DETAILED ACTION
This action is in reply to the amendments and arguments filed July 7th, 2026. Claims 1-3, 5-13, and 15-22 are currently pending.
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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claims 1-3, 8, 11-13, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over previously cited of record Fang et al. (US Pub. No. 20230158975 A1), herein after Fang, in view of previously cited of record Yang et al. (US Pub. No. 20220057796 A1), herein after Yang, and further in view of previously cited of record Batsakis et al. (US Pub. No. 20220245093 A1), herein after Batsakis.
Regarding claim 1, Fang teaches [a]n apparatus for controlling autonomous driving of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a sensor device (Fang: Para. 0082, teaching an autonomous vehicle with sensors): a memory configured to store at least one instruction and reference data; and a controller operatively coupled to the sensor device and the memory, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to (Fang: Para. 0157, teaching a memory that stores instructions for a controller to execute): based on a first trigger signal, delete, using the reference data, at least a portion of driving data stored in the memory (Fang: Para. 0148, teaching deleting data that is stored in response to trigger conditions); and based on a second trigger signal, the time indicator, and the characteristic, delete, using the reference data, at least a portion of the real-time driving data stored in the directory (Fang: Para. 0198, teaching deleting data that is deemed irrelevant due to the age, current condition and position of the vehicle, and that a trigger event has occurred to prompt the deletion of the data).
Fang is silent to acquire, via the sensor device, real-time driving data of the vehicle; identify, using the reference data, a characteristic of the real-time driving data, wherein the characteristic is associated with a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data; filter, based on the identified characteristic, the real-time driving data; determine whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory; based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generate, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic; and store the filtered real-time driving data in the generated directory, wherein the stored real-time driving data comprises a time indicator; cause, based on the real-time driving data, autonomous driving of the vehicle.
In a similar field, Yang teaches acquire, via the sensor device, real-time driving data of the vehicle; identify, using the reference data, a characteristic of the real-time driving data; filter, based on the identified characteristic, the real-time driving data (Yang: Para. 0068, teaching collecting information on the environment the vehicle is traveling through using a detector and identifying information in the environment such as the vehicle's position in real time; Para. 0040, teaching that when an event occurs the data storage system stores event data including data on the time and position of the event; and Para. 0072, teaching analyzing the accumulated event data for the time and position of frequent event activations); store the filtered real-time driving data…, wherein the stored real-time driving data comprises a time indicator; cause, based on the real-time driving data, autonomous driving of the vehicle (Yang: Para. 0069, teaching that the system collects data on events including the time of the event and causing autonomous navigation based on the data of the event and real time data) for the benefit of improving the autonomous driving of the vehicle by only relying on relevant data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify data deletion in an autonomous vehicle system from Fang to identify information in the data such as the location and time the data was acquired and causing navigation based on the data, as taught by Yang, for the benefit of improving the autonomous driving of the vehicle by only relying on relevant data.
Fang in view of Yang are silent to determine whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory; based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generate, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic and that the data is stored in directories
In a similar field, Batsakis teaches determine whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory (Batsakis: Para. 0238, teaching storing data that is filtered according to their content d to directories that contain similar data); based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generate, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic (Batsakis: Para. 0248, teaching determining that a data group doesn't match any known directory and generating a new directory that matches the data group); and store the filtered real-time driving data in the generated directory (Batsakis: Para. 0198, teaching that data storage use directories to group data as part of a data storage policy) for the benefit of improving the searchability of the data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang to store their data in directories that are filtered based on characteristics of the data, as taught by Batsakis, for the benefit of improving the searchability of the data.
Regarding claim 2, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to delete the at least a portion of the real-time driving data stored in the directory by: comparing a storage expiration date of the real-time driving data included in the reference data with a time of acquisition of the real-time driving data, wherein the storage expiration date is associated with a type of the real-time driving data and an acquisition location of the real-time driving data; and deleting, based on the comparing, the at least a portion of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0198, teaching deleting data that is deemed irrelevant that has expired based on how old it is).
Regarding claim 3, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 2, and Yang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 2, wherein the type of the driving data comprises: general driving data, wherein the general driving data comprises at least one of autonomous driving control ON/OFF information for the vehicle or information indicating whether a transition demand (TD) condition is satisfied (Yang: Para. 0011, teaching that the event may including the autonomous driving function being activated or deactivated); and emergency driving data, wherein the emergency driving data comprises at least one of emergency situation occurrence information or accident risk detection information (Yang: Para. 0064, teaching that the data includes data related to an emergency vehicle approaching or an accident has occurred).
Regarding claim 8, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to encrypt the filtered real-time driving data before storing the filtered real-time driving data in the directory (Fang: Para. 0074, teaching encrypting the data stored in the memory).
Regarding claim 11, Fang teaches [a] method performed by an apparatus for controlling autonomous driving of a vehicle, the method comprising (Fang: Para. 0082, teaching an autonomous vehicle with sensors): based on a first trigger signal, deleting, by a controller using reference data stored in a memory of the vehicle, at least a portion of driving data stored in the memory (Fang: Para. 0148, teaching deleting data that is stored in response to trigger conditions); and based on a second trigger signal, the time indicator, and the characteristic, deleting, using the reference data, at least a portion of the real-time driving data stored in the directory (Fang: Para. 0198, teaching deleting data that is deemed irrelevant due to the age, current condition and position of the vehicle, and that a trigger event has occurred to prompt the deletion of the data).
Fang is silent to acquiring, by the controller and via a sensor device of the vehicle, real-time driving data of the vehicle; identifying, by the controller using the reference data, a characteristic of the real-time driving data, wherein the characteristic is associated with a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data; based on the identified characteristic, filtering, by the controller, the real-time driving data; determining whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory; based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generating, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic and storing, by the controller, the filtered real-time driving data in the generated directory, wherein the stored real-time driving data comprises a time indicator; causing, based on the real-time driving data, autonomous driving of the vehicle.
In a similar field, Yang teaches acquiring, by the controller and via a sensor device of the vehicle, real-time driving data of the vehicle; identifying, by the controller using the reference data, a characteristic of the real-time driving data, wherein the characteristic is associated with a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data; based on the identified characteristic, filtering, by the controller, the real-time driving data (Yang: Para. 0068, teaching collecting information on the environment the vehicle is traveling through using a detector and identifying information in the environment such as the vehicle's position in real time; Para. 0040, teaching that when an event occurs the data storage system stores event data including data on the time and position of the event; and Para. 0072, teaching analyzing the accumulated event data for the time and position of frequent event activations); storing, by the controller, the filtered real-time driving data…, wherein the stored real-time driving data comprises a time indicator; causing, based on the real-time driving data, autonomous driving of the vehicle (Yang: Para. 0069, teaching that the system collects data on events including the time of the event and causing autonomous navigation based on the data of the event and real time data) for the benefit of improving the autonomous driving of the vehicle by only relying on relevant data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify data deletion in an autonomous vehicle system from Fang to identify information in the data such as the location and time the data was acquired and causing navigation based on the data, as taught by Yang, for the benefit of improving the autonomous driving of the vehicle by only relying on relevant data.
Fang in view of Yang are silent to determining whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory; based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generating, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic and that the data is stored in directories
In a similar field, Batsakis teaches determining whether a directory corresponding to the characteristic exists in the memory (Batsakis: Para. 0238, teaching storing data that is filtered according to their content d to directories that contain similar data); based on a determination that the directory corresponding to the characteristic does not exist in the memory, generating, in the memory, the directory corresponding to the characteristic (Batsakis: Para. 0248, teaching determining that a data group doesn't match any known directory and generating a new directory that matches the data group); and storing, by the controller, the filtered real-time driving data in the generated directory (Batsakis: Para. 0198, teaching that data storage use directories to group data as part of a data storage policy) for the benefit of improving the searchability of the data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang to store their data in directories that are filtered based on characteristics of the data, as taught by Batsakis, for the benefit of improving the searchability of the data.
Regarding claim 12, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 11, wherein the deleting the at least a portion of the real-time driving data stored in the directory comprises: comparing, by the controller, a storage expiration date of the real-time driving data included in the reference data with a time of acquisition of the real-time driving data, wherein the storage expiration date is associated with a type of the real-time driving data and an acquisition location of the real-time driving data; and based on the comparing, deleting, by the controller, the at least a portion of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0198, teaching deleting data that is deemed irrelevant that has expired based on how old it is).
Regarding claim 13, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 12, and Yang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 12, wherein the type of the driving data comprises: general driving data, wherein the general driving data comprises at least one of autonomous driving control ON/OFF information for the vehicle or information indicating whether a transition demand (TD) condition is satisfied (Yang: Para. 0011, teaching that the event may including the autonomous driving function being activated or deactivated); and emergency driving data, wherein the emergency driving data comprises at least one of emergency situation occurrence information or accident risk detection information (Yang: Para. 0064, teaching that the data includes data related to an emergency vehicle approaching or an accident has occurred).
Regarding claim 18, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 11, further comprising: encrypting, by the controller, the filtered real-time driving data before storing the filtered real-time driving data in the directory (Fang: Para. 0074, teaching encrypting the data stored in the memory).
Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in view of Yang in view of Batsakis as applied to claims 1 and 11 and further evidenced by previously cited of record Yamakawa et al. (US Pub. No. 20060288056 A1), herein after Yamakawa.
Regarding claim 5, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, and Yang goes on to further teach wherein the time indicator corresponds to the time of acquisition (Yang: Para. 0069, teaching that the system collects data on events including the time of the event and causing autonomous navigation based on the data of the event and real time data).
They do not explicitly teach that the file names for the data indicates a time of acquisition and a type of the real-time driving data to store the filtered real-time driving data in the directory; however, such naming conventions are known and conventional in the art of data logging as evidenced by Yamakawa which teaches a file name convention for data logging where the file name contains the date/time the file was created and an identifier for what the file contains (Yamakawa; Para. 0046) for the benefit of easily identifying the contents and relevance of the data file to any searches of the data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to name their files according to the content of the files and the time that the files were generated, as evidenced by Yamakawa, for the benefit of easily identifying the contents and relevance of the data file to any searches of the data.
Regarding claim 15, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, and Yang goes on to further teach wherein the time indicator corresponds to the time of acquisition (Yang: Para. 0069, teaching that the system collects data on events including the time of the event and causing autonomous navigation based on the data of the event and real time data).
They do not explicitly teach that the file names for the data indicates a time of acquisition and a type of the real-time driving data to store the filtered real-time driving data; however, such naming conventions are known and conventional in the art of data logging as evidenced by Yamakawa which teaches a file name convention for data logging where the file name contains the date/time the file was created and an identifier for what the file contains (Yamakawa; Para. 0046) for the benefit of easily identifying the contents and relevance of the data file to any searches of the data.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to name their files according to the content of the files and the time that the files were generated, as evidenced by Yamakawa, for the benefit of easily identifying the contents and relevance of the data file to any searches of the data.
Claims 6, 7, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in view of Yang in view of Batsakis as applied in claims 1 and 11 and further in view of previously cited of record Redlich al. (US Pub. No. 20090254572 A1), herein after Redlich.
Regarding claim 6, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to: identify, based on the characteristic of the real-time driving data, information about a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired; identify, using the reference data, information to be filtered out according to the information about the country (Fang: Para. 0144, teaching that the trigger event can relate to a detection in real time that the vehicle is entering geographic or jurisdictional triggers like entering a country).
They are silent to assign a null value for the information to be filtered out among pieces of information included in the real-time driving data for storing the real-time driving data in the directory.
In a similar field, Redlich teaches assign a null value for the information to be filtered out among pieces of information included in the real-time driving data for storing the real-time driving data in the directory (Redlich: Para. 0521 and 0523, teaching that when sensitive information is detected in data the related data is nulled) for the benefit of complying with government regulations without fully deleting all the data in a file.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify data management policies the comply with government regulations to delete data from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to null out the at issue data rather than fully delete the file, as taught by Redlich, for the benefit of complying with government regulations without fully deleting all the data in a file.
Regarding claim 7, Fang, Yang, Batsakis, and Redlich remain as applied as in claim 6, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 6, wherein the information to be filtered out comprises at least one of a latitude of a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data or a longitude of the location of acquisition of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0093, teaching that the data includes coordinates of the vehicle as defined by a GPS system).
Regarding claim 16, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 11, further comprising: based on the characteristic of the real-time driving data, identifying, by the controller, information about a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired; identifying, by the controller using the reference data, information to be filtered out according to the information about the country (Fang: Para. 0144, teaching that the trigger event can relate to a detection in real time that the vehicle is entering geographic or jurisdictional triggers like entering a country).
They are silent to assigning, by the controller, a null value for the information to be filtered out among pieces of information included in the real-time driving data for storing the real-time driving data in the directory.
In a similar field, Redlich teaches assigning, by the controller, a null value for the information to be filtered out among pieces of information included in the real-time driving data for storing the real-time driving data in the directory (Redlich: Para. 0521 and 0523, teaching that when sensitive information is detected in data the related data is nulled) for the benefit of complying with government regulations without fully deleting all the data in a file.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify data management policies the comply with government regulations to delete data from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to null out the at issue data rather than fully delete the file, as taught by Redlich, for the benefit of complying with government regulations without fully deleting all the data in a file.
Regarding claim 17, Fang, Yang, Batsakis, and Redlich remain as applied as in claim 16, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 16, wherein the information to be filtered out comprises at least one of a latitude of a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data or a longitude of the location of acquisition of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0093, teaching that the data includes coordinates of the vehicle as defined by a GPS system).
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in view of Yang in view of Batsakis as applied in claims 1 and 11 and further in view of previously cited of record Benson et al. (US Patent No. 11823505 B1), herein after Benson.
Regarding claim 9, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to: identify, based on a file name of the real-time driving data stored in the directory, a time of acquisition of each piece of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0163, teaching that the files of the stored data have identifiers that mark the time it was acquired and when it will expire).
They are silent to based on an available memory of the memory being less than or equal to a threshold, delete, using the time of acquisition, at least an earliest acquired portion of the real-time driving data.
In a similar field, Benson teaches based on an available memory of the memory being less than or equal to a threshold, delete, using the time of acquisition, at least an earliest acquired portion of the real-time driving data (Benson: Page 18 col. 13 line 54 through col. 14 line 14, teaching that a data storage management system automatically deletes old data when it is detected that the storage is reaching capacity) for the benefit of improving the data management of the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify the data management policies including the deletion of data from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to begin the data deletion process in response to the memory storage reaching or nearing a full capacity, as taught by Benson, for the benefit of improving the data management of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 19, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, and Fang goes on to further teach [t]he method of claim 11, further comprising: based on a file name of the real-time driving data stored in the directory, identifying, by the controller, a time of acquisition of each piece of the real-time driving data (Fang: Para. 0163, teaching that the files of the stored data have identifiers that mark the time it was acquired and when it will expire).
They are silent to based on an available memory of the memory being less than or equal to a threshold, deleting, by the controller using the time of acquisition, at least an earliest acquired portion of the real-time driving data.
In a similar field, Benson teaches based on an available memory of the memory being less than or equal to a threshold, deleting, by the controller using the time of acquisition, at least an earliest acquired portion of the real-time driving data (Benson: Page 18 col. 13 line 54 through col. 14 line 14, teaching that a data storage management system automatically deletes old data when it is detected that the storage is reaching capacity) for the benefit of improving the data management of the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to modify the data management policies including the deletion of data from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to begin the data deletion process in response to the memory storage reaching or nearing a full capacity, as taught by Benson, for the benefit of improving the data management of the vehicle.
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in view of Yang in view of Batsakis as applied in claims 1 and 11 and further in view of previously cited of record Noguchi; Kohei (US Pub. No. 20240177604A1), herein after Noguchi.
Regarding claim 10, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, however they are silent to [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to determine that the first trigger signal is identified by identifying an IGN ON signal for the vehicle.
In a similar field, Noguchi teaches [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to determine that the first trigger signal is identified by identifying an IGN ON signal for the vehicle (Noguchi: Para. 0151, teaching that the event that triggers deleting data can include starting an ignition of the vehicle) for the benefit of improving the privacy of the subjects of the data collected by the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s claimed invention to modify the data management policies including the deletion of data based on trigger conditions from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to have a trigger condition for deleting the data be the ignition of the vehicle turning on, as taught by Noguchi, for the benefit of improving the privacy of the subjects of the data collected by the vehicle.
Regarding claim 20, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, however they are silent to [t]he method of claim 11, further comprising: determining that the first trigger signal is identified by identifying an IGN ON signal for the vehicle.
In a similar field, Noguchi teaches [t]he method of claim 11, further comprising: determining that the first trigger signal is identified by identifying an IGN ON signal for the vehicle (Noguchi: Para. 0151, teaching that the event that triggers deleting data can include starting an ignition of the vehicle) for the benefit of improving the privacy of the subjects of the data collected by the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s claimed invention to modify the data management policies including the deletion of data based on trigger conditions from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to have a trigger condition for deleting the data be the ignition of the vehicle turning on, as taught by Noguchi, for the benefit of improving the privacy of the subjects of the data collected by the vehicle.
Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in view of Yang in view of Batsakis as applied in claims 1 and 11 and further in view of Hunt et al. (US Pub. No. 20220066023), herein after Hunt.
Regarding claim 21, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 1, however they are silent to [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic comprises a country code indicating a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired.
In a similar field, Hunt teaches [t]he apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic comprises a country code indicating a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired (Hunt: Para. 0012 and 0023, teaching collecting data on the network used in communication with the vehicle to determine properties of the network including the mobile country code of the network; and Para. 0024 and 0055, teaching storing the network data in a database alongside other useful data) for the benefit of improving the accuracy of positioning the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to determine the location of the vehicle using data such as the country code of the network the vehicle is connected to, as taught by Hunt, for the benefit of improving the accuracy of positioning the vehicle.
Regarding claim 22, Fang, Yang, and Batsakis remain as applied as in claim 11, however they are silent to [t]he method of claim 11, wherein the characteristic comprises a country code indicating a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired.
In a similar field, Hunt teaches [t]he method of claim 11, wherein the characteristic comprises a country code indicating a country in which the real-time driving data is acquired (Hunt: Para. 0012 and 0023, teaching collecting data on the network used in communication with the vehicle to determine properties of the network including the mobile country code of the network; and Para. 0024 and 0055, teaching storing the network data in a database alongside other useful data) for the benefit of improving the accuracy of positioning the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the filing of the application to include in the data management and deletion for autonomous vehicles from Fang in view of Yang in further view of Batsakis to determine the location of the vehicle using data such as the country code of the network the vehicle is connected to, as taught by Hunt, for the benefit of improving the accuracy of positioning the vehicle.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 7th, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments filed July 7th, 2026 with respect to the 103 rejections of record have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant contends (see page 9 line 28 through page 10 line 4, filed July 7th, 2026) that Yang is deficient in teaching identifying and storing a characteristic of the real-time driving data that is associated with a location of acquisition of the real-time driving data. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes that paragraph 0068 of Yang teaches that the processor 180 collects information about the environment the vehicle travels through and “the processor 180 may identify the vehicle position in real time using the positioning device 120 while performing the autonomous driving”. Yang even goes on to teach in paragraph 0040 that “[w]hen a predefined event occurs, the data storage system for automated driving 200 may record (store) event data including information on an occurrence time and information on an occurrence position of the corresponding event”, thus Yang is sufficient for teaching that the data acquired including information on the location of where the data was acquired.
Applicant contends (see page 10 lines 5-11, filed July 7th, 2026) that Yang is deficient in teaching “filtering, by the controller, the real-time driving data”. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes that Yang establishes in at least paragraph 0072 that the data on the environment and position of the vehicle at the time of an event are accumulated and analyzed to match common occurrences of events at specific times and locations. While Yang does not directly use the word “filter”, Yang does perform this step as part of the grouping and analysis of events.
Applicant contends (see page 10 lines 12 through page 11 line 6, filed July 7th, 2026) that Batsakis is deficient in teaching generating a directory that corresponds to the characteristic when one does not exist already. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes that Batsakis teaches in paragraph 0246 a cluster master that analyzes data for identifiers (characteristics) and matches the data to processing nodes that match the identifiers and when data is found that does not match any identifier then the cluster master can instruct the processing nodes to update their map identifiers to satisfy the new identifiers or “[i]n certain cases, the processing nodes can generate one or more directories or file paths based on the received information”.
Applicant contends (see page 11 lines 9-10, filed July 7th, 2026) that independent claim 11 is allowable over the prior art of record for the same reason that independent claim 1 is allowable. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes that independent claim 11 has not been rendered allowable over the prior art of record for the same reasons that independent claim 1 has not been rendered allowable over the prior art of record. Applicant contends (see page 11 lines 11-18, filed July 7th, 2026) that the dependent claims are allowable over the prior art of record as they depend upon independent claims that have been rendered allowable over the prior art of record. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner notes that as the independent claims have been rendered allowable over the prior art of record the dependent claims stand to fall with the claims they depend upon.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Aaron K McCullers whose telephone number is (571)272-3523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, Roughly 9 AM - 6 PM ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Ortiz can be reached at (571) 272-1206. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/A.K.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ANGELA Y ORTIZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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