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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/18/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-9 and 11-20 are pending.
Claim 10 is cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections previously made and the amended claims filed on 1/20/2026 have been fully considered. In view of the claim amendments, the rejections are being updated accordingly.
Double Patenting
The double patenting rejections are maintained and the reason is set forth in the updated rejections below; see the updated rejections and mappings below for detail.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-9, 11-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of Patent No. US 12,332,900 (Application No. 18/829155).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both are directed to similar invention with similar limitations as demonstrated in the table below:
Claims 1-9 of instant application recite similar limitations as claim 11-20, hence claims 1-9 are being used as representative for demonstration in the table below.
Similarly, claims 1-10 of Patent No. US 12,332,900 recite similar to limitations as claims 11-20. Hence claims 1-10 are being used as representative for demonstration in the table below.
Instant Application
Patent No. US 12,332,900
1. A computer-implemented method for processing a query of a life cycle assessment database, the method comprising:
receiving the query comprising a first set of parameters specifying properties of an entity;
storing, in an in-memory tree structure, a root node that (i) represents the query and (ii) includes the first set of parameters;
searching a set of hierarchical structures included in the life cycle assessment database for a first set of data nodes that match the first set of parameters included in the root node;
after the first set of parameters is matched to the first set of data nodes, storing, in the in-memory tree structure, the first set of data nodes in one or more paths under the root node;
determining, based on a traversal of the one or more paths in the in-memory tree structure, a first set of functional units included in the first set of data nodes, wherein each functional unit included in the first set of functional units comprises a numeric value and a unit associated with an emission or a consumption;
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the data node comprises an unknown data node that represents the unknown consumption or the unknown emission and includes the second set of parameters.
computing one or more environmental impacts associated with the entity based on one or more aggregations or one or more transformations of the set of numeric values and the set of units included in the first set of functional units; and
causing the one or more environmental impacts to be outputted in a response to the query.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein searching the set of hierarchical structures comprises: matching one or more parameters included in the first set of parameters to a second set of data nodes in the set of hierarchical structures; and filtering the second set of data nodes based on one or more additional parameters included in the first set of parameters.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a class associated with the entity and the one or more additional parameters comprise an attribute associated with the class.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a data node included in the first set of data nodes is associated with an unknown consumption or an unknown emission; searching the set hierarchical structures for a second set of data nodes that match a second set of parameters associated with the data node; and further computing the one or more environmental impact based on a second set of functional units included in the second set of data nodes.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein computing the one or more environmental impacts comprises combining a plurality of distributions of the set of numeric values associated with the first set of functional units into an additional emission.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein computing the one or more environmental impacts comprises computing an additional emission using a non-linear transformation of one or more numeric values included in the first set of functional units.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more environmental impacts is computed based on one or more constraints that are (i)specified in the query and (ii)include modifications to the data included in the first set of data nodes.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises a breakdown of the one or more environmental impacts into the one or more paths that include the first set of data nodes.
1. A computer-implemented method for processing a query of a life cycle assessment database, the method comprising:
receiving a query comprising a first set of parameters specifying properties of an entity;
in response to receiving the query,
storing, in an in-memory tree structure, a first data node that (i) represents the query and (ii) includes the first set of parameters;
searching one or more hierarchical structures included in the life cycle assessment database for a first set of data nodes that match the first set of parameters included in the stored first data node;
after the first set of parameters is matched to the first set of data nodes, storing the first set of data nodes in the in-memory tree structure;
upon determining that a second data node included in the first set of data nodes includes an unknown consumption or an unknown emission:
searching the one or more hierarchical structures for a second set of data nodes that (i) match a second set of parameters included in associated with the second data node and (ii) include one or more known emissions corresponding to the unknown emission or one or more known consumptions corresponding to the unknown consumption; and
resolving the unknown consumption or the unknown emission by computing one or more environmental impacts associated with the entity based on one or aggregations of a set of functional units that (i) correspond to the one or more known emissions or the one or more known consumptions and (ii) are included in at least one of the first set of data nodes or the second set of data nodes; and
causing the one or more environmental impacts to be outputted in a response to the query.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein searching the one or more hierarchical structures for the second set of data nodes comprises: matching a class included in the second set of parameters to the second set of data nodes; and filtering the second set of data nodes based on one or more additional parameters included in the second set of parameters.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the first data node comprises a first unknown data node that represents the query and includes the first set of parameters; and the second data node comprises a second unknown data node that (i) includes the second set of parameters and (ii) is a child of the first unknown data node.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a third data node included in the second set of data nodes includes an additional unknown consumption or an additional unknown emission; searching the one or more hierarchical structures for a third set of data nodes that match a third set of parameters associated with the second data node; and computing the one or more environmental impacts based on a third set of functional units included in the third set of data nodes.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of functional units comprises at least one of a probability distribution or a multi-dimensional functional unit.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more environmental impacts comprise at least one of a total emission, a production, a consumption, or a waste product allocation associated with the entity.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein: the first set of parameters comprise at least one of a class of the entity or one or more constraints associated with the properties of the entity.
4.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the properties of the entity comprise at least one of a location, a time, a source, an attribute, a unit, a value associated with the unit, a name, an alias, a process, a consumption, an emission, or a type of node included in the one or more hierarchical structures.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the one or more additional parameters comprise at least one of an attribute, a time, or a location.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein searching the one or more hierarchical structures for the second set of data nodes comprises: upon determining that the second set of parameters do not match any nodes included in the one or more hierarchical structures, searching the one or more hierarchical structures for one or more parent parameters associated with the second set of parameters; and matching the one or more parent parameters to the second set of data nodes.
As demonstrated by the mappings in the table above, Patent No. US 12,332,900 discloses or renders obvious all the features of the claims of the instant application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michelle Owyang whose telephone number is (571)270-1254. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Rones can be reached at (571)272-4085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE N OWYANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2168