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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to the applicant’s amendment dated August 6, 2025. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 8 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Jilin University, Chinese Patent CN 111,610,484 B (2023).
As to claim 1, Jilin University discloses a positioning method (“autonomous driving vehicle tracking and positioning method”), wherein the method comprises:
obtaining first location information of a first light source (“Step 1) Manchester encoding and encapsulating the position coordinates of the smart traffic lights, smart street lights a～c”);
determining a first ambient light sensor corresponding to the first light source, wherein the first ambient light sensor is in an ambient light sensor group, and the ambient light sensor group is installed on a vehicle (“The positioning system based on the image sensor directly captures the LED light source with the on-board camera, which has good anti-interference ability.” “Figure 1(b) is a schematic diagram of an automatic driving vehicle.”); and
determining second location information of the vehicle based on orientation information of the first ambient light sensor and the first location information (“Step 1) After the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system are modulated by Manchester encoding and OOK, the light source LED is driven by the driving circuit to emit a visible light signal with high-speed light and dark changes;
Step 2) The autonomous driving vehicle obtains an image containing at least one light source LED information through the vehicle-mounted CMOS image sensor, and uses the Hough circle transform to detect the LED light spot in the image;
Step 3) tracking and decoding the detected LED light spot to obtain the position coordinates of at least one light source LED in the world coordinate system;
Step 4) Calculate the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle according to the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system”).
Jilin University does not disclose where the ambient light sensor group comprises a plurality of ambient light sensors, as claimed.
Duplication of parts would have been an obvious design change. See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B).
In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the relevant art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the positioning method, as disclosed by Jilin University, with the use of a plurality of ambient light sensors, as claimed, with a reasonable expectation of success, allowing for multiple ambient light sensors, performing the same function, and providing the ability for redundant and directional sensors in an obvious manner.
As to claim 8, Jilin University discloses a positioning apparatus, wherein the positioning apparatus comprises:
at least one processor (Figure 1, central processing unit CPU, Figure 8, processor 420); and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor (Figure 8, memory 410) to cause the positioning apparatus to:
obtain first location information of a first light source (“Step 1) Manchester encoding and encapsulating the position coordinates of the smart traffic lights, smart street lights a～c”);
determine a first ambient light sensor corresponding to the first light source, wherein the first ambient light sensor is in an ambient light sensor group, the ambient light sensor group comprises a plurality of ambient light sensors, and the ambient light sensor group is installed on a vehicle (“The positioning system based on the image sensor directly captures the LED light source with the on-board camera, which has good anti-interference ability.” “Figure 1(b) is a schematic diagram of an automatic driving vehicle.”); and
determine second location information of the intelligent driving device based on orientation information of the first ambient light sensor and the first location information (“Step 1) After the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system are modulated by Manchester encoding and OOK, the light source LED is driven by the driving circuit to emit a visible light signal with high-speed light and dark changes;
Step 2) The autonomous driving vehicle obtains an image containing at least one light source LED information through the vehicle-mounted CMOS image sensor, and uses the Hough circle transform to detect the LED light spot in the image;
Step 3) tracking and decoding the detected LED light spot to obtain the position coordinates of at least one light source LED in the world coordinate system;
Step 4) Calculate the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle according to the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system”).
Jilin University does not disclose where the ambient light sensor group comprises a plurality of ambient light sensors, as claimed.
Duplication of parts would have been an obvious design change. See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B).
In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the relevant art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the positioning apparatus, as disclosed by Jilin University, with the use of a plurality of ambient light sensors, as claimed, with a reasonable expectation of success, allowing for multiple ambient light sensors, performing the same function, and providing the ability for redundant and directional sensors in an obvious manner.
As to claim 15, Jilin University discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores program code, and when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to; obtain first location information of a first light source (“Step 1) Manchester encoding and encapsulating the position coordinates of the smart traffic lights, smart street lights a～c”);
determine a first ambient light sensor corresponding to the first light source, wherein the first ambient light sensor is in an ambient light sensor group, and the ambient light sensor group is installed on an intelligent driving device (“The positioning system based on the image sensor directly captures the LED light source with the on-board camera, which has good anti-interference ability.” “Figure 1(b) is a schematic diagram of an automatic driving vehicle.”); and
determine second location information of the intelligent driving device based on orientation information of the first ambient light sensor and the first location information (“Step 1) After the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system are modulated by Manchester encoding and OOK, the light source LED is driven by the driving circuit to emit a visible light signal with high-speed light and dark changes;
Step 2) The autonomous driving vehicle obtains an image containing at least one light source LED information through the vehicle-mounted CMOS image sensor, and uses the Hough circle transform to detect the LED light spot in the image;
Step 3) tracking and decoding the detected LED light spot to obtain the position coordinates of at least one light source LED in the world coordinate system;
Step 4) Calculate the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle according to the position coordinates of the light source LED in the world coordinate system”).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed August 6, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant amended claims to include a plurality of ambient light sensors and argued the prior art reference failed to disclose the plurality of ambient light sensors. It would have been obvious to have a plurality of the ambient light sensors disclosed in the Jilin University disclosure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 9-14 and 16-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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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MICHAEL BERNS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3667
/MICHAEL A BERNS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
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