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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Amendment filed on 10/16/2025.
In instant Amendment, claims 1, 2 and 4 have been amended; claims 6-9 have been added; and claims 1 and 9 are independent claims. Claims 1-9 have been examined and are pending. This Office Action is made Final.
Response to Arguments
The interpretation of claims 1, 2 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f) are withdrawn as the claims have been amended.
The rejection of claim 2 under 35 U.S.C. § 112 (b) has been withdrawn as the claims has been amended.
Applicants’ arguments with respect to the Double Patenting have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Argues: “...the scope of claim 1 is changed, rending the double patenting rejection moot...”.
Examiner’s Response: The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes the claim scope remains the same and U.S. Application No: 18/680,393 still anticipates the claims of the Instant Application. Therefore, the examiner finds this argument not persuasive.
Applicants’ arguments with respect to 35 U.S.C. 102/103 rejection(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim(s) 1 and representative independent claim 9 is/are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 3 of copending Application No. US Application 18/680,393. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because:
Instant Application No: 18/647,491
U.S. Application No: 18/680,393
Claim 1 and representative claim 9: An information processing device, comprising a processor configured to:
receive first data related to travel from a vehicle, the first data including information about a date and time at which the first data is acquired in the vehicle;
identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the first data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time; and
acquire user information indicating whether the first user permits provision the first data received from the vehicle on which the first user is to a third party, wherein
in a case that the user information indicates that the first user permits provision of the first data to the third party, process or transmits the first data to a third party server, and
in a case that the user information indicates that the first user does not permit provision of with the first data to the third party, the processor prohibits transmitting the first data to the third party server.
Claim 1: An information processing device comprising a control unit configured to
receive first data related to travel from a vehicle,
acquire a predetermined condition set by a user associated with the vehicle, the predetermined condition indicating a range of the first data permitted to be provided to a third party or a range of the first data not permitted to be provided to the third party, and send, to a third party server, data permitted to be provided to the third party, the data being extracted from the first data based on the predetermined condition.
Claim 3: wherein the predetermined condition is defined by a travel date and time of the vehicle.
As shown above, claim 1 of U.S. Application No: 18/680,393 anticipates claim 1 and representative independent claim 9 of Instant Application No: 18/647,491. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inbarajan et al. (US 2008/0119983 A1) in view of Penilla (US 9,171,268 B1).
Regarding Claim 1;
Inbarajan discloses an information processing device, comprising a processor configured to [0019]-[0020] - Moreover, call center 20 could be a data center, a server farm, a data library, or any other suitable facility or installation, whether it be manned or unmanned, that is capable of receiving and storing data from the vehicle):
receive first data related to travel from a vehicle... ([0019]-[0020] and [0022]-[0023] - Next, telematics unit 30 receives various types of vehicle-related data from one or more modules, units, components, devices, programs, etc. operating throughout the vehicle, step 104. Examples of acceptable vehicle-related data include: a vehicle mileage reading, a vehicle location (past and/or present), a vehicle history (record of driving times, average driving speed, etc.), a diagnostic trouble code (DTC), an engine oil life reading, emissions data, tire pressure, and a vehicle identification number (VIN), to name but a few possibilities. It should be appreciated that the aforementioned examples are only some of the types of vehicle-related data that can be gathered by telematics unit 30, as other types of information relating to the vehicle could be used as well [...] After the relevant vehicle-related data has been gathered at telematics unit 30, step 106 wirelessly transmits the vehicle-related data from the telematics unit to call center 20 over wireless carrier system 14 and [0024] - In step 108, the vehicle-related data that was wirelessly transmitted in the previous step is stored in a first database 84 at call center 20);
identify a first user ... ([0024]-[0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc., can have a separate entry in the customer database. That way, all of the vehicle-related data transmitted from that user's vehicle can be associated with a corresponding entry in the customer database);
acquire user information indicating whether the first user permits provision the first data received from the vehicle on which the first user is to a third party ([0027] As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties), wherein
in a case that the user information indicates that the first user permits provision of the first data to the third party, process or transmits the first data to a third party server ([0027]-[0028] - As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties. These business rules, which can be developed with input from the authorized user and through the use of a variety of software tools, can be run or otherwise executed during step 110 or at any other time preceding the distribution of the vehicle-related data to the third parties and [0030] - Alternatively, instead of providing notification to a third party that vehicle-related data is available, as in the example above, step 112 can simply communicate the appropriate vehicle-related data to the authorized third party. For instance, call center 20 can send the authorized third party an email or other electronic message, a facsimile, a letter, a verbal message, etc. containing the vehicle-related data that they have been approved to receive), and
in a case that the user information indicates that the first user does not permit provision of with the first data to the third party, the processor prohibits transmitting the first data to the third party server ([0027] - It is also possible for the vehicle owner to decide that they do not wish any vehicle-related data to be shared with third parties, in which case the vehicle-related data transmitted from telematics unit 30 would be stored in the customer database, but not the third party database).
Inbarajan further discloses “multiple” authorized users (i.e., see [0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc.), however, Inbarajan fails to explicitly disclose:
receive first data related to travel from a vehicle, the first data including information about a date and time at which the first data is acquired in the vehicle;
identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the first data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time; and
However, in an analogous art, Penilla teaches
receive first data related to travel from a vehicle, the first data including information about a date and time at which the first data is acquired in the vehicle (col. 26, lines 36-43 and col. 27, lines 12-27 - Although inputs can come from many sources, this particular example focuses on input into the assumption and reasoning logic module 2216 from past data originating and triggered by user behavior in order for module 2216 to learn. Past actions 2210 are logged into a database either locally on the vehicle computer or remotely which are fed into to module 2216... These identifiers include times, dates, rates, capacities, temperatures, frequency, degrees, distance, etc. and col. 28, lines 2-11 - ...the user usually drives a distance in the morning at a certain time...)
identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the first data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time (col. 9, lines 65-col. 10, lines 6 - The user can be detected using biometrics, login credentials, image detection of the face, fingerprint detection, retina scans, etc. and col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected and col. 26, lines 36-43 and col. 27, lines 12-27 and col. 28, lines 2-11); and
additionally teaches [acquire user information indicating whether the first user permits/does not permit ...] (col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected). As construed Penilla disclosure of the first user represents a different user than administrator.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinarily skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Penilla to the first user of Inbarajan to include receive first data related to travel from a vehicle, the first data including information about a date and time at which the first data is acquired in the vehicle; identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the first data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time; and [acquire user information indicating whether the first user permits/does not permit ...].
One would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Penilla to Inbarajan to do so as it provides / allows better wireless interfacing and networking with vehicles for managing user profiles for vehicles and exchange of information with cloud-based processing systems (Penilla, col. 1, lines 30-50).
Regarding Claim 2;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 1.
Inbarajan further discloses wherein: the processor is further configured to acquire owner information indicating whether an owner of the vehicle ... permit[s] provision of the first data to the third party ([0021] - Beginning with step 102, an authorized user first sets up a predetermined set of business rules that dictate which vehicle-related data, if any, is to be distributed, and which authorized third parties are to receive the data. The authorized user could be one of a number of different parties, including the vehicle owner, the regular vehicle driver, the service subscriber, the vehicle manufacturer, etc. According to one example, the authorized user is the vehicle owner and step 102 is generally performed at or near the time of vehicle purchase, vehicle lease, and/or service initialization. In this instance, the vehicle owner establishes at the onset if they are going to participate in third party data distribution and, if so, determines which vehicle-related data is to be shared and which third parties are to receive the vehicle-related data); and
in the case that the owner information indicates the owner of the vehicle... permit[s] provision of the first data to the third party, the processor is further configured to determine based on the user information, whether to transmit the first data to the third party server or prohibit transmitting the first data to the third party server ([0021] - Beginning with step 102, an authorized user first sets up a predetermined set of business rules that dictate which vehicle-related data, if any, is to be distributed, and which authorized third parties are to receive the data. The authorized user could be one of a number of different parties, including the vehicle owner, the regular vehicle driver, the service subscriber, the vehicle manufacturer, etc. According to one example, the authorized user is the vehicle owner and step 102 is generally performed at or near the time of vehicle purchase, vehicle lease, and/or service initialization. In this instance, the vehicle owner establishes at the onset if they are going to participate in third party data distribution and, if so, determines which vehicle-related data is to be shared and which third parties are to receive the vehicle-related data. It should be noted that the establishment of business rules can be a manual or an automated process, it can occur at any time prior to the distribution of vehicle-related data to third parties, it can be performed in person or remotely through the use of an authorized website or the like, and it can be carried out according to a number of different methods and involving a number of different parties and [0025] Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc., can have a separate entry in the customer database. That way, all of the vehicle-related data transmitted from that user's vehicle can be associated with a corresponding entry in the customer database and [0027] - As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties).
Inbarajan further discloses “multiple” authorized users (i.e., see [0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc.), however, Inbarajan fails to explicitly disclose:
...whether the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit...; and
in the case the owner information indicates the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit...
However, in an analogous art, Penilla teaches
...whether the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit... (col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected); and
in the case the owner information indicates the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit... (col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinarily skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Penilla to the users of Inbarajan to ...whether the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit...; and in the case the owner information indicates the owner of the vehicle allows the first user on the vehicle to select whether to permit...
One would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Penilla to Inbarajan to do so as it provides / allows better wireless interfacing and networking with vehicles for managing user profiles for vehicles and exchange of information with cloud-based processing systems (Penilla, col. 1, lines 30-5).
Regarding Claim 3;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 1.
Inbarajan further discloses further comprising a storage device for storing the user information for each of a plurality of users including the first user (([0021] - Beginning with step 102, an authorized user first sets up a predetermined set of business rules that dictate which vehicle-related data, if any, is to be distributed, and which authorized third parties are to receive the data. The authorized user could be one of a number of different parties, including the vehicle owner, the regular vehicle driver, the service subscriber, the vehicle manufacturer, etc. According to one example, the authorized user is the vehicle owner and step 102 is generally performed at or near the time of vehicle purchase, vehicle lease, and/or service initialization. In this instance, the vehicle owner establishes at the onset if they are going to participate in third party data distribution and, if so, determines which vehicle-related data is to be shared and which third parties are to receive the vehicle-related data. It should be noted that the establishment of business rules can be a manual or an automated process, it can occur at any time prior to the distribution of vehicle-related data to third parties, it can be performed in person or remotely through the use of an authorized website or the like, and it can be carried out according to a number of different methods and involving a number of different parties and [0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc., can have a separate entry in the customer database.) The examiner notes that the owner is the authorized user (i.e., the first user).
Penilla additionally teaches further comprising a storage device for storing the user information for each of a plurality of users including the first user (col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected and col. 26, lines 36-43 and col. 27, lines 12-27 - Although inputs can come from many sources, this particular example focuses on input into the assumption and reasoning logic module 2216 from past data originating and triggered by user behavior in order for module 2216 to learn. Past actions 2210 are logged into a database either locally on the vehicle computer or remotely which are fed into to module 2216... These identifiers include times, dates, rates, capacities, temperatures, frequency, degrees, distance, etc. and col. 28, lines 2-11 - ...the user usually drives a distance in the morning at a certain time...). As construed Penilla disclosure of the first user represents a different user than administrator.
Regarding Claim 4;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla discloses the device according to claim 1.
Penilla further teaches the user information is input to an in-vehicle terminal of the vehicle by the first user on the vehicle (FIG. 1 and col. 12, lines 16-45 - When a user logs into a vehicle, the vehicle will determine locally on board and/or communicate remotely with a central or distributed access management system to determine the validity of the login presented to the system. If the user's login is recognized, the system will apply settings and use privileges to the vehicle prescribed by the login and col. 14, lines 54-col. 15, line 5 - The user may also interact with the vehicle login system directly on or near the vehicle. The user supplies login credentials to a vehicle login interface which are sent to the remote distributed or centralized user login authentication system or onboard vehicle authentication system); and
the processor is configured to receive the user information from the in-vehicle terminal (FIG. 1 and col. 12, lines 16-45 - When a user logs into a vehicle, the vehicle will determine locally on board and/or communicate remotely with a central or distributed access management system to determine the validity of the login presented to the system. If the user's login is recognized, the system will apply settings and use privileges to the vehicle prescribed by the login and col. 14, lines 54-col. 15, line 5 - The user may also interact with the vehicle login system directly on or near the vehicle. The user supplies login credentials to a vehicle login interface which are sent to the remote distributed or centralized user login authentication system or onboard vehicle authentication system).
Similar rationale and motivation is noted for the combination of Penilla to Inbarajan in view of Penilla as per claim 1, above.
Regarding Claim 5;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 1.
Penilla further teaches wherein the vehicle is a vehicle for a car sharing service (col. 3, lines 38-48 - In some embodiments, the selected vehicle is a private vehicle or a shared vehicle associated with a car sharing system, if the vehicle is associated with a car sharing system, the settable settings of the selected vehicle can be enabled or disabled using an administrator account of the car sharing system...).
Similar rationale and motivation is noted for the combination of Penilla to Inbarajan in view of Penilla as per claim 1, above.
Regarding Claim 6;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 1.
Penilla further teaches further comprising a database for storing schedule information which includes a usage schedule of the vehicle by each user, and the first user is identified by referring to the schedule information (col. 26, lines 59-col. 27, lines 31- For instance, the assumption and reasoning logic engine has determined that the user may want to have his or her car automatically started at 7:55 am because the user typically starts the car at 8 am. Starting the car at five minutes early will allow the system to heat the vehicle to the user's typical liking. However, the assumption and reasoning logic may have only reached a level of confidence of 75% where 80% confidence is required to act without user input. Thus, the system, being only 75% sure that the car should be turned on will automatically send the user an alert requesting a decision on whether or not to turn the vehicle on... Past actions 2210 are logged into a database either locally on the vehicle computer or remotely which are fed into to module 2216. In this example, data about when the user's actions are stored, along with unique identifiers that will allow assumptions to be made in the future. These identifiers include times, dates, rates, capacities, temperatures, frequency, degrees, distance, etc. In this example, the system has been keeping track of when the user has been starting his or her engine in the morning on weekday sand weekends).
Similar rationale and motivation is noted for the combination of Penilla to Inbarajan in view of Penilla as per claim 1, above.
Regarding Claim 7;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 2.
Inbarajan further discloses ...select whether to permit provision of the first data to the third party, the processor is further configured to transmit the first data to the third party server ([0027] As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties),
Penilla further teaches wherein in a case that the owner information indicates that the owner of the vehicle does not allow the first user on the vehicle to select... col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected);
Similar rationale and motivation is noted for the combination of Penilla to Inbarajan in view of Penilla as per claim 2, above.
Regarding Claim 8;
Inbarajan in view of Penilla disclose the device according to claim 1.
Inbarajan further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to identify the first user by receiving a user ID of the first user from the vehicle (FIG. 1 and col. 12, lines 16-45 - For instance, a vehicle owner with the role of “administrator” (e.g., an administrator of a user account that has a profile associated therewith or multiple/sub profiles) can create logins for his or her vehicle(s) for additional users such as his or her children, spouse, mechanic, and valet driver among other applications.... When a user logs into a vehicle, the vehicle will determine locally on board and/or communicate remotely with a central or distributed access management system to determine the validity of the login presented to the system. If the user's login is recognized, the system will apply settings and use privileges to the vehicle prescribed by the login and col. 14, lines 54-col. 15, line 5).
Similar rationale and motivation is noted for the combination of Penilla to Inbarajan in view of Penilla as per claim 1, above.
Regarding Claim 9;
Inbarajan discloses an information processing device, comprising a processor configured to:
receive a data provision request from a third party server of a third party ([0029] - In step 112, the method enables one or more authorized third parties to access the portion of the vehicle-related data that has been stored in the third party database),
receive ... data related to ... a vehicle, specify target data from the ... data based on a predetermined condition included in the data provision request ([0027] - In the example where the vehicle owner or other authorized user approves an oil change shop to have access to vehicle mileage data and an automotive component supplier to have access to certain DTCs relating to the supplied component, a vehicle mileage reading and relevant DTCs are saved to the temporary third party database and are made available to the oil shop and the automotive component supplier, respectively, while the remaining vehicle-related data is only saved and maintained within the customer database and [0029] - In step 112, the method enables one or more authorized third parties to access the portion of the vehicle-related data that has been stored in the third party database);
identify a first user ... ([0024]-[0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc., can have a separate entry in the customer database. That way, all of the vehicle-related data transmitted from that user's vehicle can be associated with a corresponding entry in the customer database);
acquire user information indicating whether the first user permits provision of the target data received from the vehicle on which the first user is, to the third party ([0027] As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties), wherein
in the user information, in a case that the first user permits provision of the target data to the third party, the processor transmits the target data to the third party server ([0027]-[0028] - As discussed above, the authorized user can establish a set of business rules that are the primary bases for determining which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be saved to the third party database and be made available to the authorized third parties. These business rules, which can be developed with input from the authorized user and through the use of a variety of software tools, can be run or otherwise executed during step 110 or at any other time preceding the distribution of the vehicle-related data to the third parties and [0030] - Alternatively, instead of providing notification to a third party that vehicle-related data is available, as in the example above, step 112 can simply communicate the appropriate vehicle-related data to the authorized third party. For instance, call center 20 can send the authorized third party an email or other electronic message, a facsimile, a letter, a verbal message, etc. containing the vehicle-related data that they have been approved to receive), and
in the user information, in a case that the first user does not permit provision of the target data to the third party, the processor prohibits transmitting the target data to the third party server ([0027] - It is also possible for the vehicle owner to decide that they do not wish any vehicle-related data to be shared with third parties, in which case the vehicle-related data transmitted from telematics unit 30 would be stored in the customer database, but not the third party database).
Inbarajan further discloses “multiple” authorized users (i.e., see [0025] - Each authorized user, whether they be a vehicle owner, primary driver, service subscriber, etc), however, Inbarajan fails to explicitly disclose:
receive travel data related to travel from a vehicle, specify target data from the travel data ..., the target data including information about a date and time at which the target data is acquired in the vehicle;
identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the target data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time.
However, in an analogous art, Penilla teaches
receive travel data related to travel from a vehicle, specify target data from the travel data ..., the target data including information about a date and time at which the target data is acquired in the vehicle; (col. 26, lines 36-43 and col. 27, lines 12-27 - Although inputs can come from many sources, this particular example focuses on input into the assumption and reasoning logic module 2216 from past data originating and triggered by user behavior in order for module 2216 to learn. Past actions 2210 are logged into a database either locally on the vehicle computer or remotely which are fed into to module 2216... These identifiers include times, dates, rates, capacities, temperatures, frequency, degrees, distance, etc. and col. 28, lines 2-11 - ...the user usually drives a distance in the morning at a certain time...);
identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the target data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time (col. 9, lines 65-col. 10, lines 6 - The user can be detected using biometrics, login credentials, image detection of the face, fingerprint detection, retina scans, etc. and col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected and col. 26, lines 36-43 and col. 27, lines 12-27 and col. 28, lines 2-11); and
additionally teaches [acquire user information indicating whether the first user ....permits/does not permit ...] (col. 12, lines 63-65 - Administrators can decide which settings are locked for specific logins or roles, which are open for the login user to toggle and which settings are to be enforced depending on the time of year, or time or day etc., or when a condition or event is detected). As construed Penilla disclosure of the first user represents a different user than administrator.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinarily skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Penilla to the first user of Inbarajan to include receive travel data related to travel from a vehicle, specify target data from the travel data ..., the target data including information about a date and time at which the target data is acquired in the vehicle; identify a first user who is on the vehicle at the date and time at which the target data is acquired, based on the information about the date and time; and [acquire user information indicating whether the first user ....permits/does not permit ...].
One would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Penilla to Inbarajan to do so as it provides / allows better wireless interfacing and networking with vehicles for managing user profiles for vehicles and exchange of information with cloud-based processing systems (Penilla, col. 1, lines 30-50).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARI L SCHMIDT whose telephone number is (571)270-1385. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 6pm (MDT).
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, Luu Pham can be reached at (571)270-5002. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KARI L SCHMIDT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2439