DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
In the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, claim 1 has been considered and examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/01/2025, 06/13/2025, and 01/07/2026 are in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by Examiner.
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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasui et al. (Yasui – US 2020/0143940 A1) in view of Lu et al. (Lu – CN 210300979 U), and Yaffe-Ermoza et al. (Yaffe-Ermoza – US 2017/0290539 A1). The rejections in this instant application are based on the English translation of CN 210300979 U publication by computer.
As to claim 1, Yasui discloses an information provision system comprising:
a driver information detection device (Yasui: FIG. 3 the biometric information acquirer 240) that is configured to detect driver information (Yasui: [0047], [0055], [0060]-[0062], [0154], and FIG. 3: the biometric information acquirer 240 acquires the biometric information of the user. For example, the biometric information acquirer 240 is a camera that is mounted in the automated driving vehicle and images the user, a microphone, or a wearable sensor worn by the user. Examples of biometric information of the user that the biometric information acquirer 240 operates and acquires include a heart rate, a pulse rate, a body temperature, a respiratory rate, a degree of pupil opening, a respiratory sound, an electrocardiogram, an electromyogram, a change (displacement) in the electrocardiogram or the electromyogram, a blood glucose level, and a blood oxygen concentration. For measurement of these items, for example, a dedicated measurement device for each item such as an electrocardiograph, an electromyograph, a blood glucose level meter, and a blood oxygen concentration measurement instrument may be used), which is information including biological information of a driver who drives a vehicle (Yasui: [0047], [0055], [0060]-[0062], [0154], and FIG. 3: Further, although the user of which the biometric information is acquired is a driver of the automated driving vehicle 200 or an occupant (a fellow occupant) other than the driver in the embodiments, the user may be one of the driver and the fellow occupant or may be both. Further, there are two modes including a mode in which biometric information of the driver is acquired and a mode in which biometric information of the fellow occupant is acquired);
a communication device (Yasui: FIG. 3 the communication device 220) that is configured to transmit information acquired inside the vehicle to a user terminal provided outside the vehicle (Yasui: [0073], FIG. 1 the external terminal 100, FIG. 3 the communication device 220 within the automated driving vehicle 200, and FIG. 8: the biometric information processor 242 transmits the biometric information output by the biometric information acquirer 240 and the current location information acquired from the navigation device 230 to the controller 130 of the external terminal 100 via the communication device 220);
a driver information acquisition unit (Yasui: FIG. 3 the biometric information processor 242) that is configured to acquire the driver information detected by the driver information detection device (Yasui: [0051], [0055], [0057], [0061]-[0062], [0065], [0074],-[0075], [0077], and FIG. 5: The biometric information acquirer 240 detects the biometric information of the user according to the biometric information detection instruction output by the biometric information processor 242. Further, the biometric information processor 242 outputs a deceleration instruction to the automated driving controller 250 when the biometric information processor 242 outputs the biometric information detection instruction to the biometric information acquirer 240).
Yasui does not explicitly disclose an information generation unit that is configured to extract information necessary for grasping health condition of the driver from the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit to generate health-related information; and
an information communication unit that is configured to transmit the health-related information generated by the information generation unit from the communication device to the user terminal,
wherein the driver information detection device detects a breathing speed of the driver as the driver information based on a movement of mouth, nose, neck, and chest of the driver which has been imaged.
However, it has been known in the art of monitor information of vehicle occupants to implement an information generation unit that is configured to extract information necessary for grasping health condition of the driver from the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit to generate health-related information; and
an information communication unit that is configured to transmit the health-related information generated by the information generation unit from the communication device to the user terminal, as suggested by Lu, which discloses an information generation unit that is configured to extract information necessary for grasping health condition of the driver from the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit to generate health-related information (Lu: Abstract, page 2 lines 23-page 3 lines 5, page 3 lines 13-30, page 6 lines 6-29, page 7 lines 3-5, FIG. 1 the Vehicle-mounted data processing device, and FIG. 7: In addition, in some embodiments, vehicle data processing device capable of processing the data, or combined deep learning for big data analysis, so as to establish the corresponding personal health file in the different vehicle personnel, and diagnosing the body condition); and
an information communication unit that is configured to transmit the health-related information generated by the information generation unit from the communication device to the user terminal (Lu: Abstract, page 2 lines 23-page 3 lines 5, page 3 lines 13-30, page 6 lines 6-29, page 7 lines 3-5, FIG. 1 the Vehicle-mounted data processing device, and FIG. 7: In addition, in some embodiments, the vehicle data processing device can according to the received current data, establishing the health record of the corresponding vehicle, the health file can transmission for people in the vehicle to view to the display device through the data transmission device or element. In addition, health file can also be transmitted to the server by data transmission device or element storage, and only allow a person to access view (e.g., people in the vehicle after authorizing, open to the hospital authority, thus allowing a doctor in the hospital transferring data to check) has authority, the process can be realized by of data transmission, encryption, or decryption techniques in the prior art, therefore, omitted here).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Yasui and Lu, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the vehicle management system of Yasui to include an information generation unit that is configured to extract information necessary for grasping health condition of the driver from the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit to generate health-related information; and
an information communication unit that is configured to transmit the health-related information generated by the information generation unit from the communication device to the user terminal, as suggested by Lu. The motivation for this is to process sensing information for transmitting health information to determine a condition of a vehicle occupant.
The combination of Yasui and Lu does not explicitly disclose wherein the driver information detection device detects a breathing speed of the driver as the driver information based on a movement of mouth, nose, neck, and chest of the driver which has been imaged.
However, it has been known in the art of monitoring condition of a driver to implement wherein the driver information detection device detects a breathing speed of the driver as the driver information based on a movement of mouth, nose, neck, and chest of the driver which has been imaged, as suggested by Yaffe-Ermoza, which discloses wherein the driver information detection device detects a breathing speed of the driver as the driver information based on a movement of mouth, nose, neck, and chest of the driver which has been imaged (Yaffe-Ermoza: Abstract, [0050]-[0054], [0069], [0073], FIG. 2, and FIG. 6: Camera assembly 152 preferably comprises first and second thermal imaging cameras 270 and 272 which are preferably arranged to view the mouth and nose of the subject and the side neck region of the subject, respectively. Camera assembly 152 also comprises a motion detector 274. In some specific non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, a preferred motion detector 274 may include a cn 8537022606, commercially available from Prime Sense, 28 Habarzel St., Tel-Aviv 69710, Israel. The motion detector 274 preferably views the chest of the subject… It is a particular feature of a preferred embodiment of the present invention that breathing rate is ascertained by use of a motion detector).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Yasui, Lu, and Yaffe-Ermoza, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the vehicle management system of Yasui and Lu to include wherein the driver information detection device detects a breathing speed of the driver as the driver information based on a movement of mouth, nose, neck, and chest of the driver which has been imaged, as suggested by Yaffe-Ermoza. The motivation for this is to determine a user condition based on multisensory data.
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Cutaia, US 2016/0174903 A1, discloses system and method for outpatient management of chronic disease.
Cheu et al., US 2020/0038708 A1, discloses system and method for optimizing diaphragmatic breathing.
Levison et al., US 2012/0203128 A1, discloses respiratory rate detection device, system and method.
Taki et al., US 2023/0045458 A1, discloses information processing apparatus and information processing method.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG PHAM whose telephone number is (571)-270-3668. The examiner can normally be reached 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM.
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, QUAN-ZHEN WANG can be reached at (571)-272-3114. 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.
/QUANG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
Prosecution Insights