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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed on 05March2026. As directed by the amendment: claims 1, 8, and 15 has (have) been amended, claims 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17 has/have been cancelled, and no new claims has/have been added. Thus, claims 1, 4-8, 11-15, and 18-20 are presently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
The amendments to the claims affected the prior scope thereby necessitating further search and consideration. The instant office action has been made FINAL.
Applicant's arguments filed on 05March2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to the applicant’s argument that teaching Pesik into Murthy is hindsight and teaches away from the intended invention, see arguments page 9, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Murthy teaches everything claimed in claims 1, 8, and 15 as well as the amended limitations from claims 2-3, 9-10, and 11-15. Pesik was only used to teach in the limitation of a visual representation of boundaries defined by the tips of wings as seen in Figs. 2A and 2B. The attorney of record is arguing that Murthy only utilizes a static database is false, [0035] discloses that sensor data sources 220 are on board the aircraft which means Murthy’s invention does use real time data to taxi the aircraft, the only thing Pesik is teaching in is the addition of consideration and representation of the wingtips of the aircraft to assist in determining collision. Both Pesik and Murthy are related in the field of taxiing a plane on a runway and both use on board sensors and controllers to assist with collision avoidance.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08January2026 is being considered by the examiner.
Status of Claims
Pending
1, 4-8, 11-15, and 18-20
103
1, 4-8, 11-15, and 18-20
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murthy US 20150154874 in view of Pesik US 20190146083.
Murthy discloses,
Claims 1, 8, and 15; An aircraft, comprising: a global positioning system (GPS) receiver([0046] Discloses a global position system in step 302) configured to receive GPS coordinates of the aircraft([0046] The global positioning system retrieves aircraft position data); a steering system configured for adjusting a front wheel steering angle of a front wheel assembly of the aircraft to steer the aircraft on the ground([0038] Discloses a steering system that adjusts the nose wheel steering angle which changes the aircraft heading); a database(222) that includes aerodrome data indicative of positions of static fixtures at an airport([0047] Discloses step 300 that retrieves the airport feature data of the particular airport field) and aircraft data indicative of state parameters of the aircraft([0046] Discloses the aircraft receives data such as heading data, steering angle, etc); a display device(101); and a controller([0026] Discloses that the processor architecture 102 contains a controller) in operable communication with the GPS receiver, the steering system, the database, and the display device([0043] Discloses that the prediction process is performed by the processor architecture 102 which contains a processor as disclosed in [0026], [0026] Also discloses that 102 is configured to support various electric taxi path guidance processes, operations, and display functions), the controller configured to, by one or more processors: receive the GPS coordinates of the aircraft from the GPS receiver, the front wheel steering angle of the aircraft from the steering system, the aircraft data from the database, and the aerodrome data from the database(As disclosed above, [0026] discloses that the processor architecture 102 is configured to support various electric taxi path guidance processes, operations, and display functions, [0045] Discloses step 300 that retrieves the airport feature data of the particular airport field along with data such as heading data, steering angle, etc, and [0043] Discloses that the prediction process is performed by the processor architecture 102); determine a predicted path of the aircraft in real-time while the aircraft is taxiing at the airport based on, at least in part, the GPS coordinates, the front wheel steering angle, and the state parameters of the aircraft([0038] Discloses that the trend line which is a predicted path of the aircraft relies on input data such as, but not limited to, the required airport feature data and the status and sensor data associated with the current aircraft along with the nose wheel steering angle); generate a visual representation of the predicted path on the display device([0051] 400 is a display that provides a visual representation of the taxi path); compare the predicted path of the aircraft with the positions of the static fixtures to detect an impending collision between the aircraft and one of the static fixtures([0048] The aircraft position is compared to the center line of the identified active surface area, the process checks whether the aircraft taxi path trend line indicates travel onto the shoulder of the identified active surface area within an unsafe distance); and generate a warning in response to detecting the impending collision([0048] Discloses that step 320 displays an alert with an abort message and/or audible warning); generate a warning in response to detecting the impending collision; and generate, in response to detecting the impending collision, an indication of whether the impending collision is due to over-steering or under-steering of the aircraft([0052] The display displays and alert such as 406 that notifies the user of corrective action which means the controller can determine if the collision is due to under or over steering).
Claims 4, 11, and 18; Wherein the visual representation includes a front wheel track of the front wheel assembly of the aircraft([0038] The trend line is determined by the nose wheel steering angle).
Claims 5, 6, 12, 13, and 19; Further comprising overlaying, by the one or more processors of the controller, the visual representation of the predicted path on an additional visual representation of the airport that includes a taxiway and the static fixtures(Fig. 4 shows a visual representation of the predicted path of the aircraft along a taxiway) such that the visual representation of the predicted path is positioned relative to and originating from another visional repr0esentation of the aircraft(Fig. 4 shows the predicted path trend line originates from a visual representation of the plane).
Claims 7, 14, and 20; Wherein the controller is configured to, by the one or more processors, assist a pilot in maintaining the front wheel assembly along a centerline of a taxiway of the airport while taxiing the aircraft along the taxiway(406 is a text/symbol alert that notifies a pilot of a corrective action the pilot needs to take which assists the pilot while taxiing along the taxiway).
However, Murthy fails to disclose:
Claims 1, 8, and 15; Wherein the visual representation includes boundaries defined by tips of wings of the aircraft along the predicted path.
Pesik teaches a similar device in the same field of aircraft taxiing.
Pesik teaches,
Claims 1, 8, and 15; Wherein the visual representation includes boundaries defined by tips of wings of the aircraft along the predicted path(Fig. 3 shows the projected path of the wing tips that can be displayed on the display in Murthy along with the projected flight path).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the visual representation includes boundaries defined by tips of wings of the aircraft along the predicted path as taught by Pesik , for the purpose of [0026] providing an accurate prediction of the paths of taxiing aircraft and external objects.
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 John Merino whose telephone number is (703)756-4721. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 11am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin Piateski can be reached at (571) 270-7429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/John C Merino/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/Erin M Piateski/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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