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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2023-049333, filed on 03/27/2023.
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to amendments and remarks filed on 09/12/2025. The examiner notes the following adjustments to the claims by the applicant:
Claims 1, 2, 5-11 and 13-15 are amended;
Claims 16-18 are new.
No claims are cancelled.
Therefore, Claims 1-18 are pending examination, in which Claims 1, 14 and 15 are independent claims.
In light of the instant amendments and arguments:
The objection to the drawings is withdrawn.
Regarding the objection to Claims 1-2 and 5-15 under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), the applicant’s arguments have been considered and found persuasive. The rejection is withdrawn.
Further examination resulted in a new rejection of Claims 1-18 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, as detailed below.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant presents the following arguments regarding the previous office action:
To overcome the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection, the applicant has amended each independent claim to include the additional underlined limitations: " the disabling execution circuitry executing disabling processing for disabling the remote control, the disabling processing causes a loss of a function of the driving control circuitry to execute the driving control according to the remote control;";
“The system of Diamond, however, does not executes disabling processing for disabling the remote control, wherein the disabling processing causes a loss of a function of the driving control circuitry to execute the driving control according to the remote control. Accordingly, Applicant respectfully submits that Diamond fails to disclose or suggest at least the aforementioned features recited in amended independent claims 1, 14 and 15.”;
“Nix, either individually or in combination with Diamond, likewise fails to disclose or suggest at least the aforementioned features recited in claims 1, 14 and 15, and as such, fails to make up for the deficiencies of Diamond.”.
Applicant's arguments A., B. and C. appear to be directed to the instantly amended subject matter. Accordingly, they have been addressed in the rejections below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 10-13, 15-16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102 as being unpatentable over Diamond et al. (US 11,628,831 B2), henceforth Diamond.
Regarding Claim 1, Diamond teaches the limitations: a system {Fig. 1} comprising: a remote control unit {“the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1”, Col. 4, Lns. 32-34} that causes a moving object {80-1, 80-2, Fig. 1} to move by remote control, the moving object being able to move by the remote control in a manufacturing process in a factory {manufacturing environment 5-1, Fig. 1} that manufactures the moving object, and in a conveyance process outside the factory {“the vehicles 80 are partially or fully-autonomous vehicles 80, and thus, can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86.”, Col. 4, Lns. 21-28}, the conveyance process shipping the moving object after manufacturing from the factory and conveying the moving object to a destination {with respect to Fig. 1, central control module 70-1 sends instructions to fully-autonomous vehicles 80 to guide them through the production process/environment 20 to one of the post-production locations 30, 40, 50 & 60: “the post-production locations 40, 50, 60 may be one of a vehicle repair station, a shipping station in which the vehicles 80 are loaded onto a transportation medium (e.g., a car carrier trailer, a truck, a train, a boat, etc.).”, Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1}, the moving object including a communication circuitry and a driving control unit, the communication circuitry having a communication function, the driving control unit executing driving control of the moving object {autonomous vehicle wireless communicates with a central control system with transportation and vehicle navigation modules (72/76), plus a transportation schedule database (71) to move through a production factory: “vehicles 80..can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86. As described herein, the central control system 70-1 is configured to monitor the location of the vehicle 80 and communicate with the vehicles 80. To support these features, in one form, the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1 and/or a location sensor (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensor 82 and/or or the IPS sensor 85) for providing location data of the vehicle 80.”, Col. 4, Lns. 29-38}; and disabling the remote control using transit point information {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} related to the remote control at at least one transit point, at which the moving object transits in the conveyance process {disabling can be associated with central control module 70-1 stopping autonomous movement of the vehicle: “the central control system 70-1 is configured to determine whether one of the vehicles 80 within the manufacturing environment 5-1 is to be moved and then instruct the vehicle 80 to autonomously travel to the post-production location based on a defined vehicle path”, Col. 5, Lns. 50-54}; a disabling execution circuitry that executes disabling processing for disabling the remote control, the disabling processing causes a loss of a function of the driving control circuitry to execute the driving control according to the remote control {central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, manages autonomous movement of vehicle throughout the production and post-production facilities in Fig. 1, thus disabling of autonomous vehicle motion is facilitated within the vehicle’s electronic control system; in addition, since the vehicle can be coupled to the central control system via a dongle to provide location and connectivity to the central control module: “an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}; and a disabling instruction circuitry determining whether or not to execute the disabling processing, the disabling instruction circuitry instructing the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing when determining to execute the disabling processing {central control module 70-1 communicates with – and instructs the - vehicle 80 via location modules 73-75, Fig. 1, to determine autonomously travel (e.g., Col. 5, Lns. 50-54) of the vehicle both during production and post-production 40-60, wherein post-production can occur outside the factory and be associated with vehicle shipment (i.e., Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1); note also central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, is connected to remote/cloud based networking, Col. 11, Lns. 3-5}.
Regarding Claim 3, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the transit point information includes information on a place that the moving object transits through {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} until the moving object arrives at the destination after the moving object is manufactured {“Upon completion of a manufacturing process for a vehicle, the vehicle can be temporarily positioned at various post-production locations in a manufacturing environment, such as a parking lot, prior to deployment to a final destination, such as a dealership.”, Col. 1, Lns. 16-20}.
Regarding Claim 10, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry {70-1, Fig. 1} determines using the transit point information {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} a disabling timing at which the remote control is disabled, and instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing at the determined disabling timing {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 determining the timing of vehicle motion and stopping (“configured as a lookup table that associates each of the vehicles 80 with a departure time from the manufacturing environment 5-1”, Col. 6, Lns. 9-23) and “the transportation module 72 may obtain the departure time and departure location for the vehicle 80 from a remote computing device provided within the production environment 20 and communicably coupled to the central control system 70-1 and/or a control module of the vehicle 80”, Col. 6, Lns. 42-51}.
Regarding Claim 11, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the disabling execution circuitry is included in the moving object {central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, manages autonomous movement of vehicle throughout the production and post-production facilities in Fig. 1, thus disabling of autonomous vehicle motion is facilitated within the vehicle’s electronic control system; in addition, since the vehicle can be coupled to the central control system via dongle (Col. 4, Lns. 42-44), one skilled in the art will appreciate that remote control can be ended by removing the dongle}, and the disabling instruction circuitry determines using the transit point information {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1}a disabling timing at which the remote control is disabled, and instructs the disabling execution circuitry included in the moving object to execute the disabling processing at the determined disabling timing {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 determining the timing of vehicle motion and stopping (“configured as a lookup table that associates each of the vehicles 80 with a departure time from the manufacturing environment 5-1”, Col. 6, Lns. 9-23) and “the transportation module 72 may obtain the departure time and departure location for the vehicle 80 from a remote computing device provided within the production environment 20 and communicably coupled to the central control system 70-1 and/or a control module of the vehicle 80”, Col. 6, Lns. 42-51}.
Regarding Claim 12, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 10, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the disabling timing is a timing at which the remote control has been completed at the at least one transit point {disabling can be associated with central control module 70-1 stopping autonomous movement of the vehicle at different locations inside and outside the production facility in Fig. 1: “the central control system 70-1 is configured to determine whether one of the vehicles 80 within the manufacturing environment 5-1 is to be moved and then instruct the vehicle 80 to autonomously travel to the post-production location based on a defined vehicle path”, Col. 5, Lns. 50-54}.
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Diamond and Nix discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: further comprising a transit point information management unit that updates the transit point information {transportation scheduling database 71, transportation module 72 of central control system 70-1 (which is connected to remote/cloud based networking, Col. 11, Lns. 3-5), Fig. 1: “the transportation module 72 may obtain the departure time and departure location for the vehicle 80 from a remote computing device provided within the production environment 20 and communicably coupled to the central control system 70-1 and/or a control module of the vehicle 80. In another form, the transportation scheduling data is prestored in the transportation scheduling database 71. For example, the transportation scheduling data for a given time period (e.g., week, day, etc.,) can be updated and stored in the transportation scheduling database 71.”, Col. 6, Lns. 42-51}.
Regarding Claim 15, Diamond teaches the limitations: a server {central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, combined with remote/cloud based networking (i.e., Col. 11, Lns. 3-5)} comprising: remote control unit {“the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1”, Col. 4, Lns. 32-34} that causes a moving object {80-1, 80-2, Fig. 1} to move by remote control, the moving object being able to move by the remote control in a manufacturing process in a factory {manufacturing environment 5-1, Fig. 1} that manufactures the moving object, and in a conveyance process outside the factory {“the vehicles 80 are partially or fully-autonomous vehicles 80, and thus, can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86.”, Col. 4, Lns. 21-28}, the conveyance process shipping the moving object after manufacturing from the factory and conveying the moving object to a destination {with respect to Fig. 1, central control module 70-1 sends instructions to fully-autonomous vehicles 80 to guide them through the production process/environment 20 to one of the post-production locations 30, 40, 50 & 60: “the post-production locations 40, 50, 60 may be one of a vehicle repair station, a shipping station in which the vehicles 80 are loaded onto a transportation medium (e.g., a car carrier trailer, a truck, a train, a boat, etc.).”, Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1}, the moving object including a communication circuitry, a driving control unit, and a disabling execution circuitry, the communication circuitry having a communication function, the driving control unit executing driving control of the moving object {autonomous vehicle wireless communicates with a central control system with transportation and vehicle navigation modules (72/76), plus a transportation schedule database (71) to move through a production factory: “vehicles 80..can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86. As described herein, the central control system 70-1 is configured to monitor the location of the vehicle 80 and communicate with the vehicles 80. To support these features, in one form, the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1 and/or a location sensor (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensor 82 and/or or the IPS sensor 85) for providing location data of the vehicle 80.”, Col. 4, Lns. 29-38}, the disabling execution circuitry executing disabling processing for disabling the remote control, the disabling processing causes a loss of a function of the driving control circuitry to execute the driving control according to the remote control {central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, manages autonomous movement of vehicle throughout the production and post-production facilities in Fig. 1, thus disabling of autonomous vehicle motion is facilitated within the vehicle’s electronic control system; in addition, since the vehicle can be coupled to the central control system via a dongle to provide location and connectivity to the central control module: “an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}; and a disabling instruction circuitry determining whether or not to execute the disabling processing using transit point information related to the remote control {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} at at least one transit point at which the moving object transits in the conveyance process {disabling can be associated with central control module 70-1 stopping autonomous movement of the vehicle: “the central control system 70-1 is configured to determine whether one of the vehicles 80 within the manufacturing environment 5-1 is to be moved and then instruct the vehicle 80 to autonomously travel to the post-production location based on a defined vehicle path”, Col. 5, Lns. 50-54}, the disabling instruction circuitry instructing the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing when determining to execute the disabling processing {central control module 70-1 communicates with – and instructs the - vehicle 80 via location modules 73-75, Fig. 1, to determine autonomously travel (e.g., Col. 5, Lns. 50-54) of the vehicle both during production and post-production 40-60, wherein post-production can occur outside the factory and be associated with vehicle shipment (i.e., Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1)}.
Regarding Claim 16, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the disabling processing executes irreversible disabling in which the remote control that has been disabled cannot be restored {“an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}.
Regarding Claim 18, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 15, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation:
wherein the disabling processing executes irreversible disabling in which the remote control that has been disabled cannot be restored {“an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}.
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 2, 4-9, 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Diamond et al. (US 11,628,831 B2, henceforth Diamond), and Nix (US 2018/0339703 A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry does not instruct the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing at a time of shipping of the moving object when determining that the disabling processing is not executed.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry does not instruct the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing at a time of shipping of the moving object when determining that the disabling processing is not executed {activation and deactivation conditions: “The activating conditions 902 may also include verifying that a geographic position as determined by a GNSS receiver falls within a predetermined geographic area encoded within the activation conditions 902. The table 900 may include deactivation conditions 903, which cause the vehicle 200 to deactivate its remote-controlled operating mode. The deactivation conditions 903 may e.g. include any of the activation conditions 902 being no longer met. The deactivation conditions 903 may include additional conditions, such as e.g. expiration of a timer since the remote-controlled operating mode has been activated.”, ¶[0103]}.
Diamond and Nix are analogous art because they both deal with autonomous movement of vehicle with a connection to the manufacturing environment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Diamond and Nix before them, to modify the teachings of Diamond to include the teachings of Nix to deactivate a remote control function {¶[0101-0103]}, at some point during the shipping operation {“Shipment of a vehicle from the vehicle manufacturer's plant to the end customer may involve several steps: A new vehicle may be transported by train to a harbor.”, ¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 4, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the moving object is conveyed to the transit point by a device other than the moving object in the conveyance process.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the moving object is conveyed to the transit point by a device other than the moving object in the conveyance process {“A new vehicle may be transported by train to a harbor. There, the vehicle may be loaded onto a ferry for overseas shipment. At the receiving harbor the vehicle may be loaded onto a second train, then from the train onto a truck by which it is ultimately delivered to a vehicle dealership”, ¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 5, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is able to be executed at the transit point, and the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the remote control is unable to be executed at the transit point.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is able to be executed at the transit point {Fig. 9}, and the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the remote control is unable to be executed at the transit point {one skilled in the art will appreciate that the table in FIG. 9 of “special use environments with activation/deactivation conditions and activated/suppressed vehicle functions.” (¶[0028]; also ¶[0101]), may correspond to the vehicle transport to the sales endpoint discussed in¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Diamond and Nix discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 3, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is able to be executed.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is able to be executed {one skilled in the art will appreciate that the table in FIG. 9 of “special use environments with activation/deactivation conditions and activated/suppressed vehicle functions.” (¶[0028]; also ¶[0101]), may correspond to the vehicle transport to the sales endpoint discussed in ¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 7, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is executed at the transit point, and the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the remote control is not executed at the transit point.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is executed at the transit point, and the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the remote control is not executed at the transit point {“special use environments with activation/deactivation conditions and activated/suppressed vehicle functions” represented in Fig. 9 and ¶[0028]; see also ¶[0101], provides the flexibility to over-ride autonomous actions or inactions, and switch between regular mode 610 and remote-controlled mode 620, Fig. 6}.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Diamond and Nix discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 7, as discussed supra. Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is executed.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is executed {one skilled in the art will appreciate that the table in FIG. 9 of “special use environments with activation/deactivation conditions and activated/suppressed vehicle functions.” (¶[0028]; also ¶[0101]), may correspond to the vehicle transport to the sales endpoint discussed in ¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 9, Diamond discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 1, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the transit point information {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} includes information related to whether or not the transit point includes a transit point disabling instruction circuitry {the central control module can be networked to the cloud, per Col. 11, Lns. 3-5 (“a server (also known as remote, or cloud) module may accomplish some functionality on behalf of a client module.”), and thus provides communication with the vehicle during production, post-production and shipping, since one skilled in the art will appreciate that modern vehicle include internet access capability} that instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing at the transit point {disabling can be associated with central control module 70-1 stopping autonomous movement of the vehicle: “the central control system 70-1 is configured to determine whether one of the vehicles 80 within the manufacturing environment 5-1 is to be moved and then instruct the vehicle 80 to autonomously travel to the post-production location based on a defined vehicle path”, Col. 5, Lns. 50-54}.
Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the transit point does not include the transit point disabling instruction circuitry.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing in a case in which the transit point does not include the transit point disabling instruction circuitry {one skilled in the art will appreciate that the three different special-use-environments (901, 911 and 921) in FIG. 9 may correspond to activation, deactivation and/or suppression of autonomous vehicle functions (“Remote-controlled operation may include automated and/or driverless operation. The vehicle 200 may, for example, check the location of the vehicle 200 against an on-board database to verify that the vehicle is within a qualified remote-controlled operation area”, ¶[0064]) corresponding to different times and locations (e.g., “The activating conditions 902 may also include verifying that a geographic position as determined by a GNSS receiver falls within a predetermined geographic area encoded within the activation conditions 902.”, ¶[0103])}.
Regarding Claim 14 Diamond teaches the limitations: a system {Fig. 1} comprising: a remote control unit {“the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1”, Col. 4, Lns. 32-34} that causes a moving object {80-1, 80-2, Figs. 1-3} to move by remote control, the moving object being able to move by the remote control in a manufacturing process in a factory {manufacturing environment 5-1, Fig. 1} that manufactures the moving object, and in a conveyance process outside the factory {“the vehicles 80 are partially or fully-autonomous vehicles 80, and thus, can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86.”, Col. 4, Lns. 21-28}, the conveyance process shipping the moving object after manufacturing from the factory and conveying the moving object to a destination {with respect to Fig. 1, central control module 70-1 sends instructions to fully-autonomous vehicles 80 to guide them through the production process/environment 20 to one of the post-production locations 30, 40, 50 & 60: “the post-production locations 40, 50, 60 may be one of a vehicle repair station, a shipping station in which the vehicles 80 are loaded onto a transportation medium (e.g., a car carrier trailer, a truck, a train, a boat, etc.).”, Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1}, the moving object including a communication circuitry and a driving control unit, the communication circuitry having a communication function, the driving control unit executing driving control of the moving object {autonomous vehicle wireless communicates with a central control system with transportation and vehicle navigation modules (72/76), plus a transportation schedule database (71) to move through a production factory: “vehicles 80..can be autonomously moved to various locations of the environment 5-1, as instructed by the central control system 70-1. To autonomously drive itself, the vehicles 80 include one or more control modules to control various sub-systems within the vehicle (e.g., powertrain, steering, and/or brakes). These modules are broadly represented as an autonomous control module 86. As described herein, the central control system 70-1 is configured to monitor the location of the vehicle 80 and communicate with the vehicles 80. To support these features, in one form, the vehicles 80 are equipped with a V2X module 84 for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1 and/or a location sensor (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensor 82 and/or or the IPS sensor 85) for providing location data of the vehicle 80.”, Col. 4, Lns. 29-38}; a disabling execution circuitry that executes disabling processing for disabling the remote control, the disabling processing causes a loss of a function of the driving control circuitry to execute the driving control according to the remote control {central control module 70-1, Fig. 1, manages autonomous movement of vehicle throughout the production and post-production facilities in Fig. 1, thus disabling of autonomous vehicle motion is facilitated within the vehicle’s electronic control system; in addition, since the vehicle can be coupled to the central control system via a dongle to provide location and connectivity to the central control module: “an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}; and a disabling instruction circuitry determining whether or not to execute the disabling processing using transit point information {transportation module 72 and transportation scheduling database 71 of central control module 70-1, Fig. 1} related to the remote control at at least one transit point at which the moving object transits in the conveyance process {disabling can be associated with central control module 70-1 stopping autonomous movement of the vehicle: “the central control system 70-1 is configured to determine whether one of the vehicles 80 within the manufacturing environment 5-1 is to be moved and then instruct the vehicle 80 to autonomously travel to the post-production location based on a defined vehicle path”, Col. 5, Lns. 50-54}, the disabling instruction circuitry instructing the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing when determining to execute the disabling processing {central control module 70-1 communicates with – and instructs the - vehicle 80 via location modules 73-75, Fig. 1, to determine autonomously travel (e.g., Col. 5, Lns. 50-54) of the vehicle both during production and post-production 40-60, wherein post-production can occur outside the factory and be associated with vehicle shipment (i.e., Col. 4, Ln. 65 to Col. 5, Ln. 1)}.
Diamond does not appear to explicitly recite the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is able to be executed at the transit point, and the disabling instruction circuitry instructing the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is able to be executed.
However, Nix explicitly recites the limitations: wherein the transit point information includes information related to whether or not the remote control is able to be executed at the transit point {Fig. 9}, and wherein the disabling instruction circuitry instructs the disabling execution circuitry to execute the disabling processing such that the disabling processing is executed at a timing at which the remote control has been completed at all transit points at which the remote control is able to be executed {one skilled in the art will appreciate that the table in FIG. 9 of “special use environments with activation/deactivation conditions and activated/suppressed vehicle functions.” (¶[0028]; also ¶[0101]), may correspond to the vehicle transport to the sales endpoint discussed in ¶[0003]}.
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Diamond and Nix discloses all the limitations of the system of Claim 14, as discussed supra. In addition, Diamond explicitly recites the limitation: wherein the disabling processing executes irreversible disabling in which the remote control that has been disabled cannot be restored {“an external device (e.g., a dongle) may be attached to the vehicles 80 to communicably couple the vehicle 80 to the central control system 70-1 and provide location data of the vehicle 80. Accordingly, the external device may include various electronic components and/or interfaces, such as a location sensor (e.g., GNSS or IPS sensor) for providing the location data, a communication transceiver for establishing a communication link with the central control system 70-1, an input/output interface to communicate with the control modules of the vehicle”, Col. 4, Lns. 42-49, in which case removal of the dongle will end remote control capability}.
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
DE 102022117149 A1 – A special “production safety information” data set is provided during the vehicle production process, which differs from the post-production safety information data set installed in the vehicle. The control unit that includes this “production safety information” data set includes switching means capable of irreversibly deactivating this particular control unit.
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/R.E.G./Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665