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 Applicant’s amendment and request for continued examination filed 01/14/2026. Claims 11-14 and 16-21 are currently pending in this application.
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.
Claims 11-12 and 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mielenz (U.S. 2017/0200367 A1) in view of Quast et al. (U.S. 2018/0224865 A1).
Claim 11, Mielenz teaches:
A system for infrastructure-based assistance (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3) of a motor vehicle (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 10) guided in an at least partially automated manner within a parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, Paragraph [0030], The system sends a trajectory 40 to be processed by the vehicle 10 in order for the vehicle 10 to move autonomously to its assigned parking space 24’.), the system comprising:
a first base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 15) arranged within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20), wherein each respective base unit of the first base unit is respectively connected to at least one respective environment sensor that is arranged within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 30), in a respective environment of the respective base unit and separate from the respective base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, 30, The environment is a parking area 20 and the sensor 30 is separate from the central control unit 15 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1).), and detects an area of the parking lot, wherein the first base unit is respectively configured to ascertain respective infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The data includes trajectory 40, i.e. path information, and/or destination information, i.e. coordinates.), based on respective environment sensor data of the respective at least one environment sensor that represent the respective detected area (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], The environment sensor data includes open parking spaces. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, each parking sensor 30a-30f provides data regarding an individual parking space 24a-24f, respectively.); and
at least one wireless communication interface which is configured to transmit the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data to the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The control unit 15 transmits the trajectory 40 and/or destination information to the vehicles 10. The control unit 15 thus has at least one wireless communication interface.),
wherein the first base unit is further configured to:
track the motor vehicle based on the respective environment sensor data to determine a position of the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], By utilizing parking-space sensor 30, the central control unit 15 can determine the present position of one or more vehicles 10, including vehicles which are not parked or are currently parking.).
Mielenz does not specifically teach:
A second base unit, wherein the first and second base units are arranged spaced apart from one another within the parking lot and are interconnected in series,
wherein the first and second base units are further configured to:
track the motor vehicle based on the respective environment sensor data to determine a position of the motor vehicle, and
control a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking, the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit.
Quast teaches:
A second base unit (Quast, Fig. 2: 203), which are arranged spaced apart from one another (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraph [0088], The plurality of WLAN base stations 203 are situated in a spaced apart manner within parking area 301.) within the parking lot and are interconnected in series (Quast, Paragraph [0051], In order to form the WLAN network, the WLAN base stations 203 may be fashioned as WLAN routers, which enables communication within the WLAN network. Therefore, the WLAN base stations 203 are functionally equivalent to being interconnected in series, i.e. directly in communication with each other to form the WLAN network.),
wherein the first and second base units are further configured to:
track the motor vehicle based on the respective environment sensor data to determine a position of the motor vehicle (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], Each of the base stations 203 located within the parking area 301 are used to track the locations of vehicles, e.g. vehicle 307 and 309, in order to determine an adapted route 317 to guide the respective vehicles to parking positions 311.), and
control a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], In the example of base units 203 located at the entrance 303 and base units 203 located at the exit 313, the respective base units 203 track the positions of vehicles, e.g. 305 and 315, respectively. When a vehicle enters via entrance 303, the vehicle is supposed to be dropped off at drop position 305, which may be confirmed by base stations 203 located at the entrance 303. Subsequently, when a vehicle is leaving via exit 313, the base stations 203 located at the exit 313 can track if the vehicle is located at retrieval position 315. Thus, the entrance 303 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the entrance 303, and the exit 313 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the exit 313. When the vehicle travels from the entrance area 303 or from parking position 311 to the exit 313, the communications with corresponding base stations 203 is functionally equivalent to a handover of a guidance.), the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], When a vehicle travels from one set of base stations 203, e.g. at entrance 303 or at parking positions 311, to another set of base stations 203, e.g. at exit 313, the route(s) that the vehicles travel and the locations of the vehicles are effectively determined/received at the respective base station 203. For example, when a vehicle is parking at a parking position 311, the route 315 or adapted route 317 is effectively transferred from the base stations 203 at the entrance 303 to the base stations 203 at the parking positions 311 in order to facilitate the automatic parking operation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Mielenz by integrating the teaching of WLAN base stations, as taught by Quast. In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, each of the plurality of base stations would be equipped with at least one sensor 30 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1: 30).
The motivation would be to efficiently be able to locate the vehicles moving within the parking area (see Quast, Paragraph [0088]).
Claim 12, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second base units are respectively configured to ascertain the infrastructure assistance data based on the environment sensor data of the respective at least one environment sensor of the respectively other base unit (Mielenz, Paragraphs [0029-0030], In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to implement a first base station on a first level of a multi-level garage, and a second base station on another level of a multi-level garage (see Mielenz, Paragraph [0036]). Therefore, the sensors 30 on each respective level would correspond with each respective base unit, i.e. “of the” base unit.).
Claim 14, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second base units are arranged along a driving path of the parking lot (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, The WLAN base stations 203 are located along the traveling path within a parking area 301.).
Claim 15, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second base units are configured to track the motor vehicle based on the environment sensor data and to control, based on the tracking, the respective transmission of infrastructure data using a corresponding wireless communication interface (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], Based on the location of the vehicle and the location of a free parking space 24’, the system determines the trajectory 40 of the vehicle to transmit to the vehicle.).
Claim 16, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, further comprising:
a third base unit (Quast, Fig. 3: 203) which is arranged within the parking lot (Quast, Fig. 3: 301) and connected in series to the first or the second base unit (Quast, Paragraph [0051], In order to form the WLAN network, the WLAN base stations 203 may be fashioned as WLAN routers, which enables communication within the WLAN network. Therefore, the WLAN base stations 203 are functionally equivalent to being interconnected in series, i.e. directly in communication with each other to form the WLAN network.), wherein the third base unit is connected to at least
one respective environment sensor which is arranged within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 30), in the environment of the third base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, The environment is a parking area 20.), and detects an area of the parking lot, wherein the third base unit is configured to ascertain infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot (Mielenz, Paragraphs [0029-0030]), based on environment sensor data of the at least one respective environment sensor that represent the respective detected area (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029]).
Claim 17, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one wireless communication interface is included in at least one of the first and second base units (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030]).
Claim 18, Mielenz teaches:
A method for infrastructure-based assistance (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3) of a motor vehicle (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 10) guided in an at least partially automated manner within a parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, Paragraph [0030], The system sends a trajectory 40 to be processed by the vehicle 10 in order for the vehicle 10 to move autonomously to its assigned parking space 24’.), using a system including:
a first base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 15) within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20), wherein each respective base unit of the first base unit is respectively connected to at least one respective environment sensor that is arranged within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 30), in a respective environment of the respective base unit and separate from the respective base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, 30, The environment is a parking area 20 and the sensor 30 is separate from the central control unit 15 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1).), and detects an area of the parking lot, wherein the first base unit is respectively configured to ascertain respective infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The data includes trajectory 40, i.e. path information, and/or destination information, i.e. coordinates.), based on respective environment sensor data of the respective at least one environment sensor that represent the respective detected area (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], The environment sensor data includes open parking spaces. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, each parking sensor 30a-30f provides data regarding an individual parking space 24a-24f, respectively.), and
at least one wireless communication interface which is configured to transmit
the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data to the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The control unit 15 transmits the trajectory 40 and/or destination information to the vehicles 10. The control unit 15 thus has at least one wireless communication interface.), wherein the method comprises the following steps:
ascertaining, using one of the first and second base units, the respective
infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot, based on the respective environment sensor data (Mielenz, Paragraphs [0029-0030]);
tracking the motor vehicle based on the respective environment sensor data to determine a position of the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], By utilizing parking-space sensor 30, the central control unit 15 can determine the present position of one or more vehicles 10, including vehicles which are not parked or are currently parking.); and
transmitting the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data to the
motor vehicle via the at least one wireless communication interface (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030]).
Mielenz does not specifically teach:
A second base unit, wherein the first and second base units are arranged spaced apart from one another within the parking lot and are interconnected in series; and
controlling a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking, the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit.
Quast teaches:
A second base unit (Quast, Fig. 2: 203), which are arranged spaced apart from one another (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraph [0088], The plurality of WLAN base stations 203 are situated in a spaced apart manner within parking area 301.) within the parking lot and are interconnected in series (Quast, Paragraph [0051], In order to form the WLAN network, the WLAN base stations 203 may be fashioned as WLAN routers, which enables communication within the WLAN network. Therefore, the WLAN base stations 203 are functionally equivalent to being interconnected in series, i.e. directly in communication with each other to form the WLAN network.); and
controlling a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], In the example of base units 203 located at the entrance 303 and base units 203 located at the exit 313, the respective base units 203 track the positions of vehicles, e.g. 305 and 315, respectively. When a vehicle enters via entrance 303, the vehicle is supposed to be dropped off at drop position 305, which may be confirmed by base stations 203 located at the entrance 303. Subsequently, when a vehicle is leaving via exit 313, the base stations 203 located at the exit 313 can track if the vehicle is located at retrieval position 315. Thus, the entrance 303 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the entrance 303, and the exit 313 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the exit 313. When the vehicle travels from the entrance area 303 or from parking position 311 to the exit 313, the communications with corresponding base stations 203 is functionally equivalent to a handover of a guidance.), the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], When a vehicle travels from one set of base stations 203, e.g. at entrance 303 or at parking positions 311, to another set of base stations 203, e.g. at exit 313, the route(s) that the vehicles travel and the locations of the vehicles are effectively determined/received at the respective base station 203. For example, when a vehicle is parking at a parking position 311, the route 315 or adapted route 317 is effectively transferred from the base stations 203 at the entrance 303 to the base stations 203 at the parking positions 311 in order to facilitate the automatic parking operation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Mielenz by integrating the teaching of WLAN base stations, as taught by Quast. In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, each of the plurality of base stations would be equipped with at least one sensor 30 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1: 30).
The motivation would be to efficiently be able to locate the vehicles moving within the parking area (see Quast, Paragraph [0088]).
Claim 19, Mielenz teaches:
A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], The central control unit 15 is a computer or server.) for infrastructure-based assistance (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3) of a motor vehicle (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 10) guided in an at least partially automated manner within a parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, Paragraph [0030], The system sends a trajectory 40 to be processed by the vehicle 10 in order for the vehicle 10 to move autonomously to its assigned parking space 24’.), using a system including:
a first base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 15), within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20), wherein each respective base unit of the first base unit is respectively connected to at least one respective environment sensor that is arranged within the parking lot (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 30), in a respective environment of the respective base unit and separate from the respective base unit (Mielenz, Figs. 1-3: 20, 30, The environment is a parking area 20 and the sensor 30 is separate from the central control unit 15 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1).), and detects an area of the parking lot, wherein the first base unit is respectively configured to ascertain respective infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The data includes trajectory 40, i.e. path information, and/or destination information, i.e. coordinates.), based on respective environment sensor data of the respective at least one environment sensor that represent the respective detected area (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], The environment sensor data includes open parking spaces. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, each parking sensor 30a-30f provides data regarding an individual parking space 24a-24f, respectively.), and
at least one wireless communication interface which is configured to transmit the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data to the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], The control unit 15 transmits the trajectory 40 and/or destination information to the vehicles 10. The control unit 15 thus has at least one wireless communication interface.), wherein the computer program, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform the following steps:
ascertaining, using one of the first and second base units, the respective infrastructure assistance data for infrastructure-based assistance of the motor vehicle guided in an at least partially automated manner within the parking lot, based on the respective environment sensor data (Mielenz, Paragraphs [0029-0030]);
tracking the motor vehicle based on the respective environment sensor data to determine a position of the motor vehicle (Mielenz, Paragraph [0029], By utilizing parking-space sensor 30, the central control unit 15 can determine the present position of one or more vehicles 10, including vehicles which are not parked or are currently parking.); and
transmitting the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data to the motor vehicle via the at least one wireless communication interface (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030]).
Mielenz does not specifically teach:
A second base unit, wherein the first and second base units are arranged spaced apart from one another within the parking lot and are interconnected in series; and
controlling a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking, the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit.
Quast teaches:
A second base unit (Quast, Fig. 2: 203), which are arranged spaced apart from one another (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraph [0088], The plurality of WLAN base stations 203 are situated in a spaced apart manner within parking area 301.) within the parking lot and are interconnected in series (Quast, Paragraph [0051], In order to form the WLAN network, the WLAN base stations 203 may be fashioned as WLAN routers, which enables communication within the WLAN network. Therefore, the WLAN base stations 203 are functionally equivalent to being interconnected in series, i.e. directly in communication with each other to form the WLAN network.); and
controlling a handover of a guidance of the motor vehicle from the first base unit to the second base unit when the motor vehicle moves from an environment of the first base unit to an environment of the second base unit based on the tracking (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], In the example of base units 203 located at the entrance 303 and base units 203 located at the exit 313, the respective base units 203 track the positions of vehicles, e.g. 305 and 315, respectively. When a vehicle enters via entrance 303, the vehicle is supposed to be dropped off at drop position 305, which may be confirmed by base stations 203 located at the entrance 303. Subsequently, when a vehicle is leaving via exit 313, the base stations 203 located at the exit 313 can track if the vehicle is located at retrieval position 315. Thus, the entrance 303 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the entrance 303, and the exit 313 is the environment of the base stations 203 located at the exit 313. When the vehicle travels from the entrance area 303 or from parking position 311 to the exit 313, the communications with corresponding base stations 203 is functionally equivalent to a handover of a guidance.), the handover including a transfer of a transmission of the ascertained respective infrastructure assistance data from the first base unit to the second base unit (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], When a vehicle travels from one set of base stations 203, e.g. at entrance 303 or at parking positions 311, to another set of base stations 203, e.g. at exit 313, the route(s) that the vehicles travel and the locations of the vehicles are effectively determined/received at the respective base station 203. For example, when a vehicle is parking at a parking position 311, the route 315 or adapted route 317 is effectively transferred from the base stations 203 at the entrance 303 to the base stations 203 at the parking positions 311 in order to facilitate the automatic parking operation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Mielenz by integrating the teaching of WLAN base stations, as taught by Quast. In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, each of the plurality of base stations would be equipped with at least one sensor 30 (see Mielenz, Fig. 1: 30).
The motivation would be to efficiently be able to locate the vehicles moving within the parking area (see Quast, Paragraph [0088]).
Claim 20, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, further comprising:
a first plurality of environment sensors arranged within a parking lot in a respective environment and separate from the first base unit (Mielenz, Paragraph [0036], The layout of the parking-space monitoring system may be optimized in terms of number and placement of parking-space sensors 30 needed.); and
a second plurality of environment sensors arranged within a parking lot in a respective environment and separate from the second base unit (Mielenz, Paragraph [0036], In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, a plurality of base stations would be used (see Quast, Fig. 2: 203), wherein each base station would have its own set of sensors 30 (see Mielenz, Paragraph [0036]).),
wherein the first base unit is connected to the first plurality of environment sensors and the second base unit is connected to the second plurality of environment sensors (Mielenz, Paragraph [0036], In the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast, a plurality of base stations would be used (see Quast, Fig. 2: 203), wherein each base station would have its own set of sensors 30 (see Mielenz, Paragraph [0036]).).
Claim 21, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein controlling the handover of the guidance of the motor vehicle comprises ending a transmission by the first base unit and initiating a transmission by the second base unit (Quast, Fig. 3: 203, Paragraphs [0072-0088], It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the system of the combination of Mielenz in view of Quast to be capable of ending communication between the base stations 203, e.g. at the entrance 303, from a vehicle that is exiting the parking area 301, wherein the base stations 203, e.g. at the exit 313, are remain in communication with the vehicle as the vehicle exits. Such a modification would not change the principal operation of the system, as a whole, and would yield predictable results.).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mielenz (U.S. 2017/0200367 A1) in view of Quast et al. (U.S. 2018/0224865 A1) in view of Mizoguchi (U.S. 2023/0093047 A1).
Claim 13, Mielenz in view of Quast further teaches:
The system according to claim 11, wherein each of the first and second base units respectively include a respective first communication device including a first network switch, and a respective second communication device including a second network switch (Quast, Fig. 2: 205, Paragraphs [0070-0071], The WLAN base stations 203 include an antenna array 205, enabling the WLAN base stations 203 to effectively “switch” between one of a plurality of antennas for receiving signals from vehicles (see Quast, Paragraph [0066]) and/or operate as routers (see Quast, Paragraph [0051]).), and wherein a respective connection between the respective at least one environment sensor and the respective base units is formed using the respective second communication devices (Mielenz, Paragraph [0030], It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the portion of the control unit 15 that communicates with the sensor(s) 30 to be functionally equivalent to a “communication device”.).
Mielenz in view of Quast does not specifically teach:
Wherein a connection between the first and second base units is formed using the respective first communication devices of the first and second base units.
Mizoguchi teaches:
Wherein a connection between the first and second base units is formed using the respective first communication devices of the first and second base units (Mizoguchi, Paragraph [0037], The plurality of base stations 9 are capable of communicating with each other in addition to communicating with vehicles, i.e. first and second connections.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Mielenz in view of Quast with the teaching of a fifth-generation base station, as taught by Mizoguchi.
The motivation would be to incorporate a base station capable of transmitting and receiving large amounts of information at a high speed to reduce any delay in communication (see Mizoguchi, Paragraphs [0037-0038]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, the integration of the teachings of Quest would further be for efficiently locating vehicles moving within the parking area (see Quest, Paragraph [0088]). As per the Applicant’s arguments that increasing the number of components would eliminate the advantages provided by Mielenz, the Mielenz reference only discloses a minimizing of investment costs owing to an optimized number of surround sensors, but does not inherently or explicitly recite that a plurality of sensors is not within the scope of its teachings. Therefore, the Examiner respectfully disagrees.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The Applicant’s amendment does not inherently or explicitly define the Applicant’s claimed invention away from the above interpretation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5170. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00p M-F.
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/JAMES J YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686