DETAILED ACTION
The present office action is responsive to the applicant’s filling an amendment on 04/01/2026.
The application has claims 1-20 present. Claims 1, 2, 10-12 and 17-20 have been amended. All present claims have been examined.
Previous rejection under 35 USC § 103 have been withdrawn as necessitated by the claim amendments.
This action is made Non-Final.
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 .
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns, paragraphs, figures and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. The entire reference is considered to provide disclosure relating to the claimed invention. The claims & only the claims form the metes & bounds of the invention. Office personnel are to give the claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. Unclaimed limitations appearing in the specification are not read into the claim. Prior art was referenced using terminology familiar to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such an approach is broad in concept and can be either explicit or implicit in meaning. Examiner's Notes are provided with the cited references to assist the applicant to better understand how the examiner interprets the applied prior art. Such comments are entirely consistent with the intent & spirit of compact prosecution.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites a “Method” comprising steps that may be mental process (prong 1). The overall process presented in the claim is determining health of a device on a house or building, based on how much electricity is drawing and comparing it to other data, determine if its healthy or not and provide a recommendation based on the determination. See par. 7-8 of the specification.
Limitations under prong 1:
The specific limitations of
- “determining…usage level of the device” (this is a mental based on observed and collected data).
- “determining a current draw level..” (this is a mental based on observed and collected data).
- “determining…a health status” (this is a mental process comparing available data with the obtained data from the device that is being considered).
- “generating… a recommendation” (this is a mental process based on analyzing the data to reach a conclusion).
Limitations under prong 2:
The limitations of "receiving, …usage data”, is insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception, as mere data gathering (See MPEP 2106.05(g)).
The limitations to include “causing… the recommended usage adjustment to be displayed,” is interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05 (f)).
“generating an alert signal” ,” is interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05 (f)).
Step 2B – not significant more.
Thus, the recited “Method” is an abstract idea in that it is not tied to a particular machine or apparatus and it does not transform a particular article into a different state or thing. Furthermore, the additional element of using a computer as a tool to perform the recited steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the abstract idea using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply a judicial exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept.
Accordingly, the recited method is non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 2 - The elements of the claim: determining, comparing (mental process) and causing display of the recommendation (interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool), further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 3 - The elements of the claim: determining, comparing (mental process) and causing display of the recommendation (interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool), further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 4 - The elements of the claim: aggregating data, creating (mental process) and causing display a usage map (interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool), further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 5 - The elements of the claim: determining an estimated maintenance value (based on data received make estimations Is considered a mental process) further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 6 - The elements of the claim: the recommended usage adjustments (based on data received Is considered a mental process) further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 7 - The elements of the claim: retrieving historical data (is data gathering), determining (mental process) and causing display (interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool) further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 8 - The elements of the claim: generating… the recommendation usage adjustment based on health status and historical data (mental process based on received data) further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 9 - The elements of the claim: wherein the device associated with the structure is at least one of a sump pump or a water heater further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims (mentioning which devices the data or observations are gather from to make determinations). Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 10 - The elements of the claim: generating… s proposed policy adjustment… (mental process based on obtained data) and causing… display (interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool) further describes the abstract idea previously identified in the independent claims. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea and are not patent-eligible.
Claim 11-16 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claims 11-16 and 17-20 are rejected in the same manner as claim 1-10 as they provide the same limitations available on claims 1-10 on a system and tangible machine-readable medium form. As such the claims are rejected along the same rationale.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jurmain et al. (WO2002056039), in view of Kim (US 20160195864), in view of ZIK (US 20120173444).
In regards to claims 1, 11 and 17, Jurmain teaches a computer-implemented method for determining health statuses of devices within a structure, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, usage data corresponding to a device associated with the structure, the usage data including at least electrical consumption data of the device (see page 5 line 22 to page 6 line 12: usage data of device/appliance in a household or building. Page 40 lines 27-30: electrical performance of electrical devices including current drawn. Page 41, line lines 23-28: operation health of devices); determining, by the one or more processors, a usage level of the device based upon the usage data; determining, by the one or more processors utilizing a device health model, a health status of the device based upon the usage level (see page 5 and line 22 to page 6 line 12: usage data of device/appliance in a household or building. Page 40 and lines 27-30: electrical performance of electrical devices including current drawn. Page 41 and line lines 23-28: operation health of devices. Page 66 line 4-22: monitor electrical device against health data and threshold values. Page 71 line 9 to page 72 line: diagnostic technique analyzing the health of an electrical device. Page 61 line 25 to page 62 line 33: determining health status based on comparable data).
Although Jurmain mentions detecting and signaling a need for correction of an electrical device, with data useful in handling correction of the electrical device provided along with the signal (see page 10 lines 13-26), it doesn’t specifically teach generating, by the one or more processors, a recommended usage adjustment for the device based upon the health status; and causing, by the one or more processors, the recommended usage adjustment to be displayed to a user.
Kim teaches generating, by the one or more processors, a recommended usage adjustment for the device based upon the health status; and causing, by the one or more processors, the recommended usage adjustment to be displayed to a user (see para 07, 26, 88, 100-101, 395: using analyzed usage data from a device and providing recommendations related to usage of the device).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use these teaching of Kim to provide usage recommendations to the user to teachings of Jurmain, since doing so would provide means for improving utilization of devices (see para 100).
Jurmain doesn’t specifically teach determining a current draw level of the device while the device is in operation based upon the electrical consumption data of the device, and generating an alert signal indicating the current draw level exceeds a threshold current draw level.
Zik teaches determining a current draw level of the device while the device is in operation based upon the electrical consumption data of the device, and generating an alert signal indicating the current draw level exceeds a threshold current draw level; display alert signal to a user (see 350-351, 376-380: teaches energy and health management of device. Teaches providing visualization of data collected from devices including energy usage information. It further teaches that filters can be placed where when a device energy data is above or below a threshold depending on the desired filter, the data can be sent to the user).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage alert and display of usages when they are over specific thresholds to the teachings of Jurmain for, since doing so allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage and interact with settings associated to the usage (see para 377).
In regards to claims 2, 12 and 18, Jurmain doesn’t specifically teaches wherein determining the usage level of the device further comprises: comparing, by the one or more processors, the current draw level of the device with a threshold current draw level; responsive to determining that the current draw level exceeds the threshold current draw level, generating, by the one or more processors, an alert signal indicating that the current draw level exceeds the threshold current draw level; and causing, by the one or more processors, the alert signal to be displayed to the user.
Zik teaches wherein determining the usage level of the device further comprises: comparing, by the one or more processors, the current draw level of the device with the threshold current draw level; and responsive to determining that the current draw level exceeds the threshold current draw level, generating, by the one or more processors, the alert signal indicating that the current draw level exceeds the threshold current draw level (see 350-351, 376-380: teaches energy and health management of device. Teaches providing visualization of data collected from devices including energy usage information. It further teaches that filters can be placed where when a device energy data is above or below a threshold depending on the desired filter, the data can be sent to the user).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage alert and display of usages when they are over specific thresholds to the teachings of Jurmain for, since doing so allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage and interact with settings associated to the usage (see para 377).
Although Jurmain mentions detecting and signaling a need for correction of an electrical device, with data useful in handling correction of the electrical device provided along with the signal (see page 10 lines 13-26), it doesn’t specifically teach causing, the recommended usage adjustment to be displayed to the user.
Kim teaches causing, the recommended usage adjustment to be displayed to the user (see para 07, 26, 88, 100-101, 395: using analyzed usage data from a device and providing recommendations related to usage of the device).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use these teaching of Kim to provide usage recommendations to the user to teachings of Jurmain, since doing so would provide means for improving utilization of devices (see para 100).
In regards to claims 3, 13 and 19, Jurmain teaches further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, a health difference value between the health status of the device and a prior health status of the device; comparing, by the one or more processors, the health difference value to a threshold health difference value; responsive to determining that the health difference value exceeds the threshold health difference value, determining, by the one or more processors, a cause of the health difference value; and causing, by the one or more processors, the cause of the health difference value to be displayed to the user (see page 46, line 3-23, page 61 line 25 to page 62 line 26: use of previous values obtained from the very electrical device from which the value was obtained. Page 43 lines 23-26, Page 66 line 4-22 and Page 76 line 22 to page 77 line 5: monitor electrical device against health data and threshold values. Teaches after analyzing the health data of the device from different times, the system can determine health status and provide signal to the user).
Although Jurmain mentions detecting and signaling a need for correction of an electrical device, with data useful in handling correction of the electrical device provided along with the signal (see page 10 lines 13-26), it doesn’t specifically teach causing, the recommended usage adjustment, to be displayed to the user.
Kim teaches causing, the recommended usage adjustment, to be displayed to the user (see para 07, 26, 88, 100-101, 395: using analyzed usage data from a device and providing recommendations related to usage of the device).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use these teaching of Kim to provide usage recommendations to the user to teachings of Jurmain, since doing so would provide means for improving utilization of devices (see para 100).
In regards to claims 6 and 15, Jurmain teaches wherein the recommended usage adjustment includes at least one of: (i) a device setting recommendation, (ii) a replacement device recommendation, (iii) a structure adjustment recommendation, or (iv) a location recommendation (see Page 62 lines 20-26: “handling correction of the electrical device, such as (i) repair data specific to the electrical device and/or the predicted type of impairment, (ii) warranty data for the electrical device and/or electrical
appliance, and/or (iii) purchasing information for replacement electrical devices. Such
25 additional correction assistance data may be correlated in a database to the electrical
appliance, electrical device, and/or a predicted reason for the impairment as appropriate”).
In regards to claims 9, Jurmain teaches wherein the device associated with the structure is at least one of a sump pump or a water heater (see page 40 lines 14-22: sum pump, water heaters).
In regards to claims 4, 14 and 20, Jurmain teaches wherein receiving the usage data further comprises: aggregating, by the one or more processors, usage data from a plurality of devices in a plurality of structures within a region including the structure (see at least Page 18 Lines 9-27, Page 73 line 25 to page 74 lines 7: teaches geographical region statistical data).
Although Jurmain teaches geographical statistical data associated to devices, it does not specifically teach creating, by the one or more processors, a regional usage map that represents the usage data in the region; and causing, by the one or more processors, the regional usage map to be displayed to the user.
ZIK teaches creating, by the one or more processors, a regional usage map that represents the usage data in the region; and causing, by the one or more processors, the regional usage map to be displayed to the user (see at least para 376-377, 482: teaches providing regional maps displayed to the user associated to power usage).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage maps to the teachings of Jurmain for providing regional statistical data to user, since doing so would enhanced the visual aspect and organization for the provided data and allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage and interact with settings associated to the usage (see para 377).
In regards to claim 5, although Jurmain teaches geographical statistical data associated to devices and usage data, it does not specifically teach further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, an estimated maintenance value corresponding to the device based upon the usage data from the plurality of devices.
ZIK teaches further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, an estimated maintenance value corresponding to the device based upon the usage data from the plurality of devices (see at least para 376-377, 482: teaches providing regional maps displayed to the user associated to power usage which provide data indicating energy usage, monetary costs).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage maps which provide data indicating the energy usage, monetary cost to the teachings of Jurmain for providing regional statistical data to user, since doing so would enhanced the visual aspect and provide data and allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage which can allow the user to take actions in response to the provided data (see para 376-377).
In regards to claims 7 and 16, although Jurmain teaches geographical statistical data associated to devices and usage data(see at least para 376-377, 482: teaches providing regional maps displayed to the user associated to power usage), it doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: retrieving, by the one or more processors, historical usage data for a plurality of devices in a plurality of regions including a region that includes the structure, the historical usage data including at least electrical consumption data for the plurality of devices; determining, by the one or more processors, one or more zones within the plurality of regions based upon the historical usage data; and causing, by the one or more processors, the one or more zones to be displayed to the user.
ZIK teaches further comprising: retrieving, by the one or more processors, historical usage data for a plurality of devices in a plurality of regions including a region that includes the structure, the historical usage data including at least electrical consumption data for the plurality of devices; determining, by the one or more processors, one or more zones within the plurality of regions based upon the historical usage data; and causing, by the one or more processors, the one or more zones to be displayed to the user (see at least para 184, 375-377, 482: teaches providing regional maps displayed to the user associated to power usage which provide data indicating energy usage, monetary costs. The data compiled can be provided and accessed for different period of times – historic data).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage maps which provide data indicating historic data, the energy usage, monetary cost to the teachings of Jurmain for providing regional statistical data to user, since doing so would enhanced the visual aspect and provide data and allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage which can allow the user to easily understand the statistical data of the desired region or area and allows the ser to take actions in response to the provided data (see para 375-377).
In regards to claim 8, although Jurmain mentions detecting and signaling a need for correction of an electrical device, with data useful in handling correction of the electrical device provided along with the signal (see page 10 lines 13-26), it doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: generating, by the one or more processors, the recommended usage adjustment for the device based upon the health status.
Kim teaches causing, the recommended usage adjustment, to be displayed to the use further comprising: generating, by the one or more processors, the recommended usage adjustment for the device based upon the health status (see para 07, 26, 88, 100-101, 395: using analyzed usage data from a device and providing recommendations related to usage of the device).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use these teaching of Kim to provide usage recommendations to the user to teachings of Jurmain, since doing so would provide means for improving utilization of devices (see para 100).
Jurmain doesn’t specifically teach generating, the recommendation, based upon the historical usage data of a zone that includes the structure.
ZIK teaches generating, the recommendation, based upon the historical usage data of a zone that includes the structure (see at least para 184, 375-377, 482: teaches providing regional maps displayed to the user associated to power usage which provide data indicating energy usage, monetary costs. The data compiled can be provided and accessed for different period of times – historic data).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of ZIK to provide usage maps for regions for a user’s which provide data indicating historic data, the energy usage, monetary cost to the teachings of Jurmain for providing regional statistical data to user, since doing so would enhanced the visual aspect and provide data and allow the user to interact and obtain desired data associated device usage which can allow the user to easily understand the statistical data of the desired region or area and allows the ser to take actions in response to the provided data (see para 375-377).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jurmain et al. (WO2002056039), in view of Kim (US 20160195864), and Zik (US 20120173444), as applied to claims above, and further in view of Alpert et al. (US 20230031805).
In regards to claim 10, Jurmain doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: generating, by the one or more processors, a proposed policy term adjustment corresponding to the structure based on the health status of the device; and causing, by the one or more processors, the proposed policy term adjustment to be displayed to the user.
Alpert teaches further comprising: generating, by the one or more processors, a proposed policy term adjustment corresponding to the structure based on the health status of the device; and causing, by the one or more processors, the proposed policy term adjustment to be displayed to the user (see para 22, 33: generating changes or adjustments to policy associated to data for power consumption).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Alpert for policy adjustment to the teachings of Jurmain for providing regional statistical data to user, since doing so would allow to manage power policy (see para 22).
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments in regards to the USC 101 rejection have been considered but are not persuasive. As provided by the claim language, the process presented is for determining health of a device on a house or building. Based on how much electricity is drawing, this information is compared to other data and thresholds, determine if its healthy or not and provide a recommendation based on the determination. The claim language as provided takes data, makes determinations and send or displays recommendation and an alert. This is considered a mental process and the limitations for display of information or an alert is interpreted as merely using instructions or a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05 (f)). Besides providing the information to a user the language doesn’t provide any limitation that produces any change or transformation done with the data obtained. As such the claims are interpreted under 101 Alice as mental process with the use of a computing device to perform the abstract idea.
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the current draw level signaling have been fully considered and are persuasive as discussed during the interview. However, after further consideration Zik teaches the limitations as provided. Zik teaches device usage management and determining energy information for device including current data. Additionally, it provides integrating filters that would display to the user when a device has gone over or under a specific threshold. See rejection above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIO M VELEZ-LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7971. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10:30am-5:30pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARIO M VELEZ-LOPEZ/
Examiner, Art Unit 2118
/SCOTT T BADERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2118
Prosecution Insights