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 .
Status of Claims
This final rejection is in response to Applicant’s amended filing of 04/27/2026.
Claims 1-9 are currently pending and have been examined. Applicant has amended claims 1-4 and added new claims 6-9.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2 and 4 cited for being patentably indistinct from claims 1-2 and 5 of Application Number 18/987,758 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The citation for claims 1-2 and 4 being patentably indistinct from claims 1-2 and 5 of Application Number 18/987,758 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed with respect to claims 1-5 rejected under 35 USC § 102(a)(1) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant asserts that Park does not disclose
“…
acquire user intention information indicating whether or not there is agreement of a vehicle user to disclosure of vehicle identification information on a vehicle,
…
in a case where the agreement of the vehicle user exists, keep the vehicle information including the vehicle identification information in the storage device,
and in a case where the agreement of the vehicle user does not exist, acquire first identification information that is different from the vehicle identification information, keep first corrected vehicle information including the first identification information in place of the vehicle identification information in the storage device, and delete the vehicle identification information.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Park ¶ [0053] recites “The rule/policy manager 23 may be configured to receive, from a vehicle owner, settings for privacy options for personal data (VII/EDR/DSSAD data) collected from the owner's vehicle, and generate a set of privacy rules (that is privacy policies) to be applied to the collection, management, and use of personal data according to the received settings for privacy options.” Further, ¶ [0051] recites that “[the] service manager 21 is a functional entity, which collects and manages EDR/DSSAD data from vehicles and provides a user with anonymized EDR/DSSAD data in which a specific vehicle or individual is not identified or EDR/DSSAD data in which a specific vehicle or individual is identified.” (emphasis added). In other words, Park discloses the EDR/DSSAD data is specific to a vehicle or individual, and may be anonymized according to a vehicle owner’s privacy policy options and rules. Therefore the claimed limitations are anticipated by Park.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 04/27/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of any patent granted on Application Number 18/979,680 or 18/987,758 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US 20230098006 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 4, Park discloses a vehicle information management system (claim 4; see at least abstract) comprising:
a vehicle that stores vehicle information including vehicle identification information (see at least ¶ [0035] and [0045-0046] and Fig. 1 disclosing an in-vehicle data recording system used in recording event data and transmitting it with vehicle identification information through a telecommunication device);
a management device comprising an information processing device that includes a storage device (claim 1; see at least ¶ [0047-0048] and Fig. 2 disclosing a data management system of a cloud storage system in a server network that receives event data and vehicle identification information from the vehicle telecommunication device);
and a first device that provides the vehicle information to the management device through communication (see at least ¶ [0045-0046] disclosing a vehicle telecommunication device that delivers an event report message may include vehicle identification information),
wherein the management device is configured to
acquire user intention information indicating whether or not there is agreement of a vehicle user to disclosure of the vehicle identification information (see at least ¶ [0049-0053] disclosing the cloud storage system recognizing a user’s request to anonymize event data),
receive the vehicle information including the vehicle identification information from the first device through communication (see at least ¶ [0045-0048] disclosing a vehicle telecommunication device that delivers an event report message may include vehicle identification information to a data management system of a cloud storage system),
in a case where the agreement of the vehicle user exists, keep the vehicle information including the vehicle identification information in the storage device (see at least ¶ [0049] and [0051] and Fig. 2 disclosing storing event data and vehicle identification information in which a specific vehicle or individual is identified in corresponding databases according to a rule/policy),
and in a case where the agreement of the vehicle user does not exist, acquire first identification information that is different from the vehicle identification information (see at least ¶ [0056-0059] disclosing a repository coordinator generating link data that connects event data and vehicle identification information stored in separate databases in the cloud storage system, wherein the link data is modified virtual identification information with randomly generated values (e.g., “salt”)), keep first corrected vehicle information including the first identification information in place of the vehicle identification information in the storage device (see at least ¶ [0056-0060] disclosing the link data is stored in the vehicle identification information database instead of unaltered vehicle identification information), and delete the vehicle identification information (see at least ¶ [0012-0015] and [0086-0091] disclosing the cloud storage system deleting event data and vehicle identification information in accordance with a user’s requested data management rule/policy).
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses when the agreement of the vehicle user does not exist, the information processing device is configured to transform the vehicle identification information into the first identification information by using a fixed transformation algorithm (see at least ¶ [0059] disclosing the link data is produced using a one-way hash function of vehicle identification information to create pseudonym identifiers).
Regarding claims 3 and 5, Park discloses transforming the vehicle identification information included in the vehicle information into second identification information (see at least ¶ [0059] disclosing the link data is produced using a one-way hash function of vehicle identification information to create pseudonym identifiers),
and providing second corrected vehicle information including the second identification information in place of the vehicle identification information to another system even when the agreement of the vehicle user exists (see at least ¶ [0056-0060] disclosing the link data is stored in the vehicle identification information database instead of unaltered vehicle identification information).
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 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al., as applied to claims 1 and 4, and in view of Sato (US 20250319831 A1).
Regarding claims 6 and 8, Park does not explicitly disclose the vehicle information includes a total distance traveled by the vehicle.
However, Sato suggests the vehicle information includes a total distance traveled by the vehicle (see at least abstract and ¶ [0048] disclosing a vehicle data provision system that provides a vehicle’s total mileage).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to incorporate the telemetric vehicle data of Sato into the vehicle data collection and anonymization of park with a reasonable expectation of success because both inventions are directed toward collecting and managing vehicle information. This would provide additional data to contribute to event data records and provide more context and information to what conditions and where a vehicle event occurred (see at least Park ¶ [0037]).
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Park does not explicitly disclose the vehicle information includes position history information on the vehicle;
and the position history information is a history of a latitude and a longitude of the vehicle.
However, Sato suggests the vehicle information includes position history information on the vehicle (see at least abstract and ¶ [0048] and [0083-0084] disclosing a vehicle data provision system that provides a vehicle’s GPS coordinates in latitude and longitude at a given time and date);
and the position history information is a history of a latitude and a longitude of the vehicle (see at least abstract and ¶ [0048] and [0083-0084] disclosing a vehicle data provision system that provides a vehicle’s GPS coordinates in latitude and longitude at a given time and date).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to incorporate the telemetric vehicle data of Sato into the vehicle data collection and anonymization of park with a reasonable expectation of success because both inventions are directed toward collecting and managing vehicle information. This would provide additional data to contribute to event data records and provide more context and information to what conditions and where a vehicle event occurred (see at least Park ¶ [0037]).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Navid Z Mehdizadeh can be reached at (571) 272-7691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.C.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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