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
This is a Non-Final Rejection office action in response to application Serial No. 19/192,641. Claim(s) 1, and 3-9 have been examined and fully considered.
Claim(s) 2 and 10 are cancelled.
Claim(s) 1 has been amended.
Claim(s) 1, and 3-9 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of CN202410537920.0 filed 04/30/2024 and CIP of PCT/CN2024/107210 filed 07/24/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 04/29/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: …outputting this steering feel feedback torque, however, it appears that the claim should recite … outputting [[this]] the steering feel feedback torque Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: … Ka 1ow, …are adjustable
parameters to achieve… however, it appears that the claim should recite … Ka high …are adjustable parameters to achieve… Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1, and 3-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites two different ways of obtaining a “total expected steering feel motor torque”. The first is to “calculate an alignment torque based on…and adding them
to obtain a total expected steering feel motor torque;” and the second is “inputting signals of a steering wheel angle, speed and torque, an observed rack force and a vehicle speed into the steering feel feedback model to obtain the total expected steering feel motor torque” previously presented are same or not. Subsequently, it is unclear if the claims recite two different ways to calculate the same value, the updated of a value with further information, or another relationship entirely.
The term “low speeds and medium-to-high speeds” in claim 1 is a relative term which
renders the claim indefinite. The term “low speeds and medium-to-high speeds” is not defined by
the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and
one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The term “medium-to-high speeds” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim
indefinite. The term “medium-to-high speeds” is not defined by the claim, the specification does
not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art
would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The term “relatively heavy” in claim 3 is a relative term which renders the claim
indefinite. The term “relatively heavy” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not
provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would
not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the steering wheel torque". There is insufficient
antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The term “relatively heavy” recites claim 3 is a relative term which renders the claim
indefinite. The term “relatively heavy” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not
provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would
not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 3 recites in limitation “the aligning process” in line 9 renders the claim indefinite
because it is unclear what limitations exactly is "the aligning process" referring to.
Dependent claims 3-9, do not act to cure the deficiencies of the independent claims 1, and
are thereby rejected for at least the same rationale.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim(s) 1, and 3-9 are allowed over the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Upon review of the evidence at hand, it is hereby concluded that the evidence obtained
and made of record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, nor renders
obvious all the features of applicant’s invention as the features amount to more than a predictable
use of elements in the prior art.
SHUAI, Su-yang (CN113799872B; the NPL citations are based on the provided English Translation) hereinafter, referred to as “Shuai” discloses a control method and a control system based on steer-by-wire road feel simulation, wherein the torque fed back to a driver by the road feel simulation is subdivided into damping simulation, aligning simulation, friction simulation, soft dead point simulation, thermal protection simulation and road surface simulation, and the road feel is simulated by multiple modules, so that the driving hand feel identical to that of the traditional automobile electric power steering is realized.
HOU, Shi-yang (CN115503812A; the NPL citations are based on the provided English Translation) hereinafter, referred to as “Hou” discloses a road feeling simulation method, device, electronic equipment and storage medium, so as to improve the authenticity, accuracy and applicability of road feeling simulation, thereby improving the driver's driving experience.
While the aforementioned references disclose each of the elements of the invention, the combination of references does not fully capture the structure and interplay of the elements as recited in the claims. Therefore, upon review of the evidence at hand, it is hereby concluded that
the evidence obtained and made of record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, nor renders obvious all the features of applicant’s invention as the features
amount to more than a predictable use of elements in the prior art.
Claim(s) 3-9 are allowable based on their dependency of the independent claim(s) 1 are
therefore allowable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the
payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue
fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for
Allowance.”
Conclusion
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/B.U./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ABBY J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663