DETAILED ACTION
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 . Claims 1-20 have been examined.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/17/2024, 02/03/2025 and 02/20/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the steering wheel" in lines 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Regarding claim 20, the claim recites the limitation “recording medium”. The specification is silent on whether or not the recording medium is non-transitory tangible media or not. The broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 20 covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signal per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media and is therefore rejected as illegible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101. Please see MPEP 2111.01 and In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter). A claim drawn to such a computer readable medium that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 by adding the limitation “non-transitory” to the claim:
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hara et al. (US 11,801,828 B2) (Hara hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Hara discloses a parking assistance device comprising:
a parking slot detector that detects a parking slot (Fig. 1, recognition part 11);
an operation center that receives a parking instruction operation of a passenger of a vehicle (Fig. 1, information input and output device 31); and
a travel controller that performs automatic parking of the vehicle in a parking slot corresponding to the parking instruction operation (Fig. 1, maneuver controller 12),
wherein when the parking slot is located on only one of left and right sides in a travelling direction of the vehicle, or when the parking instruction operation is a parking instruction operation including a direction instruction and the parking slot is located in a direction instructed by the parking instruction operation, in a case where the parking slot is located in a predetermined range in the travelling direction of the vehicle, it is determined that the parking slot corresponds to the parking instruction operation (Col. 3, line 43 – col. 4, line 31, the automatic parking control unit 1 is an electronic control unit (ECU) for automatic parking that is installed on board a host vehicle 100).
Regarding claim 2, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the parking instruction operation includes at least one of an operation of rotating a steering wheel, an operation of moving down a blinker lever, turning on a hazard lamp, an operation of a brake pedal, and an operation of a predetermined button, and wherein the parking instruction operation including the direction instruction includes at least one of the operation of rotating the steering wheel, the operation of moving down the blinker, and the operation of a predetermined button (Col. 7, lines 30-39, the automatic parking control unit 1 is connected to an electric power steering system 71 (an EPS system 71)).
Regarding claim 3, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein when the parking slot is located on only one of the left and right sides in the travelling direction of the vehicle, the parking instruction operation does not include the direction instruction, and the parking slot is located in the predetermined range in the travelling direction of the vehicle, it is determined that the parking slot corresponds to the parking instruction operation (Col. 3, line 43 – col. 4, line 20, a parking region refers to a region for parking the host vehicle 100. For example, for a parking space whose boundary is delineated by a boundary line, a parking region is the parking space for a single vehicle that is demarcated by the boundary line. The maneuver controller 12 includes a maintain stop position controller 13. The maintain stop position controller 13 maintains the host vehicle 100 at the same location from when the host vehicle 100 stops through maneuver control of the host vehicle 100 by the maneuver controller 12 to when a predetermined operation from the driver is received).
Regarding claim 4, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein when the parking instruction operation is received and the parking slot corresponding to the parking instruction operation is not detected, determination whether the parking slot corresponds to the parking instruction operation is suspended (Col. 11, line 18 – col. 12, line 3).
Regarding claim 5, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 4, as stated above, wherein when a predetermined time has lapsed during suspension of the determination, or when the vehicle has travelled a predetermined distance during suspension of the determination, reception of the parking instruction operation is cancelled, and the automatic parking is not performed (Col. 12, lines 38-52).
Regarding claim 6, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein when at least one of an operation of returning a steering wheel or a blinker lever to a neutral direction, an operation of rotating the steering wheel beyond a predetermined angle, turning off an hazard lamp, an operation of an accelerator pedal, and an operation of a button for cancelling the parking instruction is detected, it is determined that a rejection operation is performed, and wherein when the rejection operation is performed, the automatic parking is not performed (Col. 12, line 52 – col. 13, line 10).
Regarding claim 7, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 6, as stated above, wherein when the parking slot corresponding to the parking instruction operation is not detected, ease of determination that the rejection operation has been performed is increased than when the parking slot corresponding to the parking instruction operation is detected (Col. 14, line 54 – col. 15, line 21).
Regarding claim 8, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein when a predetermined steering point corresponding to a parking slot detected by the parking slot detector is set, and wherein the predetermined steering point is a turning start position of a path for the vehicle to park within the parking slot, and wherein a terminal end of the predetermined range is set based on the predetermined steering point (Abstract).
Regarding claim 9, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 8, as stated above, wherein the travel controller controls a vehicle speed such that the vehicle does not go over the predetermined steering point until the parking instruction operation is performed (Col. 9, lines 35-46).
Regarding claim 10, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein a predetermined confirmation point corresponding to the parking slot detected by the parking slot detector is set, wherein the predetermined confirmation point is a point where a passenger of the vehicle is able to confirm inside of the parking slot, and wherein a starting end of the predetermined range is set based on the predetermined confirmation point (Col. 9, lines 35 - 62).
Regarding claim 11, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 10, as stated above, wherein when the parking instruction operation is performed by the passenger on a near side of the predetermined confirmation point, the parking instruction is not received, or response to reception of the parking instruction is postponed (Col. 11, lines 43 - 56).
Regarding claim 12, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 10, as stated above, wherein the point where the passenger of the vehicle is able to confirm the inside of the parking slot is set based on a positional relationship between a head of the passenger or a camera provided in the vehicle, and an extension of a long side of the parking area (Col. 7, line 62 – col. 8, line 24).
Regarding claims 13-14, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein when a vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeds a first predetermined value, the automatic parking is not performed; and wherein when the parking slot is detected or when the parking instruction operation is detected, in a case where a vehicle speed of the vehicle is greater than a second predetermined value, the travel controller decelerates the vehicle (Fig. 4, step S11).
Regarding claim 15, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the automatic parking is started when it is determined that the parking slot corresponds to the parking instruction operation and an approval operation is performed, and wherein when the operation receiver detects at least one of release of the steering wheel, reduction of a steering torque of the steering wheel, release of a brake pedal, and depressurization of the brake pedal, it is determined that the approval operation is performed (Col. 3, line 44 – col. 4, line 31).
Regarding claim 16, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 15, as stated above, wherein when it is determined that the parking slot corresponds to the parking instruction operation, an inquiry signal for inquiry of the approval operation is output, and wherein the inquiry signal includes any of vibration of an operation system, sound, and a message (Col. 10, lines 16-26).
Regarding claims 17-18, Hara discloses the parking assistance device according to claim 15, as stated above, wherein when the approval operation is performed before the vehicle goes over a predetermined steering point, the automatic parking is started; and wherein a vehicle speed of the vehicle is controlled such that the vehicle does not go over a predetermined steering point until the approval operation is performed (Col. 9, lines 5-17).
Regarding claim 19, the elements contained in claim 19 are substantially similar to elements presented in claim 1, except that it set forth the claimed invention as a method rather than a device and is rejected for the same reasons as applied above.
Regarding claim 20, the elements contained in claim 20 are substantially similar to elements presented in claim 1, except that it set forth the claimed invention as a recording medium rather than a device and is rejected for the same reasons as applied above.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See attached form PTO-892.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Luke Huynh whose telephone number is 571-270-5746. The examiner can normally be reached Mon 8-5, Tues 8-12, Thurs & Fri 8-2.
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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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/LUKE HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
03/06/2026