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 – 9 remain pending in the application and have been fully considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Iwase et al. (US 2023/0311864).
Regarding Claim 1:
Iwase et al. teaches a vehicle control device (1) comprising: a recognizer (via 11, 12, 13) configured to recognize a surrounding situation (paragraphs 0039 – 0040) of a host vehicle (M); and a controller (14) configured to control one or both of steering (via 25 and 35) or acceleration/deceleration (via 24, 34 and 22, 32) of the host vehicle when determination is made that an obstacle (paragraph 0120) is present in front of the host vehicle, based on a recognition result of the recognizer (via S004 or S101), wherein the controller executes at least steering control of moving the host vehicle to a center of a traveling lane when the recognizer determines that the obstacle is present in front of the host vehicle (Figs 5 – 6 show the steering control around the obstacle and back to the center lane, and Fig 13 and S108 to S111 describe the process where vehicle control assist is used based on a recognized obstacle and steering and speed control is applied to mitigate a potential collision).
Regarding Claim 2:
Iwase et al. teaches the controller executes the steering control of moving the host vehicle to the center of the traveling lane when the host vehicle is traveling within a prescribed range of the center of the traveling lane (Figs 5 – 6).
Regarding Claim 3:
Iwase et al. teaches the controller executes the steering control of moving the host vehicle toward the center of the traveling lane when the obstacle is present on a marking side for defining the traveling lane with respect to the host vehicle (paragraph 0008, Figs 5 – 6).
Regarding Claim 4:
Iwase et al. teaches the controller executes the steering control of moving the host vehicle toward the center of the traveling lane when the obstacle is present within a prescribed range with respect to the host vehicle in a width direction of the traveling lane (Fig 5 – 6).
Regarding Claim 5:
Iwase et al. teaches the controller does not execute the steering control of moving the host vehicle to the center of the traveling lane when the obstacle is present at the center of the traveling lane or in the traveling lane outside of the center as viewed from the host vehicle (Fig 11, 17 – 20 show the choice the controller makes on when to apply the brakes, provide steering control, and or accelerate via throttle control based on speed and distance requirements).
Regarding Claim 6:
Iwase et al. teaches the controller executes deceleration control of the host vehicle when not executing the steering control of moving the host vehicle to the center of the traveling lane (Fig 11, 17 – 20).
Regarding Claim 7:
Iwase et al. teaches a driving state detector (via 31 and 21) configured to detect a driving state of an occupant of the host vehicle, wherein the controller controls one or both of the steering or the acceleration/deceleration of the host vehicle when distracted driving of the occupant is detected by the driving state detector (paragraphs 0051 – 0054).
Regarding Claim 8:
See rejection of Claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 9:
See rejection of Claim 1 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LONG T TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1899. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00 - 5:00.
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/LONG T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747