US 8649971

Analysis of U.S. Patent 8,649,971: Navigation Device

Date of Analysis: April 26, 2026

This report provides a concise summary of United States Patent 8,649,971, including its key bibliographic details and a plain-language overview of its independent claims. Information is based on data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A search of the 2026 dockets for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) did not yield specific results for this patent.

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Bibliographic Information

• Title: Navigation device
• Assignee: The current assignee of record is Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC. The original assignee was Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
• Inventor: Hiroshi Machino
• Filing Date: January 14, 2009
• Issue Date: February 11, 2014
• Abstract: The patent describes a navigation device featuring a route searching unit to calculate a route to a destination via set waypoints. A route guidance unit provides directions along this route. An output unit alerts the user when the vehicle has deviated by a predetermined distance from the path to the next waypoint and is traveling on a subsequent part of the route. An input unit then allows the user to command whether or not to still travel to the missed waypoint in response to the alert.

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Overview of Independent Claims

This patent contains two independent claims: claim 1 (directed to a device) and claim 19 (directed to a method).

Independent Claim 1: A navigation device that provides options after a missed waypoint.

In simple terms, this claim covers a physical navigation device with several key components. It has a unit for setting waypoints and a destination. A route searching unit then finds a path to the destination through these waypoints. A guidance unit gives turn-by-turn directions. The core of the invention is an output unit that sends a message to the user if the vehicle strays a certain distance from the route to the next waypoint and is already on a part of the route that comes after that waypoint. Finally, an input unit lets the user decide whether to go back to the missed waypoint or skip it.

Independent Claim 19: A method for a navigation apparatus to handle missed waypoints.

This claim mirrors the functionality of the device in claim 1 but is framed as a method or a series of steps. The method involves:

1. Setting waypoints and a destination using the navigation device.
2. Searching for a complete route to the destination via the specified waypoints.
3. Providing route guidance along the calculated path.
4. Displaying a message indicating the vehicle has deviated from the route to the next waypoint by a set distance and is now on a later segment of the overall route.
5. Accepting a command from the user on whether to proceed to the missed waypoint.