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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/08/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant provides substantially the same arguments presented in the most recent remarks, dated 03/10/2026. Applicant again argues that the claims are not directed to an abstract idea. The Examiner disagrees. The claims are directed to users placing request for transportation and a system make a selection for those requests. This is plainly certain methods of organizing human activity. The claims recite additional elements, but as discussed below they are being used as tools to carry out the abstract steps, therefore the claims remain directed to said abstract idea.
Applicant further argues that the claims recite significantly more than the abstract idea and that there is a practical application. The Examiner disagrees. Any supposed improvement is seen through the use of the additional elements, in this instance, AI tools. The AI model is being used as a tool to perform the recited abstract steps. The claims do not include additional elements individually or in an ordered combination that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Integration into a practical application requires the additional elements to apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. Applicant’s claims are deficient in this element and do not explicitly narrow the environment to one that does not require human intervention to perform the transformative steps. Accordingly, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive and the rejections are maintained.
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 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter 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.
MPEP 2106 Step 2A-Prong 1
The claims recite:
train a model using historical transportation data associated with a plurality of historical trips, the historical transportation data including at least (a) historical routes associated with the plurality of historical trips, (b) AVs associated with the plurality of historical trips, and (c) historical feedback values associated with the plurality of historical trips;
select, by inputting a transportation request into the model, r the user, a transportation request including an origin, a destination, and at least one good or person to be transported;
an AV of a plurality of a plurality of AVs in communication with the, wherein trained using historical transportation records including historical transportation data associated with historical transportation;
selected AV is selected by the model based at least in part upon a predicted feedback value associated with the selected AV completing the transportation request;
continually retrieve contextual data associated with the transportation request;
generate, by inputting the transportation request using into the Al model, a route for the selected AV, wherein the generated route is generated by the Al model based at least in part upon the predicted feedback value; and continually updated based upon the contextual data and transmit route data to the selected AV, wherein the route data causes the selected AV to travel the generated route.
generate, based upon the transportation request, a route and the contextual data
transmit route data to the selected, wherein the route data causes the selected to travel the generated route.
The claims falls into the abstract idea groupings of (b) Certain Methods Of Organizing Human Activity ** fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk) commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations) managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions)**
The limitations under their broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of marketing or sales activities or behaviors; but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than recited, “non-transitory computer readable medium, user device, AI model, server computing device, processor, autonomous vehicle”, nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being certain methods of organizing human activity. Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea.
MPEP 2106 Step 2A-Prong 2
The recited limitations are not indicative of integration into a practical application. In particular, the claims only recite the following additional elements, processor, AV, AI model, server computing device. These additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality such that in conjunction with the abstract limitations, they amount to no more than:
Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f);
- (non-transitory computer readable medium, user device, AI model, server computing device, processor)
mere data gathering/post solution activity in conjunction with a law of nature or abstract idea such as adding insignificant extra solution activity to the judicial exception see MPEP 2106.05 (g) ,-(autonomous vehicle)
The claims do not include additional elements individually or in an ordered combination that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Integration into a practical application requires the additional element(s) to apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. This is not the case in the instant application. Further, as discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements amount to no more than: mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component; mere data gathering/post solution activity.
MPEP 2106 Step 2B
Eligibility requires that the claim recites additional elements that amount to an inventive concept (aka “significantly more”) than the recited judicial exception. As discussed above, this is where the instant application falls short. The claims do not include additional elements individually or in an ordered combination that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Transmitting a route to driven by an autonomous vehicle is recited at a high level of generality and amounts to no more than insignificant extra solution activity much like In re Brown, 645 Fed. App'x 1014, 1016-1017 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (non-precedential) and MPEP 2106.05 (g).
Dependent Claims Step 2A:
The limitations of the dependent claims but for those addressed below merely set forth further refinements of the abstract idea without changing the analysis already
presented (that is, they further limit the organizing of human activities at step 2A —
Prong One without adding any new additional elements other than those already
analyzed above with respect to the independent claims at 2A — Prong Two; 2 describes an AV, 3-natural language input and AI model; 4-AI model; 5-AV and processor; 6-processor; 7-processor; 8-processor; 9-processor; 10-server computing device and processor and AV, but these additional elements do not remedy the deficiencies. This analysis applies to the remaining analogous claims.
Dependent Claims Step 2B:
The dependent claims merely use the same general technological environment
and instructions to implement the abstract idea as the independent claims without
adding any new additional elements. Accordingly, they are not directed to significantly
more than the exception itself, and are not eligible subject matter under § 101.
The claims are not rejected by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONYA S JOSEPH whose telephone number is (571)270-1361. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-2:30, First Fridays Off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shannon Campbell can be reached at (571) 272-5587. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TONYA JOSEPH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3628
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