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 1-20 are currently pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
Reference ABDALLAH (US 2023/0040600 A1) is assigned to Applicant and considered highly relevant to certain aspects of the claimed invention as evidenced by its application as a teaching reference in the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claim 13 hereinbelow. Its absence on an information disclosure statement is noted by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
At claim 5 line 2 “steered wheels” should read --the steered wheels--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-8 and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to mental processes without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites a vehicle comprising (judicial exceptions in bold and additional elements underlined):
a chassis;
a plurality of suspensions mounted to the chassis;
a plurality of wheels mounted to the plurality of suspensions;
a battery mounted to the chassis;
one or more drive units, each drive unit configured to drive one or more of the plurality of wheels using drive current supplied by the battery;
a display device; and
a controller coupled to the battery, the one or more drive units, and the display device, the controller configured to:
receive one or more inputs instructing a transition to a launch mode; and
in response to the one or more inputs: invoke, by the controller, transitioning of one or more components of the vehicle to enable a launch of the vehicle, the one or more components including at least one of the battery, the one or more drive units, or the plurality of suspensions;
provide an output on the display device, the output graphically representing a state of a driver-controllable component of the vehicle; and
enable launching of the vehicle according to the launch mode in response to a state of the driver-controllable component being in a predefined configuration and completion of the transitioning of the one or more components.
The analysis of claim 1 continues as:
Step 2A prong 1: The claim recites:
The mental processes of limitations (i) and (k). Under broadest reasonable interpretation the scope of (i) transitioning one or more components includes changing upper limit values (i.e., in software)(see claim 14) which is capable of being performed in the human mind.
Step 2A prong 2: The claim recites:
The additional elements of limitations (a)-(h) and (j).
These judicial exceptions are not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements (a)-(g) are recited at a high level of generality and only generally link the use of the judicial exceptions to a particular technological environment or field of use (see MPEP §2106.05(h)), additional elements (h) and (j) are recited at a high level of generality and amount to mere data gathering and output, which are forms of insignificant extra-solution activity.
Step 2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Even when considered in combination, these additional elements do not provide an inventive concept. Additional elements (a)-(g) are disclosed at a high level of generality and are taken as well-understood, routine, and conventional activity. Additional elements (h) and (j) are recited at a high level of generality and amounts to mere data gathering and output, which are forms of insignificant extra-solution activity and cannot provide an inventive concept.
Claims 2-8 and 10-18 do not recite any further additional limitations capable of integrating the recited judicial exceptions into a practical application or providing an inventive concept.
Claim 9 is eligible at step 2A prong 2 because the limitation “the controller is configured to launch the vehicle in response to release of the brake pedal” integrates the recited judicial exceptions into a practical application.
Claim 19 is rejected for the same reasons, mutatis mutandis, as provided above for claim 1.
Claim 20 does not recite any further additional limitations capable of integrating the recited judicial exceptions into a practical application or providing an inventive concept.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 6, 9-10, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080).
Regarding claim 1, CHO discloses a vehicle comprising:
a chassis (implied/inherent in “electric vehicle” i.a. title);
a plurality of suspensions mounted to the chassis (implied/inherent in “electric vehicle” i.a. title);
a plurality of wheels (col. 1 lines 34-35) mounted to the plurality of suspensions (implied/inherent in “electric vehicle” i.a. title);
a battery (implied, battery management system 40, col. 1 line 45) mounted to the chassis (implied/inherent in “electric vehicle” i.a. title);
one or more drive units (150), each drive unit configured to drive one or more of the plurality of wheels using drive current supplied by the battery (implied/inherent in “electric vehicle” i.a. title);
a display device (112); and
a controller (100) coupled to the battery (implied), the one or more drive units, and the display device (Fig. 2), the controller configured to:
receive one or more inputs instructing a transition to a launch mode (col. 7 lines 3-7); and in response to the one or more inputs (implied, i.a. col. 7 lines 3-6 and 25-31):
invoke, by the controller, transitioning of one or more components of the vehicle to enable a launch of the vehicle (apply pre-motor torque, col. 8 lines 57-60), the one or more components including the one or more drive units (150);
enable launching of the vehicle according to the launch mode (col. 10 lines 42-51) in response to a state of a driver-controllable component being in a predefined configuration (implied, col. 10 lines 31-35; second-stage conditions include steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) and completion of the transitioning of the one or more components (while…applying the pre-motor torque, col. 10 lines 45-46).
CHO discloses enabling launch of the vehicle according to the launch mode (col. 10 lines 42-51) in response to a state of a driver-controllable component (steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) being in a predefined configuration (implied, col. 10 lines 31-35; second-stage conditions include steering wheel less than a certain angle, accelerator exceeding a certain level, and brake pedal exceeding a certain level, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) but does not disclose providing an output on the display device, the output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle.
RODRIGUEZ discloses enabling launch of the vehicle according to the launch mode (0030 line 10) in response to a state of a driver-controllable component (brake, steering wheel, 0031 lines 3-4) being in a predefined configuration (brake applied, steering wheel straight, 0030 lines 12-end and 0031 lines 1-5) and providing an output on the display device (0030 lines 11-15, Fig. 2C), the output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle (whether or not the driver conditions are satisfied, 0033 lines 16-end, Fig. 2C) so that the instrument cluster can highlight to the driver which conditions are not yet satisfied such that the driver can perform corrective actions to satisfy the identified requirements (0033 lines 16-end).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to output on the display device of CHO an output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle as taught by RODRIGUEZ to highlight to the driver which conditions are not yet satisfied such that the driver can perform corrective actions to satisfy the identified requirements.
Regarding claim 2, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO further discloses the driver-controllable component is steered wheels of the plurality of wheels (implied, col. 8 lines 36-37); and
the predefined configuration is a steering angle of the steered wheels being within a threshold angle of straight (col. 8 lines 36-37.
Regarding claim 6, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO further discloses the driver-controllable component is a brake pedal (col. 8 line 39); and
the predefined configuration is the brake pedal being depressed at least to a predetermined position (col. 8 lines 39-40).
Regarding claim 9, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 6.
CHO further discloses wherein the controller is configured to launch the vehicle in response to release of the brake pedal (col. 10 lines 42-46).
Regarding claim 10, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO as modified teaches the driver-controllable component is an accelerator pedal; and
the predefined configuration is the accelerator pedal being depressed at least to a predetermined position (col. 8 lines 38-39).
Regarding claim 19, CHO discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a controller (100) of a vehicle (Fig. 2), one or more inputs instructing a transition to a launch mode (col. 7 lines 3-7); and
in response to the one or more inputs (col. 7 lines 3-7), performing, via the controller:
invoking transitioning of one or more components of the vehicle to enable a launch of the vehicle (apply pre-motor torque, col. 8 lines 57-60), the one or more components including one or more drive units (150);
enabling launching of the vehicle according to the launch mode (col. 10 lines 42-51) in response to a state of the driver-controllable component being in a predefined configuration (implied, col. 10 lines 31-35; second-stage conditions include steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) and completion of the transitioning of the one or more components (while…applying the pre-motor torque, col. 10 lines 45-46).
CHO discloses enabling launch of the vehicle according to the launch mode (col. 10 lines 42-51) in response to a state of a driver-controllable component (steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) being in a predefined configuration (implied, col. 10 lines 31-35; second-stage conditions include steering wheel less than a certain angle, accelerator exceeding a certain level, and brake pedal exceeding a certain level, col. 8 lines 27-28 and 36-40) but does not disclose providing an output on the display device, the output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle.
RODRIGUEZ discloses enabling launch of the vehicle according to the launch mode (0030 line 10) in response to a state of a driver-controllable component (brake, steering wheel, 0031 lines 3-4) being in a predefined configuration (brake applied, steering wheel straight, 0030 lines 12-end and 0031 lines 1-5) and providing an output on the display device (0030 lines 11-15, Fig. 2C), the output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle (whether or not the driver conditions are satisfied, 0033 lines 16-end, Fig. 2C) so that the instrument cluster can highlight to the driver which conditions are not yet satisfied such that the driver can perform corrective actions to satisfy the identified requirements (0033 lines 16-end).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to output on the display device of CHO an output graphically representing a state of the driver-controllable component of the vehicle as taught by RODRIGUEZ to highlight to the driver which conditions are not yet satisfied such that the driver can perform corrective actions to satisfy the identified requirements.
Regarding claim 20, CHO as modified teaches the method of claim 19.
CHO further discloses wherein the driver-controllable component is at least one of steered wheels of a plurality of wheels of the vehicle (implied, col. 8 lines 36-37), a brake pedal (col. 8 lines 39-40), and an accelerator pedal (col. 8 lines 38-39).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080), RONELLENFITSCH (DE 10 2021 127 837) and ABDALLAH (US 2023/0040600 A1, equivalent in US 12,122,206).
Regarding claim 13, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO is not relied upon to teach the one or more components include the battery as claimed.
RONELLENFITSCH teaches transitioning of one or more components of a vehicle in an activatable racetrack function (0003 line 1), wherein the one or more components includes a battery (0050 lines 1-3) to improve the circuit performance of a fully electric vehicle through an adapted operating strategy (0003 lines 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to transition the battery in the launch mode of CHO as RONELLENFITSCH teaches in a race mode, to improve the performance of a fully electric vehicle through an adapted operating strategy.
CHO is not relied upon to teach the one or more components include the plurality of suspensions as claimed.
ABDALLAH teaches transitioning of one or more components of a vehicle to enable a launch of the vehicle (col. 27 lines 36-37), wherein the one or more components includes the plurality of suspensions (col. 27 lines 37-39) to further reduce the height of the vehicle’s center of gravity, e.g., as may be useful for maximum acceleration from a standing stop (col. 27 lines 39-41).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to lower the vehicle height in the launch mode of CHO as ABDALLAH teaches to further reduce the height of the vehicle’s center of gravity, e.g., as may be useful for maximum acceleration from a standing stop.
CHO as modified teaches wherein the one or more components include both of the battery and the plurality of suspensions.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080) and LING (US 2025/0296564).
Regarding claim 14, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO is not relied upon to teach the further limitations of the claim.
LING teaches a controller (implied/inherent) is configured to adjust one or more limits in response to one or more inputs instructing a transition to a racetrack mode (0033 lines 1-4), the one or more limits including a torque limit for one or more drive units (0038 lines 1 and 14-16) so that the vehicle has a relatively large acceleration within a short time, to control the travelling velocity of the vehicle to quickly increase, so as to meet the instant acceleration demand of the driver, thereby causing the driver to experience the thrill of high-performance driving (0038 lines 19-end).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the controller of CHO to adjust a torque limit for the one or more drive units as taught by LING so that the vehicle has a relatively large acceleration within a short time, to control the travelling velocity of the vehicle to quickly increase, so as to meet the instant acceleration demand of the driver, thereby causing the driver to experience the thrill of high-performance driving.
The claimed "Generic Computing Component” (e.g., control unit, processor, component) is taken as known to a person of ordinary skill in the art as an electronic control unit, ECU, or microprocessor which are conventional computers with non-transitory memory or art recognized equivalents including but not limited to a single controller, sections or parts of a single controller, or multiple linked controllers.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080) and NIELSEN (NPL, “Confirmation Dialogs Can Prevent User Errors”, 2018).
Regarding claim 15, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO further discloses wherein the display device (112) is a touch screen (implied, col. 7 line 3), and the one or more inputs comprise: a first input to the touch screen, the first input selecting the transition to the launch mode (col. 7 lines 3-5).
CHO is not relied upon to teach the second input to the touch screen, the second input confirming selection of the transition to the launch mode as claimed.
NIELSEN teaches confirmation dialogs can prevent user errors (title).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to add a confirmation dialog following the first input to the touch screen of CHO to prevent user errors as taught by NIELSEN. Furthermore, Applicant has not shown any criticality in the use of the second input to the touch screen in the practice of Applicant’s invention.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080), NIELSEN (NPL, “Confirmation Dialogs Can Prevent User Errors”, 2018), and NEXTEON (NPL, “Trying to create a swipe to confirm button in Swift Ui”, 2022).
Regarding claim 16, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 15.
NIELSEN is relied upon to teach the second input to the touch screen.
NIELSEN is silent regarding the nature of the second input to the touch screen.
NEXTEON teaches using a swipe button as a confirmation is old and well known (title, and pg. 1 line 1).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a swipe gesture for the second input and confirmation taught by NIELSEN as NEXTEON teaches using a swipe button as a confirmation is old and well known. Applicant would have been motivated to use the swipe button to prevent user errors. Furthermore, Applicant has not disclosed any criticality in the selection of the swipe gesture for the second input in the practice of Applicant’s invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080) and TANZI (US 2024/0386762).
Regarding claim 17, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO is not relied upon to teach the further limitations of the claim.
TANZI teaches a controller is configured to commence recording video from one or more exterior cameras (7)(0035 lines 1-end) in response to one or more inputs (0035 lines 1-4) to improve driver performances (i.a. 0005 line 1).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the controller of CHO to commence recording video from one or more exterior cameras in response to the one or more inputs as TANZI teaches a controller configured to commence recording video from one or more exterior cameras in response to one or more inputs to improve driver performances. Furthermore, Applicant has not disclosed any criticality in configuring the controller to commence recording video in the practice of Applicant’s invention.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO (US 12,447,832) in view of RODRIGUEZ (US 2025/0136080) and NEUMANN (US 2021/0074090).
Regarding claim 18, CHO as modified teaches the vehicle of claim 1.
CHO is not relied upon to teach the remaining limitations of the claim.
NEUMANN teaches a controller (implied/inherent) is configured to output a countdown (0039 lines 1-end, 0053 lines 1-3) in response to one or more inputs (i.a. 0042 lines 6-8) to enable multiple vehicles to launch simultaneously (0002 lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the controller of CHO to output a countdown in response to one or more inputs as taught by NEUMANN to enable multiple vehicles to launch simultaneously.
The claimed "Generic Computing Component” (e.g., control unit, processor, component) is taken as known to a person of ordinary skill in the art as an electronic control unit, ECU, or microprocessor which are conventional computers with non-transitory memory or art recognized equivalents including but not limited to a single controller, sections or parts of a single controller, or multiple linked controllers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7-8, and 11-12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action and to include 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 MARK L. GREENE whose telephone number is (571)270-7555. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4:30 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, Logan Kraft can be reached at (571) 270-5065. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK L. GREENE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
Prosecution Insights