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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,725,955 B2 and over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,135,218 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Claims 1, 8, and 15 of the current application appear to be a broader version of claims 1, 8, and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 11,725,955 B2, and claims 1, 8, and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12,135,218 B2 because the structural elements of claims 1, 8, and 15 of the current application are the same structural elements of claims 1, 8, and 15 of US 11,725,955 B2 and 12,135,218 B2 with the exception of the display feature, i.e. “generating a plurality of personalized route suggestions” since claims 1, 8, and 15 in the current application recites “generating a personalized route suggestion”. Furthermore, Claims 1, 8, and 15 of the current application recites “wherein the personalized route is transmitted to a user device or provided on a vehicle display” which is a broader limitation than the transmitting step in claims 1, 8, and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 11,725,955 B2 and 12,135,218 B2.
Claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 of the current application appear to be the same as claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,725,955 B2, and claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,135,218 B2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) claims 1, 8, and 15, recite(s) receiving a request from a user including an origin and a destination, identifying a plurality of routes, retrieving real time data associated with road segments of the plurality of routes, retrieving accident history data, retrieving a user profile, calculating risk scores based on accident history, real time data and at least one of tolerance level and driver’s history from the driver’s profile using a statistical inference method, generating and transmitting a route suggestion based on the risk scores.
The limitations “identifying a plurality of routes, retrieving real time data associated with road segments of the plurality of routes, retrieving accident history data, retrieving a user profile, calculating risk scores based on accident history, real time data and at least one of tolerance level and driver’s history from the driver’s profile, generating and transmitting a route suggestion based on the risk scores”, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than one or more processors and a computer, nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind. For example, but for the one or more processors and a computer language, the context of the claims encompasses a user gathering data and mentally calculate a score and assign a route based on said score. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Furthermore, the claim recites “calculating risk scores based on accident history, real time data and at least one of tolerance level and driver’s history from the driver’s profile using a statistical inference method”. The limitation “statistical inference method”, in view of the specification, is an Empirical Bayes weighted average method, i.e. mathematical calculations, and the limitation falls within the “mathematical concepts” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the additional element of one or more processors and a computer. The one or more processors and the computer are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing generic computer functions) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. With respect to the receiving a request, and transmitting to a user device, the examiner submits that these limitations are insignificant extra-solution activities that merely use a computer to perform the process. In particular, receiving a request from a user including an origin and a destination is recited at a high level of generality and amounts to mere data gathering. The transmitting a route suggestion amounts to mere post solution displaying, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity. Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Further, looking at the additional limitation(s) as an ordered combination or as a whole, the limitation(s) add nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. For instance, there is no indication that the additional elements, when considered as a whole, reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology or technical field. Accordingly, the additional limitation(s) do/does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor to perform the recited steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Further, a conclusion that an additional element is insignificant extra-solution activity in Step 2A should be re-evaluated in Step 2B to determine if they are more than what is well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field. The additional limitations of receiving a request from a user including an origin and a destination, and transmitting a route suggestion to a user are well-understood, routine, and conventional activities because the background recites said limitations in Paragraphs 0001-0004 as such. Furthermore, MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), and the cases cited therein, including Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2016), TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2015), indicate that mere collection or receipt of data over a network is a well‐understood, routine, and conventional function when it is claimed in a merely generic manner. Hence, the claims are not patent eligible.
Dependent claim(s) 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 do not recite any further limitations that cause the claim(s) to be patent eligible. Rather, the limitations of dependent claims are directed toward additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine and conventional additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. Claims 2, 9, and 16 discloses how the risk score is calculated and that falls under the mental process of calculating a number. Claims 3, 10, and 17 define a time period and do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Claims 4, 11, and 18 discloses that weather and accidents are taken into consideration and do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Claims 5, 12, and 19 further define the driver’s history and do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Claims 6, 13, and 20 discloses that the determining is based on different parameters and do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Claims 7 and 19 recite generating a route and that also falls under the mental process as discussed above. Therefore, dependent claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 are not patent eligible under the same rationale as provided for in the rejection of independent claims 1, 8, and 15.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayes et al US 2018/0059687 A1 (hence Hayes) in view of Lu “The traffic accident hotspot prediction: Based on the logistic regression method” (the examiner is providing a copy and relying upon, hence Lu).
In re claims 1, 8, and 15, Hayes discloses a system determining one or more recommended routes between two or more locations, tracking a fleet vehicle's progress along a route, and activating a feature of the fleet vehicle based on the fleet vehicle following or not following the recommended route (Abstract) and teaches the following:
receiving a navigation request from a user, wherein the request includes destination data and a detected origin location associated with the user (Fig.3, #302, #304, and Paragraph 0026 “a system may receive a start location”, and Paragraph 0027 “a system may receive an end location”);
identifying a plurality of routes from the origin to the destination, wherein a route is comprised of a plurality of road segments (Fig.3, #306, Paragraph 0028 “determine a number of segments along the route from the start location to the end location”, and Paragraph 0060 “the system may determine, in step 306, multiple routes from the start location to the end location”);
retrieving data indicative of a real-time condition associated with at least one of the road segments (Fig.4, #410, Paragraph 0035 “a predicted weather for a predicted time that the vehicle will be on a particular segment”, Fig.4, #416 and Paragraph 0039 “”traffic may include information regarding current traffic, predicted traffic, historical traffic patterns, and the like);
retrieving data indicative of accident history associated with the at least one of the road segments (Fig,4, #408 and Paragraph 0034 “accidents may include a number of accidents along a segment, a frequency of accidents along a segment, or the like”);
retrieving a user profile associated with the user ((Fig.4, #426 and Paragraph 0044 “A risk factor may include driver profile”), wherein the user profile includes at least one of a user-configurable tolerance level (Paragraph 0044 “if a driver has a more difficult time seeing at night, but is otherwise a more defensive driver, that driver might have a more risky nighttime driving profile, but a less risky daytime driving profile”, and Paragraph 0098 “A user preference input may allow a user to create or maintain one or more driver profiles”) and driver's history that factors experience and past traffic incidents, (Paragraph 0099 “if a user always values time over safety (e.g., two routes could be safe, but one route might be 95% safe and another might be 98% safe. The 95% safe route might take 10 minutes, and the 98% safe route might take 30 minutes), the system might take the user's preferences into account and choose a route that takes less time, even if the route is slightly less safe”),
calculating risk scores, based on the accident history and the real-time condition and weighed based on the at least one tolerance level and driver's history, associated with a plurality of proposed routes (Fig.3, #310-312, and Paragraph 0047 “the system may determine a total risk of the route” and Paragraph 0099 as described above);
and generating a personalized route suggestion based on the risk scores (Paragraph 0084 “determine a recommended route from among the potential routes”);
wherein the personalized route is transmitted to a user device or provided on a vehicle display (Paragraph 0085 “server 606 may send the recommended route to mobile device 604 and/or vehicle 602”)
However, Hayes doesn’t explicitly teach the following:
wherein the calculation includes combining, using a statistical inference method, the accident history and a statistical regression model based on features of a road segment to compute a likelihood of having an accident on the road segment
Nevertheless, Lu discloses a traffic accident hotspot predication and teaches the following:
wherein the calculation includes combining, using a statistical inference method, the accident history and a statistical regression model based on features of a road segment to compute a likelihood of having an accident on the road segment (Page 108 (second page of the provided copy), first paragraph “using logistic regression, and section II “Statistic Method”, and “ai are regression coefficients”, and table I showing features on the road and page 109)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the Hayes reference to include the logistic regression method in prediction a traffic accident hotspot, as taught by Lu, in order to improve the prediction accuracy (Lu, Abstract “the prediction accuracy is approximate 86.67%”).
In re claims 2, 9, and 16, Hayes teaches the following:
wherein the risk scores are calculated based on a portion of the data indicative of accident history associated with a time period (Paragraphs 0034 “A risk factor may include accidents 408”, 0041-0042 “an increased number of historical accidents at a time of the day, increased driver fatigue”, and Fig. 4, #422)
In re claims 3, 10, and 17, Hayes teaches the following:
wherein the time period is determined based on a present time or start time received from the user device (Paragraphs 0041-0043 “The system may provide an estimated risk for different times of the day (e.g., now, in one hour, etc.)”, and Fig.4, #420, #422, and #424)
In re claims 4, 11, and 18, Hayes teaches the following:
retrieving data associated with a weather condition, wherein the risk scores are calculated based on a portion of the data indicative of accident history associated with a weather condition (Paragraphs 0035 “A risk factor may include weather 410”, and 0041)
In re claims 5, 12, and 19, Hayes teaches the following:
wherein the driver's history includes at least one of the driver's age, age group, gender, knowledge of the local roads, driving skill level, driving experience, and a combination thereof (Fig.3, #426, Paragraph 0044 “less risky”, “more defensive driver”, Fig.5, #526, and Paragraph 0075 “history”)
In re claims 6, 13, and 20, Hayes teaches the following:
wherein generating the personalized route is further based on a route distance, a travel time, or a combination thereof (Fig.4, #420, #422, #424, and Paragraphs 0041-0043 “driving at certain times of the day”)
In re claims 7 and 14, Hayes teaches the following:
generating at least one route from the plurality of routes other than the identified personalized route (Fig.7E and Paragraph 0096 “a list (e.g., list 736) of potential routes”)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Luciani US 2022/0187085 A1 discloses a safe transit route generation system that determines a travel route for a user traveling from an origin location to a destination location and generates a route safety value for the travel route based on one or more safety conditions associated with at least one geographic location of the travel route.
Polanowski US 2020/0003569 A1 discloses method for navigation may include receiving, by a server system, an indication of a starting location and an indication of a destination from a client device; identifying a route between and including the starting location and the destination; calculating a safety rating for the route, the safety rating indicating an estimated likelihood of a traveler experiencing an incident when traveling along the route; and/or transmitting, from the server system to the client device, an indication of the route and an indication of the safety rating.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMI KHATIB whose telephone number is (571)270-1165. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00am-5:30pm.
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/RAMI KHATIB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669