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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) a mental process which the human mind can perform an observation, evaluation and judgement. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims are directed to mental processes without any significantly more. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because a human can organize and perform the mental process. Below is the analysis.
Claim 12 recites “A system for displaying virtual road signs, comprising: a computer server that processes data to determine when to display the virtual road sign, where the data quality impacts the issuing of rewards.”
Step 2A Prong One: the claim is an abstract idea of nature or natural phenomenon because the claim simply recites the issuing of rewards based on the computed display of a virtual road sign(s), without any technical correlation of further any structural input to correlate the steps of the method, thereby to which the said rewards could be issues done generically. The mention of a computer server and display are merely generic machine holders. This is directed to a result or effect that itself is the abstract idea and merely invoke generic processes and machinery. Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc., 955 F.3d 1358, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2020)
Claim 13 recites “The system of claim 12, wherein the reward is the issuance of a fungible token.”
The fungible token offers nothing significantly more that changes the issuing the reward from being able to be done via natural phenomenon.
Claim 14 recites “The system of claim 13, wherein the fungible token is issued on a distributed ledger.” The fungible token offers nothing significantly more that changes the issuing the reward from being able to be done via natural phenomenon.
Claim 15 recites “A Virtual Road sign system comprising: a computer server that uses data to determine when the Virtual Road Sign should be displayed, where that data is associated with distributed ledger NFT.”
Step 2A Prong One: the claim is an abstract idea of nature or natural phenomenon because essentially the limitations are made up of generic computing processors without any technical correlation of further any structural input to correlate the components of the system. Thereby, displaying information for look up purposes. This is directed to a result or effect that itself is the abstract idea and merely invoke generic processes and machinery. Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc., 955 F.3d 1358, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2020)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vose et al. (US 10417914 B1).
In regards to claim 1, Vose teaches a virtual animal crossing alert system for vehicles, comprising: a network-connected road safety device that can be installed in a vehicle, a server configured to communicate with the road safety device (Abstract; Column 11, lines 16-34; Column 18, lines 42-51; Column 19, lines 4-17),
Methods and systems for displaying a user interface that warns a driver that a vehicle is located within or is near a geographical area (and/or intersection) associated with a higher than average risk of animal-vehicle and/or vehicle-vehicle collisions are provided. According to certain aspects, an electronic device may access a database that identifies a plurality of high risk areas, including areas associated with prior vehicle accidents. The electronic device may display a virtual road map, as well as an icon indicating the vehicle's current location and a plurality of visual indications of high-risk areas. When the electronic device detects that the current location of the vehicle is within and/or approaching a high-risk area, the electronic device may then warn the driver about the higher than average risk of experiencing a vehicle collision.[Abstract]
After the insurance provider 210 generates the notification, the insurance provider 210 may communicate (234) the notification to the vehicle/customer device 206. It should be appreciated that various channels of communication for communicating the notification are envisioned, where the channel of communication may vary based upon the type of notification. After receiving the notification, the vehicle/customer device may notify (236) the customer by communicating, annunciating, or otherwise presenting the notification. It should be appreciated that various channels for notifying the customer are envisioned. For example, a text message (SMS) notification may be communicated to the vehicle/customer device 206 via an available cellular network, and the vehicle/customer device 206 may display the SMS notification. In another example, an audio alert may be communicated via a satellite to an antenna coupled with a vehicle infotainment console, and the corresponding vehicle/customer device 206 may notify a vehicle operator by automatically annunciating the audio alert. [Col 11, ln 16-34]
In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of processing vehicle collision risk information may be provided. The method may include: (1) receiving, at a hardware server, vehicle data indicating at least a location of a vehicle; (2) accessing, by a processor, environment data associated with the location of the vehicle; (3) based upon the environment data, determining, by the processor, that the vehicle is at an elevated risk for an animal collision; (4) generating, by the processor, a notification indicating the elevated risk; and/or (5) communicating, via a communications network, the notification to the vehicle. [Col 18, ln 42-51]
Determining that the vehicle is at the elevated risk may include (1) identifying at least one of a time of day and a time of year; and (2) determining, from a portion of the environment data corresponding to the at least one of the time of day and the time of year, that the vehicle is at the elevated risk. The method may further include receiving, at the hardware server, an animal collision report indicating that the vehicle collided with an animal. Determining that the vehicle is at the elevated risk includes executing a machine learning algorithm. The method may also include updating the machine learning algorithm according to the animal collision report. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein [Col 19, ln 41-17]
Vose then teaches an artificial intelligence (AI) module hosted on the server, designed to analyze real-time data related to wildlife activity, environmental conditions, and vehicle traffic patterns, where the AI module determines the likelihood of animal presence on the roadway based on seasonal animal behavior patterns, daily weather conditions, time of day, and recent wildlife sightings reported by vehicles, and wherein the server sends a dynamic alert to the road safety device to activate an on-screen animal crossing warning sign when the likelihood of encountering wildlife is high.(Column 3, lines 60-Column 4, line 18; Column 4, lines 53-62; Column 12, lines 40-65; Column 13, lines 3-19, lines 20-38 )
The present embodiments relate to, inter alia, creating a database of animal induced vehicle accidents, such as accidents involving automobiles striking deer or other animals. Each accident entry into the database may include associated information, such as information related to: accident location (e.g., GPS (Global Positioning System), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), latitude/longitude coordinate, road and mile marker, or other location information); time of accident; day of year of the accident; weather at the time of the accident; road or road type on which the accident occurred; driver information or characteristics of the driver involved in the accident; type of animal involved in the accident; type of vehicle involved in the accident; geography surrounding the area, or in the vicinity, of the accident (such as hills, flat, river or creek bed, river or creek crossing, heavily or lightly wooded, open land, etc.); nearby fields (such as corn, wheat, or soybean fields, pasture or brush, etc.); real time or predicted time of harvest (such as corn or soybeans being combined in the fall); wetlands; animal preserves; animal tendencies or characteristics (such as animal mating season, migratory tendencies, animal movement and eating tendencies, hunting season(s)); events that may impact traffic; real time or predicted traffic conditions; real time or anticipated road construction; and/or other information. [Col 3, ln 60-Col 4, ln 18]
If the current conditions associated with the mobile device, such as mobile device or vehicle location, time of day, day of year, weather, visibility, and other conditions match those associated with a high risk event identified in the model and/or database, an audible, vibrating, visual, or other type of alert or warning may be issued to warn the driver or other user of the mobile device that the vehicle is presently approaching, or is currently within, a high risk area having a relatively high likelihood of vehicle-animal collisions.[Col 4, ln 53-62]
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary interface 350 that notifies a customer that the vehicle is at an elevated risk for an animal collision. As discussed herein, a vehicle/customer device may be configured to display the notification, where the notification is received from an insurance provider (or a vehicle control system). As illustrated in FIG. 3, the interface 350 may provide an indication of an alert (i.e., a warning symbol) and a description of the nature of the elevated risk (“A boar collision has occurred in the area recently. Be on alert!”). Although not illustrated in FIG. 3, it should be noted that interface 350 may include additional information associated with the elevated risk, such as a specific direction from which an animal is likely to cross the vehicle's path.[Col 12, ln 40-53]
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary interface 500 for displaying high-risk areas on a virtual road map. Although FIG. 5A depicts a smart phone displaying the interface 500, it should be appreciated that the interface 500 may be displayed on any electronic device capable of executing a collision risk application (such as a mobile device, smart vehicle display, vehicle navigation unit, and/or other computing devices). The interface 500 may depict a virtual road map covering a geographical area in which a vehicle is currently located. The interface 500 may further depict a virtual representation of the current location of the vehicle (e.g., GPS location) superimposed on the virtual road map (the solid circle represents the current vehicle location). It should be appreciated that as the current location of the vehicle changes, the virtual representation of the current location may be superimposed on the virtual road map in a new location representative of the new current location.[Col 13, ln 3-19]
In addition to the virtual representation of the current location of the vehicle, the interface 500 may depict a
plurality of virtual representations corresponding to a plurality of high-risk areas and/or danger zones. In some cases, the plurality of high-risk areas correspond to a plurality of locations in which a prior vehicle collision occurred. In some further cases, the plurality of locations in which a prior vehicle collision occurred only includes those prior vehicle collisions that occurred within a temporal scope of the current time and/or day (e.g., a similar time of day and/or similar day of year). The visual representation corresponding to the plurality of high-risk areas may be a circle centered at the location in which the prior vehicle collision occurred. The circle may be centered at a location of the prior vehicle collision and extend to a radius of a threshold distance (such as 1-2 miles, 200-300 yards, 2-3 city blocks, etc.). It should be appreciated that, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the visual representations corresponding to each of the plurality of high-risk areas may overlap.[Col 13, ln 20-38]
In regards to claim 2, Vose teaches a portable road safety device for enhancing user interaction with navigation apps, comprising: a wireless communication module for exchanging data with a smartphone, a plurality of physical buttons on a GUI board for user input, a camera interface for connecting to a peripheral camera unit, and a vibration alert interface for connecting to a peripheral vibration unit (Column 4, lines 41-52; Column 12, lines 53-65; Column 13, lines 3-19, lines 39-51; Column 15, lines 22-31)
During use, an application on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, cell phone, tablet, phablet, laptop, notebook, PDA (personal digital assistant), pager, smart watch, hand-held computing device, wearable electronic device, computer, access point, node, relay, other device capable of wireless RF (radio frequency) communication, etc., or on a vehicle system (such as a smart car or other vehicle-based computer or control system), may monitor the position of the vehicle and/or the mobile device (and thus the position of the vehicle in which the mobile device is traveling). The application may remotely or locally access the models and/or database [Col 4, ln 41-52]
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary interface 500 for displaying high-risk areas on a virtual road map. Although FIG. 5A depicts a smart phone displaying the interface 500, it should be appreciated that the interface 500 may be displayed on any electronic device capable of executing a collision risk application (such as a mobile device, smart vehicle display, vehicle navigation unit, and/or other computing devices). The interface 500 may depict a virtual road map covering a geographical area in which a vehicle is currently located. The interface 500 may further depict a virtual representation of the current location of the vehicle (e.g., GPS location) superimposed on the virtual road map (the solid circle represents the current vehicle location). It should be appreciated that as the current location of the vehicle changes, the virtual representation of the current location may be superimposed on the virtual road map in a new location representative of the new current location.[Col 13, ln 3-19]
FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary interface 550 for warning a driver of a vehicle that their current location is within a high-risk area. Although FIG. 5B depicts a smart phone displaying the interface 550, it should be appreciated that the interface 550 may be displayed on any electronic device capable of executing a collision risk application. The interface 550 may be displayed in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of a high-risk area. The interface 550 may display this scenario by superimposing, on the virtual road map, the visual representation for the current location of the vehicle within a circular visual representation corresponding to a high-risk area.[Col 13, ln 39-51]
Other operational parameters that may be modified may include parameters pertaining to alerting and/or warning the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a high-risk area, such as whether the warning should include an audio alert 756 (“Voice Alert”) and whether the warning should include a haptic alert 758 (“Vibration Alert”). It should be appreciated that the displayed user interface elements are exemplary and additional, fewer or alternative parameters controlling the operation of the collision risk application may be controlled by the interface 700.[Col 15, ln 22-31]
In regards to claim 3, Vose the road safety device is configured to wirelessly connect to a smartphone running a navigation app (Column 4, lines 41-52; Column 18, lines 52-65; Column 26, lines 55-64)
During use, an application on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, cell phone, tablet, phablet, laptop, notebook, PDA (personal digital assistant), pager, smart watch, hand-held computing device, wearable electronic device, computer, access point, node, relay, other device capable of wireless RF (radio frequency) communication, etc., or on a vehicle system (such as a smart car or other vehicle-based computer or control system), may monitor the position of the vehicle and/or the mobile device (and thus the position of the vehicle in which the mobile device is traveling). The application may remotely or locally access the models and/or database.[Col 4, ln 41-52]
Communicating the notification to the vehicle may include communicating the notification to at least one of an onboard computer of the vehicle and an electronic device associated with an operator of the vehicle. Receiving the vehicle data may include receiving at least one of a speed of the vehicle, vehicle characteristics, and demographic information associated with an operator of the vehicle. Accessing the environment data may include accessing at least one of: a historical record of accidents, ecological characteristics, and/or roadway characteristics. Determining that the vehicle is at the elevated risk may include determining, from the environment data, that a previous accident has occurred at or near the location of the vehicle. The environment data may include a first environment factor having a first specific weight and a second environment factor having a second specific weight, and determining that the vehicle is at an elevated risk may include calculating an overall risk based upon combining the first environment factor and the second environment factor. [Col 18, ln 52-65]
The electronic device 1125 may further include a communication module 1177 configured to communicate data via one or more networks 1120. According to some embodiments, the communication module 1177 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN transceivers) functioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or other standards, and configured to receive and transmit data via one or more external ports 1176. For example, the communication module 1177 may send, via the network 1120, a notification that the driver has enabled and/or disabled the display of high-risk areas.[Col 26, ln 55-64]
In regards to claim 4, Vose teaches the road safety device is further configured to receive navigation app data and display relevant information on the GUI board (Column 13, lines 3-19)
FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary interface 500 for displaying high-risk areas on a virtual road map. Although FIG. 5A depicts a smart phone displaying the interface 500, it should be appreciated that the interface 500 may be displayed on any electronic device capable of executing a collision risk application (such as a mobile device, smart vehicle display, vehicle navigation unit, and/or other computing devices). The interface 500 may depict a virtual road map covering a geographical area in which a vehicle is currently located. The interface 500 may further depict a virtual representation of the current location of the vehicle (e.g., GPS location) superimposed on the virtual road map (the solid circle represents the current vehicle location). It should be appreciated that as the current location of the vehicle changes, the virtual representation of the current location may be superimposed on the virtual road map in a new location representative of the new current location.[Col 13, ln 3-19]
In regards to claim 5, Vose teaches the road safety device is further configured to transmit user-reported road events or hazards to the navigation app, including images captured by the peripheral camera unit (Column 12, lines 53-65)
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
In regards to claim 6, Vose teaches the road safety device is further configured to receive road event or hazard notifications from the navigation app and present them to the user via the display and the peripheral vibration unit (Column 15, lines 4-21, 22-31)
According to the present embodiments, the interface 700 may include user interface elements that enable the driver of the vehicle to modify the operation of the collision risk application. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the operational parameters that may be modified to include parameters pertaining to the display of information, such as displaying virtual representations corresponding to vehicle-animal collision 752 (“Show Animal Data”), and displaying virtual representations corresponding to vehicle-vehicle collision 754 (“Show Dangerous Intersections”). It should be appreciated that if the animal data option 752 is enabled and the dangerous intersection option 754 is disabled, upon returning to the primary interface, the electronic device may only display virtual representations representative of high-risk areas corresponding to vehicle-animal collisions. In such a scenario, the electronic device may not display the plurality of virtual representations representative of high-risk areas corresponding to vehicle-vehicle collisions.[Col 15, ln 4-21]
Other operational parameters that may be modified may include parameters pertaining to alerting and/or warning the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a high-risk area, such as whether the warning should include an audio alert 756 (“Voice Alert”) and whether the warning should include a haptic alert 758 (“Vibration Alert”). It should be appreciated that the displayed user interface elements are exemplary and additional, fewer or alternative parameters controlling the operation of the collision risk application may be controlled by the interface 700.[Col 15, ln 22-31]
In regards to claim 7, Vose teaches each physical button corresponds to a specific road event or hazard.
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
In regards to claim 8, Vose teaches a display on the GUI board for presenting navigation app information and road event notifications to the user (Column 14, lines 36-55).
FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary interface 650 for displaying multiple types of high-risk areas on a virtual road map. Although FIG. 6B depicts a smart phone displaying the interface 650, it should be appreciated that the interface 650 may be displayed on any electronic device (e.g., mobile device, vehicle display, vehicle navigation unit, etc.) capable of executing a collision risk application. As depicted in the interface 650, the plurality of virtual representations corresponding to high-risk areas are displayed in two different colors. According to some embodiments, virtual representations displayed in a first color correspond to vehicle-animal collisions and virtual representations displayed in a second color correspond to vehicle-vehicle collisions. It should be appreciated that any number of colors or other indications may be used to organize the plurality of high-risk areas based upon the corresponding type of collision. In an embodiment, car-deer collisions may be displayed in one color and car-raccoon collision in other. In other embodiments, car-deer collisions may be represented by a deer-head icon and car-raccoon collisions by a raccoon-paw icon. [Col 14, ln 36-55]
In regards to claim 9, Vose teaches the camera unit is configured to automatically capture images of road events or hazards upon user button presses (Column 12, lines 53-65)
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
In regards to claim 10, Vose teaches the camera unit is further configured to transmit the captured images to the smartphone for reporting purposes(Column 12, lines 53-65)
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary interface 450 indicating an example animal collision report form. According to the present embodiments, the interface 450 may include selections, input boxes, or the like that enable the user to input data associated with an animal collision. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the data may include a date 452 (“01/01”), a time 454 (“11:45 am”), a type of animal (“Elk”) 456, and other details about the collision 458 (“I hit an elk . . . ”). At least some of this information may be automatically prepopulated by the vehicle/customer device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, manually entered or automatically generated location data may also be included in an animal collision report. Some embodiments may also enable a user to attach images 460 (img01.jpg) or videos to the animal collision report. The images or videos may be taken by mobile devices associated with the operator, and/or by vehicle mounted cameras.[Col 12, ln 53-65]
In regards to claim 11, Vose teaches the vibration unit is configured to provide haptic feedback to the user when approaching reported road events or hazards (Column 15, lines 22-31).
Other operational parameters that may be modified may include parameters pertaining to alerting and/or warning the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a high-risk area, such as whether the warning should include an audio alert 756 (“Voice Alert”) and whether the warning should include a haptic alert 758 (“Vibration Alert”). It should be appreciated that the displayed user interface elements are exemplary and additional, fewer or alternative parameters controlling the operation of the collision risk application may be controlled by the interface 700.[Col 15, ln 22-31]
In regards to claim 12, Vose teaches a system for displaying virtual road signs, comprising: a computer server that processes data to determine when to display the virtual road sign, where the data quality impacts the issuing of rewards (Column 22, lines 4-16; Column 25, lines 33-43; Column 29, lines 45-63).
The methods discussed above and herein may further include taking insurance-related actions based upon the collision avoidance functionality detailed herein. The method may include adjusting insurance rates, premiums, discounts, and/or rewards. For instance, the remote server associated with an insurance provider that may generate collision avoidance alerts or warnings may also calculate customer-specific insurance premiums, rates, rewards, points, discounts, and/or other customer-specific items. The customer-specific insurance-related items may be calculated based upon the amount and/or type of animal collision functionality that a customer's mobile device or vehicle is equipped with.[Col 22, ln 4-16]
For instance, a remote server located at an insurance provider location may calculate adjustments for insurance premiums, rates, discounts, points, or rewards based upon the amount of time that a specific customer employs the collision avoidance functionality, as discussed elsewhere herein. The remote server may collect data indicating the type and/or amount of usage of collision avoidance functionality utilized by the insured. After which, the remote server may calculate insurance savings for that insured based upon the type and/or amount of usage of collision avoidance functionality.[Col 25, ln 33-43]
In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of alerting drivers of high risk areas may be provided. The method may include (1) displaying, via one or more processors, a virtual road map and a virtual representation of a current location of a vehicle superimposed on the virtual road map; (2) generating, via one or more processors, virtual representations or icons associated with high risk areas, the high risk areas corresponding to past vehicle accidents; (3) superimposing, via one or more processors, the virtual representations or icons associated with the past vehicle accidents on the virtual road map at locations where the past vehicle accidents occurred; (4) monitoring, via one or more processors, the current location of the vehicle; and/or (5) updating, via one or more processors, the virtual representation of the current location of the vehicle as the vehicle travels on a road to present a graphical depiction of the relationship and/or distance between the current location of the vehicle and one or more high risk areas to facilitate alerting drivers when they are in or about to enter high risk areas associated with past vehicle accidents. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.[Col 29, ln 45-63]
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Samarthyam et al. (US 12350594 B2).
In regards to claim 15, Samarthyam teaches A Virtual Road sign system comprising a computer server that uses data to determine when the Virtual Road Sign should be displayed, where that data is associated with distributed ledger NFT (Column 11, lines 33 Column 12, line 8; Column 14, lines 39-59; Column 15, lines 32-37)
In an embodiment, the system 102 may be configured to generate a search interface for the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116. For example, the search interface may include a graphical user interface (GUI) that may receive a user input. The system 102 may be configured to convert the user input to a query vector that indicates a search criteria associated with a plurality of non-tangible assets (a plurality of skills). The system may be configured to retrieve ranked results from the database 112 based on a similarity between the search criteria (e.g. query vector) and the plurality of non-tangible assets (e.g. target vectors associated with the multi-token standard). The system 102 may be configured to control display of the ranked results on the search interface. The system 102 may thereby enable the large-sized game developers to connect with individual game developers on the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116. The system 102 may further enable search for validated and unique set of skills on the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116, and employ the skills of the user 118 for developing game content or other services, while enabling the large-sized game developers to enhance the richness of their games. Details of the search interface for the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116 are further described, for example, in FIG. 10.
In an embodiment, the digital token associated with the user 118 may include a fungible part (e.g. a fungible token) and the non-fungible part (e.g. non-transferable skill representation). In an embodiment, the system 102 may be configured to associate each sub-skill of the plurality of sub-skills with the fungible token. The fungible token may be earned based on the proficiency level of a corresponding sub-skill of the plurality of sub-skills. The system may be further configured to transfer at least one of the fungible token or the value of the digital token to the digital wallet 120 of the user device 108. In another embodiment, the fungible part and the non-fungible part may be stored in the digital wallet 120. In an embodiment, the system 102 may receive a user input. The system 102 may control, based on the received user input and the smart contract, execution of a transaction associated with one or more sub-skills of the plurality of sub-skills based on at least one of the fungible token or the value of the digital token in the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116.[Col 11, ln 33- Col 12, ln 8]
The application layer 302 may include skill description and artifacts 308, a skill acquisition and validation platform 310, a skills search and marketplace 312, and a skills allocation platform 314. In an embodiment, the skill description and artifacts 308 may include description of a plurality of skills and storage of artifacts. For example, the description of a skill may include information that describes features of the skill. For example, a skill of driving a vehicle with driving assistance systems may include, but are not limited to, perception related skills of a driver of the vehicle, understanding of conditions, ability to act under different situations, understanding of traffic rules, and motivation to act under different situations. The details of skills and behavioral aspects that define driving performance are further described, for example, in FIGS. 8A-8D. In an embodiment, the description of the plurality of skills may be stored in the database 112. In another embodiment, the description of the plurality of skills may be stored in the memory 206. The system 102 may access the description of the plurality of skills from the database 112 or the memory 206 for evaluation of the skills. [Col 14, ln 39-59]
In an embodiment, the skills allocation platform 314 may allocate the skill or the skill set to the digital token (e.g. NFT), which may be made available in the NFT-based electronic marketplace 116 for enabling equal access to opportunity for the skill. In an example, the skill or the skill set may include player skills that may be mapped or allocated for a set of tasks/services in a different platform or a different online environment. Player skills may be mapped and allocated for another set of tasks in a different platform (in exchange for fungible tokens). The skills allocation platform 314 may attach and transfer ERC-20 tokens for ERC1155 based NFT, buy/sell/auction NFT using on-chain NFT marketplace, stake ERC1155 based NFT for ERC20 rewards, provide functionality to receive royalty payment for usage of skills as AI agents (using ERC2981 royalty standard). [Col 15, ln 32-37]
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vose et al. (US 10417914 B1) in view of Samarthyam et al. (US 12350594 B2)
In regards to claim 13, Vose fails to teach the reward is the issuance of a fungible token.
Samarthyam on the other hand teaches the reward is the issuance of a fungible token (Column 16, lines 1-30)
In an embodiment, the proof-of-skills platform 322 may manage the digital token of the user 118. The proof-of-skills platform 322 may include non-tradeable reputation 324 that represents the skill of the user 118 using the non-fungible and non-transferable part of the digital token. The user's skills/behavior progression may be recorded on the blockchain. In an example, the progression and uniqueness of the skill set of the user 118 and proficiency level (e.g. novice, intermediate, expert) of the skill set may be represented by the non-fungible part of the digital token. The proof-of-skills platform 322 may include exchangeable token layer 326 that manages the fungible part of the digital token, which may be in exchange for the time allotted for a specific skill/skillset. The fungible part may be used for a transaction in the online environment 106 or a different environment. In an embodiment, the exchangeable token layer 326 may determine a value of the fungible part of the digital token in exchange for a service based on the proficiency level of the skill of the user 118. For example, the value of the fungible token in exchange for a service by an expert level user may be determined to be higher than the value of the fungible token in exchange for a service by an intermediate level user. In an example, the digital token may include a fungible token in accordance with ERC-20 standard and a non-fungible token (NFT) in accordance with ERC-721 standard. The system 102 may also support the NFT feature for homogenous (for example, Ethereum®-Ethereum®) and heterogenous (for example, Ethereum® and Hyperledger®) ecosystems. The fungible tokens may be exchanged for other services in the platform or for fiat money..[Col 16, ln 1-30]
. Thereby, it would have been obvious during the filing date of the said invention to combine Samarthyam’s teaching with Vose’s teaching in order to effectively track and validate and regulate the value of a driver’s performance, based on the safe behavioral performance on the road.
In regards to claim 14, Vose modified via Samarthyam teaches the fungible token is issued on a distributed ledger (Column 3, line 58- Column 4, line 13)
The system may be configured to determine a proficiency level of a plurality of proficiency levels of the non-tangible asset of the user based on the application of the AI model on the acquired information. The system may be configured to assign, based on the determined proficiency level of the non-tangible asset of the user, a value to a digital token associated with the user. For example, the digital token may comprise a non-fungible token (NFT) associated with a distributed ledger (e.g. blockchain). The system may control the AI model to track the progress of the skill of the user across the plurality of proficiency levels or to identify acquisition of a new skill in the online environment. In an embodiment, the system may control the AI model to evaluate the skill based on the tracked progress and current trend data in an NFT-based electronic marketplace. The system may evaluate the new skill based on the current trend data in the NFT-based electronic marketplace. The system may update the value of the digital token based on the evaluation. The system may thereby provide AI model-based evaluation and blockchain-based validation of the skills acquired by the user, and may enable the skills to be showcased as validated assets on the distributed ledger (e.g. blockchain) in the form of the NFT associated with the user..[ Col 3, ln 58- Col 4, ln 13]
Conclusion
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/ANTHONY D AFRIFA-KYEI/Examiner, Art Unit 2686
/BRIAN A ZIMMERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2686