DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Responsive to the Amendment filed September 11, 2026. Claims 21-25,28,30-38 and 41-45 are pending. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following limitations must be shown or the features canceled from the claims:
In claims 1 and 36: receiving information associated with a second event from a second autonomous vehicle travelling within the autonomous vehicle system, the information associated with the second event detected by a second sensor array of the second autonomous vehicle; and in response to the information associated with the second event, adjusting a third movement of the first autonomous vehicle.
In claim 28: the information associated with the second event detected by a second sensor array of the second autonomous vehicle.
In claim 33: wherein the first sensor array of the first autonomous vehicle senses the second autonomous vehicle to maintain a separation distance between the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle
In claim 41: wherein the server provides autonomous navigation instructions to the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle
In claim 45: wherein the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle receive, from the server, autonomous navigation instructions.
No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 21-25,28,30-38 and 41-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The following newly added limitations do not appear to be supported by the Applicant’s original disclosure and therefore are deemed new matter:
In claims 21 and 36: receiving information associated with a second event from a second autonomous vehicle travelling within the autonomous vehicle system, the information associated with the second event detected by a second sensor array of the second autonomous vehicle; and in response to the information associated with the second event, adjusting a third movement of the first autonomous vehicle.
In claim 28: the information associated with the second event detected by a second sensor array of the second autonomous vehicle.
In claim 33: wherein the first sensor array of the first autonomous vehicle senses the second autonomous vehicle to maintain a separation distance between the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle
In claim 41: wherein the server provides autonomous navigation instructions to the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle
In claim 45: wherein the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle receive, from the server, autonomous navigation instructions.
There is no mention of a second autonomous vehicle, let alone any support for the steps of receiving information associated with a second event detected from a second sensor array from a second autonomous vehicle. In the remarks, the cites paragraphs 30, 35-37, 45, 68, and 79 for support, however, neither of these cited sections nor any other portion of the original disclosures appears to support the limitations above. Applicant Clarification of proper support is requested.
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 Ramsey Refai whose telephone number is (313)446-4867. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm EST.
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RAMSEY REFAI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3664
/RAMSEY REFAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3664
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