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 .
Status of the Claims
The office action is being examined in response to the amendments filed by the applicant on February 17, 2026.
Claims 3-11 are original.
Claims 2 and 10 were cancelled by applicant.
Claims 1, 7-9, and 11-13 were amended by applicant and are hereby entered.
Claims 1 and 3-9, and 12-13 are pending and have been examined.
This action is made Non-FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 17, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the 35 U5C 101 rejection of the claims have been fully considered, however they are not persuasive. Please see the rejection, below. With regard to the limitations of claims, Applicant argues that the claims are patent eligible under 35 USC 101 because they meet the analysis set forth by the Supreme Court. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims were analyzed using the MPEP and are ineligible under U.S.C. 101. The claims are not eligible under 35 USC 101 because they do not meet the requirements of the test set forth by the Supreme Court. Step 1 is met because the claims are directed towards one of the four statutory categories. Part 2A-Prong1 of the test is trying to evaluate if the claims recite a judicial exception (an abstract idea enumerated in the MPEP, then Part 2A-Prong 2 is to evaluate whether the claims recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application, then Part 2B checks whether they are applied.
The 102 and 103 rejections have been withdrawn due to applicant’s amendments and arguments.
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 and 3-9, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 1 and 3-9, and 12-13 are directed to a system, method, or product, which are one of the statutory categories of invention. (Step 1: YES).
The Examiner has identified independent method Claim 1 as the claim that represents the claimed invention for analysis and is similar to independent apparatus Claim 12 and CRM Claim 13.
Claim 12 recites the limitations of:
comprising: one or more processors;
memory; and
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
determining a required initial state of charge for an electric vehicle for a trip from a first location to a second location, including:
identifying a first path from the first location to the second location, wherein the first path includes one or more intermediate locations between the first location and the second location, the first path is represented by a plurality of nodes, the first location corresponds to a first node representing a starting location for the trip in the plurality of nodes, the second location corresponds to a second node in the
plurality of nodes, and the one or more intermediate locations correspond to one or more intermediate nodes in the plurality of nodes; providing a starting inverted state of charge function that corresponds to a first state of charge at the second node;
propagating the starting inverted state of charge function from the second node to a first intermediate node of the one or more intermediate nodes, wherein the first intermediate node is associated with a first charging function;
generating a first inverted state of charge function based on an inverted first charging function and the propagated starting inverted state of charge function, wherein the inverted first charging function maps a state of charge of the electric vehicle before charging based on the first charging function to a time required to achieve a predetermined state of charge for the electric vehicle after charging based on the first charging function;
generating a starting charge map associated with the first location and the second location based on the starting inverted state of charge function, the propagating of the starting inverted state of charge function from the second node to the first intermediate node, and the generating of the first inverted state of charge function, wherein the starting charge map maps a respective initial state of charge to a recommended feasible path from the first location to the second location based on the respective initial state of charge; and
generating a path from the first location to the second location based on the starting charge map.
These limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of the limitation in the mind. The limitation of determining an appropriate path and stops during traveling to avoid running out of charge, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea. The memory and processor in Claim 12 is just applying generic computer components to the recited abstract limitations. The recitation of generic computer components in a claim does not necessarily preclude that claim from reciting an abstract idea. Claims 1 and 13 are also abstract for similar reasons. (Step 2A-Prong 1: YES. The claims recite an abstract idea)
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the additional elements of: processor and memory (claim 12) and processor and storage medium (Claim 13). The computer hardware/software is/are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination, do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea and are at a high level of generality. Therefore, claims 1 and 12-13 are directed to an abstract idea without a practical application. (Step 2A-Prong 2: NO. The additional claimed elements are not integrated into a practical application)
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when considered separately and as an ordered combination, they do not add significantly more (also known as an “inventive concept”) to the exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a computer hardware amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. See MPEP 2106.05(f) where applying a computer as a tool is not indicative of significantly more as well as MPEP 2106.05(d), if applicable. Accordingly, these additional elements, do not change the outcome of the analysis, when considered separately and as an ordered combination. Thus, claims 1 and 12-13 are not patent eligible. (Step 2B: NO. The claims do not provide significantly more)
Dependent claims further define the abstract idea that is present in their respective independent claims 1 and 12-13 and thus correspond to performance in the mind and hence are abstract for the reasons presented above. The dependent claims do not include any additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception when considered both individually and as an ordered combination. Therefore, the dependent claims are directed to an abstract idea. Thus, the claims 1 and 3-9, and 12-13 are not patent-eligible.
CONCLUSION
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
*Tate (U.S. Pub. No. US 20130024112 A1) is pertinent because it is a navigation system for a vehicle includes a display device and host machine. The host machine communicates with a map database containing information describing a geocoded road network. The network includes nodes each describing a point within the network, with some nodes describing charging waypoints. The host machine executes a method, including recording a destination, determining a remaining state of charge (SOC) of a battery, and calculating a remaining electric vehicle (EV) range of the vehicle using the remaining SOC for every node. The host machine generates a first recommended EV travel route to the destination using a shortest distance or travel time approach when the destination lies within the remaining EV range. The host machine generates a second recommended EV travel route to the destination through a charging waypoint(s) when the destination lies outside of the remaining EV range. The EV route is displayed via the display device.
*Viswanathan (U.S. Pub No. 20210107372 A1) is pertinent because it is a method for the efficient placement of electric vehicle chargers in a target area couples vehicle dynamics and battery dynamics modeling with environmental factors to accurately incorporate the impact that the environment has on the range of the battery into the placement of the chargers by simulating trips of fleets of electric vehicles. The vehicles can be of various types, for example, motorcycles, cars, trucks or aircraft, and will each have their battery state of charge monitored as they traverse a simulated trip through the target area.
*ONOGI (US 20130238230 A1) is pertinent because it is a charge point reachability determination system includes a center device and an in-vehicle device disposed in an electric vehicle. The center device includes road map information that has node information regarding a node. The node information includes a required energy of the electric vehicle for reaching a nearby charge point from the node when the node has at least one nearby charge point. The in-vehicle device generates vehicle information regarding the electric vehicle. When the electric vehicle is positioned close to the node that has the nearby charge point, the system determines, based on the node and vehicle information, the required energy for reaching the node. The system further determines whether the nearby charge point is reachable by the electric vehicle based on a comparison of the required energy determined and a remaining energy of the electric vehicle.
EHARA (US 20230013438 A1) is pertinent because an electric power management system is a system that performs an exchange of electric power with an electric power system of an electric power company that is a counterparty of the exchange of the electric power, and includes a plurality of the vehicles, each including a battery, and a server that manages an exchange of the electric power between the battery of each of the vehicles and the electric power system. The server limits the exchange of the electric power between the electric power system and the battery by an upper limit value or a lower limit value of a state of charge of the battery, and decreases the upper limit value or increases the lower limit value when a period during which the vehicle is continuously parked in a place where the vehicle can exchange the electric power is equal to or longer than a predetermined period.
Konet (US 20160368396 A1) is pertinent because Electric vehicle range prediction may include identifying vehicle transportation network information representing a vehicle transportation network, identifying expected departure temporal information, identifying a route from a first location to a second location in the vehicle transportation network using the vehicle transportation network information, identifying a predicted ambient temperature based on the first location and the expected departure temporal information, identifying vehicle state information for an electric vehicle, identifying an expected efficiency value for the electric vehicle based on the predicted ambient temperature, determining an expected operational range, such that, on a condition that the electric vehicle traverses the vehicle transportation network from the first location to the second location in accordance with the expected departure temporal information and the route, the expected operational range indicates an estimated operational range from the second location, and outputting the expected operational range for presentation at a portable electronic computing and communication device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W ANDERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-0508. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tariq Hafiz can be reached at (571) 272-5350. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Mike Anderson
Supervisor Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3693
/Mike Anderson/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3693