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 Office Action is in response to the application filed on March 26, 2025. Claims 1-13 are pending. Claims 1, 12 and 13 are independent.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on March 26, 2025 and July 8, 2026 have been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. The Forms PTO-1449 are signed and attached hereto.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because every box in the drawing should have a descriptive label on it (See Figure 2). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN118991803A to Tang.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tang.
With respect to independent claims 1, 12 and 13, Tang discloses providing two or more driving modes for a driving-related device of the vehicle (see page 4: The driving mode refers to a vehicle mode in which the vehicle can be configured during driving, and includes a production mode, an experience mode, a sales mode, and a user mode.);
setting a mode of the driving-related device to a driving mode selected by a user from among the provided two or more driving modes (see page 5: the user may select the driving mode request in the vehicle machine screen, and after the user selects the driving mode request, the vehicle machine may send the driving mode request to the server.); and
operating the driving-related device in the set mode (see claim 4: During the driving of the vehicle, control is performed according to the vehicle configuration information.).
With respect to dependent claim 2, Tang discloses wherein the two or more driving modes comprise: a basic driving mode installed by default when the vehicle is manufactured; and an additional driving mode applied to the vehicle after the vehicle is manufactured and shipped, wherein the additional driving mode comprises a user-purchasable driving mode that is activated to be applicable to the vehicle based on the user's purchase (see pages 4: The mode of the vehicle in the production and manufacturing link can be a production mode, the mode of the vehicle in the sales link can be an experience mode or a sales mode, and the mode of the vehicle after the user purchases can be a user mode. The mode of the vehicle after the user purchases can be a user mode. See page 7: the available driving range, the available time range, or the available electricity range may be a package purchased by the user for the vehicle.).
With respect to dependent claim 4. The method of setting a driving mode of a vehicle according to claim 1,wherein the driving-related device comprises at least one of a steering wheel, a suspension, a brake, an engine, a transmission, a vehicle stability control (VSC) system, an anti-lock braking system (ABS), a driving system (Drivetrain), and an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) (see page 4: Vehicle complete controller (Vehicle Control Unit, VCU): the powertrain of the vehicle, including the engine, driveline, etc., is monitored and controlled. Vehicle configuration information broadcast from the BGM controller may be received and corresponding operations performed.).
With respect to dependent claim 5, Tang discloses wherein the providing of the two or more driving modes comprises: receiving update information about a driving mode of the driving-related device from a remote server outside the vehicle; and updating the basic driving mode and the additional driving mode based on the received update information (See page 5: The server can acquire the driving mode request, the driving mode request comprises the identification of the production mode and the identification of the vehicle, acquire the vehicle configuration information corresponding to the production mode according to the driving mode request, and send the vehicle configuration information to the vehicle for configuration. The vehicle controller may configure a usage mode of the vehicle to a production mode after receiving the vehicle configuration information. See page 6: the server may transmit the vehicle configuration information 3 to the vehicle B, and configure the vehicle B according to the vehicle configuration information 3. Configuring a using mode of the vehicle into an experience mode or a sales mode. See page 8: The vehicle configuration information may be issued to the vehicle TSP via an OTA upgrade management protocol (OTAP).).
With respect to dependent claim 7, Tang discloses wherein purchasing of the user-purchasable driving mode comprises a paid or free purchase (see page 7: the available driving range, the available time range, or the available electricity range may be a package purchased by the user for the vehicle, and if the available driving range is fully used, the battery exceeds the available time range, or the electricity of the battery is not in the available electricity range, the speed limit control may be performed on the vehicle according to a preset speed limit condition.).
With respect to dependent claim 8, Tang discloses wherein the purchasing of the user-purchasable driving mode is performed through a user interface for payment in the vehicle, or performed by sending a purchase request to a user terminal related to the vehicle and making payment at the user terminal (see page 5: The user may select the driving mode request in the vehicle machine screen, and after the user selects the driving mode request, the vehicle machine may send the driving mode request to the server. An Application (App) for selecting a driving mode may be installed in the terminal device.).
With respect to dependent claim 9, Tang discloses when the user-purchasable driving mode purchased is deactivated based on the received update information, automatically changing to a previously set driving mode (see page 5: the vehicle controller may receive vehicle configuration information corresponding to the target driving mode issued by the server, and configure the usage mode of the vehicle as the target driving mode. The vehicle configuration information comprises the use authority of the vehicle, and the use mode of the vehicle is the current driving mode of the vehicle before the target driving mode is configured.).
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, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0413655 to Fuchs et al. (hereinafter “Fuchs”).
With respect to dependent claim 3, Tang does not explicitly teach wherein the additional driving mode further comprises an automatic update driving mode that is automatically activated to be applicable to the vehicle according to a software update of the vehicle, regardless of the user's purchase.
Fuchs teaches a vehicle 502 that may transition to different operating states in response to instructions received from vehicle platform 504. An over-the-air (OTA) operating mode may configure vehicle 502 to periodically contact vehicle platform 504 to check for updates associated with one or more components of vehicle 502 (e.g., operator interface 510, connectivity circuit 512, electronic control unit 514, or vehicle controller 516). As another example, the OTA operating mode may be used to restore software of vehicle 502, for example when a software issue has been encountered by vehicle controller 516. Connectivity circuit 512 may receive update files and/or other information from vehicle platform 504, which may be stored and used to flash components of vehicle 502 according to update urgency and/or operator permissions, among other examples. For example, an operator may indicate that only critical updates should be installed automatically or an update may have an urgency indicating that the update should be installed as soon as possible or within a given time period. Vehicle state manager 522 and alternative or additional functionality may be associated therewith. Other example functionalities include, but are not limited to, control of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, heated seats, and/or configuring various features of other vehicle components. In some instances, vehicle state manager 522 receive an indication of a subscription status from vehicle platform 504, such that operating modes and/or associated functionality of vehicle 502 may be configured accordingly. For example, the set of available operating modes may change based on an operator's subscription status (e.g., subscription tier and/or whether the subscription is current).Information may be provided to a vehicle platform at a higher frequency or with greater fidelity (as may be preconfigured or user-configurable, among other examples). Vehicle platform 504 may add, remove, or update operating modes of vehicle 502 based on historical state of charge data for vehicle 502 and/or a set of other vehicles, based on a make or model, or based on a geographic location, among other information. (See paragraphs [0181], [0185], [0188], [0189] and [0273]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the purchased mode framework of Tang with the OTA triggered automatic mode configuration mechanism of Fuchs in order to provide a vehicle operating mode automatically tied to and activated by a software update mechanism that is configurable and updatable by a remote platform independent of purchase status.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 10 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEMETRA R SMITH-STEWART whose telephone number is (571)270-3965. The examiner can normally be reached 10am - 6pm.
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/DEMETRA R SMITH-STEWART/Examiner, Art Unit 3661
/PETER D NOLAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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