DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-17 are presented on 1/15/2024 for examination on 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 .
Examiner's Instructions for filing Response to this Office Action
When the Applicant submits amendments regarding to the claims in response the Office Action, the Examiner would appreciate Applicant if a clean copy of the claims is provided to facilitate the prosecution which otherwise requires extra time for editing the marked-up claims from OCR.
Please submit two sets of claims:
Set #1 as in a typical filing which includes indicators for the status of claim and all marked amendments to the claims; and
Set #2 as an appendix to the Arguments/Remarks for a clean version of the claims which has all the markups removed for entry by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) is/are determined by the following reasons:
Claim 1 recites two instances of “a digital key” for the vehicle, one in the preamble and the other in the selecting step. As such, the limitation “the digital key” is unclear or lacking sufficient antecedent basis in the claim.
Claims 4-13 each recite the limitation “the digital key” unclearly or lacking sufficient antecedent basis in the claims for the same reason above.
Claims 2-17 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, because they depend from the rejected base claim 1.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claims 1-7, 11-13, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lerch (US 20230322185 A1) in view of Kato (US 20190362272 A1), and further in view of Lota (US 20210133906 A1).
As per claim 1, Lerch teaches a method for providing home-to-home (H2H) service for a vehicle by use of a digital key (Lerch, the Abstract: sharing a digital car key associated with a user of the electronic device and a vehicle; par. 0052 and 0076: flexible and convenient sharing of the digital car key for vehicle 112 with one or more electronic devices, such as electronic devices associated with: a family member, a friend, a towing service, a valet, a mechanic, etc. Moreover, the digital car key may be shared by an individual that is other than the owner of vehicle 112), the method comprising:
receiving, by a management server, a request for the H2H service through an application (app) on a terminal of a service applicant (Lerch, par. 0094-0095: invitation is to accept requests, such as requests from the terminal of a valet, including the invitation and the car-key creation request, [which] is communicated using a side message system (SMS) or text messaging service, and the relay server [used] to implement sharing a digital car key in the communication techniques; par. 0043-0044: invitation to share the digital car key associated with a user of electronic device 110 (such as an owner of vehicle 112) is a request);
selecting, by the management server, a pick-up driver for picking up the vehicle and allowing a digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as a first shared digital key (Lerch, par. 0086: A valet can be selected. Lerch discloses sharing the digital car key with valet, who is selected for picking up the vehicle. In Lerch’s example, the younger son allows the digital key of the vehicle to be shared; see par. 0076-0086: allow a chain of shared instances of a digital car key to be created, monitored and controlled. See par. 0094 for the relay server [used] to implement sharing a digital car key in the communication techniques; see par. 0060: approved certificates for use and par. 0070: an instruction 414 to share a digital car key as steps for activating the car key);
allowing, by the vehicle, for the pick-up driver to drive the vehicle using the first shared digital key so that the vehicle is handed over to a mechanic (Lerch, par. 0093: a valet is [given] restricted access for car delivery; access and drive for a valet; restricted vehicle service for vehicle service… [with respect to] entitlements or privileges for delegate digital car keys);
allowing, by the management server, the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as a second shared digital key through an app on a terminal of a mechanic (Lerch, par. 0051-0052: provide, to one of computers 134 in computer system 122 associated with a report for [tracking] the number of instances of the digital car key. and flexible and convenient sharing of the digital car key for vehicle 112 with a mechanic, who uses a second shared digital key. For example, the younger son may share 546 the digital car key with full-drive entitlements or privileges (UTILITY_1) to a towing service when the vehicle breaks down on a highway, presumably to be towed to a mechanic shop. See par. 0094 for the relay server [used] to implement sharing a digital car key in the communication techniques);
It is noted that Applicant states “Although terms including ordinal numbers, such as "first," "second," or the like, may be used herein to describe various elements, the elements are not limited by these terms.” See the specification, par. 0044.
However, Lerch does not explicitly disclose a desired drop-off location and allowing, by the vehicle, for the pick-up driver to drive the vehicle to a drop-off location designated by the service applicant using the first shared digital key. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Kato teaches:
allowing, by the vehicle, for the pick-up driver to drive the vehicle to a drop-off location designated by the service applicant using the first shared digital key (Kato, par. 0102-0104: using the smartphone 51 of the client 5 transmits, to the service management server 21, the service request information such as the desired time frame for utilizing the vehicle/transportation. Kato also discloses input boxes displayed in order to input the desired time frame for utilizing the transportation, the desired location for utilizing the transportation (locations for pick-up and for drop-off); par. 0104).
Lerch and Kato are analogous art to the claimed invention, because they are in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine them and to modify Lerch’s system with Kato teachings of “desired location” for pick-up and for drop-off. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of security of using the digital car key with restrictions of the locations for pick-up and for drop-off.
However, the combination of Lerch and Kato does not explicitly disclose using the second shared digital key to allow the mechanic to perform repair and maintenance. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Lota teaches:
allowing, by the vehicle, for the mechanic to perform repair and maintenance on the vehicle and drive the vehicle to the pick-up driver using the second shared digital key (Lota, par. 0012, 0032, and 0039-0040: Vehicle-access module 240 … transmits a digital key providing temporary access to vehicle 100 … to allow tow-truck driver or other maintenance worker… temporary access to locked vehicle 100…e.g., to prepare vehicle 100 for towing, repair, or maintenance; see also par. 0041: roadside assistance system 170 can facilitate delivery of vehicle 100 to its owner or other authorized user after it has been serviced or repaired);
Lota is analogous art to the claimed invention in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Lerch-Kato system with Lota’s teachings of transmitting a digital key for providing temporary access to vehicle to allow tow-truck driver to operate the vehicle or to allow other maintenance or repair. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of serviceability with vehicles equipped with digital keys.
As per claim 2, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating, by the management server, the first shared digital key (Lota, par. 0038 and 0040-0041: a digital key can be made to expire; the temporary digital key can be made to expire in different ways).
As per claim 3, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the management server, a pick-up location and the drop-off location for the vehicle (Kato, par. 0102-0104: the desired location for utilizing the transportation and/or locations for pick-up and for drop-off).
As per claim 4, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the management server, a consent to share an authority of the digital key of the vehicle (Lerch, par. 0027, 0070, and 0107-0108: a user of the electronic device and a vehicle provides an invitation [that] includes information for creating another instance of the digital car key on the second electronic device. Further, such collection/sharing should only occur after receiving the informed consent of the users as well as notifications relating to the access or use of personal information).
As per claim 5, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the first shared digital key includes:
allowing, by the management server, the digital key of the vehicle to be shared as the first shared digital key through the app on the terminal of the pick-up driver (Lerch, par. 0089-0091: The wallet application, which is the app on the terminal of the pick-up driver, may take care of sharing a newly received instance of a digital car key to electronic devices that are associated with or on a same account; see par. 0091-0092 for proof of delivery and a delegate delivery [of] vehicle using the digital car key); and
activating, by the management server, an authority of the first shared digital key according to a request from the pick-up driver (Lerch, par. 0060: approved certificates for use [of] the digital car key, and par. 0070: an instruction 414 to share a digital car key as steps for activating the car key).
As per claim 6, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 5, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the first shared digital key further includes receiving, by the management server, an input related to a service procedure through the app on the terminal of the pick-up driver (Lerch, par. 0070-0072: request approval from the user (e.g., by displaying a user interface or UI 446 with the request). The user may interact with a user-interface device 412 to provide approval 448; par. 0093: entitlements or privileges for utility digital car keys may include: restricted access for car delivery; access and drive for a valet).
As per claim 7, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 6, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the first shared digital key further includes notifying, by the management server, the service applicant of the service procedure (Lota, par. 0013: automatically notify the owner or user (e.g., via text or e-mail) when the vehicle has been delivered. As such, the roadside assistance system can automatically transmit a digital key to the roadside assistance provider to permit, e.g., a tow-truck driver to access the locked vehicle temporarily after the motorist has left the scene of the breakdown in a rideshare vehicle; par. 0012; see also par. 0035-0037 for notifying the recipients that the user has been delayed or transmitting an automated notification to an owner or other user of vehicle 100 that vehicle 100 has been delivered).
As per claim 11, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the second shared digital key includes activating, by the management server, an authority of the second shared digital key according to a request from the mechanic (Lota, par. 0012, 0032, and 0039-0040: Vehicle-access module 240 … transmits a digital key providing temporary access to vehicle 100 … to allow tow-truck driver or other maintenance worker… temporary access to locked vehicle 100…e.g., to prepare vehicle 100 for towing, repair, or maintenance).
As per claim 12, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 11, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the second shared digital key further includes receiving, by the mechanic, an input related to a repair and maintenance procedure through the app on the terminal of the mechanic (Lota, par. 0029-0031: Response module 230 generally includes instructions that cause the one or more processors 110 to communicate automatically with a roadside assistance provider 185 to request roadside assistance and to communicate automatically with a ridesharing service provider 180 to request a rideshare vehicle; par. 0044-0056: inputs; par. 0050 and 0052-0054: roadside assistance to enable the roadside assistance; vehicle-access module 240 includes instructions to transmit, to the roadside assistance provider 185, a digital key providing temporary access).
As per claim 13, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 12, wherein allowing the digital key of the vehicle to be shared and activated as the second shared digital key includes notifying, by the management server, the service applicant of the repair and maintenance procedure (Lota, par. 0039-0037: automated notification (e.g., e-mail or text message) to one or more participants; par. 0044-0056: inputs; par. 0050 and 0052-0054: roadside assistance to enable the roadside assistance; vehicle-access module 240 includes instructions to transmit, to the roadside assistance provider 185, a digital key providing temporary access).
As per claim 16, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein allowing for the mechanic to drive the vehicle to the pick-up driver using the second shared digital key includes deactivating an authority of the second shared digital key through the app on the terminal of the mechanic (Lota, par. 0038 and 0040-0041: a digital key can be made to expire; the temporary digital key can be made to expire in different ways; see par. 0038 and FIG. 2 for using an app on the user's mobile device 195 communicates with an access-control system, e.g., vehicle-access module 240).
As per claim 17, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, further comprising notifying, by the management server, the service applicant of termination of the H2H service and canceling one or both of the first shared digital key or second shared digital key (Lerch, par. 0090-0091: digital car key to be deleted. When an instance of a digital car key is remote terminated, a sharing sub-graph in an account may also be deleted. Thus, when an instance of the digital car key is deleted from an electronic device, the instances of the digital car key may be deleted from related electronic devices associated with the account; note that sending proof of delivery is for notifying the service applicant).
Claims 8-9 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lerch, Kato, and Lota, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Schumacher (US 20210074094 A1).
As per claim 8, the references of Lerch, Kato, and Lota as combined above teach the method of claim 5, and Perch also discloses: wherein activating the authority of the first shared digital key according to the request from the pick-up driver includes:
transmitting an authority activation request for activating the authority for using the digital key to the management server through the app on the terminal of the pick-up driver (Lerch, par. 0052-0053: sharing of the digital car key for vehicle 112 with… a valet; par. 0094-0085: [sending] a car-key creation request from electronic device 110; the invitation may include an address of electronic device 110 to allow electronic device 114 to communicate with electronic device 110 to complete the car-key-sharing process.);
notifying, by the management server, the service applicant of pick-up of the vehicle for the H2H service and receiving a consent from the service applicant through the app on the terminal of the service applicant (Lerch, par. 0107: receiving the informed consent of the users; par. 0108: downloading an app that their personal information data will be accessed and then reminded again just before personal information data is accessed by the app; par. 0088-0089: an electronic or digital wallet application on an electronic device may allow digital car keys having administrator entitlements or privileges to be shared.).
However, the references do not explicitly disclose activating, by the management server, the authority of the first shared digital key based on the consent. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Schumacher teaches:
activating, by the management server, the authority of the first shared digital key based on the consent (Schumacher, par. 0006: Activating the system could, for example, be achieved by handing over the vehicle key, which would require the vehicle owner's consent … to hand over the vehicle key; par. 0028-0030: enable at least one registration of users and an entry of data of the vehicles and/or of the unlocking units and/or of the access units and/or of the activation unit).
Schumacher is analogous art to the claimed invention in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Lerch, Kato, and Lota with Schumacher’s teachings of activating shared digital key based on the consent. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of protection of user’s privacy.
As per claim 9, the references Lerch, Kato, Lota, and Schumacher as combined above teach the method of claim 8, and Perch also teach:
wherein the activated authority of the digital key is limited to an authority to open and close doors of the vehicle and to start and drive the vehicle (Perch, par. 0080: share 520 the digital car key to the cellular telephone of a younger son with restricted drive-entitlements or privileges (ADMIN_3), and the son may share 522 the digital car key from his cellular telephone to his electronic watch; see par. 0093 and 0100 for access and drive the vehicle).
As per claim 14, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 11, wherein activating of the authority of the second shared digital key according to the request from the mechanic includes:
transmitting an authority activation request to activate the authority for using the second shared digital key to the management server through the app on the terminal of the mechanic (Perch, par. 0052-0053: sharing of the digital car key for vehicle 112 with… a mechanic; par. 0094-0085: [sending] a car-key creation request from electronic device 110; the invitation may include an address of electronic device 110 to allow electronic device 114 to communicate with electronic device 110 to complete the car-key-sharing process);
notifying, by the management server, the service applicant of the authority activation request and receiving a consent from the service applicant for the authority activation request from the mechanic (Lerch, par. 0107: receiving the informed consent of the users; par. 0108: downloading an app that their personal information data will be accessed and then reminded again just before personal information data is accessed by the app; par. 0088-0089: an electronic or digital wallet application on an electronic device may allow digital car keys having administrator entitlements or privileges to be shared); and
However, the references do not explicitly disclose that, in response to the consent from the service applicant of the vehicle, the authority of the second shared digital key is activated. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Schumacher teaches:
in response to the consent from the service applicant of the vehicle, activating, by the management server, the authority of the second shared digital key (Schumacher, par. 0006: Activating the system could, for example, be achieved by handing over the vehicle key, which would require the vehicle owner's consent … to hand over the vehicle key; par. 0028-0030: enable at least one registration of users and an entry of data of the vehicles and/or of the unlocking units and/or of the access units and/or of the activation unit).
Schumacher is analogous art to the claimed invention in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Lerch, Kato, and Lota with Schumacher’s teachings of activating shared digital key based on the consent. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of protection of user’s privacy.
As per claim 15, the references of references Lerch, Kato, Lota, and Schumacher as combined above teach the method of claim 14, and Perch also teaches:
wherein the activated authority of the second shared digital key is limited to an authority to open and close doors of the vehicle and start and drive the vehicle (Perch, par. 0080: share 520 the digital car key to the cellular telephone of a younger son with restricted drive-entitlements or privileges (ADMIN_3), and the son may share 522 the digital car key from his cellular telephone to his electronic watch; see par. 0093 and 0100 for access and drive the vehicle).
.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lerch, Kato, Lota, and Schumacher, as applied to claim 8, and further in view of Kim (US 20220139197 A1).
As per claim 10, the references of Lerch, Kato, Lota, and Schumacher as combined above teach the method of claim 8, but do not explicitly disclose wherein the activated authority of the digital key includes forcibly turning on a video recording device of the vehicle in a driving mode. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Kim teaches:
wherein the activated authority of the digital key includes forcibly turning on a video recording device of the vehicle in a driving mode (Kim. par. 0070-0072: automatically execute a long-term recording function of the plurality of cameras 100; input the digital key 200 to turn on the first camera 110).
Kim is analogous art to the claimed invention in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Lerch, Kato, Lota and Schumacher with Kim’s teachings of executing a long-term recording function of the plurality of cameras 100 when driving. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of security with recordings automatically started for the driver.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as the prior art additionally discloses certain parts of the claim features (See “PTO-892 Notice of Reference Cited”).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DON ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272.9953. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, 7:30 A.M to 5:00 P.M EST.
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/Don G Zhao/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493 01/21/2026