Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 18/642,822

VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM AND VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 23, 2024
Examiner
PATEL, SHARDUL D
Art Unit
3664
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
670 granted / 766 resolved
+35.5% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+20.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
784
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
15.3%
-24.7% vs TC avg
§103
38.4%
-1.6% vs TC avg
§102
25.3%
-14.7% vs TC avg
§112
10.1%
-29.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 766 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/23/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Status of the Claims Claims 1-11 have been examined. 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. Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadowaki (US20230311927A1), and further in view of Noguchi (US20230303066A1). Claim.1 Kadowaki disclose a vehicle control system for controlling a vehicle traveling in a predetermined area (see at least abstract, fig.1-2, p6, provide a traffic safety support system capable of improving traffic safety in a situation in which it is predicted that a mobile body other than a host vehicle is shielded by a nearby vehicle present near the mobile body, p14, a driving assistor (e.g., on-board driving assistance device 21 and an on-board driving assistance device 31) configured to automatically operate at least one of a braking device or a steering device of the support target on a condition that a mobile body that has possibility of coming into contact with the support target is present within the first range), the vehicle control system comprising processing circuitry configured to: acquire vehicle information indicating a position of the vehicle (see at least fig.1-2, p3, the driving assistance apparatus performs driving assistance control based on information regarding a traveling state of a vehicle and information regarding a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time when an occupant of the vehicle has sensed a hazard, whereby the driving assistance apparatus gives a warning or executes an intervention in traveling control, p7, the traffic safety support system includes: a recognizer (e.g., an on-board driving assistance device 21, an on-board communication device 24, a portable information processing terminal 25, an on-board driving assistance device 31, an on-board communication device 34, a portable information processing terminal 35, a portable information processing terminal 40, a traffic light control device 55, an infrastructure camera 56, a target traffic area recognition unit 60, and a traffic environment database 67), p39, an outside recognition device that acquires information regarding a state around the host vehicle by performing sensor fusion processing on detection results obtained by the foregoing on-board external sensors, the host vehicle state sensor includes sensors that acquire information regarding a traveling state of the host vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a steering angle sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a position sensor, and an orientation sensor); set a determination region around the vehicle based on the vehicle information (see at least fig.1-2, the target traffic area 9, p111, a target traffic area recognition unit 60 for recognizing persons and mobile bodies in the target traffic area, p115, the information transmitted to the target traffic area recognition unit 60 from the on-board driving assistance device 31 and the on-board communication device 34 included in the on-board equipment 30 include, for example, information regarding traffic participants present near the respective host vehicle and a traffic environment state that have been acquired by the respective external sensor unit, and information regarding a state of the respective host vehicle as one traffic participant that has been acquired, such as a position and travel acceleration); acquire an image captured by an infrastructure camera that is installed outside the vehicle and images a situation of the predetermined area (see at least fig.1-2, p7, an infrastructure camera 56, p34-35, a total of three infrastructure cameras 56 are installed, the plurality of infrastructure cameras 56 installed in the target traffic area 9, p108, the infrastructure cameras 56 capture images of the traffic infrastructure in the target traffic area including the roads, the intersection, and the sidewalks as well as the mobile bodies and the pedestrians that move on the roads, the intersection, the sidewalks, and the like, and transmit the obtained image information to the coordination support device 6); determine whether or not a target is present in the determination region based on the image captured by the infrastructure camera (see at least fig.1-2, abstract, the motorcycle is present within an analogue notification range, p7, the notification mode specifier sets the notification mode to the first mode in a case where the second mobile body is present outside a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target and where a third mobile body is present near the second mobile body and is approaching the support target from the front in the traveling direction of the support target). Kadowaki does not disclose decelerate the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region. However, Noguchi discloses decelerate the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region (see at least fig.9-13, p137, the countermeasure unit 71 transmits a command signal to the vehicle control device 40, and carries out the processing of correcting the travel control to reduce the risk of collision between the vehicle 10 and the passer-by who may be possibly present in the blind spot region D, the command signal to the vehicle control device 40 to decelerate the vehicle 10 or change a steering angle to allow the vehicle 10 to pass through a position away from the blind sport region D). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include decelerate the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.2 Kadowaki disclose wherein the vehicle information further indicates a direction of travel of the vehicle, and the processing circuitry is further configured to: set a front determination region that is the determination region in front of the vehicle based on the vehicle information; and update a front end of the front determination region at a frequency lower than an update frequency of the vehicle information (see at least fig.1-2, p7, outside a first range, a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target, p136, the analog notification actuation range is larger than the ADAS actuation range). Claim.3 Kadowaki disclose wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to decrease an update frequency of the front end of the front determination region as a speed of the vehicle becomes lower (see at least fig.1-2, p116, the target traffic area recognition unit 60 can acquire, based on the information transmitted from the foregoing area terminals, recognition information regarding each traffic participant such as a position, a moving speed, a moving direction, a moving direction, etc., of each traffic participant in the target traffic area, vehicle type, and rank, the registration number, etc, of each mobile body, the number of persons forming a pedestrian group, p122, the driving subject characteristic information relating to the driving characteristics of the driving subject (e.g., sudden lane changes with excessive frequency and sudden acceleration and deceleration with excessive frequency) and correlating with the current driving capability of the driving subject engaged in driving). Claim.4 Kadowaki disclose wherein the predetermined area extends in a first direction and is divided into a plurality of blocks along the first direction, each of the plurality of blocks is a region between a front block boundary and a rear block boundary, the front block boundary is located in the direction of travel of the vehicle when viewed from the rear block boundary, the plurality of blocks include a first block in which the vehicle is present and a second block located in the direction of travel of the vehicle when viewed from the first block (see at least fig.1-4, the target traffic area 9, p111, a target traffic area recognition unit 60 for recognizing persons and mobile bodies in the target traffic area, p115, the information transmitted to the target traffic area recognition unit 60 from the on-board driving assistance device 31 and the on-board communication device 34 included in the on-board equipment 30 include, for example, information regarding traffic participants present near the respective host vehicle and a traffic environment state that have been acquired by the respective external sensor unit, and information regarding a state of the respective host vehicle as one traffic participant that has been acquired, such as a position and travel acceleration, p45, only blocks involved particularly in control that is performed based on the coordination support information transmitted from the coordination support device 6), and the processing circuitry is further configured to: recognize the first block and the second block based on the vehicle information; set the front block boundary of the second block as the front end of the front determination region, (see at least fig.1-4, p7, outside a first range, a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target, p125, the target traffic area has a relatively large range that is determined, for example, in units of municipalities , the monitoring area is smaller than the target traffic area, but is larger than the ADAS actuation range set by the driving support ECU mounted on each mobile body, p136, the analog notification actuation range is larger than the ADAS actuation range). Kadowaki does not disclose update the first block, the second block, and the front end of the front determination region each time the vehicle passes the front block boundary of the first block. However, Noguchi update the first block, the second block, and the front end of the front determination region each time the vehicle passes the front block boundary of the first block (see at least fig.1-4 12-14, p22, a passer-by present in a blind spot region on the occasion that the vehicle 10 passes by the blind spot region, p52, the vehicle 10 may include, for example, a rearward view capturing camera, or a left or right rearward view capturing camera, the rearward view capturing camera is provided in a rear part of the vehicle 10 and captures a rearward view, p104, the blind spot detection unit 65 identifies a region behind the parked vehicle or, for example, the building, as the blind spot region, on the basis of the surrounding environment data detected in step S13, p105, the blind spot region D is set, by the vehicle object recognition system, within a region set as recognizable range Re, p126, the maximum value of the passer-by recognition certainty Ah is maintained in a period after the determination as to the presence of the passer-by in the blind spot region D until the vehicle 10 passes by the blind spot region D, determined that there is no risk of collision between the passer-by and the vehicle 10 , p132-133, subregion A1, subregion A2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include update the first block, the second block, and the front end of the front determination region each time the vehicle passes the front block boundary of the first block by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.5 Kadowaki disclose wherein a block length is a length of each of the plurality of blocks along the first direction, and the block length becomes longer as a speed of the vehicle becomes higher (see at least fig.1-2, p116, the target traffic area recognition unit 60 can acquire, based on the information transmitted from the foregoing area terminals, recognition information regarding each traffic participant such as a position, a moving speed, a moving direction, a moving direction, etc., of each traffic participant in the target traffic area, vehicle type, and rank, the registration number, etc, of each mobile body, the number of persons forming a pedestrian group, p122, the driving subject characteristic information relating to the driving characteristics of the driving subject (e.g., sudden lane changes with excessive frequency and sudden acceleration and deceleration with excessive frequency) and correlating with the current driving capability of the driving subject engaged in driving). Claim.6 Kadowaki disclose wherein the vehicle information further indicates a direction of travel of the vehicle, and the processing circuitry is further configured to set a front determination region that is the determination region in front of the vehicle (see at least fig.1-4, p7, outside a first range, a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target, p125, the target traffic area has a relatively large range that is determined, for example, in units of municipalities , the monitoring area is smaller than the target traffic area, but is larger than the ADAS actuation range set by the driving support ECU mounted on each mobile body, p136, the analog notification actuation range is larger than the ADAS actuation range, p138, almost on a line in the front-rear direction). Kadowaki does not disclose a rear determination region that is the determination region behind the vehicle, based on the vehicle information. However, Noguchi a rear determination region that is the determination region behind the vehicle, based on the vehicle information (see at least fig.1-4, p52, the vehicle 10 may include, for example, a rearward view capturing camera, or a left or right rearward view capturing camera, the rearward view capturing camera is provided in a rear part of the vehicle 10 and captures a rearward view). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include a rear determination region that is the determination region behind the vehicle, based on the vehicle information by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.7 Kadowaki disclose wherein a front distance is a distance from the position of the vehicle to a front end of the front determination region(see at least fig.1-4, p136, shortening of the distance between the motorcycle 3 and the four-wheeled automobile 2, p138, the four-wheeled automobile 5 indicates that the motorcycle 3 is at a relative distance in the width direction from the four-wheeled automobile 5, the target traffic area 9, p111, a target traffic area recognition unit 60 for recognizing persons and mobile bodies in the target traffic area, p115, the information transmitted to the target traffic area recognition unit 60 from the on-board driving assistance device 31 and the on-board communication device 34 included in the on-board equipment 30 include, for example, information regarding traffic participants present near the respective host vehicle and a traffic environment state that have been acquired by the respective external sensor unit, and information regarding a state of the respective host vehicle as one traffic participant that has been acquired, such as a position and travel acceleration). Kadowaki does not disclose a rear distance is a distance from the position of the vehicle to a rear end of the rear determination region, and the processing circuitry is further configured to set the front determination region and the rear determination region such that the rear distance is shorter than the front distance. However, Noguchi a rear distance is a distance from the position of the vehicle to a rear end of the rear determination region, and the processing circuitry is further configured to set the front determination region and the rear determination region such that the rear distance is shorter than the front distance (see at least fig.1-6,12-14, p52, the vehicle 10 may include, for example, a rearward view capturing camera, or a left or right rearward view capturing camera, the rearward view capturing camera is provided in a rear part of the vehicle 10 and captures a rearward view, p74, a position of an object present ahead of the vehicle 10, a distance from the vehicle 10 to the object, and a relative speed between the vehicle 10on the map data on the basis of the positional data regarding the vehicle 10on the basis of the high-precision three-dimensional map data, p77, the preset distance may be a variable value with the speed of the vehicle 10, p132, the subregion A1 is close to the vehicle 10 and has the short distance to the planned track ahead of the vehicle 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include a rear distance is a distance from the position of the vehicle to a rear end of the rear determination region, and the processing circuitry is further configured to set the front determination region and the rear determination region such that the rear distance is shorter than the front distance by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.8 Kadowaki does not disclose wherein the rear distance is a predetermined distance. However, Noguchi wherein the rear distance is a predetermined distance (see at least fig.1-6,12-14, p52, the vehicle 10 may include, for example, a rearward view capturing camera, or a left or right rearward view capturing camera, the rearward view capturing camera is provided in a rear part of the vehicle 10 and captures a rearward view, p74, a position of an object present ahead of the vehicle 10, a distance from the vehicle 10 to the object, and a relative speed between the vehicle 10on the map data on the basis of the positional data regarding the vehicle 10on the basis of the high-precision three-dimensional map data, p77, the preset distance may be a variable value with the speed of the vehicle 10, p132, the subregion A1 is close to the vehicle 10 and has the short distance to the planned track ahead of the vehicle 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include wherein the rear distance is a predetermined distanceby Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.9 Kadowaki does not disclose wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to update a rear end of the rear determination region at a frequency lower than an update frequency of the vehicle information. However, Noguchi wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to update a rear end of the rear determination region at a frequency lower than an update frequency of the vehicle information (see at least fig.1-6,12-14, p52, the vehicle 10 may include, for example, a rearward view capturing camera, or a left or right rearward view capturing camera, the rearward view capturing camera is provided in a rear part of the vehicle 10 and captures a rearward view, p74, a position of an object present ahead of the vehicle 10, a distance from the vehicle 10 to the object, and a relative speed between the vehicle 10on the map data on the basis of the positional data regarding the vehicle 10on the basis of the high-precision three-dimensional map data, p77, the preset distance may be a variable value with the speed of the vehicle 10, p132, the subregion A1 is close to the vehicle 10 and has the short distance to the planned track ahead of the vehicle 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to update a rear end of the rear determination region at a frequency lower than an update frequency of the vehicle information by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.10 Kadowaki disclose wherein the determination region includes a first determination region and a second determination region surrounding the first determination region (see at least fig.1-4, the target traffic area 9, p111, a target traffic area recognition unit 60 for recognizing persons and mobile bodies in the target traffic area, p115, the information transmitted to the target traffic area recognition unit 60 from the on-board driving assistance device 31 and the on-board communication device 34 included in the on-board equipment 30 include, for example, information regarding traffic participants present near the respective host vehicle and a traffic environment state that have been acquired by the respective external sensor unit, and information regarding a state of the respective host vehicle as one traffic participant that has been acquired, such as a position and travel acceleration, p45, only blocks involved particularly in control that is performed based on the coordination support information transmitted from the coordination support device 6), and the processing circuitry is further configured to: execute stop control that decelerates to stop the vehicle, when the target is present in the first determination region (see at least fig.1-4, p7, outside a first range, a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target, p125, the target traffic area has a relatively large range that is determined, for example, in units of municipalities , the monitoring area is smaller than the target traffic area, but is larger than the ADAS actuation range set by the driving support ECU mounted on each mobile body, p136, the analog notification actuation range is larger than the ADAS actuation range). Kadowaki does not disclose decelerate the vehicle more slowly than in a case of the stop control, when the target is present in the second determination region. However, Noguchi decelerate the vehicle more slowly than in a case of the stop control, when the target is present in the second determination region (see at least fig.9-13, p137, the countermeasure unit 71 transmits a command signal to the vehicle control device 40, and carries out the processing of correcting the travel control to reduce the risk of collision between the vehicle 10 and the passer-by who may be possibly present in the blind spot region D, the command signal to the vehicle control device 40 to decelerate the vehicle 10 or change a steering angle to allow the vehicle 10 to pass through a position away from the blind sport region D). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include decelerate the vehicle more slowly than in a case of the stop control, when the target is present in the second determination region by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Claim.11 Kadowaki disclose a vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle in a predetermined area by a computer (see at least abstract, fig.1-2, p6, provide a traffic safety support system capable of improving traffic safety in a situation in which it is predicted that a mobile body other than a host vehicle is shielded by a nearby vehicle present near the mobile body, p14, a driving assistor (e.g., on-board driving assistance device 21 and an on-board driving assistance device 31) configured to automatically operate at least one of a braking device or a steering device of the support target on a condition that a mobile body that has possibility of coming into contact with the support target is present within the first range), the vehicle control method comprising: acquiring vehicle information indicating a position of the vehicle(see at least fig.1-2, p3, the driving assistance apparatus performs driving assistance control based on information regarding a traveling state of a vehicle and information regarding a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time when an occupant of the vehicle has sensed a hazard, whereby the driving assistance apparatus gives a warning or executes an intervention in traveling control, p7, the traffic safety support system includes: a recognizer (e.g., an on-board driving assistance device 21, an on-board communication device 24, a portable information processing terminal 25, an on-board driving assistance device 31, an on-board communication device 34, a portable information processing terminal 35, a portable information processing terminal 40, a traffic light control device 55, an infrastructure camera 56, a target traffic area recognition unit 60, and a traffic environment database 67), p39, an outside recognition device that acquires information regarding a state around the host vehicle by performing sensor fusion processing on detection results obtained by the foregoing on-board external sensors, the host vehicle state sensor includes sensors that acquire information regarding a traveling state of the host vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a steering angle sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a position sensor, and an orientation sensor); setting a determination region around the vehicle based on the vehicle information (see at least fig.1-2, the target traffic area 9, p111, a target traffic area recognition unit 60 for recognizing persons and mobile bodies in the target traffic area, p115, the information transmitted to the target traffic area recognition unit 60 from the on-board driving assistance device 31 and the on-board communication device 34 included in the on-board equipment 30 include, for example, information regarding traffic participants present near the respective host vehicle and a traffic environment state that have been acquired by the respective external sensor unit, and information regarding a state of the respective host vehicle as one traffic participant that has been acquired, such as a position and travel acceleration); acquiring an image captured by an infrastructure camera that is installed outside the vehicle and images a situation of the predetermined area (see at least fig.1-2, p7, an infrastructure camera 56, p34-35, a total of three infrastructure cameras 56 are installed, the plurality of infrastructure cameras 56 installed in the target traffic area 9, p108, the infrastructure cameras 56 capture images of the traffic infrastructure in the target traffic area including the roads, the intersection, and the sidewalks as well as the mobile bodies and the pedestrians that move on the roads, the intersection, the sidewalks, and the like, and transmit the obtained image information to the coordination support device 6); determining whether or not a target is present in the determination region based on the image captured by the infrastructure camera(see at least fig.1-2, abstract, the motorcycle is present within an analogue notification range, p7, the notification mode specifier sets the notification mode to the first mode in a case where the second mobile body is present outside a second range encompassing the first range and acts as an oncoming mobile body approaching the support target from front in a traveling direction of the support target and where a third mobile body is present near the second mobile body and is approaching the support target from the front in the traveling direction of the support target). Kadowaki does not disclose decelerating the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region. However, Noguchi discloses decelerate the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region (see at least fig.9-13, p137, the countermeasure unit 71 transmits a command signal to the vehicle control device 40, and carries out the processing of correcting the travel control to reduce the risk of collision between the vehicle 10 and the passer-by who may be possibly present in the blind spot region D, the command signal to the vehicle control device 40 to decelerate the vehicle 10 or change a steering angle to allow the vehicle 10 to pass through a position away from the blind sport region D). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to modify Kadowaki to include decelerate the vehicle when the target is present in the determination region by Noguchi in order to calculate certainty of a recognition result of the presence or the absence of the passer-by based on, at least, the number of the object recognition systems that recognize the same passer-by, to carry out processing of reducing a risk of collision between the vehicle to be assisted and the passer-by (see Noguchi’s p7). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHARDUL D PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-7758. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm (IFP). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KITO ROBINSON can be reached at (571)270-3921. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SHARDUL D PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3664
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 23, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 19, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Feb 12, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 04, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 04, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 27, 2026
Response Filed

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Expected OA Rounds
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Grant Probability
99%
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2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
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