DETAIL ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice on Prior Art Rejections
2. 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.
Status of Claims
3. This Office Action is in response to the Applicant's application filed December 12, 2024. Claims 1-5 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 of this title, 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.
5. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Saito et al, US 2020/0410851, in view of Shin et al. US 2015/0019119, hereinafter referred to as Saito and Shin, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Saito discloses a traveling control device for a vehicle, the traveling control device comprising a control unit,
wherein the control unit is configured to, when a determination is made that there is a possibility that a host vehicle will enter a narrow road with a road width less than a reference value set in advance and that the host vehicle will attempt to pass a second vehicle on the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, “the wide road information, may include information for wide road segments 500 related to narrow areas 507 ( obstacle areas) where vehicles cannot pass by each other (i.e., obstacle area information 427b).”), announce, to at least one of an occupant of the host vehicle and an occupant of the second vehicle, an alert for avoiding a situation in which the host vehicle and the second vehicle pass each other on the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 195, 249, 250, 248, 144, “Disclosed herein is a system and related method that assists vehicles in passing by each other. This is achieved by sharing information, via a V2V network, about places where vehicles can and cannot pass by each other”).
Saito fails to explicit discloses a road width less than a reference value set in advance.
However, Shin teaches a road width less than a reference value set in advance (See at least fig 1-9, ¶ 3, 13, 85, 77, “the narrow road determiner 26 determines that a road is a narrow road when the width calculated by the width calculator 25 does not exceed a threshold value”).
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 system of Saito and include a road width less than a reference value set in advance as taught by Shin because it would allow detecting a narrow road in front of a vehicle, and more particularly, for detecting a narrow road through which a vehicle cannot pass (Shin ¶ 3).
Regarding claim 2, Saito discloses the traveling control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to change a content of the alert in accordance with traveling situations of the host vehicle and the second vehicle on the narrow road and surroundings of the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 195, 249, 250, 248, 144, 176, “when a vehicle 520 in a V2VN 560 has detected a point where vehicles can or cannot pass by each other and has updated existing area information 427 in accordance with changes in the road 505 status; c) when a vehicle 520 in a V2VN has received broadcasted information ( either periodical or update) from another vehicle, merged that information with its own area information 427,
and recognized as a result of the merging that an update is beneficial or necessary”).
Regarding claim 3, Saito discloses the traveling control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to, when a determination is made that the second vehicle has already entered the narrow road, perform annunciation, to the occupant of the host vehicle, prompting the host vehicle to wait in front of the narrow road without entering the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, 195, 210, 211, 220, 221, 88, “"stop area" may, in some embodiments, refer to an area adjacent to an obstacle in which vehicles in a lane unobstructed by the obstacle wait for vehicles coming from the opposite direction to clear going around the obstacle”).
Regarding claim 4, Saito discloses the traveling control device according to claim 1, wherein: the control unit is configured to, when a determination is made that the second vehicle has not entered the narrow road, estimate a time needed for the host vehicle and the second vehicle to enter the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, 195, 210, 211, 220, 221, 88, 155, “The information comprises a location, a width and a length, an attribute, and
a time of detection for each point. The location may be represented by a latitude and a longitude, or by a road identifier and a distance from a start point of the road, in addition to, or as clarified by, other descriptive portions herein”); the control unit is configured to decide an order of priority of the host vehicle and the second vehicle regarding entry into the narrow road, such that the order of priority of the vehicle of which the estimated time is shorter is higher; and the control unit is configured to announce the alert in accordance with a content corresponding to the decided order of priority (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, 195, 210, 211, 220, 221, 88, 200, “Conditions for which priority for proceeding may be given (prioritized conditions) may include: the location of the obstacle 507, current or projected waiting time, whether one is ascending or descending in altitude, a number of succeeding vehicles, congestion and/or a traffic”).
Regarding claim 5, Saito discloses the traveling control device according to claim 3, wherein: the control unit is configured to, when there is a third vehicle attempting to enter the narrow road, estimate a time needed for the host vehicle and the third vehicle to enter the narrow road (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, 195, 210, 211, 220, 221, 88, 155, 199, “The vehicles 520, 530 may utilize negotiation information in the course of the negotiation. This
negotiation information may include: 1) a vehicle ID, which is a vehicle ID of the vehicle that issues this negotiation information; 2) target obstructed area (location) 507 information, which indicates "which area the negotiation is being performed in connection with"; 3) negotiation status (N-xxx); and 4) trafficable area state, which indicates whether (true/false) the vehicle is in a trafficable area. It may be used to identify a vehicle to negotiate with in state”); the control unit is configured to decide an order of priority of the host vehicle and the third vehicle regarding entry into the narrow road, such that the order of priority of the vehicle of which the estimated time is shorter is higher; and the control unit is configured to announce the alert to at least one of the host vehicle and the third vehicle in accordance with a content corresponding to the decided order of priority (See at least fig 1-24, ¶ 16, 17, 95, 153, 96, 154, 195, 210, 211, 220, 221, 88, 200, 236, “However, if the number of vehicles in the oncoming
vehicle procession 530 is three or more, a negotiation must take place because they cannot pass each other (see FIG. 18D). The point where the first and second vehicles are to pass by the oncoming vehicles is recognized by receiving a broadcast of the FPP”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A MARTINEZ BORRERO whose email is luis.martinezborrero@uspto.gov and telephone number is (571)272-4577. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HUNTER LONSBERRY can be reached on (571)272-7298. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LUIS A MARTINEZ BORRERO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665