DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 09/20/2024 having claims 1-20 pending.
Claims 1-20 are examined and being considered on the merits.
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 .
Oath/Declaration
The applicant’s oath/declaration has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Specification
The Specification filed on 09/20/2024 are accepted for examination purpose.
Drawings
The Drawings filed on 09/20/2024 are accepted for examination purpose.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in 09/20/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN2023112196002 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities. Claim 4 recites, “sending an authentication request to a user terminal when receiving an access instruction from the user terminal to access the privacy storage area”. However, the claimed feature “the privacy storage area” does not have a proper antecedent basis. The claim should recite, “sending an authentication request to a user terminal when receiving an access instruction from the user terminal to access a privacy storage area”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim 4 further recites, “when receiving the authentication information entered by the user terminal in response to the authentication request”. However, the claimed feature “the authentication information” does not have a proper antecedent basis. The claim should recite, “when receiving authentication information entered by the user terminal in response to the authentication request”. Lastly, Claim 4 recites, “analyzing authentication information to obtain an authentication result, which comprises an authentication success or a authentication failure”. However, the claimed feature “a authentication failure” has minor grammar issue. The claim should recite, “... an authentication failure”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities. Claim 5 recites, “determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a candidate privacy protection location when the current location of the vehicle being not within the predetermined privacy protection locating range ”. However, it is unclear as how a vehicle can be in a candidate of privacy protection location, but not being within a predetermined privacy protection locating range. Further clarification 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 10 and 19 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.
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].
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.
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).
As per claim 10, it is a vehicle claim that recites similar limitation as presented at claim 1. Therefore, claim 10 is rejected using the same rationale applied to claim 1.
In addition, Ekchian teaches:
a memory, configured to store a program instruction (Ekchian, Parag. [0038]; “the embodiments described herein may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs (CD), optical discs, digital video disks (DVD), magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments discussed above.”); and
a processor, configured to execute the program instruction to perform a method for protecting privacy data of a vehicle (Ekchian, Parag. [0037]; “the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms.” … Parag. [0038]; “the embodiments described herein may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs (CD), optical discs, digital video disks (DVD), magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments discussed above.”)
As per claim 19, 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).”), [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).”, [only saving the current sensing data to a local device of the vehicle].
Ekchian does not expressly teach:
… uploading the current sensing data to one or more remote devices of the vehicle; and
… only saving the current sensing data to a local device of the vehicle.
However, Ekström teaches:
… 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.”)
… 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 collect sense data by the sensors and further remote or locally processing (Ekström, Col. 6, lines 19-29)
Claims 2, 11 and 20 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, 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 and Ekström teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination of Ekchian and Ekström 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 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 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]).
As per claim 11, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 2. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 2.
As per claim 20, the rejection of claim 19 is included. In addition, it is a method claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 2. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 2.
Claims 3 and 12 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, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want, and further in view of Xu et al. (US 2020/0027333), hereinafter as Xu.
As per claim 3, the combination of Ekchian and Ekström teaches the method of claim 1.
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:
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, 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 12, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 3. Therefore, claim 12 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 3.
Claims 4 and 13 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, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Want et al. (US 7831278), hereinafter as Want.
As per claim 4, the combination of Ekchian and Ekström teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination of Ekchian and Ekström does not expressly teach:
the method, further comprising:
sending an authentication request to a user terminal when receiving an access instruction from the user terminal to access the privacy storage 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 a authentication failure;
granting the user terminal to access the privacy storage area when the authentication result is the authentication success;
refusing the user terminal to access the privacy storage area when the authentication result is the authentication failure.
However, 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 a 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).
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 implement authentication check when access to a private data area so that different levels of defined access rights is enforced for different types of storage areas (Want, Abstract).
As per claim 13, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 4. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 4.
Claims 5-8 and 14-17 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, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Chhajer et al. (US 12,150,012), hereinafter as Chhajer.
As per claim 5, the combination of Ekchian and Ekström teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Ekchian teaches the method further comprising:
[determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a candidate privacy protection location] when the current location of the vehicle being not within the predetermined privacy protection locating range (Ekchian, Parag. [0004]; “In some embodiments, the determining the location of the vehicle outside the data protection zone may be at least partially based on information about the road received from the remote databased.”);
[when the current location of the vehicle belongs to the candidate privacy protection location, outputting setting information on a user terminal to prompt a user to set the predetermined privacy protection locating range base on the current location].
The combination of Ekchian and Ekström does not expressly teach:
determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a candidate privacy protection location …; and
when the current location of the vehicle belongs to the candidate privacy protection location, outputting setting information on a user terminal to prompt a user to set the predetermined privacy protection locating range base on the current location.
However, Chhajer teaches:
determining whether the current location of the vehicle belongs to a candidate privacy protection location … (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 (i.e., candidate privacy protection location). 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.”);
when the current location of the vehicle belongs to the candidate privacy protection location, outputting setting information on a user terminal to prompt a user to set the predetermined privacy protection locating range base on the current location (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.” … 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., the predetermined privacy protection locating range as a geofence based on the location is set to a particular corresponding privacy level). 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 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 system, with a motivation to provide a method where a user selects and set a privacy location (Chhajer, Col. 6, line 1-18).
As per claim 6, the combination of Ekchian and Ekström 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 and Ekström 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 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 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 and Chhajer teaches 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.”).
As per claim 8, the combination of Ekchian, Ekström and Chhajer teaches the method according to claim 5, Chhajer teaches the method further comprising:
obtaining navigation information containing a starting location, an end location, and a rout from the starting location to the end location (Chhajer, Col. 10, lines 10-17; “At 402, a trip dataset 402A may be acquired. The system 102 may acquire the trip dataset 402A. The acquired trip dataset 402A may correspond to a plurality of trips associated with the vehicle 104. The trip dataset may be acquired from a summary of mobility trip data of the vehicle 104 over a historical time period (e.g., a year or a set of months) and may include locations (includes start and end locations) included in trip routes covered using the vehicle 104.” … Col. 11-12, lines 62-2; “At 502, trip data associated with the vehicle 104 may be acquired. An example of a map 502A is shown in FIG. 5A to indicate a route 502B with locations of the trip data. In accordance with an embodiment, the trip data may be acquired by use of a set of sensors included in the vehicle 104. For example, the set of sensors may include a location sensor (such as the location sensor 306), a speed sensor, and a real time clock (as described in FIG. 3).”);
extracting the starting location, the end location, and the locations to be passed from the starting location to the end location (Chhajer, Col. 13, lines 43-49; “At 604, trip data associated with the vehicle 104 may be acquired. The system 102 may acquire the trip data (such as a travel time for a trip, a travel route, start and end locations of the trip, visited locations, or a time spent at a location), associated with the vehicle 104. The trip data may be recorded or observed for a defined time period such as, for certain day(s), week(s), or month(s)).”), and displaying setting information of the privacy protection location for the user to set the privacy protection location according to the starting location, the end location, and the locations to be passed from the starting location to the end location (Chhajer, Col. 9, lines 42-48; “The display 308 may include infotainment system of the vehicle 104. The display 308 may be a touch enabled input/output system that may facilitate the user in interactions with the vehicle and/or system 102. The display 308 may enable the user to select and or reconfigure the privacy level. For example, the user may select a privacy level or may change a previously selected privacy level.” … Col. 13, lines 43-53; “At 604, trip data associated with the vehicle 104 may be acquired. The system 102 may acquire the trip data (such as a travel time for a trip, a travel route, start and end locations of the trip, visited locations, or a time spent at a location), associated with the vehicle 104. The trip data may be recorded or observed for a defined time period such as, for certain day(s), week(s), or month(s)). At 606, a user input that includes a privacy level associated with the trip data may be received. The system 102 may receive the user input that includes the privacy level associated with the trip data.”).
As per claim 14, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 5. Therefore, claim 14 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 5.
As per claim 15, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 6. Therefore, claim 15 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 6.
As per claim 16, the rejection of claim 15 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 7. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 7.
As per claim 17, the rejection of claim 14 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 8. Therefore, claim 17 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 8.
Claims 9 and 18 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, 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 and Ekström 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 and Ekström 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 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 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 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, 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-Chhajer-Ekström 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).
As per claim 18, the rejection of claim 10 is included. In addition, it is a vehicle (device) claim that recites similar limitations as presented on claim 9. Therefore, claim 18 is rejected using the same rationale as applied to claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tal et al. (US 2022/0020230) relates to system and methods for including a system mounted to a vehicle for identifying incidents of a roadway and transmitting the incidents to a server, the server located remotely from the system, the system comprising: a device having: a camera for obtaining digital images; at least one sensor including a location based sensor; a memory and processor for executing image processing instructions for processing the digital images for automated detection of the incidents, generating object data based on the processing, generating incident data including the object data and the images; and a network interface for sending the incident data over a communications network to the server during operation of the vehicle on the roadway.
Park et al. (US 2020/0018611) relates to an embodiment of the present disclosure is an apparatus for collecting user interest information which is provided with user interest information, which is an interest data collection reference, from an external server. The apparatus includes an object detector configured to acquire sensor data, a communicator configured to receive user interest information, a controller configured to set a data collection range on the basis of the user interest information, and select interest data from the sensor data in accordance with the data collection range.
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/A.D.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2498
/YIN CHEN SHAW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2498