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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 2, 12, and 13 are amended
Claims 1-5 and 7-13 are now pending
The rejection under 35 USC 101 is maintained.
Response to Applicant Remarks
Applicant’s well-articulated remarks have been considered but are unpersuasive for the reasons below.
Regarding the rejection under 35 USC 101, Applicant argues that the interaction of the management device and recording device are patent eligible. (Applicant’s 11/25/25 remarks, p.9). The examiner respectfully disagrees.
Although the claim recites these hardware elements, there is no affirmative interaction between them. That is, the management device operates on data describing the state of the recording device, but there is no technological link between them. Accordingly, the invention appears to be using a generic computing device to process data, which is generally not eligible. (MPEP 2106, “In contrast, claims do recite a mental process when they contain limitations that can practically be performed in the human mind, including for example, observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions. Examples of claims that recite mental processes include:
• a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016);”)
Applicant’s amendments are addressed by the newly cited art.
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.
Claims 1-5,7-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. Regarding the independent claims 1,12,13, the claimed invention recites an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite the abstract idea of managing inventory which is a mental process. Other than reciting devices nothing in the claims precludes the steps from being performed mentally. But for the devices the limitations on manage provision of recording material, manage stock or recording material associated with expiry date, provide recording material and expiry date, determine unused recording material unused for a first period is held by users, set collection recommendation flag, manage data indicating usage amount in the recording device, calculate amount based on droplet diameter and number of ejections is a process that under its broadest reasonable interpretation could be performed by mentally but for the recitation of generic computer elements. If claim limitations, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Further the above limitations related to managing inventory stripped of the identified additional and insignificant elements could also be considered a “Method of Organizing Human Activity” relating to the managing human behavior and interactions (a fundamental economic practice). Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea.
The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The computers are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. The additional element(s) does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer environment is not a practical application of the abstract idea and does not take the claim out of the mental process or method of organizing human activity grouping.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above, with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of devices amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using generic computer components cannot provide an inventive concept. Collecting, analyzing and displaying information, and receiving and transmitting over a network are conventional in the computing arts. (MPEP 2106.05h; See also MPEP 2106.05, Alice v. CLS, “. Nearly every computer will include a ‘communications controller’ and ‘data storage unit’ capable of performing the basic calculation, storage, and transmission functions required by the method claims.”).] The claims are not patent eligible.
Regarding the dependent claims, these claims are directed to limitations which serve to limit the inventory management steps. The subject matter of claims 2 (provide recording material based on usage data and vendor stock), 3 (update user stock on delivery completion), 4 (determine transportation condition for vendor stock or recording material), 5 (determine transportation condition of vendor stock of recording medium), 7 (determine second user to be provided with unused recording material), 8 (determine price of unused recording material for second user), 9 (specify second user based on location data), 10 (set collection flag for priority recording material), 11 (specify second user to be provided with priority recording material) appear to add additional steps to the abstract idea, implemented by generic computers. These claims neither introduce a new abstract idea nor additional limitations which are significantly more than an abstract idea. They provide descriptive details that offer helpful context, but have no impact on statutory subject matter eligibility.
Therefore the limitations on the invention, when viewed individually and in ordered combination are directed to in-eligible subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5,7,12,13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tani 20020059106 in view of Asauchi 20020091585 in view of Slater 20160180031 in view of Verkouteren, “Inkjet Metrology: High-Accuracy Mass Measurements of Microdroplets Produced by a Drop-on-Demand Dispenser”, 2009, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac901563j
Regarding Claim 1,
a recording device configured to perform recording by applying a recording material to a medium; and
a management device configured to manage provision of the recording material to one or a plurality of users that use the recording device, wherein
Tani is directed to a system for providing consumable goods for a printing machine. (Tani, abstract; para 0016-17, “ [0016] Furthermore, the present invention can quickly and efficiently provide the consumable goods, since the consumable goods providing system comprises: a printer supervisory server that, upon obtaining information of a printer situation from a network printer, prepares and transmits an electronic filing document associated with the above printer based on the information; and the server on the consumable goods providing side that receives the electronic filing document transmitted from this printer supervisory server to analyze contents of the electronic filing document, and that if the above analyzed contents are related to the consumption of the consumable goods at the printer, conducts an arrangement process of the above consumable goods.
[0017] In addition, the present invention can quickly and efficiently conduct a maintenance of the printer in addition to the provision of the consumable goods, since, in the above-mentioned consumable goods providing system, in the information of the printer situation is included information of a serviceman call error at the printer, the server on the consumable goods providing side correspondingly stores the printer and a service station that is located near it, and in case that the analyzed contents are the serviceman call error, transmits a request of a maintenance of the printer to a terminal apparatus managing the service station that is located near the above printer.”)
the management device manages user stock data and vendor stock data, the user stock data being data in which a stock of the recording material held by the one or the plurality of users…
and the vendor stock data being data in which a stock of the recording material held by a vendor providing the recording material to the one or the plurality of users
(Tani, para 0052, “[0052] Accordingly, in case that the customer's toner (consumable goods) has become to be in the toner near end, the suitable substitute recycling consumable goods are to be prepared from the inventory, and with regard to the cartridge of which toner became to be in the toner near end, the same type of the cartridge (product with the equivalent level) with the number that is the recyclable number minus one (1) is to be selected to provide it to the customer.”)
Wherein the management device manages the user stock data for each of the plurality of users is managed,
(Tani, para 0111-12, “[0111] For this end, it is necessary that the standalone 20 registers users to the consumable goods seller's server 4' in advance, and builds in with a download, a CD-ROM, or the like a program for an automatic electronic mail preparation and transmission.
[0112] As the user registration, in addition to the mail address, are set a name of a printer, a production number, how and where the consumable goods are received, and so forth. For example, in case that the reception site of the consumable goods is set to be a convenient store, it is to be pre-determined that at which store in which area the consumable goods are received.”)
the management device manages usage amount data indicating a usage amount of the recording material in the recording device and
(Tani, abstract, “The consumable goods providing system in which use information associated with a printing machine connected to a LAN is stored in a file via a server that manages it, and a server on a consumable goods providing side obtains the use information within the file via a internet…”)
Tani does not explicitly dislose
is associated with a usage expiry date of the recording material,
… is associated with a usage expiry date of the recording material, and
Asauchi is directed to a system for refilling and recycling printer ink. (Asauchi, abstract). Asauchi discloses that the system tracks expiration date of printer ink. (Asauchi, para 0053, “[0053] FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the steps in an ink supply process according to a first embodiment of the invention. In Step S1101, CPU 41 detects an out-of-ink condition. The ink supply process may be initiated when an out-of-ink condition is detected, but is not limited thereto; it may be initiated when the expiration date of the ink has passed, or initiated under user control. An out-of-ink condition refers herein to one in which the amount of ink consumed for any of the ink tanks 117F (not shown) in ink cartridge 107F exceeds a remaining ink amount stored in memory, for example. The amount of ink consumption is measured by printer 20.”)
when the vendor provides the recording material to the one or the plurality of users, the management device determines, based on the vendor stock data and the user stock data, the recording material of which usage expiry date is to be provided from among the stock of the recording material held by the vendor.
Asauchi discloses that the vendor may supply ink for a printer and recordation of an updated expiration date. (Asauchi, para 0150, “[0150] In Step S503 information relating to ink supply is written to memory 180F. As with the ink fill-up process, this information includes remaining ink amounts after fill-up, and updated number of fill-ups/refills/substitutions, but in contrast thereto, the ink expiration date is updated as well. Subsequent processes are the same as with ink fill-up.”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine Tani with the ink expiration of Asauchi with the motivation of replacing expired ink. (Asauchi, para 0053)
Tani does not explicity disclose
the management device determines, based on the user stock data of each of the plurality of users, whether an unused recording material is present in the stock of the recording material held by each of the plurality of users, the unused recording material being the recording material remaining unused for a first period or longer from a start of holding of the recording material, and
in a case in which it is determined that the unused recording material is present in the stock of the recording material held by a first user of the plurality of users, when a period until a usage expiry date of the unused recording material is less than a first threshold value, the management device sets a collection recommendation flag to the unused recording material in the user stock data of the first user, the collection recommendation flag indicating the recording material recommended for collection.
Slater is directed to a system for managing pharmaceutical samples. (Slater, abstract). Slater discloses monitoring threshold expiration date of pharmaceuticals. (Slater, para 0028, “[0028] Based on the inventory, the server 112 is configured to determine which of the stored pharmaceutical samples are nearing their expiration dates. It is defined herein that a pharmaceutical sample is nearing its expiration date when an expiration date of the pharmaceutical samples is within a threshold time period. The threshold time period may be set by any of the authorized users 130, 140, 150, to be within as small as a week to as large as few months. In one embodiment, the threshold time period is set to be within two months.”). Slater discloses that pharmaceuticals close to expiration could be identified and retrieved by a vendor for redistribution to another organization. (Slater, para 0030, “[0030] In one embodiment, the notification is sent automatically to a pharmaceutical manufacturer that has manufactured at least one of the expiring pharmaceutical samples. This allows the pharmaceutical manufacturer to retrieve the expiring pharmaceutical samples for a termination and/or redistribution. In another embodiment, the notification automatically is sent to a HCP of a HCP facility in which at least one of the expiring pharmaceutical samples is stored. This allows the HCP 130 to be aware of the expiring pharmaceutical sample and act accordingly. In yet another embodiment, the notification is sent automatically to a charity organization that is in an immediate need of the expiring pharmaceutical sample. This allows the expiring pharmaceutical sample to be redistributed to the charity organization.”). Although Slater is directed towards managing an inventory of pharmaceuticals, the examiner respectfully suggests that the teaching of slater could be applied to any type of expiring inventory with predictably similar results. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine Tani and Asauchi with the redistribution of Slater with the motivation of preventing waste. Id.
Tani does not explicitly disclose
the management device calculates the usage amount data based on a droplet diameter and a number of ejections determined by print data
Verkouteren is an article disclosing techniques to measure ink droplets. (Verkouteren, abstract). Verkouteren discloses the amount of ink used may be determined based on measuring drop diameter and counting drops. (Verkouteren, p.8582, “Figure 5. Nearly ten thousand droplets were individually imaged by a high-speed video camera, and diameters of 250 selected droplets were determined by image analysis. Diameters (and derived masses) are plotted for the following sequences: droplets 1 to 100, droplets 500 to 529, droplets 1000 to 1029, droplets 2000 to 2029, droplets 5000 to 5030, and droplets 8800 to 8829. Imprecision of any single measurement is represented by the 2σ error bar placed near the data for the first droplet. Variation in the mean diameter of droplet numbers 10 through 8829 is approximated by the thickness of a horizontal grid line.”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine Tani, Asauchi and Slater with the droplet measurement of Verkouteren with the motivation of assuring ink jet quality. Id.
Regarding Claim 2, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 1.
wherein the management device manages usage amount data indicating a usage amount of the recording material in the recording device and
in a case in which the vendor provides the recording material to the one or the plurality of users, when determining the recording material of which usage expiry date is to be provided from among the stock of the recording material held by the vendor,
(Tani, para 0030, “[0030] The printing machine 1 notifies the server 3 via the LAN of use amount information of the consumable goods such as the toner and so forth. Herein, as use amount information, there are a toner near end that informs that the toner will be used up soon, a toner empty that informs that the toner has been used up, and so forth.”)
the management device makes the determination based on the usage amount data in addition to the vendor stock data and the user stock data.
(Tani, para 0059, “[0059] In case of the recycling member (in case of Yes), the server 4 inquires for the inventory information as to whether or not the inventory of the product (product with the equivalent level) is present that has been recycled times of the equivalent number to the cartridge that the recycling member possesses (S14).”)
Regarding Claim 3, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 1.
wherein the management device updates the user stock data when delivery completion information … the delivery completion information indicating that delivery of the recording material to the one or the plurality of users is completed.
(Tani, para 0077, “[0077] According to the agreement between the customer and the consumable goods seller, this inventory situation is disclosed in the file for specific customers by a customer accessing, and the customer can refer the recycling situation of the consumable goods, the scheduled delivery date, the past order, and the reception record from this disclosed contents.”)
Tani does not explicitly disclose
is received from a deliverer delivering the recording material to the one or the plurality of users,
Asauchi discloses that the function of ink delivery could be performed by a delivery courier. (Asauchi, para 0089, “[0089] In Step S1107, a new ink cartridge supply process is performed. This is accomplished, in the case of courier delivery as described above, for example, by retrieving the ink cartridge 107F that at the time of ordering was scheduled to be returned, along with the money. The case of ink supply will be described later. The expendable container recycler need not necessarily by the new cartridge vendor; any recycling facility will suffice.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine Tani, Verkouteren and Slater with the ink delivery of Asauchi with the motivation of selling ink. Id.
Regarding Claim 4, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 3.
wherein the management device determines a transportation condition to be used when the deliverer delivers the recording material, and assigns to the vendor stock data an identifier indicating the determined transportation condition, in association with data indicating the recording material to be delivered.
Tani discloses recordation of status of deliverables. (Tani, para 0077, “[0077] According to the agreement between the customer and the consumable goods seller, this inventory situation is disclosed in the file for specific customers by a customer accessing, and the customer can refer the recycling situation of the consumable goods, the scheduled delivery date, the past order, and the reception record from this disclosed contents.”)
Regarding Claim 5, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 1.
wherein the management device determines a transportation condition to be used when a deliverer delivering the recording material to the one or the plurality of users delivers the recording medium, and assigns to the vendor stock data an identifier indicating the determined transportation condition, in association with data indicating the recording material to be delivered.
Tani discloses recordation of status of deliverables. (Tani, para 0096, [0096] The consumable goods seller's server 4' receives with the electronic mail not only the toner information but also the other information such as a paper shortage, a paper clogging, a serviceman call error and so forth. In case of the paper shortage, the consumable goods seller's server 4'conducts a forwarding process of the paper on the premise that the order of the paper has been placed by this electronic mail.”). Tani discloses that a deliverable could be a recording medium (paper). (Tani, para 0077, “[0077] According to the agreement between the customer and the consumable goods seller, this inventory situation is disclosed in the file for specific customers by a customer accessing, and the customer can refer the recycling situation of the consumable goods, the scheduled delivery date, the past order, and the reception record from this disclosed contents.”)
Regarding Claim 7, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 6.
when the collection recommendation flag is set to the unused recording material held by the first user, the management device specifies, based on the user stock data and the usage amount data, a second user, of the plurality of users, to be provided with the unused recording material to which the collection recommendation flag is set, the second user being different from the first user.
See prior art rejection of claim 1 regarding Slater
Regarding Claims 12,13
See prior art rejection of claim 1
Claims 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tani 20020059106 in view of Asauchi 20020091585 in view of Slater in view of Verkouteren in view of Halbe, “Inventory Rebalancing through Lateral Transshipments”, 2013,
https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/142952/SCM35_Halbe_Je_Inventory_Rebalancing_Through_Lateral_Transshipments.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Regarding Claim 9, Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren disclose the system of claim 7.
Tani does not explicitly disclose
wherein the management device manages location data indicating a location of each of the plurality of users and when specifying the second user, the management device specifies the second user based on the location data in addition to the user stock data and the usage amount data.
Halbe is an academic paper discussing optimizing a company’s inventory across different locations by reallocating inventory. (Halbe, abstract, “To optimize the inventory position across the company’s distribution network, this study has explored lateral transshipment, a practice of repositioning inventory between same echelon distribution centers.”). Halbe discloses that a consideration in transshipping inventory to different entities is the transport cost based on location between entities. (Halbe, p.24, “Critical information that was not included in the company-provided datasets are the distance matrix and transportation cost since there were no established routes between multiple tier-nodes. Our project requires distance information and transportation cost for approximately 1,600 transportation lanes. The distance information was acquired using a two-step approach. First, we acquired address and geocode information using Google maps and then fed the location data into Llamasoft’s Supply Chain Guru X to calculate the distance matrix, which considers the circuity factor. For the transportation cost, external data will be sourced. We considered options such as i) acquiring aggregate level transportation cost modeling data from research papers, ii) getting input from BSC’s transportation team, or iii) using cost estimation tools provided by major parcel delivery service companies such as UPS. We opted for acquiring the transportation cost from UPS CTC (Calculate Time and Cost) tool, mainly due to accessibility.”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine Tani, Asauchi, Slater and Verkouteren with the location data of Halbe with the motivation of evaluating transportation cost. Id.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8,10,11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims and the rejection under 35 USC 101 is overcome.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN C CHEIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7985. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am -5pm.
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/ALLEN C CHEIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627