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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Claim limitation “at least one image capturing means”, “at least one processing means”, “at least one display means” in claims 10 – 12 and 19 – 21 has/have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because it uses/they use a generic placeholder “means” coupled with functional language “acquiring”, “performing” and “displaying” without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) 10 – 12 and 19 – 21 has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation: the Specification discloses the physical structure about above units are camera, processor, and display (abstract).
If applicant wishes to provide further explanation or dispute the examiner’s interpretation of the corresponding structure, applicant must identify the corresponding structure with reference to the specification by page and line number, and to the drawing, if any, by reference characters in response to this Office action.
If applicant does not intend to have the claim limitation(s) treated under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may amend the claim(s) so that it/they will clearly not invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, or present a sufficient showing that the claim recites/recite sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function to preclude application of 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
For more information, see MPEP § 2173 et seq. and Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance With 35 U.S.C. 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues in Patent Applications, 76 FR 7162, 7167 (Feb. 9, 2011).
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 20 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, because the claim purports to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, but fails to recite a combination of elements as required by that statutory provision and thus cannot rely on the specification to provide the structure, material or acts to support the claimed function. As such, the claim recites a function that has no limits and covers every conceivable means for achieving the stated function, while the specification discloses at most only those means known to the inventor. Accordingly, the disclosure is not commensurate with the scope of the claim.
Claim 20 claimed a single means for: “at least one display means for displaying …”. It fails to recite a combination of elements as required by that statutory provision and thus cannot rely on the specification to provide the structure, material or acts to support the claimed function. As such, the claim recites a function that has no limits and covers every conceivable means for achieving the stated function, while the specification discloses at most only those means known to the inventor. Accordingly, the disclosure is not commensurate with the scope of the claim.
Claim 22 depends on claim 20, thus, it is rejected accordingly.
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(s) 20 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Werner et al. (European Patent Application Publication EP 3 029 929, IDS), hereinafter referred as Werner.
Regarding claim 20, Werner discloses a camera-based system (Figs. 1 and 4), comprising:
at least one display means (page 7, para. 4, “display unit”) for displaying of a camera image captured by the at least one image capturing means and tracking (updating) the position of the trailer end in the camera images which are successive in time (page 7, para. 4, “a calculation unit that processes the image captured by the capture unit and supplies it to the display unit for display”), depending on the position of the trailer with respect to the image sensor acquiring the camera images such that the trailer end appears at a preferred position within the monitor image of the display means (abstract, pages 5 and 16 - 17: tracking rear edge HK).
Regarding claim 22 (depends on claim 20), Werner discloses the system which is approved according to UN ECE R46 (page 8, second para. from bottom).
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 – 19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaggere (German Patent Application Publication DE 10 2018 123 250, IDS), in view of Werner.
Regarding claim 1, Kaggere discloses a method for verifying a method for tracking a body of a trailer (abstract) comprising the steps of:
receiving at least an information about the position of a trailer body of a trailer extending rearward from a towing unit of a vehicle and being pivotable to the towing unit, from the method for tracking a trailer body (page 3, para. 1: “the acquisition of the template is carried out on the basis of a texture analysis on a block basis (regarding drawbar)”; wherein the drawbar is typically rigidly connected to the trailer and is therefore regarded as part of the trailer; Fig. 1);
capturing a camera image of at least a side area of the trailer by an image sensor of at least one image capturing means (page 3, para. 4: "capturing an image of the drawbar," wherein the drawbar is typically rigidly connected to the trailer and is therefore regarded as part of the trailer);
determining a plurality of feature points in the camera image based on at least one image parameter, wherein a feature point corresponds to at least one pixel in the camera image (page 3, para. 4: "searching for an edge (boundary) of the drawbar ... classifying each block into an edge class"; page 3, para. 5: "the characterizing feature set comprises a texture pattern"; page 3, para. 6: "the characterizing feature set comprises a luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3: "chroma pattern");
generating a block grid on at least a part of the captured camera image, wherein the block grid defines a plurality of cells, and determining a distribution of the plurality of feature points over the plurality of cells of the block grid as part of the generated block grid (page 3, para. 1: "block basis ... This means that the image ... is divided into blocks for further processing"; page 3, paras. 4 – 6: "of each block");
comparing the distribution of the feature points in the generated block grid with distributions of feature points of a plurality of corresponding stored block grids, wherein the stored block grids each define different distributions of feature points together with an actual trailer body (page 3, para. 4: "counting the blocks of the edge class in columns of the part of the image, generating a count pattern based on counting results for each column of the part of the image and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template ... The horizontal position of the template in the count pattern of the current image in the polar view can be regarded as the drawbar angle to be detected", wherein the count pattern represents the distribution of the feature points, and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template corresponds to comparing it with a series of template count patterns shifted according to the drawbar angle; page 3, last para.; Fig. 5);
selecting one of the stored block grids based on a correlation between the distribution of feature points in the generated block grid and the distributions of feature points in the stored block grids (page 3, para. 4: "counting the blocks of the edge class in columns of the part of the image, generating a count pattern based on counting results for each column of the part of the image and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template ... The horizontal position of the template in the count pattern of the current image in the polar view can be regarded as the drawbar angle to be detected", wherein the count pattern represents the distribution of the feature points, and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template corresponds to comparing it with a series of template count patterns shifted according to the drawbar angle; page 3, last para.; Fig. 5);
verifying the received information about the position of the trailer body by comparing the actual position of the trailer body defined by the selected block grid with the received information about the position of the trailer body (page 4, para. 4: “the first angle is determined according to the method described above. A second (estimated) angle is determined in an independent signal path based on a correlation between the original and the current image. Then it must be decided whether the first angle or the second angle should be used as the final angle, i.e. the estimate of the real tiller angle. This decision between the first angle and the second angle is made based on a confidence value for the first angle.”).
However, Kaggere fails to explicitly disclose the method wherein tracking the trailer end.
However, in a similar field of endeavor Werner discloses a method for image tracking trailer (abstract). In addition, Werner discloses the method wherein tracking the trailer end (abstract: rear edge HK; page 5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kaggere, and can be applied interchangeably to any part of the trailer - and thus also to the rear end of the trailer. The motivation for doing this is that tracking the trailer end comes down to safety, geometric reality, and collision avoidance during maneuvers.
Regarding claim 2 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method further comprising a correcting of the received information about the position of the trailer end based on the verification (page 4, para. 4: "This decision between the first angle and the second angle is made based on a confidence value for the first angle").
Regarding claim 3 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the distributions of the feature points and the corresponding trailer ends in the stored block grids are stored in advance or generated and stored in real time at fixed defined or dynamically adjustable time intervals (page 5, para. 1: storage media; it is apparent that the template for comparing in page 3 is pre-stored).
Regarding claim 4 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the distribution of feature points in one of the stored block grids differs from the distribution of feature points in another of the stored block grids according to the relative positional relationship between trailer and towing unit (page 3, para. 4: "edge"; page 3, para. 5: "texture pattern"; page 3, para. 6: "luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3).
Regarding claim 5 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the at least one image parameter is at least a brightness value, color value, grey tone, contrast value and/or a calculated quantity from one these values and/or their gradients of a pixel and/or pixel clusters in a camera image (page 3, para. 6: "luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3: “chroma pattern”).
Regarding claim 6 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the method for tracking (updating) a position of a trailer end is a radar-based method, an ultrasonic method, a Lidar-based method, a CAN-based method and/or an optical method (page 4, method using camera).
Regarding claim 7 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein a feature point corresponds to a pixel or a cluster of few directly adjacent pixels or pixels in close proximity to each other (page 3, para. 4: "searching for an edge (boundary) of the drawbar ... classifying each block into an edge class"; page 3, para. 5: "the characterizing feature set comprises a texture pattern"; page 13, pixel).
Regarding claim 8 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the corresponding actual trailer ends defined in the stored block grids are obtained from another method (page 3, para. 4: "edge"; page 3, para. 5: "texture pattern"; page 3, para. 6: "luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3).
Regarding claim 9 (depends on claim 1), Kaggere fails to explicitly disclose the method comprising tracking (updating) the position of the trailer end such that the trailer end appears at a preferred position in the monitor image of at least one display means of a camera-based system.
However, in a similar field of endeavor Werner discloses a method for image tracking trailer (abstract). In addition, Werner discloses the method wherein tracking (updating) the position of the trailer end such that the trailer end appears at a preferred position in the monitor image of at least one display means of a camera-based system (page 2, para. 2 - 3: “the driver is shown on a display unit (monitor) image areas that are recorded by at least one image recording device (e.g. camera or image sensor), so areas that are detected and displayed by mirrors, or areas that cannot be detected by mirrors, play. For example, in vehicles that do not have a rear window, the latter areas are areas directly behind the vehicle. Likewise, with such systems, the areas of the so-called blind spot can be displayed to the driver better visible”; also page 5 talked about rear edge HK).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kaggere, and tracking (updating) the position of the trailer end such that the trailer end appears at a preferred position in the monitor image of at least one display means of a camera-based system. The motivation for doing this is that tracking the trailer end comes down to safety, geometric reality, and collision avoidance during maneuvers.
Regarding claim 10, Kaggere discloses a camera-based system of a vehicle having a towing unit and a trailer rearwardly extending from and being pivotable to the towing unit (Fig. 1), comprising:
at least one image capturing means provided at the towing unit and having at least one image sensor for capturing camera images of the trailer which are successive in time (Fig. 1, video camera 10, page 5, last para.); and
at least one processing means (Fig. 2) configured for performing the method according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection for details).
Regarding claim 12 (depends on claim 10), Kaggere fails to explicitly disclose the system which is approved according to UN ECE R46.
However, in a similar field of endeavor Werner discloses a system for image tracking trailer (abstract). In addition, Werner discloses the system which is approved according to UN ECE R46 (page 8, second para. from bottom).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kaggere, and the system which is approved according to UN ECE R46. The motivation for doing this is to establish standard technical and safety requirements for devices for indirect vision, ensuring drivers can clearly see blind spots around their vehicles to reduce road accidents.
Regarding claim 13, Kaggere discloses a method for determining a trailer body of a trailer extending rearward from a towing unit of a vehicle and being pivotable to the towing unit (abstract; also page 1), comprising the steps of:
capturing a camera image of the trailer by an image sensor of at least one image capturing means (page 3, para. 1: “the acquisition of the template is carried out on the basis of a texture analysis on a block basis (regarding drawbar)”; wherein the drawbar is typically rigidly connected to the trailer and is therefore regarded as part of the trailer; Fig. 1);
determining a plurality of feature points in the camera image based on at least one image parameter, wherein a feature point corresponds to at least one pixel in the camera image (page 3, para. 4: "searching for an edge (boundary) of the drawbar ... classifying each block into an edge class"; page 3, para. 5: "the characterizing feature set comprises a texture pattern"; page 3, para. 6: "the characterizing feature set comprises a luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3: "chroma pattern");
creating a block grid on at least a part of the captured camera image, wherein a block grid defines a plurality of cells, and determining a distribution of the plurality of the feature points over the plurality of cells of the block grid as part of the created block grid (page 3, para. 1: "block basis ... This means that the image ... is divided into blocks for further processing"; page 3, paras. 4 – 6: "of each block");
comparing the distribution of the feature points in the created block grid with distributions of feature points of a plurality of corresponding stored block grids, wherein the stored block grids each define different distributions of feature points together with actual positions of trailer body (page 3, para. 4: "counting the blocks of the edge class in columns of the part of the image, generating a count pattern based on counting results for each column of the part of the image and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template ... The horizontal position of the template in the count pattern of the current image in the polar view can be regarded as the drawbar angle to be detected", wherein the count pattern represents the distribution of the feature points, and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template corresponds to comparing it with a series of template count patterns shifted according to the drawbar angle; page 3, last para.; Fig. 5);
selecting one of the stored block grids based on a correlation between the feature points in the created block grid and the feature points in the stored block grids (page 3, para. 4: "counting the blocks of the edge class in columns of the part of the image, generating a count pattern based on counting results for each column of the part of the image and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template ... The horizontal position of the template in the count pattern of the current image in the polar view can be regarded as the drawbar angle to be detected", wherein the count pattern represents the distribution of the feature points, and comparing the count pattern with a corresponding count pattern of the template corresponds to comparing it with a series of template count patterns shifted according to the drawbar angle; page 3, last para.; Fig. 5);
determining the position of the trailer body which is defined in the selected block grid as the body of the trailer (page 3, para. 4: "The horizontal position of the template in the numerical pattern of the current image in the polar view can be regarded as the angle of the drawbar to be detected").
However, Kaggere fails to explicitly disclose the method wherein tracking the trailer end.
However, in a similar field of endeavor Werner discloses a method for image tracking trailer (abstract). In addition, Werner discloses the method wherein tracking the trailer end (abstract: rear edge HK; page 5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kaggere, and can be applied interchangeably to any part of the trailer - and thus also to the rear end of the trailer. The motivation for doing this is that tracking the trailer end comes down to safety, geometric reality, and collision avoidance during maneuvers.
Regarding claim 14 (depends on claim 13), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the distribution of the feature points and the corresponding trailer ends in the stored block grids are stored in advance or created and stored in real time at fixed defined or dynamically adjustable time intervals (page 5, para. 1: storage media; it is apparent that the template for comparing in page 3 is pre-stored).
Regarding claim 15 (depends on claim 13), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the at least one image parameter is at least one of a brightness value, color value, grey tone, contrast value and/or a calculated quantity from one of these values and/or their gradients of a pixel and/or pixel clusters in a camera image (page 3, para. 6: "luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3: “chroma pattern”).
Regarding claim 16, it is corresponding to claim 1, thus, it is interpreted and rejected for the same reason set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 17 (depends on claim 13), Kaggere discloses the method wherein the corresponding actual positions of trailer ends defined in the stored block grids are obtained from another method (page 3, para. 4: "edge"; page 3, para. 5: "texture pattern"; page 3, para. 6: "luma pattern"; page 4, para. 3).
Regarding claims 11 and 18, they are corresponding to claim 9, thus, they are interpreted and rejected for the same reason set forth for claim 9.
Regarding claim 19, Kaggere discloses a camera-based system of a vehicle having a towing unit and a trailer rearwardly extending from and being pivotable to the towing unit (Fig. 1), comprising:
at least one image capturing means located at the towing unit and comprising an image sensor for acquiring camera images of the trailer which are successive in time (Fig. 1, video camera 10, page 5, last para.); and
at least one processing means (Fig. 2) configured for performing the method according to claim 13 (see claim 13 rejection for details).
Regarding claim 21, it is corresponding to claim 12, thus, it is interpreted and rejected for the same reason set forth for claim 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QIAN YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7239. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8am-6pm.
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/QIAN YANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2677
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