Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/894,483

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 24, 2024
Examiner
HUSSAIN, TAUQIR
Art Unit
2446
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
DENSO CORPORATION
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allow Rate
690 granted / 817 resolved
+26.5% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+26.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
843
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.2%
-29.8% vs TC avg
§103
49.7%
+9.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.3%
-21.7% vs TC avg
§112
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 817 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 . Claims 1-12 are pending for examination in the instant application. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/24/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 1, and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shirane et al. (Patent No.: US 5491631), hereinafter “Shir” in view of Jacobson et al. (WO 2024209840 A1), hereinafter “Jacob”. As to claim 1. Shir discloses, a communication system (Shir, Abstract) comprising: a plurality of communication nodes that relay a fault diagnosis communication of a diagnosis request and a diagnosis result between a request source of a fault diagnosis and a request destination of the fault diagnosis (Shir, col.2 lines 27-33, In a network which is subjected to the GMPLS control, with the signaling protocol "RSVP-TE" for establishing a communication path, "Path" messages are exchanged between adjacent nodes every fixed unit time, thereby to perform a soft state management for maintaining the state of the path.), wherein: any one of the communication nodes includes: a communication determination unit configured to determine whether a present communication is the fault diagnosis communication (Shir, col.5, lines 5-15, means for sensing suspension of sending of the "Path" message when a fault has occurred in any of the plurality of controllers;); when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication either one of when the request source transmits the diagnosis request to the request destination or when the request destination transmits the diagnosis result to the request source (Shir, col.3, lines 23-33, The fault diagnostic system stores a fault diagnostic program, communicates with the ECU according to the fault diagnostic program, determines the faulty portion from the communication result (the above-mentioned fault code and fault data), and displays the faulty portion on a display device (LCD).). Shir however is silent to disclose explicitly, a communication setting unit configured to increase a priority of a priority parameter indicating the priority of communication when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication either one of when the request source transmits the diagnosis request to the request destination or when the request destination transmits the diagnosis result to the request source. Jacob however discloses a similar concept in the same field of endeavor including, a communication setting unit configured to increase a priority of a priority parameter indicating the priority of communication (Jacob, [0007], associate a first priority to a first com­munication; associate a second priority to a second communication; based on one or more conditions, alter at least one of the first priority or the second priority) when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication either one of when the request source transmits the diagnosis request to the request destination or when the request destination transmits the diagnosis result to the request source). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of “Jacob” into those of “Shir” to provide a system for altering com­munication priority at a node. The method includes associating a first priority to a first communication; associating a second priority to a second communication; based on one or more conditions, altering at least one of the first priority or the second priority; determining whether the first communication or the second communication has a higher priority after the altering; and processing at least one of the first com­munication or the second communication based on the determined higher priority. As to claim 8. The combined system of Shir and Jacob disclose the invention as applied to the parent claim above, including, wherein: the communication setting unit is configured to increase the priority of the priority parameter (Jacob, [0007]) when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication and an amount of communication other than the fault diagnosis communication is less than or equal to a predetermined amount (Shir, col.2, lines 14-23, it differs the diagnosis communication with normal communication and therefore, it is well known and merely an intended use to find the ration between the diagnosis messages and the normal messages.). As to claim 9. The combined system of Shir and Jacob disclose the invention as applied to the parent claim above, including, at least one of the communication nodes is an electronic control device (Shir, abstract, ECU). As to claim 10. The combined system of Shir and Jacob disclose the invention as applied to the parent claim above, including, at least one of the communication nodes is a processor core (Shir, Abstract, ECU). Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Shir and Jacob” as applied above in view of Usami et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0031180 A1), hereinafter “Usami”. As to claim 4. The combined system of Shir and Jacob disclose the invention as applied to the parent claim above, including, the communication setting unit is configured to increase the priority of the priority parameter (Jacob, [0007]). Shir and Jacob however silent to disclose explicitly, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication and at least one of a manual parking gear, a handbrake, and an electric parking brake is in a state to stop a vehicle. Usami discloses a similar concept, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication and at least one of a manual parking gear, a handbrake, and an electric parking brake is in a state to stop a vehicle (Usami, [0028], then the monitoring device determines that there is a possibility that the detection device is malfunctioning and outputs a malfunction warning signa and [0050], The side brake switch 6 is a switch that switches ON and OFF according to the position of the drive brake lever, and is also a switch that outputs a signal that indicates whether or not the side brake is engaged.). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of “Usami” into those of “Shir and Jacob” to provide a monitoring device, a tire air pressure monitoring system, and a control program that can output a warning signal when a vehicle is stopped in a position in which bidirectional communication becomes impossible, in order to be able to monitor the tire air pressure before the vehicle starts to move again. As to claim 5. The combined system of Shir, Jacob and Usami discloses the invention as in parent claim above, including, the communication setting unit is configured to increase the priority of the priority parameter (Jacob, [0007]) when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication and an external tool for the fault diagnosis is connected to the communication system as the request source for the fault diagnosis (Usami, [0042], the control program 91 according to the first embodiment may be downloaded from an external computer (not shown) that is connected to a communication network (not shown), and stored in the storage unit 12.). Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Shir and Jacob” as applied above in view of Penilla et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0006969 A1), hereinafter “Pen”. As to claim 6. The combined system of Shir, and Jacob disclose the invention as in parent claim above including, the communication setting unit is configured to increase the priority of the priority parameter (Jacob, [0007]). Shir and Jacob however are silent to disclose explicitly, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication, a vehicle is equipped with an electric motor as a drive source, and a rechargeable battery for supplying an electric power to the electric motor is being charged. Pen however disclose the same concept in the same field of endeavor, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication, a vehicle is equipped with an electric motor as a drive source, and a rechargeable battery for supplying an electric power to the electric motor is being charged (Pen, [0008], The charging unit has an indicator that identifies an active charging status while the electric vehicle is connected to the charging unit for charging a battery of the vehicle using the charging unit. The charging unit is configured to identify a complete charging status when the electric vehicle is finished charging said battery using the charging unit.). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of “Pen” into those of “Shir and Jacob” to provide a method is provided, which includes receiving, at a server, a request from a device to find one or more charge units for charging an electric vehicle at a geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a first database to identify charge units that are associated with the geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a second database to identify discounts available at the charge units identified to be associated with the geographic location. Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Shir and Jacob” as applied above in view of Wang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2023/0045727 A1), hereinafter “Wang”. As to claim 7. The combined system of Shir, and Jacob disclose the invention as in parent claim above including, the communication setting unit is configured to increase the priority of the priority parameter (Jacob, [0007]). Shir and Jacob however are silent to disclose explicitly, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication, a vehicle is equipped with an internal combustion engine, and the vehicle is being refueled. Wang discloses a similar concept in the same field of endeavor including, when the communication determination unit determines that the present communication is the fault diagnosis communication, a vehicle is equipped with an internal combustion engine, and the vehicle is being refueled (Dud, [0126], monitors the fuel status and warns the driver to fill the gas in time by suggesting nearby gas station). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of “Dud” into those of “Shir and Jacob” to provide a vehicle data processing method performed by a computer device. The method includes: obtaining current vehicle trajectory data and current vehicle status data of a target vehicle; determining a current travel scenario and a corrected vehicle speed of the target vehicle according to the current vehicle trajectory data and a historical vehicle trajectory data set of the target vehicle and transmitting recommended information to the target vehicle based on the target matching vehicle trajectory data, the current vehicle status data, and the current travel scenario. Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Shir and Jacob” as applied above in view of Chibon et al. (Pub. No.: US 2024/0367598 A1), hereinafter “Chib”. As to claim 11. The combined system of Shir, and Jacob disclose the invention as in parent claim above. Shir and Jacob however are silent to disclose at least one of the communication nodes is a virtual machine. Chib discloses a similar concept in the same field of endeavor including, at least one of the communication nodes is a virtual machine (Chib, [0031], ECU management system 140 may include a virtual machine-orchestration system. Furthermore, although on-the-fly confidential virtual machine architecture 100 is illustrated as having two host systems, embodiments of the disclosure may utilize any number of host systems.). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the instant application it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of “Chib” into those of “Shir and Jacob” to provide a system that receive a first electronics control unit (ECU) profile, the first ECU profile comprising a first set of services. Switch execution, on an ECU, by a processing device, to the first ECU profile from a second ECU profile, the second ECU profile comprising a second set of services, wherein an intersection of the first set of services and the second set of services comprises a third set of services. Start, on the ECU, a set of services included in the first ECU profile and not included in the third set of services. As to claim 12. The combined system of Shir, Jacob and Chib disclose the invention as in parent claim above including, wherein: the any one of the communication nodes includes: at least one of (i) a circuit and (ii) a processor having a memory storing computer program code (Shir, Abstract, ECU); and the at least one of the circuit and the processor having the memory is configured to cause the any one of the communication nodes to provide at least one of: the communication determination unit; and the communication setting unit (Chib, [0015], ECU and [0016], VCM). Examiner Note: Claims 2-3 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTO-892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAUQIR HUSSAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1247. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 - 8:00 with IFP. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian J Gillis can be reached at 571 272-7952. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Tauqir Hussain/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 24, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 30, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+26.2%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 817 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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