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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed 07/17/2024. Claims 1-10 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shwartz et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0202473) in view of Heilbron et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0236037).
Regarding claim 9 and similarly with respect to claim 1
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “A device for operating a motor vehicle, the device comprising: a processor;” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0005] disclosing a system with a processor for collecting information to distribute to autonomous vehicles for use in navigating along a road segment.).
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “and a memory storing program code that, when executed by the processor, causes the device to: receive swarm speed data that is based on data collected from a plurality of vehicles other than the motor vehicle along a trajectory of the motor vehicle,” (See Shalev-Shwartz Fig. 1, Chars. 140 & 160 and [0365] disclosing a memory and maps storing mapped crowdsourced common speeds that may influence navigational actions including determining an appropriate speed to travel along the segments of a roadway.).
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “wherein the swarm speed data include speed values for given points on a map;” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0360] disclosing determining a speed for a host vehicle travelling on a curved or straight segment based on a machine learning system. The machine learning system uses the stored map information, see Shalev-Shwartz [0367].).
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “determine if there is a turn request of the motor vehicle;” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0365] disclosing based on the mapped information, a host vehicle may determine that a curved road segment is upcoming.).
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “and in response to determining that there is the turn request, control the motor vehicle based on the speed data for the turning travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0365] disclosing based on the mapped information, the speed of the host vehicle may be altered.).
Shalev-Shwartz discloses all the elements of claim 9 except “distinguish between speed data for straight-ahead travel and speed data for turning travel included in the swarm speed data based on the speed values for the given points on the map included in the swarm speed data;” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0360] disclosing determining a speed for a host vehicle travelling on a curved or straight segment based on a machine learning system. The machine learning system uses the stored map information, see Shalev-Shwartz [0367] rather than distinguishing the data as a curved road segment or a straightway segment.).
Heilbron discloses “distinguish between speed data for straight-ahead travel and speed data for turning travel included in the swarm speed data based on the speed values for the given points on the map included in the swarm speed data;” (See Heilbron abstract and [0202] disclosing receiving drive information collected from each of a plurality of vehicles that traversed a road segment, including indicators of speed traveled by one of the plurality of vehicles during a drive traversing the road segment. The data collected from traversing vehicles may be used to identify road profile information. Road profile information may include road curvature, see Heilbron [0319].).
Shalev-Shwartz and Heilbron are analogous art, because they are in the same field of endeavor, vehicle controls. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Shalev-Shwartz to incorporate the teachings of Heilbron, to include distinguishing a road profile for a road segment, including a road curvature, based upon speed data from a plurality of vehicles. Doing so provides a known method in the art for adapting the speed of an autonomously navigating vehicle on the basis of swarm speed data and a road segment curvature, incorporated with a reasonable expectation of success, as it advantageously enables an autonomous control system to take into account a variety of factors and make appropriate decisions based on those factors to safely and accurately reach an intended destination, see Heilbron [0003].
Regarding claim 2
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, further comprising: in response to not determining that there is the turn request, controlling the motor vehicle based on the speed data for the straight-ahead travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0365] disclosing based on the mapped information, which represents turning or straight travel areas, the speed of the host vehicle may be altered.).
Regarding claim 3
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, wherein the controlling the motor vehicle based on the speed data for the turning travel is based on a discontinuity of the speed data for the turning travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0365] disclosing the speed of the host vehicle may be altered where the curved road segment is not represented in a captured image (a discontinuity of speed data for the turning travel.).).
Regarding claim 4
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, wherein the distinguishing between the speed data for the straight-ahead travel and the speed data for the turning travel includes comparing road classes of the straight-ahead travel and the turning travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0409] disclosing different target speeds for the different classifications of road segments, i.e. target speed 3081 for curved segments and target speed 3097 for straight road segments.).
Regarding claim 5
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, wherein the distinguishing between the speed data for the straight-ahead travel and the speed data for the turning travel includes comparing curvature angles of the straight-ahead travel and the turning travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0374] and claim 12 disclosing classifying a road segment as straight or curved based on a banking angle associated with the road segment.).
Regarding claim 6
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, wherein the distinguishing between the speed data for the straight-ahead travel and the speed data for the turning travel includes comparing the speed values corresponding to the straight-ahead travel and the speed values corresponding to the turning travel.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0409] disclosing different target speeds for the different classifications of road segments, i.e. target speed 3081 for curved segments and target speed 3097 for straight road segments.).
Regarding claim 8
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining if there is the turn request is based on an active route navigation of the motor vehicle.” (See Shalev-Shwartz [0365] disclosing based on the mapped information, a host vehicle may determine that a curved road segment is upcoming.).
Regarding claim 10
Shalev-Shwartz discloses “A motor vehicle, comprising a device according to claim 9.” (See Shalev-Shwartz Fig. 2A, Chars. 100 and 200 disclosing a vehicle comprising the system.).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shalev-Shwartz et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0202473) in view of Heilbron et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0236037) in further view of Lechner et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2023/0227038).
Regarding claim 7
Shalev-Shwartz in view of Heilbron discloses “The method according to claim 1,” and further discloses all the elements of the claimed invention except “wherein the determining if there is the turn request is based on an activation of a motor vehicle function by a driver of the motor vehicle.”
Lechner discloses “wherein the determining if there is the turn request is based on an activation of a motor vehicle function by a driver of the motor vehicle.” (See Lechner [0039]-[0040] disclosing detecting a turning opportunity of a vehicle based on a drivers activation of a turn indicator. See Lechner abstract disclosing reducing the speed of the vehicle in accordance with a turn opportunity.).
Shalev-Shwartz, Heilbron, and Lechner are analogous art, because they are in the same field of endeavor, vehicle controls. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modified Shalev-Shwartz in view of Heilbron to incorporate the teachings of Lechner to include detecting a turning request of a vehicle based on an activation of a vehicle function by a driver of the vehicle. Doing so provides a known method in the art for facilitating speed control of a turning vehicle, incorporated with a reasonable expectation of success as doing so advantageously makes the behavior of a driver assistance system for the automated longitudinal guidance more comfortable if the route envisaged by the driver of the motor vehicle requires a turning-off operation, see Lechner [0004].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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 JERROD IRVIN DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)272-7083. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wade Miles can be reached at (571) 270-7777. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JERROD IRVIN DAVIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3656
Prosecution Insights