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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in response to an amendment filed on 1 October 2025. Claims 1-5 have been amended. Claims 1-5 are currently pending and have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefore, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Step 1: the claims 1-5 are a system. Thus, independent claims, on its face, is directed to one of the statutory categories of 35 U.S.C. §101. However, the claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 2A-Proing 1: claim 1 recites receiving message to be displayed, transmitting the message selected and providing commercial information. These limitation as drafted is a process, under its broadest reasonable interpretation it facilitates the commercial transaction and providing advertisements. These limitations fall within Certain Method of Human Activity” for commercial or legal interactions (including agreement in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising., marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations). Simply put, this limitations merely describe merely facilitates the commercial transaction of providing ad, which is clearly a business arrangement in its purest form. Claims 2-5 merely provide additional abstract concepts and narrow the abstract idea of claim 1. Furthermore, claims 1-5 are recited at such a high level that the clamed steps amount to no more than a mental process, such as concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion) because a human can compare commercial information that for billing a provider.
Step 2A-Proing 2: The additional elements in dependent claim 1 is form of computer components. This computer components are recited at a high-level of generality (a vehicle display device and the server for receiving and transmitting message). The receiving/transmitting step is recited at a high level of generality (i.e., as general means of gathering data for providing commercial information to the vehicle disply device) and amounts to mere data gathering, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity. The vehicle display device, and server performs receiving from/to data steps is also recited at a
high level of generality and merely automates the comparison step. Each of the additional limitations is no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer
component. The combination of these additional elements is no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (vehicle display device and server). Accordingly, even in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Step 2B: As discussed with respect to Step 2A Prong Two, the additional element in the claim amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. The same analysis applies here in 2B, i.e., mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application at Step 2A or provide an inventive concept in Step 2B. The claim is ineligible. The claim is directed to the abstract idea.
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.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dukach et al. (US Pub., No., 2004/0036622 A1) in view Elzner (US Pub., No., 2017/0338975 A1)
With respect to claim 1, Dukach teaches a system for transmitting safety messages and advertisements by using a vehicle display device(paragraph [0006], discloses the method of displaying information is proved, the method senses the current geographical location of publicly visible electronic information disply mounted on a moving vehicle, and paragraph [0008], discloses a central computer system selects the information that will be shown on the vehicle mounted disply as function of sensed location, transmits one or message to control circuitry on the vehicle ..) , the system comprising:
a control unit for transmitting the message selected from the operation unit to the display unit(paragraph [0019], discloses a computerized system includes one or more vehicles. Each vehicle includes an electronic display and an electronic location indicator for providing an indicating the vehicle’s current location …, the system also an electromagnetic transmitter for transmitter for transmitting information, determining which images are to be show on the vehicle information display at what time .., paragraph [0024], discloses the method also transmits the message representations form the e-commerce site to a display’s control electronic, and paragraph [0066], discloses computers over the central system’s wireless transmitter, controlling which message are show on the vehicle’s display.. );
a commercial server for providing commercial information to the vehicle display device (paragraphs [0272], discloses a client computer to interact which programming running on a server computer, paragraph [0129], discloses different geographic areas advertiser have an interest in displying their advertisement, and paragraph [0135], discloses the content of the disply messages can include not only advertisements, but also other types of messages such as weather and traffic reports (including local traffic reports, such as reports of how may feet till ..).
Dukach teaches the above elements including the vehicle display device, an operation unit for receiving a message to be displayed on the display unit from a user(paragraph [0377], discloses drive three of the panels assocted with each of the display and two of which are used to drive the two display of the rear display.., paragraph [0378], discloses rear display which contains only two LCD disply panels.. and paragraph [0422], discloses method individually selects which messages to show on each of a plurlity of publicly visible networked electronic displays). Dukach failed to explicitly teach the vehicle display device comprising a display unit arranged toward a rear of a vehicle.
However, Elzneri teaches the vehicle display device comprising a display unit arranged toward a rear of a vehicle (paragraph [0028], discloses display unit is preferably mounted proximity the rear or the vehicle so that it can view from the rear, paragraph [0029], discloses the display screen is disposed and secured within a sidewall of the housing .. ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to the one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for displays mounted on vehicles of Dukach with a feature of mounting display screen on a rear or the vehicle so that it can view from the rear of Elzner in order easily viewed by trailing vehicles or pedestrians(see Elzneri, paragraph [0029]).
With respect to claim 2, Dukach in view Elzneri teaches elements of claim 1, furthermore, Dukach teaches the system further comprising: a mobile terminal for establishing a connection so as to display the commercial information provided by the commercial server on the vehicle display device(Fig. 1, 104 discloses mobile unit , 134 wireless system, paragraph [0128], discloses a system for controlling the disply of message deployed on mobile display units and paragraph [0129], discloses the system for displying information on mobile sign)
With respect to claim 3, Dukach in view Elzneri teaches elements of claim 2, furthermore, Dukach teaches the system wherein the commercial server comprises: an information collection unit configured to receive driving information of the vehicle from the mobile terminal(paragraph [0073], discloses the method includes sensing the location of vehicle as it travels and selecting for which one or more locations traffic information is to be displayed on the vehicle at a given time as a functions .., paragraph [0074], discloses the selection can be made either by selecting which commercial message to send a vehicle based on its sensed location or by selecting which a plurlity of commercial message sent to the vehicle .., and paragraph [0162], discloses transmit a locator signal of the type describe .., enable the central system…, to identify the location of the mobile unit);
an advertisement provision unit configured to determine the commercial information to be displayed on the display device on the basis of the information collected by the information collection unit(paragraph [0159], discloses deteriming when a mobile unit crosses into a new geographic zone, the speed information can also be used to determine the nature of the content to be displayed .., when a vehicle is moving, fixed or slow moving content can be displayed .., dynamic content include full motion video can be shown) ; and
a profit management unit configured to bill a provider who provides the corresponding commercial information and settle a profit with the user of the vehicle display device, which displays the commercial information, on the basis of whether the commercial information is displayed (paragraph [0091], discloses the central system to generate billing, paragraph [0133], dislcies central system’s memory also includes billing records, these record indicate which disply message have been shown at what zones at what time so advertiser can be billed accordingly , and paragraph [0134], dislcies record information current and past location of induvial mobile unit , the information can be used to project the likely travel of an indict mobile unit and allow .., display message for the geographic zones) .
With respect to claim 4, Dukach in view Elzneri teaches elements of claim 3, furthermore, Dukach teaches the system wherein the information collection unit is configured to receive a driving route of the vehicle and a current driving state of the vehicle by linking with a driving route guidance application running on the mobile terminal, and the advertisement provision unit is configured to select and provide an advertisement message provided by an advertisement provider on the basis of the current driving state and the driving route of the vehicle((paragraph [0073], discloses the method includes sensing the location of vehicle as it travels and selecting for which one or more locations traffic information is to be displayed on the vehicle at a given time as a functions .., paragraph [0074], discloses the selection can be made either by selecting which commercial message to send a vehicle based on its sensed location or by selecting which a plurlity of commercial message sent to the vehicle .., paragraph [0162], discloses transmit a locator signal of the type describe .., enable the central system…, to identify the location of the mobile unit, paragraph [0326], discloses routes at various times and place and provide valuable media content, paragraph [0348], discloses calculate one or more of the best routes to the destination considering factor .., advertising demand at various locations ).
With respect to claim 5, Dukach in view Elzneri teaches elements of claim 4, furthermore, Dukach teaches the system wherein the profit management unit is configured to provide a portion of advertising profits to a driver of the vehicle on the basis of a display location and display count of the provided message(paragraph [0010], discloses an advertiser has agreed to pay for the showing of certain information on the display .., the amount agreed to be paid for the showing of information varies as a function of time and location .., paragraph [0121], discloses which pay drivers of mobile unites as a furcation of earning from display, and paragraph [0324], discloses profit through adverting on the website).
Prior arts:
Dukach et al. (US Pub., No., 2004/0036622 A1) discloses a system that shows messages on electronic displays, including networks of outdoor displays, such as displays mounted on vehicles. With such vehicle displays, a display's current geographical location can be sensed, such as by a GPS receiver in the vehicle or by multiple wireless receivers separate from the vehicle. The sensed location can then be used to select which messages are shown on the display.
Elzner (US Pub., No., 2017/0338975 A1) discloses a vehicle communication system for use in a vehicle having a vehicle bus. The vehicle communication system includes a display unit, a processing unit, and a relay device. The display unit provides a display screen and a receiver for receiving messages from the processing unit to be displayed on the display screen.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SABA DAGNEW whose telephone number is (571)270-3271. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6:45.
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/SABA DAGNEW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621
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