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 .
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 therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because
The identified claim limitations that recite an abstract idea does not fall within the enumerated groupings of abstract ideas in Section I of the 2018 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance published in the Federal Register (84 FR 50) on January 7, 2019. Nonetheless, the claim limitations are being treated as reciting an abstract idea because the method of obtaining design solutions and the design unit for obtaining design solutions are merely data collection and processing and mathematics. There are no details of how the design solution is obtained. The claims recite the limitations of designing a spectacle lens. There is nothing in the claim precludes the design step from practically being performed in the human mind or with the aid of pen and paper. Thus, this limitation is a mental process. Even though the limitation “the method comprising, performing by a computer” has been added to the claim, The mere nominal recitation of a generic computer devices does not take the claim out of the methods of a mental process since it is merely using a computer as a tool to perform the concept. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea. Thus, this limitation is a mental process.
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 JOURNEY F SUMLAR whose telephone number is (571)270-0656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Mack can be reached on 571-272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JOURNEY F. SUMLAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
17 January 2026
/SHARRIEF I BROOME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872