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 .
Application Status
This Office action has been issued in response to application filed on 09/20/2024. Claims10-18 are pending. Claims 10-18 are rejected.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of a certified copy of international application PCT/EP2023/055528 with a priority date of 03/22/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/20/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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 10, 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Breed (US8725311B1).
Regarding claim 10, Breed discloses, a method for detecting a situation in which a person located in a vehicle suffers a medical emergency and for providing assistance (52, in the event that the health and fatigue monitoring system determines that the driver is having a serious medical emergency, his or her life may be saved if the appropriate emergency personnel are notified), the method comprising: detecting, by at least one sensor, vital signs of the person (174, In one embodiment of the invention, one or more biological properties of the driver is/are obtained by filtering the signals from one or more electric field sensors and monitoring one or more frequency ranges indicative of one or more of the heartbeat rate, respiration rate and bodily motion of the driver in order to determine that the driver may be); evaluating, by a computing unit, sensor data generated by the sensor to determine vital data (155, analyze both the images obtained by the optical imaging system and the data provided by the strain gage weight sensors in order to make the determination of the driver's ability to operate the vehicle); outputting, by the computing unit and on based the vital data in the vehicle, instructions for providing assistance to the person in the situation (148, the images can be forwarded to a remote monitoring site when the driver fails to respond to the determination of the systems described herein that he/she is falling asleep, having a heart attack, under the influence of drugs or otherwise unable to effectively operate the vehicle. The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take); examining, by the computing unit, the vital data for deviations from standard values (36, the control unit monitors this determined combination for changes and/or deviations from a normal range of heartbeats and/or respiration rate, and preferably only this determined combination), causing, by the computing unit when the examination identifies the deviations from the standard values, an alarm to be output in the vehicle (36, Changes and/or deviations from the normal range of heartbeats and respiration rate may be used to assess the drowsiness or sleepiness of the occupant, especially when the driver of the vehicle, and activate a notification system that requires a response to enable continued operation of the vehicle by the driver), establishing, by the computing unit using a telecommunications unit, a communications link to an aider external to the vehicle; granting, by the computing unit, the aider access to at least some of the vital data (67, Although not illustrated in the flow chart, the presence and characteristics of the heartbeats of vehicle occupants can be valuable information that can and should be communicated by the communications unit to EMS personnel as part of the automatic collision notification message), activating, by the computing unit, a microphone and a loudspeaker to establish a bidirectional verbal communications link between occupants of the vehicle and the aider (148, the remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take. If the driver fails to heed the directions then the vehicle can be gradually immobilized using technology available today) … (54, the same ECU 210 can be used to analyze the driver for signs of fatigue and initiate a warning such as a light 214 which requires a feedback response from the driver, such as depressing button 212, speaking a word, pointing etc as described above); and capturing, by a camera, at least a portion of a vehicle interior to transfer camera images to the aider (151, Various means by which the driver can provide feedback have been discussed above. Another method which can be applicable when a camera is used is to allow for a gesture response), wherein the aider is then able to talk to the vehicle occupants, to visually examine the person, and to propose measures for aiding the person based on an examination result (148, One or more of the transducers can also be image-receiving devices, such as cameras, which take images of the interior of the passenger compartment including the face of the driver. These images can be transmitted to a remote facility to monitor the passenger compartment … The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take), wherein person-specific standard values are established that the computing unit takes into account when examining the vital data for the deviations (63, once selected, control passes to the modules that acquire respiration 142, acquire heartbeat 143, and acquire motion 144 and establish or record normal respiration 145, normal heartbeat 146, and normal motion frequency 147, what will be termed the established respiration rate, heartbeat rate and typical occupant motion), wherein the computing unit only establishes the communications link to the aider if establishing the communications link to the aider is not proactively prevented by a vehicle occupant (148, the images can be forwarded to a remote monitoring site when the driver fails to respond to the determination of the systems described herein that he/she is falling asleep, having a heart attack, under the influence of drugs or otherwise unable to effectively operate the vehicle. The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions), and wherein the computing unit grants the aider access to the control of vehicle functions so that the aider controls at least one vehicle function to facilitate the examination or to aid the person (148, If the driver fails to heed the directions then the vehicle can be gradually immobilized using technology available today) … (29, notifying a remote site, allowing a remote site to assess the situation and take partial control of the vehicle, etc.).
Regarding claim 12, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein the detected vital signs and the determined vital data allows assessment of a state of the cardiovascular system of the person (175, Other systems and methods which are capable of monitoring the heart rate, respiration rate, blood temperature or other vital signs of the driver).
Regarding claim 13, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein the at least one sensor is a vehicle integrated sensor (25, this patent uses a steering wheel-mounted sensor to detect the driver's pulse and then derives a measure of respiration from the pulse signal), or is integrated in a mobile end device worn or carried by the person (27, the driver emits electromagnetic signals that are used in some Electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) devices to monitor brainwaves and electro cardio functions of the body and use of sensors placed in the seat, seatbelt, seatback and headrest to monitor these signals is also contemplated herein),
Regarding claim 14, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein examination-relevant information or the suitable measures for aiding the person are output visually in the vehicle (68, If the vehicle is equipped with a heads-up display or other display that will get the attention of an alert driver, then a message can be displayed on one or more of such displays. A preferred message is to have a synthesized or recorded voice announce a message to the driver. A combination of the above warnings can be better still. The message can instruct the driver to take some deliberate action)
Regarding claim 15, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein at least some of the vital data is forwarded to third parties (67, characteristics of the heartbeats of vehicle occupants can be valuable information that can and should be communicated by the communications unit to EMS personnel), wherein at least some of the vital data is transferred from the vehicle to the aider (148, these images can be transmitted to a remote facility to monitor the passenger compartment or can be stored in a memory device for use in the event of an accident, i.e., to determine the status of the occupant(s) of the vehicle prior to the accident), and from the aider to a central computing unit external to the vehicle (148, the images can be forwarded to a remote monitoring site when the driver fails to respond to the determination of the systems), via which the third parties are granted access to at least some of the vital data (67, as part of the automatic collision notification message, if it is available. Therefore, the EMS personnel will know whether the occupants are alive and some indication as to their health state).
Regarding claim 16, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein the alarm is output in the vehicle haptically, visually, or acoustically (37, the reactive component, of which there may be one or more, may be a warning light, an alarm light, a warning sound generator, a tactile sensation generator, and a voice generating device),
Regarding claim 17, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10, wherein the alarm is also output external to the vehicle visually or acoustically, or the vehicle is automatically brought to a standstill when the alarm is output (18, apparatus must be on the vehicle to permit this routine to flash emergency lights, sound the horn and/or bring the vehicle to a safe stop).
Regarding claim 18, Breed discloses, a first aid system for detecting a situation in which a person located in a vehicle suffers a medical emergency and for providing assistance (52, in the event that the health and fatigue monitoring system determines that the driver is having a serious medical emergency, his or her life may be saved if the appropriate emergency personnel are notified), the first aid system comprising: a vehicle comprising a computing unit, (32, A sophisticated algorithm can interpret a gesture, for example, that may be in response to a question from the computer system (conveyed on a display or vocalized using a speaker)), a telecommunications unit, (10, the software and computer program may be updated via a wired link or a wireless link, e.g., via the Internet or another communications network), a human- machine interface, (16, A message to the driver can be in any form, such as a display), and a camera (151, Various means by which the driver can provide feedback have been discussed above. Another method which can be applicable when a camera is used is to allow for a gesture response); and at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to detect vital signs of the person (174, In one embodiment of the invention, one or more biological properties of the driver is/are obtained by filtering the signals from one or more electric field sensors and monitoring one or more frequency ranges indicative of one or more of the heartbeat rate, respiration rate and bodily motion of the driver in order to determine that the driver may be), wherein the computing unit is configured to evaluate sensor data generated by the sensor to determine vital data (155, analyze both the images obtained by the optical imaging system and the data provided by the strain gage weight sensors in order to make the determination of the driver's ability to operate the vehicle); output, based the vital data in the vehicle, instructions for providing assistance to the person in the situation (148, the images can be forwarded to a remote monitoring site when the driver fails to respond to the determination of the systems described herein that he/she is falling asleep, having a heart attack, under the influence of drugs or otherwise unable to effectively operate the vehicle. The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take); examine the vital data for deviations from standard values (36, the control unit monitors this determined combination for changes and/or deviations from a normal range of heartbeats and/or respiration rate, and preferably only this determined combination), cause, when the examination identifies the deviations from the standard values, an alarm to be output in the vehicle (36, Changes and/or deviations from the normal range of heartbeats and respiration rate may be used to assess the drowsiness or sleepiness of the occupant, especially when the driver of the vehicle, and activate a notification system that requires a response to enable continued operation of the vehicle by the driver), establishes, using the telecommunications unit, a communications link to an aider external to the vehicle; grants the aider access to at least some of the vital data (67, Although not illustrated in the flow chart, the presence and characteristics of the heartbeats of vehicle occupants can be valuable information that can and should be communicated by the communications unit to EMS personnel as part of the automatic collision notification message), and activate a microphone and a loudspeaker to establish a bidirectional verbal communications link between occupants of the vehicle and the aider (148, the remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take. If the driver fails to heed the directions then the vehicle can be gradually immobilized using technology available today) … (54, the same ECU 210 can be used to analyze the driver for signs of fatigue and initiate a warning such as a light 214 which requires a feedback response from the driver, such as depressing button 212, speaking a word, pointing etc as described above); wherein the camera is configured to capture at least a portion of a vehicle interior to transfer camera images to the aider (151, Various means by which the driver can provide feedback have been discussed above. Another method which can be applicable when a camera is used is to allow for a gesture response), wherein the aider is then able to talk to the vehicle occupants, to visually examine the person, and to propose measures for aiding the person based on an examination result (148, One or more of the transducers can also be image-receiving devices, such as cameras, which take images of the interior of the passenger compartment including the face of the driver. These images can be transmitted to a remote facility to monitor the passenger compartment … The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions as to what action the driver should take), wherein person-specific standard values are established that the computing unit takes into account when examining the vital data for the deviations (63, once selected, control passes to the modules that acquire respiration 142, acquire heartbeat 143, and acquire motion 144 and establish or record normal respiration 145, normal heartbeat 146, and normal motion frequency 147, what will be termed the established respiration rate, heartbeat rate and typical occupant motion), wherein the computing unit is configured to only establish the communications link to the aider if establishing the communications link to the aider is not proactively prevented by a vehicle occupant (148, the images can be forwarded to a remote monitoring site when the driver fails to respond to the determination of the systems described herein that he/she is falling asleep, having a heart attack, under the influence of drugs or otherwise unable to effectively operate the vehicle. The remote site can observe and monitor the driver and issue verbal instructions), and wherein the computing unit is configured to grant the aider access to the control of vehicle functions so that the aider controls at least one vehicle function to facilitate the examination or to aid the person (148, If the driver fails to heed the directions then the vehicle can be gradually immobilized using technology available today) … (29, notifying a remote site, allowing a remote site to assess the situation and take partial control of the vehicle, etc.).
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being as being unpatentable over Breed (US8725311B1) in view of Penilla et al. (US20180024725A1).
Regarding claim 11, Breed discloses, the method of claim 10 as discussed supra. Additionally, Breed discloses, the aider controls at least one of the following switching interior lighting on or off (53, A message to the driver can be in any form, such as a display, sound, light or any other system that can get the attention of the driver). However Breed does not explicitly disclose, adjusting a seat; adjusting a vehicle AC unit, actuating a window regulator and adjusting seat heating.
Nevertheless, Penilla who is in the same field of endeavor of the remote control of vehicle components discloses, adjusting a seat (0300, the remote service can be accessed over the Internet, such as via a website or application of a portable device. The remote service can provide a multitude of cloud services for the user, such as remote control features, remote viewing services, remote alarm controls, remote camera activation, remote audio/video recording of the vehicle) … (0026, the method includes, the environment zone in which the seat is located in the vehicle includes systems for controlling positions of the seat); adjusting a vehicle AC unit (0026, or systems for controlling air and heat from vents proximate to the seat); actuating a window regulator (0026, or systems for controlling window operation proximate to the seat); and adjusting seat heating (0026, or systems for controlling heat of the seat).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Breed to incorporate Penilla’s teachings of remote seat movement, heating, AC, and window regulation. This would have been a predictable use of known vehicle control functionality to enhance the remote assistance capability of Breed. Allowing for the remote assistant and EMS responders to remotely control various aspects of the vehicles interior.
Further justification for combining Breed and Penilla not only comes from the state of the art but from Penilla, (0316, various general-purpose machines can be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations).
Conclusion
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/S.E.D./Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665