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 .
Notice to Applicant
[2] This communication is in response to the amendment filed 8 December 2025. It is noted that this application benefits from Foreign Patent Application Serial No. 2023/054197 (Japan) filed 29 March 2023.Claims 2, 9, and 16 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, and 17-20 have been amended. Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, and 17-20 are pending.
Claim Objections
[3] Previous objection(s) to claims 2, 9, and 16 objected to because claims 2, 9, and 16 referred to a level of fatigue of the spectator…” absent a preceding indication that a spectator had been identified among the plurality of spectators has/have been overcome by the amendment(s) to clarify that biometric data gathered and a fatigue level is determined for each spectator of the plurality of spectators. The objection(s) is/are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
[4] Previous rejection(s) of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 101 has/have been overcome by the amendments to the subject claims and is/are withdrawn.
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.
[5] Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sobhany (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0242421 hereinafter ‘Sobhany’) in view of Das et al. (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0044734 hereinafter ‘Das’) and further in view of Longo et al. (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0228367 hereinafter ‘Longo’).
With respect to (currently amended) claim 1, Sobhany discloses a method that is performed by an information processing device, the method comprising: automatically acquiring biometric information of each of a plurality of users who is going to visit or has visited an event venue, based on output from a sensor, the biometric information including information indicating a level of fatigue of each user (Sobhany; paragraphs [0042]-[0043] [0148]-[0151]; See at least biometric data acquired using sensors to determine an emotion state of users/driver/passengers); and determining, based on the biometric information, an operation plan for one or more vehicles to transport the spectators to or from the event venue, or to and from the event venue (Sobhany; paragraphs [0064] [0095]-[0096] [0161] [0172]; See at least outputs response to determined emotional states of passengers including lighting, temperature, humidity and video and audio settings, i.e., a vehicle operation plan to adjust vehicle experience to the detected emotional state of passengers).
With respect to the recitation of a plurality of spectators going to visit an event, Sobhany discloses utilizing biometric data to detect emotional states of passengers in a vehicle. The emotional states include anger, frustration, stress, and fatigue. Responsive to detected emotional states, Sobhany adjusts vehicle experience settings for temperature, humidity, and lighting and further controls an infotainment system to display specified audio and video content including spots highlight reels (Sobhany; paragraphs [0161]-[0168] [0197]; See at least vehicle experience settings adjusted to detected emotional states including angry, frustrated, fatigued, or under stress and associated vehicle experience settings).
While Sobhany responds to emotional states which would reasonably be associated with emotional states a sports spectators attending a game, e.g., frustration, elation etc.) by providing calming or energetic lighting and showing a sports highlight reel on the infotainment system, Sobhany fails to specify that the detected emotional states are specifically for a “plurality of spectators” or are related to a particular team or event venue.
However, as evidenced by Das, it is well-known to assess the emotional states of fans/spectators as a function of occurrences at a sporting event involving a favored team (Das et al.; paragraphs [0030]-[0035]; See at least media application receives fans biometric data from a wearable device, determine the users physiological or emotional state from the biometric data, and recommend content to the user based on the determined emotional state).
Claim 1 has been further amended to indicate: “…controlling either or both of a target lighting value in vehicle cabins of a plurality of vehicles or a target temperature value in the vehicle cabins, based on the level of fatigue of each spectator…” and “…wherein the determining includes setting the operation plan such that spectators having approximately a same level of fatigue are transported by the same vehicle…”. Claim 1 now further specifies that biometric data is collected on a plurality of users/spectators and the operation plan and cabin environment controls are directed to a plurality of vehicles.
With respect to these elements, as noted above, Sobhany discloses utilizing biometric data to detect emotional states of passengers in a vehicle. The emotional states include anger, frustration, stress, and fatigue. Responsive to detected emotional states, Sobhany adjusts vehicle experience settings for temperature, humidity, and lighting and further controls an infotainment system to display specified audio and video content including spots highlight reels (Sobhany; paragraphs [0161]-[0168] [0197]; See at least vehicle experience settings adjusted to detected emotional states including angry, frustrated, fatigued, or under stress and associated vehicle experience settings). Sobhany appears to be directed to actions taken with respect to a single passenger or driver and a single vehicle. Das fails to remedy the deficiencies of Sobhany.
However, as evidence by Longo, it is well-known in the art to utilize sensor-based biometric data to determine an emotional state of a plurality of riders in a ride share environment for the purpose of (1) controlling vehicle cabin environment including lighting and heating based on a threshold emotional state or riders and (2) grouping riders having comparable emotions states such that the riders are placed in the same vehicle (Longo et al.; paragraphs [0019]-[0020] [0075]-[0080]; See at least determined stress levels based on biometric data. See further matching of passengers based on profile/stress level compatibility. See routing of vehicles to allocate vehicles to groups of compatible riders).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made inform the vehicle experience settings/adjustments of Sobhany using the sports-based emotional and physiological profile of Das. The instant invention is directed to a system and method of adjusting vehicle cabin environments based on a detected state of passengers including spectators of sports events. As Sobhany disclose the use of dynamic/responsive vehicle experience settings/adjustments in the context of a system and method for adjusting vehicle cabin environments based on a detected state of passengers including spectators of sports events and Das similarly discloses the utility of providing content to sports fans based on a sports-driven emotional and physiological data in the context of a system and method for adjusting environments based on a detected state spectators of sports events, the teachings are reasonably considered to have been derived from analogous references and applied in the manner disclosed by the respective references. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the noted combination/modification as rationalized by combining prior art elements accordingly to known methods to yield the predictable results of enhancing the experience of sports spectators attending events by anticipating emotional states and providing environments known to calm frustrated spectators and support enthusiastic fans.
Regarding the combination that further includes Longo, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the vehicle experience settings/adjustments of Sobhany using the (1) controlling vehicle cabin environment including lighting and heating based on a threshold emotional state or riders and (2) grouping riders having comparable emotions states such that the riders are placed in the same vehicle of Longo. The instant invention is directed to a system and method of adjusting vehicle cabin environments based on a detected state of passengers including spectators of sports events. As Sobhany disclose the use of dynamic/responsive vehicle experience settings/adjustments in the context of a system and method for adjusting vehicle cabin environments based on a detected state of passengers and Longo similarly discloses the utility of (1) controlling vehicle cabin environment including lighting and heating based on a threshold emotional state or riders and (2) grouping riders having comparable emotions states such that the riders are placed in the same vehicle in the context of a system and method for adjusting environments, the teachings are reasonably considered to have been derived from analogous references and applied in the manner disclosed by the respective references. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the noted combination/modification as rationalized by combining prior art elements accordingly to known methods to yield the predictable results of enhancing the rider experience by anticipating emotional states and ensuring compatibility among riders thus improving rider satisfaction.
Claim 2 is cancelled.
With respect to claim 3, Sobhany discloses a method wherein the information processing device is configured to determine the operation plan in such a manner that, when the level of fatigue of the spectator is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (Sobhany; paragraphs [0161]-[0168] [0197]; See at least vehicle experience settings adjusted to detected emotional states including angry, frustrated, fatigued, or under stress), the information processing device performs either or both of the following settings: setting a target lighting value in a vehicle cabin for during traveling of each vehicle to less than a first threshold, and setting a target temperature value in the vehicle cabin for during traveling of each vehicle to a second threshold or more (Sobhany; paragraphs [0064] [0095]-[0096] [0161] [0172]; See at least outputs response to determined emotional states of passengers including lighting, temperature, humidity and video and audio settings, i.e., a vehicle operation plan to adjust vehicle experience to the detected emotional state of passengers).
With respect to claim 4, Sobhany discloses a method wherein the information processing device is configured to determine the operation plan in such a manner that, when the level of fatigue of the spectator is less than a predetermined value (Sobhany; paragraphs [0161]-[0168] [0197]; See at least vehicle experience settings adjusted to detected emotional states including angry, frustrated, fatigued, or under stress), the information processing device performs either or both of the following settings: setting a target lighting value in a vehicle cabin for during traveling of each vehicle to a first threshold or more, and setting a target temperature value in the vehicle cabin for during traveling of each vehicle to less than a second threshold (Sobhany; paragraphs [0042] [0102] [0153]; See at least dynamic lighting and temperature adjustments based on detected emotional state of passengers).
With respect to claims 5-7, as noted above, Sobhany responds to emotional states which would reasonably be associated with emotional states a sports spectators attending a game, e.g., frustration, elation etc.) by providing calming or energetic lighting and showing a sports highlight reel on the infotainment system, Sobhany fails to specify that the detected emotional states are specifically for a “plurality of spectators” or are related to a particular team or event venue.
However, with respect to claim 5, Das discloses recommending content and attendance to events based on determinations of emotional physiological states of fans derived from wins and losses of a favored team and the fans perception of the outcome (Das et al.; paragraphs [0030]-[0035]; See at least media application receives fans biometric data from a wearable device, determine the users physiological or emotional state from the biometric data, and recommend content to the user based on the determined emotional state). The biometrically-derived recommendations of Das reasonably accommodate, via user or selection of provided content information, a specific scenario including acquiring information indicating a supporting team set as a team the spectator roots for out of teams participating in a sports game that is held at the event venue; and when the level of fatigue of the spectator is high and the supporting team is at a disadvantage in the game, recommending the spectator to leave the event venue before the game ends.
Regarding claim 5 and the combination that includes Das, the conclusions of obviousness and rationale to modify as established for claim 1 above are applicable to claim 5 and are hereby incorporated by reference.
With respect to claim 6, Das discloses recommending content and attendance to events based on determinations of emotional physiological states of fans derived from wins and losses of a favored team and the fans perception of the outcome (Das et al.; paragraphs [0030]-[0035]; See at least media application receives fans biometric data from a wearable device, determine the users physiological or emotional state from the biometric data, and recommend content to the user based on the determined emotional state). The biometrically-derived recommendations of Das reasonably accommodate, via user or selection of provided content information, a specific scenario including further comprising acquiring information indicating a supporting team set as a team the spectator roots for out of teams participating in a sports game that is held at the event venue, wherein the information processing device is configured to determine the operation plan in such a manner that, when the level of fatigue of the spectator is low and the supporting team is at an advantage in the game or won the game, a recap video of the game is played during a return trip.
Regarding claim 6 and the combination that includes Das, the conclusions of obviousness and rationale to modify as established for claim 1 above are applicable to claim 6 and are hereby incorporated by reference.
With respect to claim 7, Das discloses recommending content and attendance to events based on determinations of emotional physiological states of fans derived from wins and losses of a favored team and the fans perception of the outcome (Das et al.; paragraphs [0030]-[0035]; See at least media application receives fans biometric data from a wearable device, determine the users physiological or emotional state from the biometric data, and recommend content to the user based on the determined emotional state). The biometrically-derived recommendations of Das reasonably accommodate, via user or selection of provided content information, a specific scenario including comprising acquiring information indicating a supporting team set as a team the spectator roots for out of teams participating in a sports game that is held at the event venue, wherein the information processing device is configured to determine the operation plan in such a manner that, when the level of fatigue of the spectator is low and the supporting team is at a disadvantage in the game or lost the game, content about a next game of the supporting team is provided during a return trip in each vehicle.
Regarding claim 7 and the combination that includes Das, the conclusions of obviousness and rationale to modify as established for claim 1 above are applicable to claim 7 and are hereby incorporated by reference.
[6] Claims 8, 10-14 and 15, 17-20 substantially repeat the subject matter addressed above with respect to claims 1 and 3-7 as directed to the enabling system and computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions. With respect to these elements, Sobhany discloses enabling the disclosed method employing analogous systems and executable instructions (See at least Sobhany paragraphs [0048]-[0053]). Accordingly, claims 8, 10-14 and 15, 17-20 are rejected under the applied teachings, conclusions obviousness, and rationale to modify as discussed above with respect to claims 1 and 3-7.
Response to Remarks/Amendment
[7] Applicant's remarks filed 8 December 2025 have been fully considered and are addressed as follows:
[ii] Applicant’s remarks directed to previous rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable as set forth in the previous Office Action mailed 10 September 2025 have been fully considered and are moot in light of newly added grounds of rejection responsive to the amendments to the subject claims. See revised rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 presented above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 ROBERT D RINES whose telephone number is (571)272-5585. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/ROBERT D RINES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625