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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending in this office action.
Applicant’s arguments, filed November 4, 2025, have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harter (U.S. Patent No. 9,117,233) in view of Nafeh et al. (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2021/0142412).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Harter teaches an apparatus for autonomously operating a service environment, the apparatus comprising: at least a processor (col. 2, lines 51-67); and a memory communicatively connected to the at least a processor, wherein the memory contains instructions configuring the at least a processor to (col. 2, lines 51-67): receive a service request from a user interface, wherein the service request includes a request for a car wash related service and wherein the service request further includes a pre-order service request initiated by a user prior to user’s arrival at a car wash facility (col. 3, lines 29-43 and lines 59-60); implement an intentional delay to accommodate the reception of the service request (col. 1, line 62 through col. 2, line 3); generate a digital access token as a function of the service request using a token generation module, wherein the digital access token comprises a token parameter related to at least a data structure of the plurality of data structures (col. 6, lines 6-27); and initiate a service protocol as a function of the digital access token, wherein initiating the service protocol comprises: transmitting the digital access token to an access control system (col. 4, lines 25-40); authenticating the digital access token using the access control system (col. 4, lines 45-65); and preparing the car wash facility for the car wash related service (col. 4, line 66 through col. 5, line 22).
Harter does not teach process the service request by indexing data extracted from the service request using a rule-based algorithm to classify the extracted data to a plurality of data structures or using a smart contract.
Nafeh et al. teaches process the service request by indexing data extracted from the service request using a rule-based algorithm to classify the extracted data to a plurality of data structures (paragraph 0618); and using a smart contract (paragraph 0618).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to using a rule-based algorithm to classify the extracted data and use a smart contract, as taught by Nafeh et al., with the method of Harter. It would have been obvious for such modifications because a smart contract allows decentralized trust between parties, which in a car wash environment, provides trust between parties for payments, membership, and history.
The combination of Harter and Nafeh et al. do not teach wherein at least one of the plurality of data structures is configured to be labeled using geographical data, and wherein the at least a processor is further configured, responsive to receipt of the pre-order service request and the authenticating, to: detect a geofence associated with the car wash facility, wherein the geofence comprises a digital boundary; and trigger, responsive to a device associated with the digital access token entering the geofence, an action comprising at least one of: allocating a resource, pre-setting service equipment and transmitting a notification.
Haibara et al. teaches wherein at least one of the plurality of data structures is configured to be labeled using geographical data, and wherein the at least a processor is further configured, responsive to receipt of the pre-order service request and the authenticating, to: detect a geofence associated with the car wash facility, wherein the geofence comprises a digital boundary; and trigger, responsive to a device associated with the digital access token entering the geofence, an action comprising at least one of: allocating a resource, pre-setting service equipment and transmitting a notification (fig. 6 and 7, paragraph 0076 and 0091).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine using a geofence for pre-ordered car washes, as taught by Haibara et al., with the method of Harter/Nafeh et al. It would have been obvious for such modifications because the geofence positioning ensures the car is in the proper location for an autonomous car wash experience.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Harter teaches wherein receiving the service request comprises using an optical character recognition process to parse data from digital graphics received through a user interface (col. 6, lines 6-27).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein receiving the service request comprises implementing a chatbot through a user interface (see paragraph 0621 of Nafeh et al.).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein the rule-based algorithm comprises a classification tree (see paragraph 0618 of Nafeh et al.).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein digital access token is time-sensitive (see paragraph 0261 of Nafeh et al.).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Harter teaches wherein the token generation module comprises an immutable sequential enumeration based platform to issue the digital access token to an immutable sequential enumeration (col. 6, lines 6-27).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein issuing the digital access token to the immutable sequential enumeration comprises encrypting the digital access token (see paragraph 0621 of Nafeh et al.).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Harter teaches wherein the access control system comprises a physical barrier configured as a primary point of entry to the car wash facility (col. 2, lines 22-38).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein authenticating the digital access token comprises performing a hash verification (see paragraph 0618 of Nafeh et al.).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Harter as modified by Nafeh et al. teaches wherein processing the service request further comprises using an automatic speech recognition process to extract audible verbal content (see paragraph 0619 of Nafeh et al.).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON HOFFMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3863. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/BRANDON HOFFMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2433