DETAILED ACTION
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
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, 2, 6, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2019149013.
The JP ‘013 reference discloses all features of the claimed invention in the abstract and claims, as described below, but for the specifics of the mobile object stopping where a state of the traffic light is detectable.
[Claim 1] A mobile object control device for controlling a mobile object capable of moving at least in a predetermined region different from a roadway and on a crosswalk, the mobile object(automobile 2) control device comprising: a recognition unit(automatic drive controller1) configured to recognize a surrounding situation of the mobile object on the basis of an output of an external environment detection device configured to detect an external situation of the mobile object; and a control unit configured to control at least a drive unit configured to move the mobile object ,wherein the control unit controls the drive unit on the basis of a situation of an intersection recognized by the recognition unit so that the mobile object is stopped when the mobile object is moving in the predetermined region(Abstract “Solution: an automatic drive controller 1 includes a standby position determination unit 13 that, when a sidewalk travelling automobile has to be halted because a traffic light installed on a road to be crossed enters a state restricting crossing----an automatic driving control unit 14 that halts the sidewalk travelling automobile2 at the standby position”) and the recognition unit recognizes that the mobile object needs to stop in accordance with a state of a first traffic light located in a movement direction of the mobile object in front of the intersection.(See the abstract and claim 1 of the translation of JP’013 Foreign reference filed 09/24/2024 50 pages)(The stop light is inherently in front of the vehicle in the moving direction and the sidewalk of the translation of JP’013 is a crosswalk) ,wherein the control unit causes the mobile object to stop at a first position where a state of the first traffic light is detectable by the external environment detection device. This is considered old and well known and would be obvious here in order to view the light that is controlling the intersection. .(The waiting position of claim 1 of JP ‘013 is regarded as the first position determined by the automatic driving control device)
[Claim 2] The mobile object control device according to claim1, wherein the recognition unit recognizes a shape of a region around the intersection including a position of the crosswalk in a process in which the mobile object approaches the intersection and causes a memory to store shape information that is a recognition result, and wherein the control unit controls the drive unit on the basis of the shape information stored in the memory.(see claims 1-3 of JP ‘013 that inherently stores the shape of the sidewalk area in order to determine the waiting area and if the sidewalk area that is not blocked)
[Claim 3] The mobile object control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the mobile object to stop at a first position where a state of the first traffic light is detectable by the external environment detection device
Claim 6] The mobile object control device according to claim1, wherein the recognition unit recognizes traffic participants located near the intersection, and wherein the control unit causes the mobile object to stop at a position where a flow of the traffic participants moving near the intersection without stopping is not blocked.(From claims 1-3 of JP’013 the moving area of the pedestrians in the sidewalk is not blocked so the traffic in front of the crosswalk is inherently not blocked.)
[Claim 11] A mobile object control method to be executed by a processor for controlling a mobile object capable of moving at least in a predetermined region different from a roadway and on a crosswalk, the mobile object control method comprising: recognizing a surrounding situation of the mobile object on the basis of an output of an external environment detection device configured to detect an external situation of the mobile object; and controlling a drive unit of the mobile object on the basis of a recognized situation of an intersection so that the mobile object is stopped when the mobile object is moving in the predetermined region and it is recognized that the mobile object needs to stop in accordance with a state of a first traffic light located in a movement direction of the mobile object in front of the intersection; and causing the mobile object to stop at a first position where a state of the first traffic light is detectable by the external environment detection device. (follows from claim 1)
[Claim 12] A storage medium storing a program for causing a processor for controlling a mobile object capable of moving at least in a predetermined region different from a roadway and on a crosswalk to: recognize a surrounding situation of the mobile object on the basis of an output of an external environment detection device configured to detect an external situation of the mobile object; and control a drive unit of the mobile object on the basis of a recognized situation of an intersection so that the mobile object is stopped when the mobile object is moving in the predetermined region and it is recognized that the mobile object needs to stop in accordance with a state of a first traffic light located in a movement direction of the mobile object in front of the intersection and causing the mobile object to stop at a first position where a state of the first traffic light is detectable by the external environment detection device..(follows from claim 1)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 and 7-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 13-15 are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M CAMBY whose telephone number is (571)272-6958. The examiner can normally be reached M - F flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter D Nolan can be reached at 571 270 7016. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD M CAMBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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