Claim status
This action is in response to applicant filed on 05/20/2026.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18 have been amended.
Claims 14 have been cancelled.
Claim 20 is new.
Claims 1-13 and 15-20 are pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claim(s) 10-12, 15, 17 & 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Duo’ et al. (US 12,145,503).
Regarding claim 10: Duo’ disclose A system for controlling a virtual engine sound of an electric vehicle, the system comprising:
a processor (Fig. 1: Performance emulator); and a non-transitory storage medium containing program instructions (Fig. 2, item 8), wherein the processor is configured to, by executing the program instructions:
collect a driving state of the electric vehicle, the driving state including a vehicle speed and an opening amount of an accelerator pedal (Col. 3, Lines 58-67) ;
determine a virtual gear position (gear inserted) based on the vehicle speed and the opening amount of the accelerator pedal ;
determine a virtual engine speed of the electric (RPM final) vehicle based on the vehicle speed and the virtual gear position (Col. 3, Line 58, Col. 4, Line 13); and
output a virtual engine sound corresponding to the virtual engine speed through an output device (Col. 4, Lines 15-28) and
determine whether a power-on upshift occurs, wherein the power-on upshift is an upshift in a state where the accelerator pedal is applied; and based on determining that the power-on upshift occurs, determine the virtual engine sound to be outputted based on a shift progress rate and a virtual engine angular acceleration in the power-on upshift. (Col. 13, Lines 42-44, Col. 12, Line 64-Coil. 13, Line 2 and Col. 13, Lines 19-24)
Regarding claim 11: Duo’ disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the processors is configured to:
wherein in the outputting of the virtual engine sound through the output device, the processor is further configured to: determine a sound source and a sound volume corresponding to the virtual engine speed; and output the sound source at a determined sound volume. (Col. 13, Lines 42-44).
Regarding claim 12: Duo’ disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the processors is configured to:
based on an application of the accelerator pedal of the electric vehicle, output the virtual engine sound including a sound source and a sound volume determined based on the virtual engine speed and the opening amount of the accelerator pedal (Col. 13, Lines 42-44).
Regarding claim 15: Duo’ disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine whether a power-off downshift occurs; and based on the determining that the power-off downshift occurs, determine the virtual engine sound to be outputted based on a shift progress rate and a virtual engine angular acceleration in the power-off downshift. (Col. 13, Lines 42-44, Col. 12, Line 64-Coil. 13, Line 2 and Col. 13, Lines 19-24)
Regarding claim 17: Duo’ disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to: based on concluding that the driving state is in a neutral gear, determine a sound source and a sound volume corresponding to the virtual engine speed at the neutral gear; and adjust a volume of the sound source to a predetermined first volume at predetermined time intervals. (Col. 13, Lines 42-44 and Col. 12, Line 64-Coil. 13, Line 2: if vehicle is turn into neutral, the system will still pick up speed and acceleration information and will adjust the sound accordingly.)
Regarding claim 19: Duo’ disclose The electric vehicle comprising the system of claim 10. (title, Fig. 1)
Regarding claim 20: Claims 20 is rejected for the same reason of claim 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
Claims 13, 16, 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 05/20/2026, with respect to rejection of claims 1-9 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-9 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 05/20/2026 in regards to claim 10-19 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argue that the prior art does not teach determine whether a power-on upshift occurs, wherein the power-on upshift is an upshift in a state where the accelerator pedal is applied; and based on determining that the power-on upshift occurs, determine the virtual engine sound to be outputted based on a shift progress rate and a virtual engine angular acceleration in the power-on upshift because the prior art merely disclose reproducing sound based on acceleration signal and simulated engine revolution value and not on power on/off of shifts.
Examiner respectfully disagrees: the prior art also teaches taking into consideration the inserted gears (power on/off shift) for the sound reproduction (Col. 13, Lines 42-44, Col. 12, Line 64-Coil. 13, Line 2 and Col. 13, Lines 19-24).
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 OMAR CASILLASHERNANDEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5432. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-4:30PM.
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, Davetta Goins can be reached at (571) 272-2957. 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.
/OMAR CASILLASHERNANDEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
Prosecution Insights