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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in response to the amendments filed on 07/07/2026. Wherein, claims 1 and 3-9 are amended, claim 2 is cancelled, and claims 10-13 are new.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see REMARKS, filed 07/07/2026, with respect to the interpretation of claims 1-9, under 35 USC § 112f, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the previous interpretations under 35 USC § 112f have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1-9, under 35 USC § 112b, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the previous rejections under 35 USC § 112b have been withdrawn.
With respect to the rejection of claims 1, 8, and 9, the Applicant argues:
Applicant respectfully submits that Sugano in view of Kuno does not teach or suggest every element of the amended claimed invention. Elements of claim 2 have been incorporated into claim 1.
…
Sugano in view of Kuno fails to teach or suggest, inter alia, "a storage that stores a route history of a route used when the moving object moves to a target position, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to perform movement control of moving the moving object to the target position along a section to the target position, and the processing circuitry is configured to switch a usage mode of the route history in the movement control in a first section included in the section and connected to the target position in which a first movement control is performed as the movement control while referring to the route history and a second section that is included in the section and that is connected to the first section in which a second movement control is performed as the movement control based on the external environment recognition data without referring to the route history, and generates a travel route," as recited by amended claim 1 (emphasis added).
To assist the Examiner's understanding, explanation is now made in reference to a non-limiting embodiment of Applicant's disclosure, in which, amended claim 1 relates to switching the usage mode of the route history in generating the travel route in the movement control of the moving object in the first section and the second section of the section to the target position, and also generating an appropriate travel route according to a road condition where the moving object moves.
The prior art references however, are clearly deficient in their teachings and do not teach or suggest any "storage" or "processing circuitry" with all of the characteristics as recited by amended claim 1.
Specifically, Sugano fails to teach or suggest any "storage" that stores a route history of the route used when the moving object moves to a target position, as recited in amended claim 1, and Sugano is likewise silent about any first movement control and second movement control.
Sugano discloses a parking place map database, this database includes landmark information and information of the travelling path, i.e., a the ability to store route data. (¶ [0040]) Sugano further teaches that the vehicle contains two movement control modes, e.g., an autonomous traveling mode and an automated valet parking mode. “The first movement permission area setting unit 13 sets the movement permission area for autonomous traveling based on the positional information of the autonomous driving vehicle 2, the positional information of the target parking space, and the parking place map information.” (route information) “the autonomous driving controller 35 may notify the parking place control server 10 that the automated valet parking for the target parking space is started (the mode is switched from the autonomous traveling mode to the automated valet parking mode) based on a preset automated valet parking start condition. The automated valet parking start condition can be a condition for executing the automated valet parking for the target parking space. The automated valet parking start condition may be, for example, a condition in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 has stopped within a certain distance from the target parking space, and may be a condition in which the target parking space can be appropriately recognized by the external sensor 22 of the autonomous driving vehicle 2” (¶ [0109]) The automated valet parking consists of performing swing functions to navigate into the parking space. These functions do not rely on a historical route, but instead relies on using external sensors to identify the width and depth of the parking space and if it is clear of objects.
Applicant further argues:
Although Kuno refers to something like a route history, this is not related to the travel history of this moving object itself. The route history recited in claim 1 is a route history of the route used when the moving object itself had moved to a target position, which is not taught by Kuno or Sugano, whether taken alone or together in combination. None of the cited prior art references relate to using the route history of the moving object itself, and further, switching a usage mode of such route history, and the cited prior art references also fail to disclose or suggest the claimed positional relationship among the target position, the first section and the second section, as well as the switching between the first movement control and the second movement control.
Kuno discloses performing a “virtual” travel of the location prior to the generation of the physical travel route. The virtual travel route identifies paths that are open within the navigable area, i.e., a parking garage. The process for determining if the paths are open consists of analyzing each point along the path to make sure there is no obstruction. If there is an obstruction, then the path is saved to that point and an alternative path is attempted. If there is no obstruction then the path is saved and the physical travel route is generated from the saved virtual travel route. This virtual travel route is a “route history” of virtually moving object itself and is thus a route history of the moving object itself. (¶ [0135] - [0144]) Examiner further notes that the system and method of Kuno relies on map data, this map data includes driving history relating to the driving history of vehicles. (¶ [0024])
While Sugano discloses generating a target route, it is not explicitly disclosed how the route is generated. Thus, applying the route generation of Kuno provides for using the travel history of the vehicles and the historical virtual route which is saved prior to implementation.
For the reason above, the Examiner finds the Applicant’s arguments unpersuasive and maintains the rejection under 35 USC § 103.
Applicant argues:
Inasmuch as the asserted references, alone or in combination, lack all of the claimed elements of amended independent claim 1 and the claimed elements are more than a predictable variation of Sugano in view of Kuno, prima facie obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §103 cannot be established. Claims 8 and 9 are related independent claims that are each also patentably distinguished over Sugano in view of Kuno for similar reasons discussed above. Claims 3-5 and 7 are dependent claims that are each also patentably distinguished over the combination of Sugano and Kuno at least in view of their respective dependencies as well as for their additionally recited elements.
For the reasons above the Examiner finds these arguments unpersuasive.
Applicant further argues:
With further regard to claim 4, Applicant respectfully submits that the Office Action misunderstands the landmark disclosed in Sugano. The landmark in Sugano is, for example, a parking place gate, a parking place wall, a pole, a safety cone, and the like, which is different from the obstacle recited in claim 4.
Claim 4 requires that the obstacle is an object that obstructs movement of the moving object. It is unclear from the argument above how a gate, wall, pole, safety cone, and the like are not objects that obstructs movement of the moving object.
Therefore, the Examiner finds this argument unpersuasive.
Accordingly, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejection of claims 1, 3-5, and 7-9 under 35 U.S.C. §103.
Applicant further argues:
In reply to the rejection of claim 6 under 35 U.S.C. §103 as allegedly being unpatentable over Sugano in view of Kuno, and further in view of Tokuhiro, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration.
Applicant respectfully submits that Sugano in view of Kuno, and further in view of Tokuhiro does not teach or suggest every element of the amended claimed invention.
As noted supra, Sugano in view of Kuno fails to teach or suggest every element of amended independent claim 1, upon which claim 6 depends.
Tokuhiro fails to remedy the deficiencies of Sugano and Kuno (taken either alone or in combination), and in particular, Sugano in view of Kuno, and further in view of Tokuhiro would still fail to teach or suggest, inter alia, "a storage that stores a route history of a route used when the moving object moves to a target position, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to perform movement control of moving the moving object to the target position along a section to the target position, and the processing circuitry is configured to switch a usage mode of the route history in the movement control in a first section included in the section and connected to the taraet position in which a first movement control is performed as the movement control while referrina to the route history and a second section that is included in the section and that is connected to the first section in which a second movement control is performed as the movement control based on the external environment recognition data without referring to the route history, and generates a travel route," as recited by amended claim
1 (emphasis added), and the Office Action does not allege otherwise.
In particular, Tokuhiro fails to disclose such a first movement control and second movement control as recited in amended claim 1. Furthermore, Tokuhiro fails to disclose the claimed positional relationship among the target position, the first section and the second section. Tokuhiro is also silent about switching between the first movement control and the second movement control.
Inasmuch as the asserted references, alone or in combination, lack all of the claimed elements of amended independent claim 1 and the claimed elements are more than a predictable variation of Sugano in view of Kuno, and further in view of Tokuhiro, prima facie obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §103 cannot be established. Claim 6 is a dependent claim that is also patentably distinguished over the combination of Sugano, Kuno, and Tokuhiro at least in view of its dependency as well as for its additionally recited elements.
Accordingly, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejection of claim 6 under 35 U.S.C. §103.
As provided above, there are no deficiencies with the application of Sugano and Kuno. Therefore, the Examiner finds this argument unpersuasive.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugano (US 2022/0212657 A1, “Sugano”) in view of Kuno (JP 2011025754 A [Machine Translated], “Kuno”).
Regarding claim 1, 8, and 9, Sugano discloses automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle and teaches:
A control device for a moving object, the control device comprising: (As illustrated in FIG. 8, the autonomous driving vehicle 2 includes an autonomous driving ECU 20 as an example. The autonomous driving ECU 20 is an electronic control unit including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. In the autonomous driving ECU 20, for example, a program recorded in the ROM is loaded into the RAM, and various functions are implemented by the CPU executing the program loaded into the RAM. The autonomous driving ECU 20 may include a plurality of electronic units – See at least ¶ [0087])
processing circuitry configured to acquire external environment recognition data of the moving object; and (The external sensor 22 is an in-vehicle sensor that detects an external environment of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 – See at least ¶ [0090])
a storage that stores a [target] route of a route used when the moving object moves to a target position (The autonomous driving controller 35 executes the autonomous driving of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving controller 35 generates a trajectory of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 based on, for example, the target route, the position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2, the external environment of the autonomous driving vehicle 2, and the traveling state of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The trajectory corresponds to a travel plan for autonomous driving. The trajectory includes a path along which the vehicle travels by autonomous driving and a vehicle speed plan in autonomous driving – See at least ¶ [0104])
the processing circuitry is configured to perform movement control of moving the moving object to the target position along a section to the target position, and (The actuator 25 is a device used for controlling the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The actuator 25 includes at least a drive actuator, a brake actuator, and a steering actuator. The drive actuator controls the supply amount of air to the engine (throttle opening degree) according to a control signal from the autonomous driving ECU 20 to control a driving force of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 – See at least ¶ [0095]) the processing circuitry is configured to switch a usage mode of the [target] route in the movement control in a first section included in the section and connected to the target position in which a first movement control is performed as the movement control while referring to the [target] route (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0050]) and a second section that is included in the section and that is connected to the first section in which a second movement control is performed as the movement control based on the external environment recognition data without referring to the route history, and generate a travel route. (When it is determined that the autonomous driving vehicle 2 has arrived near the target parking space or when the autonomous driving vehicle 2 notifies the start of the automated valet parking for the target parking space, the second movement permission area setting unit 15 sets a movement permission area for automated valet parking – See at least ¶ [0061]; The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063])
Sugano does not explicitly teach that the target routes are stored as a route history of the route. However, Kuno discloses device and method for supporting traveling and teaches:
a storage unit configured to store a route history of the route used when the moving object moves to a target position; (In this embodiment, during the point calculation path generation process, for each virtual movement point Sn, it is determined whether the virtual movement point Sn is located within the no-movement area AR0 and whether the parking conditions are met (steps S36-1, S36-5 to S36-8, S36-11 to S36-19). Then, if a predetermined virtual movement point is not located within the no-movement area AR0 and the conditions for parking are met, the route generation determination processing means determines that a route can be generated for the virtual movement point (step S36 10) – See at least ¶ [0135])
In summary, Sugano disclose generating a target route within allowable travel areas. Sugano does not explicitly teach that the routes are determined based on a stored route history. However, Kuno discloses a device and method for supporting travelling in a parking garage and teaches generating a virtual travel route from the vehicles location to a target parking location. Kuno further teaches that if the virtual route stays within a designated travel area, similar to the travel areas of Sugano, then the virtual route is stored and used to generate the actual route of the vehicle from its current location to the parking location.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano to provide for the virtual route creation, as taught in Kuno, to easily and reliably automatically drive a vehicle from its current location to a predetermined location. (At Kuno ¶ [0006])
Regarding claim 3, Sugano further teaches:
a first processing circuitry (The parking plan generation unit 12 sets a target route on the traveling path in the parking place. The target route does not necessarily have to be a shortest distance, and a route that does not interfere with or has less interference with a target route of another autonomous driving vehicle 2 may be preferentially selected. A method for setting the target route is not particularly limited, and various well known methods can be employed. The target route may be set by the first movement permission area setting unit 13 to be described later – See at least ¶ [0053]) configured to control garage entry and exit of the moving object, and (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space. For example, when a vehicle entrance request is received from the autonomous driving vehicle 2 that has entered the parking place, the parking plan generation unit 12 starts generating the parking plan – See at least ¶ [0050]; The first movement permission area setting unit 13 sets a movement permission area for autonomous traveling in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 travels toward the target parking space. The movement permission area for autonomous traveling is an area set for autonomous traveling of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes autonomous traveling such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for autonomous traveling. The movement permission area for autonomous traveling is an area in which the target parking space includes a part of the traveling path along which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 reaches and does not include the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0056])
a second processing circuitry (When the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking is set by the second movement permission area setting unit 15, the second movement permission area instruction unit 16 instructs the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking. The second movement permission area instruction unit 16 may instruct the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about an automated valet parking mode together with the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The automated valet parking mode is, for example, head-in parking, back-in parking with head swing, or parking by turn-back movement – See at least ¶ [0078]) configured to control traveling of the moving object different from the garage entry and exit, (The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063])
the first processing circuitry is configured to perform the movement control in the first section, and (The parking plan generation unit 12 sets a target route on the traveling path in the parking place. The target route does not necessarily have to be a shortest distance, and a route that does not interfere with or has less interference with a target route of another autonomous driving vehicle 2 may be preferentially selected. A method for setting the target route is not particularly limited, and various well known methods can be employed. The target route may be set by the first movement permission area setting unit 13 to be described later – See at least ¶ [0053])
the second processing circuitry is configured to perform the movement control in the second section. (When the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking is set by the second movement permission area setting unit 15, the second movement permission area instruction unit 16 instructs the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking. The second movement permission area instruction unit 16 may instruct the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about an automated valet parking mode together with the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The automated valet parking mode is, for example, head-in parking, back-in parking with head swing, or parking by turn-back movement – See at least ¶ [0078])
Regarding claim 4, Sugano further teaches:
wherein when an obstacle is detected based on the external environment recognition data even during execution of the movement control in the first section, the processing circuitry switches the movement control from the first movement control to the second movement control, and (The parking place map database 4 is a database that stores parking place map information. The parking place map information includes positional information of the parking frame in the parking place and information on the traveling path in the parking place. The parking place map information may include positional information of a land a mark used for position recognition of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The landmark includes at least one of a white line, a pole, a safety cone, a pillar of the parking place, and the like – See at least ¶ [0040]; Here, the system determines the parking spots based on landmarks, e.g., an object. At the point of reaching the parking spot, e.g., at the recognized positional relationship between the vehicle and the object, the system switches from the first movement control to the second movement control.)
the obstacle is an object that obstructs movement of the moving object.
Regarding claim 5, Sugano further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry sets the first section and the second section based on the external environment recognition data. (As illustrated in FIG. 9A , the parking place control server 10 of the automated valet parking system 1 generates the parking plan including the target parking space and the target route by the parking plan generation unit 12 in S10. The parking plan generation unit 12 generates the parking plan based on the empty information of the parking place, the positional information of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11, the positional information of the target parking space, and the parking place map information of the parking place map database 4 – See at least ¶ [0116])
Regarding claim 7, Sugano further teaches:
wherein when an obstacle is detected during execution of the movement control in the first section, the processing circuitry performs the movement control based on at least one of a type of the obstacle or a movement state of the obstacle. (The parking place map database 4 is a database that stores parking place map information. The parking place map information includes positional information of the parking frame in the parking place and information on the traveling path in the parking place. The parking place map information may include positional information of a land a mark used for position recognition of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The landmark includes at least one of a white line, a pole, a safety cone, a pillar of the parking place, and the like – See at least ¶ [0040])
Regarding claim 10, Sugano further teaches:
wherein the first section includes a part of a private land, and the second section incudes at least one of a part of a private land other than the first section or a general road. (As shown in Fig. 4, the system contains a first section, i.e., the travel area of Ra, and a second area, i.e., the parking location D. The parking lot and the individual spots themselves have reservations, i.e., private land – See at least ¶ [0046])
Regarding claim 11, Sugano further teaches:
wherein even while the processing circuitry performs the first movement control based on the route history in the first section, (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0050]) the processing circuitry generates the travel route of the second movement control based on the external environmental recognition data without referring to the travel history. (When it is determined that the autonomous driving vehicle 2 has arrived near the target parking space or when the autonomous driving vehicle 2 notifies the start of the automated valet parking for the target parking space, the second movement permission area setting unit 15 sets a movement permission area for automated valet parking – See at least ¶ [0061]; The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063]; Examiner notes that the target parking space is determined and monitored using sensors on the vehicle and within the parking garage.)
Sugano does not explicitly teach, but Kuno further teaches:
[] route history [] (In this embodiment, during the point calculation path generation process, for each virtual movement point Sn, it is determined whether the virtual movement point Sn is located within the no-movement area AR0 and whether the parking conditions are met (steps S36-1, S36-5 to S36-8, S36-11 to S36-19). Then, if a predetermined virtual movement point is not located within the no-movement area AR0 and the conditions for parking are met, the route generation determination processing means determines that a route can be generated for the virtual movement point (step S36 10) – See at least ¶ [0135])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano to provide for the virtual route creation, as taught in Kuno, to easily and reliably automatically drive a vehicle from its current location to a predetermined location. (At Kuno ¶ [0006])
Regarding claim 12, Sugano further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry sets a boundary between the first section and the second section in a private land section. (As shown in Fig. 4 there are boundaries between the first and second sections in the parking facility, i.e., a private land section.)
Regarding claim 13, Sugano further teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry prepares the first movement control during performing the second movement control in the second section and at a time where the moving object travels from the second section to the first section, and switches the movement control from the second movement control to the first movement control at a timing at which transfer from the second movement control to the first movement control becomes possible. (The replanning unit 17 replans the parking plan of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 when the autonomous driving vehicle 2 notifies that the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving in the movement permission area for automated valet parking is not executable after the instruction about the movement permission area for automated valet parking is given to the autonomous driving vehicle 2 by the second movement permission area instruction unit 16. As a request to change the target parking space, a notification indicating that the automated valet parking is not executable may be given. The processing on the autonomous driving vehicle 2 side will be described later. The replanning unit 17 replans to change the target parking space. The replanning unit 17 may replan the parking plan including a target route from a current position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 to a new target parking space – See at least ¶ [0079]-[0080])
Claim(s) 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugano in view of Kuno, as applied to claim 1, and in further view of Tokuhiro (US 2023/0082770 A1, “Tokuhiro”).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Sugano and Kuno does not explicitly teach wherein the processing circuitry sets the first section and the second section based on a travel history generated when a user drives the moving object. However, Tokuhiro discloses parking assist method and parking assist device and teaches:
wherein the processing circuitry sets the first section and the second section based on a travel history generated when a user drives the moving object. (FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travel route recording processing executed by the parking assist device 100 according to the first embodiment. First, the reception unit 101 determines whether or not an operation by the user to start teacher driving has been received (S101). When the operation by the user to start teacher driving has not been received (S101 "No"), the reception unit 101 repeats the processing of S101 and stands by. In response to determining that the reception unit 101 receives the operation by the user to start teacher driving (S101 "Yes"), the processing to record the teacher driving starts. After the operation to start the teacher driving, the driver manually causes the vehicle 1 to travel so as to move to the parking space 910. Then, during teacher driving by the driver, the acquisition unit 102 acquires peripheral images from the imaging devices 16a to 16c. In addition, the acquisition unit 102 acquires the speed, the steering angle, and the braking operation of the vehicle 1 from various sensors or other ECUs of the vehicle 1. Moreover, the acquisition unit 102 acquires, from the transceivers 15, a measurement result as to the distance between the vehicle 1 and peripheral obstacles (S102). The extraction unit 103 extracts feature points from the acquired peripheral images (S103). The route recording unit 104 then estimates the position of the vehicle 1 during teacher driving on the basis of changes in feature points extracted from the peripheral images, and the speed, the steering angle, the braking operation, and the distance measurement result, and records, as the travel route 80, temporal changes in the position (S104) – See at least ¶ [0097]-[0102])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano and Kuno to provide for the parking assist method and parking assist device, as taught in Tokuhiro, to provide a technology utilized for a case when a user repeatedly parks in a fixed parking position, such as a parking lot of his/her home or office. (At Tokuhiro ¶ [0003])
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/C.L.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3662
/CHRISTOPHER GEORGE FEES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662
