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 .
This application has been examined. Claims 13-21 are pending.
The prior art submitted on 12/23/24, 10/17/25 and 3/12/26 has been considered.
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.
Claims 13-21, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winner Hermann et al. (EP 2216197 A1, applicant’s IDS translated document) in view of Sato Haruhiko et al. (JP 2017197015 A), applicant’s IDS translated document).
As per claim 13, Winner Hermann et al. disclose moving body capable of carrying an occupant, comprising: a drive device for moving the moving body (see at least [0043-0044] disclose the vehicle 6 and the driver assistance system 5); a control device configured to cause the moving body to travel in a mode in which acceleration or deceleration and steering are automatically performed (see at least [0020-0021], [0061-0062] disclose a speed, acceleration, deceleration, and lane change steering system); and a direction indicator configured to indicate either turning right or left of the moving body (see at least [0030-0032], and [0056], all para. disclose lane change left or right indicator system), wherein the control device controls the drive device to decelerate the moving body in response to an operation performed on the first operator to instruct either the left or right direction, and controls the direction indicator to cause the direction indicator indicating the instructed direction to flicker (see at least [0015], [0043], and [0060-0062], all para. disclose system support to the driver during various driving maneuvers, including an adjustment of the speed of the own vehicle and automatic change of the lane). Winner Hermann et al. do not explicitly disclose a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body. However, a second reference to Sato Haruhiko et al. disclose a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body (see at least [0050-0052] disclose in figure 1 and 4, the operation unit 14). It 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 to modify the teach of Winner Hermann et al. by combining a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body for operator controlling the running state of the vehicle as desired.
As per claim 14, Winner Hermann et al. disclose a detection device for acquiring a situation on at least a moving direction side of the moving body, wherein, when an operation is performed on the first operator to instruct either the left or right direction, the control device generates a target trajectory for causing the moving body to travel in either the instructed left or right direction on the basis of the acquired situation on the moving direction side, controls the drive device to decelerate the moving body, and controls the direction indicator indicating the instructed direction to flicker (see at least [0021] disclose a target acceleration is determined for a driving maneuver; and para. [0030-0032] disclose a deflection of the control element diagonally forward to the left could initiate a driving maneuver to overtake the vehicle previously in front and thus a combination between a lane change to the left and an acceleration of the own vehicle while simultaneously shortening the distance to the vehicle in front).
As per claim 15, Winner Hermann et al. disclose a detection device for acquiring a situation at least on a moving direction side of the moving body, wherein the detection device detects a traveling path candidate along which the moving body travels in either the instructed left or right direction, and the control device performs control so as not to execute the deceleration and the flickering when a distance between the moving body and the traveling path candidate in a longitudinal direction of a traveling path along which the moving body is present is within a first threshold value (see at least [0012-0014] disclose distance control and/or a change in the distance to a predetermined target object; and para. [0016-0018] disclose it is intended that a lane change will only be offered as an option is an evaluation of a rear-facing environmental sensor system shows that the determined risk of collision with other road users is below a predefined risk limit).
As per claim 16, Winner Hermann et al. disclose the detection device detects a traveling path candidate along which the moving body in either the instructed left or right direction will travel, and the control device refers to a speed of the moving body and a target speed obtained from the target trajectory, and performs control so as not to execute the deceleration and flickering when a degree of the deceleration required for the moving body to enter the traveling path candidate on the target trajectory is equal to or greater than a second threshold value (see at least [0017-0021] disclose if the vehicle approaching from behind is traveling at a greater speed, so that it cannot be ruled out that the rear vehicle will collide with the vehicle behind when changing into this lane at the current speed of speed reached during the lane change, the driver assistance system may either not offer to change to this lane or may not carry it out after an offer and a selection by the driver, or may even cancel the change).
As per claim 17, Winner Hermann et al. disclose a detection device for acquiring a situation at least on the moving direction side of the moving body, wherein the detection device detects a traveling path candidate along which the moving body in either the instructed left or right direction will travel, and the control device controls the direction indicator to delay flickering of the direction indicator when a distance between the moving body and the traveling path candidate in a longitudinal direction of the traveling path on which the moving body is present is equal to or greater than a third threshold value, or when another traveling path is present between the moving body and the traveling path candidate (see at least [0021] disclose at least one target parameter is determined as a function of the driving maneuver and is taken into account when activating and carrying out the driving maneuver. If, for example, a target acceleration determined for a diving maneuver in question exceeds a maximum acceleration that can also be specified or a maximum change in acceleration during the journey, the driving maneuver in question can either not be carried out or can be carried out in a modified manner in order to avoid excessive changes in the acceleration of the vehicle).
As per claim 18, Winner Hermann et al. disclose a detection device for acquiring a situation at least on the moving direction side of the moving body, wherein the detection device detects a traveling path candidate along which the moving body in either the instructed left or right direction will travel, and the control device maintains the target trajectory even if the moving body stops due to an intervention of the occupant before the moving body completes entering the traveling path candidate (see at least [0063-0064] disclose the driver assistance system 5 can maintain a serial-sequential assistance mode over long period of time).
As per claim 19, Winner Hermann et al. disclose when the control device fails to identify a traveling path corresponding to the target trajectory during flickering of the direction indicator, the control device identifies the traveling path on the basis of past information of the traveling path corresponding to the target trajectory (see at least [0012-0014] disclose the target braking function can either be selected by the driver as an independent driving maneuver and carried out by the driver assistance system or, as a component of other driving maneuvers).
Claim 20, is a method claim corresponding to a moving body claim 13. Therefore, it is rejected for the same rationales set forth as above.
As per claim 21, Winner Hermann et al. disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program executed by a control device of a moving body including a drive device for moving the moving body capable of carrying an occupant (see at least [0043-0044] disclose the vehicle 6 and the driver assistance system 5); a control device configured to cause the moving body to travel in a mode in which acceleration or deceleration and steering are automatically performed (see at least [0020-0021], [0061-0062] disclose a speed, acceleration, deceleration, and lane change steering system); and a direction indicator configured to indicate either turning right or left of the moving body (see at least [0030-0032], and [0056], all para. disclose lane change left or right indicator system), the program causing the control device controls the drive device to decelerate the moving body in response to an operation performed on the first operator to instruct either the left or right direction, and controls the direction indicator to cause the direction indicator indicating the instructed direction to flicker (see at least [0015], [0043], and [0060-0062], all para. disclose system support to the driver during various driving maneuvers, including an adjustment of the speed of the own vehicle and automatic change of the lane). Winner Hermann et al. do not explicitly disclose a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body. However, a second reference to Sato Haruhiko et al. disclose a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body (see at least [0050-0052] disclose in figure 1 and 4, the operation unit 14). It 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 to modify the teach of Winner Hermann et al. by combining a first operator that is provided on an armrest of the moving body for operator controlling the running state of the vehicle as desired.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
. Oba (US 2024/0034362 A1)
. Otaki et al. (US 2018/0081359 A1)
. Abe et al. (US 2017/0334454 A1)
. Doshi (US 2017/0297588 A1)
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/DALENA TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657