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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/14/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment and Arguments
The amendment filed 4/14/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-8 remain pending in the application.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US10421465B1 (“Jutkowitz”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 7, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20200098265A1 Agnew et al ("Agnew") in view of US10421465B1 (“Jutkowitz”).
As per claims 1, 6, 7 Agnew discloses the limitations of the device(s) and method:
A driver evaluation information providing device comprising: a plurality of sensors configured to detect driver information within a vehicle; and processor programmed to: monitor a condition of a driver of the vehicle based on a detection by at least one of the sensors; evaluate a driving involvement degree of the driver based on a result of monitoring of the monitored condition of the driver; perform a comparison of the evaluated driving involvement degree to a first threshold value and a second threshold value; (Agnew at least the abstract, [0017], FIG. 22, FIG. 21, FIG. 18B, [0106], [0252], [0276-0277], [0289], [0312], [0325], and [0373])
Agnew does not explicitly disclose, which Jutkowitz teaches:
cause a change in a driving level of the vehicle based on a result of the comparison, wherein the driving level includes an autonomous driving level, a driving assist level, and a manual driving level, when the vehicle is performing traveling control as autonomous driving or driving assist, the traveling is terminated when the driving involvement degree is lower than the second threshold value, and when the vehicle is performing the traveling control as the autonomous driving or the driving assist, a notice of termination of the driving assist is provided to the driver when the driving involvement degree is lower than the first threshold. (Jutkowitz at least the abstract, FIG. 3, col 3 lines 50-55, col 22 lines 10-15, col 28 lines 45-50)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Agnew with the aforementioned limitations taught by Jutkowitz with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to combine these references in order to improve efficiency of switching between modes (Jutkowitz col 28).
As per claim 8, Agnew in combination with the other reference teaches the invention as described above. Agnew additionally teaches:
the plurality of sensors include a steering sensor, an accelerator pedal sensor, a brake pedal sensor and a camera. (Agnew at least [0017])
Claim(s) 2-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20200098265A1 Agnew et al ("Agnew") and Jutkowitz in view of US20160207537A1 Urano et al ("Urano").
Regarding claim 2, Agnew in combination with the other reference teaches the invention as described above. Agnew does not disclose:
the processor is programmed to, when the vehicle is performing traveling control as autonomous driving or driving assist, provide information indicating that the driving involvement degree is approaching the second threshold value to the driver.
Urano teaches the aforementioned limitation (Urano at least FIGs. 7A-7C, FIG. 11, FIGs 4A-4D).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Agnew with the aforementioned limitations taught by Urano with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to combine these references in order to improve safety (Urano [0066]).
Regarding claim 3, Agnew in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Agnew additionally teaches:
the processor is programmed to, when the vehicle is performing the traveling control, provide information indicating that the driving involvement degree is changing away from the second threshold value to the driver. (Agnew at least FIG. 36)
Regarding claim 4, Agnew in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Agnew additionally teaches:
the processor is programmed to continuously provide, by changing a length of a bar-shaped lit portion of a display unit provided in front of a seat of the driver of the vehicle, information about the driving involvement degree to the driver while the traveling control is being performed. (Agnew at least FIG. 21)
Regarding claim 5, Agnew in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Agnew additionally teaches:
the processor is programmed to highlight an end of the bar-shaped lit portion of the display unit; the end is configured to change, based on a change in the driving involvement degree, in length; the processor is programmed to vary a first highlight and a second highlight; the first highlight is a highlight of the end when the bar-shaped lit portion is configured to decrease in length due to a decrease in the driving involvement degree; and the second highlight is a highlight of the end when the bar-shaped lit portion is configured to increase in length due to an increase in the driving involvement degree. (Agnew at least [0291-0296])
*Examiner’s note: Urano at least FIGs 4A-4D similarly display a bar shaped graph indicating driver involvement levels.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20220346685A1 (“Pratt”) teaches at least two levels of alertness thresholds of an operator to determine if the operator is capable of operating a machine.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLIVER TAN whose telephone number is (703)756-4728. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-7.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Navid Mehdizadeh can be reached at (571) 272-7691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/O.T./ Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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