Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/674,591

NON-HOLONOMIC MOTION PLANNING WITH SMOOTH CURVATURE AND VELOCITY FOR AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS

Final Rejection §103
Filed
May 24, 2024
Priority
May 26, 2023 — provisional 63/469,311
Examiner
ESTEVEZ, DAIRON
Art Unit
3656
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Nvidia Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
51%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
46 granted / 68 resolved
+15.6% vs TC avg
Minimal -17% lift
Without
With
+-16.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
94
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
93.8%
+53.8% vs TC avg
§102
2.1%
-37.9% vs TC avg
§112
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 68 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Response to Amendment The amendment filed 1/26/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every objection and rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 10/29/2025. The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 1/15/2026 has been acknowledged by the Office. Response to Arguments Note, Applicant identifies claim 4 as a claim amended to address informalities for a prior Claim Objection. It is understood that Applicant intended to indicate claim 3 in accordance with the Non-Final Rejection of 10/29/2025. Applicant argues that Huang does not show “computing one or more cost values for a machine to traverse configurations in one or more discretized representations of a configuration space”, nor the “the configuration space comprising one or more first coordinates corresponding to a pose of the machine and one or more second coordinates representing a curvature of steering of the machine”. Presumably the bolded limitations are the ones that Applicant most believes that Huang does not teach. The arguments are generally not persuasive, as FIG. 5 of Huang provides the process for discretizing a space into cells indicating poses based on motion primitives. Items 506 and 508 show a reference pose and a target pose that clearly demonstrates coordinates corresponding to a pose of the machine, which includes an angle of the vehicle. This is not an explicit recitation of “coordinates representing a curvature of steering of the machine”, so for clarity an additional reference that was previously cited will be used in the rejection below. Overall, Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of references and/or rationale being used in the current rejection. 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) 1-3, 8-10, 16-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al., hereinafter Huang (Document ID: US 20210020045 A1) in view of Paden et al., hereinafter Paden (Document ID: WO 2017139613 A1). Regarding claim 1, Huang teaches a method comprising: computing one or more cost values for a machine to traverse configurations in one or more discretized representations of a configuration space using one or more maneuvers (see at least P [0108] “determining a cost plot based at least in part on the set of motion primitives”. See also P [0109] wherein the cost plot is a grid of possible poses, and the grid is a discretized representation), the configuration space comprising one or more first coordinates corresponding to a pose of the machine (see at least FIG. 5 wherein the space is parameterized based on motion primitives, and P [0108] which established coordinates for the pose of the machine) Huang additionally teaches in P [0111]: “determining a cost associated with a motion primitive, e.g., associated with a curvature of the motion primitive”, wherein P [0028] indicates that the motion primitive “may comprise an indication of steering controls”. P [0032] of Huang also teaches using the steering angle to determine feasible path controls. Therefore, even though Huang teaches angle in the pose coordinates of items 506 and 508, Huang does not explicitly teach one or more second coordinates representing a curvature of steering of the machine. Instead, Paden, whose invention pertains to meeting a motion planning specification based on cost of actions for a robot, teaches in P [0018] the ability to define the state of a robot with “an angular coordinate to describe the angle of the steering wheel” as a part of a state vector in space. These coordinates are shown in FIGs. 3 and 4 as important to the cost evaluation used to determine a path as a trajectory. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and the steering commands of Huang with the steering coordinates of Paden in order to generate an automobile or robot action using granular state data that can directly be used to control the proceeding path or trajectory. P [0019] of Paden teaches that "one example of an action may include a steering wheel angle together with a torque applied to the drive-train by an internal combustion engine resulting in motion of the automobile". In view of the modification, Huang further teaches determining one or more paths through the one or more discretized representations using the one or more cost values (see at least P [0048] wherein the ultimate goal of storing the cost plot is to “determine a path, based at least in part on the… cost plot” and then “selecting one of the potential trajectories as a trajectory of the autonomous vehicle 102”); and performing one or more control operations associated with the machine based at least on the one or more paths (see at least P [0048]: “used to generate a drive control signal that may be transmitted to drive components of the autonomous vehicle 102 to control the autonomous vehicle 102 to traverse the path 122.”). Regarding claim 2, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 1, and Huang further teaches in P [0105] different ways to define motion primitives using velocity, but Huang and Paden do explicitly teach that the configuration space further includes one or more third coordinates representing one or more of a velocity or acceleration of the machine. Instead, Huang teaches in P [0105] that “multiple sets of motion primitives may be generated for different velocity ranges”, wherein the ranges are included as part of the discretized configuration space. It therefore would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and velocity range considerations of Huang and Paden with coordinate data that represents each velocity in the range of velocities considered in order to execute a design choice to directly include a coordinate value for the velocity being used when establishing the configuration space. P [0115] of Huang directly supports the use of multiple velocity values for the cost plot, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include a coordinate representation that matches the notation of reference numerals 506 and 508 of FIG. 5 in Huang. Regarding claim 3, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 1, and Huang further teaches one or more discretized representations include one or more discretized spatial grids representing one or more regions of the configuration space (see at least P [0109] which states that “operation 510 may comprise discretizing a special Euclidean space into cells indicating poses.”, and from here the cost values are computed using the discretized spatial cells, or grids). Regarding claim 8, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 1, and Huang further teaches the one or more maneuvers include a set of extremal maneuvers for an extremal model of the machine in which a rate of change for the curvature of steering is held at a constant extreme (see at least P [0029] wherein generating different curves with different parameters as a set of maneuvers includes a consideration for “a maximum curvature”. A velocity or velocity range is part of the consideration of this extreme range of movement, as a maximum curvature is bound by safety considerations or physical limitations including a maximum steering angle). Regarding claim 9, Huang teaches a system comprising: one or more processors (processor 1118) to perform operations including: analyzing one or more discretized spatial grids that represent a configuration space of configurations of a machine to model the machine traversing the configuration space using one or more maneuvers (see at least FIG. 5 wherein the space is parameterized based on motion primitives, and P [0109] which states that “operation 510 may comprise discretizing a special Euclidean space into cells indicating poses.”), Huang additionally teaches in P [0111]: “determining a cost associated with a motion primitive, e.g., associated with a curvature of the motion primitive”, wherein P [0028] indicates that the motion primitive “may comprise an indication of steering controls”. P [0032] of Huang also teaches using the steering angle to determine feasible path controls. Therefore, even though Huang teaches angle in the pose coordinates of items 506 and 508, Huang does not explicitly teach the configuration space including one or more coordinates representing a curvature of steering of the machine; Instead, Paden teaches in P [0018] the ability to define the state of a robot with “an angular coordinate to describe the angle of the steering wheel” as a part of a state vector in space. These coordinates are shown in FIGs. 3 and 4 as important to the cost evaluation used to determine a path as a trajectory It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and the steering commands of Huang with the steering coordinates of Paden in order to generate an automobile or robot action using granular state data that can directly be used to control the proceeding path or trajectory. P [0019] of Paden teaches that "one example of an action may include a steering wheel angle together with a torque applied to the drive-train by an internal combustion engine resulting in motion of the automobile". In view of the modification, Huang further teaches based at least on the analyzing, determining one or more paths through the configurations (see at least P [0048] which establishes the goal to “determine a path, based at least in part on the… cost plot” and then “selecting one of the potential trajectories as a trajectory of the autonomous vehicle 102”); and performing one or more control operations associated with the machine based at least on the one or more paths (see at least P [0048]: “used to generate a drive control signal that may be transmitted to drive components of the autonomous vehicle 102 to control the autonomous vehicle 102 to traverse the path 122.”). Regarding claim 10, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 9, and Huang further teaches in P [0105] different ways to define motion primitives using velocity, but Huang and Paden do explicitly teach that the configuration space further includes one or more second coordinates representing one or more of a velocity or acceleration of the machine. Instead, Huang teaches in P [0105] that “multiple sets of motion primitives may be generated for different velocity ranges”, wherein the ranges are included as part of the discretized configuration space. It therefore would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and velocity range considerations of Huang and Paden with coordinate data that represents each velocity in the range of velocities considered in order to execute a design choice to directly include a coordinate value for the velocity being used when establishing the configuration space. P [0115] of Huang directly supports the use of multiple velocity values for the cost plot, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include a coordinate representation that matches the notation of reference numerals 506 and 508 of FIG. 5 in Huang. Regarding claim 16, Huang teaches at least one processor comprising: one or more circuits (see at least P [0125]: “the processor(s) 1118 and/or 1122 may comprise one or more central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), integrated circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.)” ) to perform one or more control operations associated with a machine using one or more paths through one or more discretized representations a configuration space (see at least FIG. 5 wherein the space is parameterized based on motion primitives, and P [0109] which states that “operation 510 may comprise discretizing a special Euclidean space into cells indicating poses.” See also P [0111]: “determining a cost associated with a motion primitive, e.g., associated with a curvature of the motion primitive”, wherein P [0028] indicates that the motion primitive “may comprise an indication of steering controls”) P [0032] of Huang also teaches using the steering angle to determine feasible path controls. Therefore, even though Huang teaches angle in the pose coordinates of items 506 and 508, Huang does not explicitly teach a configuration space having one or more coordinates representing a curvature of steering of the machine, Instead, Paden teaches in P [0018] the ability to define the state of a robot with “an angular coordinate to describe the angle of the steering wheel” as a part of a state vector in space. These coordinates are shown in FIGs. 3 and 4 as important to the cost evaluation used to determine a path as a trajectory. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and the steering commands of Huang with the steering coordinates of Paden in order to generate an automobile or robot action using granular state data that can directly be used to control the proceeding path or trajectory. P [0019] of Paden teaches that "one example of an action may include a steering wheel angle together with a torque applied to the drive-train by an internal combustion engine resulting in motion of the automobile". In view of the modification, Huang further teaches the one or more paths being determined based at least on modeling the machine traversing one or more discretized representations using one or more maneuvers (see at least P [0108] “determining a cost plot based at least in part on the set of motion primitives”). See also P [0128]: “In some examples, the motion primitives and/or cost plot generator 1136 may comprise a machine-learned (ML) model (e.g., a neural network) and/or a parallel processing component”). Regarding claim 17, modified Huang teaches the at least one processor of claim 16, and Huang further teaches in P [0105] different ways to define motion primitives using velocity, but Huang and Paden do explicitly teach that the configuration space includes one or more second coordinates representing one or more of a velocity or acceleration of the machine. Instead, Huang teaches in P [0105] that “multiple sets of motion primitives may be generated for different velocity ranges”, wherein the ranges are included as part of the discretized configuration space. It therefore would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cell grid with coordinate based motion primitives and velocity range considerations of Huang and Paden with coordinate data that represents each velocity in the range of velocities considered in order to execute a design choice to directly include a coordinate value for the velocity being used when establishing the configuration space. P [0115] of Huang directly supports the use of multiple velocity values for the cost plot, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include a coordinate representation that matches the notation of reference numerals 506 and 508 of FIG. 5 in Huang. Regarding claim 18, Huang teaches the at least one processor of claim 16, and Huang further teaches the one or more discretized representations include one or more discretized spatial grids representing one or more regions of the configuration space (see at least P [0109] which states that “operation 510 may comprise discretizing a special Euclidean space into cells indicating poses.”, and from here the cost values are computed using the discretized spatial cells, or grids). Regarding claim 20, modified Huang teaches the at least one processor of claim 16, and Huang further teaches that the at least one processor is comprised in at least one of: a control system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine; a perception system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine; a system for performing one or more simulation operations; a system for performing one or more digital twin operations; a system for performing light transport simulation; a system for performing collaborative content creation for 3D assets; a system for performing one or more deep learning operations; a system implemented using an edge device; a system implemented using a robot; a system for performing one or more generative AI operations; a system for performing operations using one or more large language models (LLMs); a system for performing operations using one or more vision language models (VLMs); a system for performing one or more conversational AI operations; a system for generating synthetic data; a system for presenting at least one of virtual reality content, augmented reality content, or mixed reality content; a system incorporating one or more virtual machines (VMs); a system implemented at least partially in a data center; or a system implemented at least partially using cloud computing resources (autonomous vehicle 102). Claim(s) 4-5, 11-12, 15, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Paden, and further in view of Costantino et al., hereinafter Costantino (Document ID: US 12077181 B1). Regarding claim 4, Huang teaches the method of claim 1, and Huang further teaches in P [0029] that the motion primitives include “generating different curves with different parameters” and that “the autonomous vehicle may receive one or more motion primitives, which may comprise interpolating between two or more motion primitives of the set of motion primitives.” Though Huang teaches multi-part maneuvers with “one or more curve(s)” in P [0051] as well, Huang do and Paden do not explicitly teach a first maneuver having a first constant rate of change to the curvature of steering and a second maneuver having a second constant rate to the curvature of steering. Instead, Costantino, whose invention pertains to parameterizing a state space according to arc length and lateral distance for control of an autonomous vehicle, teaches a method to “stich” two trajectories together to create a continuous path in at least Col 9, Line 41, which includes consideration of the steering rate. As shown in FIG. 3 the two maneuvers, described as first and second trajectories, have different rates of curvature, and the goal is to produce a smooth motion between the two. Additionally, FIG. 5 details a process for parameterizing the space and determining the second trajectory. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the motion with multiple curves of Huang and Paden with the process for maintaining smooth travel when traveling on contiguous curves of Costantino in order to improves passenger comfort by increasing the smoothness of operation of an autonomous vehicle as in Col 1 Line 65 of Costantino. Regarding claim 5, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 4, and in view of the modification Huang further teaches the first maneuver forms a first clothoid and the second maneuver forms a second clothoid (see at least P [0029] which defines that motion primitives are made from clothoid type curves, and see also P [0042] wherein the curve received by a vehicle for control comprises “one or more curves”). Regarding claim 11, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 9, and Huang further teaches in P [0029] that the motion primitives include “generating different curves with different parameters” and that “the autonomous vehicle may receive one or more motion primitives, which may comprise interpolating between two or more motion primitives of the set of motion primitives.” Though Huang teaches multi-part maneuvers with “one or more curve(s)” in P [0051] as well, Huang and Paden do not explicitly teach a first maneuver having a first constant rate of change to the curvature of steering and a second maneuver having a second constant rate to the curvature of steering. Instead, Costantino teaches a method to “stich” two trajectories together to create a continuous path in at least Col 9, Line 41, which includes consideration of the steering rate. As shown in FIG. 3 the two maneuvers, described as first and second trajectories, have different rates of curvature, and the goal is to produce a smooth motion between the two. Additionally, FIG. 5 details a process for parameterizing the space and determining the second trajectory. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the motion with multiple curves of Huang and Paden with the process for maintaining smooth travel when traveling on contiguous curves of Costantino in order to improves passenger comfort by increasing the smoothness of operation of an autonomous vehicle as in Col 1 Line 65 of Costantino. Regarding claim 12, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 11, and in view of the modification Huang further teaches the first maneuver forms a first clothoid and the second maneuver forms a second clothoid (see at least P [0029] which defines that motion primitives are made from clothoid type curves, and see also P [0042] wherein the curve received by a vehicle for control comprises “one or more curves”). Regarding claim 15, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 11, and Huang further teaches the system is comprised in at least one of: a control system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine; a perception system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine; a system for performing one or more simulation operations; a system for performing one or more digital twin operations; a system for performing light transport simulation; a system for performing collaborative content creation for 3D assets; a system for performing one or more deep learning operations; a system implemented using an edge device; a system implemented using a robot; a system for performing one or more generative AI operations; a system for performing operations using one or more large language models (LLMs); a system for performing operations using one or more vision language models (VLMs); a system for performing one or more conversational AI operations; a system for generating synthetic data; a system for presenting at least one of virtual reality content, augmented reality content, or mixed reality content; a system incorporating one or more virtual machines (VMs); a system implemented at least partially in a data center; or a system implemented at least partially using cloud computing resources (autonomous vehicle 102). Regarding claim 19, modified Huang teaches the at least one processor of claim 16, and Huang further teaches in P [0029] that the motion primitives include “generating different curves with different parameters” and that “the autonomous vehicle may receive one or more motion primitives, which may comprise interpolating between two or more motion primitives of the set of motion primitives.” Though Huang teaches multi-part maneuvers with “one or more curve(s)” in P [0051] as well, Huang and Paden do not explicitly teach a first maneuver having a first constant rate of change to the curvature of steering and a second maneuver having a second constant rate to the curvature of steering. Instead, Costantino teaches a method to “stich” two trajectories together to create a continuous path in at least Col 9, Line 41, which includes consideration of the steering rate. As show in FIG. 3 the two maneuvers, described as first and second trajectories, have different rates of curvature, and the goal is to produce a smooth motion between the two. Additionally, FIG. 5 details a process for parameterizing the space and determining the second trajectory. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the motion with multiple curves of Huang with the process for maintaining smooth travel when traveling on contiguous curves of Costantino in order to improves passenger comfort by increasing the smoothness of operation of an autonomous vehicle as in Col 1 Line 65 of Costantino. Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Paden, and further in view of Jing et al., hereinafter Jing (Document ID: US 11619943 B2). Regarding claim 6, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 1, Huang further teaches in P [0048] that generating motion primitives that the planner generates “a plurality of potential trajectories for controlling motion of the autonomous vehicle 102”, as well as “interpolating between two or more motion primitives of the set of motion primitives” in P [0029]. But Huang and Paden do not explicitly teach that the one or more discretized representations include an array of memory volumes each corresponding to a respective distinct value of the one or more second coordinates representing the curvature of steering. Instead, Jing, whose invention pertains to autonomous vehicle path planning and navigation, teaches beginning in Col 12, Line 39 the use of a “grid bin array” that discretizes the space as memory volumes that define “a heading angle resolution of a driving trajectory.” Col 7, Line 8 establishes how the nodes of the grid are built from distinct “vehicle location and position including x coordinates, y coordinates, heading angles, articulation angles, steering angles, step action costs, step accumulative costs, and linkage information to neighboring layer nodes”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the numerous primitives and options for different curves of Huang and Paden with the grid bin array for determining candidate paths with multiple distinct values and branches of Jing in order to optimize a vehicle path planning in a navigation scenario by taking into account map features as in Col 12, Line 48 of Jing. Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Lalonde et al., hereinafter Lalonde (Document ID: US 20180172450 A1). Regarding claim 7, modified Huang teaches the method of claim 1, and Huang further teaches in P [0108] common algorithms for analyzing cost plot of the configuration space, including with a Dijkstra algorithm. But Huang and Paden do not explicitly teach that the one or more maneuvers include a variable curvature maneuver that spans across multiple values of the one or more second coordinates, the variable curvature maneuver modeling a change in the curvature of steering as the machine traverses the one or more discretized representations. Instead, Lalonde teaches in P [0106] the ability to implement maneuvers using Euler spirals, wherein “Euler spirals have a property of varying curvature linearly with arc length.” This is of particular consequence since “the curvature of a robotic vehicle's path is roughly proportional to its steering angle for low steering angles”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cost plot alongside pose and maneuver consideration and steering angle in a discretized space of Huang and Paden with the variable curvature maneuver of Lalonde in order to estimate a robot's ability curves at a known speed in comparison to the steering angle, and implement such a maneuver as in P [0106] of Lalonde. Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Paden and Costantino, and further in view of Lalonde. Regarding claim 13, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 11, and Huang further teaches in P [0048] that generating motion primitives that the planner generates “a plurality of potential trajectories for controlling motion of the autonomous vehicle 102”, as well as “interpolating between two or more motion primitives of the set of motion primitives” in P [0029]. But Huang, Paden, and Costantino do not explicitly teach that the one or more maneuvers include a plurality of maneuvers that span across an array of fixed curvature maneuver volumes and the computing of the one or more cost values includes analyzing the plurality of maneuvers across the array. Instead, Lalonde teaches in at least P [0128] the determination of a roadmap which generates track transition curves utilizing a curvature parameter. More specifically, in P [0129] “a roadmap graph can be considered as a set of continuous, connected curves”, and in P [0130]-[0133] cost parametrization is utilized to further discretize the space and develop the traveling plan. See also FIG. 7 for a roadmap that includes both fixed and varied curves through the space and FIG. 11 for a depiction of a discrete planning graph. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the numerous primitives and options for different curves of Huang, Paden and Costantino with the roadmap and discretization techniques of Lalonde in order to avoid collisions when discretizing a roadmap space as in Lalonde P [0128]. Regarding claim 14, modified Huang teaches the system of claim 11, and Huang further teaches in P [0108] common algorithms for analyzing cost plot of the configuration space, including with a Dijkstra algorithm. But Huang, Paden, and Costantino do not explicitly teach that the computing the one or more cost values includes analyzing a graph of the configuration space that includes one or more first vertices corresponding to the machine performing the one or more maneuvers and one or more second vertices corresponding to a transition state in which the machine is stopped and changing steering profiles. Instead, Lalonde teaches in P [0107]-[0108] and FIG. 7 a graph of the configuration space that includes vertices for transition curves that are aimed to help reduce “the time to stop and/or slow down at intersections”. Additionally, P [0204] further clarifies that a cost analysis based on obstacles in the area and viable paths are a crucial part of the smooth stopping behavior, especially “when the robotic device is to come to a stop before proceeding with the direction change.” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cost plot and viable pose and maneuver considerations of Huang, Paden and Costantino with the transition curves and considerations for direction change of Lalonde in order to provide for smooth path generation with adequate stopping behavior when the machine needs to change direction, as in P [0204] of Lalonde. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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. Additional art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Document ID: US 20200301434 A1 Invention pertains to a cost function method of controlling a motor vehicle based on particular cost factors for space0time trajectory driving maneuvers. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dairon Estevez whose telephone number is (703)756-4552. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM - 4:00PM. 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, Khoi Tran can be reached at (571) 272-6919. 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. /D.E./Examiner, Art Unit 3656 /KHOI H TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656
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Prosecution Timeline

May 24, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 29, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jan 26, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 09, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
51%
With Interview (-16.6%)
2y 9m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 68 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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