CTNF 19/174,064 CTNF 71234 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 1-20 are pending. The prior art submitted on December 19, 2025 has been considered. 02-26 AIA 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 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1, 2 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Hayes et al. (10,896,606) . As per claim 1, Hayes et al. disclose an apparatus of a vehicle which includes a processor; and a memory storing at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to obtain, using a sensor, vehicle state information of the vehicle and surrounding environment information of the vehicle (see at least figure 2, items 252, 260, 262, 264); column 15, lines 56-64); determine, based on the vehicle state information and the surrounding environment information, a present vehicle-to-vehicle distance and a required vehicle-to-vehicle distance, wherein the present vehicle-to-vehicle distance is a present distance between the vehicle and another vehicle, and wherein the required vehicle-to-vehicle distance is a threshold distance, between the vehicle and the other vehicle, required for the vehicle to perform a lane change to a target lane (see at least column 12, line 49 to column 13, line 16), generate, based on the present vehicle-to-vehicle distance and the required vehicle-to-vehicle distance, a lane change control signal, wherein the lane change control signal comprises a first control signal generated based on an occurrence of a predefined event, or a second control signal generated based on an absence of the predefined event; and control, based on the lane change control signal, driving of the vehicle (see at least the abstract; column 20, lines 27-50, column 25, lines 26-65). As per claim 2, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to determine the required vehicle-to-vehicle distance (see at least column 26, lines 34-62). With respect to claims 11-13, the limitations of these claims have been noted in the rejections above. They are therefore considered rejected as set forth above. As per claim 14, Hayes et al. disclose that the target lane comprises a shoulder lane (see at least figure 4b; column 25, lines 26-65), and the autonomous driving control signal is configured to cause the vehicle to stop at a target point on the shoulder lane (see at least column 28, lines 16-36). As per claim 15, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to adjust the required inter-vehicle distance by reducing a safety distance (see at least column 2, lines 29-39). As per claim 16, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to generate the autonomous driving control signal based on a multi-phase lane change process (see at least figure 49). As per claim 17, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to generate the autonomous driving control signal based on a speed of another vehicle within a threshold distance from the vehicle (see at least column 26, lines 35-62). As per claim 18, Hayes et al. disclose that the event comprises a detection of an out-of-design-domain condition (see at least column 13, lines 35-62). As per claim 19, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform a fallback maneuver based on a determination that the lane change cannot be completed, wherein the fallback maneuver comprises at least one of an in-lane stop or a straight stop (see at least column 25, lines 13-65). As per claim 20, Hayes et al. disclose that the at least one instruction that, when executed by the processor communicating with the memory, is configured to cause the apparatus to activate, based on an emergency flasher (see at least column 15, lines 32-55) . 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3-10 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 Claims 1, 2 and 11-20 are rejected. Claims 3-10 are objected The following references are cited as being of general interest: Niino et al. (2018/0029604), Xiang et al. (2023/0115708), Lee et al. (2023/0399019). 07-101 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 . Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal. Should you have questions about access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 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. June 2, 2026 /TAN Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661 Application/Control Number: 19/174,064 Page 2 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 19/174,064 Page 3 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 19/174,064 Page 4 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 19/174,064 Page 5 Art Unit: 3661
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