DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
This is Office Action is made FINAL. Claims 1-14 are currently pending and addressed below; claims 1 and 2 have been amended.
Response to Amendment
In response to Applicant’s amendments, Examiner withdraws the previous § 102 rejections; and adds the below § 103 rejection, necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 2/9/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 1 under Herrmann have been fully considered and are persuasive, in-part. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0089174 to Oh et al.
Specifically, Applicant’s argument that Herrmann does not discloses displaying the determined shiftable gear stage and the current virtual gear stage on a display device is persuasive. Remarks at p. 7. Examiner withdraws the previous § 102 rejection of claim 1 on that basis alone.
Applicant also argues that “Herrmann focuses on automatic virtual gear selection by a controller. Upon entering a manual or select-shift mode, the controller selects an initial virtual gear and, if necessary, selects a different virtual gear based on perceptibility thresholds related to engine speed or torque.” Remarks at p. 7 (emphasis in original). Examiner respectfully disagrees. In the same manner as the claimed invention, ¶¶ [0031] – [0033] of Herrmann teach determining whether a virtual gear shift enters a manual mode, and in response to entering the manual mode, determining a shiftable gear stage that is manually shiftable from a current virtual gear stage by a driver. Moreover, ¶ [0008] describes that the display gear is a manually shiftable gear based on the an upshift or downshift request from the driver. And as noted below, Herrmann et al. describes the comparison scenario for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6, all of which are manually shiftable and displayed for the driver (¶¶ [0032] – [0039]).
Therefore, Applicants argument is unpersuasive.
Applicant has not provided any independent arguments for dependent claims 2-14.
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 (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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0166048 to Herrmann et al. (previously of record) in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0089174 to Oh et al. (newly of record).
Regarding claim 1, Herrmann et al. discloses:
A method of guiding a shiftable gear stage of an electric vehicle, the method comprising:
determining, by a control unit, whether a virtual gear shift system of the electric vehicle enters a manual shift mode (¶¶ [0027], [0031] describing determining whether a virtual gear shift system enters a manual shift mode);
in response to determining that the virtual gear shift system enters the manual shift mode, determining, by the control unit, a shiftable gear stage that is manually shiftable from a current virtual gear stage by a driver, based on a current vehicle speed (¶ [0031] determining a shiftable gear stage in response to entering manual mode; see also Claim 3 reciting displaying the virtual gear that is manually selected via driver upshift or downshift, which is a manually shiftable from the initial virtual gear; see also ¶ [0008] describing that the displayed virtual gear is one that is manually shiftable based on an upshift or downshift request); and
outputting, by the control unit, and displaying the determined shiftable gear stage on a display device inside the electric vehicle (¶¶ [0032], [0033] describing outputting and displaying the shiftable gear stage to the driver via the instrument panel in the vehicle).
Herrmann et al. does not expressly disclose displaying the current virtual gear stage on the display.
Oh et al., in the same field of endeavor, teaches displaying the current virtual gear stage on a display device inside the electric vehicle (¶ [0197] describing displaying a number of current gear stages in real time in the vehicle).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Herrmann et al.’s invention to incorporate displaying both the determined shiftable gear stage, as taught by Herrmann et al., and the current virtual gear stage, as taught by Oh et al., with a reasonable expectation of success in providing the driver driving information pertaining to the current gear and a next available gear to shift into, which allows a driver to experience driving sensation and interest, excitement, a feeling of direct connection, and the like, that is provided by an internal combustion engine, a transmission, a clutch, or the like, in an electric vehicle (Oh et al. at ¶ [0013]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 1. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein determining the shiftable gear stage comprises:
determining a downshiftable gear stage lower than the current virtual gear stage based on the current vehicle speed (¶ [0039] describing determining a downshiftable gear stage lower than the initial virtual gear stage); and
determining an upshiftable gear stage higher than the current virtual gear stage based on the current vehicle speed (¶ [0039] describing determining an upshiftable gear stage higher than the initial virtual gear stage).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 2. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein determining the downshiftable gear stage comprises:
comparing a current shiftable gear stage with a first gear stage and comparing the current vehicle speed with a determined downshift vehicle speed; when the current shiftable gear stage is higher than the first gear stage and the current vehicle speed is less than the downshift vehicle speed, comparing the current shiftable gear stage with a second gear stage; and when the current shiftable gear stage is higher than the second gear stage, determining a gear stage one level lower than the current shiftable gear stage as the downshiftable gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing comparing a shiftable gear stage to a first gear stage and comparing the current vehicle speed with a determined downshift speed, wherein when the current gear stage is higher than a second gear stage based on a comparison, determining a gear stage one level lower; Specifically, see ¶ [0038] describing setting the gear stage to one gear lower, i.e., from a 3 to a 2).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 3. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein determining the downshiftable gear stage is repeatedly performed until the current shiftable gear stage becomes the first gear stage or lower, or the current vehicle speed becomes the downshift vehicle speed or higher (¶ [0039] describing determining the downshiftable gear stage to be a lower gear, which only requires one performance to satisfy the “repeatedly” limitation; see also ¶ [0040] describing setting the shiftable gear equal to the initial virtual gear).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 3. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein comparing the current shiftable gear stage with the second gear stage comprises:
when the current shiftable gear stage is the second gear stage or lower, determining the downshiftable gear stage as the first gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing comparing a shiftable gear stage to a first gear stage and comparing the current vehicle speed with a determined downshift speed, wherein when the current gear stage is higher than a second gear stage based on a comparison, determining a gear stage one level lower; NOTE: Herrmann et al. describes the comparison scenario for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 3. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein the downshift vehicle speed is determined based on a current opening degree of an accelerator pedal and a gear ratio determined based on a gear stage one level lower than the current virtual gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing determining the downshift speed of the vehicle based on the position of the accelerator pedal and a gear ratio of a gear one stage lower than the initial virtual gear stage).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 3. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein when the virtual gear shift system enters the manual shift mode, the current shiftable gear stage is determined to be the same as the current virtual gear stage (¶ [0032] describing setting the current virtual gear to be the same as the shiftable gear; see also ¶ [0040] describing setting the final shiftable gear equal to the initial virtual gear).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 3. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein the current virtual gear stage is determined based on the current vehicle speed when the virtual gear shift system enters the manual shift mode (¶ [0031] describing setting the current virtual gear stage based on the speed of the vehicle when it enters manual mode).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 2. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein determining the upshiftable gear stage comprises:
comparing the current vehicle speed with a predetermined upshift vehicle speed; in response to determining that the current vehicle speed is higher than the upshift vehicle speed, comparing a current shiftable gear stage with a determined highest gear stage; and in response to determining that the current shiftable gear stage is less than a highest gear stage, determining a gear stage one level higher than the current shiftable gear stage as the upshiftable gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing comparing the current vehicle speed to a predetermined threshold (which can be the upshift speed or the downshift speed), determining whether the current speed is higher or lower than the upshift speed, and determining a gear stage one level higher than the initial gear stage if less than the highest; NOTE: Herrmann et al. describes the upshifting and downshifting for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6, as well as upshifting from any stages 1-5 until maximum stage 6 is reached).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 9. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein determining the upshiftable gear stage is repeatedly performed until the current shiftable gear stage becomes the highest gear stage or higher, or the current vehicle speed becomes the upshift vehicle speed or lower (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing performing the upshifting until the shiftable gear becomes the 6th, and highest, gear; NOTE: Herrmann et al. describes the upshifting and downshifting for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6, as well as upshifting from any stages 1-5 until maximum stage 6 is reached).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 9. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein comparing the current shiftable gear stage with the highest gear stage comprises:
determining, when the current shiftable gear stage is the highest gear stage or higher, the upshiftable gear stage as the highest gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing performing the upshifting until the shiftable gear becomes the 6th, and highest, gear; NOTE: Herrmann et al. describes the upshifting and downshifting for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6, as well as upshifting from any stages 1-5 until maximum stage 6 is reached).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 9. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein the upshift vehicle speed is determined based on a current opening degree of an accelerator pedal and a gear ratio determined based on a gear stage one level higher than the current virtual gear stage (¶¶ [0032] – [0039] describing determining the upshift speed of the vehicle based on the position of the accelerator pedal and a gear ratio of a gear one stage higher than the initial virtual gear stage; NOTE: Herrmann et al. describes the upshifting and downshifting for all gear stages 1-6, which includes downshifting from any stages 2-6 or setting as the current shiftable gear equal to any stage of 1-6, as well as upshifting from any stages 1-5 until maximum stage 6 is reached).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 9. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein when the virtual gear shift system enters the manual shift mode, the current shiftable gear stage is determined to be the same as the current virtual gear stage (¶ [0031] describing setting the current virtual gear stage based on the speed of the vehicle when it enters manual mode; ¶ [0032] describing setting the current virtual gear to be the same as the shiftable gear; see also ¶ [0040] describing setting the final shiftable gear equal to the initial virtual gear).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Herrmann et al. and Oh et al. renders obvious all the limitations of claim 9. Herrmann et al. further discloses:
wherein the current virtual gear stage is determined based on the current vehicle speed when the virtual gear shift system enters the manual shift mode (¶ [0031] describing setting the current virtual gear stage based on the speed of the vehicle when it enters manual mode; ¶ [0032] describing setting the current virtual gear to be the same as the shiftable gear; see also ¶ [0040] describing setting the final shiftable gear equal to the initial virtual gear).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0387531 to Oh et al. teaches determining whether the vehicle enters manual shift mode, determines a virtual gear mode target that is manually shiftable by the driver, and displays (¶¶ [0070] – [0073]; Claim 17).
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 JOHN D HOLMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5291. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hitesh Patel can be reached at 571-270-5442. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JDH/Examiner, Art Unit 3667
/Hitesh Patel/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3667
4/2/26
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