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 .
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 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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwaki (US 12,208,816) in view of Kawano (US 2024/0105056).
Regarding claim 1: Iwaki discloses a driver assistance system with information providing apparatus (display, 30) comprising an electronic control unit configured to notify an operator of an own vehicle of an applied traffic regulation which is a traffic regulation to be applied to the own vehicle, wherein the electronic control unit is configured to: acquire an image-recognized traffic regulation by an image recognition of recognizing a captured image of a view ahead of the own vehicle (image of the speed limit sign capture by the camera, C), the image-recognized traffic regulation (speed limit sign) being the traffic regulation which is displayed in a road sign captured in the captured image and is to be applied to vehicles travelling in a traffic lane where the own vehicle is travelling; acquire positional information on a current position of the own vehicle (position where the vehicle is traveling; col. 4, lines 1-4); acquire the applied traffic regulation based on (i) the positional information (position at which the vehicle is traveling from the map information; col. 4, lines 25-58), (ii) the image-recognized traffic regulation (image captured and recognized by the camera, C), and (iii) vehicle information on an attribute defining the own vehicle (vehicle making a right turn or a left turn; the vehicle traveling a certain distance from the start of the first section and recognizing a traffic sign that indicates the end of the first section; col. 2, lines 37-44); and notify the operator of the own vehicle of the acquired applied traffic regulation (col. 3, line 65-col. 4, line 65; col. 8, lines 4-64).
Iwaki does not disclose vehicle information on an attribute on the own vehicle comprising vehicle application information and vehicle specification information. Kawano discloses an electronic device that identifies the speed limit of a vehicle and displays the speed limit depending upon a passenger vehicle and a large vehicle (a truck) [0002-0008]. Kawano discloses the vehicle information on an attribute on the own vehicle comprising vehicle application information (small vehicle (passenger vehicle) or a large vehicle (truck)) [0015-0022] and vehicle specification information (vehicle classifications in which at least one of a weight of the vehicle (S) or a passenger capacity of the vehicle (S) differs) [0028, 0034]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider the vehicle application and specification information to determine the appropriate speed limit for the vehicle as taught by Kawano in a system as disclosed by Iwaki to provide an appropriate and precise speed limit for passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles.
Regarding claim 2: Iwaki discloses the electronic control unit is configured not to notify the operator of the applied traffic regulation when the road sign acquired from the captured image by the image recognition does not target the own vehicle even when the electronic control unit acquires the applied traffic regulation based on the image-recognized traffic regulation acquired from the road sign (col. 10, lines 47-54; col. 10, line 63-col. 11, line 5).
Regarding claim 3: Iwaki discloses the electronic control unit includes at least one converting device which converts the image-recognized traffic regulation to the applied traffic regulation based on (i) the vehicle information and (ii) the positional information, and wherein the electronic control unit is configured to acquire the applied traffic regulation by converting the image-recognized traffic regulation by the at least one converting device based on (i) the vehicle information (vehicle state information; col. 8, lines 26-31) and (ii) the positional information (vehicle position information, 230, col. 8, lines 32-39) (converting the recognized speed limit sign captured by the camera and display the speed limit sign on the display, 30) (col. 8, lines 4-53).
Regarding claim 4: Iwaki discloses the electronic control unit is configured to change the converting device from a first converting device (when the vehicle recognizes the first speed limit sign, So, Fig. 1) to a second converting device when the own vehicle moves from a first area into a second area (temporary speed limit, recognize at S1) different from the first area, wherein the first converting device is the converting device which converts the image-recognized traffic regulation to the applied traffic regulation for the first area, and wherein the second converting device is the converting device which converts the image-recognized traffic regulation to the applied traffic regulation for the second area (Figs. 1, 4).
Regarding claim 5: Kawano discloses the vehicle information includes, as the vehicle information, (i) vehicle application information on an application of the own vehicle (small vehicle (passenger vehicle) or a large vehicle (truck)) [0015-0022] and (ii) vehicle specification information on a specification of the own vehicle specification information (vehicle classifications in which at least one of a weight of the vehicle (S) or a passenger capacity of the vehicle (S) differs) [0028, 0034], wherein the electronic control unit includes converting devices (control part, 33) which are prepared for every combination of (i) an application of a vehicle and (ii) a specification of a vehicle and convert the traffic regulation displayed in the road sign to the traffic regulation to be applied to a target vehicle based on a current position of the target vehicle (the location of the vehicle in the country or region where the vehicle is located, [0032], and wherein the electronic control unit (33) is configured to: select, from the converting devices (331-335), the converting device dedicated to a combination of (i) the application of the own vehicle and (ii) the specification of the own vehicle based on (i) the vehicle application information and (ii) the vehicle specification information; and acquire the applied traffic regulation by converting the image-recognized traffic regulation by the selected converting device based on the current position of the own vehicle [0026-0044]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider the vehicle application and specification information to determine the appropriate speed limit for the vehicle as taught by Kawano in a system as disclosed by Iwaki to provide an appropriate and precise speed limit for passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles.
Regarding claim 6: Kawano discloses the electronic control unit (33) is configured to change the converting device from a first converting device to a second converting device when the own vehicle moves from a first area into a second area different from the first area (from outside of the country or region, to inside the country or region), wherein the first converting device is the converting device which converts the image-recognized traffic regulation to the applied traffic regulation for the first area, and wherein the second converting device is the converting device which converts the image-recognized traffic regulation to the applied traffic regulation for the second area [0026-0044]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider the vehicle application and specification information to determine the appropriate speed limit for the vehicle as taught by Kawano in a system as disclosed by Iwaki to provide an appropriate and precise speed limit for passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles.
Regarding claim 7: See claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 8: See claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 9: Iwaki discloses the electronic control unit stores maps which are prepared for every attribute of a vehicle and are used to acquire, as the applied traffic regulation, the traffic regulation to be applied to a target vehicle based on (i) the traffic regulation displayed in the road sign and (ii) a current position of the target vehicle, and wherein the electronic control unit is configured to: select, from the stored maps, the map dedicated to the attribute defining the own vehicle (vehicle making a right turn or a left turn; the vehicle traveling a certain distance from the start of the first section and recognizing a traffic sign that indicates the end of the first section; col. 2, lines 37-44); and acquire the applied traffic regulation by applying (i) the image-recognized traffic regulation and (ii) the positional information on the own vehicle to the selected map (col. 4, lines 1-65).
Regarding claim 10: Iwaki discloses the electronic control unit stores maps which are prepared for every combination of (i) an attribute of a vehicle and (ii) a current position of a vehicle and are used to acquire, as the applied traffic regulation, the traffic regulation to be applied to a target vehicle based on (i) the traffic regulation displayed in the road sign and (ii) a current position of the target vehicle, and wherein the electronic control unit is configured to: select, from the stored maps, the map dedicated to a combination of (i) the attribute defining the own vehicle (vehicle making a right turn or a left turn; the vehicle traveling a certain distance from the start of the first section and recognizing a traffic sign that indicates the end of the first section; col. 2, lines 37-44) and (ii) the current position of the own vehicle; and acquire the applied traffic regulation by applying (i) the image-recognized traffic regulation and (ii) the current position of the own vehicle to the selected map (col. 4, lines 1-65; col. 6, lines 27-52; col. 8, lines 5-53).
Regarding claims 11 and 12: See claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 13: Iwaki discloses the attribute defining the own vehicle is an attribute inherently associated with the own vehicle. Thus, a vehicle making a right turn or a left turn; the vehicle traveling a certain distance from the start of the first section and recognizing a traffic sign that indicates the end of the first section; (col. 2, lines 37-44); is an attribute that defines the own vehicle. Also, the speed of the vehicle (col. 8, lines 41-64) is indicative of the attribute that defines the own vehicle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOAN NGOC PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-2967. The examiner can normally be reached M - F (7 AM - 3:30 PM).
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/TOAN N PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685 9/1/26
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