Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-9 have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 9 appears to be a system of software alone, lacking the necessary physical components (hardware) to constitute a machine or a manufacture under 101. Since claim 9 is clearly not a process or a composition of matter, it appears to fail to fall within a statutory category and thus non-statutory.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Searle (US 2016/0294614).
Per Claim 1:
Searle teaches:
- registering various types of information necessary for vehicle software generation as basic data in association with target vehicle software; receiving update data including package information and update information, the package information specifying the target vehicle software, and the update information indicating update contents for the basic data and being described in a predetermined format ([0057] The device may send an update download request 337 to the update server. For example, the device may send the update download request to request update download from the update server. In one implementation, the update download request may include the device's identifier, an update identifier, an update package identifier, and/or the like. … [0058] The update server may facilitate sending the requested update package to the device using a package download administering (PDA) component 341. …)
- checking a format of the received update data; specifying the target vehicle software based on the update data; transferring the update data to a development environment of the specified target vehicle software; instructing generation of new vehicle software in which the update data is to be reflected; generating the new vehicle software in which the update data is reflected; and providing the generated new vehicle software ([0063] Segments for the device may be determined at 405. A segment may be configured to link a group of devices that are a set (e.g., a set of vehicles with specified VINs), and/or that have specified components (e.g., vehicles that utilize a specified ECU) and/or component attributes (e.g., the ECU utilizes a specified firmware version). A device may be associated with one or more segments. In one embodiment, information regarding the device (e.g., the device's bill of materials, versions of components) may be analyzed (e.g., when the device is added to the REDUP) to determine segments associated with the device. Updates installed on the device may be tracked and segments associated with the device may be updated accordingly (e.g., if the ECU is updated with a new firmware version, the device may be placed in the segment associated with the new firmware version and removed from the segment associated with the old firmware version). In one implementation, segments associated with the device may be determined via a MySQL database command similar to the following: … [0071] … In one embodiment, each of the components associated with the segment may be analyzed. If there remain components to analyze, the next component may be selected at 425. A determination may be made at 429 whether an update is available for the component. For example, if a manufacturer of the component released a software update, a data field associated with the component may be set to indicate that an update is available, and this data field may be checked to make this determination. If an update for the component is available, a determination may be made at 433 whether the update is applicable to the segment. For example, a component may utilize different firmware versions (e.g., the component manufacturer may utilize a different firmware version for each vehicle manufacturer that uses the component) and it may be determined whether the update is applicable to the firmware version associated with the segment (e.g., by checking a data field associated with the component update that indicates firmware versions to which the update is applicable). If the update is applicable to the segment, the update may be added to a list of available updates at 437. [0072] If there are no more segments to analyze, an update notification may be generated at 441 that includes the list of available updates. The update notification may be sent to the device at 445. For example, the update notification may be sent via network (e.g., LTE, WiFi). …[0075] If it is OK to download the update, an update download request may be generated and sent at 525. An update download response may be received at 529. In one embodiment, the update download response may include a package with contents of the update. For example, the package may be a file. [0076] A determination may be made at 533 whether it is OK to install the update (e.g., based on package rules). For example, an update to an engine component may be configured to be installable upon vehicle startup while the vehicle is stationary. …; [4461-4492]).
Per Claim 2:
Searle teaches:
- wherein, in receiving of the update data, the update data is received via a web interface accessible from outside via a network, and in providing of the generated new vehicle software, the new vehicle software is provided via the web interface (par. 0089-0090).
Per Claim 4:
Searle teaches:
- further comprising: instructing evaluation of the new vehicle software in a real machine; downloading the new vehicle software to the real machine and acquiring an evaluation result generated by the real machine; and providing the evaluation result (par. 0083-0087).
Per Claim 5:
Searle teaches:
- wherein the basic data includes a parameter to be used in the new vehicle software, and the update data is used to change the parameter of the basic data (par. 0058-0060).
Per Claim 7:
Searle teaches:
- wherein the basic data includes source code of the target vehicle software, and the update data instructs a change to the source code (par. 0143).
Per Claim 9:
This is a system version of the claimed method discussed above (claim 1, respectively), wherein all claim limitations also have been addressed and/or covered in cited areas as set forth above. Thus, accordingly, this claim is also anticipated by Searle.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 3 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Searle (US 2016/0294614) in view of Lum (US 2020/0279044).
Per Claim 3:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, and Searle further teaches further comprising: instructing evaluation of the new vehicle software; acquiring an evaluation result of the new vehicle software; and providing the evaluation result (par. 0083-0087). Searle does not explicitly teach acquiring results by performing simulation.
However, Lum teaches acquiring results by performing simulation (par. 0050).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the computer art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Searle to include acquiring results by performing simulation using the teaching of Lum. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to verify authenticity of software updates (Lum, par. 0003-0004).
Per Claim 8:
This is another version of the claimed method discussed above (claims 1 and 3), wherein all claim limitations also have been addressed and/or covered in cited areas as set forth above. Thus, accordingly, this claim is also obvious.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Searle (US 2016/0294614) in view of Klische (US 2018/0336024).
Per Claim 6:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, and further, Searle does not explicitly teach wherein the target vehicle software controls a relay device, the relay device relays data, which is transmitted or received through an in- vehicle network, the basic data includes a routing map in which a relay source and a relay destination of data are defined by fixed values, and the update data instructs a change to the routing map.
However, Klische teaches wherein the target vehicle software controls a relay device, the relay device relays data, which is transmitted or received through an in- vehicle network, the basic data includes a routing map in which a relay source and a relay destination of data are defined by fixed values, and the update data instructs a change to the routing map (par. 0054-0055).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the computer art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Searle to include wherein the target vehicle software controls a relay device, the relay device relays data, which is transmitted or received through an in- vehicle network, the basic data includes a routing map in which a relay source and a relay destination of data are defined by fixed values, and the update data instructs a change to the routing map using the teaching of Klische. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to update a plurality of components written in different programming languages (Klische, par. 0003).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fox (US 2019/0034185) teaches a method for updating vehicle software.
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/QAMRUN NAHAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2199