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 .
The following is a Final Office Action in response to communications received on 11/10/2025. Claims 1-4, 6, 8-14, 16, and 18-23 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, and 22 have been amended. Claims 5, 7, 15, and 17 have been cancelled.
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.
Step 1: The claims 1, 12-14, 16, 18-20 are a system and claims 2-4, 6, 7-11, 21-23 are a method. Thus, each independent claim, on its face, is directed to one of the statutory categories of 35 U.S.C. §101. However, the claims 1-4, 6, 8-14, 16, and 18-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 2A Prong 1: The independent claims recite:
Claim 1 A system comprising:
a plurality of physical ordering devices, each physical ordering device of the plurality of physical ordering devices including a housing and a wireless communications device that transmits a wireless signal including an identifier identifying the physical ordering device;
and a client device including a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the client device to:
wirelessly receive wireless signals respectively emitted from the plurality of physical ordering devices including a first signal transmitted by the first physical ordering device;
identify one or more items based on the identifier received in the first signal;
identify a zone of a physical location associated with the first physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices;
generate an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering device within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone;
display item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the identifier of the first physical ordering device and the identified zone;
receive user input from a user, the user input including a selection of the one or more items of the plurality of items;
generate a purchase request for ordering the one or more items;
and transmit the purchase request from the client device to a service.
Claim 2 recites:
A computer-implemented method comprising: wirelessly receiving, at a client device, wireless signals respectively emitted from a plurality of physical ordering devices including a signal transmitted by a physical ordering device, the signal including a unique identifier associated in an information source of an e-commerce platform with one or more items;
identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices;
generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but
displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone;
receiving, at the client device, user input from a user, the user input including a selection of the one or more items of the plurality of items;
and transmitting a request from the client device to a server requesting a physical operation respective to the one or more items.
Claim 12 recites substantially parallel claim language to claim 1
These limitations, except for the italicized portions, under their broadest reasonable interpretations, recite certain methods of organizing human activity for managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) as well as commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations). The claimed invention recites steps for receiving information describing a plurality of items and their location and based on the information received, making a purchase of an item. The steps under its broadest reasonable interpretation specifically fall under sales activities. The instant application states [0027] “The technology disclosed in this application allows stakeholders, such as a person responsible for ordering and reordering items for an organization (e.g., business, family, etc.), to conveniently and easily track and reorder those items”. The Examiner notes that although the claim limitations are summarized, the analysis regarding subject matter eligibility considers the entirety of the claim and all of the claim elements individually, as a whole, and in ordered combination.
Prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the additional elements of
Claim 1 A system comprising:
a plurality of physical ordering devices, each physical ordering device of the plurality of physical ordering devices including a housing and a wireless communications device that transmits a wireless signal including an identifier identifying the physical ordering device;
and a client device including a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the client device to:
wirelessly receive wireless signals respectively emitted from the plurality of physical ordering devices including a first signal transmitted by the first physical ordering device;
identify one or more items based on the identifier received in the first signal;
identify a zone of a physical location associated with the first physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices;
generate an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering device within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone;
display item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the identifier of the first physical ordering device and the identified zone;
receive user input from a user, the user input including a selection of the one or more items of the plurality of items;
generate a purchase request for ordering the one or more items;
and transmit the purchase request from the client device to a service.
Claim 2 recites:
A computer-implemented method comprising: wirelessly receiving, at a client device, wireless signals respectively emitted from a plurality of physical ordering devices including a signal transmitted by a physical ordering device, the signal including a unique identifier associated in an information source of an e-commerce platform with one or more items;
identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices;
generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but
displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone;
receiving, at the client device, user input from a user, the user input including a selection of the one or more items of the plurality of items;
and transmitting afrom the client device to a server requesting a physical operation respective to the one or more items.
Claim 12 recites substantially parallel claim language to claim 1
A system comprising: one or more processors; and
one or more computer memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising: wirelessly receiving, at a client device, signals from a plurality of physical ordering devices including a signal transmitted by a physical ordering device, (claim 12)
an e- commerce platform (claim 12)
at a client device (claim 12)
9. The additional elements of emphasized above are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function of processing data) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. The limitations do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application – MPEP 2106.05(f).
Further, the additional elements of “wirelessly receiving, at a client device, wireless signals respectively emitted from a plurality of physical ordering devices including a signal transmitted by a physical ordering device, the signal […] (claims 1, 2, 12)” are merely adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception by providing data in the form of receiving operational information and organizing the information (i.e. data gathering) - see MPEP 2106.05(g).
Accordingly, these additional elements when considered individually or as a whole do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The independent claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B: The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A Prong two, the additional elements in the claims amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the judicial exception using a generic computer component.
The step of “wirelessly receiving, at a client device, wireless signals respectively emitted from a plurality of physical ordering devices including a signal transmitted by a physical ordering device, the signal […] (claims 1, 2, 12)”of Step 2A has been re-evaluated in Step 2B and determined to be well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field.
The specification (paragraph 0045) does not provide any indication that the wireless receiving from the physical ordering devices is anything other than a generic, off-the-shelf computer component (WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, etc.). The courts have recognized that receiving and transmitting data over a network is a well-understood, routine and conventional computer function when it is claimed in a merely generic manner. (MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)).
Dependent claims 3-4, 6, 8-11, 13-4, 16, 18, 19-23 when analyzed as a whole, are held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. §101 because the additional recited limitations fail to establish that the claims are not directed to the same abstract idea of Independent Claims 1, 2 and 12 without significantly more.
Claim 3 recites further comprising determining a quantity of the identified one or more items based on a communication with a server, the server being separate from the physical ordering device. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea and recites the additional element of a server at a high level of generality. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 4 recites further comprising: displaying, at the client device, a form for providing or confirming payment information; receiving, at the client device, a second user input via the form indicating the payment information; and transmitting, from the client device to a server, the form including the second user input. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea to include payment processing and the additional elements are recited at a high level of generality. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 6 recites further comprising determining the zone in which the client device is located based on the wireless signals from the plurality of physical ordering devices. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 8 recites further comprising receiving, at the client device the item information describing items corresponding to the active set of physical ordering devices. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 9 recites displaying, at the client device, the item information describing the items corresponding to the active set of physical ordering devices; receiving, at the client device, the selection by the user to order one or more of the items corresponding to the active set of physical ordering devices; and transmitting, from the client device to the e-commerce server, the purchase request in response to receiving the selection to order one or more of the items corresponding to the active set of physical ordering devices. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea to include payment processing and the additional elements are recited at a high level of generality. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 10 recites further comprising configuring an association between the one or more items and the unique identifier of the physical ordering device including linking, in the information source, the unique identifier with a quantity of the one or more items for the physical location. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 11 recites identifying the plurality of items based on the wireless signals received from the plurality of physical ordering devices; and displaying item information for each of the identified plurality of items at the client device based on the wireless signals received from the plurality of physical ordering devices. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 21 recites wherein displaying the item information describing the plurality of items associated includes determining a subset of the plurality of items that the user is authorized to order based on an identification of the user. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 22 recites further comprising notifying a supervisor of the user regarding the purchase request. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claim 23 recites further comprising generating a packing list document indicating the identified zone associated with the one or more items. The limitation merely further limits that abstract idea. The limitation does not recite significantly more to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Claims 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, and 20 recite parallel language and therefore are rejected for the reasons set forth above. For these reasons claims 1-4, 6, 8-14, 16, and 18-23 are rejected under 35 USC 101.
Subject Matter Free of Prior Art
Claims 1, 2 and 12 are determined to have overcome the prior art of rejection and are free of prior art, however the claims remain rejected under 35 USC 101, as set forth above. All dependent claims are also free of prior art by virtue of dependency, but remain rejected under 35 USC 101.
Taking amended claim 2 as a representative claim, the claims as amended are found to overcome the prior art rejection for the reasons set forth below.
Claim 2 now recites the additional claimed features of identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone;
The closest prior art was found to be as follows:
Paullin US 20020161652 (previously cited) discloses smart containers that determine an amount of an item remaining and communicate that amount remaining and then subsequent need for restocking to a device [see 0077, Figure 11 elements 29 and 35 and 11]. The reference discloses the areas holding the smart containers as a refrigerator and a pantry area [see Figure 11]. The methods for inventory monitoring and control available to the user may further include adding or deleting one or more items to the list, approving or denying the list, or setting up the system so as to be notified at a later date. [0080] Referencing again FIG. 5A-B, the step of ordering implemented by the logic processing unit 12 may further include seeking the lowest bidder for one or more household items from one or more vendors, ordering these items from a vendor that delivers, wherein this step may include setting up a delivery time. [see 0079-80]. However the reference does not disclose identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone; as required by the claimed invention.
LIN US 20120127976 (previously cited) discloses in Figure 5 and [0060] of the specification the process 100 may continue by processing the received tag response signals and/or the tag data conveyed in the tag response signals in an appropriate manner. For instance, the RFID system controller could filter some or all of the received tag data based on the current location of the mobile device (task 412). In this regard, the tag data can be filtered in accordance with the location of the RFID tags relative to the current location of the mobile device. For example, it may be desirable to generate filtered tag data that corresponds to RFID tags that are located within a specified distance from the mobile device. FIG. 5 is a diagram that shows a mobile device 500 and RFID tags 502 in close proximity to the mobile device 500. For this example, the RFID system controller obtains tag data for all of the RFID tags 502 shown in FIG. 5.) While the reference discloses the filtering of RFID tags, as presented in applicant’s remarks, it is asserted that the Lin reference does not disclose the amended claim language identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone; as required by the claimed invention. As asserted in the remarks, Lin merely excludes tags that are outside the range and does not process the tags for filtering based on registration in the manner now required by the claims.
Shuster US 8924262 (previously cited) discloses if user intent is confirmed 308, the client may transmit 310 the reorder code to a predetermined network destination, waiting to receive confirmation of receipt. If receipt is not confirmed 312, the client may retransmit 310. If receipt is confirmed, the client may wait for the reorder transaction to be processed, then receive and output 314 the transaction report received from the reordering host or other server. Thus, the user can be provided with customized, convenient automatic or semi-automatic reordering for almost any conceivable consumable commodity.) [see Col. 13 lines 34-45]. While the reference discloses the reorder of an item based on the received input, the reference does not disclose the amended claim language identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone; as required by the claimed invention.
Plocher US 20140027511 (previously cited) discloses reading RFID tags of items to generate restocking lists for users [see 0022]. However, the reference does not disclose the amended claim language identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone; as required by the claimed invention.
NPL: “A Method and System for Locating Products in Retail Stores using RFID and Interior Mapping” discloses a method and system which enables retailers to dynamically build store maps and locate inventory based on a combination of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)/ Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and presence zones. The method and system utilizes a RFID/NFC device as a compass and a presence zone as a map beacon (see page 1). However, the reference does not disclose the amended claim language identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices; generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone; displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone; as required by the claimed invention.
It was found that no references alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonable teaches, nor renders obvious the below noted features of Applicant’s invention. The features of claim 2 (and parallel claims 1 and 12) in combination that overcome the prior art are:
identifying a zone of a physical location associated with the physical ordering device using a zone-registration mapping that associates each of a plurality of physical zones with at least one of the plurality of physical ordering devices;
generating an active set of physical ordering devices including discarding one or more detections of the wireless signals from one or more of the plurality of physical ordering devices that are within range but that are unregistered for the identified zone;
displaying, at the client device, item information describing a plurality of items associated with the active set of physical ordering devices, the plurality of items including the one or more items associated with the unique identifier of the physical ordering device and the identified zone;
31. Therefore, none of the cited references disclose or render obvious each and every feature of the claimed invention and the claimed invention is determined to be free of the prior art. Although individually the claimed features could be taught, any combination of references would teach the claimed limitations using a piecemeal analysis, since references would only be combined and deemed obvious based on knowledge gleaned from the applicant's disclosure. Such a reconstruction is improper (i.e., hindsight reasoning). See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971). The examiner emphasizes that it is the interrelationship of the limitations that renders these claims free of the prior art/additional art. Therefore, it is hereby asserted by the Examiner that, in light of the above, that the claims are free of prior art as the references do not anticipate the claims and do not render obvious any further modification of the references to a person of ordinary skill in art.
Relevant Art Not Cited
Brown (US 7065501) discloses a home inventory management system using sensor on items to determine when to restock an item.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/10/2025, with respect to prior art rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The prior art rejection has been withdrawn as set forth above in the “subject matter free of prior art” section. Of note, the remarks with respect to Lin in view of the claim amendments were found to be persuasive. Further discussion and detail are noted in the “subject matter free of prior art” section.
With respect to the remarks directed to 35 USC 101, the examiner has updated the rejection above in view of the claim amendments. The examiner notes that as independent claims 1, 2, and 12 were amended differently, the rejection reflects these differences. It is noted that both the claims reciting the purchase language and not reciting the purchase language are still rejected under 35 USC 101. All of the independent claims are reciting the identification of information related to items or product per the claim interpretation in light of the specification. The examiner does not assert that the recitation of commerce related activities alone is the reason for the claimed subject matter to be ineligible. The claims without the commerce activity details are then merely transmitting and receiving information of some type from devices recited at a high level of generality. As shown in the rejection, per MPEP 2106.05(f), the courts have determined the mere receiving and transmitting information is considered extra solution activity for activities incidental to the primary process or product that are merely a nominal or tangential addition to the claim- MPEP 2106.05(g). Thereby, the claim limitations directed to the sending and receiving of signals are extra solution activity. As to claim 2 limitation steps of “identifying” and “generating”, the examiner has not considered these extra solution activity, however these are still determined to be part of the abstract idea as they are merely organizing the received data based on the set of the rules/criteria.
The examiner also draws the applicant’s attention to example 48 of the July 2024 which provides an example of claims reciting signal which were found to be ineligible (see claim 1 example). Though the claims recite the data processes as signals, the claim still recited and abstract idea that was not integrate into a practical application.
With respect to the remarks directed to the alleged improvement to the technology, the examiner asserts that at most, the filtering of the signals detected based on the set of rules, is an improvement that lies in the abstract idea. If the data being received and transmitted is improved then consequentially the system and accuracy will be improved. However, the improvement is mere consequential and not an improvement to the technology itself.
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 VICTORIA E. FRUNZI whose telephone number is (571)270-1031. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday 7-4 (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, Marissa Thein can be reached at (571) 272-6764. 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.
VICTORIA E. FRUNZI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit TC 3689
/VICTORIA E. FRUNZI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3689 2/10/2026