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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/01/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant Amendments and Remarks filed on 04/01/2026 in response to the Final office action mailed on 02/17/2026 have been fully considered and are addressed as follows:
Regarding the Claim Objections: The objections are withdrawn, as the amendments to the claims have properly addressed the informalities recited in the Final office action.
Regarding the Claim Rejections under 35 USC § 112(b): The rejections of claims for being indefinite are withdrawn, as the amended claims have properly addressed the rejections recited in the Final office action.
Regarding the Claim Rejections under 35 USC § 103: With respect to the previous claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant has amended the independent claims and these amendments have changed the scope of the original application. Therefore, the Office has supplied new grounds of rejection attached below in the NON-FINAL office action and therefore the prior arguments are considered moot.
NON-FINAL OFFICE ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9 recites “an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device;” and “an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device” following the first recitation of the same limitation. The second recitation should be “the augmentation region of the augmented reality display device.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 7, and 9 recite the limitation “it may be necessary to present augmented reality information at the edge of or outside an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device.” The conditional or permissive phrase “may be” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation following the phrase is mandatory or optional. The limitation following the phrase “may be” is interpreted as optional for examining purposes.
Claims 2-6, 8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being dependent on rejected claim(s) and for failing to cure the deficiencies listed above.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chung et al. (US 2016/0349066 A1, hereinafter “Chung”) in view of Choi et al. (US 2018/0157036 A1, hereinafter “Choi”).
Regarding claim 1, Chung discloses a method for controlling an augmented reality display device of a vehicle (Chung at para. [0113]: “When the display 180 is an HUD, a projection module for projecting images may be provided to the windshield glass of the vehicle 700”), the method comprising:
determining whether there is a driving situation requiring action in which it may be necessary to present augmented reality information at the edge of or outside an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device (Chung at para. [0383]: “the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display a TBT image corresponding to lane change”; para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”; The processor controls the display based on the determined lane change (i.e., “driving situation”)); and
determining augmented reality information is intended to be presented on a lane at a distance from a current lane based on the driving situation (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”);
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”).
However, Chung does not explicitly state:
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror about a in such a way that the augmented reality information to be presented can be presented within the augmentation region on the lane at the distance from the current lane.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches:
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror in such a way that the augmented reality information to be presented within the augmentation region on the lane at the distance from the current lane (Choi at para. [0468]: “the controller 801 may … change the inclination of the first reflection mirror 3 to move the second virtual image 2202 to the left or right”; The reflection mirror 3 is curved as shown in FIGS. 8-19; para. [0484]: “the controller 801 may … display the second graphic object 2902 matching an adjacent road corresponding to the traveling lane to be changed and indicating a distance-to-vehicle on the adjacent road in the second region of the second virtual image 2202 when a traveling lane change is requested”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Chung by adding the curved mirror of Choi with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Chung in view of Choi is to provide a mechanism to change a location of an image.
Regarding claim 2, Chung in view of Choi teaches the method as claimed in claim 1.
Chung further discloses wherein the presence of the driving situation requiring action is determined when cornering is imminent or takes place (Chung at para. [0400]: “The processor 470 may display one of a normal image, a left-turn image, a right-turn image and a U-turn image respectively corresponding to the lane information”).
Regarding claim 3, Chung in view of Choi teaches the method as claimed in claim 2.
Chung further discloses wherein cornering is determined from data from an acceleration sensor, from data from an environmental sensor system or from map data (Chung at para. [0399]: “The driver assistance apparatus 100 may detect the lane information on the basis of images of road sings or an image of the surface of the corresponding road. Here, the lane information may be information indicating a normal lane, a left-turn lane, a right-turn lane and a U-turn lane at a change point”).
Regarding claim 5, Chung in view of Choi teaches the method as claimed in claim 1.
Chung further discloses wherein augmented reality information is presented on the lane at a distance from the current lane when a lane change of the vehicle is due or a lane change of a vehicle in front takes place (Chung at para. [0383]: “the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display a TBT image corresponding to lane change”; para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”).
Claims 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito et al. (US 2017/0343799 A1, hereinafter “Ito”).
Regarding claim 6, Chung in view of Choi teaches the method as claimed in claim 1.
Choi further teaches wherein the adjustment of the position of the augmentation region involves tilting the curved mirror of the augmented reality display device (Choi at para. [0468]: “the controller 801 may … change the inclination of the first reflection mirror 3 to move the second virtual image 2202 to the left or right”; The reflection mirror 3 is curved as shown in FIGS. 8-19; para. [0484]: “the controller 801 may … display the second graphic object 2902 matching an adjacent road corresponding to the traveling lane to be changed and indicating a distance-to-vehicle on the adjacent road in the second region of the second virtual image 2202 when a traveling lane change is requested”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Chung by adding the curved mirror of Choi with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Chung in view of Choi is to provide a mechanism to change a location of an image.
However, Chung in view of Choi does not explicitly state:
tilting a curved mirror of the augmented reality display device about a vertical axis.
In the same field of endeavor, Ito teaches tilting a curved mirror of the augmented reality display device about a vertical axis (Ito at FIGS. 5-6 and para. [0045]: “a reflecting mirror 22 (reflecting device) to reflect the pickup image information projected by the projector 21 toward the windshield glass 2 (or the room mirror 7)” “a drive portion 25 which is configured to rotate the reflecting mirror 22 around a lateral axes”; FIGS. 5-6 shows that the reflecting mirror 22 is curved).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Chung in view of Choi by adding the vertical axis of Ito with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito is to expand field of view.
Regarding claim 7, Chung discloses a computer program having instructions stored on a nontransitory computer readable medium which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of a method, the method comprising:
determining whether there is a driving situation requiring an action in which it may be necessary to present augmented reality information at the edge of or outside an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device (Chung at para. [0383]: “the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display a TBT image corresponding to lane change”; para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”; The processor controls the display based on the determined lane change (i.e., “driving situation”)); and
determining augmented reality information is intended to be presented on a lane at a distance from a current lane based on the driving situation (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”); and
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”).
However, Chung does not explicitly state:
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis in such a way that the augmented reality information to be presented within the augmentation region on the lane at the distance from the current lane.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches:
adjusting the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror (Choi at para. [0468]: “the controller 801 may … change the inclination of the first reflection mirror 3 to move the second virtual image 2202 to the left or right”; The reflection mirror 3 is curved as shown in FIGS. 8-19; para. [0484]: “the controller 801 may … display the second graphic object 2902 matching an adjacent road corresponding to the traveling lane to be changed and indicating a distance-to-vehicle on the adjacent road in the second region of the second virtual image 2202 when a traveling lane change is requested”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the program of Chung by adding the curved mirror of Choi with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the program of Chung in view of Choi is to provide a mechanism to change a location of an image.
However, Chung in view of Choi does not explicitly state:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis.
In the same field of endeavor, Ito teaches:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis (Ito at FIGS. 5-6 and para. [0045]: “a reflecting mirror 22 (reflecting device) to reflect the pickup image information projected by the projector 21 toward the windshield glass 2 (or the room mirror 7)” “a drive portion 25 which is configured to rotate the reflecting mirror 22 around a lateral axes”; FIGS. 5-6 shows that the reflecting mirror 22 is curved).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the program of Chung in view of Choi by adding the vertical axis of Ito with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito is to expand field of view.
Regarding claim 8, Chung discloses a device for controlling an augmented reality display device of a vehicle, comprising:
an evaluation module for determining whether there is a driving situation requiring action in which it may be necessary to present augmented reality information at the edge of or outside an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device and the augmented reality information is intended to be presented on a lane at a distance from a current lane based on the driving situation (Chung at para. [0383]: “the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display a TBT image corresponding to lane change”; para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”; The processor controls the display based on the determined lane change (i.e., “driving situation”)); and
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”).
However, Chung does not explicitly state:
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis in such a way that the augmented reality information to be presented within the augmentation region on the lane at the distance from the current lane.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches:
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror (Choi at para. [0468]: “the controller 801 may … change the inclination of the first reflection mirror 3 to move the second virtual image 2202 to the left or right”; The reflection mirror 3 is curved as shown in FIGS. 8-19; para. [0484]: “the controller 801 may … display the second graphic object 2902 matching an adjacent road corresponding to the traveling lane to be changed and indicating a distance-to-vehicle on the adjacent road in the second region of the second virtual image 2202 when a traveling lane change is requested”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Chung by adding the control module of Choi with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi is to provide a mechanism to change a location of an image.
However, Chung in view of Choi does not explicitly state:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis.
In the same field of endeavor, Ito teaches:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis (Ito at FIGS. 5-6 and para. [0045]: “a reflecting mirror 22 (reflecting device) to reflect the pickup image information projected by the projector 21 toward the windshield glass 2 (or the room mirror 7)” “a drive portion 25 which is configured to rotate the reflecting mirror 22 around a lateral axes”; FIGS. 5-6 shows that the reflecting mirror 22 is curved).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi by adding the vertical axis of Ito with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito is to expand field of view.
Regarding claim 9, Chung discloses an augmented reality display device for a vehicle (Chung at para. [0113]: “When the display 180 is an HUD, a projection module for projecting images may be provided to the windshield glass of the vehicle 700”), wherein the augmented reality display device comprises:
a device (Chung at para. [0385]: “The vehicles that are being driven on the neighboring lanes may be detected by the driver assistance apparatus 100”), comprising:
an evaluation module for determining whether there is a driving situation requiring action in which it may be necessary to present augmented reality information at the edge of or outside an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device (Chung at para. [0383]: “the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display a TBT image corresponding to lane change”; para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”; The processor controls the display based on the determined lane change (i.e., “driving situation”));
an augmentation region of the augmented reality display device and the augmented reality information is intended to be presented on a lane at a distance from a current lane based on the driving situation (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”); and
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer (Chung at para. [0385]: “FIG. 11B, when a lane change point 1130 is determined, the processor 470 may control the display 441 to display an indicator 1120 that indicates the lane change point 1130”).
However, Chung does not explicitly state:
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis in such a way that the augmented reality information to be presented within the augmentation region on the lane at the distance from the current lane.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches:
a control module for adjusting a position of the augmentation region with respect to an observer by tilting a curved mirror (Choi at para. [0468]: “the controller 801 may … change the inclination of the first reflection mirror 3 to move the second virtual image 2202 to the left or right”; The reflection mirror 3 is curved as shown in FIGS. 8-19; para. [0484]: “the controller 801 may … display the second graphic object 2902 matching an adjacent road corresponding to the traveling lane to be changed and indicating a distance-to-vehicle on the adjacent road in the second region of the second virtual image 2202 when a traveling lane change is requested”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Chung by adding the curved mirror of Choi with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi is to provide a mechanism to change a location of an image.
However, Chung in view of Choi does not explicitly state:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis.
In the same field of endeavor, Ito teaches:
tilting a curved mirror about a vertical axis (Ito at FIGS. 5-6 and para. [0045]: “a reflecting mirror 22 (reflecting device) to reflect the pickup image information projected by the projector 21 toward the windshield glass 2 (or the room mirror 7)” “a drive portion 25 which is configured to rotate the reflecting mirror 22 around a lateral axes”; FIGS. 5-6 shows that the reflecting mirror 22 is curved).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi by adding the vertical axis of Ito with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the device of Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito is to expand field of view.
Regarding claim 10, Chung in view of Choi further in view of Ito teaches the augmented reality display device as claimed in claim 9.
Chung further discloses wherein the augmented reality display device is part of a head-up display (Chung at para. [0113]: “When the display 180 is an HUD, a projection module for projecting images may be provided to the windshield glass of the vehicle 700”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JISUN CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-0710. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Browne can be reached at (571)270-0151. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JISUN CHOI/
Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666
Prosecution Insights