DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This action is in response to the application No. 18/618078 filed on 3/7/2024. Claims 1-23 are pending for examination.
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 .
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 1-2, 6, 8, 10-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea of a mental process without significantly more.
Independent claims 1, 22, and 23 (although not verbatim, but contains the same concept) recite the following:
A system and method, comprising:
at a coordinated trajectory planning component of an electronic device:
determining that a first movement component is requested to move to a first new position;
determining that a second movement component is requested to move to a second new position, wherein the second movement component Is different from the first movement component;
in conjunction with determining that the first movement component is requested to move to the first new position and determining that the second movement component is requested to move to the second new position, determining a coordinated trajectory policy of a set of one or more coordinated trajectory policies that applies to a first state corresponding to the first movement component and that applies to a second state corresponding to the second movement component;
providing, to the first movement component, a first output trajectory that satisfies a coordinated trajectory policy; and
providing, to the second movement component, a second movement output trajectory that satisfies the coordinated trajectory policy.
The aforementioned bolded steps have been determined to be an abstract idea of a mental process that determines information about a first and second movement components, generates a coordinated trajectory policy for the movement components, and provides the data of a first output trajectory and a second output trajectory to the movement components which is similar to the concepts deemed by the courts to be abstract such as collecting, analyzing, and displaying available data in Electric Power Group.
Each of the steps can be performed in the mental realm or by using pen and paper to observe states of the first and second movement components to determine if they are requested to move to a new location and then determining an appropriate coordinated trajectory for the two movement components.
Regarding Prong II of the Step 2A analysis, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether the claims, as a whole, integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. It must be determined whether any additional elements in the claim beyond the abstract idea integrate the exception in to a practical application in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. The claims do contain the additional elements of an electronic device and a first and second movement components. However, each of the additional elements are claimed at such a high generality that they merely function as tools to apply the abstract idea, or more particularly, as insignificant extra-solution activity.
The courts have determined that additional elements merely using a computer to implement an abstract idea, adding insignificant extra solution activity, or generally linking use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. For at least the reasons above, the additional elements, in combination with the abstract idea of itself, are not integrated into a practical application.
Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Further, looking at the additional limitation(s) as an ordered combination or as a whole, the limitation(s) add nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. For instance, there is no indication that the additional elements when considered as a whole, reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology or technological field. The additional limitation(s) do/does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
For at least the reasons above, the additional elements, in combination with the abstract idea of itself, are not integrated into a practical application.
The claims do not include additional elements, considered both individually or as an ordered combination, that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reasons as those discussed above with respect to determining that the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Furthermore, dependent claims 2, 6, 8, and 10-21 do not recite and further limitations that cause the claims to be patent eligible. The limitations of the dependent claims are directed towards additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine, and convention additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
Therefore, claims 1-2, 6, 8, and 10-23 are ineligible under §101.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS P INGRAM whose telephone number is (571)272-7864. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fadey Jabr can be reached at 571-272-1516. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Thomas Ingram/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668
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