DETAILED ACTION
This office action is made final. Claims 33-34 and 36-45 are pending. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Applicant’s amendment date 01/05/2026, amended claims 33-34 & 36-37; newly claims added 40-45.
Response to Amendment
The previously pending rejection to claims 33-34 and 36-39, under 35 USC 101 (Alice), will be maintained.
Applicant’s arguments received on date 01/05/2026 have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive. Moreover, any new grounds of rejection have been necessitated by Applicant's amendments to the claims.
Response to Arguments under 35 USC 101:
Applicant asserts that “Claim 33 sets forth patent eligible subject matter, as "the claim itself reflects the disclosed improvement[s]" in the specification. See Desjardins, p. 8. Independent claim 37 is similarly statutory.” Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Unlike claim in Desjardins, the pending claims recite a series of abstract elements employed to perform a non-technical, business process. The additional elements of claims 33 and 37 are limited to a machine learning algorithm, robotic devices, interface circuitry, machine-readable instructions, a processor circuit, one non-transitory machine-readable medium, node devices, and a network and a limitation for accessing data, the combination of additional elements neither integrates the abstract elements into a practical application nor amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea.
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 33-34 and 36-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Specifically, claims 33-34 and 36-45 are directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea.
With respect to Step 2A Prong One of the framework, claims 33 and 37 recite an abstract idea. Claims 33 and 37 include “generate a first sample size audit based on a first quantity of data sources at a first time, the first sample size audit; the first sample size audit instruction to capture first data associated with a first sample size corresponding to the first quantity of data sources; access the first data received in the first set; determine, based on the first data, that a second quantity of data sources are available, the second quantity different than the first quantity; determine that a difference between the first quantity of the data sources and the second quantity of the data sources satisfies a threshold; generate a second sample size audit instruction based on the difference satisfying the threshold, the second sample size audit instruction corresponding to a second sample size, the second sample size based on (a) a target error margin, (b) a z-value of items in a population distribution of the second quantity of the data sources, and ( c) a standard deviation of the population distribution; and execute the second sample size audit instruction to capture second data associated with the second quantity of the data sources the second quantity of the data sources having the second sample size”.
The limitations above recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. More particularly, the elements above recite mental processes-concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion) and certain methods of organizing human activity-managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) because the elements describe a process for collecting market research data. As a result, claims 33 and 37 recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One.
Claims 34, 36, and 38-45 further describe the process for collecting market research data. As a result, claims 34, 36, and 38-45 recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One for the same reasons as stated above with respect to claims 33 and 37.
With respect to Step 2A Prong Two of the framework, claims 33 and 37 do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Claims 33 and 37 include additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements of claims 33 and 37 include a machine learning algorithm, robotic devices, interface circuitry, machine-readable instructions, a processor circuit, one non-transitory machine-readable medium, node devices, and a network. When considered in view of the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because the additional computing elements are generic computing elements that are merely used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea. As a result, claims 33 and 37 do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two.
Claims 40-41 do not include any additional elements beyond those recited with respect to claims 33 and 37. As a result, claims 40-41 do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two for the same reasons as stated above with respect to claims 33 and 37.
Claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 include additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements of claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 include a machine learning algorithm, robotic devices, a processor circuit, node devices, and robotic data collector. When considered in view of the claims as a whole, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because the additional computing elements do no more than generally link the use of the recited abstract idea to a particular technological environment. As a result, claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two.
With respect to Step 2B of the framework, claims 33 and 37 do not include additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. As noted above, claim 33 includes additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements of claims 33 and 37 include a machine learning algorithm, robotic devices, interface circuitry, machine-readable instructions, a processor circuit, one non-transitory machine-readable medium, node devices, and a network. The additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea because the additional computing elements are generic computing elements that are merely used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea. Further, looking at the additional elements as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when considering the additional elements individually. As a result, independent claims 33 and 37 do not include additional elements that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea under Step 2B.
Claims 40-41 do not include any additional elements beyond those recited with respect to claims 33 and 37. As a result, claims 40-41 do not include additional elements that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea under Step 2B for the same reasons as stated above with respect to claims 33 and 37.
Claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 include additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements of claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 include a machine learning algorithm, robotic devices, a processor circuit, node devices, and robotic data collector. The additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea because the additional computing elements do no more than generally link the use of the recited abstract idea to a particular technological environment. Further, looking at the additional elements as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when considering the additional elements individually. As a result, claims 34, 36, 38-39, and 42-45 do not include additional elements that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea under Step 2B.
Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, claims 33-34 and 36-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAFIZ KASSIM whose telephone number is (571)272-8534. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri (8am - 5pm) EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rutao Wu can be reached on (571) 272-6045. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAFIZ A KASSIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3623 03/02/2026