DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 March 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office action is in response to the application received on 29 August 2023. Claims 1-5 are pending.
Priority
The claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) is acknowledged. A certified copy of the priority application has been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS received on 29 August 2024 has been considered.
Interpretation of Claims Under 35 USC § 112(f)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
in claim 1:
"a route information acquisition device that acquires information on a running route" (interpreted as a GPS as described in para [0018] and [0038] of the specification);
"a storage device that stores the information on the running route" (a device for non-volatile data storage as in para [0026]);
"a running control device that controls running of the vehicle" (electronic control units and actuators as in para [0030]-[0033]); and
"a detection device that detects a vertical acceleration of the vehicle" (an acceleration sensor as in para [0037]).
Because these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If these limitations are not intended to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitations to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitations recite sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
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)(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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 12,319,309 B2 (Terada et al.).
As to claim 1, Terada discloses a driving assistance device for a vehicle, comprising
a route information acquisition device that acquires information on a running route along which the vehicle is driven by a driver from an information acquisition start position to an information acquisition end position based on an information acquisition command from the driver (col 4 ln 46-47 - "The location detector 21 detects the geographic location of the vehicle body 2", col 7 ln 5-9 - "FIG. 4 shows the instructor 40 displaying a route designation screen 41 for designation of a travel route R. The route designation screen 41 includes a map image. The user designates a desired travel route on the map");
a storage device that stores the information on the running route acquired by the route information acquisition device (col 6 ln 18-22 - "The storage 31 stores at least one piece of location information and at least one piece of behavior information as past data 31b in which the location information and the behavior information are associated with each other");
a running control device that controls running of the vehicle (Fig 2, col 5 ln 52-55 - "The control requirement determiner 30 determines a control requirement to be imposed on a control target that influences the behavior of the vehicle body 2"); and
an electronic control unit that controls the route information acquisition device, the storage device, and the running control device (col 4 ln 28-30 - "the vehicle 1 is an autonomous vehicle configured to autonomously travel under control of the controller 14", col 20 ln 14-18 - "The functionality of the elements disclosed herein may be implemented using circuitry or processing circuitry which includes general purpose processors, special purpose processors, integrated circuits, ASICs ('Application Specific Integrated Circuits'), conventional circuitry and/or combinations thereof"), and
the electronic control unit is configured, upon receiving an automatic running command from the driver (col 5 ln 61-63 - "The controller 14 controls the control target based on the control requirement determined by the control requirement determiner 30", col 7 ln 20-28 - "Information indicating the travel route designated through the route designation screen 41 is sent as route information from the instructor 40 to the communicator 26 [...] In the control requirement determiner 30, the first-travel requirement determiner 32a receives the route information 31a through the communicator 26 and stores the route information 31a into the storage 31"), to
set a target running route from a present position of the vehicle to a running end position based on the information on the running route stored in the storage device (col 8 ln 45-51 - "the processing circuitry 32 determines the control requirement to be imposed on the control target during the next travel of the vehicle 1 along the same travel route. The control requirement is a requirement to be imposed on the control target during travel of the vehicle 1 from the travel start location to the travel end location along the travel route"), and to
control the running control device to move the vehicle by automatic running so that the vehicle runs along the target running route (col 4 ln 28-30, col 5 ln 52-5),
wherein the driving assistance device includes
a detection device that detects a vertical acceleration of the vehicle (col 5 ln 3-4 - "The acceleration sensor 24 detects the vertical acceleration of the vehicle body 2"), and
the electronic control unit is configured to,
when the detection device detects a magnitude of the vertical acceleration equal to or greater than a reference value while the vehicle is being driven by a driver, store a position where the magnitude of the vertical acceleration equal to or greater than the reference value is detected in the storage device as a specific point of road surface displacement together with information on the running route (col 6 ln 30-32 - "the behavior information includes information related to the travel speed of the vehicle 1 and information related to the vertical acceleration of the vehicle body 2", col 8 ln 59-61 - "the road surface roughness calculator 32b calculates an indicator of the roughness of the road surface", col 14 ln 29-32 - "the behavior information includes information related to the vertical acceleration of the vehicle body 2. This makes it easier to know the state of the road surface at different locations on the travel route"), and to
control the running control device so that a vehicle speed is reduced when the vehicle passes through a position corresponding to the specific point during the automatic running (col 6 ln 34-39 - "The processing circuitry 32 determines, based on the behavior information associated with the location information of the past data 31b, the control requirement to be imposed on the control target at the location indicated by the location information of the past data 31b during travel of the rough terrain vehicle 1").
As to claim 2, Terada discloses the driving assistance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein
the reference value is variably set according to the vehicle speed so that the higher the vehicle speed when the vehicle is driven by the driver, the larger the reference value becomes (Fig 5, col 10 ln 10-18 - "For example, when the vehicle speed is below Vs, the road surface roughness calculator 32b uses the vertical acceleration RMS itself as the road surface roughness. For example, when the vehicle speed is equal to or above Vs, the road surface roughness calculator 32b corrects the vertical acceleration RMS such that the vertical acceleration RMS decreases with increasing vehicle speed, and uses the corrected vertical acceleration RMS as the road surface roughness").
As to claim 3, Terada discloses the driving assistance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein
a reduction amount in vehicle speed when the vehicle passes through the position corresponding to the specific point during the automatic running is variably set according to at least one of the vehicle speed during the automatic running and the magnitude of the vertical acceleration of the vehicle detected by the detection device so that the reduction amount in vehicle speed is larger as the vehicle speed during the automatic running is higher and the magnitude of the vertical acceleration of the vehicle detected by the detection device is larger (Fig 7, col 10 ln 54-56 - "After the calculation of the road surface roughness, the upper speed limit determiner 32d determines an upper speed limit Vlim1 based on the road surface roughness", col 10 ln 59-61 - "the target speed determiner 32e determines a target speed Vo reasonable for travel along the travel route based on the upper speed limits Vlim1 and Vlim2", col 11 ln 24-28 - "The upper speed limit Vlim1 is an upper speed limit at the location indicated by the location information associated with the behavior information. The speed of the vehicle 1 is decreased with increasing road surface roughness").
As to claim 4, Terada discloses the driving assistance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein
the electronic control unit is configured to,
when a running start position of the automatic running is not on the running route stored in the storage device, set the target running route to include a merging route from the running start position to the running route stored in the storage device (col 4 ln 46-47, col 13 ln 32-41 - "During travel of the vehicle 1 along the travel route, the storage 31 stores location information detected by the location detector 21 and behavior information detected by the behavior sensor 22 as the latest past data 31b in which the location information and the behavior information are associated with each other. The stored past data 31b is used to determine the control requirement in the next planning for travel S2. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the past data 31b is accumulated in the storage 31 for every travel along the travel route").
As to claim 5, Terada discloses the driving assistance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein
the route information acquisition device includes a GPS device (), and
the electronic control unit is configured to
identify at least the information acquisition start position based on a position of the vehicle acquired by the GPS device (col 4 ln 50-52 - "the location detector 21 is a receiver for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) such as GPS (Global Positioning System)"), and to
identify the running route of the vehicle based on at least one of a track of the vehicle acquired by the GPS device and driving history of the driver (col 4 ln 50-52, col 16 ln 26-29 - "In first travel S1, the vehicle need not be caused to travel autonomously. For example, a driver may drive the vehicle 1 along a route, and the route may be designated as a travel route of the vehicle 1").
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Todd Melton whose telephone number is (571)270-3871. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays, 9:30am - 6:00pm (Eastern time). 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, Navid Mehdizadeh can be reached at 571-272-7691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TODD MELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669