Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 19/063,407

VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §101§103
Filed
Feb 26, 2025
Priority
Mar 04, 2024 — JP 2024-032028
Examiner
ALSOMAIRY, IBRAHIM ABDOALATIF
Art Unit
3667
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
39%
Grant Probability
At Risk
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 7m
Est. Remaining
45%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 39% of cases
39%
Career Allowance Rate
37 granted / 94 resolved
-12.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+5.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
148
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
16.2%
-23.8% vs TC avg
§103
56.9%
+16.9% vs TC avg
§102
8.6%
-31.4% vs TC avg
§112
16.7%
-23.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 94 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §103
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 . This is a Non-Final Action on the Merits. Claims 1-9 are currently pending and are addressed below. Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of Group A Species I (Claim 2) and Group B species IV (Claim 7) in the reply filed on July 27th, 2026 in response to the Office Action dated May 28th, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 3-6 have been withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-2 and 7-9 are currently pending and are examined below. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 26th, 2025 and December 1st, 2025 have been considered and entered. Claim Objections Claims 1-9 objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 1-9 do not contain appropriate claim status identifiers. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 Claims 1-2 and 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 1 is directed to a computer readable medium which can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007). While the specification indicates that the computer readable medium could be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk memory or an optical memory, the broadest reasonable interpretation of “computer readable medium”, in light of the specification, could be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art encompasses transitory forms of signal transmission. The Examiner suggests amending the claims to specify that the computer readable medium is a non-transitory computer readable medium. 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 1-2 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 20190381993 A1) (“Park”) in view of Tsuruoka (JP 2021194962 A) (“Tsuruoka”) (Translation Attached). With respect to claim 1, Park teaches a vehicle control device comprising: a storage medium storing instruction that are able to be read by a computer; and a processor connected to the storage medium, wherein, by executing instructions that are able to be read by the computer, the processor: judges whether or not an "S"-shaped road candidate that is a partition represented by map road partition lines based on map information stored in a storage unit represents an "S"-shaped road and performs traveling control of a vehicle on the basis of the map road partition lines (See at least Park Paragraphs 114-121 “The section dividing unit 756 divides the expected driving route into a plurality of sections. The section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758 and may divide the expected driving route into a plurality of sections using various information. Here, each of the plurality of sections has one of two or more predefined road types. According to some embodiments, each of the two or more road types may include a straight type, an S-shaped type, a right turn type, a left turn type, a U-turn type, and a T-shaped type. More specifically, each of the two or more road types may include a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type. Meanwhile, there may be various road types in addition to the above-described road types. That is, the section dividing unit 756 may analyze what road types are in the expected driving route based on the navigation map information and may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on the analyzed road type. Referring to FIG. 9, the section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into ten sections. Here, the ten sections may be divided into five straight type sections {circle around (1)}, {circle around (3)}, {circle around (5)}, {circle around (7)}, and {circle around (9)}, one left turn type section {circle around (2)}, two right turn type sections {circle around (4)} and {circle around (10)}, one S-shaped type section {circle around (6)}, and one U-turn type section {circle around (8)}. The calculation unit 757 calculates a driving control value of the motor 710, that is, a motor control value, at each of the plurality of sections using pieces of past driving-related information of the electric vehicle 700 for each of the two or more road types. The past driving-related information is driving-related information which had been generated by the information generation unit 754 and stored at a past time point.”), and wherein the processor inhibits traveling control of the vehicle corresponding to a curved road in a case in which it is judged that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road (See at least Park Paragraphs 130-137 “In operation S1006, the information generation unit 754 determines a road type of a section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on based on the captured image and the sensed information. Meanwhile, the information generation unit 754 may determine the road type of the section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on by further using navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758. Here, the determined road type may be one among a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type … In operation S1014, the information generation unit 754 generates driving-related information about the road type of the determined section. According to some embodiments, the driving-related information may include a road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, a road congestion level of the road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, speed information of the electric vehicle 700, status information of the motor 710, and usage information of the battery 720. The status information of the motor 710 may include voltage information, current information, and operating frequency information of the motor 710.”). Park, however, fails to explicitly disclose that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less. Tsuruoka teaches that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less (See at least Tsuruoka Paragraph 40 “In step S121, the processor 12 determines whether or not the target path has an S-shaped curve shape. The processor 12 determines that the target route has an S-shaped curve shape when the following conditions T1 and T2 are satisfied based on the travel map. T1: The distance between the start end of the target route and the end of the target route in the width axis direction of the own vehicle (hereinafter, also referred to as "movement amount in the width axis direction of the own vehicle") is not 0. T2: The deflection angle of the node ND that is the start of the target route and the deflection angle of the node ND that is the end of the target route match. If the condition T1 or T2 is not satisfied, the processor 12 determines that the target route does not have an S-curve shape. Alternatively, by executing the same determination at the control center CC and adding information on whether or not the division route between each node has an S-shaped curve shape to the traveling map, the processor 12 has an S-shaped curve as the target route. It may be determined whether or not the shape is formed.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus of Park to include that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less, as taught by Tsuruoka as disclosed above, in order to ensure accurate road shape determination (Tsuruoka Paragraph 8 “One object of the present invention is to provide a valley parking device that generates a dividing path so that the radius of curvature is equal to or larger than the minimum turning radius even when the dividing path has an S-shaped curve shape.”). With respect to claim 2, Park in view of Tsuruoka teach that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road in a case in which the distance between the start point and the end point of the "S"-shaped road candidate is the first threshold or less, and an amount of curvature change of at least one of a front range and a rear range of the "S"-shaped road candidate is a second threshold or less (See at least Tsuruoka Paragraphs 40-44 “In step S121, the processor 12 determines whether or not the target path has an S-shaped curve shape. The processor 12 determines that the target route has an S-shaped curve shape when the following conditions T1 and T2 are satisfied based on the travel map. T1: The distance between the start end of the target route and the end of the target route in the width axis direction of the own vehicle (hereinafter, also referred to as "movement amount in the width axis direction of the own vehicle") is not 0. T2: The deflection angle of the node ND that is the start of the target route and the deflection angle of the node ND that is the end of the target route match. If the condition T1 or T2 is not satisfied, the processor 12 determines that the target route does not have an S-curve shape. Alternatively, by executing the same determination at the control center CC and adding information on whether or not the division route between each node has an S-shaped curve shape to the traveling map, the processor 12 has an S-shaped curve as the target route. It may be determined whether or not the shape is formed. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a traveling map when the target route is determined to have an S-shaped curve shape. In FIG. 7, the target route is a divided route between the nodes ND2 and ND4. The nodes ND2 and ND4 that are the start and end of the target route may be continuous without including the node ND3 shown in FIG. 7. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the amount of movement dX (= X4-X2) in the width axis direction of the own vehicle is not 0 (satisfies T1), but the deflection angle of the node ND2 which is the start end of the target route and the node ND4 which is the end of the target route. The deflection angles match at 90 ° (satisfy T2). Therefore, it is determined that the target route has an S-shaped curve shape. When the target route has an S-shaped curve shape (step S121; Yes), the process proceeds to step S122. When the target route does not have an S-shaped curve shape (step S121; No), the process ends. In step S122, the processor 12 determines whether or not the radius of curvature of at least one of the two arcs of the S-curve is less than the minimum turning radius of the vehicle VH. The radius of curvature of the two arcs of the S-curve is, for example, the radius of curvature between each node included in the target path. The minimum turning radius is a value specific to the vehicle VH and is given in advance to the program. The processor 12 calculates the radius of curvature between each node based on the traveling map. Alternatively, the radius of curvature between each node may be added to the traveling map at the control center CC. The radius of curvature between the respective nodes can be calculated from the information NOD of each node ND included in the target path, for example, as follows. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a method of calculating the radius of curvature between nodes. In FIG. 8, the target route is a divided route connecting the node ND2, the node ND3, and the node ND4. The nodes ND2 and ND4 that are the start and end of the target route may be continuous without including the node ND3 shown in FIG.”). With respect to claim 8, Park teaches a vehicle control method using a computer, the vehicle control method comprising: judging whether or not an "S"-shaped road candidate that is a partition represented by map road partition lines based on map information stored in a storage unit represents an "S"-shaped road; performing traveling control of a vehicle on the basis of the map road partition lines (See at least Park Paragraphs 114-121 “The section dividing unit 756 divides the expected driving route into a plurality of sections. The section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758 and may divide the expected driving route into a plurality of sections using various information. Here, each of the plurality of sections has one of two or more predefined road types. According to some embodiments, each of the two or more road types may include a straight type, an S-shaped type, a right turn type, a left turn type, a U-turn type, and a T-shaped type. More specifically, each of the two or more road types may include a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type. Meanwhile, there may be various road types in addition to the above-described road types. That is, the section dividing unit 756 may analyze what road types are in the expected driving route based on the navigation map information and may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on the analyzed road type. Referring to FIG. 9, the section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into ten sections. Here, the ten sections may be divided into five straight type sections {circle around (1)}, {circle around (3)}, {circle around (5)}, {circle around (7)}, and {circle around (9)}, one left turn type section {circle around (2)}, two right turn type sections {circle around (4)} and {circle around (10)}, one S-shaped type section {circle around (6)}, and one U-turn type section {circle around (8)}. The calculation unit 757 calculates a driving control value of the motor 710, that is, a motor control value, at each of the plurality of sections using pieces of past driving-related information of the electric vehicle 700 for each of the two or more road types. The past driving-related information is driving-related information which had been generated by the information generation unit 754 and stored at a past time point.”), and inhibiting traveling control of the vehicle corresponding to a curved road in a case in which it is judged that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road (See at least Park Paragraphs 130-137 “In operation S1006, the information generation unit 754 determines a road type of a section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on based on the captured image and the sensed information. Meanwhile, the information generation unit 754 may determine the road type of the section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on by further using navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758. Here, the determined road type may be one among a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type … In operation S1014, the information generation unit 754 generates driving-related information about the road type of the determined section. According to some embodiments, the driving-related information may include a road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, a road congestion level of the road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, speed information of the electric vehicle 700, status information of the motor 710, and usage information of the battery 720. The status information of the motor 710 may include voltage information, current information, and operating frequency information of the motor 710.”). Park, however, fails to explicitly disclose judging that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the "S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less. Tsuruoka teaches judging that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the "S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less (See at least Tsuruoka Paragraph 40 “In step S121, the processor 12 determines whether or not the target path has an S-shaped curve shape. The processor 12 determines that the target route has an S-shaped curve shape when the following conditions T1 and T2 are satisfied based on the travel map. T1: The distance between the start end of the target route and the end of the target route in the width axis direction of the own vehicle (hereinafter, also referred to as "movement amount in the width axis direction of the own vehicle") is not 0. T2: The deflection angle of the node ND that is the start of the target route and the deflection angle of the node ND that is the end of the target route match. If the condition T1 or T2 is not satisfied, the processor 12 determines that the target route does not have an S-curve shape. Alternatively, by executing the same determination at the control center CC and adding information on whether or not the division route between each node has an S-shaped curve shape to the traveling map, the processor 12 has an S-shaped curve as the target route. It may be determined whether or not the shape is formed.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Park to include judging that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the "S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less, as taught by Tsuruoka as disclosed above, in order to ensure accurate road shape determination (Tsuruoka Paragraph 8 “One object of the present invention is to provide a valley parking device that generates a dividing path so that the radius of curvature is equal to or larger than the minimum turning radius even when the dividing path has an S-shaped curve shape.”). With respect to claim 9, Park teaches a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program causing a computer to: judges whether or not an "S"-shaped road candidate that is a partition represented by map road partition lines based on map information stored in a storage unit represents an "S"-shaped road and performs traveling control of a vehicle on the basis of the map road partition lines (See at least Park Paragraphs 114-121 “The section dividing unit 756 divides the expected driving route into a plurality of sections. The section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758 and may divide the expected driving route into a plurality of sections using various information. Here, each of the plurality of sections has one of two or more predefined road types. According to some embodiments, each of the two or more road types may include a straight type, an S-shaped type, a right turn type, a left turn type, a U-turn type, and a T-shaped type. More specifically, each of the two or more road types may include a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type. Meanwhile, there may be various road types in addition to the above-described road types. That is, the section dividing unit 756 may analyze what road types are in the expected driving route based on the navigation map information and may divide the expected driving route into the plurality of sections based on the analyzed road type. Referring to FIG. 9, the section dividing unit 756 may divide the expected driving route into ten sections. Here, the ten sections may be divided into five straight type sections {circle around (1)}, {circle around (3)}, {circle around (5)}, {circle around (7)}, and {circle around (9)}, one left turn type section {circle around (2)}, two right turn type sections {circle around (4)} and {circle around (10)}, one S-shaped type section {circle around (6)}, and one U-turn type section {circle around (8)}. The calculation unit 757 calculates a driving control value of the motor 710, that is, a motor control value, at each of the plurality of sections using pieces of past driving-related information of the electric vehicle 700 for each of the two or more road types. The past driving-related information is driving-related information which had been generated by the information generation unit 754 and stored at a past time point.”), and wherein the processor inhibits traveling control of the vehicle corresponding to a curved road in a case in which it is judged that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road (See at least Park Paragraphs 130-137 “In operation S1006, the information generation unit 754 determines a road type of a section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on based on the captured image and the sensed information. Meanwhile, the information generation unit 754 may determine the road type of the section in which the electric vehicle 700 is driving on by further using navigation map information stored in the storage unit 758. Here, the determined road type may be one among a straight flat type, a straight uphill type, a straight downhill type, an S-shaped flat type, an S-shaped uphill type, an S-shaped downhill type, a right turn flat type, a right turn uphill type, a right turn downhill type, a left turn flat type, a left turn uphill type, a left turn downhill type, a U-turn flat type, a U-turn uphill type, a U-turn downhill type, a T-shaped flat type, a T-shaped uphill type, and a T-shaped downhill type … In operation S1014, the information generation unit 754 generates driving-related information about the road type of the determined section. According to some embodiments, the driving-related information may include a road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, a road congestion level of the road type on which the electric vehicle 700 is driving, speed information of the electric vehicle 700, status information of the motor 710, and usage information of the battery 720. The status information of the motor 710 may include voltage information, current information, and operating frequency information of the motor 710.”). Park, however, fails to explicitly disclose that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less. Tsuruoka teaches that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less (See at least Tsuruoka Paragraph 40 “In step S121, the processor 12 determines whether or not the target path has an S-shaped curve shape. The processor 12 determines that the target route has an S-shaped curve shape when the following conditions T1 and T2 are satisfied based on the travel map. T1: The distance between the start end of the target route and the end of the target route in the width axis direction of the own vehicle (hereinafter, also referred to as "movement amount in the width axis direction of the own vehicle") is not 0. T2: The deflection angle of the node ND that is the start of the target route and the deflection angle of the node ND that is the end of the target route match. If the condition T1 or T2 is not satisfied, the processor 12 determines that the target route does not have an S-curve shape. Alternatively, by executing the same determination at the control center CC and adding information on whether or not the division route between each node has an S-shaped curve shape to the traveling map, the processor 12 has an S-shaped curve as the target route. It may be determined whether or not the shape is formed.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus of Park to include that the processor judges that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S" shaped road in a case in which a distance between a start point and an end point of the “S"-shaped road candidate is a first threshold or less, as taught by Tsuruoka as disclosed above, in order to ensure accurate road shape determination (Tsuruoka Paragraph 8 “One object of the present invention is to provide a valley parking device that generates a dividing path so that the radius of curvature is equal to or larger than the minimum turning radius even when the dividing path has an S-shaped curve shape.”). Claim 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 20190381993 A1) (“Park”) in view of Tsuruoka (JP 2021194962 A) (“Tsuruoka”) (Translation Attached) further Ikezawa (JP 2020069847 A) (“Ikezawa”) (Translation Attached). With respect to claim 7, Park in view of Tsuruoka teach in a case in which it is judged that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road and controls the vehicle based on the determination that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road (See at least Tsuruoka Paragraph 40) (See at least Park Paragraphs 130-137). Park in view of Tsuruoka fail to explicitly disclose that the processor does not execute curved-road deceleration control for the "S"-shaped road candidate. Ikezawa teaches that the processor executes road deceleration control for the “S”-shaped road candidate (See at least Ikezawa Paragraphs 32-34 “In step S102, if it is determined that the radius of curvature of the second curved road is not smaller than the radius of curvature of the first curved road (i.e., the radius of curvature of the second curved road is greater than or equal to the radius of curvature of the first curved road) (step S102: No), the process of step S104, described later, is performed. In step S102, if it is determined that the radius of curvature of the second curve is smaller than the radius of curvature of the first curve (step S102: Yes), the control target curve determination unit 14 calculates a speed V<sub>T1</sub> (corresponding to "V<sub>T1</sub>" in Figure 3), which is a candidate target speed when vehicle 1 enters the first curve based on the radius of curvature or curvature of the first curve, and a speed V<sub>2</sub> (corresponding to "V<sub>T2</sub>" in Figure 3), which is a candidate target speed when vehicle 1 enters the second curve based on the radius of curvature or curvature of the second curve … Next, the control target curve determination unit 14 calculates the speed of vehicle 1 at the entrance position of the first curve (corresponding to "V<sub>1</sub>" in Figure 3) when vehicle 1 is decelerated at a constant deceleration rate so that the speed at the entrance position of the second curve is V<sub>2</sub> … If, in the process of step S103, it is determined that there is insufficient deceleration relative to the first curved road (step S103: Yes), the control target curve determination unit 14 makes the first curved road the target of deceleration control (step S104).”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus of Park in view of Tsuruoka to include that the processor executes road deceleration control for the “S”-shaped road candidate, as taught by Ikezawa as disclosed above, such that in a case in which it is judged that the "S"-shaped road candidate is not an "S"-shaped road, the processor does not execute curved-road deceleration control for the "S"-shaped road candidate, in order to ensure accurate vehicle control (Ikezawa Paragraph 6 “This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a driving assistance device that can provide appropriate driving assistance even when there are two or more consecutive curved roads.”). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IBRAHIM ABDOALATIF ALSOMAIRY whose telephone number is (571)272-5653. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faris Almatrahi can be reached at 313-446-4821. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /IBRAHIM ABDOALATIF ALSOMAIRY/Examiner, Art Unit 3667 /KENNETH J MALKOWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 26, 2025
Application Filed
Oct 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
39%
Grant Probability
45%
With Interview (+5.5%)
3y 3m (~1y 7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 94 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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