DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/18/2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding Applicant’s argument that the claim amendments overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112 and 102 rejections, Examiner agrees and the rejections are withdrawn.
Claims 21-24 and 26-33 are now indicated as allowable. Claims 34-38 and 40 are newly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101, necessitated by the amendments.
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.
Claim 34-38 and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 – Statutory Category
Claim 34 recites a positioning apparatus and is therefore an apparatus.
Step 2A, Prong One – Recitation of a Judicial Exception
Claim 34 recites:
obtaining, based on the data, pseudo-range information and phase information;
determining distance consistency information of a plurality of particles with respect to the pseudo-range information, wherein each particle is an estimation of a state of the target object;
determining phase consistency information of the plurality of particles with respect to the phase information based on a wavelength of carrier of the signal; and
determining weights of the plurality of particles based on the distance consistency information and the phase consistency information to estimate positioning information of the target object;
wherein determining weights of the plurality of particles based on the distance consistency information and the phase consistency information to estimate positioning information of the target object comprises:
determining first pose consistency information of the plurality of particles with respect to perception information of a camera on the target object;
determining second pose consistency information of the plurality of particles with respect to perception information of a lidar on the target object; and
determining the weights of the plurality of particles based on the distance consistency information, the phase consistency information, the first pose consistency information, and the second pose consistency information.
These steps fall within the mathematical concepts grouping of abstract ideas enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) because they comprise mathematical relationships and calculations.
Claim 34 therefore recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong Two – Practical Application
Claim 34 further recites:
the apparatus comprising one or more processors and a memory storing a program comprising instructions; and
receiving data representing a signal from a navigation satellite system that has been forwarded by a receiver on a target object, wherein the receiver is coupled to the one or more processors.
However the one or more processors and memory are generic computer equipment, the receiving data representing a signal is necessary data gathering, and the coupling of the receiver to the one or more processors is a general link to a particular technological environment. The courts have found that these elements do not integrate an abstract idea into a practical application (MPEP 2106.05(d) I). Examiner notes that the receiver has not been recited as part of the claimed positioning apparatus.
Step 2B – Inventive Concept
As discussed in Step 2A, Prong Two above, the additional elements recited in the claim include generic computer equipment, receiving necessary data, and a general link to a particular technological environment. The courts have found that these elements do not amount to significantly more, i.e. they do not amount to an inventive concept (MPEP 2106.5 I A).
Claim 34 is therefore not patent eligible.
Claims 35-37 recite further mathematical calculations without integrating the abstract idea into a practical application or adding significantly more and are therefore not patent eligible.
Claim 38 differs from claim 34 in reciting a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a computing apparatus. However a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and one or more processors of a computing apparatus are generic computer equipment that does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or add significantly more. Claim 38 is therefore not patent eligible.
Claim 40 recites further mathematical calculations without integrating the abstract idea into a practical application or adding significantly more and is therefore not patent eligible.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-24 and 26-33 are allowed.
Claims 34-38 and 40 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action.
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.
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/CASSI J GALT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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