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 .
DETAIL ACTION
Notice to Applicant(s)
This application has been examined. Claims 13-29 are pending.
The prior art submitted on July 31, 2025 has been considered.
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 119, which have been placed of record in the file.
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.
Claims 13-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gempel et al. (2021/0086662).
As per claim 13, Gempel et al. disclose a method for controlling a movement of at least one movable component in an interior of a vehicle which includes the steps of obtaining first position data of a movable component and second position data of at least one other part of the vehicle interior, wherein the first position data and second position data are obtained in a control unit such that the first position data and second position data are in a common coordinate system (see at least figure 1, items 6, 8, 22, 28, 38; paragraphs 0032-0039), comparing the first position data and the second position data using a control unit to generate a comparison result (see at least paragraphs 0036-0039); and controlling the movement of the movable component taking into account the comparison result, in such a way that a collision of the movable component and at least one other part of the vehicle interior is prevented (see at least paragraph 0047).
As per claim 14, Gempel et al. disclose that the obtaining the position data
includes converting control data of a control unit that controls a drive of the movable
component into the common coordinate system (see at least paragraphs 0006-0010, 0039).
As per claim 15, Gempel et al. disclose that the position data includes at least one tracking point of the movable component defined in the common coordinate system, wherein comparing the first position data and the second position data is carried out based at least in part on the at least one tracking point or an area around the tracking point (see at least paragraphs 0011, 0039, 0048).
As per claim 16, Gempel et al. disclose that the at least one tracking point is calculated based at least in part on a geometric formula which takes into account the control data of the control unit of the movable component (see at least figure 1).
As per claim 17, Gempel et al. disclose that comparing the first position data and the second position data is carried out based at least in part on defined distance rules (see at least paragraphs 0041, 0045, claim 12).
As per claims 18 and 19, Gempel et al. disclose the limitations of these claims in at least figure 1; paragraphs 0011-0029, 0037-0041. 0045-0048.
As per claims 20-22, Gempel et al. disclose the limitations of these claims in at least paragraphs 0035-0051.
As per claims 23 and 25, Gempel et al. disclose that the movable component includes at least one from a group consisting of a vehicle seat, a display device and a
steering wheel (see at least figure 1, items 6, 8, 22).
As per claims 24 and 26, Gempel et al. disclose that the other part includes a fixed part of the vehicle interior (see at least figure 1, item 38).
With respect to claims 27-29, the limitations of these claims have been noted in the rejections above. They are therefore considered rejected as set forth above.
Conclusion
Claims 13-29 are rejected.
The following references are cited as being of general interest: Farquhar et al. (2014/0277952), Bonk et al. (2016/0280096), Ranganathan et al. (2018/0162283), Foltin (2018/0304775), Gempel et al. (2022/0371476) and Gempel et al. (2025/0121786).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAN QUANG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6966. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday from 7:00am to 5:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Nolan, can be reached at 570-270-7016.
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June 9, 2026
/TAN Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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