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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“a language recognition unit configured to recognize…”
“a translation processing unit configured to translate…”“a projection display unit configured to project…”“a voice recognition unit configured to recognize…”
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. The “a language recognition unit configured to recognize…” “a translation processing unit configured to translate…” “a projection display unit configured to project…” “a voice recognition unit configured to recognize…” have all been found in [0021] to be part of the ECU, which includes a CPU as a corresponding structure to perform the claimed functionality of each of the above identified units.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Stout (US 2025.0289306).
Regarding claim 1, Stout disclose:
A vehicle translation information projection system that provides translation information to a driver of a vehicle, the system comprising: a language recognition unit configured to recognize a language displayed on a traffic display object in an image captured by a front camera of the vehicle; a translation processing unit configured to translate language content different from a user language on the traffic display object into user language content when the language displayed on the traffic display object is different from a preset user language; and a projection display unit configured to project information onto a windshield of the vehicle, wherein the projection display unit projects the user language content onto the windshield such that it is positioned on or near the traffic display object as viewed from the driver of the vehicle (see Fig. 2-9, 11; [0045-0047, 0055-0056, 0090]; language recognition unit 130 to recognize language of detected traffic signs; translation processing unit 102 to translate signage to different language to display translated language content; projection unit 114 (heads-up display) to project information onto windshield 200, where translation is on or near traffic object).
Regarding claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Stout further disclose:
the traffic display object includes at least one of a road sign, a road work sign, a traffic information board, and a road marking (see Fig. 5, 9)
Regarding claim 3, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. Stout further disclose:
the projection display unit projects the user language content onto the windshield by superimposing it over and masking the language portion different from the user language in the traffic display object as viewed from the driver (see Fig. 11, [0090]).
Regarding claim 5, claim 5 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 1.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stout in view of Lan (WO 2022/226919).
Regarding claim 4, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein. While Stout provides video recognition to translate text for the vehicle occupants and at [0026] contemplates microphones to be used as input devices, it is not explicit as to, but Lan disclose:
a voice recognition unit configured to recognize speech spoken toward the driver from outside the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped, wherein the projection display unit projects the speech recognized by the voice recognition unit as text in the user language onto the windshield (see Fig. 4a; pg. 8, 15; voice recognition unit 103 to recognize audio signals (voice) and translate into text to be displayed, when the translation can be projected onto the windshield of the vehicle; in the situation the car is parked and the widows are down to allow external sounds to be received by the microphone).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of applicant’s invention to combine the known techniques of Lan to that of Stout, to predictably increase the versatility of the vehicle, while as the same time allowing for the reduction of barriers of communication created by different languages (pg. 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH BUKOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-7913. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday // 0730-1530.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amr Awad can be reached at 571.272.7764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/kenneth bukowski/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621
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