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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
This office acknowledges receipt of the following item(s) from the applicant:
Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 29 October 2024 and 09 June 2026. The references have been considered.
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.
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) 1-3, 9, 11-17, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Armstrong-Crews et al. (Crews, US PGPub 2020/0201351).
Referring to Claim 1, Crews teaches detecting (Fig. 8A #802; [0072]), by a computing device (Fig. 2 #202; [0028]) and based on radar data (Fig. 1 and 2 #110, 120, 238; [0027] and [0038]), a first object ([0038-0039]) located in an environment of a vehicle (Fig. 1 #100; [0027]); determining, by the computing device, image data lacks information corresponding to the first object ([0051]), wherein the image data is from a camera (Fig. 1 #114; [0027]) coupled to the vehicle; based on determining that the image data lacks information corresponding to the first object, identifying a second object positioned between the vehicle and the first object and determining that the second object reflected one or more radar signals such that the first object appears in the radar data due to a self-reflection of the vehicle ([0051-0057]); and generating, by the computing device, an output that identifies the first object as the self-reflection of the vehicle; [0065-0075] as well as Fig. 8A and 8B and associated text.
While the Examiner takes the position that the claim limitations are anticipated by the disclosure of Crews, the interpretation and reading of the cited paragraphs may not interpretated as being fully explicit.
However, the disclosure teaches the use of a perception system, modifying instructions, training and modeling. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to understand the system of Crews can be easily modifiable to be trained in any manner to achieve the desired limitations as the concepts are substantially the same and directed to the filtering out of self returns (reflections) in order to make controlling decisions for the vehicle.
Referring to Claim 2, Crews teaches detecting the second object using the image data from the camera (Fig. 1 #114; [0027] and [0051]).
Referring to Claim 3, Crews teaches responsive to detecting the second object, determining a position and a velocity for the second object relative to the vehicle; [0051-0053].
Referring to Claim 9, Crews teaches receiving lidar data from a lidar coupled to the vehicle; and determining the lidar data lacks information corresponding to the first object (Fig. 1 #112; [0027] and [0051]).
Referring to Claims 11 and 17, Crews teaches removing a radar cross section (RCS) measurement corresponding to the first object; and wherein generating the output that indicates the first object is the self-reflection of the vehicle comprises: generating the output further based on removing the RCS measurement corresponding to the first object; See Example Methods section, [0055-0058] and [0065-0075] in particular.
Referring to Claim 12, Crews teaches based on detecting the first object, determining a confidence level for the first object; and based on determining that the first object appears in the radar data due to the self-reflection of the vehicle, decreasing the confidence level for the first object, wherein the confidence level is used when determining a control strategy for the vehicle; [0066] traches the use of tolerance ranges and [0076-0077] discuss confidence, therefore this could be easily interpreted and derived by the disclosure.
Referring to Claim 13, Crews teaches wherein generating the output comprises: causing the vehicle to navigate a current route without slowing down for the first object; [0070].
Referring to Claims 14 and 16, Crews teaches controlling the vehicle based on determining that the first object appears in the radar data due to the self-reflection of the vehicle; [0065-0075] as well as Fig. 8A and 8B and associated text.
Referring to Claim 15, Crews teaches a vehicle having a radar and a camera; and a computing device configured to: detect, based on radar data, a first object located in an environment of the vehicle; determine image data lacks information corresponding to the first object; based on determining that the image data lacks information corresponding to the first object, identify a second object positioned between the vehicle and the first object and determining that the second object reflected one or more radar signals such that the first object appears in the radar data due to a self-reflection of the vehicle; and generate an output that identifies the first object as the self-reflection of the vehicle; See citations of Claim 1 above.
Referring to Claim 19, Crews teaches wherein a first field of view of the radar overlaps with a second field of view of the camera; [0040].
Referring to Claim 20, Crews teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein program instructions executable by a computing system to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising: detecting, based on radar data, a first object located in an environment of a vehicle; determining image data lacks information corresponding to the first object, wherein the image data is from a camera coupled to the vehicle; based on determining that the image data lacks information corresponding to the first object, identifying a second object positioned between the vehicle and the first object and determining that the second object reflected one or more radar signals such that the first object appears in the radar data due to a self-reflection of the vehicle; and generating an output that identifies the first object as the self-reflection of the vehicle; See citations of Claim 1 above as well as [0029].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8, 10 and 18 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WHITNEY T MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-3338. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 7am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jack Keith can be reached at (571) 272-6878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WHITNEY MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646
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