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 .
Claim Status
This action is in response to the application filed on 10/11/2024. Claims 1-5 are pending and examined below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 20220309133 A1 (“Hinohara”).
Regarding claim 1, Hinohara teaches one or more processors; and one or more storage devices configured to store a remote operation request list including one or more remote operation requests (see at least [0152]), wherein
the one or more processors are configured to acquire at least one of license information indicating a license held by the external operator and terminal specification information indicating a specification of the external operator terminal (see at least [0157]),
extract, as a requestable candidate, a remote operation request that is supportable by at least one of the license of the external operator and the specification of the external operator terminal from the remote operation request list (see at least [0158]), and
transmit information on one or more requestable candidates to the external operator terminal before the external operator is assigned to any of the remote operation requests (see at least [0158]).
Regarding claim 2, Hinohara teaches receive, from the external operator terminal, information on a selected remote operation request selected by the external operator from among the one or more requestable candidates, and assign the external operator and the external operator terminal to the selected remote operation request (see at least [0158]).
Regarding claim 3, Hinohara teaches apply identification information to the external operator terminal, transmit the identification information along with the information on the one or more requestable candidates to the external operator terminal, receive the identification information along with the information on the selected remote operation request from the external operator terminal (see at least [0158]),
authenticate the external operator terminal based on the identification information received from the external operator terminal, and assign the external operator and the external operator terminal to the selected remote operation request in a case where the external operator terminal is successfully authenticated (see at least [0158]).
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.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20220309133 A1 (“Hinohara”) in view of US 20250231562 A1 (“Zhang”).
Regarding claim 4, Hinohara discloses extract, as the requestable candidate, a remote operation request such that the requested terminal specification is satisfied by the specification of the external operator terminal (see at least [0158]),
Hinohara is not explicit on each of the one or more remote operation requests includes at least one of a kind of a target mobility and a content of the remote operation of the target mobility; and the one or more processors are further configured to recognize a requested terminal specification requested for each of the remote operation requests based on at least one of the kind of the target mobility and the content of the remote operation of the target mobility, however,
Zhang discloses each of the one or more remote operation requests includes at least one of a kind of a target mobility and a content of the remote operation of the target mobility (see at least [0066]); and
the one or more processors are further configured to recognize a requested terminal specification requested for each of the remote operation requests based on at least one of the kind of the target mobility and the content of the remote operation of the target mobility (see at least [0066]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the system disclosed by Hinohara with the remote driving system disclosed by Zhang so that the remote driving entity displays a plurality of candidate vehicles, and the driver selects the target vehicle from the candidate vehicles, to activate remote driving of the target vehicle (Zhang, [0059]).
Regarding claim 5, Hinohara discloses extract, as the requestable candidate, a remote operation request such that the requested license is included in the license of the external operator (see at least [0158])
Hinohara is not explicit on each of the one or more remote operation requests includes at least a kind of a target mobility; and the one or more processors are further configured to recognize a requested license requested for each of the remote operation requests based on the kind of the target mobility, however
Zhang discloses each of the one or more remote operation requests includes at least a kind of a target mobility (see at least [0066]); and
the one or more processors are further configured to recognize a requested license requested for each of the remote operation requests based on the kind of the target mobility (see at least [0066]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the system disclosed by Hinohara with the remote driving system disclosed by Zhang so that the remote driving entity displays a plurality of candidate vehicles, and the driver selects the target vehicle from the candidate vehicles, to activate remote driving of the target vehicle (Zhang, [0059]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATHEW FRANKLIN GORDON whose telephone number is (408)918-7612. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00 - 5:00 PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hunter Lonsberry can be reached at (571) 272 - 7298. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATHEW FRANKLIN GORDON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665