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 .
This communication is in response to amendments filed on 12/15/2025.
In the application claims 1-10 are pending.
Claims 3, 4 and 8: For the purpose of examination, the phrase “and/or” is given the broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the specification, and interpreted to be the term “or.” Applicant is requested to amend the claimed phrase to either “and” OR “or.”
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 103 rejections of claim 1, 4, and 10 were fully considered; however, the arguments are moot in view of the new grounds of rejections.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-5, and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smid (US 2018/0082315 A1), in view of Kwatra (US 20220144312 A1), and further in view of Kannappa (US 2018/0082312 A1).
Consider claim 1, Smid teaches, a method for outputting a feedback request in a vehicle, Smid teaches, “a communication system for a vehicle that communicates with a remote communication system (remote from the vehicle) and that automatically generates a communication to the driver in response to determining that the vehicle and driver are at a location where the driver may have had a particular experience, such as at a gas station or restaurant” See ¶ 0004, comprising:
ascertaining at least one item of vehicle information, Smid teaches, “For example, FIG. 2 illustrates the interactions that may take place between the driver 104, the vehicle 102 and the system 100. In a first use situation, the vehicle requests a service 106 based on some indication received from one of the vehicle sensors. For example, if the vehicle is low on gas, it will request a gas station. If the vehicle is low on tire pressure, it will request a tire shop or service station. The system may ask for additional information/service request 108 to the driver. For example, would the driver prefer to stop at a gas station with restrooms or food? This could be a voice command or an HMI question.” See ¶ 0021);
determining an output time at which the feedback request is output to an occupant of the vehicle, Smid teaches, “the system may determine that the vehicle's gas tank was filled up. The system thus concludes that the user (driver) must have stopped at a gas station. When the driver starts the vehicle, the system will provide a quick survey about the gas station, requesting the driver's feedback before continuing on the trip. The feedback could be in the form of yes/no questions: ... The driver's feedback is then submitted to the cloud, and associated with the specific gas station (which may be done via associating the location (determined via the vehicle's GPS system) at the time that the system determined that the gas tank was filled up), and the time and date of the driver’s experience.” See ¶ 0016.
With respect to, wherein the feedback request requests feedback [[about the vehicle]] from the occupant in response to a detected feedback situation, and wherein the output time is determined based on the item (fuel) of vehicle information, Smid teaches, “[f]or example, the system may determine that the vehicle's gas tank was filled up. The system thus concludes that the user (driver) must have stopped at a gas station. When the driver starts the vehicle, the system will provide a quick survey about the gas station, requesting the driver's feedback before continuing on the trip. The feedback could be in the form of yes/no questions: “Did you like this gas station?” “Did you feel safe at the gas station?” “Did you like the amenities at this gas station?”, “Did you have to wait long at this gas station?” and/or the like. Or the questions could require an answer in the form of a numerical rating. The driver's feedback is then submitted to the cloud, and associated with the specific gas station (which may be done via associating the location (determined via the vehicle's GPS system) at the time that the system determined that the gas tank was filled up), and the time and date of the driver's experience.” See ¶ 0016.
With respect to, determining an output time at which the feedback request is output, and wherein the output time is determined based on the item of vehicle information, in an analogous art, Kwatra teaches, “computer-implemented method for managing communication prioritization in a vehicle with automated driver assistance… the method includes classifying the communication according to a priority and acting on the communication based on the priority classification.” See ¶ 0003. Kwatra teaches, “system may seek feedback from the driver at an appropriate time in the form of explicit preferences (e.g., the driver indicates specific contacts as high priority) to improve the machine learning model and train the classifier on the priority of communications (e.g. high, medium or low) over time and restrict alerts to only those that are high priority.” See ¶ 0016.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the invention of Smid and manage communication prioritization in a vehicle by classifying the communication according to a priority and acting on the communication based on the priority classification and seek feedback from the driver at an appropriate time as suggested by Kwatra and “the system may seek feedback from the driver once it is determined to be a safe environment to do so” See ¶ 0024, in order to provide safe driving conditions.
With respect to, wherein the feedback request requests feedback about the vehicle from the occupant in response to a detected feedback situation, in an analogous art, Kannappa teaches, “methods, systems, and apparatuses for obtaining feedback and more particularly relates to quickly obtaining feedback from customers following completion of a sale, service, or other experience with a vehicle dealership or service provider.” See ¶ 0001. Kannappa teaches, “customer component is configured to identify a customer corresponding to the service or sale. The request component is configured to send a request to the customer for feedback about the service or sale. The feedback component is configured to associate the feedback with one or more of an automotive dealer, a service advisor, a type of vehicle service performed, and a vehicle model corresponding to the service or sale.” See ¶ 0013, Kannappa teaches, “In response to the request, the customer may provide feedback using the mobile application on the mobile device 116, a website using a computer system 112, and/or an in-vehicle computing system in the vehicle 118. For example, a mobile device 116 and/or an in-vehicle computing system may be able to communicate using a node 114 of a wireless network 110. In one embodiment, the request for information is sent from the feedback system 102 to a destination in real-time to prompt the user for feedback while the sale or service experience is still fresh.” See ¶ 0018. Kannappa teaches, “the updated rating and/or the feedback data is associated with a specific VIN, customer, vehicle type” See ¶ 0022.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Smid-Kwatra and send request for feedback to the driver in-vehicle computing system in the vehicle 118 as suggested by Kannappa ¶ 0018, in an effort to improve driver experience and the quality of service experienced by customers, See ¶ 0036.
Consider claim 2, the method of claim 1, wherein the feedback situation is ascertained based on the at least one item of vehicle information, Smid teaches, “[f]or example, the system may determine that the vehicle's gas tank was filled up. The system thus concludes that the user (driver) must have stopped at a gas station. When the driver starts the vehicle, the system will provide a quick survey about the gas station, requesting the driver's feedback before continuing on the trip.” See ¶ 0016.
Consider claim 3, the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one item of vehicle information:
is ascertained via a sensor of the vehicle, Smid teaches, “For example, FIG. 2 illustrates the interactions that may take place between the driver 104, the vehicle 102 and the system 100. In a first use situation, the vehicle requests a service 106 based on some indication received from one of the vehicle sensors. For example, if the vehicle is low on gas, it will request a gas station. If the vehicle is low on tire pressure, it will request a tire shop or service station. The system may ask for additional information/service request 108 to the driver. For example, would the driver prefer to stop at a gas station with restrooms or food? This could be a voice command or an HMI question.” See ¶ 0021;
is transmitted from an external device to the vehicle, Smid teaches, “the system may communicate with the driver via the driver's smartphone or other mobile device, such that communications may be made when the driver is not in the vehicle, such as when the driver is at a selected location or the like.” See ¶ 0030;
relates to a charging station or fuel station, See Smid ¶ 0016
and/or
includes at least one of: a state of charge or fuel tank level, Smid teaches, “For example, the system may determine that the vehicle's gas tank was filled up. The system thus concludes that the user (driver) must have stopped at a gas station. When the driver starts the vehicle, the system will provide a quick survey about the gas station, requesting the driver's feedback before continuing on the trip.” See ¶ 0016..
Consider claim 4, the method of claim 1,
wherein the output time is determined as when the vehicle:
is in an urban environment (i.e. at a gas station) and is stationary (just started), Smid teaches, “For example, the system may determine that the vehicle's gas tank was filled up. The system thus concludes that the user (driver) must have stopped at a gas station. When the driver starts the vehicle, the system will provide a quick survey about the gas station, requesting the driver's feedback before continuing on the trip… driver's feedback is then submitted to the cloud, and associated with the specific gas station (which may be done via associating the location (determined via the vehicle's GPS system) at the time that the system determined that the gas tank was filled up), and the time and date of the driver's experience” See ¶ 0016, therefore, the vehicle is at the gas station and just started; and/or
With respect to is on a highway or [[in a rural environment]] and (b) is in motion, Smid teaches, “Optionally, the system may defer the survey (or allow the driver to defer the survey) until a later time or at the end of the trip or journey. For example, if the commercial establishment was unsafe, the driver should be able to get out of the place as soon as possible and yet be able to provide feedback after leaving the unsafe place.” See ¶ 0027. Kwatra teaches, “[a]t 202, the on-board computer 401 of the vehicle with automated driver assistance 400 (detailed in FIG. 4) may detect that the vehicle is in manual mode. At 204, the on-board computer 401 of the vehicle may receive a notification from the telecommunications device 425 that an incoming communication notification is received. Operation 204 analyzes the text of a text message or email communication. This may include parsing the text into constituent parts and determining topics or subjects of the message. At 204, it may be determined whether the incoming message includes a question or provides information. The textual analysis may determine whether a question in a message requests a response in a particular time period (e.g., urgent) or the provided information is time sensitive.” See ¶ 0021.
Consider claim 5, the method of claim 1, wherein content of the feedback request is determined based on the at least one item of vehicle information, Smid teaches, “the vehicle requests a service 106 based on some indication received from one of the vehicle sensors… . If the vehicle is low on tire pressure, it will request a tire shop or service station.” See ¶ 0021; Smid teaches, “the system will request for a feedback based on one or more of the services it recommended 122.” See ¶ 0023.
Consider claim 7, the method of claim 1, wherein the feedback request is issued to a vehicle occupant, Kwatra teaches, “the system may route the communication to the passenger based on the calculated proximity score. In some embodiments, the routing of the communication to the passenger may be additionally based on topic or subject of the communication. In still other embodiments, the routing of the communication to the passenger may be additionally based on a determined urgency or time sensitive nature of the communication.” See ¶ 0029.
Consider claim 8, the method of claim 1, wherein an item of feedback information is ascertained based on a response to the feedback request, Smid teaches, “the system will request for a feedback based on one or more of the services it recommended 122. The driver confirms participation in the feedback 124. The system then provides the driver with a questionnaire, such as, for example, in the form of multiple choice questions. The driver provides feedback 128 in the form of text, answers to multiple choice questions, ratings or some other means (and such as via voice responses or user inputs).” See ¶ 0023;
Wherein the feedback information is forwarded to other vehicles and/or to an evaluation unit, Smid teaches, “The survey results are stored and communicated to a remote server for providing a database of results pertaining to a particular store or entity for use with future drivers or the like.” See ¶ 0004 and 0011.
Consider claim 9, the method of claim 8,
wherein the at least one item of vehicle information includes at least the feedback information of a first feedback request, Kwatra teaches, “At 212, the system may seek feedback from the driver once it is determined to be a safe environment to do so in order to further train the model. Feedback may be explicit or implicit. For example, a driver may provide an instruction or a rule that a call or textual message from a particular person should be classified as high, medium, or low priority.” See ¶ 0024.
And wherein the time of further feedback requests is determined based on the item of feedback information, Kwatra teaches, “When a machine learning classifier has sufficient training data or has an explicit classification rule to classify an incoming communication with a sufficient degree of confidence, operation 302 includes classifying the incoming communication prior to prompting the driver. The driver may be prompted to receive the communication only when the result of the classification is that the incoming message is of sufficient importance. For example, the driver may be prompted to receive only those incoming messages classified as being of high importance. As another example, the driver may be prompted to receive only those incoming messages classified as being of high or medium importance.” See ¶ 0026. Kwatra teaches, “the classifying module 108 may use machine learning to determine the priority of the incoming communication based on the feature vector. The machine learning process may be a supervised machine learning classifier. Based on an input feature vector, and a training data set, the process at 206 may classify an incoming communication notification according to priority.” See ¶ 0022
Consider claim 10, a system for outputting a feedback request in a vehicle, comprising: a control unit (Smid teaches cloud server, and teaches “communication device may comprise a component of an embedded communication system of the vehicle… or computer device or the like” See ¶ 0012, Kwatra teaches, “a computer on board a vehicle” See ¶ 0019) configured to: ascertain at least one item of vehicle information; and determine an output time at which the feedback request is output to an occupant of the vehicle, wherein the feedback request requests feedback about the vehicle from the occupant in response to a detected feedback situation, and wherein the output time is determined based on the item of vehicle information, See rejection of claim 1.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smid (US 2018/0082315 A1), in view of Kwatra (US 20220144312 A1), in view of Kannappa (US 2018/0082312 A1), and further in view of DeRuyck (US 20160046298 A1).
Consider claim 6, the method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one item of vehicle information includes a driver’s [[attention]] emotional state, Kwatra teaches, “Assessment of the driver's emotional state may be based on biometric or physiological data collected during and after the call. For example, the driver's heart rate or pulse may be sensed and communicated to the on-board computer 401 using smart wristwatch the driver is wearing. Other examples of biometric or physiological parameters that may be sensed include skin temperature and skin conductance. An increase in a sensed biometric or physiological parameter over the time period of a call may be used to infer an emotional state, e.g., sweating and a rapid heart rate may indicate anxiety. In various embodiments, assessment of the driver's emotional state may be based on images of the user captured by a camera within the vehicle. Image processing algorithms for determining an emotion from a facial expression may be used to analyze the captured image. Post communication emotional states could be identified as {sad, happy, angry, excited, surprised, disgusted” See ¶ 0023.
And wherein the time of the feedback request is determined based on the driver's [[attention]] emotional state, Smid teaches, “Optionally, the system may defer the survey (or allow the driver to defer the survey) until a later time or at the end of the trip or journey. For example, if the commercial establishment was unsafe, the driver should be able to get out of the place as soon as possible and yet be able to provide feedback after leaving the unsafe place.” See ¶ 0027.
With respect to driver’s attention and the time of the feedback request is determined based on the driver's attention, in an analogous art, DeRuyck teaches, “a system comprising a motion sensor system configured for deployment in a cab of a vehicle and to generate substantially in real-time a digital mapping of driver movement during operation of the vehicle.” See ¶ 0003. DeRuyck teaches, “the system may initiate 1226 an interactive session with the driver. The interactive session may involve voice interaction that alerts the driver to the driver behavior and requests a voice response from the driver. In some scenarios, startling a driver with a harsh alert could be dangerous and a voice interaction, e.g., a voice telling the driver to wake up or pay attention and/or requesting a response, may be less startling to a fatigued driver. If the system does not receive the expected driver response, then another type of alert and/or a change in the vehicle operation may be initiated. In some implementations, the interactive session may continue until the driver stops the vehicle and/or takes one or more additional actions, e.g., breathalyzer, waiting period, sleep, contacting the central office, participating in a training, e.g., displayed over an in-cab display, stowing an electronic device, etc., before the system allows the vehicle to start or move.” See ¶ 0078.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention (effective filing date for AIA application) to modify the combination of Smid- Kwatra-Kannappa and request a response from the driver based on driver’s attention or lack thereof, and If the system does not receive the expected driver response, then another type of alert is initiated and interactive session, i.e. feedback request, may continue until the driver stops the vehicle and/or takes one or more additional actions as suggested by DeRuyck in an effort to provide safe driving condition.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Omer S. Khan whose telephone number is (571)270-5146. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am to 8:00 pm EST.
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/Omer S Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686