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 written action is responding to the amendment submitted on 04/22/2026.
Claims 1-2, 4-13 and 15-20 are submitted for examination.
Claims 1, 4-5, 10 and 19 has been amended and all other claims are previously presented.
Claims 3 and 14 has been canceled.
Claims 1-2, 4-13 and 15-20 are pending.
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment filed on 04/22/2026 has claims 1, 4-5, 10 and 19 has been amended, claims 3 and 14 has been canceled, and all other claims are previously presented.
Applicant’s arguments, presented in the remarks dated on 04/22/2026, at pages 9-10, indicates “… Applicant has amended "a authentication failure" in claim 4 to "an authentication failure". Further, the amended claim 1 includes "a privacy storage area", "the privacy storage area" has a proper antecedent basis. Therefore, the objection to claim 4 is overcome.”
Applicant’s argument has been considered and is found persuasive. Therefore, the previous claim objection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, presented in the remarks dated on 04/22/2026, at pages 9-10, indicates “Applicant has added a definition of "the candidate of privacy protection location" of claim 5, therefore, it is clear how a vehicle can be within a candidate of privacy protection location, but without a predetermined privacy protection locating range.”
Applicant’s argument has been considered and is found persuasive. Therefore, the previous claim objection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, presented in the remarks dated on 04/22/2026, at pages 11-13, indicates “Amended claim 1, recited in part "........wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area; the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users; the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users (1); the method further comprising: analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data; sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area (2)." … Examiner states that the combination of Ekchian and Ekstrom does not expressly teach the above highlighted features, but Want teaches the above highlighted features (1), Xu teaches the above highlighted features (2). Applicant respectfully disagrees, and considers that Ekchian, Ekstrom, Want and Xu respectively fail to teach the above highlighted features (1)-(2). … As described above, in Want, the portable device 12 is a local device relative to the remote devices 14. In other words, the data storage module which has the first storage area (public storage area) and the second storage area (private storage area) is a local storage module. Therefore, Want only teaches the locate device contains a public storage area and a private storage area, but fails to teach the remote device contains a public storage area and a private storage area. However, in amended claim 1, the remote device includes a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area is not a local device. Therefore, Want fails to disclose the above highlighted features (1). … As described above, Xu discloses that the data related to the incident can be transmitted to the cloud server and the emergency service providers for handling the incident, which indicates that the data related to the incident is publicly accessible. In other words, Xu merely teaches transmission of the incident-related data to the cloud server and emergency service providers, but Xu does not teach that the data related to the incident is private and may store in a private storage area. Therefore, Xu fails to disclose the above highlighted features (2). Therefore, Ekchian, Ekstrom, Want and Xu respectively fail to teach the above highlighted features (1)-(2), amended claim 1 is patentable above Ekchian, Ekstrom, Want and Xu, the claim rejections to claim 1 is overcome.”
Applicant’s argument has been considered and is found not persuasive. Arguments are not persuasive as follows:
Specifically, Applicant argues that Want do not discloses a remote device comprising the public and private area. However, examiner respectfully disagrees. The portable device disclosed by Want comprises an storage area which is divided in a private area and a public area and has been interpreted as the claimed remote device on independent claim. According to Fig. 1, the portable device is in communication with a PC and a plurality or remote devices, thus, examiner indicates that the portable device could be a local or remote device depending if it’s in communication (connected to) with the PC or the remote device. See Col. 1, lines 50-57; describes the portable device 12 includes a data storage module 18, which defines a first or public storage area 20, and a second or private storage area 22. In FIG. 2, an example is shown in which the portable device 12 communicates with a remote device 14 at a particular locality such as a vendor booth (e.g., a booth at a trade show or the like which broad casts data relating to products and/or services), and a remote device 14 at a different locality such as a doctor's office (in which confidential medical information may be exchanged). Therefore, Want discloses the claimed amended feature on independent claim 1, “wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area; the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users; the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users”. See rejection below for further details.
Xu discloses an incident detection and reporting system and method where a vehicle using a plurality of cameras and sensors installed, received a signal to detect and determining if an accident occurred. If it is determined that the incident/accident occurred, the collected information is sent to a remote storage and to an emergency service provider. Specifically, Parag. [0005-0006] teaches the claimed feature, “analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data”; and Parag. [0011] and [0064] teaches, “sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area.” Therefore, Xu discloses the featured amended limitations. See rejection below.
Finally, Examiner respectfully submits that the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu discloses the claimed features disclosed at independent claim 1.
Applicant’s arguments, presented in the remarks dated on 04/22/2026, at pages 13-16, indicates “… Applicant respectfully disagrees, and considers that Ekchian and Ekstrom and, Chhajer fail to teach these features, and further fail to teach the above highlighted features which includes these highlighted features. … As described above, in Chhajer, its object is to remove the determined location data from the trip data. Chhajer can receive the user input a privacy level indicating a privacy level associated with the trip data, and remove corresponding location data from the trip data (such as start and end points of vehicle trips, a frequency of trips, a time spent at a location, a route followed during a trip, and so on). In other words, the privacy level enables the system to select associated trip data directly to remove rather than prompting a use to set such data via the privacy level. In contrast, in amended claim 10, when the current location of the vehicle belongs to the candidate privacy protection location, the system outputs setting information on a user terminal to prompt a user to set the predetermined privacy protection locating range based on the current location, Stated differently, that is candidate privacy protection location is not selected by the system to set as the predetermined privacy protection locating range, instead, the user is responsible for setting such a range. … Accordingly, in Chhajer, an undetermined location (candidate privacy protection location), when to be converted into a determined location (the predetermined privacy protection locating range) is directly set by the system, rather than being displayed to the user for selection and configuration, which is different from that in the amended claim 1, therefore, Chhajer fails to teach the above highlighted features. Therefore, amended claim 10 is patentable above Ekchian and Ekstrom and, Chhajer, the claim rejections to claim 1 is overcome.”
Applicant’s argument has been considered and is found persuasive. Therefore, the previous prior-art rejection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, presented in the remarks dated on 04/22/2026, at page 16, indicates “Amended claim 19 also includes the above highlighted feature of amended claim 10, Based on the same reasoning, amended claim 19 is patentable above Ekchian and Ekstrom and, Chhajer, the claim rejections to claim 1 is overcome.”
Applicant’s argument has been considered and is found persuasive. Therefore, the previous prior-art rejection is withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 17 depends on canceled claim 14. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ekchian et al. (US 2025/0111704; with the corresponding PCT Application, PCT/US2023/010896, filed on Jan. 17, 2023), hereinafter as Ekchian, in view of Ekström et al. (US 10,542,118), hereinafter as Ekström and further in view of Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want and Xu et al. (US 2020/0027333), hereinafter as Xu.
As per Claim 1, Ekchian teaches a method for protecting privacy data of a vehicle (Ekchian, Abstract; “A location of the vehicle may also be determined. If the location is within a data protection zone or in a data protection road segment, the exchange of the vehicle related information may be avoided or curtailed to protect the anonymity of the vehicle and/or its occupants.”), comprising:
obtaining current sensing data of the vehicle (Ekchian, Parag. [0004]; “The method may include: collecting data based on measurements with a sensor onboard the vehicle traveling on a road surface”);
determining whether a current location of the vehicle is within a predetermined privacy protection locating range (Ekchian, Parag. [0004]; “determining whether the location is within a predetermined data protection zone.” … Parag. [0031]; “The method includes determining the location of the vehicle using GNSS (52), determining if the vehicle is traveling in a data protected zone or on a data protected road segment (54), if yes, restricting the uploading of certain information to the remote database, if no, exchanging location and/or road information with the remote database (56), if yes, using information stored onboard the vehicle for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle, if no, using the information from the remote database for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle (58).”);
when the current location of the vehicle is not within the predetermined privacy protection locating range (Ekchian, Parag. [0004]; “determining whether the location is within a predetermined data protection zone.” … Parag. [0031]; “The method includes determining the location of the vehicle using GNSS (52), determining if the vehicle is traveling in a data protected zone or on a data protected road segment (54), if yes, restricting the uploading of certain information to the remote database, if no, exchanging location and/or road information with the remote database (56), if yes, using information stored onboard the vehicle for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle, if no, using the information from the remote database for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle (58).”), [determining the current sensing data to be non-private data and uploading the current sensing data to one or more remote devices of the vehicle]; and
when the current location of the vehicle is within the predetermined privacy protection locating range (Ekchian, Parag. [0004]; “determining a location of the vehicle when the data is being collected; determining whether the location is within a predetermined data protection zone.” … Parag. [0007]; “The method may include: using GNSS to determine an approximate location of the vehicle; determining whether the approximate location is in a predetermined data protection zone or on a data protection road segment” … Parag. [0031]; “The method includes determining the location of the vehicle using GNSS (52), determining if the vehicle is traveling in a data protected zone or on a data protected road segment (54), if yes, restricting the uploading of certain information to the remote database, if no, exchanging location and/or road information with the remote database (56), if yes, using information stored onboard the vehicle for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle, if no, using the information from the remote database for terrain-based localization and/or controlling a system onboard the vehicle (58).”), [determining the current sensing data to be private data and only saving the current sensing data to a local device of the vehicle];
wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area;
the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users;
the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users;
the method further comprising:
analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data;
sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area.
Ekchian does not expressly teach:
… determining the current sensing data to be non-private data and uploading the current sensing data to one or more remote devices of the vehicle; and
… determining the current sensing data to be private data and only saving the current sensing data to a local device of the vehicle;
wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area;
the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users;
the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users; the method further comprising:
analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data;
sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area.
However, Ekström teaches:
… determining the current sensing data to be non-private data and uploading the current sensing data to one or more remote devices of the vehicle (Ekström, Col. 4, lines 37-46; “Computing devices 100, 270, 280 may be further in communication with one or more repositories or data sources or databases, such as database(s) 265, to obtain, communicate, store, and maintain any amount and type of data (e.g., sensed/detected data, private IoT data, non-private IoT data, data tables, data maps, media, metadata, templates, real-time data, historical contents, user and/or device identification tags and other information, resources, policies, criteria, rules, regulations, upgrades, profiles, preferences, configurations, etc.)”. … Col. 6, lines 19-29; “In one embodiment, one or more sensors/detectors of a sensor array of capturing/sensing components 231 may be used to sense or detect various scenarios or portions of data relating to the user, property, device (i.e., vehicle), etc., from the aforementioned data so that determination may be as to whether a scenario is to be regarded as private/sensitive or non-private/non-sensitive. As will be further described by classifying various portions of data as private or non-private, merely the non-private data may be sent over to remote processing device 280 for further processing, while private data may be processed locally at computing device 100.” … Col. 21, lines 60-64; “wherein the IoT devices includes one or more of smart household devices, smart office devices, smart medical devices, smart police devices, smart traffic devices, smart vehicle devices, smart building devices, and smart scientific devices.”)
… determining the current sensing data to be private data and only saving the current sensing data to a local device of the vehicle (Ekström, Col. 4, lines 37-46; “Computing devices 100, 270, 280 may be further in communication with one or more repositories or data sources or databases, such as database(s) 265, to obtain, communicate, store, and maintain any amount and type of data (e.g., sensed/detected data, private IoT data, non-private IoT data, data tables, data maps, media, metadata, templates, real-time data, historical contents, user and/or device identification tags and other information, resources, policies, criteria, rules, regulations, upgrades, profiles, preferences, configurations, etc.).” … Col. 6, lines 19-29; “In one embodiment, one or more sensors/detectors of a sensor array of capturing/sensing components 231 may be used to sense or detect various scenarios or portions of data relating to the user, property, device (i.e., vehicle), etc., from the aforementioned data so that determination may be as to whether a scenario is to be regarded as private/sensitive or non-private/non-sensitive. As will be further described by classifying various portions of data as private or non-private, merely the non-private data may be sent over to remote processing device 280 for further processing, while private data may be processed locally at computing device 100.” … Col. 21, lines 60-64; “wherein the IoT devices includes one or more of smart household devices, smart office devices, smart medical devices, smart police devices, smart traffic devices, smart vehicle devices, smart building devices, and smart scientific devices.”)
Ekchian and Ekström are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and vehicle data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Ekström system into Ekchian system, with a motivation to provide a method to classify data collected by the sensors as private and non-private (Ekström, Col. 6, lines 19-29).
The combination of Ekchian and Ekström does not expressly teach:
wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area;
the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users;
the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users;
the method further comprising:
analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data;
sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area.
However, Want teaches:
wherein the remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area (Want, Abstract; “The controller controls the communication of data between the first storage area and the remote device, and the second storage area and the remote device dependent upon access rights associated with the remote device. The first storage area typically defines a public storage area with which data is exchanged in a relatively free manner, and the second storage area typically defines a private storage area with which data is exchanged in a relatively restricted manner.” … Col.1, lines 50-57; “As described in more detail below, the portable device 12 includes a data storage module 18, which defines a first or public storage area 20, and a second or private storage area 22. In use, data is selectively exchanged in a locality between the remote devices 14 and the public and private storage areas 20, 22 respectively dependent upon access rights afforded by the portable device 12 to each particular remote device 14.” Examiner submits: for examination purposes, the data storage module with the first or public storage area and the second or private storage corresponds to the claimed remote device comprises a privacy storage area and a non-privacy storage area.);
the privacy storage area is accessible to a first group of users and not accessible to a second group of users (Want, Abstract; “The controller controls the communication of data between the first storage area and the remote device, and the second storage area and the remote device dependent upon access rights associated with the remote device. The first storage area typically defines a public storage area with which data is exchanged in a relatively free manner, and the second storage area typically defines a private storage area with which data is exchanged in a relatively restricted manner.” … Col. 1, lines 50-57; “As described in more detail below, the portable device 12 includes a data storage module 18, which defines a first or public storage area 20, and a second or private storage area 22. In use, data is selectively exchanged in a locality between the remote devices 14 and the public and private storage areas 20, 22 respectively dependent upon access rights afforded by the portable device 12 to each particular remote device 14.” … Col. 3, lines 3-9; “In FIG. 2, an example is shown in which the portable device 12 communicates with a remote device 14 at a particular locality such as a vendor booth (e.g., a booth at a trade show or the like which broad casts data relating to products and/or services), and a remote device 14 at a different locality such as a doctor's office (in which confidential medical information may be exchanged).” … Col. 3, lines 56-63; “Dependent upon the classification of the remote device 14, and the services it offers, the portable device 12 determines access rights which the remote device may have to the public and private storage areas 20, 22 respectively. Example classifications include private requests (e.g., medical services, banking services, or the like) and public requests (e.g., vendor services, movie theaters, or the like)”. Col. 4, lines 65-67; “ data exchanged between the remote devices 14 and the private storage area 22 takes place in a more restricted manner”. Col. 6, lines 1-4, “Each particular storage area may have its own access rights which, under control of the controller 36, would be accessible to a remote device 14 with the appropriate classification or access rights”. Examiner submits that the users of the device classification for medical or banking service belong to the first group and the users of the device classification for vendor services, for example, belong to the claimed second group.);
the non-privacy storage area is accessible to the first group of users and the second group of users (Want, Col.1, lines 50-57; “As described in more detail below, the portable device 12 includes a data storage module 18, which defines a first or public storage area 20, and a second or private storage area 22. In use, data is selectively exchanged in a locality between the remote devices 14 and the public and private storage areas 20, 22 respectively dependent upon access rights afforded by the portable device 12 to each particular remote device 14.” … Col. 3, lines 3-9; “In FIG. 2, an example is shown in which the portable device 12 communicates with a remote device 14 at a particular locality such as a vendor booth (e.g., a booth at a trade show or the like which broad casts data relating to products and/or services), and a remote device 14 at a different locality such as a doctor's office (in which confidential medical information may be exchanged).” … Col. 3, lines 56-63; “Dependent upon the classification of the remote device 14, and the services it offers, the portable device 12 determines access rights which the remote device may have to the public and private storage areas 20, 22 respectively. Example classifications include private requests (e.g., medical services, banking services, or the like) and public requests (e.g., vendor services, movie theaters, or the like)”. Col. 4, lines 65-67; “ data exchanged between the remote devices 14 and the private storage area 22 takes place in a more restricted manner”. Col 5, lines 53-56; “Dependent upon this classification and the associated access rights, the remote device 14 may access the private storage area 22 and/or the public storage area 20”. Col. 6, lines 1-4, “Each particular storage area may have its own access rights which, under control of the controller 36, would be accessible to a remote device 14 with the appropriate classification or access rights”. Examiner submits that any user (first or second group) of the remote device can access the public storage area.);
Ekchian, Ekström and Want are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Want system into Ekchian-Ekström system, with a motivation to provide a storage with different levels of access (Want, Abstract).
The combination of Ekchian, Ekström and Want does not expressly teach:
analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data;
sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area.
However, Xu teaches:
analyzing whether the privacy data contains emergency incident data (Xu, Parag. [0005]; “An example automatic traffic incident detection and reporting system for a vehicle according to the present disclosure may include at least one of a plurality of cameras and a plurality of proximity sensors, an incident determination unit, a remote vehicle position determination unit, and a communication unit. The incident determination unit is configured to receive signals from the at least one of the plurality of cameras and the plurality of proximity sensors, detect whether incident involving at least one remote vehicle has occurred, and categorize the incident.” … Parag. [0006]; “The incident determination unit may be configured analyze images from the plurality of cameras to determine whether the incident is a traffic accident.”);
sending the emergency incident data to the remote device when the privacy data containing the emergency incident data, and saving the emergency incident data in the privacy storage area (Xu, Parag. [0011]; “The automatic traffic incident detection and reporting system may further include a data transmission system configured to transmit data to the cloud server. The communication unit may be configured to transmit the incident location and incident category to the data transmission system, and the data transmission system may be configured to communicate the incident location and incident category to the cloud server.” … Parag. [0064]; “The incident information data may be stored in the cloud 60 long-term”).
Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for handling user privacy and protection on data related to traffic accident when transmitting and/or storing the data.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xu system into Ekchian-Ekström-Want system so that the remote device, and storing and retrieving of the incident data in a relatively restricted manner between the second storage area, which defines a private data storage area, and the remote device, with a motivation to provide a method for identifying incident data and storing it in a secure cloud server/database (Xu, Parag. [0005-0011).
As per claim 4, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu teaches the method of claim 1. Want teaches sending an authentication request to a user terminal when receiving an access instruction from the user terminal to access the privacy storage area (Want, Col. 5, lines 21-30; “Once a secure communication link has been established, another algorithm, such as a triple-DES algorithm that is less computationally expensive, may be used. Thereafter, the portable device 12 requests a digital certificate of authenticity (e.g., an X.509 certificate of authenticity) from the remote device 14 as shown at step 114. If the service provided by the remote device 14 is authenticated (see step 116), the method 110 allows the remote device 14 to access the private storage area 22 as shown at step 118.” Examiner submits that authentication request is received as requesting a certificate of authenticity from the remote device to access the private area.);
when receiving the authentication information entered by the user terminal in response to the authentication request, analyzing authentication information to obtain an authentication result, which comprises an authentication success or an authentication failure (Want, Fig. 4 and Col. 5, lines 21-30; “Once a secure communication link has been established, another algorithm, such as a triple-DES algorithm that is less computationally expensive, may be used. Thereafter, the portable device 12 requests a digital certificate of authenticity (e.g., an X.509 certificate of authenticity) from the remote device 14 as shown at step 114. If the service provided by the remote device 14 is authenticated (see step 116), the method 110 allows the remote device 14 to access the private storage area 22 as shown at step 118”. Examiner submits that step 116 of Fig. 4 shows either the successful authentication or authentication failure);
granting the user terminal to access the privacy storage area when the authentication result is the authentication success (Want, Col. 5, lines 21-30; “Once a secure communication link has been established, another algorithm, such as a triple-DES algorithm that is less computationally expensive, may be used. Thereafter, the portable device 12 requests a digital certificate of authenticity (e.g., an X.509 certificate of authenticity) from the remote device 14 as shown at step 114. If the service provided by the remote device 14 is authenticated (see step 116), the method 110 allows the remote device 14 to access the private storage area 22 as shown at step 118.”);
refusing the user terminal to access the privacy storage area when the authentication result is the authentication failure (Want, Fig. 4 and Col. 5, lines 21-30; “Once a secure communication link has been established, another algorithm, such as a triple-DES algorithm that is less computationally expensive, may be used. Thereafter, the portable device 12 requests a digital certificate of authenticity (e.g., an X.509 certificate of authenticity) from the remote device 14 as shown at step 114. If the service provided by the remote device 14 is authenticated (see step 116), the method 110 allows the remote device 14 to access the private storage area 22 as shown at step 118.” Examiner submits that step 116 of Fig. 4 shows authentication failure (i.e. “NO” result in element 116 of Fig. 4) does not lead to access to the private storage area).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ekchian et al. (US 2025/0111704; with the corresponding PCT Application, PCT/US2023/010896, filed on Jan. 17, 2023), hereinafter as Ekchian and in view of Ekström et al. (US 10,542,118), hereinafter as Ekström, Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want and Xu et al. (US 2020/0027333), hereinafter as Xu, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Sun et al. (US 2023/0315277), hereinafter as Sun.
As per claim 2, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu does not expressly teach:
planning a region centered on a privacy address with a radius of a predetermined distance when the privacy address inputted by a user is received;
setting the region as the predetermined privacy protection locating range.
However, Sun teaches:
planning a region centered on a privacy address with a radius of a predetermined distance when the privacy address inputted by a user is received (Sun, Parag. [0026]; “when the target application requests the location information, the terminal device determines and selects geographic coordinates or a coordinate range from the region that is not smudged by the user’s finger as the location information provided for the target application. In this way, if it is not expected that the application can obtain location information of a specific region, such as a home address (i.e., privacy address), the user may smudge the corresponding region on the map, such that the application cannot obtain sensitive address information of the user, which helps protect user privacy.” … Parag. [0027]; “In an optional implementation, the map window is displayed in full screen on a display of the terminal device.” … Parag. [0029]; “the terminal device determines a radius R based on the location information precision for the target application; the terminal device establishes a two-dimensional planar coordinate system by using a center point of a display as a coordinate origin; the terminal device selects any coordinate point as a center from a region of which a coordinate range is within (±NR, ±NR) in the two-dimensional planar coordinate system, to determine a circular region with the radius R, where N is a real number greater than or equal to 1; the terminal device determines whether the actual location is within the circular region; and if the actual location is within the circular region, the terminal device uses a coordinate range of the circular region as the location information provided for the target application; or if the actual location is outside the circular region, the terminal device reselects the circular region. In this way, the terminal device randomly generates location information based on a location information precision, which can prevent an application from reversely calculating the actual location of the terminal device, and more reliably protect user privacy.” … Parag. [0031]; “According to the foregoing technical solution, the terminal device adds an interactive element for adjusting a privacy precision for an application in a privacy settings page of the application, so that the user can set, according to their own will, a precision for privacy information provided by the terminal device for the application. In this way, a specific precision of privacy information that can be obtained by the application is under the control of the user, thereby preventing the application from excessively obtaining privacy information against the will of the user or without the knowledge of the user, and reducing a risk of disclosure of privacy information of the user.” … Parag. [0033]; “In an optional implementation, the slider includes a plurality of stops, the plurality of stops are distributed at intervals on the slider, and each stop corresponds to one preset privacy precision; and when the program instructions are executed by the processor, the terminal device is enabled to specifically implement the following method steps: moving the knob to a first target stop in response to the operation of dragging the knob by the user; and determining the preset privacy precision corresponding to the first target stop as the privacy precision for the target application. In this way, the terminal device allows the user to set the privacy precision for the application to any preset privacy precision by operating the slider assembly, and the operation is simple, intuitive, and convenient, and helps reduce learning costs of the user’s operation.” … Parag. [0039]; “In an optional implementation, the privacy information includes location information, the privacy settings page includes a location information settings page, and the privacy precision includes a location information precision; and the location information settings page further includes a map window, the map window includes a map of a region around an actual location of the terminal device, and the map includes a marker used to indicate the actual location. In this way, the terminal device adds an interactive element for adjusting a location information precision for an application in a location information settings page of the application, so that the user can set, according to their own will, a precision for location information provided by the terminal device for the application. A specific precision of location information that can be obtained by the application is under the control of the user, thereby preventing the application from excessively obtaining location information against the will of the user or without the knowledge of the user, and reducing a risk of disclosure of location information of the user.” … Parag. [0107]; “After the operating system opens the privacy information interface, the applications may obtain very precise privacy information. In an example of location information, with relatively good positioning conditions, location information obtained by the terminal device may be a geographic coordinate value or a coordinate range, a longitude and latitude value or a longitude and latitude range, or the like with a precision of a dozen or even several meters. However, some applications do not require particularly precise privacy information to satisfy their service requirements. Still in the example of location information, navigation and ride-hailing applications have high requirements on a precision of location information. Otherwise, route planning may be inaccurate, and an online ride-hailing driver may not successfully find a passenger”. Parag. [0112]; “The method according to the embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to ….. a vehicle-mounted intelligent terminal, or the like”.);
setting the region as the predetermined privacy protection locating range (Sun, Parag. [0026]; “when the target application requests the location information, the terminal device determines and selects geographic coordinates or a coordinate range from the region that is not smudged by the user’s finger as the location information provided for the target application. In this way, if it is not expected that the application can obtain location information of a specific region, such as a home address, the user may smudge the corresponding region on the map, such that the application cannot obtain sensitive address information of the user, which helps protect user privacy.” … Parag. [0027]; “In an optional implementation, the map window is displayed in full screen on a display of the terminal device.” … Parag. [0029]; “the terminal device determines a radius R based on the location information precision for the target application; the terminal device establishes a two-dimensional planar coordinate system by using a center point of a display as a coordinate origin; the terminal device selects any coordinate point as a center from a region of which a coordinate range is within (±NR, ±NR) in the two-dimensional planar coordinate system, to determine a circular region with the radius R, where N is a real number greater than or equal to 1; the terminal device determines whether the actual location is within the circular region; and if the actual location is within the circular region, the terminal device uses a coordinate range of the circular region as the location information provided for the target application; or if the actual location is outside the circular region, the terminal device reselects the circular region. In this way, the terminal device randomly generates location information based on a location information precision, which can prevent an application from reversely calculating the actual location of the terminal device, and more reliably protect user privacy.” … Parag. [0031]; “According to the foregoing technical solution, the terminal device adds an interactive element for adjusting a privacy precision for an application in a privacy settings page of the application, so that the user can set, according to their own will, a precision for privacy information provided by the terminal device for the application. In this way, a specific precision of privacy information that can be obtained by the application is under the control of the user, thereby preventing the application from excessively obtaining privacy information against the will of the user or without the knowledge of the user, and reducing a risk of disclosure of privacy information of the user.” … Parag. [0033]; “In an optional implementation, the slider includes a plurality of stops, the plurality of stops are distributed at intervals on the slider, and each stop corresponds to one preset privacy precision; and when the program instructions are executed by the processor, the terminal device is enabled to specifically implement the following method steps: moving the knob to a first target stop in response to the operation of dragging the knob by the user; and determining the preset privacy precision corresponding to the first target stop as the privacy precision for the target application. In this way, the terminal device allows the user to set the privacy precision for the application to any preset privacy precision by operating the slider assembly, and the operation is simple, intuitive, and convenient, and helps reduce learning costs of the user’s operation.” … Parag. [0039]; “In an optional implementation, the privacy information includes location information, the privacy settings page includes a location information settings page, and the privacy precision includes a location information precision; and the location information settings page further includes a map window, the map window includes a map of a region around an actual location of the terminal device, and the map includes a marker used to indicate the actual location. In this way, the terminal device adds an interactive element for adjusting a location information precision for an application in a location information settings page of the application, so that the user can set, according to their own will, a precision for location information provided by the terminal device for the application. A specific precision of location information that can be obtained by the application is under the control of the user, thereby preventing the application from excessively obtaining location information against the will of the user or without the knowledge of the user, and reducing a risk of disclosure of location information of the user.” … Parag. [0107]; “After the operating system opens the privacy information interface, the applications may obtain very precise privacy information. In an example of location information, with relatively good positioning conditions, location information obtained by the terminal device may be a geographic coordinate value or a coordinate range, a longitude and latitude value or a longitude and latitude range, or the like with a precision of a dozen or even several meters. However, some applications do not require particularly precise privacy information to satisfy their service requirements. Still in the example of location information, navigation and ride-hailing applications have high requirements on a precision of location information. Otherwise, route planning may be inaccurate, and an online ride-hailing driver may not successfully find a passenger”. Parag. [0112]; “The method according to the embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to ….. a vehicle-mounted intelligent terminal, or the like”.)
Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu and Sun are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and vehicle data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Sun system into Ekchian-Ekström-Want-Xu system, with a motivation to provide a method where the user can set a location with an specific level of privacy (Sun, Parag. [0029-0033]).
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ekchian et al. (US 2025/0111704; with the corresponding PCT Application, PCT/US2023/010896, filed on Jan. 17, 2023), hereinafter as Ekchian and in view of Ekström et al. (US 10,542,118), hereinafter as Ekström, Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want and Xu et al. (US 2020/0027333), hereinafter as Xu, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Chhajer et al. (US 12,150,012), hereinafter as Chhajer.
As per claim 6, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu teaches the method according to claim 1.
Ekchian teaches further comprising:
obtaining the current location of the vehicle (Ekchian, Parag. [0007]; “The method may include: using GNSS to determine an approximate location of the vehicle.” … Parag. [0016]; “This uploaded information may include, but is not limited to, the vehicle's estimated current location (e.g., based on geocoordinates obtained from an onboard GNSS receiver)”);
determining whether the current location of the vehicle meets a predetermined privacy protection condition (Ekchian, Parag. [0007]; “determining whether the approximate location is in a predetermined data protection zone or on a data protection road segment.”);
[setting the current location of the vehicle as a privacy protection location when the current location of the vehicle meeting the predetermined privacy protection condition and is not among in existed privacy protection locations].
The combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu does not expressly teach:
setting the current location of the vehicle as a privacy protection location when the current location of the vehicle meeting the predetermined privacy protection condition and is not among in existed privacy protection locations.
However, Chhajer teaches:
setting the current location of the vehicle as a privacy protection location when the current location of the vehicle meeting the predetermined privacy protection condition and is not among in existed privacy protection locations (Chhajer, Col. 6, lines 7-14; “… In some instances, locations where the user may dwell or stay for periods longer than a threshold may be considered as sensitive or significant locations. Typically, start and end locations of the trips may be considered as sensitive or significant locations for the user. User's home or office location may be included in such locations”. Col. 12, lines 3-19; “At 504, a user input may be received. The system 102 may receive the user input that includes or indicates a privacy level associated with the trip data. In accordance with an embodiment, the mobile device 106 or a display of the vehicle 104 may include a setting UI (not shown) for data privacy. The user may select the privacy level from a set of privacy levels via the setting UI. In accordance with an embodiment, the privacy level may be selected via the setting UI in response to a prompt to update the data privacy for the trip data. For the user associated with the vehicle 104, the privacy level may indicate a level of sensitivity of a location or a geofence around the location (i.e., a corresponding privacy level for a location that does not appear in previous trip/location data). By way of example, and not limitation, the privacy level may be one of a first level, a second level, or a third level. The level of sensitivity may increase from the first level to the second level and from the second level to the third level.”).
Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu and Chhajer are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chhajer system into Ekchian-Ekström-Want-Xu system, with a motivation to provide a method where a user selects and set a privacy location based on a privacy level (Chhajer, Col. 12, lines 3-19).
As per claim 7, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu and Chhajer teach the method according to claim 6. Chhajer further teaches wherein the predetermined privacy protection condition is set according to types of place (Chhajer, Col. 6, lines 1-13; “The user may use the infotainment system of the vehicle 104 or the mobile device 106 to select the privacy level. The privacy level may correspond to a level of sensitivity of a location or a geofence around the location for the user associated with the vehicle 104. In some instances, locations where the user may dwell or stay for periods longer than a threshold may be considered as sensitive or significant locations. Typically, start and end locations of the trips may be considered as sensitive or significant locations for the user. User's home or office location may be included in such locations.”).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ekchian et al. (US 2025/0111704; with the corresponding PCT Application, PCT/US2023/010896, filed on Jan. 17, 2023), hereinafter as Ekchian and in view of Ekström et al. (US 10,542,118), hereinafter as Ekström, Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want and Xu et al. (US 2020/0027333), hereinafter as Xu, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Chhajer et al. (US 12,150,012), hereinafter as Chhajer and Ewert (US 11,807,242).
As per claim 9, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu teach the method according to claim 1.
Ekström teaches wherein the current sensing data is acquired by a plurality of sensors (Ekström, Col. 6, lines 19-29; “In one embodiment, one or more sensors/detectors of a sensor array of capturing/sensing components 231 may be used to sense or detect various scenarios or portions of data relating to the user, property, device (i.e., vehicle), etc., from the aforementioned data so that determination may be as to whether a scenario is to be regarded as private/sensitive or non-private/non-sensitive. As will be further described by classifying various portions of data as private or non-private, merely the non-private data may be sent over to remote processing device 280 for further processing, while private data may be processed locally at computing device 100.”);
the combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want and Xu does not teach the method further comprising:
determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a first-level privacy protection range, or a second-level privacy protection range;
controlling some of the sensors in the plurality of sensors to turn off when the current location of the vehicle belonging to the first-level privacy protection range, and controlling the remaining part of the plurality of sensors to work; and
controlling all the plurality of sensors to work when the current location of the vehicle belonging to the second-level of the privacy protection range.
However, Chhajer teaches:
determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a first-level privacy protection range, or a second-level privacy protection range (Chhajer, Col. 6, line 1-18; “At any time-instant, the system 102 may receive a user input that includes a privacy level associated with the trip data. The user may use the infotainment system of the vehicle 104 or the mobile device 106 to select the privacy level. The privacy level may correspond to a level of sensitivity of a location or a geofence around the location for the user associated with the vehicle 104. In some instances, locations where the user may dwell or stay for periods longer than a threshold may be considered as sensitive or significant locations. Typically, start and end locations of the trips may be considered as sensitive or significant locations for the user. User's home or office location may be included in such locations. In accordance with an embodiment, the level of sensitivity may be one of a first level, a second level, or a third level, and may increase from the first level to the second level and from the second level to the third level. In other words, higher the privacy level, higher may be the level of sensitivity.”)
Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu and Chhajer are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chhajer system into Ekchian-Ekström-Want-Xu system, with a motivation to provide a method where a user selects and set a privacy location based on a privacy level (Chhajer, Col. 12, lines 3-19).
The combination of Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu and Chhajer does not expressly teach:
controlling some of the sensors in the plurality of sensors to turn off when the current location of the vehicle belonging to the first-level privacy protection range, and controlling the remaining part of the plurality of sensors to work; and
controlling all the plurality of sensors to work when the current location of the vehicle belonging to the second-level of the privacy protection range.
However, Ewert teaches:
controlling some of the sensors in the plurality of sensors to turn off when the current location of the vehicle …, and controlling the remaining part of the plurality of sensors to work (Ewert, Col. 8, lines 52-61; “According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the at least one sensor is activated, deactivated and/or set to a standby mode as a function of a performance of the trajectory planning and/or of a deviation of an actual position from a setpoint position. Through this, the switching-on and switching-off of the surround sensors of the vehicle may be self-regulated in light of a currently available performance of the trajectory planning and/or of the control of the vehicle actuators and/or of the automated driving function.” … Col. 9, lines 20-30; “In a further specific embodiment of the present invention, the artificial intelligence may be coupled to a feature map. With the aid of a highly precise vehicle position on the feature map, particular surround sensors of the vehicle may be deactivated as a function of the current vehicle position. For example, in residential areas, imaging sensors may be deactivated on the part of the vehicle, in order to ensure the privacy data protection of the pedestrians and residents. This is possible, since the vehicle moves slowly in the residential area, and effective performance of the automated driving is also possible without these sensors.”); and
controlling all the plurality of sensors to work when the current location of the vehicle … (Ewert, Col. 8, lines 52-61; “According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the at least one sensor is activated, deactivated and/or set to a standby mode as a function of a performance of the trajectory planning and/or of a deviation of an actual position from a setpoint position. Through this, the switching-on and switching-off of the surround sensors of the vehicle may be self-regulated in light of a currently available performance of the trajectory planning and/or of the control of the vehicle actuators and/or of the automated driving function.” … Col. 9, lines 20-30; “In a further specific embodiment of the present invention, the artificial intelligence may be coupled to a feature map. With the aid of a highly precise vehicle position on the feature map, particular surround sensors of the vehicle may be deactivated as a function of the current vehicle position. For example, in residential areas, imaging sensors may be deactivated on the part of the vehicle, in order to ensure the privacy data protection of the pedestrians and residents. This is possible, since the vehicle moves slowly in the residential area, and effective performance of the automated driving is also possible without these sensors.”).
While Ewert does not expressly teaches the claimed privacy level of the protection range, however the combination of Chhajer and Ewert makes the particular feature claim obvious under the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI).
Ekchian, Ekström, Want, Xu, Chhajer and Ewert are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method for provide an enhance method for user privacy and data protection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Ewert system into Ekchian-Ekström-Want-Xu-Chhajer- system, with a motivation to provide a method for controlling the activation/deactivation of vehicle sensors according to a location (Ewert, Col. 8, lines 52-61).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Dependent claim recites, “… the candidate privacy protection location is selected from locations that are not set as the privacy protection location by the user but are set as the privacy protection location by other users, and from locations determined based on the user's habits of the privacy protection location set by the user”. The claimed feature provides further clarification on how a candidate privacy protection is selected. See item 28 for closest prior-art of record.
Dependent claim 8 would be allowable if claim 5 is rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Updated search has been conducted on the claims amendment and yielded the following pertinent reference(s):
Sly, et al. (US 2011/0072034): the invention relates to a location database configured to store a set of subjective, arbitrary, and/or ephemeral names assigned to a location by various users. When a user of a device arrives at a particular location, the device may retrieve and present to the user the set of names assigned to the location. Moreover, the names may be associated with a privacy designation, which may permit an author of a location name to indicate whether the name of a location should be shared with the public or restricted to access by the user (or to a specified group of users, etc.) Other access criteria may also be specified, e.g., read-only access to a name for the public and read/write access to a particular group of users. Within the set of names of a location, particular names may be designated as authoritative, and may be presented to users with emphasis.
Claims 10 and 19 are allowable based on the amendment provided.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Independent claims 10 and 19 recites, “… the candidate privacy protection location is selected from locations that are not set as the privacy protection location by the user but are set as the privacy protection location by other users, and from locations determined based on the user's habits of the privacy protection location set by the user”. The claimed feature provides further clarification on how a candidate privacy protection is selected. See item 28 for closest prior-art of record.
Claims 11-13 and 15-18 are allowable based on dependency of independent claim 10.
Claim 20 is allowable based on dependency of independent claim 19.
The following is considered to be the closest prior art of record:
Ekchian et al. (US 2025/0111704) describes data may be collected based on measurements with a sensor onboard a vehicle. A location of the vehicle may also be determined. If the location is within a data protection zone or in a data protection road segment, the exchange of the vehicle related information may be avoided or curtailed to protect the anonymity of the vehicle and/or its occupants. If the vehicle is outside of the data protection zone or road segment, vehicle data may be exchanged with the remote database. In some implementations, the data protection zone or road segment may be determined based on information received from a user interface in the vehicle.
Ekström et al. (US 10,542,118) describes detecting data collected via one or more sensing components, and evaluating the collected data to identify one or more portions of the collected data having privacy relevance, where evaluating further includes classifying the one or more portions as private data and other portions of the collected as non-private data. The method may further include filtering out the private data from the non-private data of the collected data, and processing the private data, where the non-private data is transmitted to a remote computing device over a network.
Sun et al. (US 2023/0315277) describes privacy information generation method, a terminal device displays on a display an interactive element of a privacy settings page for a target application. The terminal device responds to a first gesture operation performed by a user on the interactive element of the privacy settings page, and determines a privacy precision for the target application according to the first gesture operation. The terminal device then generates privacy information based on the privacy precision for the target application when the target application requests the privacy information from the terminal device.
Chhajer et al. (US 12,150,012) describes enabling location-based services based on geofence data and privacy settings is provided. The system acquires trip data associated with a vehicle and receives a user input that includes a privacy level associated with the trip data. The system further acquires information that includes a set of geofences corresponding to a set of locations in the trip data. Each geofence of the set of geofences is associated with a rank. The system selects one or more geofences from the set of geofences based on the privacy level and determines, from the trip data, location data that corresponds to the selected one or more geofences. The system filters the trip data by removing the determined location data from the trip data and enables a location-based service based on the filtered trip data.
Updated search has been conducted on the claims amendment and yielded the following pertinent reference(s):
Sly, et al. (US 2011/0072034): the invention relates to a location database configured to store a set of subjective, arbitrary, and/or ephemeral names assigned to a location by various users. When a user of a device arrives at a particular location, the device may retrieve and present to the user the set of names assigned to the location. Moreover, the names may be associated with a privacy designation, which may permit an author of a location name to indicate whether the name of a location should be shared with the public or restricted to access by the user (or to a specified group of users, etc.) Other access criteria may also be specified, e.g., read-only access to a name for the public and read/write access to a particular group of users. Within the set of names of a location, particular names may be designated as authoritative, and may be presented to users with emphasis.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hunt (US 11,170,589) relates to enabling predefined events to be used to trigger the collection of vehicle position data. A combination GSM device and GPS device is used to collect vehicle position data and to convey that position data to a remote computing device for review and/or analysis.
Zoidl et al. (US 2021/0099849) relates to an emergency system for a vehicle comprising a data collection unit for recording emergency data, wherein the emergency data comprise at least vehicle data and the medical data of at least one user of the vehicle, a data storage unit for storing the emergency data, and a data access unit by means of which a communication link can be established to the data storage unit.
Priel et al. (US 8,695,087) relates to a portable memory device is provided comprising a storage medium comprising a private area and a public area. The public area stores computer-readable program code to facilitate interaction with the access control features of the portable memory device. Methods for use with such memory devices are also provided.
Accordingly, 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 ALEX D CARRASQUILLO whose telephone number is (571)270-5045. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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/A.D.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2498
/JOHN B KING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2498
