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 . 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2008056179 A in view of Morris (US 2010/0131185 A1) and DE 102021114656 A1.
Referring to Claim 1: JP 2008056179 teaches a safe coding method for trackside train positioning information, comprising the following steps:
S1:
S2: printing the position coding string compiled in Step S1 and comprising the line position coding information into a signboard (10), and mounting the signboard on a trackside sleeper (Para. [0025]);
S3: mounting an image collector (11, 111) on a train body (12) (Figs. 1 and 2), collecting a coding string on the signboard by the image collector, preliminarily checking the coding string, and sending the identified coding string to a vehicle-mounted safety computer (112) after passing the check (see attached EPO translation, Para. [0023]);
S4: receiving, by the vehicle-mounted safety computer (112), the coding string sent by the image collector (111),
S5: updating a real position of the train according to the train position information determined by looking up the table in Step S4 (Para. [0024]).
As noted by strikethrough above, JP 2008056179 does not specifically teach compiling line position coding information of a train by using a redundancy coding scheme to form a position coding string. However, Morris teaches efficient data acquisition for track databases, wherein position data is compiled in a track database (420) (Para. [0030]) and associated with a barcode (110-i) on a tag (100-i) (Fig. 1) placed upon the track at a feature (Fig. 3), where position coding strings are stored for each feature ID (Fig. 5) (Para. [0037]-[0041]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for JP 2008056179 to compile line position coding information of a train by using a redundancy coding scheme to form a position coding string, as suggested by Morris, in order to efficiently compile position coding strings in a track database, for later recall by a vehicle positioning system, with a reasonable expectation of success.
As noted by strikethrough above, JP 2008056179 does not specifically teach performing a multi-channel redundancy safe calculation on the coding string. However, DE 102021114656 teaches method and device for locating a track-bound vehicle, further comprising performing a multi-channel redundancy safe calculation on the location coding string (see attached EPO translation, Para. [0017]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for JP 2008056179 to perform a multi-channel redundancy safe calculation on the coding string, as suggested by DE 102021114656, in order to further ensure the correct location of the vehicle (see DE 102021114656, Para. [0017]) with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2008056179 in view of Morris, DE 102021114656 and DE 102014218654 A1.
Referring to Claim 7: JP 20080561797 does not teach that the image collector comprises a video sensor and an identification check module; the video sensor is capable of collecting a coding string represented by a graph on the trackside signboard; and the identification check module is capable of identifying and preliminarily checking the coding string represented by the graph. However, DE 102014218654 teaches a method and device for detecting an unchanged position of an at least partially disabled vehicle, wherein the image collector (30) comprises a video sensor (see attached EPO translation, Para. [0019]) and an identification check module (Para. [0013]); the video sensor is capable of collecting a coding string represented by a graph on the side of a rail (Para. [0019]) (Fig. 1); and the identification check module is capable of identifying and preliminarily checking the coding string represented by the graph (Para. [0013]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for JP 2008056179 to use a video sensor and an identification check module, as taught by DE 102014218654, in order to continuously capture images as the vehicle travels and thereby “ensure that successful detection of the applied marking is possible,” (see DE 102014218654, Para. [0013]) with a reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 8-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2 and depending claims 3-6, the prior art fails to teach the position coding string comprising the four specific parts including the head code ID, position information, verification of position information, and the redundancy check, as recited in claim 2. While these coding parts are known in coding arts (see, e.g., attached JP 2006-207191 A machine translation, page 6, lines 1-2, teaching “header code” and “CRC code” (cyclic redundancy check)), Examiner finds it would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning to modify the prior art, including JP 2008056179, to use these four specific coding parts in combination with step limitations S1-S5 of claim 1.
Regarding claim 8 and depending claims 9-13, the prior art fails to teach the detailed limitations of step S3, as recited in claim 8. While steps relating to header code and redundancy checks are known in coding arts (see, e.g., attached JP 2006-207191 A machine translation, page 6, lines 1-2, teaching “header code” and “CRC code” (cyclic redundancy check)), Examiner finds it would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning to modify the prior art, including JP 2008056179, to use these specific coding step limitations in combination with step limitations S1-S5 of claim 1.
Conclusion
The references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because the references relate to railway positioning tags and barcode identification: US-4864306-A, US-3106706-A, US-3617707-A, US-4768740-A, US-20100131185-A1, US-20100004804-A1, US-20100266005-A1 and US-3543007-A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY L KUHFUSS whose telephone number is (571)270-7858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00am to 6:00 pm CDT.
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, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached at (571)272-6682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY L KUHFUSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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