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
Claims 1-14 filed on 10/26/2023 and Amendments filed on 08/29/2025 and 03/12/2026 have been examined.
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s amendments and remarks filed on 06/24/2026. Claims 1 and 14-15 have been amended. Claims 4 and 16 have been cancelled. Claims 17-19 are new claims that have been added to the claim set. Claims 1-3, 5-15, and 17-19 are currently pending and addressed below.
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Applicant’s accompanying amendments and arguments, on pages 8-13 of the Applicant Arguments/Remarks (hereinafter referred to as the “Remarks”), filed 06/24/2026, with respect to the rejection of independent claims 1 and 14-15, and their corresponding dependent claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 stating “… Claim 1 is patentable over Tamashima, Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa because, e.g., the asserted references do not teach, disclose, or suggest at least the following subject matter: in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2), as recited in claim 1 as amended… The Office Action relies on Kurata for teaching group-vehicle identification based on "ID information," while relying on Miyazawa for extracting license plate numbers from image data, but does not articulate any teaching, suggestion, or motivation that would have led a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kurata's system to use license plate numbers as the vehicle ID. Kurata's "ID information" is a pre-registered logical identifier stored in memory and used within a communication-based framework to confirm group membership among participating vehicles, not a visually observable identifier extracted from image data… Independent claims 14 and 15 recite similar subject matter as claim 1 and are allowable for at least the same reasons as claim 1… Claim 15 is patentable over Tamashima, Shiraishi, and Tetsuka because, e.g., the asserted references do not teach, disclose, or suggest at least the following subject matter: identify the other vehicle (2) as one of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride, and in response to identifying the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the candidate vehicle (2) with group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2)… Applicant therefore respectfully requests that the rejection of claim 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 be rescinded and the claims passed to allowance…” have been considered and are not persuasive.
Firstly, contrary to the arguments provided by the Applicant, the Examiner submits that Tamashima WO 2020202290 A1 (“Tamashima”) discloses identifying, using the controller (20), the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired (See at least page 12-17 of Tamashima – “… The image captured by the external detection camera 38 is transmitted to, for example, the control device 23… the information from the external detection camera 38 is used for recognizing the position, type, speed, and the like of the object in the detection direction… The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A… The motorcycle 1 increases the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the following vehicle 1A in front of the following vehicle in response to the external detection sensor SE…”) and executing a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being … in a so-called staggered state… the control device 23 … measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”).
Secondly, none of the claim limitations specifically recited in independent claims 1 and 14-15 require that the group specific information obtained in advance is a visually observable identifier extracted from image data. Furthermore, under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the relevant recited claim limitations, Kurata US 20170270801 A1 (“Kurata”), in the same field of endeavor teaches generating, using the controller (20), a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1), wherein the set of group vehicle specific information includes group vehicle specific information of each vehicle included in the group of motorcycles (See at least [0034] – “… The motorcycles A to G … transmit and receive the vehicle information one another, so as to cause the group information generating unit 23 to form the group information as the vehicle information of all the group members in accordance with the program by the CPU 17. The group information generated in the group information generating unit 23 is stored in the memory 18, that is, the motorcycles A to G share the group information…” and [0062] of Kurata – “… ECU 11 determines whether the own vehicle is one of the group members. In the case where the motorcycles A to G make the group H on such as the touring as this example, the group members each register their ID information in the memory 18 of the ECU 11 before or on departure for the touring. This ensures immediately confirming one another whether the own vehicle is one of the group members based on the ID information…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Kurata teaches a system that generates a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information. The Examiner notes that 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of generating a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the own motorcycle as taught by Kurata, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to confirm whether vehicles are one of the group members based on the ID information as specified in at least [0034] and [0062] of Kurata.
Lastly, Miyazawa et al. US 20160267795 A1 (“Miyazawa”), in the same field of endeavor teaches extracting, from the image data using the controller (20), vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include… an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle…”); identifying, using the controller (20), the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…”); and in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, executing a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…” and [0077] of Miyazawa – “… in the case where its own vehicle is travelling in convoy, the travel control portion 71 causes its own vehicle to follow a convoy vehicle (preceding vehicle) at a speed of 75 km/h and at an inter-vehicular distance of 17 m…”).
Thus, the combination of Tamashima and Kurata teaches a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode, executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another motorcycle based on image information capturing the preceding motorcycle, and obtaining group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information, while Miyazawa teaches a convoy travel control apparatus for a vehicle that extracts an identification number of a preceding vehicle and determines whether the identification number matches with an identification number allocated to a convoy vehicle to determine whether the imaged preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and causes the own vehicle to follow the convoy vehicle at a specified speed and a specified inter-vehicular distance.
The Examiner notes that the vehicle specific information and group vehicle specific information are broadly recited within the claims, so identifying whether a detected preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle by comparing extracted identification information, obtained from an image, for the preceding vehicle to identification information associated with the group of convoy vehicles for the purpose of causing an own vehicle to follow a convoy vehicle reads on the claim limitations taught by the combination of Tamashima, Kurata, and Miyazawa as provided above. Furthermore, the Examiner submits that 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of extracting from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle as taught by Miyazawa, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether a preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and follow the convoy vehicle as specified in at least [0013], [0077], and [0127] of Miyazawa.
Therefore, the rejection of independent claims 1 and 14-15, and the corresponding dependent claims under 35 U.S.C. 03 are maintained by the Examiner.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima WO 2020202290 A1 (“Tamashima”) in view of Shiraishi US 20160332622 A1 (“Shiraishi”), Kurata US 20170270801 A1 (“Kurata”), and Miyazawa et al. US 20160267795 A1 (“Miyazawa”).
For claim 1, Tamashima discloses a controller (20) for a motorcycle (1) (See at least Abstract – “This driving assistance device for saddled vehicles…” and page 12 of Tamashima – “… the control device 23, subjected to appropriate image processing, and becomes desired image data to be used for various controls… vehicle driving assist control, the automatic driving control…”), the controller configured to
execute an adaptive cruise control based on a surrounding environment information of the motorcycle (1) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”),
acquire an image data based on a detection result output from a camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1), the image data that captures another vehicle (2) traveling in a group ride in which the group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1) is traveling in a group (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “…The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A…”);
identify the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data (See at least page 12-17 of Tamashima – “… The image captured by the external detection camera 38 is transmitted to, for example, the control device 23… the information from the external detection camera 38 is used for recognizing the position, type, speed, and the like of the object in the detection direction… The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A… The motorcycle 1 increases the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the following vehicle 1A in front of the following vehicle in response to the external detection sensor SE…”); and
execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being … in a so-called staggered state… the control device 23 … measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”).
Tamashima fails to specifically disclose execute an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance.
However, Shiraishi, in the same field of endeavor teaches execute an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance (See at least [0027] of Shiraishi – “… The DSSECU 91 can execute, for the DSS function, the vehicle speed control for automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 regardless of the accelerator operation by the driver. The DSSECU 91 of the present embodiment can execute, for the vehicle speed control, an inter-vehicle distance control (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control”), for example, of detecting the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 2 and the preceding vehicle of the vehicle 2 based on the obstacle information from the target detection sensor 3 and maintaining the inter-vehicle distance at a predetermined distance by automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 according to the inter-vehicle distance regardless of the accelerator operation to cause the vehicle 2 to follow the preceding vehicle. In the ACC control, the DSSECU 91 … automatically controls the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 based on the target acceleration/deceleration…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Shiraishi teaches a vehicle control system that executes adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the vehicle automatically regardless of accelerator operation by a driver to maintain an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of executing an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle to keep a distance between the motorcycle and a target vehicle at a target distance as taught by Shiraishi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to compute a target acceleration/deceleration so that a target inter-vehicle distance is maintained and automatically control the vehicle speed based on the target acceleration/deceleration as specified in at least [0027] of Shiraishi.
Furthermore, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose generate a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1), wherein the set of group vehicle specific information includes group vehicle specific information of each vehicle included in the group of motorcycles.
However, Kurata, in the same field of endeavor teaches generate a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1), wherein the set of group vehicle specific information includes group vehicle specific information of each vehicle included in the group of motorcycles (See at least [0034] – “… The motorcycles A to G … transmit and receive the vehicle information one another, so as to cause the group information generating unit 23 to form the group information as the vehicle information of all the group members in accordance with the program by the CPU 17. The group information generated in the group information generating unit 23 is stored in the memory 18, that is, the motorcycles A to G share the group information…” and [0062] of Kurata – “… ECU 11 determines whether the own vehicle is one of the group members. In the case where the motorcycles A to G make the group H on such as the touring as this example, the group members each register their ID information in the memory 18 of the ECU 11 before or on departure for the touring. This ensures immediately confirming one another whether the own vehicle is one of the group members based on the ID information…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Kurata teaches a system that generates a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of generating a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the own motorcycle as taught by Kurata, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to confirm whether vehicles are one of the group members based on the ID information as specified in at least [0034] and [0062] of Kurata.
Lastly, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose extract, from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle (2);
identify the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride; and
in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2).
However, Miyazawa, in the same field of endeavor teaches extract, from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include… an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle…”);
identify the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…”); and
in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…” and [0077] of Miyazawa – “… in the case where its own vehicle is travelling in convoy, the travel control portion 71 causes its own vehicle to follow a convoy vehicle (preceding vehicle) at a speed of 75 km/h and at an inter-vehicular distance of 17 m…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Miyazawa teaches a convoy travel control apparatus for a vehicle that extracts an identification number (license plate number) of a preceding vehicle and determines whether the identification number matches with an identification number allocated to a convoy vehicle to determine whether the imaged preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and causes the own vehicle to follow the convoy vehicle at a specified speed and a specified inter-vehicular distance.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of extracting from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle as taught by Miyazawa, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether a preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and follow the convoy vehicle as specified in at least [0013], [0077], and [0127] of Miyazawa.
For claim 2, Tamashima discloses wherein the controller executes the group ride mode based on the travel state information of a plurality of other vehicles (2) (See at least pages 16-17 of Tamashima – “…The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction (in other words, in a so-called staggered state). The control device 23 has a control mode in which a plurality of vehicles are arranged in a staggered pattern as described above in the driving support control… The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant… FIG. 10A shows a case where, for example, when the motorcycle 1 is normally traveling by driving support control following the preceding vehicle 1A, the following vehicle 1B approaches from behind the vehicle at a specified relative speed or higher. Shown. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10B, the motorcycle 1 changes the traveling track of its own vehicle to the shoulder side (left side) by the intervention control by the control device 23. As a result, the following vehicle 1B approaching the motorcycle 1 can overtake the own vehicle without changing lanes…”).
For claim 14, Tamashima discloses a control method for maneuvering a motorcycle (1) (See at least Abstract – “This driving assistance device for saddled vehicles…” and page 12 of Tamashima – “… the control device 23, subjected to appropriate image processing, and becomes desired image data to be used for various controls… vehicle driving assist control, the automatic driving control…”), the control method comprising
executing, using a controller (20), an adaptive cruise control based on a surrounding environment information of the motorcycle (1) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”),
acquiring, using the controller (20), an image data based on a detection result output from a camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1), the image data that captures another vehicle (2) traveling in the group ride in which a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1) is traveling in a group (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “…The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A…”);
identifying, using the controller (20), the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired (See at least page 12-17 of Tamashima – “… The image captured by the external detection camera 38 is transmitted to, for example, the control device 23… the information from the external detection camera 38 is used for recognizing the position, type, speed, and the like of the object in the detection direction… The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A… The motorcycle 1 increases the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the following vehicle 1A in front of the following vehicle in response to the external detection sensor SE…”); and
executing a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being … in a so-called staggered state… the control device 23 … measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”).
Tamashima fails to specifically disclose executing an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance.
However, Shiraishi, in the same field of endeavor teaches executing an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance (See at least [0027] of Shiraishi – “… The DSSECU 91 can execute, for the DSS function, the vehicle speed control for automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 regardless of the accelerator operation by the driver. The DSSECU 91 of the present embodiment can execute, for the vehicle speed control, an inter-vehicle distance control (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control”), for example, of detecting the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 2 and the preceding vehicle of the vehicle 2 based on the obstacle information from the target detection sensor 3 and maintaining the inter-vehicle distance at a predetermined distance by automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 according to the inter-vehicle distance regardless of the accelerator operation to cause the vehicle 2 to follow the preceding vehicle. In the ACC control, the DSSECU 91 … automatically controls the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 based on the target acceleration/deceleration…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Shiraishi teaches a vehicle control system that executes adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the vehicle automatically regardless of accelerator operation by a driver to maintain an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of executing an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle to keep a distance between the motorcycle and a target vehicle at a target distance as taught by Shiraishi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to compute a target acceleration/deceleration so that a target inter-vehicle distance is maintained and automatically control the vehicle speed based on the target acceleration/deceleration as specified in at least [0027] of Shiraishi.
Furthermore, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose generating, using the controller (20), a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1), wherein the set of group vehicle specific information includes group vehicle specific information of each vehicle included in the group of motorcycles.
However, Kurata, in the same field of endeavor teaches generating, using the controller (20), a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1), wherein the set of group vehicle specific information includes group vehicle specific information of each vehicle included in the group of motorcycles (See at least [0034] – “… The motorcycles A to G … transmit and receive the vehicle information one another, so as to cause the group information generating unit 23 to form the group information as the vehicle information of all the group members in accordance with the program by the CPU 17. The group information generated in the group information generating unit 23 is stored in the memory 18, that is, the motorcycles A to G share the group information…” and [0062] of Kurata – “… ECU 11 determines whether the own vehicle is one of the group members. In the case where the motorcycles A to G make the group H on such as the touring as this example, the group members each register their ID information in the memory 18 of the ECU 11 before or on departure for the touring. This ensures immediately confirming one another whether the own vehicle is one of the group members based on the ID information…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Kurata teaches a system that generates a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of generating a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles including the own motorcycle as taught by Kurata, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to confirm whether vehicles are one of the group members based on the ID information as specified in at least [0034] and [0062] of Kurata.
Lastly, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose extracting, from the image data using the controller (20), vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle (2);
identifying, using the controller (20), the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride; and
in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, executing a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2).
However, Miyazawa, in the same field of endeavor teaches extracting, from the image data using the controller (20), vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include… an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle…”);
identifying, using the controller (20), the other vehicle (2) as a vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, wherein the set of group vehicle specific information is obtained in advance of travelling in the group ride (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…”); and
in response to identifying the other vehicle (2) as the vehicle of the vehicles of the group of motorcycles based on the image data acquired by comparing the vehicle specific information of the captured vehicle (2) with the group vehicle specific information of the set of group vehicle specific information, executing a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…” and [0077] of Miyazawa – “… in the case where its own vehicle is travelling in convoy, the travel control portion 71 causes its own vehicle to follow a convoy vehicle (preceding vehicle) at a speed of 75 km/h and at an inter-vehicular distance of 17 m…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Miyazawa teaches a convoy travel control apparatus for a vehicle that extracts an identification number (license plate number) of a preceding vehicle and determines whether the identification number matches with an identification number allocated to a convoy vehicle to determine whether the imaged preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and causes the own vehicle to follow the convoy vehicle at a specified speed and a specified inter-vehicular distance.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of extracting from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the other vehicle as taught by Miyazawa, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether a preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and follow the convoy vehicle as specified in at least [0013], [0077], and [0127] of Miyazawa.
For claim 15, Tamashima discloses a controller (20) for a motorcycle (1) (See at least Abstract – “This driving assistance device for saddled vehicles…” and page 12 of Tamashima – “… the control device 23, subjected to appropriate image processing, and becomes desired image data to be used for various controls… vehicle driving assist control, the automatic driving control…”), the controller configured to
execute an adaptive cruise control based on a surrounding environment information of the motorcycle (1) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”),
acquire an image data based on a detection result output from a camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1), the image data that captures a candidate vehicle (2) traveling in a group ride in which a group of motorcycles including the motorcycle (1) and an other vehicle (2) is traveling in a group (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “…The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A…”);
identify the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data (See at least page 12-17 of Tamashima – “… The image captured by the external detection camera 38 is transmitted to, for example, the control device 23… the information from the external detection camera 38 is used for recognizing the position, type, speed, and the like of the object in the detection direction… The external detection sensor SE includes an external detection camera 38 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle, and also includes a sensor and a camera that detect an object such as a vehicle on the side and the rear of the vehicle… FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being alternately displaced in the lane width direction … The control device 23 measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A… The motorcycle 1 increases the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the following vehicle 1A in front of the following vehicle in response to the external detection sensor SE…”); and
execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least pages 15-16 of Tamashima – “… The driving support control shown in FIG. 8 is a control for cornering when… a driving support device such as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) … is operating. The control device 23 … supports cornering based on, for example, information in front of the vehicle captured by the external detection camera 38… The driving support control shown in FIG. 9 shows an example of a control mode during group driving including the own vehicle. In this control mode, a plurality of motorcycles 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in a state of being … in a so-called staggered state… the control device 23 … measures the distance from the reference position P1 such as the center of the lens of the external detection sensor SE to the detection target (vehicle in front 1A) … Keep the distance between vehicles and 1A constant”).
Tamashima fails to specifically disclose execute an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance.
However, Shiraishi, in the same field of endeavor teaches execute an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle (1) automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle (1) to keep a distance between the motorcycle (1) and a target vehicle at a target distance (See at least [0027] of Shiraishi – “… The DSSECU 91 can execute, for the DSS function, the vehicle speed control for automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 regardless of the accelerator operation by the driver. The DSSECU 91 of the present embodiment can execute, for the vehicle speed control, an inter-vehicle distance control (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control”), for example, of detecting the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 2 and the preceding vehicle of the vehicle 2 based on the obstacle information from the target detection sensor 3 and maintaining the inter-vehicle distance at a predetermined distance by automatically accelerating the vehicle 2 according to the inter-vehicle distance regardless of the accelerator operation to cause the vehicle 2 to follow the preceding vehicle. In the ACC control, the DSSECU 91 … automatically controls the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 based on the target acceleration/deceleration…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Shiraishi teaches a vehicle control system that executes adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the vehicle automatically regardless of accelerator operation by a driver to maintain an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of executing an adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the motorcycle automatically regardless of an acceleration operation or a deceleration operation by a rider of the motorcycle to keep a distance between the motorcycle and a target vehicle at a target distance as taught by Shiraishi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to compute a target acceleration/deceleration so that a target inter-vehicle distance is maintained and automatically control the vehicle speed based on the target acceleration/deceleration as specified in at least [0027] of Shiraishi.
Furthermore, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose wherein group vehicle specific information is information of vehicles included in the group which is obtained in advance.
However, Kurata, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein group vehicle specific information is information of vehicles included in the group which is obtained in advance (See at least [0034] – “… The motorcycles A to G … transmit and receive the vehicle information one another, so as to cause the group information generating unit 23 to form the group information as the vehicle information of all the group members in accordance with the program by the CPU 17. The group information generated in the group information generating unit 23 is stored in the memory 18, that is, the motorcycles A to G share the group information…” and [0062] of Kurata – “… ECU 11 determines whether the own vehicle is one of the group members. In the case where the motorcycles A to G make the group H on such as the touring as this example, the group members each register their ID information in the memory 18 of the ECU 11 before or on departure for the touring. This ensures immediately confirming one another whether the own vehicle is one of the group members based on the ID information…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Kurata teaches a system that generates a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of generating a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles obtained in advance as taught by Kurata, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to confirm whether vehicles are one of the group members based on the ID information as specified in at least [0034] and [0062] of Kurata.
Lastly, Tamashima also fails to specifically disclose extract, from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the candidate vehicle (2);
identify the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the candidate vehicle (2) with group vehicle specific information, wherein the group vehicle specific information is information of vehicles included in the group which is obtained in advance; and
in response to identifying the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the candidate vehicle (2) with group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2).
However, Miyazawa, in the same field of endeavor teaches extract, from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the candidate vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include… an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle…”);
identify the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the candidate vehicle (2) with group vehicle specific information, wherein the group vehicle specific information is information of vehicles included in the group which is obtained in advance (See at least [0013] of Miyazawa – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…”); and
in response to identifying the candidate vehicle (2) as the other vehicle (2) included in the group of motorcycles based on the image data by comparing the vehicle specific information of the candidate vehicle (2) with group vehicle specific information, execute a group ride mode, which is a mode of the adaptive cruise control and is executed during the group ride, based on a travel state information of the other vehicle (2) (See at least [0013] – “… The convoy travel control apparatus … may further include: a forward imaging portion that takes an image of the preceding vehicle; an image recognition portion that, based on an image taken by the forward imaging portion, recognizes an identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle; and an identification information sharing portion that receives an identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle incorporated into the group of convoy vehicles, wherein if the identification number allocated to the imaged preceding vehicle matches with the identification number allocated to the convoy vehicle, then the joining control portion may determine that the imaged preceding vehicle is the convoy vehicle…” and [0077] of Miyazawa – “… in the case where its own vehicle is travelling in convoy, the travel control portion 71 causes its own vehicle to follow a convoy vehicle (preceding vehicle) at a speed of 75 km/h and at an inter-vehicular distance of 17 m…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Miyazawa teaches a convoy travel control apparatus for a vehicle that extracts an identification number (license plate number) of a preceding vehicle and determines whether the identification number matches with an identification number allocated to a convoy vehicle to determine whether the imaged preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and causes the own vehicle to follow the convoy vehicle at a specified speed and a specified inter-vehicular distance.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of extracting, from the image data, vehicle specific information, wherein the vehicle specific information is information related to the candidate vehicle as taught by Miyazawa, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether a preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and follow the convoy vehicle as specified in at least [0013], [0077], and [0127] of Miyazawa.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Park US 20180225975 A1 (“Park”).
For claim 3, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller, during the group ride mode, executes the distance control based on the travel state information of the plurality of other vehicles (2).
However, Park, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller, during the group ride mode, executes the distance control based on the travel state information of the plurality of other vehicles (2) (See at least [0254] of Park – “The vehicle 1 may check the traveling state of each of the leader vehicle 1211 and the follower vehicles 1212, 1213 and 1214 in the group 1210 in the autonomous driving mode. The traveling state may mean the current position, the current speed, the current lane, and the distance between the vehicles… the inter-vehicle distances G1, G2, G3, and G4 may be set to be longer than or equal to a predetermined safe distance in order to prevent collision between the vehicles during group travel…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Park teaches a vehicle control system that obtains and maintains inter-vehicle distances between a plurality of vehicles during group travel in order to prevent collisions between the vehicles.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the controller, during the group ride mode, executing the distance control based on the travel state information of the plurality of other vehicles as taught by Park, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to prevent collision between the vehicles during group travel as specified in at least [0254] of Park.
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi US 20200201320 A1 (“Yamaguchi”).
For claim 5, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a license plate (19).
However, Yamaguchi, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a license plate (19) (See at least [0056] of Yamaguchi – “… the vehicle identification information is extracted from the image by analyzing the image of the vehicle in the captured image… the identifier of the license plate, the shapes and colors of the vehicle are extracted, and the extracted information is collated with information stored in the vehicle identification information storage section 106, to thereby determine whether the vehicle in the captured image is a proper vehicle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Yamaguchi teaches a remote operation system for a vehicle that identifies a vehicle from an image by extracting an identifier of a license plate of the vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the vehicle specific information including information about a license plate as taught by Yamaguchi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to identify a specific/proper vehicle as specified in at least [0056] of Yamaguchi.
For claim 6, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a shape.
However, Yamaguchi, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a shape (See at least [0056] of Yamaguchi – “… the vehicle identification information is extracted from the image by analyzing the image of the vehicle in the captured image… the identifier of the license plate, the shapes and colors of the vehicle are extracted, and the extracted information is collated with information stored in the vehicle identification information storage section 106, to thereby determine whether the vehicle in the captured image is a proper vehicle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Yamaguchi teaches a remote operation system for a vehicle that identifies a vehicle from an image by extracting information about the shape of the vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the vehicle specific information includes information about a shape as taught by Yamaguchi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to identify a specific/proper vehicle as specified in at least [0056] of Yamaguchi.
For claim 7, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a color.
However, Yamaguchi, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a color (See at least [0056] of Yamaguchi – “… the vehicle identification information is extracted from the image by analyzing the image of the vehicle in the captured image… the identifier of the license plate, the shapes and colors of the vehicle are extracted, and the extracted information is collated with information stored in the vehicle identification information storage section 106, to thereby determine whether the vehicle in the captured image is a proper vehicle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Yamaguchi teaches a remote operation system for a vehicle that identifies a vehicle from an image by extracting information about the color of the vehicle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the vehicle specific information includes information about a color as taught by Yamaguchi, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to identify a specific/proper vehicle as specified in at least [0056] of Yamaguchi.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tokimasa et al. US 20190315355 A1 (“Tokimasa”).
For claim 8, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a pattern.
However, Tokimasa, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a pattern (See at least [0035]-[0036] of Tokimasa – “The vehicle type of following target is identified in such a manner that the brightness of the following target present in the image information transmitted by the image capturing device 11 is detected and pattern matching with a preset target template is performed based on the detected brightness… in a case where it is determined that a spot for which it is determined that the degree of coincidence between the brightness in the image and the brightness of the target template for the motorcycle is higher than the reference value is present at the periphery of the position of the following target… it is determined that the type of following target is the motorcycle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Tokimasa teaches a cruise control system for a vehicle that identifies a type of following target by obtaining a brightness of a target in an image and preforming patten matching based on the brightness to identify whether the type of following target is a motorcycle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the vehicle specific information includes information about a pattern as taught by Tokimasa, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to identify a vehicle type as specified in at least [0035]-[0036] of Tokimasa.
Claims 9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tetsuka et al. US 20200407001 A1 (“Tetsuka”).
For claim 9, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a dimension.
However, Tetsuka, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the vehicle specific information includes information about a dimension (See at least [0066] of Tetsuka – “… the computer COM acquires the size information of another vehicle concerning the vehicle height and the vehicle width of the other vehicle by image processing for detection information input from the detection unit…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Tetsuka teaches a system for a straddle type vehicle that extracts image information such as the size for a vehicle travelling in proximity to the own straddle type vehicle to compare size information for the detected vehicle with thresholds in order to identify whether the vehicle travelling in proximity to the own straddle type vehicle is a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck, a middle-size vehicle such as a minivan or a sedan-type vehicle, or a small-size vehicle including a light vehicle and a motorcycle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the vehicle specific information includes information about a dimension as taught by Tetsuka, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether the other vehicle is a large vehicle, a middle-size vehicle, or a small-size vehicle as specified in at least [0043] of Tetsuka.
For claim 13, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller (20) automatically acquires the group-vehicle specific information regardless of a setting operation by the rider.
However, Tetsuka, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller (20) automatically acquires the group-vehicle specific information regardless of a setting operation by the rider (See at least [0066] of Tetsuka – “… the computer COM acquires the size information of another vehicle concerning the vehicle height and the vehicle width of the other vehicle by image processing for detection information input from the detection unit… the type determination unit C14 compares the size information with type threshold information (a first type threshold and a second type threshold representing a large size as compared to the first type threshold) used to determine the type (size) of the vehicle, thereby determining the type of the other vehicle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Tetsuka teaches a system for a straddle type vehicle that initiates a comparison of size information for the detected vehicle with predetermined thresholds, without a setting operation by a rider, in order to identify whether the vehicle travelling in proximity to the own straddle type vehicle is a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck, a middle-size vehicle such as a minivan or a sedan-type vehicle, or a small-size vehicle including a light vehicle and a motorcycle.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of automatically acquiring the group-vehicle specific information regardless of a setting operation by the rider as taught by Tetsuka, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine whether the other vehicle is a large vehicle, a middle-size vehicle, or a small-size vehicle as specified in at least [0043] of Tetsuka.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Duffy US 11290638 B1 (“Duffy”).
For claim 10, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller (20) sets a type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle (2), according to a combination of motorcycles included in the group.
However, Duffy, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller (20) sets a type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle (2), according to a combination of motorcycles included in the group (See at least Col. 13 lines 49-64 of Duffy – “… Postprocessing system 600 may retrieve (at 605) particular model 604 from a plurality of different trained models based on the determined (at 603) particular visual guide, object, or object type associated with unedited image 602. For instance, as shown in FIG. 6, postprocessing system 600 may determine that unedited image 602 is for a particular motorcycle make and model based on the image metadata or analysis of the object within unedited image 602. Postprocessing system 600 may determine (at 603) that the particular visual guide is associated with that particular motorcycle make and model or the type of motorcycle represented by that make and model (e.g., a cruiser type), and may retrieve (at 605) the particular model 604 that includes the desired positional commonality and the desired visual characteristic commonality for images of that particular motorcycle make and model or that type of motorcycle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Duffy teaches a system for determining whether images represent a particular motorcycle make and model or a type of motorcycle based on the image metadata and visual guides.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of setting a type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle, according to a combination of motorcycles included in the group as taught by Duffy, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine that the image is associated with a particular motorcycle make and model or the type of motorcycle as specified in at least Col. 13 lines 49-64 of Duffy.
For claim 11, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller (20) automatically sets the type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle (2), according to the combination of the motorcycles constituting the group regardless of a setting operation performed by the rider.
However, Duffy, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller (20) automatically sets the type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle (2), according to the combination of the motorcycles constituting the group regardless of a setting operation performed by the rider (See at least Col. 13 lines 49-64 of Duffy – “… Postprocessing system 600 may retrieve (at 605) particular model 604 from a plurality of different trained models based on the determined (at 603) particular visual guide, object, or object type associated with unedited image 602. For instance, as shown in FIG. 6, postprocessing system 600 may determine that unedited image 602 is for a particular motorcycle make and model based on the image metadata or analysis of the object within unedited image 602. Postprocessing system 600 may determine (at 603) that the particular visual guide is associated with that particular motorcycle make and model or the type of motorcycle represented by that make and model (e.g., a cruiser type), and may retrieve (at 605) the particular model 604 that includes the desired positional commonality and the desired visual characteristic commonality for images of that particular motorcycle make and model or that type of motorcycle…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Duffy teaches a system for determining whether images represent a particular motorcycle make and model or a type of motorcycle based on the image metadata and visual guides regardless of a setting operation performed by a rider.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of automatically setting the type of the vehicle specific information, which is used to identify the other vehicle, according to the combination of the motorcycles constituting the group regardless of a setting operation performed by the rider as taught by Duffy, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to determine that the image is associated with a particular motorcycle make and model or the type of motorcycle as specified in at least Col. 13 lines 49-64 of Duffy.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sakashita US 20230215196 A1 (“Sakashita”).
For claim 12, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller (20) acquires the group-vehicle specific information based on information input by a setting operation performed by the rider.
However, Sakashita, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller (20) acquires the group-vehicle specific information based on information input by a setting operation performed by the rider (See at least [0104] of Sakashita – “… The input determination unit 21 acquires input information regarding an outer shape of the vehicle 5 (target object) (Step 101), which is input from the user 1 with respect to the vehicle 5 (target object) in the image for learning 27…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Sakashita teaches a system for identifying vehicles based on inputs provided by a user.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of acquiring the group-vehicle specific information based on information input by a setting operation performed by the rider as taught by Sakashita, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to generate a label on the basis of input information from a user as specified in at least [0108] of Sakashita.
Claims 17-18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamashima in view of Shiraishi, Kurata, and Miyazawa, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shimada et al. US 20230421731 A1 (“Shimada”).
For claim 17, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the controller is further configured to:
after identifying the other vehicle (2), modify a detection range of the camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1) based on a relative position of the other vehicle (2) with respect to the motorcycle (1).
However, Shimada, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the controller is further configured to:
after identifying the other vehicle (2), modify a detection range of the camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1) based on a relative position of the other vehicle (2) with respect to the motorcycle (1) (See at least [0075] of Shimada – “… The camera control unit 50 changes the imaging range 31 based on the detection result supplied from the object detection unit 54 such that the detected object is positioned at the center of the imaging range 31 and the detected object is enlarged…”). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Shimada teaches a monitoring system that detects objects and changes the detection range of the camera based on the detected object.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of after identifying the other vehicle (2), modify a detection range of the camera (15) mounted to the motorcycle (1) based on a relative position of the other vehicle (2) with respect to the motorcycle (1) as taught by Shimada, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to position the detected object at the center of the imaging range as specified in at least [0075] of Shimada.
For claim 18, Tamashima fails to specifically disclose wherein the detection range of the camera (15) is modified by not detecting, as the surrounding environment information, information within a subset range of the detection range.
However, Shimada, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the detection range of the camera (15) is modified by not detecting, as the surrounding environment information, information within a subset range of the detection range (See at least [0075] – “… The camera control unit 50 changes the imaging range 31 based on the detection result supplied from the object detection unit 54 such that the detected object is positioned at the center of the imaging range 31 and the detected object is enlarged…” and [0099] of Shimada – “… the camera control unit 50 causes the surveillance camera 12 to perform the pan or the tilt to change the imaging range 31 in the pan direction or the tilt direction (see FIG. 1…” Examiner notes that the camera control unit moves the detection range and excludes any objects that are not within the changed detection range from being detected). Thus, Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle, while Shimada teaches a monitoring system that detects objects and changes the detection range of the camera based on the detected object.
Therefore, 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 controller and control method for maneuvering a motorcycle as disclosed in Tamashima to include the feature of the detection range of the camera (15) is modified by not detecting, as the surrounding environment information, information within a subset range of the detection range as taught by Shimada, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to position the detected object at the center of the imaging range as specified in at least [0075] of Shimada.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 19 is 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 an Examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The closest prior art of record is Tamashima WO 2020202290 A1 (“Tamashima”), Shiraishi US 20160332622 A1 (“Shiraishi”), Kurata US 20170270801 A1 (“Kurata”), Miyazawa et al. US 20160267795 A1 (“Miyazawa”), Park US 20180225975 A1 (“Park”), Yamaguchi US 20200201320 A1 (“Yamaguchi”), Tokimasa et al. US 20190315355 A1 (“Tokimasa”), Tetsuka et al. US 20200407001 A1 (“Tetsuka”), Duffy US 11290638 B1 (“Duffy”), Sakashita US 20230215196 A1 (“Sakashita”), and Shimada et al. US 20230421731 A1 (“Shimada”).
Tamashima discloses a driving assistance system for saddled vehicles capable of performing a group driving mode where saddle vehicles travel in a staggered patten and executing adaptive cruise control to maintain a target distance between an own motorcycle and another vehicle based on image information of the surroundings captured by a camera mounted on the own motorcycle. However, the reference is silent on execution of a group ride mode based on a comparison of vehicle specific information that includes information about a shape of a rider of the other vehicle.
Shiraishi teaches a vehicle control system that executes adaptive cruise control to control a speed of the vehicle automatically regardless of accelerator operation by a driver to maintain an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle.
Kurata teaches a system that generates a set of group vehicle specific information for a group of motorcycles in order to identify whether vehicles are one of the group members based on ID information.
Miyazawa teaches a convoy travel control apparatus for a vehicle that extracts an identification number of a preceding vehicle and determines whether the identification number matches with an identification number allocated to a convoy vehicle to determine whether the imaged preceding vehicle is a convoy vehicle included in a group of convoy vehicles and causes the own vehicle to follow the convoy vehicle at a specified speed and a specified inter-vehicular distance. However, the reference is silent on execution of a group ride mode based on a comparison of vehicle specific information that includes information about a shape of a rider of the other vehicle.
Park teaches a vehicle control system that obtains and maintains inter-vehicle distances between a plurality of vehicles during group travel in order to prevent collisions between the vehicles.
Yamaguchi teaches a remote operation system for a vehicle that identifies a vehicle from an image by extracting an identifier of a license plate of the vehicle.
Tokimasa teaches a cruise control system for a vehicle that identifies a type of following target by obtaining a brightness of a target in an image and preforming patten matching based on the brightness to identify whether the type of following target is a motorcycle.
Tetsuka teaches a system for a straddle type vehicle that extracts image information such as the size for a vehicle travelling in proximity to the own straddle type vehicle to compare size information for the detected vehicle with thresholds in order to identify whether the vehicle travelling in proximity to the own straddle type vehicle is a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck, a middle-size vehicle such as a minivan or a sedan-type vehicle, or a small-size vehicle including a light vehicle and a motorcycle.
Duffy teaches a system for determining whether images represent a particular motorcycle make and model or a type of motorcycle based on the image metadata and visual guides.
Sakashita teaches a system for identifying vehicles based on inputs provided by a user.
Shimada teaches a monitoring system that detects objects and changes the detection range of the camera based on the detected object.
As to claim 19, the prior art of record, taken individually or in combination, fails to teach or suggest the following claimed subject matter:
“wherein the vehicle specific information of the other vehicle (2) includes information about a shape of a rider of the other vehicle (2)”
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 MICHAEL J HERRERA whose telephone number is (571)270-5271. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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 http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FADEY JABR can be reached at (571)272-1516. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.J.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3668
/Fadey S. Jabr/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3668
