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 .
The application of Ette for a “method for operating a vehicle function of a motor vehicle, motor vehicle, and electronic device” filed on June 12, 2025 has been examined.
This application claims foreign priority based on the application DE10 2022 213 946.1, filed on December 11, 2023 in Germany. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C 119(a) – (d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
This application claims priority to a 371 of PCT/EP2023/085027, which is filed on December 19, 2022.
A preliminary amendment to the claims 1-10 has been entered and made of record. Claims 1-10 are cancelled.
The new set of claims 11-30 are introduced.
Claims 11-30 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 11-17 and 19-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murar et al. (US# 9,963,107) in view of Kwak et al. (US# 10,323,452).
Referring to claim 11, Murar et al. disclose a method for operating a vehicle function of a motor vehicle (32) (column 4 lines 31 to column 5 line 67; see Figures 1 to 9), the motor vehicle (32) comprising a radio system (30) (i.e. a mobile communication device of the vehicle 32) including a transceiver (36), a first ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna, and a second UWB antenna (column 7 lines 17 to 33; column 12 lines 59 to column 13 line 27; see Figure 1), the method comprising:
activating the radio system (30) to perform a positioning method based on time-of-flight measurements to determine a position of a second radio system (16) of an electronic device (12) associated with a user (i.e. the mobile device 30 may include the first transceiver 36 wherein the hand-held device 12 includes the second transceiver 16 that communicates with the first transceiver 36 via two-way communication. The control logic within the controller 38 may monitor the position of the hand-held device 12 with respect to the mobile device 30 based on data received from the second transceiver 16) (column 8 lines 35 to 41; see Figure 3) and (UWB systems can be made to accurately locate a fob in three dimensions despite signal attenuation and multiple signal pathways. UWB is able to provide 2- and 3-D localization even in the presence of severe multipath by detecting time-of-flight of the radio transmissions at various frequencies. Another advance of the UWB system is the low average power requirement that results from low pulse rate) (column 12 lines 59 to column 13 line 15; see Figures 3 and 5-8);
ascertaining a walking route and an orientation of the user with respect to the motor
vehicle based on the determined position and the received user data (i.e. the control logic within the controller 38 may monitor the position of the hand-held device 12 with respect to the mobile device 30 based on data received from the second transceiver 16. the UWB signal is preferably pulsed every second or every two seconds, and the pulse rate is designed based upon the desired battery life of the key fob 12, and the need to track movement direction and rate of pedestrians or objects) (column 8 lines 35 to 41; column 13 lines 16 to 27; see Figure 3); and
carrying out a vehicle function based on the ascertained walking route and the orientation of the user with respect to the motor vehicle (i.e. each of the hand-held and mobile communication devices 12 and 30 is capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving, respectively, RF command signals via transceivers 16 and 36 as long as the pedestrian carrying the hand-held device 12 is within a first range or field envelope 41 of the mobile device 30. Each of the command signals contains identification data which identifies the hand-held device 12 and command data which identifies a pedestrian command for the vehicle 32 to automatically perform an operation. The mobile device 30 is operative to remove the identification and command data from the command signals and the control logic is operative to determine if the hand-held device 12 is an authorized hand-held device 12 based on the identification data. The control logic is operative to generate a door opening command and control signal 42 (FIG. 3) for use by a door actuator (not shown) when the authorized device 12 is located within the field envelope 41 for a predetermined period of time) (column 7 lines 48 to 65; see Figures 3 to 9).
However, Murar et al. did not explicitly disclose receiving user data from the second radio system, wherein the user data comprise sensor data from an inertial measurement unit of the electronic device or an orientation of the user determined therefrom.
In the same field of endeavor of a vehicle access control system, Kwak et al. teach that receiving user data from the second radio system, wherein the user data comprise sensor data from an inertial measurement unit of the electronic device or an orientation of the user determined therefrom (i.e. the controller 354 instead of the actuator controller 316 may perform the determination of whether conditions have been satisfied for actuation of the container or entryway 312. In this case, the controller 354 may receive sensed parameter information from the access control system 310 and determine whether the received sensed parameter information substantially corresponds to sensed parameter information associated with the user access system 350. If the information substantially corresponds, then the controller 354 may transmit an actuator activation signal to the access control system 310) (column 6 lines 12 to 24; see Figures 3-6) and (“ACTUATOR CONTROLLER SENDS SENSOR ACTIVATION SIGNAL TO REMOTE SENSOR”, which may follow block 606, the actuator controller may transmit an activation signal to the remote sensor configured to cause the remote sensor to begin sensing an orientation of the user or the proximity UI device. At block 610, “REMOTE SENSOR MEASURES ORIENTATION WHILE PROXIMITY UI DEVICE IN AREA AND REPORTS TO ACTUATOR CONTROLLER”, which may follow block 608, the remote sensor may begin measuring an orientation parameter associated with the user and/or the proximity UI device while the proximity UI device remains in the proximity area, and may report the measured orientation parameter to the actuator controller. In some embodiments, the remote sensor may continuously or periodically measure the orientation parameter without receiving an activation signal or even while the proximity UI device is not in the proximity area) (column 9 lines 33 to 62; column 10 lines 43 to 65; see Figure 6) in order to activate the actuator to open the vehicle door.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for the controller activates the actuator of the vehicle door when the orientation criteria is received from the user access system that is satisfied by the access control system taught by Kwak et al. in remote opening the land vehicle door when the user is approaching the vehicle of Murar et al. because having the controller activates the actuator of the vehicle door when the orientation criteria is received from the user access system that is satisfied by the access control system would provide security to the vehicle when opening the vehicle door.
Referring to claim 12, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, Murar et al. disclose wherein the vehicle function comprises activating a central locking system to lock or unlock the motor vehicle, activating an actuator to open a door, a hatch, or a window of the motor vehicle, or activating a lighting system of the motor vehicle (column 2 lines 43 to 53; column 7 lines 48 to 65; see Figures 3 to 9).
Referring to claim 13, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, Murar et al. disclose wherein the vehicle function is carried out when the walking route indicates that the user has reached or is located in a predefined region for the vehicle function (i.e. the control logic is operative to generate a door opening command and control signal 42 (FIG. 3) for use by a door actuator (not shown) when the authorized device 12 is located within the field envelope 41 for a predetermined period of time) (column 7 lines 61 to 65; see Figure 4).
Referring to claim 14, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 13, Murar et al. disclose wherein the vehicle function is further carried out when the user remains in the predefined region for at least a predefined waiting period (i.e. the control logic is operative to generate a door opening command and control signal 42 (FIG. 3) for use by a door actuator (not shown) when the authorized device 12 is located within the field envelope 41 for a predetermined period of time) (column 7 lines 61 to 65; see Figure 4).
Referring to claim 15, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, Kwak et al. disclose wherein the radio system is activated to transmit UWB pulses and receive pulse responses using at least one of the UWB antennas when the user is located in the predefined region (i.e. the actuator controller may perform the determination based on whether the proximity UI device is detected by a proximity UI device detector, such as the proximity UI device detector 320. At block 604, “DEVICE IN AREA?”, which may follow block 602, if the actuator controller determines that the proximity UI device is not in the proximity area, the actuator controller may return to block 602. On the other hand, if the actuator controller determines at block 604 that the proximity UI device is in the proximity area) (column 9 lines 6 to 21; see Figure 6), and the vehicle function is carried out based on recognition of a gesture movement of the user from the received pulse responses (column 3 lines 23 to 33; column 5 lines 44 to 67).
Referring to claim 16, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, Murar et al. disclose further comprising authenticating the user based on authentication data received from the second radio system, wherein at least one step of the method is performed in response to successful authentication (i.e. each of the hand-held and mobile communication devices 12 and 30 is capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving, respectively, RF command signals via transceivers 16 and 36 as long as the pedestrian carrying the hand-held device 12 is within a first range or field envelope 41 of the mobile device 30. Each of the command signals contains identification data which identifies the hand-held device 12 and command data which identifies a pedestrian command for the vehicle 32 to automatically perform an operation. The mobile device 30 is operative to remove the identification and command data from the command signals and the control logic is operative to determine if the hand-held device 12 is an authorized hand-held device 12 based on the identification data. The control logic is operative to generate a door opening command and control signal 42 (FIG. 3) for use by a door actuator (not shown) when the authorized device 12 is located within the field envelope 41 for a predetermined period of time) (column 7 lines 48 to 65; column 11 lines 58 to column 12 line 7).
Referring to claim 17, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, Murar et al. disclose wherein the walking route is determined using a digital filter (i.e. these elements may include a battery, antenna interfaces, antenna(s), modulators, demodulators, transceivers, duplexers, RF switches, filter, I/Os, UARTs, interrupts, memory, modems and the like, and the code to operate the device elements) (column 11 lines 12 to 16; see Figures 3 and 6).
Referring to claims 19-27 and 29-30, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose a method for operating a vehicle function of a motor vehicle and an electronic device for operating a vehicle function of a motor vehicle, although different in scope from the claims 11-17, the claims 19-27 and 29-30 contains similar limitations in that the claims 11-17 already addressed above therefore claims 19-27 and 29-30 are also rejected for the same obvious reasons given with respect to claims 11-17.
Referring to claim 28, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the electronic device of claim 26, Murar et al. disclose wherein the inertial measurement unit comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a rotation rate sensor (column 3 lines 14 to 28), and Kwak et al. disclose the control unit is configured to determine an orientation of the user relative to the motor vehicle based on sensor data from the inertial measurement unit (column 6 lines 12 to 39; column 8 lines 6 to 41; see Figures 3-5).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murar et al. (US# 9,963,107) in view of Kwak et al. (US# 10,323,452) as applied to claim 11 and further in view of Hariri et al. (US# 10,179,568).
Referring to claim 18, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the method of claim 11, however, Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. did not explicitly disclose wherein the vehicle function is carried out only if the user is located within a maximum periphery of 10 meters around the motor vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor of a vehicle access control system, Hariri et al. teach that wherein the vehicle function is carried out only if the user is located within a maximum periphery of 10 meters around the motor vehicle (i.e. as the user approaches vehicle 10, controller 100 may be configured to perform a plurality of vehicle functions based on detection of mobile device 80 in one or more ranges 90-94 based on a distance from one or more doors 18-21 and/or hoods 44, 46. For example, mobile device 80 may be detected within a detection range 90, an authentication range 92 (e.g., within about 10 meters of vehicle 10), and a vehicle function range 94 (e.g., within about 2 meters of vehicle 10) ) (column 5 lines 45 to 63; see Figure 3) in order to activate the access control of the vehicle.
At the time of the effective filing date of the current application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the need for the controller perform a plurality of vehicle functions based on detection of the mobile device such as the authentication range within about 10 meters of the vehicle taught by Hariri et al. in remote opening the land vehicle door when the user is approaching the vehicle of Murar et al. in view of Kwak et al. because having the controller perform a plurality of vehicle functions based on detection of the mobile device such as the authentication range within about 10 meters of the vehicle would provide security to the vehicle when opening the vehicle door at the predetermined range.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to the enclosed PTO-892 for details.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAM V NGUYEN whose telephone number is 571-272-3061. Fax number is (571) 273-3061. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM Monday to Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached on 571-272-3114. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications.
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/NAM V NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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