DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to Applicants’ amendment received on June 16, 2026.
Claims 1-7 and 9 are pending in the application. Claim 8 was cancelled.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lyu (US PG Pub No. 2019/0390964 A1), hereinafter “Lyu”, in view of Roka (US PG Pub No. 2020/0211376 A1), hereinafter “Roka”.
Regarding claim 1, Lyu discloses a management method for assisting movement of a connected vehicle which is able to travel on a road network and able to communicate via a communication network having a variable network coverage level, said method being implemented by a management device (Fig. 2: (“navigation device 200”)) and comprising: on an approach to a zone having a network coverage level which is below a given level, pre-emptively transmitting at least one piece of information relating to driving instructions which are intended for the connected vehicle in said zone (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: (“the content controller 259 may calculate adjusted driving information including departure time, average travel speed, and stay time at a rest stop so that a user avoids a time period during which a fringe area occurs, and may control the screen display 260 or the sound outputter 261 to inform the user of the adjusted driving information” and “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to comprehensively guide vehicle operation (e.g., driving speed, departure time, resting points, and bypass route) so that a user may receive desired broadcast content without any problem” and “For example, the navigation device may display the matching map of FIG. 4 for the first time before a user travels, and may control the display to display a route to a destination in a way that road driving is preferred. In this case, the navigation device may control so that distance information to the fringe area 410 and distance information to the rest area 420 are displayed at the same time”)).
Lyu fails to disclose pre-emptively transmitting through the communication network at least one piece of information relating to driving instructions.
However, Roka discloses pre-emptively transmitting through a communication network at least one piece of information relating to driving instructions (Roka (paragraph 17)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified Lyu by incorporating the teachings of Roka in order to allow connected vehicles to have access to timely and accurate data to further assist with traffic navigation, driving directions, and avoidance of road hazards.
Regarding claim 2, the modified invention of Lyu discloses the management method according to claim 1, comprising determining the network coverage level on the approach by using pieces of information on network coverage measurements carried out in the past (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 145, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: “adjusted driving information”).
Regarding claim 3, the modified invention of Lyu discloses the management method according to claim 1, wherein said given level is obtained as a function of a need for network capacity of the connected vehicle (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160: (“reception sensitivity”)).
Regarding claim 4, the modified invention of Lyu discloses the management method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of information relating to the driving instructions comprises a request to change travel speed (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: (“average travel speed”)).
Regarding claim 5, the modified invention of Lyu discloses the management method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of information relating to the driving instructions comprises providing a new itinerary (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: (“travel time calculator for guiding a route”)).
Regarding claim 6, the modified invention of Lyu discloses the management method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of information relating to the driving instructions comprises an instruction to the connected vehicle relating to a driving mode for decreasing needs for network capacity (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160, 167, 172: (“reception sensitivity”)).
Regarding claim 7, the modified invention of Lyu discloses a management device (Fig. 2: (“navigation device 200”)) for managing a method for assisting the movement of a connected vehicle which is able to travel on a road network and able to communicate via a communication network having a variable network coverage level, said management comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon which when executed by the at least one processor configure the management device to: detect when the connected vehicle approaches a zone having a network coverage level which is below a given level; and pre-emptively transmit through the communication network at least one piece of information relating to driving instructions (Roka (paragraph 17)) which are intended for said connected vehicle in said zone (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: (“the content controller 259 may calculate adjusted driving information including departure time, average travel speed, and stay time at a rest stop so that a user avoids a time period during which a fringe area occurs, and may control the screen display 260 or the sound outputter 261 to inform the user of the adjusted driving information” and “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to comprehensively guide vehicle operation (e.g., driving speed, departure time, resting points, and bypass route) so that a user may receive desired broadcast content without any problem” and “For example, the navigation device may display the matching map of FIG. 4 for the first time before a user travels, and may control the display to display a route to a destination in a way that road driving is preferred. In this case, the navigation device may control so that distance information to the fringe area 410 and distance information to the rest area 420 are displayed at the same time”)).
Regarding claim 9, the modified invention of Lyu discloses a non-transitory computer readable data medium on which is recorded a computer program comprising a sequence of instructions for implementing a management method when the sequence of instructions is loaded into and executed by a processor (Fig. 2: (“navigation device 200”)), the management method comprising: assisting movement of a connected vehicle which is able to travel on a road network and able to communicate via a communication network having a variable network coverage level, the assisting comprising: on an approach to a zone having a network coverage level which is below a given level, pre-emptively transmitting at least one piece of information through the communication network relating to driving instructions (Roka (paragraph 17)) which are intended for the connected vehicle in said zone (Fig. 4 and paragraphs 2, 16, 46, 48, 52, 78, 81, 104, 116, 145, 160, 167, 172, 175, 187, 188, 209, 218: (“the content controller 259 may calculate adjusted driving information including departure time, average travel speed, and stay time at a rest stop so that a user avoids a time period during which a fringe area occurs, and may control the screen display 260 or the sound outputter 261 to inform the user of the adjusted driving information” and “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to comprehensively guide vehicle operation (e.g., driving speed, departure time, resting points, and bypass route) so that a user may receive desired broadcast content without any problem” and “For example, the navigation device may display the matching map of FIG. 4 for the first time before a user travels, and may control the display to display a route to a destination in a way that road driving is preferred. In this case, the navigation device may control so that distance information to the fringe area 410 and distance information to the rest area 420 are displayed at the same time”)).
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ remarks filed on June 16, 2026 have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the current rejection.
Applicants’ amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicants are 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Conclusion
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/O.M/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LINDSAY M LOW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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