DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final action is responsive to the application and IDS filed 8/4/2025.
In the application Claims 1-5 are pending. Claims 1 and 4-5 are the independent claims.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 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. Please note allowability status of claims are subject to change should relevant prior art be discovered anytime during prosecution.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 8/4/2025 has been entered, and considered by the examiner.
Priority
6. Acknowledgement is made to applicant’s claim for foreign priority to 2024-135379 (JP), filed 8/14/2024.
Drawings
7. The Drawings filed on 8/4/2025 have been approved.
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 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.
8. Claims 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nino (U.S. Pub 2018/0029604, filed Feb. 2, 2016) in view of Watanabe (U.S. Pub 2021/0362729, filed Aug. 9, 2021).
Regarding Independent claims 1 and 4-5, Nino discloses A vehicle controller comprising:
a memory configured to store map information including information on an evacuation space to which a vehicle can evacuate (see paragraphs 26-29, discloses evacuation apparatus that includes an ECU implementing vehicle control. Further paragraphs 51-58, discloses navigation system includes a map database storing road map information and evacuation areas. The map database stores evacuation areas where a vehicle can make an emergency stop including a route calculator that determines an evacuation area and target route); and
a processor configured to: detect abnormality occurring in a driver of the vehicle (see paragraphs 30-35, discloses driver state senor including consciousness level determining unit that detects reduces consciousness or inability to safely drive),
determine whether the evacuation space exists within a predetermined range of a current position of the vehicle (see paragraphs 51-58, discloses a navigation system that determines current vehicle position via GPS and determines location and distance to evacuation areas),
when abnormality occurring in the driver is detected (see paragraphs 33-35 and 64, discloses emergency evacuation process that begins when reduced consciousness is detected),
by referring to the map information or by recognizing a traffic sign indicating the existence of the evacuation space from a vehicle exterior image obtained by a vehicle exterior camera configured to capture an area around the vehicle (see paragraphs 51-58, discloses that route calculation uses map database to identify evacuation areas. Further in paragraphs 43-46, discloses front and rear cameras that capture exterior images), and
control the vehicle when the evacuation space exists within the predetermined range so that the vehicle stops in the evacuation space and that a first amount of slowdown of the vehicle before starting an entry action to make the vehicle enter the evacuation space is less than a second amount of slowdown from the start of the entry action to the stop of the vehicle (see paragraphs 57-61, discloses evacuation control unit that controls steering braking etc. via ECU. Further disclosing a route calculator that selects evacuation area and generates target route when an area is available. The vehicle automatically travels to and stops in the evacuation area and further process towards the evacuation area before lane change and stopping. In addition, the vehicle changes lanes and enters road shoulder/evacuation area). Nino discloses an emergency evacuation control system for a vehicle that detects driver incapacitation and stores map information that identify evacuation areas. Nino fails to teach recognizing a traffic sign indicating an evacuation space or a deceleration strategy in which slowdown is less than the slowdown after the entry maneuver begins. Watanabe discloses an emergency vehicle stopping system that detects driver abnormality, uses exterior cameras and navigation data to recognize roadway conditions and traffic signs and adapts emergency stopping behavior based on environmental conditions via varying braking characteristics depending on emergency-stop circumstances (see paragraphs 9-29 & 44-59). Further specifically teaching the recognition of road signs using a forward-facing camera wherein braking characteristics are adjusted depending on the emergency stopping scenario in paragraph 25. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to have implemented the camera-based road sign recognition feature into the evacuation control system of Nino to improve identification of evacuation spaces when map information is unavailable. Watanabe expressly teaches supplementing navigation information with vision-based environmental recognition for improving safety has outlined in paragraphs 25-29 and 44.
Regarding Dependent claim 2, with dependency of claim 1, Nino discloses wherein when the evacuation space does not exist within the predetermined range, the processor decelerates the vehicle by a third amount of slowdown greater than the first amount of slowdown, searches for a stopping space where the vehicle can stop, based on the vehicle exterior image, and stops the vehicle in the stopping space (see paragraphs 51-58, including the explanation provided in the Independent claim).
It is noted that any citation [[s]] to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. [[See, MPEP 2123]]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANGLESH M PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-5937. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 11 am to 7 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin D. Bishop, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-3713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Manglesh M Patel/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
6/26/2026
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