DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. This office action is in response to application number 18/574,512 filed on 12/27/2023, Claims 1-11 have been amended and Claims 12-17 have been cancelled. Thus claims 1-11 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/27/2023 and 04/24/2024 has been received and considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
4. Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayakawa (US 20220032874 A1) and in view of (US 9187060 B1) to Crider et al. (hereinafter Crider).
Regarding claim 1, Hayakawa discloses A method performed by an on-board control unit of a vehicle for enabling a safe operation of the vehicle, wherein the method comprises: receiving, from an off-board control station, information indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation; (Hayakawa Paragraph 0004: “A problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a vehicle travel control method”) (Hayakawa Paragraph 0055: “The operator U activates the remote operation device 23 in step S7. This starts the remote operation. Examples of the start input for the remote operation by the remote operation device 23 include the activation of the operation software program installed in the remote operation device 23, the operation of unlocking the doors, the operation of locking/unlocking the doors, and the activation of these operations and the operation software program.”) […] receiving, via a wireless communication interface, a second activation code from an off-board control station capable of remotely operating the vehicle; (Hayakawa Paragraph 0058: “and the read authentication code AC1 is displayed on the display. Then, in step S94, the operator U makes the display of the remote operation device 23 face the reader 26 of the subject vehicle V. The reader 26 of the subject vehicle V is turned on while the authentication code AC is displayed by the authentication code display device 22. This allows the reader 26 to acquire the authentication code AC1 displayed on the display of the remote operation device 23, and the acquired authentication code AC1 is output to the pairing processor 25. In the example of display form illustrated in FIG. 2B, the operator U transmits the read authentication code AC1 to the subject vehicle V using the short-range communication function of the remote operation device 23.”) and activating the vehicle for operation in case the received second activation code correspond to the first activation code comprised in the on-board control unit. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0039: “In the remote parking system 1 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a pairing process between the remote operation device 23 and an onboard device (the pairing processor 25) of the subject vehicle V is executed, and only when the subject vehicle V authenticates the remote operation device 23, the execution continuation command signal or the execution stop signal is accepted.”) (Hayakawa Paragraph 0059: “In step S95, the pairing processor 25 compares the authentication code AC1 output from the reader 26 with the authentication code AC stored in the authentication code storage 24 using image processing or the like thereby to determine the matching and, when the matching is within an acceptable range, the process proceeds to step S96 to complete the pairing.”) (Note: The first activation code is AC and the Second activation code is AC1)
Hayakawa does not disclose […] transmitting a first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station;
However, Crider does teach […] transmitting a first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station; (Crider Column 4, line number 67 - Column 5, line number 3: “The identifying information 44 may be in the form of human readable alphanumeric characters, machine-readable code such as bar code, QR code, or combinations thereof.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 13-15: “Tag data 47 may include identifying information, such as identifying information 44, that identifies the identity 125 of person 41.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 22-27: “As illustrated in FIG. 1, vehicle monitoring system 10 includes controller 60 adapted to communicate with unit 20 via communication pathway 69, which is wireless at least in part. Controller 60 is positioned exterior 407 of vehicle 400, as illustrated, and controller 60 may be positioned some distance away from the vehicle 400.”) (Note: Controller= off-board control station) (Crider Column 7, line number 20-30: “FIG. 2 illustrates further the interaction between unit 20 and controller 60. As illustrated in FIG. 2, controller 60 detects signal 120 indicative of the presence of the person within interior 405 of vehicle 400. Upon detection of signal 120, unit 20 may transmit tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 from unit 20 to controller 60. Unit 20 may store tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 on unit 20. Controller 60 may, for example, display image 103 and identity 125 on screen 62, and controller 60 may broadcast audio 113.”) (Crider Column 7, line number 54-57: “Activating at step 210 may include powering up, initiating software, adjusting camera angle, and taking other actions to enable operation of a vehicle monitoring system, such as vehicle monitoring system 1”)
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hayakawa to include […] transmitting a first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station; taught by Crider. This would have been for the benefit to provide an improved apparatus as well as related methods for the monitoring of the interior of a vehicle as there is a need to authorize a person in the interior of a vehicle to decrease theft or vandalism. [Crider Column 1, line number 19-40]
Regarding claim 2, Hayakawa discloses The method according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the off-board control station, information indicating that the vehicle has been activated for operation. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0063: “Referring again to FIG. 8, when the pairing process of step S9 enables the subject vehicle V to authenticate the remote operation device 23 so that the command can be received, the remote operation is started in step S10, followed by steps S11 to S13, in which the operator U continues to press the execution button of the remote operation device 23 (“Y” in step S12) thereby to maintain the execution of the remote parking control”) (Note: In order for the operator to continue to activate the remote operation device information indicating that the vehicle is activated is sent and received.)
Regarding claim 3, Hayakawa discloses The method according to claim 1, further comprising, in case the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, activating the autonomous vehicle to begin performing one or more autonomous operations. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0022: “In the present specification, “autonomous travel control” refers to controlling a vehicle to travel through automated or autonomous control executed by an onboard travel control apparatus without relying on a driver's driving operation, while “autonomous parking control,” which is one type of the autonomous travel control, refers to controlling a vehicle to park”)
Regarding claim 4, Hayakawa discloses The method according to claim l, further comprising, in case the vehicle is a remote-controlled vehicle, activating the remote-controlled vehicle to be remotely operated from the off-board control station. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0023: “During the operation, the driver gets off the vehicle and continues to transmit an execution command from a remote operation device while confirming safety, thereby to maintain the autonomous parking control.”)
Regarding claim 5, Hayakawa discloses An on-board control unit of a vehicle for enabling a safe operation of the vehicle, wherein the on-board control unit is configured to receive, from the off-board control station, information indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation, (Hayakawa Paragraph 0004: “A problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a vehicle travel control method”) (Hayakawa Paragraph 0055: “The operator U activates the remote operation device 23 in step S7. This starts the remote operation. Examples of the start input for the remote operation by the remote operation device 23 include the activation of the operation software program installed in the remote operation device 23, the operation of unlocking the doors, the operation of locking/unlocking the doors, and the activation of these operations and the operation software program.”) […] receive, via a wireless communication interface, a second activation code from an off- board control station capable of remotely operating the vehicle, (Hayakawa Paragraph 0058: “and the read authentication code AC1 is displayed on the display. Then, in step S94, the operator U makes the display of the remote operation device 23 face the reader 26 of the subject vehicle V. The reader 26 of the subject vehicle V is turned on while the authentication code AC is displayed by the authentication code display device 22. This allows the reader 26 to acquire the authentication code AC1 displayed on the display of the remote operation device 23, and the acquired authentication code AC1 is output to the pairing processor 25. In the example of display form illustrated in FIG. 2B, the operator U transmits the read authentication code AC1 to the subject vehicle V using the short-range communication function of the remote operation device 23.”) and activate the vehicle for operation in case the received second activation code correspond to the first activation code comprised in the on-board control unit. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0039: “In the remote parking system 1 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a pairing process between the remote operation device 23 and an onboard device (the pairing processor 25) of the subject vehicle V is executed, and only when the subject vehicle V authenticates the remote operation device 23, the execution continuation command signal or the execution stop signal is accepted.”) (Hayakawa Paragraph 0059: “In step S95, the pairing processor 25 compares the authentication code AC1 output from the reader 26 with the authentication code AC stored in the authentication code storage 24 using image processing or the like thereby to determine the matching and, when the matching is within an acceptable range, the process proceeds to step S96 to complete the pairing.”) (Note: The first activation code is AC and the Second activation code is AC1)
Hayakawa does not disclose […] transmit the first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station,
However, Crider does teach […] transmit the first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station, (Crider Column 4, line number 67 - Column 5, line number 3: “The identifying information 44 may be in the form of human readable alphanumeric characters, machine-readable code such as bar code, QR code, or combinations thereof.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 13-15: “Tag data 47 may include identifying information, such as identifying information 44, that identifies the identity 125 of person 41.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 22-27: “As illustrated in FIG. 1, vehicle monitoring system 10 includes controller 60 adapted to communicate with unit 20 via communication pathway 69, which is wireless at least in part. Controller 60 is positioned exterior 407 of vehicle 400, as illustrated, and controller 60 may be positioned some distance away from the vehicle 400.”) (Note: Controller= off-board control station) (Crider Column 7, line number 20-30: “FIG. 2 illustrates further the interaction between unit 20 and controller 60. As illustrated in FIG. 2, controller 60 detects signal 120 indicative of the presence of the person within interior 405 of vehicle 400. Upon detection of signal 120, unit 20 may transmit tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 from unit 20 to controller 60. Unit 20 may store tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 on unit 20. Controller 60 may, for example, display image 103 and identity 125 on screen 62, and controller 60 may broadcast audio 113.”) (Crider Column 7, line number 54-57: “Activating at step 210 may include powering up, initiating software, adjusting camera angle, and taking other actions to enable operation of a vehicle monitoring system, such as vehicle monitoring system 1”)
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hayakawa to include […] transmit the first activation code to the off-board control station in response to the received information by embedding a visual representation of the first activation code in camera images obtained from one or more on-board cameras and transmitting the camera images comprising the visual representation of the first activation code to the off-board control station, taught by Crider. This would have been for the benefit to provide an improved apparatus as well as related methods for the monitoring of the interior of a vehicle as there is a need to authorize a person in the interior of a vehicle to decrease theft or vandalism. [Crider Column 1, line number 19-40]
Regarding claim 6, Hayakawa discloses The control unit according to claim 5, further configured to transmit, to the off-board control station, information indicating that the vehicle has been activated for operation. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0063: “Referring again to FIG. 8, when the pairing process of step S9 enables the subject vehicle V to authenticate the remote operation device 23 so that the command can be received, the remote operation is started in step S10, followed by steps S11 to S13, in which the operator U continues to press the execution button of the remote operation device 23 (“Y” in step S12) thereby to maintain the execution of the remote parking control”) (Note: In order for the operator to continue to activate the remote operation device information indicating that the vehicle is activated is sent and received.)
Regarding claim 7, Hayakawa discloses The control unit according to claim 5, further configured to, in case the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, activate the autonomous vehicle to begin performing one or more autonomous operations. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0022: “In the present specification, “autonomous travel control” refers to controlling a vehicle to travel through automated or autonomous control executed by an onboard travel control apparatus without relying on a driver's driving operation, while “autonomous parking control,” which is one type of the autonomous travel control, refers to controlling a vehicle to park”)
Regarding claim 8, Hayakawa discloses The control unit according to claim 5, further configured to, in case the vehicle is a remote-controlled vehicle, activate the remote-controlled vehicle to be remotely operated from the off-board remote control station. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0023: “During the operation, the driver gets off the vehicle and continues to transmit an execution command from a remote operation device while confirming safety, thereby to maintain the autonomous parking control.”)
5. Claim(s) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crider (US 9187060 B1) and in view of Hayakawa (US 20220032874 A1)
Regarding claim 9, Crider discloses A method performed by an off-board control station for enabling a safe operation of a vehicle, wherein the method comprises: receiving, via a wireless communication interface, a first activation code from an on-board control unit by receiving camera images originating from one or more on-board cameras of the vehicle comprising an embedded visual representation of the first activation code; indicating the received first activation code to an operator of the off-board control station by displaying the camera images comprising the embedded visual representation of the first activation code to the operator of the off-board control station; (Crider Column 4, line number 67 - Column 5, line number 3: “The identifying information 44 may be in the form of human readable alphanumeric characters, machine-readable code such as bar code, QR code, or combinations thereof.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 13-15: “Tag data 47 may include identifying information, such as identifying information 44, that identifies the identity 125 of person 41.”) (Crider Column 5, line number 22-27: “As illustrated in FIG. 1, vehicle monitoring system 10 includes controller 60 adapted to communicate with unit 20 via communication pathway 69, which is wireless at least in part. Controller 60 is positioned exterior 407 of vehicle 400, as illustrated, and controller 60 may be positioned some distance away from the vehicle 400.”) (Note: Controller= off-board control station) (Crider Column 7, line number 20-30: “FIG. 2 illustrates further the interaction between unit 20 and controller 60. As illustrated in FIG. 2, controller 60 detects signal 120 indicative of the presence of the person within interior 405 of vehicle 400. Upon detection of signal 120, unit 20 may transmit tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 from unit 20 to controller 60. Unit 20 may store tag data 47, image 103, alarm condition 105, unit ID 107, access code 111, and/or audio 113 on unit 20. Controller 60 may, for example, display image 103 and identity 125 on screen 62, and controller 60 may broadcast audio 113.”) Crider Column 7, line number 54-57: “Activating at step 210 may include powering up, initiating software, adjusting camera angle, and taking other actions to enable operation of a vehicle monitoring system, such as vehicle monitoring system 1”)
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Crider does not disclose […] receiving manual input indicating a second activation code from the operator of the off-board control station; and transmitting, via the wireless communication interface, the received second activation code to the on-board control unit of the vehicle.
However, Hayakawa does teach […] receiving manual input indicating a second activation code from the operator of the off-board control station; (Hayakawa Paragraph 0050: “the operator U transmits the authentication code AC1 to the subject vehicle V using the short-range communication function of the remote operation device 23.”) and transmitting, via the wireless communication interface, the received second activation code to the on-board control unit of the vehicle. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0058: “and the read authentication code AC1 is displayed on the display. Then, in step S94, the operator U makes the display of the remote operation device 23 face the reader 26 of the subject vehicle V. The reader 26 of the subject vehicle V is turned on while the authentication code AC is displayed by the authentication code display device 22. This allows the reader 26 to acquire the authentication code AC1 displayed on the display of the remote operation device 23, and the acquired authentication code AC1 is output to the pairing processor 25. In the example of display form illustrated in FIG. 2B, the operator U transmits the read authentication code AC1 to the subject vehicle
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crider to include […] receiving manual input indicating a second activation code from the operator of the off-board control station; and transmitting, via the wireless communication interface, the received second activation code to the on-board control unit of the vehicle taught by Hayakawa. This would have been for the benefit to provide a vehicle travel control method and a vehicle travel control apparatus with which, when a subject vehicle capable of autonomous travel control is remotely operated from outside the vehicle, a pairing process between the vehicle and a remote operation device can be easily performed. [Hayakawa Paragraph 0004]
Regarding claim 10, Crider in view of Hayakawa teaches claim 9, accordingly, the rejection of claim 9 is incorporated above.
Crider does not teach The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, from the operator of the off-board control station, manual input indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation; and transmitting, to the on-board control unit, information indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation.
However, Hayakawa does teach The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, from the operator of the off-board control station, manual input indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation; (Hayakawa Paragraph 0055: “The operator U activates the remote operation device 23 in step S7. This starts the remote operation. Examples of the start input for the remote operation by the remote operation device 23 include the activation of the operation software program installed in the remote operation device 23, the operation of unlocking the doors, the operation of locking/unlocking the doors, and the activation of these operations and the operation software program.”) and transmitting, to the on-board control unit, information indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0058: “Then, in step S94, the operator U makes the display of the remote operation device 23 face the reader 26 of the subject vehicle V. The reader 26 of the subject vehicle V is turned on while the authentication code AC is displayed by the authentication code display device 22. This allows the reader 26 to acquire the authentication code AC1 displayed on the display of the remote operation device 23, and the acquired authentication code AC1 is output to the pairing processor 25. In the example of display form illustrated in FIG. 2B, the operator U transmits the read authentication code AC1 to the subject vehicle V using the short-range communication function of the remote operation device 23.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crider to include The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, from the operator of the off-board control station, manual input indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation; and transmitting, to the on-board control unit, information indicating that the vehicle is to be activated for operation taught by Hayakawa. This would have been for the benefit to provide a vehicle travel control method and a vehicle travel control apparatus with which, when a subject vehicle capable of autonomous travel control is remotely operated from outside the vehicle, a pairing process between the vehicle and a remote operation device can be easily performed. [Hayakawa Paragraph 0004]
Regarding claim 11, Crider in view of Hayakawa teaches claim 9, accordingly, the rejection of claim 9 is incorporated above.
Crider does not teach The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, via the wireless communication interface, information from the on-board control unit indicating that the vehicle has been activated for operation.
However, Hayakawa does teach The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, via the wireless communication interface, information from the on-board control unit indicating that the vehicle has been activated for operation. (Hayakawa Paragraph 0063: “Referring again to FIG. 8, when the pairing process of step S9 enables the subject vehicle V to authenticate the remote operation device 23 so that the command can be received, the remote operation is started in step S10, followed by steps S11 to S13, in which the operator U continues to press the execution button of the remote operation device 23 (“Y” in step S12) thereby to maintain the execution of the remote parking control”) (Note: In order for the operator to continue to activate the remote operation device information indicating that the vehicle is activated is sent and received.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crider to include The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, via the wireless communication interface, information from the on-board control unit indicating that the vehicle has been activated for operation taught by Hayakawa. This would have been for the benefit to provide a vehicle travel control method and a vehicle travel control apparatus with which, when a subject vehicle capable of autonomous travel control is remotely operated from outside the vehicle, a pairing process between the vehicle and a remote operation device can be easily performed. [Hayakawa Paragraph 0004]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN J HARVEY whose telephone number is 571-272-5327. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00AM-5:00PM M-Th, 8:00AM-4:00PM F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kito Robinson can be reached at 571-270-3921. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.J.H./Junior Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/KITO R ROBINSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664