure 2 implements the method 100, and may include one or more sensors (element 224) which “monitor the vehicle 210 by collecting data associated with various operating parameters of the vehicle, such as speed, acceleration, braking, location, engine status, fuel level, as well as other suitable parameters” (see paragraph 0051). In one embodiment of System 200, “the server 206 includes various software applications stored in the memory 232 and executable by the processor 230. For example, these software applications include specific programs, routines, or scripts for performing functions associated with the method 100” (see paragraph 0052). It is reasonable to assume one of these functions is the estimation for the amount of total carbon emission, which would require vehicle information such as make and model of each vehicle, the velocity of each the UE devices, and a location of each of the UE devices to be communicated to the server via the network 204).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain and Thibault et al., by implementing a technique to communicate information including a make and model of the vehicle as well as the velocity and position of each of the UE devices to the telecommunications network as disclosed by Sanchez in order to more accurately calculate the emissions output unique to each vehicle and determine the occupancy of each vehicle.
Consider Claim 20, and as applied to claim 19 above, Thibault et al. as combined with Zhang et al., Bonnetain, and Sanchez further teaches a system wherein the occupancy criteria further comprises a distance between each UE device (“the same detection mechanism can be used to determine whether two or more devices are likely to be in the same vehicle, based on the speed, location, direction of movement, proximity, and paths of known roads near the devices” (See paragraph 0033). Given that the mechanism makes use of location data from two devices travelling in the same vehicle, it follows that a distance between said devices can be determined.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed by Zhang et al. and modified by Bonnetain, Thibault et al., and Sanchez by implementing a system wherein the occupancy criteria further comprises a distance between each UE device as disclosed by Thibault et al. in order to more accurately de-duplicate data from devices that are travelling in the same vehicle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER WU whose telephone number is (571)272-3360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 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 Application/Control Number: 18/508,364 Page 11 Art Unit: 2642 http:/www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, RAFAEL PEREZ-GUTIERREZ can be reached at (571)272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER WU/Examiner, Art Unit 2642
/Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2642