DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
2. Although not addressed, the prior rejections to claims 3 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn in view of the amendments provided1.
3. Applicant’s contention (see pages 4 and 5 filed 31 March 2026) with respect to the rejection of claims 3 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. 102 has been fully considered and is persuasive in view of the amendments provided. Therefore, the rejection of claims 3 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. 102 has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are warranted (see below).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
Claims 3 and 4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2022/0032905), and further in view of Sabbatini (US 2020/0398843).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Lee discloses a vehicle and associated control method on which an autonomous driving system is mountable (autonomous driving control system and method for a vehicle; Lee at abstract, 0057), the vehicle comprising:
A vehicle platform that carries out vehicle control in accordance with a command from the autonomous driving system (vehicle controller; Lee at 0042).
A vehicle control interface that interfaces between the autonomous driving system and the vehicle platform (vehicle controller interfaces with all control components; Lee at 0042).
A first command that requests for an acceleration value or a deceleration value and a second command that requests for immobilization of the vehicle are transmitted from the autonomous driving system to the vehicle platform through the vehicle control interface (autonomous driving control system implements vehicle control in steering and speed via the vehicle controller; Lee at 0054, 0061)
A signal indicating a standstill state of the vehicle is transmitted from the vehicle platform to the autonomous driving system through the vehicle control interface (vehicle stop state sensed and transmitted to autonomous driving system; Lee at 0048, 0090)
When a request for deceleration is made to the vehicle platform in the first command (stop strategy; Lee at 0055, 0068), the vehicle platform transmits the signal to the autonomous driving system at time when the vehicle comes to a standstill (vehicle is stopped; Lee at 0048, 0090), and the vehicle platform immobilizes the vehicle in response to the second command received after transmission of the signal (vehicle immobilized via transmission shift and parking brake; Lee at 0077, 0096).
Lee is silent as to in releasing immobilization of the vehicle, a request for release of immobilization of the vehicle is made in the second command and the request for deceleration is made in the first command while the vehicle is in a standstill.
Sabbatini teaches a hill holding invention in an autonomous vehicle, wherein when the immobilization release command is presented, the request for deceleration, i.e. service brake application, is still maintained while the vehicle is at a standstill (Sabbatini at 0021, 0055, 0113).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the claimed invention to augment the base invention of Lee with the rollback prevention of Sabbatini. Doing so would provide a safer way to resume autonomous motion of the vehicle after an immobilization condition is released.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M DAGER whose telephone number is (571)270-1332. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 0830-1730.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Angela Ortiz can be reached on 571-272-1206. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN M DAGER/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
10 June 2026
1 The claims are rendered definite, and there are now no contingent limitations.
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