DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The specification, the abstract and the drawings are all acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is a vehicle control data processing device and is not part of a statutory class of invention. It is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
5. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is a mathematic process for data manipulation, data gathering & data storage and is directed to an abstract idea without significant more.
Step 1: Is the claim to a process, machine, manufacture or composition of Matter?
Claim 1 recites a vehicle control device with a motor. Thus, the claim is directed to a machine, which is one of the statutory categories of invention.
Step 2A: Prong One: Does the Claim recite an Abstract Idea?
As to claim 1, it is rejected as it is directed to abstract ideas of a mathematic process for data manipulation, data gathering & data storage for a vehicle/motor control system. It is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Step 2A: Prong Two: Does the claim recite additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application?
As to claim 1: Claim 1 is purely directed to abstract ideas of a mathematic process for data manipulation, data gathering & data storage which does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Step 2B: Does the claim recite additional elements that amount to significant more than the abstract idea?
Claim 1 is purely directed to abstract ideas of a mathematic process for data manipulation, data gathering & data storage which does not recite additional elements that amount to significant more than the abstract idea.
Thus, independent claim 1 should be rejected under 35 USC 101 for the reasons as stated above.
Dependent claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 USC 101 because at least they are dependent from Claim 1 which is the abstract idea.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by USPN 9,973,128 to Yamaguchi.
As to claim 1, Yamaguchi teaches a control device (fig. 1: “1”) installed in a vehicle equipped with a traction motor(fig. 1: “2” & col. 1: lines 10-18), the control device comprising: a processing unit; and a storage unit, wherein the processing unit, upon reaching a first predetermined timing, sets a stored value that is stored in the storage unit to a predetermined parameter related to drive control of the motor, and also executes estimation processing for this time regarding an estimated value related to the predetermined parameter, using the stored value as an initial value, and upon reaching a second predetermined timing, the estimated value in the estimation processing for this time is stored in the storage unit as the stored value(col. 3: lines 16-29 wherein apparatus and method are taught for motor parameter estimation and storage at a specific timing such as per col. 3: lines 28-29 “when the switch connected to the memory is turned on”).
As to claim 4, Yamaguchi teaches the control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined parameter is a correction value based on at least one of a gain error of a current sensor that detects a phase current of each phase of the motor, and an offset error of the current sensor(col. 3: lines 6-15).
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPN 7,994,748 to Watanabe discloses a vehicle motor control system.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID S LUO whose telephone number is (571)270-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
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/DAVID LUO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
