Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to amendment and remarks filed on 6/18/2025 and terminal disclaimer filed/approved on 6/18/2025. This Action is made FINAL.
Claim 15 was canceled
Claim(s) 1 - 20 are pending for examination.
This Action is made FINAL.
Previous Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim(s) 1-20 were previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a). In response to Applicant's amendment, the 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 have been withdrawn.
Claim(s) 1-20 were previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). In response to Applicant's amendment, the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 have been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
With regards to claim(s) 1, 8-9, 14, and 17-20 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 and claim(s) 2-7, 10-13, and 16 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103, Applicant's arguments have been fully considered, but are deemed moot in view of new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant's amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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, 8-9, 14, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dry et al. US PG Publication 20180265019 (hereinafter Dry) in view of Lidar News, March 19, 2018, https://blog.lidarnews.com/fully-autonomous-cruise-av-has-5-lidar-sensors/.
Dry was cited in a previous office action
Regarding claim 1, Dry discloses:
An autonomous vehicle control system for converting a host non-autonomous vehicle to an autonomous vehicle, said autonomous vehicle control system comprising: [[Dry, Title, Para. 2] “Autonomous Vehicle Conversion;” also see [0002] “Autonomous vehicles include various sensors for operating without driver input. These sensors provide input to the computer for operation in the autonomous mode and/or the semi-autonomous mode. Many mass-produced vehicles do not have such sensors.”]
a housing including a mount, said mount being configured to removably attach said housing to the exterior of a host vehicle; [[Dry, Para. 29, Para. 32] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, the sensor module 14 includes a housing 26 that supports and/or encloses various components of the sensor module 14;” also see [0032] A releasable coupling 38 (i.e. a mount) may be supported by the sensor module 14. For example, the releasable coupling 38 may be secured to, and extend away from, the housing 26. The releasable coupling 38 enables the sensor module 14 to be releasably secured to the roof 18 (i.e. the exterior of a host vehicle)…”]
a set of sensors coupled to said housing, [[Dry, Para. 30, Fig. 2] “A plurality of sensors 34 is supported by the sensor module 14;” also see Fig. 2 wherein sensors 34 are coupled to housing 26] a first sensor of said set of sensors being configured to sense at least one physical aspect of said host vehicle's driving environment and to provide sensor output corresponding to said at least one physical aspect of said host vehicle's driving environment; [[Dry, Para. 30, Para. Para. 33, Para. 36, Fig. 2] “The sensors 34 may detect the external world, for example, radar sensors, scanning laser range finders, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, and image processing sensors such as cameras;” also see [0033] The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;” also see [0036] “The electrical wire 24 is in electrical communication with the computer 40 such that information and commands from the sensors 34 and the computer 40 may be transmitted to components of the vehicle 12;” also see Fig. 2 wherein it is shown that sensors 34 are coupled to computer 40]
an onboard computer disposed in said housing, [[Dry, Para. 33, Fig. 2] “With reference to FIG. 2, a computer 40 is supported by the sensor module 14. For example, the computer 40 may be mounted within the housing 26. The computer 40 may be a microprocessor-based controller implemented via circuits, chips, antenna, a transceiver, or other electronic components. For example, the computer 40 may include a processor, memory, etc…The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;” also see Fig. 2 wherein it is shown that computer 40 is disposed in housing 26] said onboard computer being configured to receive said sensor output and to generate vehicle control instructions based at least in part on said sensor output; [[Dry, Para. 33, Para. 36, Fig. 2] “The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;” also see [0036] “The electrical wire 24 is in electrical communication with the computer 40 such that information and commands from the sensors 34 and the computer 40 may be transmitted to components of the vehicle 12 to enable autonomous operation;” also see Fig. 2] and
a hardware communications interface [[Dry, electrical wire 24]] configured to communicate said vehicle control instructions from said onboard computer to a control module of said host vehicle, said vehicle control instructions configured to control movement of said host vehicle. [[Dry, Para. 36, Para. 47, Fig. 2] “…electrical wire 24 is in electrical communication with the computer 40 such that information and commands from the sensors 34 and the computer 40 may be transmitted to components of the vehicle 12 to enable autonomous operation. For example, the electrical wire 24 may provide communication with various servos, actuators, etc., installed in the vehicle 12 to control the braking, propulsion and steering, e.g., by providing movement to the brake pedal, accelerator pedal, and steering wheel. Additionally or alternatively, the servos, actuators, etc., may control movement of other vehicle components to control movement of the vehicle 12, and/or the electrical wire 24 may provide information and commands to a vehicle controller operating drive-by-wire components;” also see [0047] “the electrical wire 24 extends from the sensor module 14 through the first seal 30, the passage 46, and the second seal 54 into the opening 22 of the roof 18. The electrical wire 24 may include an electrical connector 56 to permit the sensor module 14 to be selectively connected and disconnected with the vehicle 12. Within the vehicle 12 information and command transmitted via the electrical wire 24 may be received by various components for autonomous operation of the vehicle 12, as described above.”]
But Dry does not explicitly disclose “wherein said mount includes a plurality of legs extending outward and downward from a central portion of said housing to suspend said housing over the roof-top of said host vehicle; at least one of said plurality of legs includes a proximal end coupled to said central portion of said housing and an opposite distal end configured to engage the exterior of said host vehicle; and at least one sensor of said set of sensors is coupled to said distal end of said at least one of said plurality of legs.”
However, Lidar News teaches:
wherein said mount includes a plurality of legs extending outward and downward from a central portion of said housing to suspend said housing over the roof-top of said host vehicle; at least one of said plurality of legs includes a proximal end coupled to said central portion of said housing and an opposite distal end configured to engage the exterior of said host vehicle; and at least one sensor of said set of sensors is coupled to said distal end of said at least one of said plurality of legs. [[Lidar News, First image]
[AltContent: textbox (Leg)][AltContent: textbox (Sensor)][AltContent: textbox (Housing)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
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As can be seen image there is a leg the comes out and don’t from the housing and has a sensor mounted on the outer end.]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry to include the teachings of Lidar News to have the legs extend out and downward with the opposite ends of the legs attaching to the vehicle and housing and to have sensors mounted on the outer ends of the legs. The modification would have been obvious because it allows the outside sensors to have an unobstructed view out and down over the vehicle roof. This is common sense just like a person may move their head out the window to look over the side of the vehicle hood to see next to a front wheel.
Regarding claim 8, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said first sensor is a LiDAR sensor. [[Dry, Para. 30] “The sensors 34 may detect the external world, for example, radar sensors, scanning laser range finders, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, and image processing sensors such as cameras.”]
Regarding claim 9, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 8 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein:
said set of sensors further includes a second sensor; and
said second sensor is a camera. [[Dry, Para. 30] “A plurality of sensors 34 (i.e. at least a first and second sensor) is supported by the sensor module 14…The sensors 34 may detect the external world, for example, radar sensors, scanning laser range finders, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, and image processing sensors such as cameras.]
Regarding claim 14, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said first sensor is a camera. [[Dry, Para. 30] “A plurality of sensors 34 is supported by the sensor module 14…The sensors 34 may detect the external world, for example, radar sensors, scanning laser range finders, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, and image processing sensors such as cameras.]
Regarding claim 17, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said onboard computer further includes a wireless communication device. [[Dry, Para. 30, Para. 33] “sensors 34 may include communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices,” wherein it is commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art that V2V and V2I technology facilitates wireless communication between a vehicle and other vehicles or infrastructure outside of the vehicle; also see [0033] “The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;”]
Regarding claim 18, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said onboard computer further includes a positioning device. [[Dry, Para. 30, Para. 33] “The sensors 34 may detect the position or orientation of the sensor module 14, for example, global positioning system (GPS) sensors;” also see [0033] “The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;”]
Regarding claim 19, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said onboard computer is configured to wirelessly communicate with control systems of other autonomous vehicles. [[Dry, Para. 30, Para. 33] “sensors 34 may include communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices,” wherein it is commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art that V2V and V2I technology facilitates wireless communication between a vehicle and other vehicles or infrastructure outside of the vehicle; also see [0033] “The computer 40 may be in electronic communication with…the sensors 34…;”]
Regarding claim 20, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said onboard computer is configured to wirelessly communicate with a traffic control system. [[Dry, Para. 30, Para. 33] “sensors 34 may include communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices,” wherein it is commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art that V2I technology facilitates wireless communication between a vehicle and infrastructure outside of the vehicle. Further, it is interpreted that if a system is configured to communicate with infrastructure, the system is configured to communicate with a traffic control system such as a "smart traffic light". A “smart traffic light” is provided as an example of a traffic control system in currently pending specification (Page 11, Line 15).
Claims 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dry et al. US PG Publication 20180265019 (hereinafter Dry) in view of Lidar News, March 19, 2018, (https://blog.lidarnews.com/fully-autonomous-cruise-av-has-5-lidar-sensors/) and Taylor et al. US PG Publication 20200101905 (hereinafter Taylor).
Taylor was cited in a previous office action
Regarding claim 2, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
further comprising a tray [[Dry, Fig. 2, Para. 29] see Fig. 2 wherein the bottom portion of the housing 26 of sensor module 14 supports the components of the sensor module and thus constitutes a tray; also see Para. 29] and wherein:
said onboard computer is mounted to said tray; [[Dry, Para. 33, Fig.2 ] “With reference to FIG. 2, a computer 40 is supported by the sensor module 14. For example, the computer 40 may be mounted within the housing 26;” also see Fig. 2 wherein it is shown that the computer 40 is mounted in the bottom portion of the housing 26 (i.e. the tray)]
But Dry does not explicitly disclose that said tray is configured to be removably mounted in said housing and said onboard computer remains mounted to said tray when said tray is removed from said housing.
However, Taylor teaches:
said tray is configured to be removably mounted in said housing; [[Taylor, Para. 31, Para. 56, Fig. 4] “The roof panel 18 being releasably attached to the vehicle body 14 allows for a user to remove the roof panel 18 from the vehicle body 14, for example, to repair and/or replace the roof panel 18 and/or components under the roof panel 18, e.g., electronics, the object-detection sensor 22, etc” also see [0056] “the plate 76 may be releasably attached to the bin 38, e.g., with clips, fasteners, etc., so that the plate 76 and sensors 24 may be removed for repair, replacement, etc.;” also see Fig. 4]
said onboard computer remains mounted to said tray when said tray is removed from said housing. [[Taylor, Para. 56, Fig. 4] “…the plate 76 may be releasably attached to the bin 38, e.g., with clips, fasteners, etc., so that the plate 76 and sensors 24 may be removed for repair, replacement, etc.;” also see Fig. 4]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Taylor to achieve a tray configured to be removably mounted in said housing and the onboard computer remaining mounted to the tray when the tray is removed from the housing. The modification would have been obvious because it enables the components to be repaired or replaced. See Taylor, Para. 56: “the plate 76 may be releasably attached…so that the plate 76 and sensors 24 may be removed for repair, replacement, etc”.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Taylor teaches the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 2 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said first sensor remains mounted to said housing when said tray is removed from said housing. [[Dry, Para. 30, Fig. 1, Fig. 2] “The sensors 34 may be supported on and/or within the housing 26;” also see Dry Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 wherein it is shown that sensor 34 is mounted to the top/outside of the housing and not mounted to the tray to be removed.]
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Taylor teaches the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 3 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said first sensor is a LiDAR sensor. [[Dry, Para. 30] “The sensors 34 may detect the external world, for example, radar sensors, scanning laser range finders, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices, and image processing sensors such as cameras.”]
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Taylor teaches the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 2 as outlined above.
Taylor further teaches:
wherein said first sensor remains mounted to said tray when said tray is removed from said housing. [[Taylor, Para. 56, Fig. 4] “…the plate 76 may be releasably attached to the bin 38, e.g., with clips, fasteners, etc., so that the plate 76 and sensors 24 may be removed for repair, replacement, etc.;” also see Fig. 4]
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 autonomous vehicle control system taught by the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Taylor to include these additional teachings of Taylor. The modification would have been obvious because “the plate 76 may be releasably attached…so that the plate 76 and sensors 24 may be removed for repair, replacement, etc,” see Taylor, Para. 56.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Taylor teaches the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 5 as outlined above.
Taylor further teaches:
wherein said first sensor is a camera. [[Taylor, Para. 54] “..object-detection sensors 22 may detect the external world. For example, the object-detection sensors 22 may be…image processing sensors such as cameras…”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system taught by the combination of Dry and Taylor to include these additional teachings of Taylor. The modification would have been obvious because the camera enables the vehicle to detect the external world and subsequently maneuver safely according to the external world detected.
Claims 7 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dry et al. US PG Publication 20180265019 (hereinafter Dry) in view of Lidar News, March 19, 2018, (https://blog.lidarnews.com/fully-autonomous-cruise-av-has-5-lidar-sensors/) and Zajac US PG Publication 20170305360 (hereinafter Zajac).
Zajac was cited in a previous office action
Regarding claim 7, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
Dry further discloses:
wherein said autonomous vehicle control system is a [[Dry, Fig. 2] See Fig. 2 wherein a physical component, computer 40, serves as a physical interface to receive a plurality of sensors 34]
But Dry does not explicitly disclose wherein said autonomous vehicle control system is a modular system having at least one physical interface configured to receive a plurality of different sensors.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zajac teaches:
wherein said autonomous vehicle control system is a modular system having at least one physical interface configured to receive a plurality of different sensors. [[Zajac, Para. 18, Para. 29] “As described with various examples, the 100 (i.e. external sensor assembly 100) may be modular so that it can be mounted as a retrofit on a vehicle manufactured by a third-party;” also see [0029] The assembly housing 210 may also be self-enclosed and modular, so as to be assembled to retain sensor components, and to mount to the roof 12 of the vehicle 10 with the sensor components being operationally interconnected.”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system as disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Zajac. The modification would have been obvious because it enables the assembly to be retrofitted on a third-party vehicle (see Zajac, Para. 18).
Regarding claim 10, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 9 as outlined above.
While Dry discloses that the sensors mounted to the housing and electrically connectable to the onboard computer may comprise global positioning system (GPS) sensors and communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices (see Dry, Para. 30), Dry does not explicitly disclose an antenna set.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zajac teaches:
further comprising an antenna set mounted to said housing and electrically connectable to said onboard computer. [[Zajac, Para. 28, Para. 31, Para. 14] “FIG. 3 illustrates an antenna structure 140 for use with a sensor assembly 100, according to one or more examples. The antenna structure 140 can include multiple distinct antennas which are integrated to provide wireless transceiver capabilities for different types of wireless devices (e.g., GPS, cellular transceiver, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transceiver, shown as “Type 1” etc.). According to some examples, the antenna structure is integrated with an exterior shell of the housing 110;” also see [0031] “The top surface 242 of the housing 210 can include multiple surface features 244 for enabling use of specific antennas (e.g., GPS, cellular) which may be integrated into the antenna structure 140;” also see [0014] “the sensor assembly can be made operational with power and external connectivity to a control system of the vehicle.”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Zajac. The modification would have been obvious because “[autonomous] vehicles often are required to make advance determinations regarding how the vehicle behaves given challenging surroundings of the vehicle environment” (see Zajac, Para. 17). Thus, including the antenna set provides the vehicle with additional data that enables the vehicle to travel safely based on its environment.
Regarding claim 11, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 8 as outlined above.
While Dry discloses that the sensors mounted to the housing and electrically connectable to the onboard computer may comprise global positioning system (GPS) sensors and communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices (see Dry, Para. 30), Dry does not explicitly disclose an antenna set.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zajac teaches:
further comprising an antenna set mounted to said housing and electrically connectable to said onboard computer. [[Zajac, Para. 28, Para. 31, Para. 14] “FIG. 3 illustrates an antenna structure 140 for use with a sensor assembly 100, according to one or more examples. The antenna structure 140 can include multiple distinct antennas which are integrated to provide wireless transceiver capabilities for different types of wireless devices (e.g., GPS, cellular transceiver, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transceiver, shown as “Type 1” etc.). According to some examples, the antenna structure is integrated with an exterior shell of the housing 110;” also see [0031] “The top surface 242 of the housing 210 can include multiple surface features 244 for enabling use of specific antennas (e.g., GPS, cellular) which may be integrated into the antenna structure 140;” also see [0014] “the sensor assembly can be made operational with power and external connectivity to a control system of the vehicle.”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Zajac. The modification would have been obvious because “[autonomous] vehicles often are required to make advance determinations regarding how the vehicle behaves given challenging surroundings of the vehicle environment” (see Zajac, Para. 17). Thus, including the antenna set provides the vehicle with additional data that enables the vehicle to travel safely based on its environment.
Regarding claim 12, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
While Dry discloses that the sensors mounted to the housing and electrically connectable to the onboard computer may comprise global positioning system (GPS) sensors and communications devices, for example, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices (see Dry, Para. 30), Dry does not explicitly disclose an antenna set.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Zajac teaches:
further comprising an antenna set mounted to said housing and electrically connectable to said onboard computer. [[Zajac, Para. 28, Para. 31, Para. 14] “FIG. 3 illustrates an antenna structure 140 for use with a sensor assembly 100, according to one or more examples. The antenna structure 140 can include multiple distinct antennas which are integrated to provide wireless transceiver capabilities for different types of wireless devices (e.g., GPS, cellular transceiver, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transceiver, shown as “Type 1” etc.). According to some examples, the antenna structure is integrated with an exterior shell of the housing 110;” also see [0031] “The top surface 242 of the housing 210 can include multiple surface features 244 for enabling use of specific antennas (e.g., GPS, cellular) which may be integrated into the antenna structure 140;” also see [0014] “the sensor assembly can be made operational with power and external connectivity to a control system of the vehicle.”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Zajac. The modification would have been obvious because “[autonomous] vehicles often are required to make advance determinations regarding how the vehicle behaves given challenging surroundings of the vehicle environment” (see Zajac, Para. 17). Thus, including the antenna set provides the vehicle with additional data that enables the vehicle to travel safely based on its environment.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Dry and Zajac teaches the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 12 as outlined above.
Zajac further teaches:
wherein said antenna set includes:
a positioning antenna; and
a communications antenna. [[Zajac, Para. 28] “The antenna structure 140 can include multiple distinct antennas which are integrated to provide wireless transceiver capabilities for different types of wireless devices (e.g., GPS, cellular transceiver, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transceiver…etc.)”]
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 autonomous vehicle control system taught by the combination of Dry in view of Lidar News and Zajac to include these additional teachings of Zajac. The modification would have been obvious because “[autonomous] vehicles often are required to make advance determinations regarding how the vehicle behaves given challenging surroundings of the vehicle environment” (see Zajac, Para. 17). Thus, the antennas provide the vehicle with additional data that enables the vehicle to travel safely based on its environment.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dry et al. US PG Publication 20180265019 (hereinafter Dry) in view of Lidar News, March 19, 2018, (https://blog.lidarnews.com/fully-autonomous-cruise-av-has-5-lidar-sensors/) and Frederick et al. US PG Publication 20200023788 (hereinafter Frederick).
Frederick was cited in a previous office action
Regarding claim 16, Dry in view of Lidar News discloses the autonomous vehicle control system of Claim 1 as outlined above.
But Dry does not explicitly disclose wherein said mount is adjustable to facilitate mounting said housing on a plurality of different vehicle models.
However, Frederick teaches:
wherein said mount is adjustable to facilitate mounting said housing on a plurality of different vehicle models. [[Frederick, Para. 1, Para. 24, Para. 29, Para. 34, Fig. 2A-C, Fig. 3] “The present disclosure relates to a mounting structure…;” also see [0024] Although, in the first exemplary embodiment, the vehicle is a sedan type vehicle platform, vehicles for attaching the mounting structure may include any transportation method which could be converted to autonomous vehicles;” also see [0029] “Further, in other exemplary embodiments, the reinforcement plate connections 11A and 11B may be extendable with an extension means to fit a plurality of existing vehicle platforms. The extension means may include sliding or fixed extension arms attached to the reinforcement plate connections 11A and 11B with bolts, notches, etc.;” also see [0034] “Access from the interior of the vehicle 3 may be provided so that users do not have to be exposed to the elements when modifying, fixing, or adjusting the mounting structure 1…(i.e. the mount is adjustable);” also see Fig. 2A-C and Fig. 3 wherein it is shown that the reinforcement plate connections 11A and 11B are part of mounting structure 1.]
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 autonomous vehicle control system disclosed by Dry in view of Lidar News to include the teachings of Frederick. The modification would have been obvious because it enables the mounting structure to be attached to a plurality of different vehicles. See Frederick, Para. 24: “vehicles for attaching the mounting structure may include any transportation method which could be converted to autonomous vehicles”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gist, IV et al. (US 20200142426 A1) teaches “A vehicle agnostic removable pod can be mounted on a vehicle using one or more legs of a pod mount. The removable pod can collect and time stamp a variety of environmental data as well as vehicle data. For example, environmental data can be collected using a sensor suite which can include an IMU, 3D positioning sensor, one or more cameras, and/or a LIDAR unit. As another example, vehicle data can be collected via a CAN bus attached to the vehicle. Environmental data and/or vehicle data can be time stamped and transmitted to a remote server for further processing by a computing device.”
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.
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/A.G.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3668
/BRIAN P SWEENEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668