DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to the applicant’s filing on May 26, 2026. Claims 1 – 11 have been amended. Claims 1 – 11 are pending and examined below.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in The Republic of Japan on July 26, 2022.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s response arguments, with regards to claims 1 – 11, filed on May 26, 2026 are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection under the application of Salehi which is necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
Please see detailed rejections below.
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 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 1 – 3, 6, and 8 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2023/0082897 A1 to SALEHI et al. (herein after "Salehi")
(Note: Claim language is in bold typeface, and the Examiner’s comments and cited passages from the prior art reference(s) are in normal typeface.)
As to Claim 1, (Currently Amended)
Salehi’s centralized dispatch towing taxi system of autonomous vehicles discloses a movement control method (see at least Figs.1 - 2,
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Fig. 6 ~ outlines a flowchart describing process method steps wherein a towing taxi guides an autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional and
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see ¶0022 ~ teaches a systems wherein "an automated driving controller… connected to a towing taxi that guides the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional"), comprising:
setting a position toward a first mobile body and a second position that is an evacuation destination of the first mobile body in response to an abnormality occurs in the first mobile body, and setting a first moving route to the position and a second moving route to the evacuation destination (see at least Fig. 6, ¶0005 ~ "In response to determining the autonomous driving system is non-functional, the automated driving controller generates a notification indicating the autonomous driving system is non-functional, where the notification results in the towing taxi being dispatched to a geographical location of the autonomous vehicle"; wherein herein the autonomous vehicle is the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, while the towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body, ¶0022, ¶0049 ~ "the final commands indicate target goals for the autonomous vehicle 10 such as, for example, target position, lane, speed, and distance from other vehicles on the road, and the driving module 100 executes a planning algorithm to determine the set points for the autonomous vehicle 10 based on the target goals", and ¶0051 ~ "raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72, signals from the radar 74, data from the IMU 76, GPS coordinates, or signals from the LiDAR 80");
moving a second mobile body comprising an imaging device to the position based on the first moving route (see at least Figs.2, 6, ¶0005, ¶0050 ~ "the towing controller 62 of the taxi 12 employs a projection based approach instead of the centralized approach. When employing the projection approach, the automated driving, controller 20 first transmits driving limitations to the towing controller 62 of the towing taxi 12... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051); and
moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination based on the second moving route after the second mobile body reaches the position (see at least Figs.2, 6, and ¶0043 ~ "The automated driving controller 20 sends vehicle control commands to the plurality of vehicle systems 24 that guide the autonomous vehicle 10 along the roadway 60 (seen in FIG. 2) based on either the final commands or the sensor and perception data received from the towing controller 62"), wherein the moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the second position evacuation destination comprises
causing the imaging device to capture an image of an area including a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving while remaining the second mobile body within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the evacuation destination. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 3 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, Fig. 6, ¶0047 ~ "in some instances… there may be an interruption in the communication lik 84 between the autonomous vehicle 10 and the towing taxi 12. In response.. The automated driving controller 20 determines… driving maneuvers based on the data", ¶0050 ~ "the automated driving controller 20 requests either raw sensor data or perception data... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051 ~ "examples of raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72... the driving module 100 of the automated driving controller 20 determines one or more driving maneuvers based on the raw sensor data received from the towing taxi 12").
As to Claim 2, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses the movement control method according to claim 1, wherein the moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination comprises:
moving the second mobile body toward the evacuation destination while remaining a distance from the first mobile body within the predetermined distance range (see at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047, and ¶0050 - ¶0051);
causing the imaging device to capture an image of the area while moving the second mobile body toward the evacuation destination (see at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047, and ¶0050 - ¶0051); and
moving the first mobile body so as to follow the second mobile body. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047, and ¶0050 - ¶0051).
As to Claim 3, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses the movement control method according to claim 1,
wherein the moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination comprises
causing the imaging device to capture the image of the area while positioning the second mobile body at a fixed position on the first mobile body that is proceeding toward the evacuation destination. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047, and ¶0050 - ¶0051).
As to Claim 6, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses the movement control method according to claim 1,
wherein the moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination comprises
moving the first mobile body by a remote control device disposed at a position distant from the first mobile body. (See at least Figs. 1 - 2, 6, ¶0036 ~ "towing taxi 12… employ[s]… a centralized approach or a projection approach to guide the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0041 ~ back office system 28 coordinates remote control operations of reported fault codes with the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, and ¶0046).
As to Claim 8, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses a movement control system (see at least Figs.1 - 2, Fig. 6 ~ outlines a flowchart describing process method steps wherein a towing taxi guides an autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional and ¶0022 ~ teaches a systems wherein "an automated driving controller… connected to a towing taxi that guides the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional"), comprising:
a first mobile body (see at least Fig. 1, Fig. 2 ~ illustrates towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body, and ¶0039 ~ "the towing taxi 12 is an automobile… and is any type of land-based or air-based vehicle such as, but not limited to, a truck, a van, or an unmanned aerial vehicle");
a second mobile body (see at least Fig. 2 ~ autonomous vehicle 10 ~ the second mobile body and ¶0039 ~ "the autonomous vehicle 10 is positioned along a roadway 60") comprising
an imaging device (see at least Fig. 2 ~ illustrates towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body having camera 72 wherein autonomous vehicle 10 ~ the second mobile body has camera 32 and ¶0037 ~ second mobile body cameras 32, and ¶0040 ~ first mobile body cameras 72); and
a remote control device, wherein the remote control device sets a position toward a first mobile body and an evacuation destination of the first mobile body in response to an abnormality occurs in the first mobile body (see at least Figs. 1 – 2, ¶0036 ~ "towing taxi 12… employ[s]… a centralized approach or a projection approach to guide the autonomous vehicle 10", ¶0041 ~ back office system 28 coordinates remote control operations of reported fault codes with the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, and ¶0046), and
sets a first moving route to the position and a second moving route to the evacuation destination (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶0049 ~ "the final commands indicate target goals for the autonomous vehicle 10 such as, for example, target position, lane, speed, and distance from other vehicles on the road, and the driving module 100 executes a planning algorithm to determine the set points for the autonomous vehicle 10 based on the target goals"),
the second mobile body moves to the position based on the first moving route in response to the abnormality in the first mobile body (see at least Figs.2, 6, ¶0005 ~ "In response to determining the autonomous driving system is non-functional, the automated driving controller generates a notification indicating the autonomous driving system is non-functional, where the notification results in the towing taxi being dispatched to a geographical location of the autonomous vehicle"; wherein herein the autonomous vehicle is the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, while the towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body. and ¶0049 ~ "the final commands indicate target goals for the autonomous vehicle 10 such as, for example, target position, lane, speed, and distance from other vehicles on the road, and the driving module 100 executes a planning algorithm to determine the set points for the autonomous vehicle 10 based on the target goals"),
the first mobile body and the second mobile body move to the evacuation destination based on the second moving route after the second mobile body reaches the position (see at least Fig.2 and ¶0043 ~ "The automated driving controller 20 sends vehicle control commands to the plurality of vehicle systems 24 that guide the autonomous vehicle 10 along the roadway 60 (seen in FIG. 2) based on either the final commands or the sensor and perception data received from the towing controller 62"), and
the second mobile body causes the imaging device to capture an image of an area including a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving while remaining within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the evacuation destination. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047 ~ "in some instances… there may be an interruption in the communication lik 84 between the autonomous vehicle 10 and the towing taxi 12. In response.. The automated driving controller 20 determines… driving maneuvers based on the data", ¶0050 ~ "the automated driving controller 20 requests either raw sensor data or perception data... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051 ~ "examples of raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72... the driving module 100 of the automated driving controller 20 determines one or more driving maneuvers based on the raw sensor data received from the towing taxi 12").
As to Claim 9, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses a movement control method (see at least Figs.1 - 2, Fig. 6 ~ outlines a flowchart describing process method steps wherein a towing taxi guides an autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional and ¶0022 ~ teaches a systems wherein "an automated driving controller… connected to a towing taxi that guides the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional"), comprising:
moving a second mobile body comprising an imaging device to a first position toward a first mobile body in response to an abnormality in the first mobile body (see at least Figs.2, 6, ¶0005 ~ "In response to determining the autonomous driving system is non-functional, the automated driving controller generates a notification indicating the autonomous driving system is non-functional, where the notification results in the towing taxi being dispatched to a geographical location of the autonomous vehicle"; wherein herein the autonomous vehicle is the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, while the towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body. and ¶0049 ~ "the final commands indicate target goals for the autonomous vehicle 10 such as, for example, target position, lane, speed, and distance from other vehicles on the road, and the driving module 100 executes a planning algorithm to determine the set points for the autonomous vehicle 10 based on the target goals"); and
moving the first mobile body to a second position after the second mobile body reaches the first position (see at least Figs. 2, 6, and ¶0043 ~ "The automated driving controller 20 sends vehicle control commands to the plurality of vehicle systems 24 that guide the autonomous vehicle 10 along the roadway 60 (seen in FIG. 2) based on either the final commands or the sensor and perception data received from the towing controller 62"), wherein the moving the first mobile body to the second position comprises
causing the imaging device to capture an image of an area on a side opposite to a traveling direction of the second mobile body on a moving route of the second mobile body while remaining the second mobile body within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the second position, and the area includes the first mobile body and a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047 ~ "in some instances… there may be an interruption in the communication lik 84 between the autonomous vehicle 10 and the towing taxi 12. In response.. The automated driving controller 20 determines… driving maneuvers based on the data", ¶0050 ~ "the automated driving controller 20 requests either raw sensor data or perception data... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051 ~ "examples of raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72... the driving module 100 of the automated driving controller 20 determines one or more driving maneuvers based on the raw sensor data received from the towing taxi 12").
As to Claim 10, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions (see at least Fig. 7, ¶0024 ~ "a non-transitory computer readable storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions that when executed by the processing circuit perform method operations", and ¶0065 ~ "FIG. 7, a computer program product 400 includes one or more non-transitory computer readable storage mediums 402") that cause a computer to execute:
moving a second mobile body comprising an imaging device to a first position toward a first mobile body in response to an abnormality occurs in the first mobile body (see at least Figs.2, 6, ¶0005, ¶0050 ~ "the towing controller 62 of the taxi 12 employs a projection based approach instead of the centralized approach. When employing the projection approach, the automated driving, controller 20 first transmits driving limitations to the towing controller 62 of the towing taxi 12... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051); and
moving the first mobile body to a second position after the second mobile body reaches the first position, wherein the moving the first mobile body to the second position (see at least Figs. 2, 6, and ¶0043 ~ "The automated driving controller 20 sends vehicle control commands to the plurality of vehicle systems 24 that guide the autonomous vehicle 10 along the roadway 60 (seen in FIG. 2) based on either the final commands or the sensor and perception data received from the towing controller 62") comprises
causing the imaging device to capture an image of an area on a side opposite to a traveling direction of the second mobile body on a moving route of the second mobile body while remaining the second mobile body within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the second position, and the area includes the first mobile body and a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 3 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, Fig. 6, ¶0047 ~ "in some instances… there may be an interruption in the communication lik 84 between the autonomous vehicle 10 and the towing taxi 12. In response.. The automated driving controller 20 determines… driving maneuvers based on the data", ¶0050 ~ "the automated driving controller 20 requests either raw sensor data or perception data... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051 ~ "examples of raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72... the driving module 100 of the automated driving controller 20 determines one or more driving maneuvers based on the raw sensor data received from the towing taxi 12").
As to Claim 11, (Currently Amended)
Salehi discloses a movement control system (see at least Figs.1 - 2, Fig. 6 ~ outlines a flowchart describing process method steps wherein a towing taxi guides an autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional and ¶0022 ~ teaches a systems wherein "an automated driving controller… connected to a towing taxi that guides the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous driving system is non-functional"), comprising:
a first mobile body (see at least Fig. 1, Fig. 2 ~ illustrates towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body, and ¶0039 ~ "the towing taxi 12 is an automobile... and is any type of land-based or air-based vehicle such as, but not limited to, a truck, a van, or an unmanned aerial vehicle"); and
a second mobile body (see at least Fig. 2 ~ autonomous vehicle 10 ~ the second mobile body and ¶0039 ~ "the autonomous vehicle 10 is positioned along a roadway 60") comprising
an imaging device (see at least Fig. 2 ~ illustrates towing taxi 12 ~ the first mobile body having camera 72 wherein autonomous vehicle 10 ~ the second mobile body has camera 32 and ¶0037 ~ second mobile body cameras 32, and ¶0040 ~ first mobile body cameras 72),
wherein the second mobile body moves to a first position toward the first mobile body in response to an abnormality in the first mobile body (see at least ¶0036 ~ "towing taxi 12… employ[s]… a centralized approach or a projection approach to guide the autonomous vehicle 10", ¶0041 ~ back office system 28 coordinates remote control operations of reported fault codes with the autonomous vehicle 10 ~ a second mobile body, and ¶0046),
the first mobile body moves to a second position after the second mobile body reaches the first position (see at least Figs.2, 6, and ¶0043 ~ "The automated driving controller 20 sends vehicle control commands to the plurality of vehicle systems 24 that guide the autonomous vehicle 10 along the roadway 60 (seen in FIG. 2) based on either the final commands or the sensor and perception data received from the towing controller 62"),
the second mobile body causes the imaging device to capture an image of an area on a side opposite to a traveling direction of the second mobile body on a moving route of the second mobile body while remaining within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the second position (see at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047 ~ "in some instances… there may be an interruption in the communication lik 84 between the autonomous vehicle 10 and the towing taxi 12. In response.. The automated driving controller 20 determines… driving maneuvers based on the data", ¶0050 ~ "the automated driving controller 20 requests either raw sensor data or perception data... the towing controller 62 transmits either raw sensor data or perception data to the automated driving controller 20 of the autonomous vehicle 10", and ¶0051 ~ "examples of raw sensor data include, but are not limited to, image data from the camera 72... the driving module 100 of the automated driving controller 20 determines one or more driving maneuvers based on the raw sensor data received from the towing taxi 12"), and
the area includes the first mobile body and a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving. (See at least Fig. 2, Fig. 6 ~ process method steps 306 - 312, ¶0047, and ¶0050 - ¶0051).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 5 and 7 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.
In particular, the available prior art appears to be silent in disclosing wherein a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions that cause a computer to execute:
setting a position toward a first mobile body and an evacuation destination of the first mobile body in response to an abnormality occurs in the first mobile body, and
setting a first moving route to the position and a second moving route to the evacuation destination;
moving a second mobile body comprising an imaging device to the position toward the first mobile body based on the first moving route; and
moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination based on the second moving route after the second mobile body reaches the position, wherein the moving the first mobile body and the second mobile body to the evacuation destination comprises
causing the imaging device to capture an image of an area including a floor surface over which the first mobile body is moving while positioning remaining the second mobile body within a predetermined distance range from the first mobile body until the first mobile body reaches the evacuation destination. Emphasis added.
The prior art does not appear to explicitly teach or disclose the above recited claim limitations.
To that end and although further search and consideration would always need to be performed based upon any submitted amendments by the Applicant, it is the Examiner’s position that incorporating these above recited claim limitations into amended independent claims 1 and 8 – 11 may/might possibly advance prosecution.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASHLEY L. REDHEAD, JR. whose telephone number is (571) 272 - 6952. The examiner can normally be reached on weekdays, Monday through Thursday, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, Peter Nolan can be reached Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 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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/ASHLEY L REDHEAD JR./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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