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Patent Application 18174975 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORING AND SHARING REPAIR - Rejection

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Patent Application 18174975 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORING AND SHARING REPAIR

Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORING AND SHARING REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE INFORMATION

Application Information

  • Invention Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORING AND SHARING REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE INFORMATION
  • Application Number: 18174975
  • Submission Date: 2025-05-15T00:00:00.000Z
  • Effective Filing Date: 2023-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
  • Filing Date: 2023-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
  • National Class: 701
  • National Sub-Class: 033400
  • Examiner Employee Number: 96015
  • Art Unit: 3656
  • Tech Center: 3600

Rejection Summary

  • 102 Rejections: 1
  • 103 Rejections: 1

Cited Patents

The following patents were cited in the rejection:

Office Action Text


    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 Office Action is in response to the application filed 02/27/2023. Claims 5-14 are presently pending and are presented for examination. Claims 1-4 and 15 are canceled.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 03/18/2025 has been entered. Claims 5-14 remain pending in the application. Claims 1-4 and 15 are canceled. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have the 112(b) rejections previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 12/19/2024. 
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP22161274.0, filed on 03/10/2022.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 5-6, 8-9, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hutchins et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0272388)-IDS.
Regarding claim 9 and similarly with respect to claim 5
Hutchins discloses “A system for storing and sharing repair and maintenance information, RMI, of a product, the system comprising: an embedded system comprised in the product configured to store the RMI,” (See Hutchins [0043] disclosing data that may be archived includes maintenance information, as well as repairs and official inspections that have been performed during the lifetime of the vehicle.).
Hutchins discloses “wherein the RMI is encrypted and an encryption key is provided by a provider of the product to a customer of the product;” (See Hutchins [0109] disclosing a dedicated communication channel made available to a vehicle owner, such as a special usb port to implement a secure SSL FOB device, to ensure the current vehicle owner has complete control over who has access to the vehicle data. The data storage and access controls are included with the vehicle computer, thus provided from a provider.).
Hutchins discloses “a central system configured to read, write and copy the encrypted RMI in the embedded system via a communication network;” (See Hutchins Fig. 1, Char. 104 disclosing a cloud server for facilitating outgoing and incoming communications including maintenance information, as well as repairs and official inspections that have been performed during the lifetime of the vehicle, see [0040] & [0043].).
Hutchins discloses “a service device of a service facility configured to download an application module,” (See Hutchins [0041] disclosing users, including service technicians and repair shops, whom may access vehicle data. Also see [0044] & Fig. 11, Char. 110, disclosing an interface element or “service device” for performing the  downloading methods of the vehicle system module, 102.).
Hutchins discloses “establish a wireless connection between the embedded system and the service device,” (See Hutchins [0041] disclosing interface configurations provided to facilitate communications between a repair shop and a vehicle database module.).
Hutchins discloses “decrypt and display the encrypted RMI received from the embedded system when the encryption key is provided to the service device and when the product is in physical proximity to the service facility,” (See Hutchins [0055] and [0109] disclosing any repair shop certified to repair vehicles will be able to access the customer's onboard history database via the secure FOB device. Also see [0047]-[0048] disclosing digital pods for permitting processing and storage of vehicle data, a first digital pod can be created when a vehicle arrives at the repair facility to track all aspects of the work or job being performed on the vehicle.).
Hutchins discloses “update by the application module in the service device, the RMI after servicing and/or repairing has been performed for the product” (See Hutchins [0043] disclosing processing the data for the vehicle corresponding to information of prior work/repairs. Also see [0048] disclosing tracking all aspects of the work or job being performed on the vehicle when a vehicle arrives at the repair facility.).
Hutchins discloses “and store the updated RMI in the embedded system,” (See Hutchins [0043] disclosing storing the data for the vehicle corresponding to information of prior work/repairs.).
Hutchins discloses “wherein the encryption key is provided to the service facility by the customer of the product.” (See Hutchins [0129] and Fig. 20 disclosing communication with and data returned to the repair facility technician, via temporary FOB access provided by the vehicle owner.).
Regarding claim 6 and similarly with respect to claim 12
Hutchins discloses “The method according to claim 5, wherein the product is a vehicle, and the RMI comprises any one or any combination of the following information: a) Repair instructions; b) Bill of material and updates; c) Vehicle service records; d) Vehicle specification and variants; e) Component information; f) Latest software version; g) Data module related to one or more superstructures.” (See Hutchins [0129] disclosing data or information returned to the vehicle owner can include all data for the subject vehicle, such as repair procedures.).
Regarding claim 8 and similarly with respect to claim 11
Hutchins discloses “The method according to claim 5, further comprising communicating and updating the encrypted RMI between the embedded system comprised in the product and the central system via a communication system.” (See Hutchins Fig. 1, Chars. 102 & 104 and [0047] disclosing pods provided to permit processing and storage of vehicle data at a common or centralized workspace in the cloud.).
Regarding claim 13
Hutchins discloses “The system according to claim 9, wherein the wireless communication network is a cellular communication network or a short-range radio frequency communication network.” (See Hutchins [0039] disclosing the network the vehicle module may communicate in may be a cellular network.).
Regarding claim 14
Hutchins discloses “The system according to claim 9, wherein the central system is a cloud server or a local server.” (See Hutchins Fig. 1, Char. 104 disclosing a cloud server for facilitating outgoing and incoming communications.).
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 7 & 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hutchins et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0272388)-IDS in view of Beveridge et. al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,748,510 B1).
Regarding claim 7 and similarly with respect to claim 10
Hutchins discloses all the elements of the claimed invention except “The method according to claim 5, further comprising re-encrypting the RMI and creating a new encryption key if the customer requires.” (Hutchins discloses all stored data is encrypted, see [0114] thus all data corresponding to RMI is encrypted and a new key is implicitly created, however it is not clear that this may be performed per a user request or requirement.).
Beveridge discloses “The method according to claim 5, further comprising re-encrypting the RMI and creating a new encryption key if the customer requires.” (See Beveridge Col 14. L. 66-67 & Col. 15. L. 1-4 disclosing re-encrypting vehicle data per a user request. A new encryption key is generated see claim 11 and Fig. 8, Char. 844.).
Hutchins and Beveridge are analogous art, because they are in the same field of endeavor, vehicle controls. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hutchins to incorporate the teachings of Beveridge to include the re-encryption of vehicle data and creation of a new encryption key per a user request. Doing so provides a known method in the art for securing vehicle data, with a reasonable expectation of success, as it advantageously provides protection of shared data, see Beveridge Col. 1, L. 52-60.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/18/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. 
Regarding arguments beginning on P. 7 filed with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hutchins et. al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0272388)-IDS.:
Hutchins discloses “wherein the RMI is encrypted and an encryption key is provided by a provider of the product to a customer of the product;”, “wherein the encryption key is provided to the service facility by the customer of the product.”, & “decrypt and display the encrypted RMI received from the embedded system when the encryption key is provided to the service device and when the product is in physical proximity to the service facility,”
At least re-consider Hutchins [0109] disclosing a dedicated communication channel made available to a vehicle owner, such as a special usb port to implement a secure SSL FOB device, to ensure the current vehicle owner has complete control over who has access to the vehicle data. The data storage and access controls are included with the vehicle computer, thus provided from a provider.
Examiner agrees that the FOB device corresponds to a physical key, however Hutchins further discloses that the FOB may be provided as corporate-level FOB login/authentication techniques and hardware, the authentication layer operatively coupled with the proxy layer for the encrypted data in flight via SSL connections and accessing encrypted data at rest in the encrypted database, see [0122]-[0123] and Fig. 14, Chars. 104, 131 and 130.
Hutchins therefore teaches an encryption key is provided to the service facility and decryption of RMI at the service device when the vehicle is at the service facility with the encryption key, at least see Hutchins [0055] and [0109] disclosing any repair shop certified to repair vehicles will be able to access the customer's onboard history database via the secure FOB device, Hutchins [0129] and Fig. 20 disclosing communication with and data returned to the repair facility technician, via temporary FOB access provided by the vehicle owner, and Hutchins [0047]-[0048] disclosing digital pods for permitting processing and storage of vehicle data, a first digital pod can be created when a vehicle arrives at the repair facility.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERROD IRVIN DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)272-7083. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm.
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, Wade Miles can be reached at (571) 270-7777. 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.



/JERROD IRVIN DAVIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3656                                                                                                                                                                                                        
/WADE MILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656 


    
        
            
        
            
        
            
        
            
        
            
        
            
        
            
        
            
    


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