DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
This action is in response to communications filed on 3/17/2025.
Claims 1-16 are pending. Claims 1-16 have been examined and are rejected.
Priority
This application claims priority to provisional application 63/566,616 filed 3/18/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/18/2025, 6/13/2025, and 2/10/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 12 is rejected on the basis that they contain an improper Markush grouping of alternatives. See In re Harnisch, 631 F.2d 716, 721-22 (CCPA 1980) and Ex parte Hozumi, 3 USPQ2d 1059, 1060 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 1984). A Markush grouping is proper if the alternatives defined by the Markush group (i.e., alternatives from which a selection is to be made in the context of a combination or process, or alternative chemical compounds as a whole) share a “single structural similarity” and a common use. A Markush grouping meets these requirements in two situations. First, a Markush grouping is proper if the alternatives are all members of the same recognized physical or chemical class or the same art-recognized class, and are disclosed in the specification or known in the art to be functionally equivalent and have a common use. Second, where a Markush grouping describes alternative chemical compounds, whether by words or chemical formulas, and the alternatives do not belong to a recognized class as set forth above, the members of the Markush grouping may be considered to share a “single structural similarity” and common use where the alternatives share both a substantial structural feature and a common use that flows from the substantial structural feature. See MPEP § 2117.
The Markush grouping of sensors is improper because the alternatives defined by the Markush grouping (i.e. an inertial sensor, a location sensor, and a speed sensor) do not share both a single structural similarity and a common use.
To overcome this rejection, Applicant may set forth each alternative (or grouping of patentably indistinct alternatives) within an improper Markush grouping in a series of independent or dependent claims and/or present convincing arguments that the group members recited in the alternative within a single claim in fact share a single structural similarity as well as a common use.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-7, 9, & 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brandmaier et al. (US 2023/0260049 A1) in view of Harvey (US 2025/0111705 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Brandmaier teaches:
A method performed between a management server having a first communication module; (an insurance management system 400 in signal communication with a vehicle 402 such that the insurance management system is capable of detecting a collision involving the vehicle and exchanging communications with the vehicle [Brandmaier: 0037]);
a telematics device having a second communication module and a third communication module; (a motor vehicle event data recorder (MVEDR) 410 that records vehicle telematics and event data relating to the operation of the vehicle prior to or during a collision, wherein a CRM 406 may be in signal communication with communication equipment 418 for transmitting the data from these components via a network to various systems, such as, for example, an insurance management system 400 [Brandmaier: 0039-41]);
and an image capture device have a fourth communication module and a fifth communication module; (the vehicle 402 may be in signal communication with one or more recording devices, e.g., audio recording equipment 414 and video recording equipment 416 (A/V equipment) that respectively records audio data and video data at the vehicle, wherein a CRM 406 may be in signal communication with communication equipment 418 for transmitting the data from these components via a network to various systems, such as, for example, an insurance management system 400 [Brandmaier: 0039]);
the method comprising:
capturing, by at least one image sensor of the image capture device, image data;
and storing, by at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of the image capture device, the image data; (the vehicle 402 may be in signal communication with one or more recording devices, e.g., audio recording equipment 414 and video recording equipment 416 (A/V equipment) that respectively records audio data and video data at the vehicle [Brandmaier: 0039]);
receiving, by the telematics device, telematic data for a vehicle where the image capture device and the telematics device are positioned; and transmitting, by the third communication module of the telematics device to the first communication module of the management server, the telematic data; (a motor vehicle event data recorder (MVEDR) 410 that records vehicle telematics and event data relating to the operation of the vehicle prior to or during a collision, wherein a CRM 406 may be in signal communication with communication equipment 418 for transmitting the data from these components via a network to various systems, such as, for example, an insurance management system 400 [Brandmaier: 0039-41]);
applying, by at least one processor of the management server, an event detection model to the telematic data to detect an event at the vehicle; (vehicle 402 may continuously transmit vehicle telematics data to the insurance management system 400 where it may be received at the communication module 432, wherein collision detection module 434 of the insurance management system 400 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to determine whether a collision has occurred (step 656) [Brandmaier: 0061-62; Fig. 6B]);
and in response to detecting the event at the vehicle, transmitting, by the first communication module of the management server to the third communication module of the telematics device, a request for additional data corresponding to a time period of the event; (if a collision is detected, the collision detection module 434 may transmit a request to the vehicle 402 involved in the collision for additional event or vehicle data that corresponds to the detected collision (step 662) [Brandmaier: 0059; 0064; Fig. 6B]);
transmitting, by the second communication module of the telematics device to the fourth communication module of the data device, the request for additional data; (the request for additional information is received at the vehicle 402 by the vehicle communication equipment 418 or the ACN communication equipment 424, wherein in response to receipt of the request, the ACN 408, MVEDR 410, OBD 412, CRM 406, or another vehicle component may obtain the requested information [Brandmaier: 0059; 0064; Fig. 6B]);
accessing, at the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of the data device, additional data corresponding to the time period; and transmitting, by the fifth communication module, the additional data corresponding to the time period to the first communication module of the management server; (in response to receipt of the request, the ACN 408, MVEDR 410, OBD 412, CRM 406, or another vehicle component may obtain the requested information, and the communication equipment 418 or 424 may transmit the requested information back to the insurance management system 400, wherein the collision detection module receive the requested data corresponding to the collision from the vehicle in a response (step 664) [Brandmaier: 0059; 0064; Fig. 6B]).
However, Brandmaier does not teach that the request from the management server for additional data includes a request for image data corresponding to a time period.
In a similar field of endeavor involving utilizing vehicle telematics to detect collisions, Harvey discloses:
the management server transmits a request for image data corresponding to a time period to the telematics device, which transmits the request for image data to the image capture device, which causes the image capture device to access the image data corresponding to a time period and transmit the requested image data to the management server; (vehicle camera system 108 may obtain image data from the on-vehicle storage and transmit the image data via one or more networks 116 in response to requests from a remote server 106, wherein the backup camera system 108 may use network interfaces internal to the backup camera system 108, other network interfaces provided by the vehicle computing systems 104, and/or mobile networks accessed via the mobile devices within the vehicle (e.g., mobile device 134) when transmitting the image data to the remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brandmaier in view of Harvey in order to transmit image data in response to a request from the management server in the system of Brandmaier.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Brandmaier with Harvey as doing so would allow the remote server to analyze the image data to detect potential high-risk driving scenarios and assist in determining collision fault [Harvey: 0078; 0027].
With regard to Claim 2, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein the fifth communication module is normally in an inactive mode where communication with the management server is not enabled; (the camera system 108 may transmit the image data to the remote server 106 via a cellular network 116 [Harvey: 0047; 0073-74; Fig. 1], wherein the camera system 108 is configured to transmit the backup image data not periodically, but only in response to detecting particular events or requests from the server [Harvey: 0103; 0048; Fig. 5]. Examiner notes that when the camera system 108 is not transmitting image data to the remote server 106, the cellular connection is in an inactive mode);
and transmitting the image data further comprises: operating the fifth communication module in an active mode where communication with the management server is enabled; (the camera system 108 may transmit the image data to the remote server 106 via a cellular network 116 [Harvey: 0047; 0073-74; Fig. 1], wherein the camera system 108 is configured to transmit the backup image data not periodically, but only in response to detecting particular events or requests from the server [Harvey: 0103; 0048; Fig. 5]. Examiner notes that when the camera system 108 is transmitting image data to the remote server 106, the cellular connection is in an active mode).
With regard to Claim 3, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 2, further comprising: after transmitting the image data, operating the fifth communication module in the inactive mode; (the camera system 108 may transmit the image data to the remote server 106 via a cellular network 116 [Harvey: 0047; 0073-74; Fig. 1], wherein the camera system 108 is configured to transmit the backup image data not periodically, but only in response to detecting particular events or requests from the server [Harvey: 0103; 0048; Fig. 5]. Examiner notes that when the camera system 108 is not transmitting image data to the remote server 106, the cellular connection is in an inactive mode).
With regard to Claim 4, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein: the telematic data includes at least inertial data for the vehicle; the event is a collision; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises: applying a collision detection model to at least the inertial data to detect the collision; (collision detection module 434 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to detect vehicle collisions including one or more accelerometers 420 (e.g., triaxial accelerometers) for detecting changes in the velocity of the vehicle 402 [Brandmaier: 0062; 0040-42]).
With regard to Claim 5, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 4, wherein: the telematic data further includes speed data for the vehicle; and applying the collision detection model to at least the inertial data to detect the collision comprises: applying the collision detection model to the inertial data and the speed data to detect the collision; (collision detection module 434 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to detect vehicle collisions using directional acceleration and deceleration (e.g., forward/backward, left/right, up/down), change in directional acceleration, vehicle speed, etc. [Brandmaier: 0062; 0040-42]).
With regard to Claim 6, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein: the telematic data includes at least inertial data for the vehicle; the event is a harsh motion event comprising at least one of a harsh turn event, a harsh brake event, or a harsh acceleration event; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises: applying a harsh motion detection model to at least the inertial data to detect the harsh motion event; (collision detection module 434 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to detect vehicle collisions including one or more accelerometers 420 (e.g., triaxial accelerometers) for detecting changes in the velocity of the vehicle 402 per time period [Brandmaier: 0062; 0040-42]).
With regard to Claim 7, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 6, wherein: the telematic data further includes speed data for the vehicle; and applying the harsh motion detection model to at least the inertial data to detect the harsh motion event comprises: applying the harsh motion detection model to the inertial data and the speed data to detect the harsh motion event; (collision detection module 434 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to detect vehicle collisions using directional acceleration and deceleration (e.g., forward/backward, left/right, up/down), change in directional acceleration, vehicle speed, etc. [Brandmaier: 0062; 0040-42]).
With regard to Claim 9, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein: the telematic data includes speed data for the vehicle; the event is speeding event where a speed of the vehicle exceeds a speed threshold; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises applying a speeding detection model to the speed data to detect the speeding event; (the image data analysis component 110 may include heuristics and/or trained machine-learned models configured to analyze the image data to identify characteristics of other vehicles (analyze the image data to detect potential high-risk driving scenarios, wherein the high-risk driving conditions that the backup camera system 108 may detect can include speed thresholds [Harvey: 0075; 0078; 0101]).
With regard to Claim 11, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the telematics data comprises receiving at least a portion of the telematic data via a data port which communicatively couples to the vehicle; (the one or more first communications are received from a communication equipment attached to a diagnostics port of the first vehicle [Brandmaier: 0053; Claim 3]. Harvey teaches the vehicle telematics 118 may include one or more components configured to generate, collect, and/or receive data from various data sources on the vehicle 102 including image and/or audio information of the vehicle via wired communication [Harvey: 0067]).
With regard to Claim 12, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the telematics data comprises capturing at least a portion of the telematic data by at least one sensor of the telematic device, the at least one sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of: an inertial sensor; a location sensor; and a speed sensor; (ACN 408 may collect vehicle location data from the GPS receiver 422 as well as vehicle telematics data such as directional acceleration and deceleration (e.g., forward/backward, left/right, up/down), change in directional acceleration, vehicle speed or velocity, engine throttle and RPM (revolutions per minute), steering input, engagement of various vehicle subsystems (e.g., stability control systems, antilock brake systems), and the like [Brandmaier: 0057; 0041-42]. Harvey teaches that vehicle telematics may include components indicating or relating to the vehicle speed, acceleration, braking, deceleration, turning, time, GPS (Global Positioning System) or GPS-derived location, speed, acceleration, direction, heading, lane, or braking information [Harvey: 0067]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brandmaier et al. (US 2023/0260049 A1) in view of Harvey (US 2025/0111705 A1) as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of Mirchef et al. (US 2023/0247271 A1).
With regard to Claim 8, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein: the method further comprises, transmitting the image data by the fourth communication module of the image capture device to the second communication module of the telematics device; transmitting the telematic data by the third communication module to the first communication module further comprises transmitting the image data with the telematic data; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises: detecting the event based on the image data; (vehicle 402 may continuously transmit vehicle telematics data to the insurance management system 400 where it may be received at the communication module 432, wherein collision detection module 434 of the insurance management system 400 may process and analyze the vehicle telematics data to determine whether a collision has occurred (step 656) [Brandmaier: 0061-62; Fig. 6B]. Harvey teaches that the vehicle camera system 108 may transmit the image data in response to requests from a remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73], wherein the image data analysis component 110 may include heuristics and/or trained machine-learned models configured to analyze the image data to identify high-risk driving scenarios such as a vehicle collision [Harvey: 0075; 0078; 0012-15], and wherein when analyzing the image data received from the cameras, data from additional components is received such as vehicle telematics 118, sensors 120, driving conditions 122, and vehicle control systems 124 [Harvey: 0067]).
However, Brandmaier-Harvey does not teach:
in response to activation of an emergency user interface of the image capture device by a driver of the vehicle, transmitting an emergency indication by the fourth communication module of the image capture device to the second communication module of the telematics device; transmitting the telematic data by the third communication module to the first communication module further comprises transmitting the emergency indication with the telematic data; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises: detecting the event based on the emergency indication.
In a similar field of endeavor involving a vehicle telematics system with multiple cameras, Mirchef discloses:
in response to activation of an emergency user interface of the image capture device by a driver of the vehicle, transmitting an emergency indication by the fourth communication module of the image capture device to the second communication module of the telematics device; transmitting the telematic data by the third communication module to the first communication module further comprises transmitting the emergency indication with the telematic data; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises: detecting the event based on the emergency indication; (the telematics camera system 15 can include an emergency button that when pressed by the vehicle operator signals to the telematics camera system 15 that an emergency has occurred, to begin recording using the modular camera 135, and to transmit the recorded images to a server 25 through the network 30 via the telematics system 15 [Mirchef: 0052; Fig. 1], wherein the telematics camera system 15 can include multiple sensors used to provide additional information regarding the status of the vehicle that can be used to detect a collision [Mirchef: 0058]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brandmaier-Harvey in view of Mirchef in order to provide an emergency user interface that transmits an emergency indication with telematic data in the system of Brandmaier-Harvey.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Brandmaier-Harvey with Mirchef as doing so would allow the vehicle driver to manually indicate an emergency event has occurred thereby providing detection certainty as compared to heuristic detection using telematics data.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brandmaier et al. (US 2023/0260049 A1) in view of Harvey (US 2025/0111705 A1) as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of Gowda et al. (US 2019/0389487 A1).
With regard to Claim 10, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: collecting, at the image capture device, following distance data between the vehicle and another vehicle in front of the vehicle, by applying a following distance detection model to the captured image data; and transmitting, by the fourth communication module at the image capture device to the second communication module at the telematics device, at least a portion of the following distance data to the telematics device by the fourth communication module, wherein: transmitting the telematic data by the third communication module comprises transmitting the at least a portion of the following distance data with the telematic data; the event comprises a tailgating event where a following distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is high risk; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises applying a tailgating detection model to the at least a portion of the following distance data; (the image data analysis component 110 may include heuristics and/or trained machine-learned models configured to analyze the image data to identify characteristics of other vehicles (analyze the image data to detect potential high-risk driving scenarios [Harvey: 0075; 0078], wherein the image data may be analyzed to identify the speed and following distance of the following vehicle for purposes of determining potential high-risk driving and other dangerous driving scenarios [Harvey: 0075; 0091]).
However, Brandmaier-Harvey does not explicitly teach:
the event comprises a tailgating event where a following distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is below a distance threshold.
In a similar field of endeavor involving monitoring vehicle operations to reduce the risk of the vehicle, Gowda discloses:
collecting, at the image capture device, following distance data between the vehicle and another vehicle in front of the vehicle, by applying a following distance detection model to the captured image data; and transmitting, by the fourth communication module at the image capture device to the second communication module at the telematics device, at least a portion of the following distance data to the telematics device by the fourth communication module, wherein: transmitting the telematic data by the third communication module comprises transmitting the at least a portion of the following distance data with the telematic data; the event comprises a tailgating event where a following distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is below a distance threshold; and applying the event detection model to the telematic data comprises applying a tailgating detection model to the at least a portion of the following distance data; (a tailgating alert system 150 utilizes vehicle sensor data including image data to calculate a safe driving distance and sets a threshold at which to generate an alert such that if the tailgating alert system 150 determines that a vehicle is detected on radar 140 closer than the safe driving distance, the tailgating alert system 150 can generate an alert [Gowda: 0028-30; 0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brandmaier-Harvey in view of Gowda in order to set a following distance threshold in the system of Brandmaier-Harvey.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Brandmaier-Harvey with Gowda as doing so would allow a safe driving distance to be set as the threshold and would alert user in the event that a following vehicle is too close for driving and provide recommendations to the user to change driving characteristics to minimize risk [Gowda: 0031].
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brandmaier et al. (US 2023/0260049 A1) in view of Harvey (US 2025/0111705 A1) as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of Kang (US 2016/0082952 A1).
With regard to Claim 13, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the request for image data by the second communication module for reception at the image capture device; (vehicle camera system 108 may obtain image data from the on-vehicle storage and transmit the image data via network interfaces provided by the vehicle computing systems 104 in response to requests from a remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73]).
While Brandmaier-Harvey teaches collision response module (CRM) 406 of the vehicle 402 may be configured to enter a low power mode (e.g., a sleep mode, a standby mode, a hibernation mode) when the vehicle is parked [Brandmaier: 0106], Brandmaier-Harvey does not explicitly teach:
transmitting, by the first communication module, a wake command for reception at the telematics device; and in response to the wake command, waking the telematics device prior to transmitting the request for image data by the second communication module for reception at the image capture device.
In a similar field of endeavor involving remote vehicle telematics, Kang discloses:
transmitting, by the first communication module, a wake command for reception at the telematics device; and in response to the wake command, waking the telematics device prior to transmitting the request for image data by the second communication module for reception at the image capture device; (DCM 100 (i.e. telematics device) in communication with one or more vehicle systems 116 to control various vehicle functions including a camera system 128 [Kang: 0018; 0033], wherein before a data center server 402 (i.e. management server) can send a command to the DCM 100, the data center server 402 transmits, via a telematics server 404, a “wakeup” command to the DCM 100, wherein in response to receiving the wakeup command the DCM 100 wakes up and initiates a data connection to the telematics server 404, and wherein the data center server 402 sends, via the telematics server 404, a command for a vehicle system 116 to the DCM 100 which subsequently receives the command and executes it on the relevant vehicle system 116 [Kang: 0027-28], wherein the command can cause the DCM 100 to send image information received from the camera systems 128 back to the data center server 402 [Kang: 0033]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brandmaier-Harvey in view of Kang in order to transmit a wake command from the management server to the telematics device in the system of Brandmaier-Harvey.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Brandmaier-Harvey with Kang as doing so would preserve battery life and/or alleviate congestion on the mobile network by allowing the DCM 100 to sleep while allowing the management server to be able to wake the DCM 100 in order to execute vehicle commands [Kang: 0025].
With regard to Claim 14, Brandmaier-Harvey-Kang teaches:
The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the wake command by the first communication module comprises transmitting the wake command prior to transmitting the request for image data for reception at the telematics device; (DCM 100 (i.e. telematics device) in communication with one or more vehicle systems 116 to control various vehicle functions including a camera system 128 [Kang: 0018; 0033], wherein before a data center server 402 (i.e. management server) can send a command to the DCM 100, the data center server 402 transmits, via a telematics server 404, a “wakeup” command to the DCM 100, wherein in response to receiving the wakeup command the DCM 100 wakes up and initiates a data connection to the telematics server 404, and wherein the data center server 402 sends, via the telematics server 404, a command for a vehicle system 116 to the DCM 100 which subsequently receives the command and executes it on the relevant vehicle system 116 [Kang: 0027-28], wherein the command can cause the DCM 100 to send image information received from the camera systems 128 back to the data center server 402 [Kang: 0033]. Harvey teaches vehicle camera system 108 may obtain image data from the on-vehicle storage and transmit the image data via network interfaces provided by the vehicle computing systems 104 in response to requests from a remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73]).
With regard to Claim 15, Brandmaier-Harvey teaches:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the second communication module, a command for reception at the image capture device; and in response to the command, causing the image capture device to accessing the image data corresponding to the time period; (vehicle camera system 108 may obtain image data from the on-vehicle storage and transmit the image data via network interfaces provided by the vehicle computing systems 104 in response to requests from a remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73]).
While Brandmaier-Harvey teaches collision response module (CRM) 406 of the vehicle 402 may be configured to enter a low power mode (e.g., a sleep mode, a standby mode, a hibernation mode) when the vehicle is parked [Brandmaier: 0106], Brandmaier-Harvey does not explicitly teach:
transmitting, by the second communication module, a wake command for reception at the image capture device; and in response to the wake command, waking the image capture device prior to accessing the image data corresponding to the time period.
In a similar field of endeavor involving remote vehicle telematics, Kang discloses:
transmitting, by the second communication module, a wake command for reception at the image capture device; and in response to the wake command, waking the image capture device prior to accessing the image data corresponding to the time period; (DCM 100 (i.e. telematics device) in communication with one or more vehicle systems 116 to control various vehicle functions including a camera system 128 [Kang: 0018; 0033], wherein before a data center server 402 (i.e. management server) can send a command to the DCM 100, the data center server 402 transmits, via a telematics server 404, a “wakeup” command to the DCM 100, wherein in response to receiving the wakeup command the DCM 100 wakes up and initiates a data connection to the telematics server 404, and wherein the data center server 402 sends, via the telematics server 404, a command for a vehicle system 116 to the DCM 100 which subsequently receives the command and executes it on the relevant vehicle system 116 [Kang: 0027-28], wherein the command can cause the DCM 100 to send image information received from the camera systems 128 back to the data center server 402 [Kang: 0033]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brandmaier-Harvey in view of Kang in order to transmit a wake command from the management server to the telematics device in the system of Brandmaier-Harvey.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Brandmaier-Harvey with Kang as doing so would preserve battery life and/or alleviate congestion on the mobile network by allowing the DCM 100 to sleep while allowing the management server to be able to wake the DCM 100 in order to execute vehicle commands [Kang: 0025].
With regard to Claim 16, Brandmaier-Harvey-Kang teaches:
The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the wake command by the second communication module comprises transmitting the wake command prior to transmitting the request for image data; (DCM 100 (i.e. telematics device) in communication with one or more vehicle systems 116 to control various vehicle functions including a camera system 128 [Kang: 0018; 0033], wherein before a data center server 402 (i.e. management server) can send a command to the DCM 100, the data center server 402 transmits, via a telematics server 404, a “wakeup” command to the DCM 100, wherein in response to receiving the wakeup command the DCM 100 wakes up and initiates a data connection to the telematics server 404, and wherein the data center server 402 sends, via the telematics server 404, a command for a vehicle system 116 to the DCM 100 which subsequently receives the command and executes it on the relevant vehicle system 116 [Kang: 0027-28], wherein the command can cause the DCM 100 to send image information received from the camera systems 128 back to the data center server 402 [Kang: 0033]. Harvey teaches vehicle camera system 108 may obtain image data from the on-vehicle storage and transmit the image data via network interfaces provided by the vehicle computing systems 104 in response to requests from a remote server 106 [Harvey: 0048; 0050-51; 0072-73]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Lei (US 2017/0339095 A1) which teaches saving battery by discontinuing web server 140 operation, wherein when the web server 140 is in a deactivated state, the mobile device 122 may send a wake-up message to the telematics control unit 116 of the vehicle 102 to re-active the web server 140 allowing the mobile device 122 to again initiate accessing the web server 140 [Lei: 0045].
Xu (CN 112165698 A) which teaches a Telematic Service Provider server that sends a wake-up operation to an offline vehicle communication device; and after waking the vehicle communication device, performs the control operation, so that the vehicle communication device receives the control instruction sent by the control terminal to perform the corresponding vehicle control operation [Xu: p. 5].
Baker et al. (US 2017/0341611 A1) which teaches The wake-up command, when received and processed by the vehicle control system 102 configured to activate the one or more cameras 103 and to activate sending or streaming of captured video data over the cellular network 1000 to the server control system 902 or the user device control system 802 [Baker: 0074; 0076; 0081], wherein the control system 102 comprises a plurality of cameras 103, a sensor array 104, a controller 106, a remote communications module 202, and a display system 108 [Baker: 0031].
Dhullipala et al. (US 10,515,535 B1) which teaches upon the ignition being started, telematics unit 24 will immediately wake up camera 63 so it can be activated and capable of capturing one or more images [Dhullipala: 11:12-24].
In the case of amendments, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and support, for ascertaining the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN J MOREAU whose telephone number is (571) 272-5179. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 - 6:00 ET.
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/AUSTIN J MOREAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446
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