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
Claims 14-26 of US Application No. 19/166,495, filed on 18 September 2025, are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 18 September 2025 has been considered. An initialed copy of form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
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 14-16, 19-21, 25, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oniwa (US 2018/0345967 A1).
Regarding claims 14, 25, and 26, Oniwa discloses a vehicle control system and method and teaches:
a storage medium storing computer-readable instructions; and at least one processor connected to the storage medium, wherein the processor executes the computer-readable instructions (automated driving control unit 100 comprising processors executing software stored on a storage device – see at least Fig. 1 and ¶ [0031], [0047]) to:
recognize surrounding circumstances of a vehicle (object recognition device 16 recognizes position, type, speed of objects around vehicle 1 – see at least Fig. 1 and ¶ [0036]);
determine whether or not a driver of the vehicle is gripping a steering wheel of the vehicle (grip sensor 80a – see at least Fig. 1 and ¶ [0046]); and
control a speed of the vehicle and steering of the vehicle on the basis of the surrounding circumstances (automated driving control unit 100 includes travel controller 141 that controls driving force output device 200, brake device 210, and steering device 220 such that the vehicle passes along a target trajectory generated by behavior plan generator 123 – see at least Fig. 1 and ¶ [0057]; target trajectory includes target speed Vt – see at least ¶ [0053]; steering and speed control based on environmental information – see at least ¶ [0015]),
cause the vehicle to travel according to a first speed plan in a case where the driver is gripping the steering wheel (vehicle speed determined at S112 based on the occupant being in a hands-on state determined at S110 – see at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0090], [0093]; i.e., first speed plan = Vt set at S112) and causes the vehicle to travel according to a second speed plan for causing the vehicle to travel at a speed lower than a speed according to the first speed plan in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road (vehicle speed determined at S114 based on the occupant being in a hands-off state determined at S110 – see at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0090], [0093]; β > α, i.e., Vt at S112 > Vt at S114 – see at least ¶ [0093]; i.e., second speed plan = Vt set at S114), the first speed plan and the second speed plan are information indicating transition of the speed of the vehicle when traveling on the curved road (S106-S128 are performed when a branching event, i.e., curve traveling event, is determined at S104 – see at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0077]), and
the second speed plan is switched to the first speed plan and the vehicle is caused to travel on the basis of the first speed plan when it is determined that the driver has gripped the steering wheel in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel and the vehicle is caused to travel on the curved road according to the second speed plan (at S126, target trajectory, which includes target speed Vt selected at S112, S114, S118, or S120,, is generated – see at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0106]).
Regarding claim 15, Oniwa further teaches:
wherein the processor executes the computer-readable instructions to: restrain a deceleration degree of the vehicle or accelerates the vehicle to cause the speed of the vehicle to match a speed prescribed in the first speed plan when the driver grips the steering wheel in a case where the speed of the vehicle is controlled on the basis of the second speed plan (after S128, the steps of Fig. 5 are repeated – see at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0075]; When hand-off is YES at S110 in a first execution of the control of Fig. 5, Vt is set at S114 and when hands-off is NO in a subsequent execution, Vt is set at S112. Vt at S112 > Vt at S114. Therefore, vehicle speed is increased, i.e., vehicle is accelerated, at S128 by controlling driving force output device 200. See at least Fig. 5 and ¶ [0106]-[0107]).
Regarding claim 16, Oniwa further teaches:
cause the vehicle to travel at a first speed according to the first speed plan in a case where the driver is gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, cause the vehicle to travel at a second speed according to the second speed plan lower than the first speed in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, and accelerate the vehicle to the first speed when it is determined that the driver has changed from a state of not gripping the steering wheel to a state where the driver is gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling at the second speed (the steps of Fig. 5 may be repeated such that each time the driver changes his grip state, a new target speed Vt is set at S112, S114, S118, or S120 and travel control is executed at S128 based on the new target speed – see at least Fig. 5 and related text).
Regarding claim 19, Oniwa further teaches:
decelerate the vehicle to a first speed according to the first speed plan in a case where the driver is gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, decelerate the vehicle to a second speed according to the second speed plan lower than the first speed in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, and accelerate the vehicle or restrains a degree of deceleration when it is determined that the driver has gripped the steering wheel in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel and the vehicle is decelerated to be closer to the second speed while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road (the steps of Fig. 5 may be repeated such that each time the driver changes his grip state, a new target speed Vt is set at S112, S114, S118, or S120 and travel control is executed at S128 based on the new target speed – see at least Fig. 5 and related text; travel control includes control of travel driving force output device 200 and brake device 210 on the bases of target speed Vt – see at least ¶ [0107]).
Regarding claim 20, Oniwa further teaches:
in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel and the vehicle is decelerated to be closer to the second speed while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, decelerate the vehicle to the first speed instead of decelerating the vehicle to the second speed when the driver grips the steering wheel and the speed of the vehicle exceeds the first speed (the steps of Fig. 5 may be repeated such that each time the driver changes his grip state, a new target speed Vt is set at S112, S114, S118, or S120 and travel control is executed at S128 based on the new target speed – see at least Fig. 5 and related text; travel control includes control of travel driving force output device 200 and brake device 210 on the bases of target speed Vt – see at least ¶ [0107]).
Regarding claim 21, Oniwa further teaches:
in a case where the driver is not gripping the steering wheel and the vehicle is decelerated to be closer to the second speed while the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, accelerate the vehicle to the first speed when the driver grips the steering wheel and the speed of the vehicle is lower than the first speed (the steps of Fig. 5 may be repeated such that each time the driver changes his grip state, a new target speed Vt is set at S112, S114, S118, or S120 and travel control is executed at S128 based on the new target speed – see at least Fig. 5 and related text; travel control includes control of travel driving force output device 200 and brake device 210 on the bases of target speed Vt – see at least ¶ [0107]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 18, and 22-24 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 AARON L TROOST whose telephone number is (571)270-5779. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30am-4pm.
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/AARON L TROOST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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