DETAILED ACTION
1. This Final Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Amendments filed 12/3/2025. Claims 1-5, 7-16, and 18-20 are currently pending. The effective filing date of the present application is 5/15/2023.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-5, 7-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed a judicial exception (i.e., an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1 – Statutory Categories
As indicated in the preamble of the claim, the examiner finds the claim is directed to a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Claims 1-5 and 7-11 are processes (methods), and claims 12-16 and 18-20 are machines (systems or devices).
Step 2A – Prong 1: was there a Judicial Exception Recited
Claim 1 (similarly claim 12) recites the following bolded abstract concepts that are found to include “abstract idea”:
1. A method for forecasting material requirements planning and inventory controls, the method comprising:
collecting, by a processor of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, data from one or more data sources (observation);
applying, by the processor of the ERP system, one or more artificial intelligence processes to the collected data and based on one or more trained models, wherein applying the one or more artificial intelligence processes to the collected data comprises initiating, by the processor of the ERP system, an electronic communication within the ERP system (judgment), extracting, by the processor of the ERP system, one or more records from the collected data (evaluation), sending, by the processor of the ERP system, the extracted one or more records and an indication of a requested communication type to an artificial intelligence system (judgment), and receiving, by the processor of the ERP system, a generated electronic communication from the artificial intelligence system (opinion);
generating, by the processor of the ERP system, from the one or more artificial intelligence processes, one or more insights to the data (opinion); and
generating, by the processor of the ERP system, one or more actions from the generated insights (opinion).
Claim 1 (similarly claim 12) is directed to a series of steps for forecasting material requirements planning and inventory controls, which is a commercial/legal interaction and thus grouped as a certain method of organizing human interactions and/or a mental process (see above notations). Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea. See MPEP §2106.4(a).
Step 2A – Prong 2: Can the Judicial Exception Recited be integrated into a practical application
Limitations that are indicative of integration into a practical application:
Improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field - see MPEP 2106.05(a)
Applying or using a judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition – see Vanda Memo
Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine - see MPEP 2106.05(b)
Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing - see MPEP 2106.05(c)
Applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception - see MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo
Limitations that are not indicative of integration into a practical application:
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)
Adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g)
Generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h)
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the processor, ERP system, artificial intelligence processes, artificial intelligence system, communication network, and memory are merely generically recited computer elements that do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they amount to simply the abstract idea on a generic computer. Accordingly, alone and in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. See for example Specification [0031] discussing the multiple types of generic processors that could be used. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B – Significantly More Analysis
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when considered separately and in combination the processor, ERP system, artificial intelligence processes, artificial intelligence system, communication network, and memory are merely generically recited computer elements amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (sending, receiving, applying, processing, extracting, generating,…of data). Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Thus, claims 1 and 12 are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-5, 7-11, 13-16, and 18-20 fail to provide additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Claims 6 and 17 introduce an artificial intelligence system, which discussed at such a high level to be considered mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. Therefore, claims 2-5, 7-11, 13-16, and 18-20 are rejected for the same reasons as stated in the rejection from independent claim from which they depend.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The reason for allowable subject matter of claims 1-5, 7-16, and 18-20 in the instant application is because the prior art of record fails to teach the overall combination as claimed. Therefore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the prior art to meet the combination above without unequivocal hindsight and one of ordinary skill would have no reason to do so. In the closest reference, US 2016/0217501 A1 to Brigham ("Brigham") discloses a messaging type; however, an indication for a particular type isn't sent to the artificial intelligence system to generate an electronic communication and modifying the references would require a complexity beyond the level of ordinary skill. Upon further searching the examiner could not identify any prior art to teach these limitations. The prior art on record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, not renders obvious the Applicant' s claimed invention.
Response to Arguments
6. Examiner notes that the Remarks filed 12/3/2025 do not contain any arguments against the eligibility issue under the §101 Rejection. Examiner maintains position.
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Notice of References Cited, PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL JARED WALKER whose telephone number is (303)297-4407. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM -5:00 PM CT.
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/MICHAEL JARED WALKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627 Michael.walker@uspto.gov