DETAILED ACTION
The following is an initial Office Action upon examination of the above-identified application on the merits. Claims 1-5 are pending in this application
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The examiner has considered the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 27 November 2024 and 7 December 2023.
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 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. The claim(s) recite(s), in part, receiving an electric power feed request for a vehicle from a user terminal; determining an installer to perform installation work of a charger for electric power feed, from the electric power feed request, and transmitting installation work information indicating at least a charging location and an installation time to an installer terminal; and determining, from the electric power feed request, a retriever to perform retrieval work of the charger, and transmitting retrieval work information indicating at least the charging location and a retrieval time to a retriever terminal. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because claims are directed to abstract ideas of . The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because claims are directed to abstract ideas and extra-solution activities that do not have a physical or tangible form, such as mere data gathering, insignificant application, and/or mere instructions to apply a judicial exception.
The following is an analysis based on 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (2019 PEG).
Step 1, Statutory Category?
Claims 1-5 are directed to an information processing method performed by an information processing device.
Claims 1-5 are directed to at least one of the four statutory categories.
Step 2A, Prong One, Judicial Exception Recited?
Claims 1-5 are directed to abstract ideas of concepts performed in the human mind (mental process -- receiving an electric power feed request for a vehicle from a user terminal; determining an installer to perform installation work of a charger for electric power feed, from the electric power feed request; and determining, from the electric power feed request, a retriever to perform retrieval work of the charger) given the broadest reasonable interpretation.
As per claim 1, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “receiving an electric power feed request for a vehicle from a user terminal; determining an installer to perform installation work of a charger for electric power feed, from the electric power feed request; and determining, from the electric power feed request, a retriever to perform retrieval work of the charger) given the broadest reasonable interpretation.” As drafted, these limitations encompass concepts performed in the human mind. Examples of mental processes include observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions.
As per claim 2, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “receiving information indicating a chargeable period from the user terminal; extracting, from a storage unit, one or more installers that can perform the installation work during the chargeable period; and extracting, from the storage unit, one or more retrievers that can perform the retrieval work during the chargeable period.” As drafted, these limitations encompass concepts performed in the human mind. Examples of mental processes include observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions.
As per claim 3, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “monitoring the charger that is portable, using at least one of location information of the charger, communication information of the charger, and a captured image of the charger captured by a camera.” As drafted, these limitations encompass concepts performed in the human mind. Examples of mental processes include observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions.
Claims 4 and 5 further elaborate upon the recited abstract ideas in claim 1.
Claims 1-5 are directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. Claim(s) 1-5 are directed to abstract ideas (concepts performed in the human mind).
Step 2A, Prong Two, Integrated into a Practical Application?
The claims recite the following additional limitations:
As per claim 1, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “a user terminal, an installer terminal, and a retriever terminal.”
As per claim 2, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “the user terminal and a storage unit.”
As per claim 3, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “a terminal installed at a charging station.”
As per claim 4, this claim similarly recites the limitation of “the user terminal.”
As per claim 5, this claim similarly recites the limitations of “the installer terminal and the retriever terminal.”
As drafted, these limitations encompass no more than merely using a terminal as a tool to perform an abstract idea. Claims that amount to nothing more than merely using a terminal as a tool to perform an abstract idea do not render an abstract idea eligible. Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a fundamental economic practice or mathematical equation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
The additional elements recite merely using a terminal as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do not provide integration into a practical application because they do no more than merely invoke terminals or machinery as tools to perform an existing process. The additional claim limitations, claim elements together and claims in their entirety do not provide integration into a practical application. The additional claim limitations, claim elements together and claims in their entirety do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide an inventive concept (significantly more than the abstract idea). The concept described in the claim(s) is not meaningfully different than those concepts found by the courts to be abstract ideas. As such, the description in the claims describes the concept identified as an abstract idea (data gathering, data outputting and data transmission). The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they do not integrate the exception into a practical application of the exception.
Claims 1-5 do not integrate the recited abstract ideas into a practical application.
Step 2B, Inventive Concept (Significantly More)?
When considered both individually and as an ordered combination, the additional elements and elements of claims 1-5 do not amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reasons discussed above as to why the additional limitations do not integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application. The additional elements of outlined in Step 2A performing functions as designed simply accomplish execution of the abstract ideas. The additional limitations identified as no more than merely using a terminal as a tool to perform an abstract idea above are carried over and they also do not provide significantly more.
As per claims 1-5, these claims similarly recite the limitations of “receiving an electric power feed request for a vehicle from a user terminal; determining an installer to perform installation work of a charger for electric power feed, from the electric power feed request, and transmitting installation work information indicating at least a charging location and an installation time to an installer terminal; and determining, from the electric power feed request, a retriever to perform retrieval work of the charger, and transmitting retrieval work information indicating at least the charging location and a retrieval time to a retriever terminal.” As drafted, these limitations encompass no more than merely using a terminal as a tool to perform an abstract idea. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Considering the additional elements individually and in combination and the claims as a whole, the additional elements do not provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Hence, the claims are not patent eligible.
Claims 1-5 are therefore drawn to ineligible subject matter as they are directed to abstract ideas without significantly more.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by JP 2022-152896 A to KOJI reference.
As per claim 1, the KOJI reference discloses an information processing method performed by an information processing device, the information processing method comprising: receiving an electric power feed request (see page 3, “reservation information”) for a vehicle (see page 2, “rental car 40”) from a user terminal (see page 3, “terminal 31”); determining an installer to perform installation work (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) of a charger (see page 2, “charger 2”) for electric power feed (“electric power”), from the electric power feed request (“reservation information”), and transmitting installation work information (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) indicating at least a charging location (“installation location”) and an installation time (see page 4, “charge start command”) to an installer terminal (“terminal 32, terminal 33”); and determining, from the electric power feed request (“reservation information”), a retriever to perform retrieval work (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) of the charger (“charger 2”), and transmitting retrieval work information (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) indicating at least the charging location (“installation location”) and a retrieval time (see page 5, “full charge time”) to a retriever terminal (“terminal 32, terminal 33”).
As per claim 2, the KOJI reference discloses receiving information indicating a chargeable period (see page 6, “charging time”) from the user terminal (“terminal 31”); extracting, from a storage unit (see page 3, “DB 42, administrator map”), one or more installers that can perform the installation work information (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) during the chargeable period (“charging time”); and extracting, from the storage unit (“DB 42, administrator map”), one or more retrievers that can perform the retrieval work (“desired date and time (desired rental date and time, desired return date and time)”) during the chargeable period (“charging time”).
As per claim 5, the KOJI reference discloses the installer (see page 3, “rental car company 20, administrator 30”) and the retriever (“rental car company 20, administrator 30”) are the same (see page 7, “same location”), and the installer terminal (“terminal 32, terminal 33”) and the retriever terminal (“terminal 32, terminal 33”) are the same (“same location”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The following references are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to electrical vehicle charging in general:
US 10647214 B2 to Solomon
JP 7535921 B2
JP 2011227541 A to YASUO et al.
JP 2011107929 A to YASUO et al.
WO 2021219669 A1 to ABU DAQQA et al.
CN 109080487 B to ZHANG et al.
KR 20200034245 A to JUNG
KR 20200031222 A to KIM
KR 20200031221 A to KIM
KR 20180100987 A to JUNG
KR 20180100986 A to JUNG
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/CRYSTAL J BARNES-BULLOCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2117 20 February 2026