DETAILED ACTION
Summary
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is a first Office Action on the merits.
Claims 19-38 are currently pending.
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.
Claim(s) 19, 21, 24-26, 28, 31-33, 35, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by KURT et al, US 2018/0050690.
Re claims 19, 26, and 33:
KURT teaches a control circuitry for a vehicle, comprising a memory and processor (20) [0026], wherein the processor is configured to:
While the vehicle is parked in a first location of a parking lot, receive a request to drive the vehicle to a second location (i.e., controller 20 receives a request to un-park the vehicle from a parking spot in parking area 30 [0031] [Figure 3]);
Based on the received request, obtain a driving route from the first location to the second location in the parking lot (i.e., a drive path is generated from the parking spot to the destination location in the parking area [0031] [0032] [Figure 3]); and
Based on the obtained driving route, control the vehicle to be moved to the second location [0032] [Figure 3].
Re claims 21, 28, and 35:
KURT teaches the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of claims 19, 26, and 33, wherein the first location of the parking lot was an empty parking space before the vehicle was parked at the first location (parking space 32 [0031] [Figure 2]).
Re claims 24, 31, and 38:
KURT teaches the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of claims 19, 26, and 33, wherein the processor is configured to control a steering angle of the vehicle while controlling the vehicle to be moved to the second location (i.e., the processor communicates with the vehicle control system to autonomously operate the vehicle along the driving route, which includes operating a steering control system of the vehicle [0028] [0034]).
Re claims 25 and 32:
KURT teaches the control circuitry and non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claims 19 and 26, wherein the processor is configured to control a braking system of the vehicle while controlling the vehicle to be moved to the second location (i.e., the processor communicates with the vehicle control system to autonomously operate the vehicle along the driving route, which includes operating a braking control system [0028]).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 20, 27, and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KURT et al, US 2018/0050690 in view of PARK et al, US 2020/0234574.
Re claims 20, 27, and 34:
KURT teaches the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of claims 19, 26, and 33, wherein the processor is configured to receive the request from an external electronic device via a communication circuitry (i.e., the processor receives the request from a mobile device 14 via a communication subsystem 18 [0025] [0030]).
KURT does not teach the processor is configured to receive the request from an external electronic device via a communication circuitry configured to support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.
PARK teaches a control circuitry for a vehicle, comprising a processor configured to receive communications from external devices (such as mobile terminals, servers, etc.) via a communication circuitry configured to support V2X communication [0248] [0249] [0250] [0255].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of PARK in the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of KURT, such that the request from the external device is received via a communication circuitry configured to support V2X communication. Configuring the communication subsystem to support V2X communication would be for the purpose of facilitating wireless communication between the vehicle and any entity that may affect, or may be affected by, the vehicle.
Claim(s) 22, 29, and 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KURT et al, US 2018/0050690 in view of IZUMI et al, US 2018/0229719.
Re claims 22, 29, and 36:
KURT teaches the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of claims 19, 26, and 33, but does not teach the control circuitry is configured to receive, from a server, information indicating at least one empty parking space including the first location before parking at the first location of the parking lot.
IZUMI teaches control circuitry for a vehicle configured to receive, from a server, (parking-lot managing apparatus 220 is a central server [0034]), information indicating at least one empty parking space including the first location (i.e., parking-lot managing apparatus transmits vacant situations of parking frames to the vehicle [0120] [Figure 8]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of IZUMI in the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of KURT, such that the control circuitry receives information indicating at least one empty parking space from a server before parking at the first location of the parking lot. Such incorporation would be for the purpose of notifying the vehicle that a particular parking space is available for parking (IZUMI [0120]).
Claim(s) 23, 30, and 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KURT et al, US 2018/0050690 in view of IZUMI et al, US 2018/0229719, as applied in claims 22, 29, and 36, and further in view of MOOSAEI et al, US 2018/0164830.
Re claims 23, 30, and 36:
KURT, in view of IZUMI, teaches the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of claims 22, 29, and 36.
KURT does not teach the server is configured to obtain the information based on an analysis of a video.
IZUMI teaches the server is configured to obtain the information based on analysis of images captured by either vehicle detecting sensors or in-ground cameras arranged in the parking lot [0034] [0120].
IZUMI does not explicitly teach analysis of a video.
MOOSAEI teaches analysis of video data captured by one or more sensors to determine vacant parking spaces [0033] [0042]-[0044].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of IZUMI in the control circuitry, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and method of KURT, such that the information obtained by the server is based on analysis of images for the purpose of acquiring information regarding vacancy status of individual parking spaces in an automated manner (IZUMI [0034]). Further, while IZUMI does not state that the images captured include video, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings of MOOSAEI. Analysis of video data of the parking lot would permit real-time detection of parking space status detection within the parking lot.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: PEREZ BARRERA et al, US 2020/0062243, teaches a method for autonomous parking in an indoor parking facility, wherein a vehicle controller receives a retrieval instruction from an external device to retrieve the vehicle from a parking space [0063] [Figure 5], based on the instruction, the controller causes the vehicle to be moved from the parking space to the second location along an obtained exit travel path [0064] [0065] [Figure 5].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA A GUDORF whose telephone number is (571)270-7607. If the Examiner cannot be reached by telephone, she can be reached through the following e-mail address: laura.gudorf@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 6:00-4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Lee, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-2398. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAURA A GUDORF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876