DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This action is in response to the applicant’s filing on March 6, 2026. Claims 1-3 and 5-6 are pending and examined below. Claim 4 has been canceled. Claim 1-3 and 5-6 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
In response to the applicant’s argument regarding the amended portion of claim 1, the rejection is hereby withdrawn.
The applicant states that independent claim 6 is patentable because it has been amended to include similar features recited in claim 1. However, claim 6 has not been amended to include the key features such as “manage, as a blind spot object, a net blind spot region generated by the obstacle object, the net blind spot region being calculated by a blind spot detection function as a blind spot region excluding a region occupied by the obstacle object using at least one of information on a building included in a map and a shape of the obstacle object”. Therefore, the rejection for claim 6 is hereby sustained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koyama, JP 2018-101295 A (see English translation – IDS filed 6/25/2024).
As to claim 6, Koyama teaches a management method of an object observed by an electronic control device, the management method, wherein the electronic control device includes a CPU configured to execute a program, and a storage device configured to be accessed by the CPU, the management method of the object includes (¶ 16-17 and Fig. 2):
an object recognition procedure in which the CPU recognizes surrounding objects based on external environment information acquired by an external environment sensor (¶ 10, 14 and Figs. 1-2; e.g. a LIDAR);
an obstacle object generation procedure in which the CPU generates an obstacle object regarding an object that generates a blind spot region by shielding observation by the external environment sensor among the recognized objects (¶ 12, 18-19 and Figs. 1-2; e.g. an obstacle is detected in the blind spot peripheral area),
a blind spot object management procedure in which the CPU manages, as a blind spot object, a blind spot region generated by the obstacle object (¶ 11-12; e.g. monitoring the detected obstacle in the blind spot peripheral area), and
a solid object generation procedure in which the CPU generates solid object information regarding an object that can enter and exit the blind spot region among the recognized objects (¶ 12-13; e.g. monitoring the state of objects enter and exit the blind spot), and
in the blind spot object management procedure, the CPU associates a solid object that has entered the blind spot region with a blind spot object in the blind spot region, and cancels association of a solid object that has exited the blind spot region with a blind spot object in the blind spot region (¶ 12-13, 44; e.g. the target object is subtracted from the blind spot if the object has exited).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 are allowed.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mary Cheung whose telephone number is (571) 272-6705. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Christian Chace, can be reached on (571) 272-4190.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceedings is assigned are as follows:
(571) 273-8300 (Official Communications; including After Final Communications labeled “BOX AF”)
(571) 273-6705 (Draft Communications)
/MARY CHEUNG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665 April 3, 2026
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