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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 11, “which has different number and different arrangement” should be “which has a different number and a different arrangement”
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) because the claim limitations use a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are:
“storage unit” storing information in claims 1 and 7-10
“input unit” receiving data in claims 1 and 7
“control unit” performing computations and control functions in claims 1 and 4-7
Because these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. A review of the specification reveals the following:
“storage unit” : a memory of an ECU (See at least [0133] in the specification)
“input unit”: a controller (See at least [0133] in the specification)
“control unit” : an ECU (See at least [0032], [0058], and [0133] in the specification)
The above disclosures constitute adequate structure to perform the claimed functions, so no 112 rejections are given and no further action is required by applicant with respect to the above 112(f) interpretation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dewey et al. (US 20210107422 A1), hereinafter referred to as Dewey.
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 10, Dewey discloses A vehicle control device (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that vehicle 100 further comprises a controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0075]) comprising:
a storage unit storing location information records indicating mounting locations of multiple pieces of equipment mounted on a vehicle, each of the location information records including row location information indicating a location of the corresponding equipment in a front-rear direction of the vehicle and lateral location information indicating a location of the corresponding equipment in a left-right direction of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time);
an input unit receiving (See at least Fig. 11 in Dewey: Dewey discloses The controller 130 communicates with the near field sensors 122 and the weight sensors 110 and controls the occupant restraint system 120 [See at least Dewey, 0075]) a control request to control one of the multiple pieces of equipment or a vehicle-mounted component correlated to the one of the multiple pieces of equipment (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]. The transmission of the new location of the seats to the controller from the near field sensors may broadly be regarded as “control requests” because the control occurs based, at least in part, on the locations of the seats), the one of the multiple pieces of equipment being identified by identification information that defines a front-rear order indicating an order in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and a left-right order indicating an order in the left-right direction of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time); and
a control unit determining a control target (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]) and performing a control to the control target (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 can control one or more parameters of the airbags 106 and 112 (e.g., speed of deployment, rate of inflation, or whether to deploy at all in case of a crash) based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on whether the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]), the control target being determined as one of the multiple pieces of equipment or the vehicle-mounted component correlated to the one of the multiple pieces of equipment (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]) according to the control request based on the identification information included in the control request (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]. The transmission of the new location of the seats to the controller from the near field sensors may broadly be regarded as “control requests” because the control occurs based, at least in part, on the locations of the seats) and the location information stored in the storage unit (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 can control one or more parameters of the airbags 106 and 112 (e.g., speed of deployment, rate of inflation, or whether to deploy at all in case of a crash) based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on whether the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]).
Regarding claim 2, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the left-right order is set to enable identification of an arrangement order of the equipment from a left end or a right end of the vehicle toward a lateral center of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time, including if a seat is moved from a lateral side position to a lateral center position; that’s the example given in [Dewey, 0077]).
Regarding claim 3, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the front-rear order is set to enable identification of an arrangement order of the equipment from a front end or a rear end of the vehicle toward a longitudinal center of the vehicle, or the front-rear order is set to enable identification of the arrangement order of the equipment from a front row of the vehicle toward a rear side of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time).
Regarding claim 4, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the lateral location information includes lateral spatial coordinates that indicate spatial coordinates in the left-right direction of the vehicle, the row location information includes row spatial coordinates that indicate spatial coordinates in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the control unit correlates the row spatial coordinates and the lateral spatial coordinates with the left-right order and the front-rear order (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time. This position information may broadly be regarded as “spatial coordinates”).
Regarding claim 5, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the multiple pieces of equipment include a seat located in a passenger compartment of the vehicle in a movable manner by changing a mounting location of the seat (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]), the seat includes a detection unit that detects the mounting location of the seat in the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The near field sensors 122 are arranged proximate to the seats 102 (e.g., on the floor of the vehicle 100 in front of the seats 102) and are configured to communicate with the devices 108 mounted to or in the seats 102 [See at least Dewey, 0068]), and the control unit updates the location information of the seat stored in the storage unit corresponding to a change in the mounting location of the seat (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]) in response to the detection unit detecting that the mounting location of the seat is changed (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The near field sensors 122 are arranged proximate to the seats 102 (e.g., on the floor of the vehicle 100 in front of the seats 102) and are configured to communicate with the devices 108 mounted to or in the seats 102 [See at least Dewey, 0068]).
Regarding claim 6, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 5, wherein, in updating of the location information of the seat stored in the storage unit, when the location information of the seat is correlated to attribute information, which is used to identify the vehicle-mounted component correlated to the seat, the control unit updates the attribute information by correlating the attribute information to the updated location information of the seat (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]).
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Dewey discloses A vehicle control system (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses a schematic representation of a seating arrangement with removable seats in a vehicle 100 and a system for tracking locations of removable seats and operating the occupant restraint system of the vehicle 100 according to the seat locations [See at least Dewey, 0062]) comprising:
a control device mounted on a vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that vehicle 100 further comprises a controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0075]); and
a center device configured to communicate with the vehicle (See at least Fig. 11 in Dewey: Dewey discloses The controller 130 communicates with the near field sensors 122 and the weight sensors 110 and controls the occupant restraint system 120 [See at least Dewey, 0075]. The near field sensors may broadly be interpreted as “center devices”),
wherein
the center device transmits, to the vehicle (See at least Fig. 11 in Dewey: Dewey discloses The controller 130 communicates with the near field sensors 122 and the weight sensors 110 and controls the occupant restraint system 120 [See at least Dewey, 0075]. The near field sensors may broadly be interpreted as “center devices”), a control request to control an equipment mounted on the vehicle or a vehicle-mounted component correlated to the equipment (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]. The transmission of the new location of the seats to the controller from the near field sensors may broadly be regarded as “control requests” because the control occurs based, at least in part, on the locations of the seats), the equipment being identified by identification information that defines a front-rear order indicating an order in a front-rear direction of the vehicle and a left-right order indicating an order in a left-right direction of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that Thus, the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time), and
the control device includes:
a storage unit storing location information records indicating mounting locations of multiple pieces of equipment mounted on the vehicle, each of the location information records including row location information indicating a location of the corresponding equipment in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and lateral location information indicating a location of the corresponding equipment in the left-right direction of the vehicle (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 knows which seat 102 is exactly at which location in the vehicle 100, and the controller 130 configures the vehicle information system 132 to display the proper seat location [See at least Dewey, 0078]. It will therefore be appreciated that the controller knows the position of each seat in both the front-rear and left-right directions at any given time);
an input unit receiving the control request transmitted from the center device (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]. The transmission of the new location of the seats to the controller from the near field sensors may broadly be regarded as “control requests” because the control occurs based, at least in part, on the locations of the seats); and
a control unit determining a control target (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]) and performing a control to the control target (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 can control one or more parameters of the airbags 106 and 112 (e.g., speed of deployment, rate of inflation, or whether to deploy at all in case of a crash) based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on whether the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]), the control target being determined as one of the multiple pieces of equipment or the vehicle-mounted component correlated to the one of the multiple pieces of equipment (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]) according to the control request based on the identification information included in the control request (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that suppose that, for example, the positions of the seats 102-3 and 102-4 are swapped [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-3, which earlier sensed the seat 102-3 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-4 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The near field sensor 122-4, which earlier sensed the seat 102-4 and reported its location to the controller 130 now senses the seat 102-3 and reports its new location to the controller 130 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can generate an updated map of the new locations of the seats 102 and may display the map indicating the new locations of the seats 102 on the display system of the vehicle information system 132 [See at least Dewey, 0077]. Dewey further discloses that The controller 130 can control the occupant restraint system 120 based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on which of the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]. The transmission of the new location of the seats to the controller from the near field sensors may broadly be regarded as “control requests” because the control occurs based, at least in part, on the locations of the seats) and the location information stored in the storage unit (See at least Fig. 10 in Dewey: Dewey discloses that the controller 130 can control one or more parameters of the airbags 106 and 112 (e.g., speed of deployment, rate of inflation, or whether to deploy at all in case of a crash) based on the locations of the seats 102 and depending on whether the seats 102 are occupied [See at least Dewey, 0079]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
The closest prior art of record is Dewey et al. (US 20210107422 A1) in view of Williams et al. (US 20200058210 A1), hereinafter referred to as Dewey and Williams, respectively. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 11, Dewey discloses The vehicle control device according to claim 1.
Williams teaches the vehicle control device wherein the identification information is prepared for the vehicle and another vehicle (Williams teaches the ability for a single unique equipped seat or multiple such seats to be ‘learned’ and recognized by multiple portable controller devices, such that, for example, within a family or carpool, a seat could be moved from one system-equipped vehicle to another system-equipped vehicle freely without regard for ‘re-learning’ the seat by the system, once first ‘learned’ and recognized by each given portable controller device [See at least Williams, 0071]. Williams further teaches that This allows the safety feature to be always available without further action by a possibly distracted parent or caregiver when moving seat(s) between appropriately equipped family or carpool vehicles that have previously ‘learned’ a given unique seat(s) [See at least Williams, 0071]. Williams further teaches the ability for the portable controller device to be moved from one vehicle to another, for example, when taken on vacation for use within a rental car, or for use by a rental car agency fleet, yet still retain in nonvolatile memory the ‘learned’ seats [See at least Williams, 0072]. Williams further teaches that A parent or caregiver can unplug the portable controller device at home, install it in seconds in a rental car, and use it with the family's equipped child safety seat(s) previously learned, without further action required while on vacation, then return home and return the portable controller to the original vehicle, all the while enjoying the safety granted by the system and requiring no repeat ‘learning’ of the car seat(s) used [See at least Williams, 0071]).
However, none of the prior art of record, taken either alone or in combination, teaches or suggests the vehicle control device wherein the identification information is prepared for the vehicle and another vehicle, which has different number and different arrangement of multiple pieces of equipment from the vehicle. (emphasis added).
The closest that any reference comes to teaching the above missing limitation is Williams. However, while Williams teaches transferring identification information for a piece of equipment (i.e., a seat) from one vehicle to another (See at least [Williams, 0071-0072]), Williams is silent as to the possibility of doing so when the new vehicle has a different number and different arrangement of pieces of equipment from the original vehicle. This would require the software or hardware of the original controller that is transferred to the new vehicle to somehow adapt to a different number and arrangement of seats or other equipment than in the original vehicle, but that is not contemplated by Williams.
None of the other prior art of record resolve this deficiency in Williams.
For at least the above stated reasons, claim 11 contains allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAEEM T ALAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5901. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9am-5pm.
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, FADEY JABR can be reached at (571) 272-1516. 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.
/NAEEM TASLIM ALAM/Examiner, Art Unit 3668
Prosecution Insights