DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined.
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Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the 3first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 1 and 12, “by application of a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method” should be “by an application of a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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Claims 1-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more
Step 1: Claims 1-11 recite a method. Claims 12-20 recite a system. Therefore, claims 1-11 are directed to a process, and claims 12-20 are directed to a machine.
With respect to claims 1 and 12:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
generating a plurality of polygons, each polygon of the plurality of polygons representing a parcel of a plurality of parcels represented within a set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and a set of utility secondary feeder topology data of a feeder; (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- generating polygons, each polygon representing a parcel represented withing GIS data and feeder data)
determining… a plurality of clusters, each cluster of the plurality of clusters corresponding to one or more nodes that correspond to a common customer represented within the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data, each node of the one or more nodes including a load node or a distributed energy resource node; and (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determining clusters, each cluster corresponding to nodes to a common customer)
assigning each cluster of the plurality of clusters to a respective parcel of the plurality of parcels, each respective parcel having a physical address representing a geographic location indicated within the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- assigning each cluster to a respective parcel)
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
(claim 12) a processor in communication with a memory and including instructions executable by the processor to: (mere instructions to apply an exception, (2) Whether the claim invokes computers - MPEP 2106.05(f); generic computer components)
by application of a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
(claim 12) a processor in communication with a memory and including instructions executable by the processor to: (mere instructions to apply an exception, (2) Whether the claim invokes computers - MPEP 2106.05(f); generic computer components)
by application of a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
With respect to claims 2 and 13:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
determining, based on the geometry information, a polygon centroid of each respective polygon of the plurality of polygons. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determining a polygon centroid)
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
further comprising: generating a plurality of shapefiles based on the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data; (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0036-0037] ‘Data Processing Stage… For raw data processing 214, the system generates a plurality of shapefiles based on the input data 212…’)
extracting geometry information from the plurality of shapefiles, the geometry information including coordinates associated with each element of a plurality of elements of the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data; and (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0036-0037] ‘Data Processing Stage… For raw data processing 214, the system… extracts geometry information from the shapefiles including the coordinates of all elements in both databases.’)
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
further comprising: generating a plurality of shapefiles based on the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data; (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0036-0037] ‘Data Processing Stage… For raw data processing 214, the system generates a plurality of shapefiles based on the input data 212…,’ and WURC: iii. Electronic recordkeeping, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 225, 110 USPQ2d 1984 (2014) (creating and maintaining "shadow accounts"); Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 716, 112 USPQ2d at 1755 (updating an activity log) - MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)(iii))
extracting geometry information from the plurality of shapefiles, the geometry information including coordinates associated with each element of a plurality of elements of the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data; and (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0036-0037] ‘Data Processing Stage… For raw data processing 214, the system… extracts geometry information from the shapefiles including the coordinates of all elements in both databases,’ and WURC: v. Electronically scanning or extracting data from a physical document, Content Extraction and Transmission, LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, 776 F.3d 1343, 1348, 113 USPQ2d 1354, 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (optical character recognition); and - MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)(v))
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
With respect to claims 3 and 14:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: clustering… one or more points within the plurality of shapefiles that are density-reachable from an arbitrary point, the one or more points representing the one or more nodes. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- clustering points that are density-reachable)
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
by the DBSCAN method (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
by the DBSCAN method (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
With respect to claims 4 and (the first portion of) 15:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
determines a set of coordinates for each cluster of the plurality of clusters such that each cluster includes at least one node per cluster. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determine a set of coordinates such that each cluster includes at least one node)
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
wherein the DBSCAN method includes a first DBSCAN instance that (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
wherein the DBSCAN method includes a first DBSCAN instance that (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
With respect to claims 5 and (the second portion of) 15:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
determines a set of coordinates for one or more new clusters of the plurality of clusters that include a plurality of nodes per cluster. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determine a set of coordinates for clusters including nodes per cluster)
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
wherein the DBSCAN method includes a second DBSCAN instance that (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
wherein the DBSCAN method includes a second DBSCAN instance that (mere instructions to apply an exception – MPEP 2106.05(f), (3) The particularity or generality of the application of the judicial exception; using DBSCAN)
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
With respect to claim 6:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: plotting correction of coordinates for a node of the one or more nodes. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- plotting correction of coordinates)
With respect to claims 7 and 16:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: associating each cluster with a polygon of the plurality of polygons such that a sum of distances between a cluster centroid of each respective cluster and a polygon centroid of a polygon associated with the cluster is minimized, and a quantity of clusters assigned to the plurality of polygons is maximized; and (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- associating each cluster with a polygon)
correcting a set of coordinates associated with one or more nodes that correspond to a common customer based on the corresponding geographic location. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- correcting a set of coordinates)
With respect to claims 8 and 17:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: determining whether a load node of a cluster is to be associated with the polygon based on comparison between a maximum distance value and a distance from the load node to a polygon centroid of the polygon. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determining if a load node is associated with the polygon)
With respect to claims 9 and 18:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: determining whether the polygon is to be associated with the feeder based on comparison between a maximum distance value and a plurality of distances from the polygon to each respective cluster of the plurality of clusters. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determining if the polygon is associated with the feeder)
With respect to claims 10 and 19:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites a judicial exception.
further comprising: determining whether the polygon is to be associated with the cluster based on comparison between a maximum distance value and a distance from the polygon to the cluster. (mental process – evaluation or judgement,--- determining of the polygon is associated with the cluster)
With respect to claims 11 and 20:
2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
further comprising: generating a comma-separated value file including a physical address associated with each respective cluster of the plurality of clusters and coordinates representing locations of the one or more nodes. (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0066] ‘The system applies a nested clustering… and then provides a (".csv") file with the output to be used to correct the GIS databases.’ and WURC: iii. Electronic recordkeeping, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 225, 110 USPQ2d 1984 (2014) (creating and maintaining "shadow accounts"); Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 716, 112 USPQ2d at 1755 (updating an activity log) - MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)(iii))
Since the claim as a whole, looking at the additional elements individually and in combination, does not contain any other additional elements that are indicative of integration into a practical application, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
further comprising: generating a comma-separated value file including a physical address associated with each respective cluster of the plurality of clusters and coordinates representing locations of the one or more nodes. (insignificant extra-solution activity – MPEP 2106.05(g), (3) data gathering and outputting; in light of specification [0066] ‘The system applies a nested clustering… and then provides a (".csv") file with the output to be used to correct the GIS databases.’ and WURC: iii. Electronic recordkeeping, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 225, 110 USPQ2d 1984 (2014) (creating and maintaining "shadow accounts"); Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 716, 112 USPQ2d at 1755 (updating an activity log) - MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)(iii))
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination, and the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
Conclusion
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Figures 9 -13 and 15-16 of this application illustrate the main concept the claimed invention. By utilizing DBSCAN algorithm, the invention clusters energy nodes corresponding to the same customer (e.g. a home or a building) within the delimitation data and feeder data, i.e. determining a cluster corresponding to nodes that corresponding to a common customer within delimitation data and feeder data, as claimed.
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A post from gis.stackexchange.com (“https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/284190/python-cluster-points-with-dbscan-keeping-into-account-polygon-boundaries”) may discuss a similar concept, however this post may not be a valid prior art and may teach away from the claimed concept, because the post is about why the python program excludes certain points from the polygon boundaries. Further, these discussions do not explicitly teach the boundaries being the limits of a home (a common customer), nor do they account for feeder data.
Leonard ("Geospatial Clustering and Network Design for Rural Electrification in Africa" 2020) teaches using DBSCAN clustering buildings for rural electrification in Africa, rather than clustering energy nodes that correspond to a common customer. (Leonard, p. 2, II. CLUSTERING RURAL HOMES “Density-Based Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) was found to be well-suited to this task… As ε dictates the minimum distance between buildings for clustering”)
Sumic (US 5329464 A) teaches each cluster is the cluster of lots/polygons, and therefore each cluster does not correspond to nodes that correspond to a common customer as claimed. (Sumic, col. 4 line 16 "After preprocessing, the method of the present invention proceeds to step 36, wherein the lots are grouped into clusters, a cluster being a collection of lots… ")
Joshi ("Density-Based Clustering of Polygons" 2009) teaches using P-DBSCAN to cluster polygons within country and state data. (Joshi, p. 1 “We propose a clustering algorithm P-DBSCAN to cluster polygons in space)
Ramos-Leaños ("Non-Linear Clustering of Distribution Feeders" 20221024) teaches using DBSCAN to cluster feeders, but does not teach those feeders correspond to the same customer within the delimitation data. (Ramos-Leaños, p. 1, abstract “This article proposes a nonlinear clustering methodology to find a handful of representative medium voltage (MV) distribution feeders for DER penetration studies.”)
Independent claims 1 and 12 have been searched with respect to prior art, but no art which anticipates the invention, or no combination of prior art which renders the invention obvious, has been uncovered. Specifically, the limitations in claims 1 and 12
generating a plurality of polygons, each polygon of the plurality of polygons representing a parcel of a plurality of parcels represented within a set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and a set of utility secondary feeder topology data of a feeder;
determining, by application of a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method, a plurality of clusters, each cluster of the plurality of clusters corresponding to one or more nodes that correspond to a common customer represented within the set of municipal parcel geographic information system delimitation data and the set of utility secondary feeder topology data, each node of the one or more nodes including a load node or a distributed energy resource node; and
have not been uncovered.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SU-TING CHUANG whose telephone number is (408)918-7519. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8-5 PT.
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/S.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2146
/USMAAN SAEED/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2146
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