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 .
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.
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 without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) a method for estimating the aging of a component. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim steps consist gathering data and fitting the data into a curve (i.e.: solving a lest squares equation). The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because there are no addition elements, such as a computer to analyze the data, or any type of non-trivial post solution activity - such as, what is the data used for after it is plotted into a graph?
Applying the “streamlined analysis” outlined in MPEP §§ 2106.03 et seq., the examiner concedes that claims 11-20 passes eligibility step 1, as claim 11 is expressly drawn to a “method”, which is a process, and a process is one of the four statutory classes of subject matter expressly set forth in section 101.
Turning now to eligibility step 2A, namely, does the claim recite an abstract idea, the method recited in claim 1 has a generic preamble that broadly links the method to a certain technological environment – which our reviewing courts have held to be insufficient to make an abstract idea patentable1, and the body of the claim is a method consisting of only has two steps. Step S1 recites two sub-steps of broadly constructing a test stand (recited in very vague, generic language), and applying a heat source2; and, the step S2 consisting of three sub-steps of gathering data3, fitting the data onto a curve (i.e. : preforming mathematical operations)4, and “judging” from the data the aging of the test element (which is a mental step). Merely gathering data, organizing data, and making a mental “judgement” based on the data is simply claiming the mental process of making judgements from data, and mental processes are not patentable5.
Claims 2 and 3 recite data gathering steps6.
Claim 4 merely recited an inherent property of the natural environment7.
Claim 5 merely recites a law of nature in mathematical form, which is also unpatentable8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The other art cited show heat aging methods similar to applicant’s claimed method
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANDY W GIBSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2103. The examiner can normally be reached Tue-Friday 10AM-6PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-272-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RANDY W. GIBSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2856
/RANDY W GIBSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
1 MPEP § 2106.05(h).
2 These are just well-understood, conventional activity for stress testing a component. See MPEP § 2106.05(d).
3 MPEP § 2106.05(g).
4 MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2).
5 See MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2), subsection III.
6 MPEP § 2106.05(g).
7 MPEP § 2106.04(b).
8 MPEP § 2106.04(b).
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