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 . Claims 1-4 and 6-15 are pending and examined below. This action is in response to the claims filed 2/2/26.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Remarks 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) filed on 2/2/26, regarding 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretations are persuasive in view of amendments filed 2/2/26. 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretations are withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Remarks 35 USC § 102 and 35 USC § 103. filed on 2/2/26, regarding 35 USC § 102 and 35 USC § 103 rejections are persuasive in view of amendments filed 2/2/26.
However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of Adachi et al. (US 2023/0359199) below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 6, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Azukawa et al. (US 2019/0300138) in view of Adachi et al. (US 2023/0359199).
Regarding claims 1, 14, and 15, Azukawa discloses an autonomous boat docking/trailering system including a trailering support device/system/method comprising (Abstract):
a marine vessel including a hull (Fig. 1);
a trailering support device for loading the hull onto a trailer, the trailering support device including: one or more controllers configured or programmed to function as (¶41 and Fig. 4 – control system corresponding to the recited trailering support device):
a vessel steering controller to perform an automatic vessel steering control to move the hull toward the trailer (¶67 – automatic boat control without operator control);
an estimation unit to estimate, based on a content of the automatic vessel steering control, a position of the hull at a predetermined time after a start of the automatic vessel steering control and an azimuth of the hull at the predetermined time (¶101-111 and Fig. 7 – S302 corresponding to the recited start of the automatic vessel steering control where the controller calculates and updates the target navigation route in real time comparing position and bearing to established thresholds where target position/bearing along the target navigation route corresponding to the recited estimated position/azimuth, given the real-time cyclical estimations of the current positions/bearings being an iteratively process each iteration of the measurements occurs after a predetermined time based on the iterative processing times),
the content of the automatic vessel steering control including at least one of a control of a steering angle of the hull or a control of an output of a propulsion device that propels the hull (¶102 and Fig. 7 - instruction signals to control the propulsion devices 4L and 4R so that the boat body 2 arrives at the target position corresponding to the recited content of the automatic vessel steering control);
a detector to detect the position of the hull, a steering angle of the hull, and the azimuth of the hull (¶47 and ¶61 – positional sensors corresponding to the recited detector);
a determination unit to compare the position and the azimuth estimated by the estimation unit, respectively, with the position and the azimuth detected by the detector at the predetermined time, and to determine, based on a comparison result, whether the loading of the hull onto the trailer is able to be performed or not (¶101-111, ¶155, and Fig. 7 – S305and S306 determine current positions cyclically after initiation of autonomous control and compares the position and bearing corresponding to the recited position and azimuth to targets to see if they the errors are less than the first thresholds corresponding to the recited determination whether the loading of the hull onto the trailer is able to be performed or not where the target positions are based on the current position of the trailer); and
a notifier to provide notification, in a case where the determination unit determines that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed, that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed (¶101-111 and Fig. 7 – The determined target navigation route Ph1 is displayed on the environment map 62. The controller 41 calculates and updates the target navigation route Ph1 in real time. When the position and bearing errors are not less than the allowable thresholds, the route is updated and displayed to the operator corresponding to the recited notification that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed as initially planned).
While Azukawa does disclose periodically assessing position and correction controls, it does not explicitly utilize predicted position/azimuth, however Adachi discloses a marine vessel maneuver control system including an estimation unit to estimate, based on a content of the automatic vessel steering control, a predicted position of the hull at a predetermined time after a start of the automatic vessel steering control and an a predicted azimuth of the hull at the predetermined time (¶68-73 - determines a predicted position and a predicted attitude of the vessel after a predetermined time has elapsed based on the acquired information associated with the navigation of the vessel where the information includes information from the automatic steering device),
The combination of the cyclical navigation control adjustments of Azukawa with the predicted positioning based controls of Adachi fully discloses the elements as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have combined the cyclical navigation control adjustments of Azukawa with the predicted positioning based controls of Adachi in order to facilitate docking of the vessel to a desired position on the pier in a desired attitude (Adachi - ¶98).
Regarding claim 2, Azukawa further discloses wherein the determination unit is configured to determine that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed in a case where a difference between the estimated position and the detected position exceeds a predetermined distance and/or a difference between the estimated azimuth and the detected azimuth exceeds a predetermined angle (¶101-114 and Fig. 7 – S305and S306 determine current positions cyclically after initiation of autonomous control and compares the position and bearing corresponding to the recited position and azimuth to targets corresponding to the recited estimated position/azimuth to see if they the errors are less than the first thresholds where the position/bearing errors corresponding to the recited difference between estimated and detected position/azimuth relative to the thresholds corresponding to the recited predetermined distance/angle).
Regarding claim 3, Azukawa further discloses wherein the predetermined time is repeated after the start of the automatic vessel steering control (¶101-114 and Fig. 7 – real time adjustments are made cyclically after the initiation of automatic control until objectives are reached corresponding to the recited repeating the predetermined time).
Regarding claim 4, while Azukawa does describe updating the position information in real time, it does not explicitly define the period of time after the last estimation, however Adachi further discloses wherein the predetermined time is a time at which the hull moves by a predetermined distance or a predetermined period of time elapses, after the last time the estimation unit estimates the position and the azimuth of the hull (¶68-73 - determines a predicted position and a predicted attitude of the vessel after a predetermined time has elapsed based on the acquired information associated with the navigation of the vessel where the information includes information from the automatic steering device),
The combination of the cyclical navigation control adjustments of Azukawa with the predicted positioning based controls of Adachi fully discloses the elements as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have combined the cyclical navigation control adjustments of Azukawa with the predicted positioning based controls of Adachi in order to facilitate docking of the vessel to a desired position on the pier in a desired attitude (Adachi - ¶98).
Regarding claim 6, Azukawa further discloses wherein the vessel steering controller is configured to reduce a speed of the hull in a case where it is determined that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed (¶114-117 – reducing target speed and angular speed in order to reduce relative errors when above the respective thresholds corresponding to the recited determination that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed).
Regarding claim 12, Azukawa further discloses wherein the notifier is configured to provide notification, when it is determined that the loading of the hull is able to be performed, that the loading of the hull is able to be performed (¶101-111 - When all of the starting conditions for the automatic shore arrival mode are met in step S302, the processing advances to step S304. In step S304, the controller 41 generates instruction signals to control the propulsion devices 4L and 4R so that the boat body 2 arrives at the target position. Where the displaying of the guidance route to the operator corresponding to the recited notification that the loading of the hull is able to be performed).
Regarding claim 13, Azukawa further discloses wherein the notifier is configured to provide notification, when the automatic vessel steering control is being executed, that the automatic vessel steering control is being executed (¶72 and ¶101-111 – real-time updates to the target navigation route being displayed corresponding to the recited notification of automatic control being executed).
Claims 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Azukawa et al. (US 2019/0300138) in view of Adachi et al. (US 2023/0359199), as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Traub et al. (US 2022/0281569).
Regarding claim 7, Azukawa further discloses correcting the target position when not aligned properly by utilizing an adjusted second target point (¶78, ¶104-106, and Fig. 7) but does not explicitly disclose this utilizes a rearward movement.
However, Traub further discloses wherein the vessel steering controller is configured to cause the hull to move rearward in a case where it is determined that the loading of the hull onto the trailer is not able to be performed (¶69 - the warning signal or vibration signal may be emitted by the navigation system or method 2 in the event that, given the current trajectory of the boat, it will not be possible for the longitudinal axis LAB of the boat to become properly aligned with the longitudinal axis LAT of the trailer. In response to such warning, the operator will then have to undertake drastic corrective action, e.g., rapidly slow down the travel speed of the boat 4, or possibly reverse the travel direction of the boat 4).
The combination of the automatic boat control of Azukawa in view of Adachi with the reverse control corrective action of Traub fully discloses the elements as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have combined the automatic boat trailer loading system of Azukawa in view of Adachi with the reverse corrective action for boat trailer loading of Traub in order to avert possible damage to the boat and/or trailer (Traub - ¶69).
Regarding claim 11, Azukawa further discloses correcting the target position when not aligned properly by utilizing an adjusted second target point (¶78, ¶104-106, and Fig. 7) but does not explicitly disclose this utilizes a rearward movement.
However, Traub further discloses wherein the notifier is configured to provide notification, when the hull is caused to move rearward, that the hull is caused to move rearward (¶69 - the warning signal or vibration signal may be emitted by the navigation system or method 2 in the event that, given the current trajectory of the boat, it will not be possible for the longitudinal axis LAB of the boat to become properly aligned with the longitudinal axis LAT of the trailer. In response to such warning, the operator will then have to undertake drastic corrective action, e.g., rapidly slow down the travel speed of the boat 4, or possibly reverse the travel direction of the boat 4 where the warning signal when reverse operation commences corresponding to the recited notification that the hull is caused to move rearward).
The combination of the automatic boat control of Azukawa in view of Adachi with the reverse control corrective action of Traub fully discloses the elements as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have combined the automatic boat trailer loading system of Azukawa in view of Adachi with the reverse corrective action for automatic boat trailer loading of Traub in order to avert possible damage to the boat and/or trailer (Traub - ¶69).
Allowable Subject Matter and Additional References Cited
Claims 8-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 8-10, Azukawa further discloses correcting the target position when not aligned properly by utilizing an adjusted second target point (¶78, ¶104-106, and Fig. 7) but does not explicitly disclose this utilizes a rearward movement.
Traub et al. (US 2022/0281569) further discloses drastic corrective action, e.g., rapidly slow down the travel speed of the boat 4, or possibly reverse the travel direction of the boat but does not explicitly disclose the details of the reverse action as claimed.
Koyano et al. (US 2018/0050772) discloses a small craft trailering system including a forward-backward movement switch mechanism 10b configured to transmit the drive force of the engine 10a while adjusting the drive force (¶72 and Fig. 6) but does not explicitly disclose performing rearward movement when it is determined that hull cannot be loaded onto the trailer.
Azukawa et al. (US 2019/0302774) discloses a boat control method including the ability to switch between forward and reverse travel (¶50) as well as the need to correct the target position to a position along the shore arrival location (¶74), but does not explicitly disclose performing rearward movement when it is determined that hull cannot be loaded onto the trailer.
Zhang et al. (US 2018/0361929) discloses a trailer hitching system for a land vehicle including utilizing require repeated forward and reverse driving coordinated with multiple steering maneuvers to appropriately position the vehicle (¶2) but it would not have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine a land based system with a marine based system for trailer loading.
Shimokawabe (US 2021/0350710) discloses a ship movement navigation assistance system including utilizing periodic predicted positions to adjust controls (¶138-140).
None of the art of record either alone or in combination explicitly discloses the specific method for correcting the positioning with a rearward movement with the specific details as claimed.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew J Reda whose telephone number is (408)918-7573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7-4 ET.
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/MATTHEW J. REDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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