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 .
Examiner notes that the fundamentals of the rejections are based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language. Any reference to specific figures, columns, lines and paragraphs should not be considered limiting in any way, the entire cited reference, as well as any secondary teaching reference(s), are considered to provide relevant disclosure relating to the claimed invention. Applicant is kindly invited to consider the reference as a whole. References are to be interpreted as by one of ordinary skill in the art rather than as by a novice. See MPEP 2141. Therefore, the relevant inquiry when interpreting a reference is not what the reference expressly discloses on its face but what the reference would teach or suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the Amendment filed on 12/09/2025 for Application No. 18/704,324. . Claims 1-2, 4-5 and 8-11 are pending in this application, wherein claims 1-2, 4-5 and 8-11 have been amended, and claims 3, 6, and 7 cancelled. No new claims have been added and no new matter has been introduced. Applicant’s amendments fully overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112(f)(a)(b) and 101 rejections set forth in the Office Action mailed on 09/10/2025.
Reply to Applicant’s Remarks
Claim Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 112:
Applicant’s arguments (see Arguments/Remarks, filed 12/09/2025) with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 112(f)(a)(b) rejections set forth in the Office Action mailed on 09/10/2025 have been fully considered and are considered persuasive; accordingly, the examiner withdraws the rejections set forth in the Office Action mailed on 09/10/2025.
Claim Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 101:
Applicant’s arguments (see Arguments/Remarks, filed 12/09/2025) with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejections set forth in the Office Action mailed on 09/10/2025 have been fully considered and are considered persuasive; accordingly, the examiner withdraws the rejections set forth in the Office Action mailed on 09/10/2025.
Claim Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 102:
Applicant’s arguments (see Arguments/Remarks, filed 12/09/2025) with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 102 rejections have been fully considered but, respectfully, are not persuasive.
Regarding the Applicant’s arguments that “Claim 1 is amended to incorporate the features of claims 3, 6 and claim 7, with additional amendments. Consequently, the rejection based on US 20210217310 Ikoma et al., as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 2010117864 Yoshikazu et al. is addressed.”, “Applicants respectfully submit that neither Ikoma nor Yoshikazu disclose or suggest "the conditional traveling-prohibited region is a region that" also "a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians," as recited. Thus, claim 1 is allowable for at least this reason. Because claims 8 and 11 are amended to recite similar features, claims 8 and 11 are allowable for the same reasons.”, and, “In the present application, "posture" refers to whether the parking is forward parking or backward parking. Rather, the reliance on paragraph [0046] appear to merely relate determining a position of the vehicle within a parking lot. Consequently, Applicants have claims 2, 9 and 10 to describe this difference by adding "the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking" or in a similar manner depending on whether the car is going to be parked, or will be exiting.”, Applicant’s arguments are moot in view of the Art applied to amended claim limitations.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 5, 10, and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 2, the phrase “where a vehicle is parked in the parking location in the posture selected by the vehicle's posture selecting means” should read “where a vehicle is parked in the parking location in the selected posture”.
In Claim 5, the limitation “the selecting a parking location where a vehicle is parked from among the candidates for a parking location is performed using the moving costs required for the vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot to a selected parking location is selected” should read “the selecting a parking location where a vehicle is parked from among the candidates for a parking location is performed using the moving costs required for the vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, and a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot to a selected parking location is selected”
In Claims 10 and 11, the phrase “causes a computer to function as: obtaining…” should read “causes a computer to function by: obtaining…”
Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 4, 5, 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20210217310 IKOMA et al. (IKOMA hereafter), , in view of US 20190210594 Glebov et al. (Glebov hereafter), and further in view of JP 2010117864 YOSHIKAZU et al. (YOSHIKAZU hereafter).
Regarding Claim 1, IKOMA discloses A driving assistance device comprising:
a processor and memory storing instructions to implement (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”):
obtaining, when a vehicle is parked in a parking lot, layout information of parking spaces provided in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a parked vehicle database that records a size and a position of each parked vehicle in a parking lot, a parking lot map database that records a position and a size of each parking block in the parking lot, a position of an empty vehicle space, a position and a width of each passage, and positions of an entrance and an exit of the parking lot”);
obtaining a parking location where a vehicle is parked, from among the parking spaces (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information (information such as a size and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle), a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”), the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
generating a travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, using the intra-parking-lot network and the layout information of parking spaces, the travel path identifying vehicle's travel locations in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
obtaining, as candidate entry paths, travel paths generated by the travel path generating means, the candidate entry paths being candidates for a vehicle's travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”),
wherein the vehicle behavior includes a distance traveled in a conditional traveling- prohibited region that conditionally allows passage of a vehicle in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”); and
wherein the conditional traveling-prohibited region is a region that does not allow passage of a vehicle in a state in which there is an obstacle in the region while allowing passage of a vehicle if there is no obstacle in the region (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”)
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians.
However, Glebov, directed to a navigation system with parking facility navigation mechanism and method of operation, discloses includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians (see at least Glebov [¶0046, 0048], “The facility layout information 306 is information related to the layout of the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility layout information 306 can include details about the number and location of facility access locations 308, which are the locations at which vehicle can enter and exit the vehicle parking facility 250, the number of floors, the location of ramps to adjacent levels of the vehicle parking facility 250, locations of vehicle pathways 310, which are travel lanes for vehicle traffic, locations of vehicle pathway intersections, which are the location an intersection between two of the vehicle pathways 310, pedestrian paths, or a combination thereof. [] The facility rules 318 are information pertaining to the restrictions and guidelines for travel and parking within the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility rules 318 can also include rules for traffic flow, such as speed limits, mandatory stop locations such as stop sign locations, yield locations such as at pedestrian crossings, lane restrictions such as direction of vehicle travel, or a combination thereof.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Glebov to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of including a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot including distance, directional changes and prohibited areas to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path;
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths.
However, YOSHIKAZU, directed towards a parking-lot information provision system, discloses calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0031, 0032], “the route search unit 12 registers all routes to all parking locations and the aforementioned cost (in other words, merit) scores corresponding to the constituent factors of those routes as cost information, and uses this cost information to extract all route information to each vacant parking space. The score is an index evaluated based on, for example, the vehicle's travel distance, ease of driving, number of direction changes, etc., and the higher the value, the greater the burden on the user of the automobile”, “The route search unit 12 uses the acquired information to calculate the cost for all route information for all vacant parking spaces and creates cost information (step S4). That is, for all the route information, the total cost of each piece of route information (information indicating the route from the position of the target vehicle 22 to each candidate parking position) is calculated to generate cost information. As shown in FIG. 4, the cost information is table information consisting of costs corresponding to each route (1, 2, 3, . . . ) and candidate parking locations (parking spaces 1, 2, 3, . . . ), and the lower the cost score, the higher the priority of selection.”);
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0034], “Next, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 uses the cost information created by the route search unit 12 to select a recommended parking position corresponding to the top priority candidate route, and outputs the recommended parking position information to the provided information creation unit 14 (step S5). Specifically, based on the cost information shown in Figure 4, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 selects the route with a low score and excellent cost among the extracted routes, for example, route 1 with a score of 10, as the top priority candidate, and selects the corresponding parking space 2 as the recommended parking position.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of YOSHIKAZU to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of calculating a cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot that minimizes the cost, including distance and directional changes, to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
Regarding Claim 4, IKOMA, Glebov, and YOSHIKAZU in combination disclose The driving assistance device according to claim 1, comprising:
generating a candidate exit path, the candidate exit path being a candidate for a vehicle's travel path from the parking location to an exit of a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”); and
calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along the candidate exit path, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate exit path (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0031, 0032], “the route search unit 12 registers all routes to all parking locations and the aforementioned cost (in other words, merit) scores corresponding to the constituent factors of those routes as cost information, and uses this cost information to extract all route information to each vacant parking space. The score is an index evaluated based on, for example, the vehicle's travel distance, ease of driving, number of direction changes, etc., and the higher the value, the greater the burden on the user of the automobile”, “The route search unit 12 uses the acquired information to calculate the cost for all route information for all vacant parking spaces and creates cost information (step S4). That is, for all the route information, the total cost of each piece of route information (information indicating the route from the position of the target vehicle 22 to each candidate parking position) is calculated to generate cost information. As shown in FIG. 4, the cost information is table information consisting of costs corresponding to each route (1, 2, 3, . . . ) and candidate parking locations (parking spaces 1, 2, 3, . . . ), and the lower the cost score, the higher the priority of selection.”),
wherein the selecting the recommended travel path is performed using the moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along the candidate exit path in addition to the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths. (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0034], “Next, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 uses the cost information created by the route search unit 12 to select a recommended parking position corresponding to the top priority candidate route, and outputs the recommended parking position information to the provided information creation unit 14 (step S5). Specifically, based on the cost information shown in Figure 4, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 selects the route with a low score and excellent cost among the extracted routes, for example, route 1 with a score of 10, as the top priority candidate, and selects the corresponding parking space 2 as the recommended parking position.”).
Regarding Claim 5, IKOMA, Glebov, and YOSHIKAZU in combination disclose The driving assistance device according to claim 1,
wherein when there are a plurality of candidates for a parking location where a vehicle is parked in a parking lot, a candidate for the travel path for each candidate for a parking location is obtained (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”), and
the selecting a parking location where a vehicle is parked from among the candidates for a parking location is performed using the moving costs required for the vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot to a selected parking location is selected (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0034], “Next, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 uses the cost information created by the route search unit 12 to select a recommended parking position corresponding to the top priority candidate route, and outputs the recommended parking position information to the provided information creation unit 14 (step S5). Specifically, based on the cost information shown in Figure 4, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 selects the route with a low score and excellent cost among the extracted routes, for example, route 1 with a score of 10, as the top priority candidate, and selects the corresponding parking space 2 as the recommended parking position.”).
Regarding Claim 8, IKOMA discloses A driving assistance device comprising:
a processor and memory storing instructions to implement (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”):
obtaining, when a vehicle exits a parking lot where the vehicle is parked, layout information of parking spaces provided in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “A size, a parking position, etc. of each vehicle parked in the parking lot is recorded in the parked vehicle database 11. In addition, map information including information such as a position and size of each parking block in the parking lot, a position of an empty vehicle space, [] and positions of an entrance and an exit of the parking lot are recorded in the parking lot map database 12. The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information [], a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”, the system can confirm when a vehicle exited the parking lot and update database information about available spaces.);
obtaining a parking location where a vehicle is parked, from among the parking spaces (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network, the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
generating a travel path from the parking location to an exit of a parking lot, using the intra-parking-lot network and the layout information of parking spaces, the travel path identifying vehicle's travel locations in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
obtaining, as candidate entry paths, travel paths generated by the travel path generating means, the candidate entry paths being candidates for a vehicle's travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”),
wherein the vehicle behavior includes a distance traveled in a conditional traveling- prohibited region that conditionally allows passage of a vehicle in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”); and
wherein the conditional traveling-prohibited region is a region that does not allow passage of a vehicle in a state in which there is an obstacle in the region while allowing passage of a vehicle if there is no obstacle in the region (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”)
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians.
However, Glebov, directed to a navigation system with parking facility navigation mechanism and method of operation, discloses includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians (see at least Glebov [¶0046, 0048], “The facility layout information 306 is information related to the layout of the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility layout information 306 can include details about the number and location of facility access locations 308, which are the locations at which vehicle can enter and exit the vehicle parking facility 250, the number of floors, the location of ramps to adjacent levels of the vehicle parking facility 250, locations of vehicle pathways 310, which are travel lanes for vehicle traffic, locations of vehicle pathway intersections, which are the location an intersection between two of the vehicle pathways 310, pedestrian paths, or a combination thereof. [] The facility rules 318 are information pertaining to the restrictions and guidelines for travel and parking within the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility rules 318 can also include rules for traffic flow, such as speed limits, mandatory stop locations such as stop sign locations, yield locations such as at pedestrian crossings, lane restrictions such as direction of vehicle travel, or a combination thereof.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Glebov to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of including a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot including distance, directional changes and prohibited areas to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path;
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths.
However, YOSHIKAZU, directed towards a parking-lot information provision system, discloses calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0031, 0032], “the route search unit 12 registers all routes to all parking locations and the aforementioned cost (in other words, merit) scores corresponding to the constituent factors of those routes as cost information, and uses this cost information to extract all route information to each vacant parking space. The score is an index evaluated based on, for example, the vehicle's travel distance, ease of driving, number of direction changes, etc., and the higher the value, the greater the burden on the user of the automobile”, “The route search unit 12 uses the acquired information to calculate the cost for all route information for all vacant parking spaces and creates cost information (step S4). That is, for all the route information, the total cost of each piece of route information (information indicating the route from the position of the target vehicle 22 to each candidate parking position) is calculated to generate cost information. As shown in FIG. 4, the cost information is table information consisting of costs corresponding to each route (1, 2, 3, . . . ) and candidate parking locations (parking spaces 1, 2, 3, . . . ), and the lower the cost score, the higher the priority of selection.”);
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0034], “Next, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 uses the cost information created by the route search unit 12 to select a recommended parking position corresponding to the top priority candidate route, and outputs the recommended parking position information to the provided information creation unit 14 (step S5). Specifically, based on the cost information shown in Figure 4, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 selects the route with a low score and excellent cost among the extracted routes, for example, route 1 with a score of 10, as the top priority candidate, and selects the corresponding parking space 2 as the recommended parking position.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of YOSHIKAZU to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of calculating a cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot that minimizes the cost, including distance and directional changes, to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
Regarding Claim 11, IKOMA discloses A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program that, when executed, causes a computer (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”) to function as:
obtaining, when a vehicle is parked in a parking lot, a parking location where a vehicle is parked (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information (information such as a size and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle), a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”), the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
generating a travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, using the intra-parking-lot network, the travel path identifying vehicle's travel locations in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
obtaining, as candidate entry paths, travel paths generated by the travel path generating means, the candidate entry paths being candidates for a vehicle's travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”),
wherein the vehicle behavior includes a distance traveled in a conditional traveling- prohibited region that conditionally allows passage of a vehicle in a parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”); and
wherein the conditional traveling-prohibited region is a region that does not allow passage of a vehicle in a state in which there is an obstacle in the region while allowing passage of a vehicle if there is no obstacle in the region (see at least IKOMA [¶0029, 0030], “the route candidate generation unit 26a generates a candidate for a guidance route from the current position of the own vehicle to the target parking position, and determines whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25 and the map information. [] by verifying whether the own vehicle can pass the guidance route candidate without touching the other vehicles, the wall, and the white line. Then, when it is determined that the guidance route candidate is passable, the candidate is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as the guidance route. In this case, the turning point generation unit 26b is not used.”, “when it is determined that the generated guidance route candidate is impassable, the turning point generation unit 26b generates a turning point on the guidance route candidate, and when a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed at the turning point, it is determined whether the guidance route candidate is passable based on the information in the vehicle specification database 25. When it is determined that the vehicle can pass by turning back, the guidance route candidate including the turning point is output to the vehicle control unit 27 as a guidance route.”)
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians.
However, Glebov, directed to a navigation system with parking facility navigation mechanism and method of operation, discloses includes a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians (see at least Glebov [¶0046, 0048], “The facility layout information 306 is information related to the layout of the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility layout information 306 can include details about the number and location of facility access locations 308, which are the locations at which vehicle can enter and exit the vehicle parking facility 250, the number of floors, the location of ramps to adjacent levels of the vehicle parking facility 250, locations of vehicle pathways 310, which are travel lanes for vehicle traffic, locations of vehicle pathway intersections, which are the location an intersection between two of the vehicle pathways 310, pedestrian paths, or a combination thereof. [] The facility rules 318 are information pertaining to the restrictions and guidelines for travel and parking within the vehicle parking facility 250. [] the facility rules 318 can also include rules for traffic flow, such as speed limits, mandatory stop locations such as stop sign locations, yield locations such as at pedestrian crossings, lane restrictions such as direction of vehicle travel, or a combination thereof.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Glebov to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of including a crosswalk provided in a parking lot or a passage space provided for pedestrians, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot including distance, directional changes and prohibited areas to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path;
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths.
However, YOSHIKAZU, directed towards a parking-lot information provision system, discloses calculating a moving cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels along the candidate entry path (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0031, 0032], “the route search unit 12 registers all routes to all parking locations and the aforementioned cost (in other words, merit) scores corresponding to the constituent factors of those routes as cost information, and uses this cost information to extract all route information to each vacant parking space. The score is an index evaluated based on, for example, the vehicle's travel distance, ease of driving, number of direction changes, etc., and the higher the value, the greater the burden on the user of the automobile”, “The route search unit 12 uses the acquired information to calculate the cost for all route information for all vacant parking spaces and creates cost information (step S4). That is, for all the route information, the total cost of each piece of route information (information indicating the route from the position of the target vehicle 22 to each candidate parking position) is calculated to generate cost information. As shown in FIG. 4, the cost information is table information consisting of costs corresponding to each route (1, 2, 3, . . . ) and candidate parking locations (parking spaces 1, 2, 3, . . . ), and the lower the cost score, the higher the priority of selection.”);
selecting a recommended travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location, from among the candidate entry paths, using the moving costs required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate entry paths (see at least YOSHIKAZU [¶0034], “Next, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 uses the cost information created by the route search unit 12 to select a recommended parking position corresponding to the top priority candidate route, and outputs the recommended parking position information to the provided information creation unit 14 (step S5). Specifically, based on the cost information shown in Figure 4, the recommended parking position selection unit 13 selects the route with a low score and excellent cost among the extracted routes, for example, route 1 with a score of 10, as the top priority candidate, and selects the corresponding parking space 2 as the recommended parking position.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of YOSHIKAZU to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the technique of calculating a cost required for a vehicle to travel along each of the candidate paths, taking into account vehicle behavior taken when the vehicle travels, for the purpose selecting a recommended travel path for the vehicle in the parking lot that minimizes the cost, including distance and directional changes, to improve traffic movement and management of the vehicles in the parking lot.
Claims 2, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20210217310 IKOMA et al., and further in view of US 20210122362 Okamura et al. (Okamura hereafter).
Regarding Claim 2, IKOMA discloses A driving assistance device comprising:
a processor and memory storing instructions to implement (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”):
obtaining, when a vehicle is parked in a parking lot, layout information of parking spaces provided in the parking lot (IKOMA [0008] “a parked vehicle database that records a size and a position of each parked vehicle in a parking lot, a parking lot map database that records a position and a size of each parking block in the parking lot, a position of an empty vehicle space, a position and a width of each passage, and positions of an entrance and an exit of the parking lot”);
obtaining a parking location where a vehicle is parked, from among the parking spaces (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network, the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information (information such as a size and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle), a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”);
generating, using the intra-parking-lot network and the layout information of parking spaces, a vehicle's travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location in the posture selected by the vehicle's posture selecting means (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”); and
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”).
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking;
However, Okamura, directed towards an automatic parking system, discloses selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking (see at least Okamura [¶0046], “The vehicular position recognition unit 33 recognizes the position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 in the parking lot based on the position information of the landmarks in the parking lot included in the parking lot map information and the relative position of the landmarks with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle 2 recognized by the external environment recognition unit 31. As the landmark, an object fixed to the parking lot can be used. As the landmark, for example, at least one of a pillar of a parking lot, a wall of the parking lot, a pole, a safety cone, and the like is used. A running boundary may be used as the landmark.”, that is, the system can determine the vehicle’s placement, heading, or posture in the parking space, including forward or reverse posture.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Okamura to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the techniques of selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking, for the purpose of including additional information about the position of the vehicle in the parking space to improve the path planning and parking management efficiency.
Regarding Claim 9, IKOMA discloses A driving assistance device comprising:
a processor and memory storing instructions to implement (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”):
obtaining, when a vehicle exits a parking lot where the vehicle is parked, layout information of parking spaces provided in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a parked vehicle database that records a size and a position of each parked vehicle in a parking lot, a parking lot map database that records a position and a size of each parking block in the parking lot, a position of an empty vehicle space, a position and a width of each passage, and positions of an entrance and an exit of the parking lot”);
obtaining a parking location where a vehicle is parked, from among the parking spaces (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information (information such as a size and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle), a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”), the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
generating a vehicle's travel path from the parking location where a vehicle is parked in the obtained posture to an exit of a parking lot, using the intra-parking-lot network and the layout information of parking spaces (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”); and
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”).
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose obtaining a posture of a vehicle parked in the parking location, the posture indicating whether the vehicle is facing a rear of the parking location or an exit of the parking location;
However, Okamura discloses obtaining a posture of a vehicle parked in the parking location, the posture indicating whether the vehicle is facing a rear of the parking location or an exit of the parking location (see at least Okamura [¶0046], “The vehicular position recognition unit 33 recognizes the position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 in the parking lot based on the position information of the landmarks in the parking lot included in the parking lot map information and the relative position of the landmarks with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle 2 recognized by the external environment recognition unit 31. As the landmark, an object fixed to the parking lot can be used. As the landmark, for example, at least one of a pillar of a parking lot, a wall of the parking lot, a pole, a safety cone, and the like is used. A running boundary may be used as the landmark.”, that is, the system can determine the vehicle’s placement, heading, or posture in the parking space, including forward or reverse posture.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Okamura to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the techniques obtaining a posture of a vehicle parked in the parking location, the posture indicating whether the vehicle is facing a rear of the parking location or an exit of the parking location, for the purpose of including additional information about the position of the vehicle in the parking space to improve the path planning and parking management efficiency.
Regarding Claim 10, IKOMA discloses A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program that, when executed, causes a computer (see at least IKOMA [¶0020, FIG. 1] “the control center 1 and the vehicle control device 2 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and a communication device. Further, each function described later is implemented by the arithmetic device executing a program loaded in the main storage device while referring to a database recorded in the auxiliary storage device.”) to function as:
obtaining, when a vehicle is parked in a parking lot, a parking location where a vehicle is parked (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], above, database records vehicle position.);
obtaining an intra-parking-lot network (see at least IKOMA [¶0022], “The transceiver 13 transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle control device 2 via a wireless network, transmits the information in the parked vehicle database 11 and the information in the parking lot map database 12 to the vehicle control device 2, and receives vehicle specification information (information such as a size and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle), a target parking position of the vehicle, notification of completion of parking and exiting, etc. from the vehicle control device 2.”), the intra-parking-lot network being a network representing a route that can be selected by a vehicle in the parking lot (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”);
generating, using the intra-parking-lot network, a vehicle's travel path from an entrance to a parking lot up to a point where a vehicle is parked in the parking location in the selected posture; (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a route generation unit that generates a guidance route from the entrance to the target parking position or a guidance route from a parking position of the own vehicle to the exit”); and
providing autonomous driving assistance to control the vehicle based on the travel path (see at least IKOMA [¶0008], “a vehicle control unit that automatically drives the own vehicle according to the guidance route generated by the route generation unit”).
IKOMA does not explicitly disclose selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking;
However, Okamura, directed towards an automatic parking system, discloses selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking (see at least Okamura [¶0046], “The vehicular position recognition unit 33 recognizes the position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 in the parking lot based on the position information of the landmarks in the parking lot included in the parking lot map information and the relative position of the landmarks with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle 2 recognized by the external environment recognition unit 31. As the landmark, an object fixed to the parking lot can be used. As the landmark, for example, at least one of a pillar of a parking lot, a wall of the parking lot, a pole, a safety cone, and the like is used. A running boundary may be used as the landmark.”, that is, the system can determine the vehicle’s placement, heading, or posture in the parking space, including forward or reverse posture.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have considered the teachings of Okamura to modify IKOMA, with a reasonable expectation of success, to use the techniques of selecting a posture of a vehicle taken when the vehicle is parked in the parking location, the posture indicating forward parking and reverse parking, for the purpose of including additional information about the position of the vehicle in the parking space to improve the path planning and parking management efficiency.
Conclusion
Examiner encourages Applicant to fill out and submit form PTO-SB-439 to allow internet communications in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 (MPEP 502.03). Should the need arise to perfect applicant-proposed or examiner’s amendments, authorization for e-mail correspondence would have already been authorized and would save time.
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 Neit J. Nieves Flores whose telephone number is (703)756-5864. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 0930-1800 AST.
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, Rachid Bendidi can be reached at (571) 272-4896. 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.
/Neit J. Nieves Flores/
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3664
/RACHID BENDIDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
Prosecution Insights