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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hiromitsu et al. (US 2021/0109543).
(1) regarding claims 1 and 11:
Hiromitsu ‘543 discloses an apparatus for determining a position of an object outside a host vehicle (paragraph [0029] and [0034], where an obstacle identification apparatus is described), comprising:
a camera (cameras 11, 12, 13, and 14 in Fig. 1) configured to obtain an external image of a target object (paragraph [0037], where the cameras capture images of the areas ahead, behind or either side (outside) of the vehicle); and
a processor (processing unit 40 in Fig. 1) configured to: detect a target region corresponding to the target object in the external image (paragraph [0032], where the system detects an object in the surrounding region of the vehicle),
detect a horizontal reference line in the target region (paragraph [0049] and [0064], where a region from the horizon of the vehicle is detected),
determine a gradient of the horizontal reference line perpendicular to a front direction of the host vehicle on a horizontal plane parallel to a road surface (paragraph [0105]-[0107], [0120] and [0123], where the angle with respect to the horizontal plane is detected in the direction of the moving vehicle), and
determine a heading angle difference between the host vehicle and the target object based on the gradient of the horizontal reference line (paragraph [0105]-[0113], where an angle is determined between the vehicle and the object based on the angle of the horizon).
(2) regarding claims 2 and 12:
Hiromitsu ‘543 further discloses wherein the processor is configured to detect the horizontal reference line perpendicular to a front direction of the target object (paragraph [0105]-[0107], [0120] and [0123], where the reference line is taken in the horizon of the outside area of the vehicle, thus it will be the same horizon for the target object).
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.
Claim(s) 3, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiromitsu et al. (US 2021/0109543) in view of Sergeev (US 2018/0211394).
(1) regarding claims 3 and 13:
Hiromitsu ‘543 discloses all the subject matter as described above except determine a first reference point and a second reference point on the horizontal reference line, the first reference point and the second reference point being randomly determined; and
obtain first image coordinates indicating a position of the first reference point and second image coordinates indicating a position of the second reference point, in an image coordinate system.
However, Segeev ‘394 teaches determine a first reference point and a second reference point on the horizontal reference line, the first reference point and the second reference point being randomly determined (paragraph [0039]-[0042], where two points of reference P1 and P2 are determined, the points being taken arbitrarily with reference to the outside object); and
obtain first image coordinates indicating a position of the first reference point and second image coordinates indicating a position of the second reference point, in an image coordinate system (paragraph [0039]-[0042], where the coordinates of the reference points are obtained).
Having a system of Segeev ‘394 reference and then given the well-established teaching of Hiromitsu ‘543 reference, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hiromitsu ‘543 to include the limitations as taught by Segeev ‘394 because due to the objects that actively reflect light, light that was emitted for example by a headlight of the motor vehicle to illuminate the road is reflected in a directional or defined manner by the object back to the motor vehicle and can therefore be erroneously detected by the image processing device, in particular at night, as an oncoming vehicle emitting light. Using the method in accordance with the invention, which can identify objects as being stationary or dynamic, it is advantageously possible to prevent such a mix-up from happening (paragraph [0021]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10, and 14-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A. Claims 4 and 14 disclose the unique and distinct limitations of “obtain first stereoscopic coordinates indicating the position of the first reference point and second stereoscopic coordinates indicating the position of the second reference point, in a world coordinate system, based on the first image coordinates and the second image coordinates; and determine the gradient of the horizontal reference line by calculating a gradient of a straight line connecting the first stereoscopic coordinates and the second stereoscopic coordinates on the horizontal plane”, either alone or in combination, the applied prior art does not teach the claimed subject matter. Claims 5-10 and 15-20 depend on claims 4 and 14 respectively, therefore a similar analysis applies.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LENNIN R RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1678. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00am-7:00pm.
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/LENNIN R RODRIGUEZGONZALEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683