DETAILED ACTION
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
The following claim(s) is/are pending in this office action: 1-14
The following claim(s) is/are amended: 1-2, 7-8
The following claim(s) is/are cancelled: -
The following claim(s) is/are new: 13-14
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected. This rejection is FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the amendment filed 12/11/2025, have been fully considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection. The reasons set forth below.
Applicant’s Invention as Claimed
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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 1-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cella (US Pub. 2021/0287459) in view of Goemann-Thoss (US Pub. 2015/0125961).
With respect to Claim 1, Cella teaches a method of managing an access to data of a digital twin in an industrial system, (para. 6-7; a digital twin is a digital information construct of a real machine. Paras. 734-739; digital twin of a vehicle is linked to the identity of a user such as an owner. The digital twin is integrated with an identity management system which controls roles which have capabilities to view, modify or configure the digital twin. Para. 939; digital twins may be used with industrial assets or manufacturing facilities. Therefore, to the extent that vehicle modelling does not constitute an industrial system and the reference does not anticipate the vehicle acts also being done with an industrial system, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill prior to the effective filing date to apply the digital twin management and access technique that is applied to vehicles to an industrial system because application of a known technique to similar devices for the same benefit is obvious, see MPEP 2143(I)(C) and (D) and further because it would have allowed one of ordinary skill to model the industrial system in the same manner as the vehicle to allow for analysis of an industrial system.)
the method comprising: receiving by a processor one or more datasets of a digital twin, from each of a plurality of devices of a hierarchical system implementing the digital twin, (Fig. 59, para. 729; Cloud computing platform comprises processor and uses a modelling application. Modelling application receives information from sensors and external information about the state of a vehicle and generates a digital twin that simulates the operating state of the vehicle. Para. 734; digital twin encompasses hierarchies and functional relationships between the vehicle and various components and subsystems. A digital twin of a vehicle encompasses digital twins of the electrical and fuel subsystems as well as digital twins of the engine, etc.)
the one or more datasets comprise data related to services associated with the digital twin, (para. 744, 754-756, 767-768; Digital twin includes operational state of the vehicle and the operational state is used to both predict the need for maintenance and repairs and as a tool during the maintenance process, which makes the operational state data related to services associated with the digital twin. paras. 779-783; system may also maintain a digital twin of the driver and use the combined digital twins systems to configure a vehicle experience based on the driver/vehicle state. Para. 842; digital twin used to represent various abstractions of a delivery service enterprise.)
wherein the data related to the services associated with the digital twin includes configurations associated with applications, (para. 790; user may install a mobile application and may indicate a wish to track personal items that would be found in the car. The digital twin of the vehicle may integrate digital twins of the personal items. Therefore the item tracking is a service, the wish to engage in tracking is a configuration associated with an application, and that data is related to the digital twin of the car.)
communication, (paras. 779-789; system may also maintain a digital twin of the driver and use the combined digital twins systems to configure a vehicle experience based on the driver/vehicle state. Para. 783; when driver is determined to be drowsy, the system may communicate with the driver, switch on music or turning up the volume. Para. 515, 530-531, 537; system may change the operational parameter of a vehicle based on the emotional state of the driver by changing audio content or offering communication options such as sending a note that the driver will be delayed. Para. 393-394; user experience includes sound levels.
operation limit, (para. 739; manufacturer role of digital twin allows for adjusting a vehicle operating parameter limit such as setting a maximum speed for badly worn tires. Para. 743; driver may communicate with digital twin to solve problems, including by adjusting an operating parameter or mode of vehicle. Para. 415; in a self-driving vehicle, the vehicle state is used to optimize an operating parameter such as putting the car into a safe driving mode. Para. 663; system may change amount of acceleration or suspension at different times of day.)
and user role; (para. 739; Digital twin system includes identity manager which manages role definitions.)
determining by the processor a state of the digital twin corresponding to each of the one or more datasets, by mapping each of the one or more datasets with pre-defined state data; (para. 729, 734; Vehicle parameters from the multiple devices are used to model the entire vehicle.)
receiving by the processor information related to a role of each user of one or more users associated with each of the plurality of devices from one or more sources; (para. 729; a user device may display one or more vehicle states using the digital twin data to users such as a driver, a rider, an observer, an owner, an operator of a vehicle fleet, a traffic safety representative, a vehicle designer, or a digital twin development engineer. Fig. 60, paras. 737-739; Digital twin system is integrated with an identity and access management system. The identity manager stores users and roles and provisions access to resources of the digital twin system. The access management system verifies an identity and provides access rights for viewing, modifying and configuring the digital twin to different roles of different users. Therefore the provisioning system receives user role information associated with the vehicle. para. 730; cloud computing platform includes processors.)
generating by the processor an access matrix indicating the one or more users and corresponding access rights on the one or more datasets associated with each of the plurality of devices by mapping the state of the digital twin corresponding to each of the one or more datasets with the role of each of the one or more users; (An access matrix will be taught later. Fig. 60, paras. 737-739; provisioning of a user identity including role definition. Management of access rights related to identities and roles.)
and managing by the processor an access to the one or more datasets by the one or more users at each of the plurality of devices based on the access matrix. (para. 739; Access management system uses identities and roles to determine entitlements for the data.)
But Cella does not explicitly teach an access matrix.
Goemann-Thoss, however, does teach an access matrix (Examiner asserts that Cella renders this limitation obvious on its own, because it teaches the storage of a user and their access rights for a resource, see para. 739, which renders obvious the creation of a matrix identifying access as that is a simple rearrangement of data. Rearrangement of parts is obvious, see MPEP 2144. Regardless, since obviousness is needed anyway, Examiner will cite Goemann-Thoss, paras. 24-25, 32, 44; access matrix that relates subject/object pair (i.e. user and resource) with permissible operations such as read or write.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill prior to the effective filing date to combine the method of Cella with the access matrix in order to quickly identify permitted operations of a user on a resource.
With respect to Claim 2, modified Cella teaches the method of claim 1, and Cella also teaches wherein the one or more datasets comprise at least one of, data related to software components associated with the digital twin, data related to hardware components associated with the digital twin, operational data associated with the digital twin, data related to services associated with digital twin. (para. 734; digital twin is a virtual replication of hardware, software and processes in the vehicle. Para. 729; operating state of the vehicle.)
With respect to Claim 3, modified Cella teaches the method of claim 1, and Cella also teaches wherein the state of the digital twin comprises at least one of, an under-development state, a productization state, a commissioning state, a validation state, an operation state, a maintenance state, an upgrade state, and an end-of-life state. (Para. 729; operating state of the vehicle.)
With respect to Claim 4, modified Cella teaches the method of claim 1, and Cella also teaches wherein managing the access comprising either providing the access or denying the access to the one or more datasets based on a request received from each of the one or more users to access the one or more datasets. (para. 739; Access is provided to verified users based on access policies following a resource access request. For example, a manufacturer is allowed to access content relevant to wear-and-tear, maintenance, needs for service, but not be authorized to view other content related to the vehicle.)
With respect to Claim 5, modified Cella teaches the method of claim 4, and Cella also teaches further comprising: providing one or more notifications related to a state corresponding to a dataset of the one or more datasets, to the one or more users; (paras. 731, 913-918, 924; alert or notification on state change.)
and displaying a status of one or more tasks associated with the state of the dataset, to the one or more users. (para. 729; interface on user device may display one or more vehicle states such as maintenance state. Para. 636, 752; status/condition of one or more vehicles. Para. 398; time required to charge a vehicle battery.)
With respect to Claim 6, modified Cella teaches the method of claim 1, and Goemann-Thoss also teaches wherein the access matrix is stored in each of the plurality of devices. (para. 20; access permissions database can be stored centrally, in a plurality of devices with each having a full copy, or a plurality of devices each having a partial copy. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill prior to the effective filing date to store the relevant part of the matrix in each of the devices to reduce centralized data storage requirements by having a distributed database.)
The same motivation to combine as the independent claim applies here.
With respect to Claim 7, it is substantially similar to Claim 1 and is rejected in the same manner, the same art and reasoning applying. Further, Cella also teaches a processor; a memory configured to store processor-executable instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to: (para. 1009; processor and non-transitory storage medium that stores code.)
With respect to Claims 8-12, they are substantially similar to Claims 2-6, respectively, and are rejected in the same manner, the same art and reasoning applying.
With respect to Claim 14, modified Cella teaches the method according to claim 5, and Cella also teaches wherein providing the one or more notifications related to the state corresponding to the dataset of the one or more datasets, to the one or more users, is based on a role of the users, (para. 731, 913-918, 924; alert or notification on state change. para. 729; interface on user device may display one or more vehicle states such as maintenance state. para. 739; Roles have different access rights, including a manufacturer role that may access wear-and-tear or maintenance data. Therefore, entering a maintenance state is a state change that prompts a notification and the notification is presented to the manufacturer account based on its role.)
and further comprising maintaining a user activity log that indicates access to data of the digital twin by the users. (para. 739; System includes authorization manager which uses identity to determine access. Authorization is performed by checking access request against policies and a database stores all authorization-related data. Since authorization controls a response to access request and a database stores authorization related data, that suggests storing authorization requests and responses, which is an access log.)
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cella (US Pub. 2021/0287459) in view of Goemann-Thoss (US Pub. 2015/0125961) and further in view of Hubauer (US Pub. 2022/0292136).
With respect to Claim 13, modified Cella teaches the method according to claim 2, but does not explicitly teach a Bill of Materials.
Hubauer, however, does teach wherein the one or more data sets includes dependency mapping (para. 3-5; digital twins use a relational database. para. 11; dependencies between digital representations. Paras. 10, 22; tree structure for a bill of materials. See also Cella, para. 734; The digital twin encompasses hierarchies and functional relationships between the vehicle, various components and subsystems.)
of a Bill of Materials of the hardware components and the software components. (Paras. 10, 22; tree structure for a bill of materials. Para. 19, 22, 41; generating digital representations using a bill-of-material model. For hardware and software components, see Cella, para. 734; digital twins include virtual replication of hardware and software. The digital twin encompasses hierarchies and functional relationships between the vehicle, various components and subsystems.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill prior to the effective filing date to combine the method of modified Cella with the Bill of Materials in order to fully describe the item to be digitally represented in a tree-like structure.
Remarks
Claim 2 included a Markush group of four items further limiting what constitutes the datasets of a digital twin. Examiner selected cited two paragraphs of Cella which taught three of the four limitations. Applicant now moves the fourth limitation into Claim 1 and argues at Remarks, pg. 9 that the limitation was not taught by the previously cited sections of Cella.
Examiner agrees that the previous citations did not teach that Markush option. However, Cella also teaches this feature, and now that it stands on its own in Claim 1 Examiner cites to it above.
Applicant also adds new limitations to Claim 1. Cella teaches them above.
At Remarks, pg. 10, Applicant argues the new claims contain features not taught by the prior art. Cella again teaches all of Claim 14 and most of Claim 13, but lacks a Bill of Materials. Examiner cites Hubauer, which teaches all of Claim 13, and additionally cites Cella for the dependency mapping of hardware and software components.
All claims remain rejected.
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 extension fee 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 NICHOLAS P CELANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1205. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5.
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/NICHOLAS P CELANI/Examiner, Art Unit 2449