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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4, lines 7 and 10, recite “…a portion of the own vehicle…a threshold.” It is presumed to recite “…the portion of the own vehicle…the threshold.” See claim 1, lines 12 and 13.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 (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 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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coester (US 10,227,091 B2) in view of Röber (US 12,275,395 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Coester discloses a parking assistance device (see at least col. 6, line 6, note a parking assistance system) comprising:
a vehicle-mounted sensor configured to acquire information regarding an object located around an own vehicle (see at least Figure 1, items 4, 2, 3 and 1 | col. 6, lines 55-59, note the vehicle 4 is equipped with ultrasonic sensors that measure the perpendicular parking space 1 between vehicles 2, 3); and
controlling the own vehicle to travel from outside a parking spot toward the parking spot and park within the parking spot based on the information acquired from the vehicle-mounted sensor (see at least Figure 3, items 4 and 1 | col. 1, line 52 – col. 2, line 7, note the parking space 1 is measured, a reverse parking trajectory is planned and automatic lateral guidance into the perpendicular parking space 1 is performed, wherein if during the reverse parking trajectory planning it is established that parking in the end position cannot be performed in a single reverse parking move, then a subsequent corrective move in the forward direction followed by a subsequent parking move in the reverse direction is determined); wherein
in a predetermined scene where the automated lateral guidance controls the own vehicle to travel toward the inside of the parking spot and reach a predetermined point (see at least col. 3, lines 56-67), and subsequently controls the own vehicle to travel from the predetermined point toward the outside of the parking spot (see at least col. 4, lines 1-16),
when a proportion of a portion of the own vehicle that has entered the parking spot relative to the entire own vehicle exceeds a threshold at the predetermined point (see at least col. 3, lines 56-61, note beyond a first limit | col. 5, lines 44-52, note the first limit can correspond to the B pillar | col. 5, lines 19-25, note “Please travel forward” after the first limit is crossed (and even potentially when the second limit is crossed) | col. 8, lines 1-7),
control the own vehicle to stop at the predetermined point (see at least col. 4, lines 1-16, note this limitation is interpreted as laterally guiding the vehicle to the predetermined point and notifying the driver to “Please travel forward”); and
when it is detected that a driver of the own vehicle has executed a predetermined operation while the own vehicle is stopped at the predetermined point (see at least col. 4, lines 1-16, note this limitation is interpreted as braking and changing the direction of travel of the vehicle via a gear selector),
control the own vehicle to travel toward the outside of the parking spot (see at least col. 4, lines 1-16, note this limitation is interpreted laterally guiding the vehicle as it is driven forward outside of the parking space 1 for its first corrective move).
However, Coester does not specifically disclose a processor.
It is known for parking assistance systems to utilize electronics. For example, Röber teaches a parking assistance system that utilizes a processor (see at least Figures 2a-4, items 1 and 15 | col. 10, lines 56-61 | col. 11, lines 19-23 | col. 3, line 58 – col. 4, line 27 | col. 5, lines 32-38 | col. 5, line 66 – col. 6, line 8).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Röber into Coester. This provides the electrical components needed for Coester to compute the trajectory (see col. 7, line 1 of Coester).
Regarding claim 2, Coester in view of Röber teach wherein the processor is configured to control a notification device of the own vehicle so that information prompting the driver of the own vehicle to check the safety around the own vehicle is provided while the own vehicle is stopped at the predetermined point (see at least col. 5, line 66 – col. 6, line 9 of Röber, note the driver is alerted to observe for traffic, and to confirm free traffic before making the corrective movement).
Regarding claim 3, Coester in view of Röber teach wherein the processor is configured to determine that the predetermined operation has been executed when it detects that a brake pedal has been depressed (see at least col. 4, lines 1-16 of Coester, note braking and changing the direction of travel of the vehicle via a gear selector).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With respect to claim 4, Coester (US 10,227,091 B2), Röber (US 12,275,395 B2), Max (US 2016/0272115 A1) and Kim (US 2018/0162384 A1) do not disclose and/or fairly suggest acquiring a map indicating a positional relationship between the own vehicle and the parking spot in a plan view; at the predetermined point, acquire a first area, which is the total area of the own vehicle in the map, and a second area, which is the area of a portion of the own vehicle that has entered the parking spot in the map; and control the own vehicle to stop at the predetermined point when a ratio of the second area to the first area exceeds a threshold.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN WILSON whose telephone number is 571-270-5884. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00pm.
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, DAVETTA GOINS can be reached at 571-272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRIAN WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
Prosecution Insights