DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 March 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office action is in response to the application received on 28 April 2025. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
The claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) is acknowledged. A certified copy of the priority application has been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS received on 28 April 2025 has been considered.
Objections to the Specification
Reference numeral (110) is used in the specification in association with a key management system in most instances, but is also used in association with a person ([0056], [0060], [0061]) and a mobile device ([0060]).
The reference numeral used in association with the first mobile device is (125) in most instances, but in [0041] reference numeral (126) is used.
Appropriate corrections are requested.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for not particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The first line of claim 20 recites "A system comprising a key management system according to claim 14" but claim 14 is not directed to a key management system.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2024/0233464 A1 (Matsushita et al.).
Claim 1.
Matsushita discloses a method for controlling a motor vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting a request to prevent addition of a newly created digital vehicle key that can be used to control the motor vehicle (para [0145] - "The authentication ECU 4 includes [...] an owner registration prohibition mode in which the owner registration is not accepted/rejected as the operation mode");
determining that the request uses an existing and authorized digital vehicle key (para [0163] - "The security unlock signal corresponds to a signal proving that the registrant is the owner in one aspect. The security unlock signal corresponds to a signal for temporarily switching the authentication ECU from the owner registration prohibition mode (normal mode) to the owner registration mode"); and
setting a lock that prevents validation of the newly created vehicle key or prevents storage of the newly created vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0145] - "The authentication ECU 4 temporarily shifts from the owner registration prohibition mode").
Claim 2.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the lock prevents storage of the newly created digital vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0046] - "According to the vehicle digital key system described above, the owner key data is registered in the vehicle only when a specific owner registration start signal is input", para [0145]).
Claim 3.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the lock prevents signing the newly created digital vehicle key by a key management system (para [0198] - "The authentication process is executed on the condition that an encrypted communication link between the mobile terminal 1 and the authentication ECU 4 has been established", para [0202] - "When the communication partner is an unregistered device, the response code is not returned, or the response code and the verification code do not match. Therefore, the response code as described above functions as information for verifying the validity of the communication partner using the authentication ECU 4").
Claim 4.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the lock prevents signing the newly created digital vehicle key by a key management system (para [0198], para [0202]).
Claim 5.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 3, and further discloses wherein the lock prevents issuing of an attestation package for the newly created digital vehicle key by the key management system (para [0092] - "The key-related information refers to, for example, a service key ID, an expiration date, an authority setting, a type, and the like. These information can be packaged and distributed as a single data set").
Claim 6.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 4, and further discloses wherein the lock prevents issuing of an attestation package for the newly created digital vehicle key by the key management system (para [0092]).
Claim 7.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein it is determined that at least one digital vehicle key exists for controlling the motor vehicle with which the lock can be deactivated (para [0046], para [0071] - "There are two main types of service keys, which are owner keys and guest keys. The owner key is a service key issued to the owner of the vehicle Hv, and has almost all authority regarding the use of the vehicle Hv. The owner key has all the authority to use the vehicle Hv, such as turning on/off the driving power, locking/unlocking the door, and remote control, and also has the authority to issue a service key for other users. The owner key is basically an indefinite service key with no expiration date").
Claim 8.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the request is issued in response to a direct interaction with the motor vehicle (para [0148] - "As the user operation that triggers the execution of the authentication process, pressing the door button/touching the outside door handle, pressing the start button, opening/closing the door, and the like can be adopted").
Claim 9.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the request is issued in response to a direct interaction with the motor vehicle (para [0148]).
Claim 10.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the request is issued in response to an input entered in a device on which the authorized digital vehicle key is stored (Fig 2, para [0076] - "the configuration/function provided in the mobile terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As the mobile terminal 1, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a wearable device, or the like can be adopted", para [0079] - "The digital key application 104 is application software for securely performing user authentication, acquisition/storage of a service key, communication with the in-vehicle system 7, and the like. The digital key application 104 is installed in, for example, a storage 103").
Claim 11.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the request is issued in response to an input entered in a device on which the authorized digital vehicle key is stored (Fig 2, para [0076], para [0079]).
Claim 12.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the request is issued by a central office (para [0049] - "The vehicle control unit switches from the owner registration prohibition mode to the owner registration mode when a specific registration start signal is input from a predetermined dedicated device or server").
Claim 13.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the request is issued by a central office (para [0049]).
Claim 14.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the motor vehicle rejects a digital vehicle key after setting the lock on the vehicle and prior to deactivating the lock (para [0049] - "The vehicle control unit has an owner registration prohibition mode that rejects the registration of a certain owner key as key information having authority as an owner").
Claim 15.
Matsushita discloses the method according to claim 14, and further discloses wherein a key management system and the motor vehicle each have a counter that advances when the lock is set (Fig 3, para [0098] - "The one-time authentication key management unit F2 acquires the one-time authentication key used for the authentication process with the vehicle Hv from the DKS 3 and stores it in the key information memory M1", para [0099] - "The one-time authentication key is a code obtained by combining a service key with a variable code (i.e., variable factor). The variable code is a different value for each issue. The variable code can be, for example, [...] a count value of the number of issuances", para [0104] - "The authentication process between the in-vehicle system and the user can be performed by, for example, a challenge-response method. In that case, the vehicle response unit F3 generates a response code using the one-time authentication key for the challenge code transmitted from the authentication ECU 4 and returns it to the authentication ECU 4"),
wherein the key management system assigns a current reading of its counter to a digital vehicle key that is to be stored (para [0099]), and
wherein the motor vehicle refuses to store a digital vehicle key that has a lower reading than the current reading for the counter in the motor vehicle (para [0203] - "when the two codes are different, it is determined that the authentication has failed (at step S68)").
Claim 16.
Matsushita discloses a mobile device for controlling a motor vehicle, the mobile device comprising:
a user interface for entering a request to prevent addition of a newly created digital vehicle key that can be used to control the motor vehicle (para [0145], para [0198]);
a communication system for communicating with a key management system or the motor vehicle (para [0061] - "The mobile terminal 1 is configured to be capable of data communication with the DKS 3 via the wireless base station", para [0064] - "the in-vehicle system 7 and the mobile terminal 1 are configured to enable short-range wireless communication");
a protected memory in which an existing digital vehicle key for the motor vehicle is stored (para [0078] - "The terminal control unit 10 is configured as a computer including, for example, a terminal processor 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102", para [0163]); and
a processor configured to receive an input and to provide a request to set a lock on the key management system and/or the motor vehicle in response to the input, using the existing digital vehicle key, to prevent validation of a newly created digital vehicle key or storage of the newly created digital vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0078], para [0145]).
Claim 17.
Matsushita discloses a device for controlling a motor vehicle, the device comprising:
a user interface for inputting a request to prevent addition of a newly created digital vehicle key that can be used to control the motor vehicle (para [0145], para [0198]);
an interface for communicating with a mobile device on which an existing digital vehicle key for the motor vehicle is stored (para [0061], para [0064]); and
a processor configured to check the digital vehicle key and to prevent storage of the newly created digital vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0078], para [0145]).
Claim 18.
Matsushita discloses a device according to claim 17, and further discloses a motor vehicle comprising a device according to claim 17 (Fig 10, para [0134] - "The input device 52 is a device for receiving a user's instruction operation to the in-vehicle system 7, more specifically, the authentication ECU 4", para [0165] - "The communication method between the dedicated tool and the authentication ECU 4 may be near-field communication or, for example, wired communication using a USB cable or the like").
Claim 19.
Matsushita discloses a key management system for a digital vehicle key for a motor vehicle, wherein the key management system is configured to
receive a request to prevent addition of a newly created digital vehicle key that can be used to control the motor vehicle (para [0145]), and to
refuse to sign the newly created digital vehicle key or store the newly created digital vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0145]).
Claim 20.
Matsushita discloses a system comprising
a key management system according to claim 14 (presumably meant as the key management system of claim 19; see claim 19 above) and
a motor vehicle including a device for controlling the motor vehicle (see claims 17 and 18),
wherein the device includes a user interface for inputting a request to prevent addition of a newly created digital vehicle key that can be used to control the motor vehicle (para [0145], para [0198]);
an interface for communicating with a mobile device on which an existing digital vehicle key for the motor vehicle is stored (para [0064]); and
a processor configured to check the digital vehicle key and to prevent storage of the newly created digital vehicle key in the motor vehicle (para [0078], para [0145]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Todd Melton whose telephone number is (571)270-3871. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays, 9:30am - 6:00pm (Eastern time). 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, Navid Mehdizadeh can be reached at 571-272-7691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TODD MELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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