DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 18, 2026 and March 19, 2026 is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-7 and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites “monitoring sensor data in the tracking device; determining an elopement based on whether the sensor data exceeds a threshold; turning on scanning for a wireless signal when the elopement is detected based on the sensor data exceeds the threshold; and
enabling location-determining operations when the scanned wireless signal does not match a wireless signal associated with a known location stored in the tracking device.” That is, other than reciting “a method,” nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind. For example, but for the language, “receiving” in the context of this claim encompasses the user manually receiving the data. Similarly, the limitations of determining an elopement, turning on scanning for a wireless signal, and enabling location determining operation, as drafted, are processes that, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim is directed to an abstract idea. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor to perform receiving, analyzing, determining, evaluating, selecting, monitoring, tracking, and handling steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-7 and 9-15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/TAI T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685 April 22, 2026