Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 19/229,406

AUTOMATIC PARKING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND INTELLIGENT DRIVING DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 05, 2025
Priority
Dec 05, 2022 — CN 202211549247.X +1 more
Examiner
YACOB, SISAY
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
716 granted / 931 resolved
+16.9% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
945
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.3%
-37.7% vs TC avg
§103
52.5%
+12.5% vs TC avg
§102
21.9%
-18.1% vs TC avg
§112
9.3%
-30.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 931 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . The instant application having application No. 19/229,406 for ZHANG et al. for “AUTOMATIC PARKING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND INTELLIGENT DRIVING DEVICE” filed June 05, 2025, which a preliminary amendment submitted August 04, 2025 has been examined. Drawings Drawings Figures 1-21 submitted on June 05, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.121(d). Information Disclosure Statements The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on July 25, 2025 and March 18, 2026 are being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 of this title, 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1-2, 5-8 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by the Applicant Submitted CHINESE Prior Art of DING et al. (CN Publication No. 113954823 A) hereinafter “Ding” in view of the CHINESE Prior Art of GONG et al. (CN Publication No. 113492830 A) hereinafter “Gong”. As to claim 17, Ding discloses an apparatus (an automatic parking system, shown in Figures 3-4 and described in Paragraphs 0025, 0039, 0045-0046, 0061-0075), wherein the apparatus comprises: at least one processor (controller 1, shown in Figure 4 and described in Paragraphs 0025, 0039, 0045-0046, 0061-0075 ); obtain information about a plurality of parking areas (controller 1, connected with the vehicle sensor 2, for surrounding information indicating that there are at least two idle parking space around the vehicle, described in Paragraph 0063, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. obtain information about a plurality of parking areas]); obtain a relative position relationship between a vehicle and each of the plurality of parking areas (a preferred embodiment, the peripheral information further comprises a distance between the idle stall and the vehicle, described in Paragraph 0045; when the parking environment is the same, according to the distance between the corresponding idle parking space and the vehicle, described in Paragraph 0046, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. obtain a relative position relationship between a vehicle and each of the plurality of parking areas]); determine, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas (parking controller 1 for each idle stall parking priority ordering, determining parking difficulty of each idle parking space according to the parking environment respectively each idle parking space, and the parking difficulty is higher, the corresponding idle parking space of the priority level is lower, described in Paragraph 0066, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. determine, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas]); and determine a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient (according to the parking difficulty of each idle parking space to each idle parking priority order to form a spare parking space list, described in Paragraph 0063, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. determine a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient]), wherein the plurality of parking areas comprise the first parking area (according to the parking instruction according to the parking priority from high to low order in order to select the corresponding idle parking space in the list, described in Paragraph 0064, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. wherein the plurality of parking areas comprise the first parking area]). Further, Ding discloses a vehicle-mounted sensor for continuously collecting the peripheral information of the vehicle when the automatic parking function of the vehicle is opened (described in Paragraph 0062), the parking controller is integrated in the ADAS domain controller (described in Paragraphs 0025 and 0075) and the parking controller is an APA (Auto Parking Assist, full automatic parking assist) controller (described in Paragraphs 0039). But, Ding does not expressly disclose at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the at least one processor, the program including instructions. In a similar field of endeavor, Gong discloses that the data storage device 214 may include instructions 215 (e.g., program logic), instructions 215 may be executed by the processor 213 to perform various functions of the intelligent vehicle 002, including those functions described above. The data storage device 224 may also include additional instructions, including instructions to transmit data to one or more of the propulsion system 202, the sensor system 204, the control system 206, and the peripheral device 208, from which data is received, interaction with and/or control thereof (described in Paragraph 0102), the data storage device 214 corresponds to a memory, and may also store data such as road map, route information, vehicle position, direction, speed, and other such vehicle data, and other information. Such information may be used by the smart vehicle 002 and the computer system 212 during operation of the smart vehicle 002 in autonomous, semi-autonomous and/or manual mode. For example: the position information of the target vehicle, the current posture of the target vehicle, the position information of the target parking space, a plurality of the obstacle position information (described in Paragraph 0103), user interface 216, for providing information to the user of the smart vehicle 002 or receiving information from it. Alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more input/output devices within the set of peripheral devices 208, such as a wireless communication system 246, a vehicle, a computer 248, a microphone 250, and a speaker 252 ((described in Paragraph 0104)) and computer system 212 may control functions of the smart vehicle 002 based on inputs received from various kinds of subsystem (e.g., travel system 202, sensor system 204, and control system 206) and from user interface 216. For example, the computer system 212 may utilize input from the control system 206 to control the steering unit 232 to avoid an obstacle detected by the sensor system 204 and the obstacle avoidance system 244. In some embodiments, the computer system 212 is operable to provide control to the smart vehicle 002 and a plurality of aspects thereof subsystem (described in Paragraph 0105). Thus, given an apparatus a method and a controller of Ding and having the teaching of Gong disclosing non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the at least one processor, the program including instructions that is also well-known and conventional in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus, the method and the controller of Ding by incorporating the teaching of Gong such that the apparatus, the method and the controller of Ding to provide an apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises: at least one processor; at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the at least one processor, the program including instructions to: obtain information about a plurality of parking areas; obtain a relative position relationship between a vehicle and each of the plurality of parking areas; determine, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas; and determine a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient, wherein the plurality of parking areas comprise the first parking area, for the obvious advantage of providing enhanced automatic parking assistance (APA) system as stated by Gong (Paragraphs 0002-0004). As to claim 18, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 17 wherein further having Ding disclosing that a preferred embodiment, the parking controller is an APA (Auto Parking Assist, full automatic parking assist) controller, the vehicle sensor comprises but not limited to a plurality of ultrasonic distance sensor set around the vehicle and a plurality of vehicle camera. when the automatic parking function of the vehicle is opened, in the vehicle driving process, continuously collecting the peripheral information of the vehicle through the vehicle-mounted sensor, the peripheral information comprises image data around the vehicle and the distance data between the vehicle periphery and the vehicle body, based on the image data and distance data, judging the distribution condition of the idle parking space around the vehicle. In this embodiment, by collecting the real-time driving speed of the vehicle, and when the real-time driving speed is less than the preset speed threshold value, starting the automatic parking function of the vehicle, in other words, the vehicle continuously low speed driving, possible vehicle owner searching the proper parking area of the process, at this time, it can automatically open the automatic parking function based on the real-time driving speed, without manual operation of the user, it is more practical (described in Paragraph 0039), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Ding and Gong in order to have wherein the relative position relationship comprises distance information between the vehicle and the each parking area and included angle information between a driving direction of the vehicle and a central axis of the each parking area; and wherein the instructions further include instructions to: determine the difficulty coefficient based on the distance information and the included angle information, for the same motivational reasons as stated in claim 17. As to claim 1, the claim recites a method that parallels an apparatus claim 17. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claim 17 also applies to claim 1. Accordingly, claim 1 is rejected by the combination of Ding and Gong under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claim 17. As to claim 2, the claim recites a method that parallels an apparatus claim 18. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claim 18 also applies to claim 2. Accordingly, claim 2 is rejected by the combination of Ding and Gong under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claim 18. As to claim 19, the claim recites a non-transitory storage medium that parallels an apparatus of claim 17. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claim 17 also applies to claim 19. Accordingly, claim 19 is rejected by the combination of Ding and Gong under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claim 17. As to claim 20, the claim recites a non-transitory storage medium that parallels an apparatus of claim 18. Therefore, the analysis discussed above with respect to claim 18 also applies to claim 20. Accordingly, claim 20 is rejected by the combination of Ding and Gong under the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claim 18. As to claim 5, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1 wherein further having Ding disclosing that when the vehicle is automatically parking, according to parking difficulty, configuring the parking priority of each idle parking space, so that the vehicle can prioritize the idle parking space with small parking difficulty, so as to improve the success rate of automatic parking, further, when the current idle parking is failed, automatically selecting the next parking priority of the idle parking space for automatic parking, without driver participation, effectively improving the automatic parking use experience of the user. The specific technical means provided below are to realize the description of the principal of the present application, it can be understood that, in the case of no conflict, the following embodiments, and the technical characteristics of the embodiment can be combined with each other. and it should not be used for explaining the application feasibility of the embodiment to define the protection range of the invention (described in Paragraph 0034) and as shown in FIG. 3, in the idle parking space 5 of the scene, wherein 1 # idle parking space is two sides of the idle parking space, 2 # idle parking space and 3 # idle parking space are single-side idle parking space, but the distance between the 2 idle parking space relative to 3 idle parking space and the vehicle A to be parking is short, 4 parking space is idle parking space with a building on one side and a vehicle on the other side, the 5 # parking space is idle parking space with vehicle at two sides, therefore, the generated spare parking space list; according to 1 idle parking space, 2 idle parking space, No. 3 idle parking space, 4 idle parking space, 5 # idle parking space of the priority order arrangement (described in Paragraph 0047), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Ding and Gong in order to have wherein the plurality of parking areas further comprise a third parking area, and the determining a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient comprises: determining the first parking area as the target park-in area when a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the first parking area is the same as a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the third parking area, and the relative position relationship indicates that the first parking area is located on a rear side of the vehicle and the third parking area is located on a left side or a right side of the vehicle, for the same motivational reasons as stated in claims 1 and 17. As to claim 6, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1 wherein further having Ding disclosing that when the vehicle is automatically parking, according to parking difficulty, configuring the parking priority of each idle parking space, so that the vehicle can prioritize the idle parking space with small parking difficulty, so as to improve the success rate of automatic parking, further, when the current idle parking is failed, automatically selecting the next parking priority of the idle parking space for automatic parking, without driver participation, effectively improving the automatic parking use experience of the user. The specific technical means provided below are to realize the description of the principal of the present application, it can be understood that, in the case of no conflict, the following embodiments, and the technical characteristics of the embodiment can be combined with each other. and it should not be used for explaining the application feasibility of the embodiment to define the protection range of the invention (described in Paragraph 0034) and as shown in FIG. 3, in the idle parking space 5 of the scene, wherein 1 # idle parking space is two sides of the idle parking space, 2 # idle parking space and 3 # idle parking space are single-side idle parking space, but the distance between the 2 idle parking space relative to 3 idle parking space and the vehicle A to be parking is short, 4 parking space is idle parking space with a building on one side and a vehicle on the other side, the 5 # parking space is idle parking space with vehicle at two sides, therefore, the generated spare parking space list; according to 1 idle parking space, 2 idle parking space, No. 3 idle parking space, 4 idle parking space, 5 # idle parking space of the priority order arrangement (described in Paragraph 0047), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Ding and Gong in order to have wherein the plurality of parking areas further comprise a fourth parking area, and when the first parking area and the fourth parking area are located on a front passenger seat side of the vehicle, the determining a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient comprises: determining the first parking area as the target park-in area when a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the first parking area is the same as a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the fourth parking area, and the relative position relationship indicates that the first parking area is closer to a front row of the vehicle than the fourth parking area, for the same motivational reasons as stated in claims 1 and 17. As to claim 7, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1 wherein further having Ding disclosing that when the vehicle is automatically parking, according to parking difficulty, configuring the parking priority of each idle parking space, so that the vehicle can prioritize the idle parking space with small parking difficulty, so as to improve the success rate of automatic parking, further, when the current idle parking is failed, automatically selecting the next parking priority of the idle parking space for automatic parking, without driver participation, effectively improving the automatic parking use experience of the user. The specific technical means provided below are to realize the description of the principal of the present application, it can be understood that, in the case of no conflict, the following embodiments, and the technical characteristics of the embodiment can be combined with each other. and it should not be used for explaining the application feasibility of the embodiment to define the protection range of the invention (described in Paragraph 0034) and as shown in FIG. 3, in the idle parking space 5 of the scene, wherein 1 # idle parking space is two sides of the idle parking space, 2 # idle parking space and 3 # idle parking space are single-side idle parking space, but the distance between the 2 idle parking space relative to 3 idle parking space and the vehicle A to be parking is short, 4 parking space is idle parking space with a building on one side and a vehicle on the other side, the 5 # parking space is idle parking space with vehicle at two sides, therefore, the generated spare parking space list; according to 1 idle parking space, 2 idle parking space, No. 3 idle parking space, 4 idle parking space, 5 # idle parking space of the priority order arrangement (described in Paragraph 0047), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Ding and Gong in order to have wherein the plurality of parking areas further comprise a fifth parking area, and the determining a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient comprises: determining the first parking area as the target park-in area when the difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the first parking area is the same as a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into the fifth parking area, and the relative position relationship indicates that the first parking area is located on a front passenger seat side of the vehicle and the fifth parking area is located on a driver seat side of the vehicle, for the same motivational reasons as stated in claims 1 and 17. As to claim 8, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1 wherein further having Ding disclosing that when the vehicle is automatically parking, according to parking difficulty, configuring the parking priority of each idle parking space, so that the vehicle can prioritize the idle parking space with small parking difficulty, so as to improve the success rate of automatic parking, further, when the current idle parking is failed, automatically selecting the next parking priority of the idle parking space for automatic parking, without driver participation, effectively improving the automatic parking use experience of the user. The specific technical means provided below are to realize the description of the principal of the present application, it can be understood that, in the case of no conflict, the following embodiments, and the technical characteristics of the embodiment can be combined with each other. and it should not be used for explaining the application feasibility of the embodiment to define the protection range of the invention (described in Paragraph 0034) and as shown in FIG. 3, in the idle parking space 5 of the scene, wherein 1 # idle parking space is two sides of the idle parking space, 2 # idle parking space and 3 # idle parking space are single-side idle parking space, but the distance between the 2 idle parking space relative to 3 idle parking space and the vehicle A to be parking is short, 4 parking space is idle parking space with a building on one side and a vehicle on the other side, the 5 # parking space is idle parking space with vehicle at two sides, therefore, the generated spare parking space list; according to 1 idle parking space, 2 idle parking space, No. 3 idle parking space, 4 idle parking space, 5 # idle parking space of the priority order arrangement (described in Paragraph 0047), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Ding and Gong in order to have wherein the plurality of parking areas further comprise a sixth parking area, and when the sixth parking area and the first parking area are located on a front passenger seat side of the vehicle, the determining a first parking area as a target park-in area based on the relative position relationship and the difficulty coefficient comprises: determining the first parking area as the target park-in area based on the difficulty coefficient when the relative position relationship indicates that a central axis of the first parking area is perpendicular to a central axis of the vehicle and a central axis of the sixth parking area is parallel to the central axis of the vehicle, for the same motivational reasons as stated in claims 1 and 17. Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by the Applicant Submitted CHINESE Prior Art of DING et al. (CN Publication No. 113954823 A) hereinafter “Ding” in view of the CHINESE Prior Art of GONG et al. (CN Publication No. 113492830 A) hereinafter “Gong” and further in view of the Applicant Submitted KOREAN Prior Art of BAEK (CN Publication No. KR 20170055334 A) hereinafter “Baek”. As to claim 3, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1, wherein further the combination of Ding and Gong discloses determining, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas comprises (parking controller 1 for each idle stall parking priority ordering, determining parking difficulty of each idle parking space according to the parking environment respectively each idle parking space, and the parking difficulty is higher, the corresponding idle parking space of the priority level is lower, described in Paragraph 0066, meet the claimed limitations [i.e. determining, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas comprises]). But the combination of Ding and Gong does not expressly disclose determining a first screening area based on a width of the vehicle, a minimum parking radius of the vehicle, and a relative position relationship between the vehicle and a second parking area, wherein the plurality of parking areas comprise the second parking area; and determining the difficulty coefficient based on a position of the each parking area relative to the first screening area. In a similar field of endeavor, Baek discloses that the control unit 170 may synthesize an external image provided from the camera 161 to generate an AVM image as shown in FIG. In addition, the controller 170 can recognize a parking line from the AVM image using a parking line recognition technique (e.g., edge detection technique). Accordingly, the control unit 170 can detect the parking area existing in the peripheral space of the vehicle 100 based on the recognized parking line. For example, the controller 170 may determine the size (e.g., width and length), the shape (e.g., for right angle parking, parallel parking, And direction), and the like (described in Paragraph 0170) and the control unit 170 sets the second parking zone P12 among the firstly detected second parking zone P12 and the fifth parking zone P15 according to the second condition described above with reference to Fig. 7 Only the excluded fifth parking zone P15 can be detected as the candidate parking zone. Since the second parking zone P12 is currently empty but the entrance of the vehicle 100 is blocked by the other vehicle 1207 (i.e., the width O of the vehicle 100 < the allowable width W) The control unit 170 may exclude the second parking zone P12 from the candidate parking zone. Here, the allowable width W may be the minimum distance between the obstacles 1202 and 1207 adjacent to the second parking zone P12. The control unit 170 can calculate the allowable width W based on the sensing information and compare it with the outward specification information of the vehicle 100 to determine whether or not the second condition is satisfied (described in Paragraph 0248). Thus, given an apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong and having the teaching of Baek disclosing the feature that teaches recognize a parking line from the AVM image using a parking line recognition technique (e.g., edge detection technique). Accordingly, the control unit 170 can detect the parking area existing in the peripheral space of the vehicle 100 based on the recognized parking line. For example, the controller 170 may determine the size (e.g., width and length), the shape (e.g., for right angle parking, parallel parking, And direction), and the like, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ding as modified by Gong incorporating the teaching of Baek such that the apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong in order to provide wherein the determining, based on the relative position relationship, a difficulty coefficient for parking the vehicle into each parking area of the plurality of parking areas comprises: determining a first screening area based on a width of the vehicle, a minimum parking radius of the vehicle, and a relative position relationship between the vehicle and a second parking area, wherein the plurality of parking areas comprise the second parking area; and determining the difficulty coefficient based on a position of the each parking area relative to the first screening area, for the obvious advantage of providing increase the safety and convenience of users as stated by Baek (Paragraphs 0003-0004). As to claim 4, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Baek further discloses the aspects of claim 3 wherein further Baek discloses the determining a first screening area comprises: determining the first screening area based on a type of the second parking area, the width of the vehicle, the minimum parking radius of the vehicle, and the relative position relationship between the vehicle and the second parking area (described in Paragraphs 0170 and 0248). Claims 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by the Applicant Submitted CHINESE Prior Art of DING et al. (CN Publication No. 113954823 A) hereinafter “Ding” in view of the CHINESE Prior Art of GONG et al. (CN Publication No. 113492830 A) hereinafter “Gong” and further in view of the Applicant Submitted CHINESE Prior Art of LI (CN Publication No. 113978453 A) hereinafter “Li”. As to claim 9, the combination of Ding and Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1, wherein, but, the combination of Ding and Gong does not expressly disclose the method further comprises: determining a first boundary of the first parking area based on outer contour information of the vehicle and first obstacle information around the first parking area; determining a second boundary of the first parking area based on parking space line information of the first parking area; and determining a first target pose of the vehicle in the first parking area based on the first boundary and the second boundary. In a similar field of endeavor, Li discloses that step S102, when the target vehicle reaches the preset lower vehicle point, the surrounding environment of the target vehicle for obstacle distance detection, obtaining the first distance between the left side vehicle body of the target vehicle and the left side obstacle, and obtaining the second distance between the tail of the target vehicle and the tail obstacle; the preset get-off point is the reference point of the target vehicle set on the first parking path for providing the lower space for the driver (described in Paragraph 0025) and the left side of the vehicle body mounted by the target vehicle of the ultrasonic radar, the left side of the vehicle body and the left side obstacle for distance detection, obtaining the first distance; the tail part of the target vehicle is installed with the ultrasonic radar, the tail part and the tail part are detected by distance, the second distance is obtained (described in Paragraph 0026). Thus, given an apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong and having the teaching of Li disclosing the feature that teaches obstacle distance detection, obtaining a first distance between a side vehicle body of a target vehicle and a side obstacle, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ding as modified by Gong incorporating the teaching of Li such that the apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong in order to provide the method further comprises: determining a first boundary of the first parking area based on outer contour information of the vehicle and first obstacle information around the first parking area; determining a second boundary of the first parking area based on parking space line information of the first parking area; and determining a first target pose of the vehicle in the first parking area based on the first boundary and the second boundary, for the obvious advantage as stated by Li (Paragraphs 0003-0006). As to claim 10, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 9 wherein further Li discloses the determining a first target pose of the vehicle in the first parking area based on the first boundary and the second boundary comprises: when the first boundary is greater than or equal to the second boundary, determining the first target pose based on the first boundary and the second boundary (described in Paragraph 0044). As to claim 11, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 9 wherein further Li discloses the determining a first target pose of the vehicle in the first parking area based on the first boundary and the second boundary comprises: determining the first target pose based on position information of a user in the vehicle, the first boundary, and the second boundary (described in Paragraphs 0045-0047). As to claim 12, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 9 wherein further Li discloses wherein the determining a first target pose of the vehicle in the first parking area based on the first boundary and the second boundary comprises: determining the first target pose based on a first distance, a second distance, and a third distance, wherein the first distance is a distance between a front side of the vehicle and the first boundary, the second distance is a distance between a body side of the vehicle and the first boundary, and the third distance is a distance between a rear side of the vehicle and the first boundary (described in Paragraphs 0045-0052 and 0053). As to claim 13, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 12 wherein further Li discloses wherein the body side comprises a first side and a second side, the first side corresponds to a cockpit of the vehicle, the second side corresponds to a part other than the cockpit, and the second distance comprises a distance between the first side and the first boundary and a distance between the second side and the first boundary (described in Paragraphs 0024-0031). As to claim 14, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong further discloses the aspects of claim 1, wherein, but, the combination of Ding and Gong does not expressly disclose after the vehicle parks into the first parking area, the method further comprises: obtaining information about a park-out guide line and second obstacle information of a road indicated by the park-out guide line, wherein the park-out guide line is associated with a structure of the road; determining a park-out pose set based on the information about the park-out guide line; and determining, based on the second obstacle information, a first park-out pose as a second target pose for the vehicle to park out of the first parking area, wherein the park-out pose set comprises the first park-out pose. In a similar field of endeavor, Li discloses that the parking mode comprises any one of the following: Automatic parking and parking in the vehicle outside the vehicle. wherein the automatic parking outside the vehicle is the driver getting off the vehicle, controlling the automatic parking module in the target vehicle to execute the automatic parking operation; Parking in the vehicle is that the driver controls the target vehicle to park in the vehicle (described in Paragraph 0030) and an automatic parking method, setting parking mode by detecting the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle around the parking space; solving the problem that the driver is getting off the vehicle by different parking modes, the technical problem that the door of the scraping door and the vehicle door of the backup box cannot be opened (described in Paragraph 0031) Thus, given an apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong and having the teaching of Li disclosing the feature that teaches obstacle distance detection, obtaining a first distance between a side vehicle body of a target vehicle and a side obstacle, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ding as modified by Gong incorporating the teaching of Li such that the apparatus of Ding as modified by Gong in order to provide wherein after the vehicle parks into the first parking area, the method further comprises: obtaining information about a park-out guide line and second obstacle information of a road indicated by the park-out guide line, wherein the park-out guide line is associated with a structure of the road; determining a park-out pose set based on the information about the park-out guide line; and determining, based on the second obstacle information, a first park-out pose as a second target pose for the vehicle to park out of the first parking area, wherein the park-out pose set comprises the first park-out pose, for the obvious advantage as stated by Li (Paragraphs 0003-0006). As to claim 15, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 14 wherein further Li discloses wherein the determining a park-out pose set based on the information about the park-out guide line comprises: determining a second park-out pose based on the information about the park-out guide line; and determining the park-out pose set based on the second park-out pose boundary (described in Paragraphs 0032-0040). As to claim 16, the combination of Ding as modified by Gong and Li further discloses the aspects of claim 15 wherein further Li discloses wherein the determining, based on the second obstacle information, a first park-out pose as a second target pose for the vehicle to park out of the first parking area comprises: determining a first set from the park-out pose set based on the second obstacle information, wherein when the vehicle is at any park-out pose in the first set, the vehicle does not scrape against an obstacle indicated by the second obstacle information; determining a second set from the first set based on the second obstacle information, wherein when driving from a current position to any park-out pose in the second set, the vehicle does not scrape against the obstacle indicated by the second obstacle information; and determining the first park-out pose that is in the second set and that is closest to the second park-out pose as the second target pose (described in Paragraphs 0045-0052 and 0053). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following cited arts are further to show the state of related art. U.S. Publication No. 2012/0062394 A1 of PAMPUS et al, discloses a parking assistance system is described for assisting in a parking operation of a vehicle when a plurality of parking spaces is present. A method in a parking assistance system includes performing the following: detecting a plurality of parking spaces; selecting one of the detected parking spaces based on a degree of comfort; and assisting in the parking operation into the selected parking space. The degree of comfort includes at least one predefined condition, on the basis of which the detected parking spaces are classifiable according to the presumed driver acceptance. U.S. Publication No. 2018/0345955 A1 of KIM et al, discloses a parking assistance system for a vehicle includes: an object detection apparatus; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations that include: generating, through the object detection apparatus, information regarding an object located outside the vehicle; determining, based on the information regarding the object located outside the vehicle, that a parking space available outside the vehicle is a diagonal parking space; and generating a diagonal parking path for the vehicle to enter the parking space available outside the vehicle. Correspondence Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SISAY YACOB whose telephone number is (571)272-8562. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30-07:00 ET. 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, BRIAN A ZIMMERMAN can be reached at (571) 272-3059. 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. /SISAY YACOB/ August 06, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 05, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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1-2
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+17.1%)
2y 4m (~1y 0m remaining)
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