Prior art

To effectively analyze the prior art for US Patent 11,104,245, a thorough examination of the patent's own cited references is the most logical and direct approach. These references were considered by the USPTO examiner during the prosecution of the patent application and are therefore highly relevant to its patentability.

A detailed analysis of the prior art cited by the patent examiner for US Patent 11,104,245, "Vehicles and cloud systems for sharing e-keys to access and use vehicles," reveals several key patents and their potential impact on the novelty and non-obviousness of the claimed invention. The core of this patent revolves around a cloud-based system for generating, managing, and sharing electronic vehicle keys (e-keys) with specific privileges and restrictions.

Analysis of Cited Prior Art:

Below is a breakdown of the most pertinent prior art references and their relationship to the claims of US Patent 11,104,245.

1. US Patent 8,903,736 B2

• Full Citation: Prosser, et al., "System and method for managing vehicle access and use," assigned to General Motors LLC.
• Publication Date: December 2, 2014 (Filed: August 3, 2011)
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system for remotely managing access to a vehicle. It allows a vehicle owner to grant temporary access to a third-party user via a remote server. The system can define and enforce restrictions on the vehicle's use, such as time and location limitations. A user can request access through a mobile device, and the owner can approve or deny the request.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent appears to anticipate several key concepts in US 11,104,245, particularly those related to remote access and use-privilege management.
  • Claim 1: This claim outlines a method for providing vehicle access by sending an access code from a server to a portable device, where the access code is associated with at least one privilege. The '736 patent describes a similar process of a remote server granting access with defined use restrictions.
  • Claim 13: This claim describes a vehicle configured to communicate with a cloud system to enable access via electronic keys with associated privileges. The system in the '736 patent also involves a vehicle communicating with a central server to validate access requests and enforce usage rules.
  • Claim 20: This claim details a method for assigning e-keys, including receiving a request, generating a unique access code with privileges, and sending it to a recipient's device. This process is functionally equivalent to the system described in the '736 patent for granting temporary vehicle access.

2. US Patent 9,230,345 B2

• Full Citation: Breed, "Vehicular ad hoc network based access control system," assigned to Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
• Publication Date: January 5, 2016 (Filed: May 16, 2013)
• Brief Description: This patent discloses a system where a vehicle can grant access to a user's mobile device based on the user's presence within a predefined geofence or in response to a request. The system can also be used to transfer "virtual keys" to other users. It emphasizes the use of ad-hoc networks for communication between vehicles and devices.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is relevant to the claims of US 11,104,245 that involve location-based access and the transfer of electronic keys.
  • Claim 1: The concept of an access code being transferred from a portable device to a vehicle is present in the '345 patent's "virtual key" system.
  • Claim 13: The vehicle in the '345 patent is configured for wireless communication with a mobile device to grant access, similar to what is claimed in US 11,104,245.
  • Claim 20: The '345 patent's system for transferring virtual keys with associated permissions could be seen as anticipating the process of generating and sending an e-key to a recipient.

3. US Patent 9,767,597 B2

• Full Citation: Islam, et al., "System and method for providing a temporary virtual key," assigned to General Motors LLC.
• Publication Date: September 19, 2017 (Filed: March 17, 2015)
• Brief Description: This patent details a method for a vehicle owner to create and send a temporary "virtual key" to another user's mobile device. The virtual key has a limited duration and may have other restrictions. The system involves a central server that manages the creation and distribution of these virtual keys.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent is highly relevant as it describes a core concept of US 11,104,245 – the temporary and restricted sharing of vehicle access.
  • Claim 1: The "temporary virtual key" in the '597 patent is analogous to the "access code" with privileges in US 11,104,245. The process of sending this key to a portable device is also described.
  • Claim 20: The method of generating and sending an e-key with a defined period of validity is a central theme of the '597 patent. The concept of an "expiration time" for the e-key is explicitly mentioned.

4. US Patent Application Publication 2012/0268249 A1

• Full Citation: Guba, "System and method for a virtual car key."
• Publication Date: October 25, 2012 (Filed: April 25, 2011)
• Brief Description: This application describes a system where a virtual car key is stored on a mobile device. The virtual key can be shared with others, and the owner can set various permissions and restrictions on its use, such as time limits and geographic boundaries.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This published application, being prior art, discloses many of the features claimed in US 11,104,245.
  • Claim 1: The concept of an access code (virtual key) sent to a portable device with associated privileges is a core teaching of this reference.
  • Claim 13: The vehicle in Guba's invention communicates with a mobile device to receive the virtual key and enforce the associated restrictions.
  • Claim 20: The process of a user requesting to share a key, defining restrictions, and sending it to another user's device is detailed in this application.

5. US Patent 9,514,547 B2

• Full Citation: Ricci, "Managing shared access to a vehicle," assigned to Google LLC.
• Publication Date: December 6, 2016 (Filed: July 2, 2014)
• Brief Description: This patent focuses on a system for managing shared access to a vehicle among a group of authorized users. It describes a server that stores user profiles and vehicle access rights. A user can request to use a vehicle, and the server can grant access based on the user's permissions and the vehicle's availability.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent's focus on managing a plurality of users and vehicles with different access rights has bearing on certain claims of US 11,104,245.
  • Claim 1: The '547 patent's system of a server managing access rights and providing them to a user's device aligns with the broad concept of claim 1.
  • Claim 13: The vehicle communicating with a server to authenticate a user and grant access is a key feature of the '547 patent.
  • Claim 20: The '547 patent describes a system where users can be granted access with specific privileges, which is a core part of this claim.

Conclusion

The prior art cited against US Patent 11,104,245 demonstrates that the core concepts of generating, sharing, and managing electronic vehicle keys with associated privileges were well-established in the art prior to the patent's priority date. Specifically, patents like US 8,903,736 B2 and US 9,767,597 B2, both assigned to General Motors, and the published application by Guba (US 2012/0268249 A1), disclose systems that are substantially similar to the invention claimed in US 11,104,245. These references teach the use of a remote server to manage access, the ability for a vehicle owner to grant temporary and restricted access to other users, and the use of a mobile device as a virtual key.

While US 11,104,245 may have specific implementation details that differ from the prior art, the fundamental concepts appear to be anticipated. A thorough obviousness analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103, combining the teachings of these references, could also present a significant challenge to the validity of many of the patent's claims. For instance, combining the ad-hoc networking concepts of the '345 patent with the temporary virtual key system of the '597 patent could render many of the more specific claims of US 11,104,245 obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.