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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on December 17, 2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s amendments and remarks filed on December 1, 2025.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 are currently amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending and examined below.
Response to Arguments
Regarding the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101:
The outstanding 35 USC 101 rejections are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendments adding the limitation, “provide/providing, to the vehicle routing system and in response to the navigation request, at least one navigation solution of the second set of candidate navigation solutions, wherein the vehicle routing system causes a particular vehicle, of a plurality of vehicles managed by the vehicle routing system, to travel to the destination using the at least one navigation solution” to each of the outstanding independent claims, 1, 8, and 15.
Regarding the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102 and §103:
The outstanding 35 USC 102 and 103 rejections are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendments and arguments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventors, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Independent claims 1, 8, and 15 each include the following limitation that is considered to be new matter:
“provide/providing, to the vehicle routing system and in response to the navigation request, at least one navigation solution of the second set of candidate navigation solutions, wherein the vehicle routing system causes a particular vehicle, of a plurality of vehicles managed by the vehicle routing system, to travel to the destination using the at least one navigation solution.”
These amended claim limitations include matter that was no present on the filing date of the application in either the specification, the claims, or the drawings. See MPEP 608.04(a0.
The dependent claims are rejected as being dependent on a base claim that is rejected under 35 USC 112 (a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. George, et al. (Publication US 2017/0199045 A1) discloses a method for determining at least one recommended vehicular travel route, the method including collecting a plurality of travel route inputs from a plurality of sources, relative to a travel route comprising a starting point and an ending point; determining at least one travel route recommendation by (i) assessing the collected plurality of travel route inputs and (ii) taking in to consideration vehicle emission impact parameters; and tracking vehicle adherence. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAULA L SCHNEIDER whose telephone number is (703)756-4606. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, Fadey Jabr can be reached at 571-272-1516. 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.
/P.L.S/Examiner, Art Unit 3668
/Fadey S. Jabr/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3668
Prosecution Insights