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 .
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 10-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 10 recites specifying expected increase amounts of a Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ) of a driver; selecting one or more suggestion items from among the plurality of suggestion items; and suggesting the one or more suggestion items to the driver. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind, then it falls within the “Mental Process” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The claim is not patent eligible.
Claims 11-18 are rejected for the same reasons because of the dependency.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter. Claim 19 is drawn to a “computer program", per se, therefore, fail(s) to fall within a statutory category of invention.
A claim directed to a computer program itself is non-statutory because it is not:
A process, or
A machine, or
A manufacture, or
A composition of matter.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons because of the dependency.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Esfandiari (US 2025/0128671).
Regarding claim 1, Esfandiari discloses an assistance device 100 comprising:
a memory in which a program is stored (paragraph 19, p. 22, p. 29); and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform processing by executing the program (p. 19, p. 22, p. 29), the processing including:
specifying (step 506) expected increase amounts of a Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ) of a driver of a vehicle for a plurality of suggestion items (p. 33, p. 34, p. 45);
selecting (S 512, S 514) one or more suggestion items from among the plurality of suggestion items in accordance with the specified expected increase amounts (p. 42); and
suggesting (S 510) the one or more suggestion items to the driver (p. 43).
Regarding claim 10, Esfandiari discloses an assistance method comprising:
specifying (S 506) expected increase amounts of a Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ) of a driver of a vehicle for a plurality of suggestion items (p. 33, p. 34, p. 45);
selecting (S 512, S 514) one or more suggestion items from among the plurality of suggestion items in accordance with the specified expected increase amounts (p. 42); and
suggesting (S 510) the one or more suggestion items to the driver (p. 43).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Esfandiari discloses wherein each of the suggestion items includes an object related to content to be suggested to the driver (p. 41).
Regarding claims 3 and 12 , Esfandiari discloses wherein each of the suggestion items includes a characteristic related to an additional element of content to be suggested to the driver (p. 41).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Esfandiari discloses wherein the object includes at least one of a destination, a path, a driving assistance function, a driving manner, and cabin space control (p. 41).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Esfandiari discloses wherein the characteristic includes at least one of novelty, enjoyment, and momentum (p. 4).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Esfandiari discloses wherein the processing further includes: acquiring a present BHQ of the driver (S 506); and correcting the specified expected increase amounts in accordance with the present BHQ (S 508, S 518, S 520, S 522).
Regarding claims 7 and 16 , Esfandiari discloses wherein the processing further includes: acquiring a present BHQ of the driver (S 506); and suggesting the one or more suggestion items to the driver when a decrease amount of the present BHQ with respect to a previous BHQ exceeds a threshold (S 510, p. 45, p. 46).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Esfandiari discloses wherein the processing further includes: acquiring feature information related to a feature of the driver (p. 34); and correcting the specified expected increase amounts in accordance with the acquired feature information (S 508, S 518, S 520, S 522).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Esfandiari discloses wherein the processing further includes suggesting (S 510, S 524), to the driver, the one or more suggestion items together with a BHQ that is expected in accordance with the specified expected increase amounts (p. 45, p. 46).
Regarding claim 19, Esfandiari discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a hardware computer, cause the computer to perform (p. 19, p. 22, p. 29):
specifying (S 506) expected increase amounts of a Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ) of a driver of a vehicle for a plurality of suggestion items (p. 33, p. 34, p. 45);
selecting (S 512, S 514) one or more suggestion items from among the plurality of suggestion items in accordance with the specified expected increase amounts (p. 42); and
suggesting (S 510) the one or more suggestion items to the driver (p. 43).
Regarding claim 20, Esfandiari discloses wherein each of the suggestion items includes an object related to content to be suggested to the driver or a characteristic related to an additional element of content to be suggested to the driver (p. 41).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yasuhara, Goto, Wipperfurth, Yagi, and Park disclose driving assistance systems.
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/ANH V LA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
ANH V. LA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2685
Al
May 2, 2026
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