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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In re 5, claim 5 first line recite “a motor vehicle” which suffers from double inclusion with claim 1 line 1 “a motor vehicle.” claim 5 fourth line recites “a braking system” which suffers from double inclusion with parent claim 1 line 15 “a braking system.” Claim 5 last line recites “a control system” which suffers from double inclusion with parent claim 1 line 1 “a control system.” The metes and bounds cannot be determined and are therefore indefinite. Dependent claims 6-8 rejected due to dependency from rejected base claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Meyer DE 102016111079 (see IDS and attached machine translation).
In Re 1-13 Meyer teachers:
1. A control system for a motor vehicle (1)(abstract), the control system comprising:
a sensory system (5 figs) adapted to detect a potential obstacle (4) and to generate a first informative datum (first 2D image pg 2) related to a distance (d fig 3) of said motor vehicle from said obstacle at a first time instant (first) and a second informative datum (second 2D image para 7) related to the height of said obstacle relative to a road surface (roadway para 19 and figs); and
an electronic control unit (8) operatively connected to said sensory system, said electronic control unit being configured to:
receive (para 46) said first informative datum and said second informative datum from said sensory system;
verify that the height of said obstacle complies with a safety criterion as a function of said second informative datum (para 23);
determine the space travelled, in use, by said motor vehicle between said first time instant and a second time instant as a function of said first informative datum, when the height of said obstacle does not comply with said safety criterion, said second time instant being subsequent to said first time instant (paras 12,29,34 odometer); and
control a braking system of said motor vehicle (optional) and/or signalling means (para 34 acoustic) of said motor vehicle on the basis of said first informative datum and of said determined space travelled to limit, in use (intended use, it been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham USPQ F.2d 1647 (1987), the risk of collision between said motor vehicle and said potential obstacle (at least all figs and paras).
2. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said electronic control unit is configured to store a height threshold value (threshold para 24) and said safety criterion requires the height of said obstacle to be smaller than said height threshold value (para 24, inherent to limits/thresholds).
3. The control system according to claim 2, wherein said height threshold value coincides with or is proportional to the height (a figs) of a point of said motor vehicle relative to said road surface.
4. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said electronic control unit is configured to determine said space travelled by multiplying a mean speed of said motor vehicle between said first time instant and said second time instant by the time interval between said first time instant and said second time instant (per para 29, odometry relates per inherent kinematics velocity equal to distance over time).
5. A motor vehicle (1), comprising:
a frame (motor vehicles inherently have a framed chassis or unibody with a exterior body);
a plurality of wheels (see figs) rotatable relative to said frame about respective rotation axes;
a braking system (paras 35,48) adapted to stop or slow down the rotation of at least some of said wheels about the respective rotation axes;
signalling means (para 34 acoustic) adapted to signal the approach to a potential obstacle; and
a control system (8) according to claim 1.
6. The motor vehicle according to claim 5, wherein said electronic control unit is configured to:
store a first distance threshold value and a second distance threshold value, said second distance threshold value being smaller than said first distance threshold value (para 34 current distance);
command said signalling means to signal the approach to said potential obstacle when said distance or a further distance between a point of said motor vehicle and said potential obstacle is smaller than said first distance threshold value and greater than said second distance threshold value (paras 34-35 “. The current distance can thus likewise be output or communicated to the driver. It is thus possible to signal to the driver how far the motor vehicle can still be moved toward the object without collision.”); and
command said signalling means to signal the approach to said potential obstacle and command the braking system to stop or slow down the rotation of at least some of said wheels when said distance or said further distance is smaller than said second distance threshold value (paras 34-35 “. The current distance can thus likewise be output or communicated to the driver. It is thus possible to signal to the driver how far the motor vehicle can still be moved toward the object without collision.” And “If the distance of the body part from the roadway falls below the detected height of the object, the motor vehicle can be braked automatically before the collision and thus be arranged at a distance from the object in an end position or parking position.”).
7. The motor vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said motor vehicle further comprises a body (motor vehicles inherently have a framed chassis or unibody with a exterior body) connected to said frame, said point (body relative to “a” in figs) being the portion of said body closest to the road surface.
8. The motor vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said signalling means comprises a buzzer (para 34 construed as acoustic) adapted to emit an acoustic signal that is audible inside a passenger compartment of said motor vehicle.
In Re 9-13, the method and motor vehicle of claims 9-13 rejected over in re 1-8 as described above as taught by Meyer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARL C STAUBACH whose telephone number is (571)272-3748. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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/CARL C STAUBACH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747