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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-27 are presented for examination.
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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, 2, 8, 18, 19, and 25-27 are rejected over 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Um et al., EP 3552895 in view of Park, U.S. 2022/0001859.
On claim 1, Um cites except as underlined:
A vehicle control device, which can be used in a vehicle performing autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving without surrounding monitoring responsibility, comprising:
a situation identifying unit that is configured to identify a situation of the vehicle;
[0047] The processor 140 may determine whether it is possible to change a lane of a vehicle, whether to interrupt a lane change procedure, whether to return to an original lane after the lane change is cancelled, whether to provide a notification that a lane change procedure is interrupted, or the like based on surrounding situation information; and the surrounding situation information may include at least one or more of GPS information received from the GPS receiver 300, map information received from the navigation device 400, and surrounding information sensed by the sensing module 200.
and
a notification control unit that is configured to make a notification to inside of a compartment of the vehicle,
[0047] The processor 140 may determine whether it is possible to change a lane of a vehicle, whether to interrupt a lane change procedure, whether to return to an original lane after the lane change is cancelled, whether to provide a notification that a lane change procedure is interrupted, or the like based on surrounding situation information; and the surrounding situation information may include at least one or more of GPS information received from the GPS receiver 300, map information received from the navigation device 400, and surrounding information sensed by the sensing module 200.
wherein the situation identifying unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation where an automatic lane change which was started has to be interrupted in middle and waited during the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility, (the claimed “without monitoring responsibility” means the system isn’t expecting any driver intervention)
and
in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation, the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of a waiting state in which the vehicle interrupts the lane change in the middle and is waiting, and a notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state.
Regarding the excepted claim limitations, Um discloses a notification feature wherein in the event of an attempted lane change, the lane change procedure is interrupted. Um does not include operations wherein there is a pausing or waiting upon interrupting the lane change.
In the same art of autonomous driving, Park cites:
[0057] The priority of collision avoidance may be the speed control during center following in the current lane; the next priority of the collision avoidance may be the avoidance and lane change in the current lane; the last priority for collision avoidance may be the waiting in the current lane when there is no avoidance space.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include into Um the embodiment disclosed in Park wherein a “wait state” in a current position is applied when an autonomous driving system attempts to pass another vehicle in a lane change maneuver but upon encountering an inability to pass, the system interrupts the lane changing. One of ordinary skill would have included such a feature to allow a lane change system to wait and maintain a safe distance from an adjacent vehicle until it is safe to complete the lane change.
On claim 2, Um and Park cites except as underlined:
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation, the notification control unit makes a notification to prompt surrounding monitoring to a driver of the vehicle even in the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility.
As stated in the rejection of claim 1, Um includes, in its embodiment, a feature where the claimed “without monitoring responsibility” means the system isn’t expecting any driver intervention.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a situation that even if the driver isn’t expected to intervene during an autonomous driving situation, the system apprises the driver regardless of the driver not being expected to intervene during such a driving maneuver.
Um disclosed an embodiment wherein a notification is given within the vehicle when an interrupted lane change situation is encountered. One of ordinary skill would have included such a notification as a backup to inform the driver in case the driver has to take over the driving.
On claim 8, Um and Park cites:
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a during-waiting travel control unit that is configured to make the vehicle travel in the waiting state in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation.
See the rejection of claim 1. The cited vehicle, while caught “waiting in the current lane,” as part of its operation the vehicle continues to travel despite the interrupted state of the passing event.
On claim 18, Um and Park cites:
The vehicle control device according to claim 8, wherein the automatic lane change is performed after a travel position of the vehicle in a travel lane of the vehicle is moved to an end part on a side to which the lane change is performed,
See Um in the rejection of claim 1, wherein if there is no interruption in the passing operation, the lane change operation is performed unhindered.
and
the during-waiting travel control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle to an end part side of the travel lane and makes the vehicle travel on a basis of a fact that the first waiting situation is identified by the situation identifying unit.
See the rejection of claim 1. The cited vehicle, while caught “waiting in the current lane,” as part of its operation the vehicle continues to travel despite the interrupted state of the passing event.
On claim 19, Um and Park cites except as underlined:
The vehicle control device according to claim 18, wherein the vehicle control device can be used for a vehicle executing the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility and the autonomous driving with monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving with the surrounding monitoring responsibility while switching the driving,
the situation identifying unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which in the autonomous driving with monitoring responsibility, after the automatic lane change starts, the lane change has to be interrupted in the middle and waited, the during-waiting travel control unit makes the vehicle travel while moving the travel position of the vehicle to the end part side of the travel lane on a basis of the first waiting situation identified by the situation identifying unit, and the during-waiting travel control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle back to a center of the travel lane and makes the vehicle travel in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the second waiting situation.
Regarding the excepted claim limitations, claim 1 disclosed a scenario in which a first waiting situation was encountered where a vehicle attempting to pass a preceding vehicle could not complete the pass because the vehicle encountered a collision hazard and was engaged in collision avoidance. However, Um and Park did not disclose the claimed “second waiting situation.” However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include into Um and Park a scenario in which a “second waiting situation” is encountered.
The claimed “second waiting period” is nothing more than a repeat of the claimed “first waiting period,” wherein the vehicle is presented with a similar situation of the vehicle being unable to complete the passing as was seen in the first waiting situation. One of ordinary skill, apprised of the operation of the initial operation of the cited embodiments, would expect to repeat the same operation in a successive or later similar condition.
On claim 25, Um and Park cites:
A vehicle control method, which can be used in a vehicle executing autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving without surrounding monitoring responsibility, comprising:
a situation identifying step of identifying a situation of the vehicle; and
a notification control step of making a notification to an inside of a compartment of the vehicle,
steps being executed by at least one processor, wherein in the situation identifying step, a first waiting situation where an automatic lane change which was started has to be interrupted in a middle and waited during the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility is identified as the situation of the vehicle, and
in the notification control step, in a case where the first waiting situation is identified in the situation identifying step, a notification to notify of a waiting state in which the vehicle interrupts the lane change in the middle and is waiting, and a notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state are made.
See the rejection of claim 1 which discloses the same subject matter as claim 25 and is rejected for the same reasons.
On claim 26, Um and Park cites:
A vehicle control device, which can be used in a vehicle performing autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving without surrounding monitoring responsibility, comprising:
a situation identifying unit that is configured to identify a situation of the vehicle; and
a notification control unit that is configured to make a notification to inside of a compartment of the vehicle,
wherein the situation identifying unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation where an automatic lane change which was started has to be interrupted in middle and waited during the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility, and
in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation, the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of a waiting state in which the vehicle interrupts the lane change in the middle and is waiting.
See the rejection of claim 1 which discloses the same subject matter as claim 26 and is rejected for the same reasons.
On claim 27, Um and Park cites:
A vehicle control method, which can be used in a vehicle executing autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving without surrounding monitoring responsibility, comprising:
a situation identifying step of identifying a situation of the vehicle; and
a notification control step of making a notification to an inside of a compartment of the vehicle,
steps being executed by at least one processor, wherein in the situation identifying step, a first waiting situation where an automatic lane change which was started has to be interrupted in a middle and waited during the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility is identified as the situation of the vehicle, and
in the notification control step, in a case where the first waiting situation is identified in the situation identifying step, a notification to notify of a waiting state in which the vehicle interrupts the lane change in the middle and is waiting.
See the rejection of claim 1 which discloses the same subject matter as claim 27 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 4, 20, 22, and 23 are rejected over 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Um et al., EP 3552895 in view of Park, U.S. 2022/0001859 and Yuasa et al., U.S. 2022/0073092.
On claim 4, Um and Park cites except as underlined:
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the first waiting situation is identified by the situation identifying unit, the notification control unit performs a waiting state display indicating the waiting state as a notification to notify of the waiting state,
See the rejection of claim 1 citing Um in view of Park
in a display region in a display device performing display related to a second task as an action other than driving permitted to a driver of the vehicle.
Regarding the above excepted claim limitations, neither Um nor Park disclose this embodiment.
In the same art of autonomous driving, Yuasa discloses:
[0074] As described above, in the autonomous driving assistance device 1 according to the first embodiment, a pattern that prompts the driver to sleep through at least one of sight, hearing, or touch is output from the display device 3, the sound device 4, or the vibration device 5 included in the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to provide an in-vehicle environment that prompts the driver to sleep. By allowing the driver to sleep promptly, the time required for recovery from fatigue is shortened.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include into the autonomous driving system of Um and Park the driver sleep instruction embodiment disclosed in Yuasa such that the claimed invention is realized.
Yuasa discloses a known embodiment for telling the driver to rest. One of ordinary skill would have included this feature for increased driver safety.
Furthermore, the claimed “waiting state” and “second task” are not dependent on one another where the operation of the claimed “waiting state” leads to a corresponding function of displaying the claimed “second task.”
On claim 20, Um and Park cites:
The vehicle control device according to claim 18, wherein in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation and also the vehicle crosses over a compartment line on the side to which the lane change of the vehicle is to be performed in a travel lane, the during-waiting travel control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle back to the inside of the travel lane and makes the vehicle travel in an end portion side, and in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle does not cross over the compartment line on the side to which the lane change is to be performed in the travel lane, the during-waiting travel control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle back to a center of the travel lane and makes the vehicle travel. See the rejection of claim 1 which discloses the same subject matter as claim 20 and is rejected for the same reasons. In short, when the vehicle of Um is attempting to pass a preceding vehicle but is unable to and is placed in a waiting state, the vehicle returns to its previous position, which is the claimed “the travel position of the vehicle back to a center of the travel lane.”
On claim 22, Um and Park cites:
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a cancellation unit that is configured to cancel an automatic lane change, the cancellation unit cancelling the automatic lane change when the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation; and
a cancellation-time travel control unit that is configured to make the vehicle travel while moving a travel position of the vehicle to center of a travel lane of the vehicle when the automatic lane change is cancelled by the cancellation unit, wherein when the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation, the notification control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle to the center of the travel lane by the cancellation-time travel control unit and, after that, makes a notification to notify of the waiting state and a notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state.
See the rejection of claim 1 which discloses the same subject matter as claim 22 and is rejected for the same reasons. In short, when the vehicle of Um is attempting to pass a preceding vehicle but is unable to and is placed in a waiting state, the vehicle returns to its previous position, which is the claimed the notification control unit moves the travel position of the vehicle to the center of the travel lane by the cancellation-time travel control unit.” The claimed “a notification to notify of the waiting state and a notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state” are respectively met where Um
On claim 23, Um cites:
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the notification control unit can make a notification by display in a display device
[0047] The processor 140 may determine whether it is possible to change a lane of a vehicle, whether to interrupt a lane change procedure, whether to return to an original lane after the lane change is cancelled, whether to provide a notification that a lane change procedure is interrupted.
Figure 1, To this end, the lane change controlling apparatus 100 of a vehicle may include a communication device 110, storage 120, a display device 130, and a processor 140.
and, at a time of a re-challenge to make the lane change performed again after the vehicle cannot complete the lane change, makes the display device which does not perform display related to the lane change before the re-challenge also perform display related to the lane change (the above excepted limitations are interpreted to mean if the lane change embodiment was unable to perform a passing and lane change maneuver, the embodiment attempts again to perform the lane change and passing operation).
[0045] The display device 130 may display a determination result of whether it is possible to change a lane of a vehicle, whether to interrupt a lane change procedure, whether to return to an original lane after the lane change is cancelled, or the like and a notification of a dangerous situation, a lane change path, a path for returning to an original lane, or the like
Allowable Subject Matter and Reasons for Allowance
Claims 3, 5-7, 9-17, 21, and 24 are objected to but are otherwise allowable subject matter.
Claim 3 claims, in part:
“The vehicle control device …further comprising a cancellation unit that is configured to cancel the automatic lane change,
wherein the situation identifying unit also identifies a takeover situation during waiting, in which driving takeover from the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility to the driving with surrounding monitoring responsibility becomes necessary during the waiting state (this passage is interpreted to mean the claimed “without monitoring responsibility to the driving with surrounding monitoring responsibility becomes necessary” means the system is switching from a system that is switching from a condition that no driver intervention is required to a condition requiring driver intervention is required),
in a case where the takeover situation during waiting is identified by the situation identifying unit, the cancellation unit cancels the automatic lane change, and
in a case where the takeover situation during waiting is identified by the situation identifying unit, the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of cancellation of the automatic lane change and,
subsequent to the notification, a notification to notify of the driving takeover.
The above limitations require at least three conditions to be carried out when a “driver takeover” situation is identified:
- the system is switching from a system that is switching from a condition that no driver intervention is required to a condition requiring driver intervention is required;
- the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of cancellation of the automatic lane change; and
- the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of cancellation of the automatic lane change and, subsequent to the notification, a notification to notify of the driving takeover.
In other words, the invention requires these three conditions be included into the embodiment. In particular, the invention requires a changeover from a condition where no driver intervention is required to a condition requiring driver intervention. The present references, Um and Park, which previously disclosed providing notifications on an interrupted lane change operation, failed to disclose all of the above required limitations. A search for additional references involving this operation was not forthcoming. Accordingly, claim 3 is allowable subject matter.
Claim 5 claims, in part:
“… wherein in a case where the waiting state continues for designated time or longer, a timeout to finish the waiting state is performed, and when the timeout is performed, the notification control unit finishes the waiting state display before the timeout, and makes a notification to notify that the timeout occurs in the waiting state at a timing deviated from the timing of finishing the waiting state display.”
In short, this embodiment includes two propositions: a timeout feature and two display features, the display features displaying the waiting state the system is currently engaged and displaying a timeout notification of when the waiting state display will cease. The present references, Um and Park, which previously disclosed providing notifications on an interrupted lane change operation, failed to disclose the above required limitations due to the narrow construction of this claim, A search for additional references involving this operation was not forthcoming. Accordingly, claim 5 is allowable subject matter.
Claim 6 claims, in part, “a time setting unit that is configured to change designated time of a timeout; and an execution identifying unit that is configured to identify whether a driver is executing a second task as an action other than driving permitted to the driver of the vehicle, wherein in a case where the waiting state continues for designated time or longer, a timeout to finish the waiting state is performed, and in the case the execution identifying unit identifies that the driver is executing a second task, the time setting unit changes the designated time to be longer than that in a case where it is identified that the driver is not executing a second task.
In short, the above embodiment is requiring a time setting unit to change the systems waiting state time dependent on the driver’s execution of a “second task,” the second task not involving driving. The claimed “second task” means the driver is doing something other than driving (such as eating, sleeping, checking on email on the cellphone, and the like). The present references, Um and Park, which previously disclosed providing notifications on an interrupted lane change operation, failed to disclose the above required limitations due to the narrow construction of this claim, A search for additional references involving this operation was not forthcoming. Accordingly, claim 6 is allowable subject matter.
Claim 7 claims, in part, “…an execution identifying unit that is configured to identify whether a driver is executing a second task as an action except for driving permitted to the driver of the vehicle, wherein the notification control unit controls also a notification regarding operation of a direction indicator of the vehicle to the inside of a compartment of the vehicle, and in a case where the execution identifying unit identifies that the driver is executing a second task, the notification control unit suppresses a notification regarding operation of the direction indicator of the vehicle toward the inside of the compartment of the vehicle.
In short, the above embodiment is requiring a notification control unit to withhold a notification function dependent on the driver’s execution of a “second task” the second task not involving driving. The claimed “second task” means the driver is doing something other than driving (such as eating, sleeping, checking on email on the cellphone, and the like). The present references, Um and Park, which previously disclosed providing notifications on an interrupted lane change operation, failed to disclose the above required limitations due to the narrow construction of this claim, A search for additional references involving this operation was not forthcoming. Accordingly, claim 7 is allowable subject matter.
Claim 9 claims, in part, “wherein in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies traffic congestion, as travel in the waiting state, the during-waiting travel control unit moves a travel position of the vehicle to an end part on the side to which the lane change of the vehicle was to be performed, in a travel lane of the vehicle more than that in a case where the traffic congestion is not identified, and makes the vehicle travel.” In other words, the lane change embodiment is identifying that during a lane change operation, the embodiment is identifying a scenario wherein the passing vehicle is unable to complete a lane change due to the adjacent traffic being congested and identifying the traffic not allowing the passing vehicle to pass, causes the vehicle to move to a position (or “end part”) in a further distance of the travel lane where the lane change was to be performed instead of a position where the lane change was to be performed if there wasn’t traffic congestion.”
The closest reference of record includes a publication to Martin, U.S. 2024/0199024. For the record, Martin isn’t prior art, but is included as an example of prevailing art relevant to the present invention. Martin, figure 4, discloses a passing vehicle 102 occupying lane 210c. However, vehicle 102 is unable to complete the passing due to adjacent traffic 220r and 220f occupying lane 210t. A forward distance threshold 205 sits in front of vehicle 102, which would have been analogous to the claimed “a travel lane of the vehicle more than that in case of where the traffic congestion is not identified. However, because Martin is not prior art, and a search for analogous references did not disclose similar embodiments, claim 9 is deemed to be allowable subject matter.
Claims 10-13 are allowable as they depend from claim 9.
Claim 14 claims, in part:
“…wherein the during-waiting travel control unit changes a travel position in the waiting state between the case where the situation identifying unit identifies a situation of performing a vehicle control in which the vehicle passes a different vehicle
and the case where the situation identifying unit identifies a situation of performing a vehicle control in which a different vehicle is allowed to pass the vehicle.”
In short, the embodiment presents two conditions encountered during a passing vehicle’s attempt at passing an adjacent vehicle: 1) the driver’s vehicle passes another vehicle or 2) the another vehicle is allowed to pass the driver’s vehicle if the driver’s vehicle cannot pass the another vehicle. Thus, the invention includes two operations of the driver’s vehicle is carrying out while the driver’s vehicle is “jockeying for position” during a lane change maneuver. The closest reference of record includes Beglerovic et al., U.S. 2022/0237889 (hereinafter 889):
[0043] If, for example, another vehicle in an adjacent lane passes the ego vehicle, the absolute distance between the ego vehicle and the other vehicle changes. The transversal distance, however, remains constant as long as neither the ego vehicle nor any other vehicle leaves its respective lane. The change in transversal distance therefore allows (further) conclusions to be drawn about the executed maneuver, for instance in the context of a scenario.
However, Beglerovic fails to disclose the operation described in the claimed embodiment. A search for other references related to the claimed embodiment did not yield satisfactory results. Accordingly, claim 14 is deemed allowable subject matter.
Claims 15-17 are allowable as they depend from claim 14.
Claim 21 claims, in part:
“…wherein the vehicle control device can be used for a vehicle executing the autonomous driving without monitoring responsibility and the autonomous driving with monitoring responsibility as autonomous driving with surrounding monitoring responsibility while switching the driving, the situation identifying unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which in the autonomous driving with monitoring responsibility, after the automatic lane change starts, the lane change has to be interrupted in the middle and waited, in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the first waiting situation, the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of the waiting state and a notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state, and in a case where the situation identifying unit identifies the second waiting situation, the notification control unit makes a notification to notify of the waiting state but does not make a notification to notify of the cause of the waiting state. See the reasons for allowability of claim 3, which also applies to claim 21.
Claim 24 claims:
“wherein the notification control unit does not finish the notification to notify of a cause of the waiting state even when the cause of the waiting state is solved, and makes the notification continue until continuation time of the notification reaches predetermined time or until the lane change completes.” The claim is interpreted to mean that during the pendency of the “waiting state alarm” being sounded, even if the conditions for enabling the “waiting state alarm” have been resolved, the waiting state alarm continues to sound until the notification reaches a predetermined time or the lane change operation is complete. The time to have a “waiting state alarm” to expire after a predetermined time, or the “waiting state alarm” continue to sound even though no “waiting state” exists and until the passing operation is complete suggests claim 24’s embodiment is narrow in construction as the claim requires specific steps to be followed for a specific alarm. A search for other references related to the claimed embodiment did not yield satisfactory results. Accordingly, claim 24 is deemed allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
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/CAL J EUSTAQUIO/Examiner, Art Unit 2686
/BRIAN A ZIMMERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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