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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/9/26 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Due to communications filed 6/9/26, the following is a non-final office action. Claims 1, 13, 17 and 19 are amended. Claims 5, 7, 9, 14, 16 and 20 are cancelled. Claims 1-4, 6, 8, 10-13, 15, 17-19 are pending in this application and are rejected as follows.
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 1-4, 6, 8, 10-13, 15, 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C, 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (l.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
With regard to independent claims 1, 13 and 19, these claims recite obtaining driver, vehicle, location, and animal data, determining pick-up and drop-off locations, obtaining additional animal data, dynamically adjusting animal data, displaying a prompt for additional animal data and storing adjusted animal data. These limitations describe collecting information, analyzing information, and updating records for animal transportation management , which is a method of organizing human activity and a mental process that can be performed by a person tracking animals during transport. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Furthermore independent claims 1, 13 and 19 are not integrated into a practical application. The additional elements including a vehicle sensor, display, memory, electronic device, and non-transitory computer-readable medium merely perform generic computer functions of receiving data, monitoring locations, displaying information and storing data. The claims does not improve the functioning of a computer, sensor, vehicle, memory, display or any other technology, nor does it recite a particular machine that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea.
Finally, the claims do not recite an inventive concept. The claims do not include additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The recited computer components are described at a high level of generality and perform well-understood, routine and conventional functions of data gathering, processing, displaying and storage. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claim is ineligible.
Dependent claims 2-4, 6, 8, 10-12, 15, 17-18 are also directed to same grouping of methods of organizing human activity and mental processes. The additional elements of the computer program product in dependent claims 2-4, 6, 8, 10-12, the system and method implemented method in dependent claims 15, and 17-18; remote electronic device in claim 2; input screen in claim 3; vehicle in claim 4; manual input of claim 5, vehicle in claim 10, input screen in claim 15 are additional elements do no more than generally link the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use. Accordingly, in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102
and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory
basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of
rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same
under either status.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 13, 18, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIM (KR 20230150043 A), and further in view of Sipher et al (US 9445230 B1), and further in view of Kellogg (US 11188867 B2).
As per claim 1, LIM discloses:
obtain at least one of driver data or vehicle data, (Various information (personal information of
the driver, driver's license information of the driver, information on the registered means of
transportation, information on the waiting position of the registered means of transportation is stored
in the first electronic device 110. ) or may be entered or modified through the administrator of the
server 150);
obtain location data, (In other embodiments, electronic devices, external devices, and wearable devices
include...sensors;
determine that a vehicle is at a first pickup location, (The server 150 can receive current location
information and waiting location information of the transportation vehicle in real time from the first
electronic device 110. The current location information of the means of transportation refers to the GPS
device included in the first electronic device 110 or the first electronic device (110) refers to the
location information of the companion animal transportation vehicle that is tracked from the GPS device
of the transportation vehicle connected to the vehicle);
obtain animal data related to the first pickup location, (Various information related to the
second electronic device 130 (user's personal information, information on transportation use history,
information on the type and body size of the pet, information on precautions for the pet, information on
frequently used pick-up locations), frequently used destination information, etc.) may be entered
through the second electronic device 130 or may be entered or modified through the administrator of
the server 150);
determine that the vehicle is at a first drop off location in real time, (The server 150 can receive current
location information and waiting location information of the transportation vehicle in real time from the
first electronic device 110. The current location information of the means of transportation refers to the
GPS device included in the first electronic device 110 or the first electronic device (110) refers to the
location information of the companion animal transportation vehicle that is tracked from the GPS device
of the transportation vehicle connected to the vehicle);
obtain first additional animal data related to the first drop off location, (In addition, the database
240 contains various information regarding the operation of the transportation vehicle generated
according to the individual transportation operation request (...pet boarding and it can include
disembarkation information, real-time video while the pet is boarding, etc.) can be stored);
dynamically adjust the animal data in real time to form adjusted animal data based on the first
additional animal data obtained; and record in a memory of an electronic device the adjusted animal
data, (“real-time video while the pet is boarding, etc.) can be stored; The database 240 may be
implemented on the memory 250 or in a separate storage medium. The database 240 can store all the
contents and details of data transmitted and received with the first electronic device 110, the second
electronic device 130, and the public data provision server 170. Data stored in the database 240 may be
constantly updated according to a predetermined period, and may be updated at any time when new
data is input through the first electronic device 110 or the second electronic device 130”);
LIM does not disclose: continuously monitor a location of the vehicle in response to determining the vehicle is at the first pickup location; determine a second pickup location based on continuously monitoring the location of the vehicle; in response to determining the second pickup location, display a prompt on a display to obtain second additional animal data;
However, Sipher et al (US 9445230 B1) discloses:
((17)...Such an architecture can be used, for example, for implementing the techniques of the present invention in a system having a client device 101A carried by an individual, human being, animal, item, vehicle, or object whose location is being tracked (referred to herein as the device holder 100); (19) Display screen 103 can be any element that graphically displays information to device holder 100, including for example location information, alerts, notifications, and/or the like. Display screen 103 can also display other forms of output, as are known in the art, such as status information, timer information, prompts that request information from the device holder 100, and/or the like; (40) The method begins 400. Device 101A begins detecting 401 its location. In at least one embodiment, this step is performed automatically when device 101A is activated, or when an application (“app”) is first opened, or upon receipt of a command from device holder 100 or subscriber 114, or upon some other trigger event. Location detection 401 can be performed continuously; Claim 1 “automatically generating an event indicating arrival of the mobile communications device at a destination; and at an output device, automatically outputting a notification of the event indicating arrival of the mobile communications device at the destination;”; Claim 2: “further comprising automatically transmitting, to at least one subscriber, a notification of the event indicating arrival of the mobile communications device at a destination”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include the above limitations as taught by Sipher et al in the systems of LIM, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
LIM does not disclose the following limitations, however Kellogg discloses:
obtain location data from a sensor of a vehicle, ((55) As with ranch facility 200 of FIG. 2, each ranch facility 300, 400, 500 in FIGS. 3-5 may have sensors and cameras to track dog locations. Furthermore, animals may be scanned as they are moved from one area to another and a database may be updated so the precise animal location may be tracked. A web browser or another software application (personal computer, mobile, tablet, etc.) may enable a user to view animals in the areas via cameras.
in response to determining the second pickup location...obtain second additional animal data; dynamically adjust the animal data based on the second additional animal data
in response to determining the second pickup location...obtain second additional animal data; dynamically adjust the animal data based on the second additional animal data, ((55) As with ranch facility 200 of FIG. 2, each ranch facility 300, 400, 500 in FIGS. 3-5 may have sensors and cameras to track dog locations. Furthermore, animals may be scanned as they are moved from one area to another and a database may be updated so the precise animal location may be tracked. A web browser or another software application (personal computer, mobile, tablet, etc.) may enable a user to view animals in the areas via cameras; (105) Various information pertaining to each animal may be stored in the central server or any other computing system or combination of computing systems. The information stored for each animal in some embodiments is summarized in Table 1 below; (107) Some embodiments may have all of this information or a subset of this information, and/or include additional information without deviating from the scope of the invention. This information may also be stored in a database in any suitable form (e.g., numbers, strings, dates, etc.) without deviating from the scope of the invention); (108) FIG. 23 is a flowchart 2300 illustrating a process for tracking and maintaining custody of an animal, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process begins with dispatching a bus to a first pickup/dropoff location, a second pickup/dropoff location, or both, at 2305. In other words, in some embodiments, some or all animals may not necessarily be picked up and dropped off at the same location. An animal is then scanned and an image of the animal, an authorized individual, a name of the animal, or any combination thereof, is displayed by a scanner at 2310; (110)...the animal is scanned onto the bus and information indicating that the animal has been scanned as on the bus is sent to, and received by, the central server at 2325. The central server then updates its database accordingly; (111) After reaching the ranch, the animal is scanned as at the ranch and information indicating that the animal has been delivered to the ranch is sent to, and received by, the central server at 2330. The central server then updates its database accordingly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include the above limitations as taught by Sipher et al in the systems of LIM, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 2, LIM discloses:
further comprising executable code to:
communicate the adjusted animal data to a remote electronic device in response to a request
by the remote electronic device for the adjusted animal data, (The server 150 according to an
embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as a computer device or a plurality of
computer devices that provide commands, code files).
As per claim 6, LIM discloses:
wherein to determine that the vehicle is at the first pickup, the executable code to obtain
location data from a manual input of a driver, (According to step S301, the first electronic device 110
may provide the server 150 with current location information and waiting location information of the
vehicle. The current location information of the vehicle may include location information of the vehicle
tracked from the GPS device included in the first electronic device 110 or the GPS device of the vehicle
connected to the first electronic device 110. The waiting position information of the means of
transportation may include information about the basic waiting position of the means of transportation
connected to the first electronic device 110, and may be input in advance by the driver through the first
electronic device 110 and stored in the database 240).
As per claim 9, LIM discloses:
wherein in response to determining the second pickup location, the executable code to obtain second
additional animal data, (In addition, the database 240 contains various information regarding the
operation of the transportation vehicle generated according to the individual transportation operation
request pet boarding and disembarkation information, real-time video while the pet is boarding, etc.)
can be stored); and
dynamically adjust the animal data based on the second additional animal data, (The database 240 may
be implemented on the memory 250 or in a separate storage medium. The database 240 can store all
the contents and details of data transmitted and received with the first electronic device 110, the
second electronic device 130, and the public data provision server 170. Data stored in the database 240
may be constantly updated according to a predetermined period, and may be updated at any time when
new data is input through the first electronic device 110 or the second electronic device 130).
In addition, although LIM doesn't specifically disclose second additional animal data and dynamically
adjust the animal data based on the second additional animal data, it would have been obvious to one
having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to repeat the steps of the invention at
a subsequent time, since the combination with Kellogg and Sipher et al teaches dynamically updating of data, and also it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. V. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
As per claim 13, this claim discloses limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1
and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 18, LIM discloses: wherein in response to determining the second pickup location,
the one or more processors further configured to: obtain additional animal data, (In addition, the
database 240 contains various information regarding the operation of the transportation vehicle
generated according to the individual transportation operation request (...pet boarding and
disembarkation information, real-time video while the pet is boarding, etc.) can be stored); and;
dynamically adjust the animal data based on the additional animal data, (The database 240 may
be implemented on the memory 250 or in a separate storage medium. The database 240 can store all
the contents and details of data transmitted and received with the first electronic device 110, the
second electronic device 130, and the public data provision server 170. Data stored in the database 240
may be constantly updated according to a predetermined period, and may be updated at any time when
new data is input through the first electronic device 110 or the second electronic device 130).
As per claim 19, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1
and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIM (KR 20230150043 A), and further in view of Sipher et al (US 9445230 B1), and further in view of Kellogg (US 11188867 B2), and further in view of GARCIA-BROSA (WO 2023244960 A1).
As per claim 3, LIM does not disclose the following, however, GARCIA-BROSA discloses:
wherein to obtain the at least one of the driver data or the vehicle data, the executable code to
communicate a prompt on an input screen for the driver data or the vehicle data,
(GARCIA-BROSA (WO 2023244960 A1): ([0122] Upon choosing that the user does have an account, the
platform may direct a user to a user login module706 (alternatively: screen, display, and/or page). The
user login module may comprise a plurality of identification criteria. The plurality of identification
criteria may comprise at least one of the plurality of user input requests. The plurality of identification
criteria may be used to prompt the user to enter at least one input to securely log in; [0123] The
plurality of user input requests may be used for creating a user profile; [0217] FIG.28 is a flowchart of a
method 2000, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure at least a portion of the plurality
of tasks may be combined with and/or associated with transporting people, animals).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to
include the above limitations as taught by GARCIA-BROSA in the systems of LIM, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 4, LIM does not disclose the following, however, GARCIA-BROSA discloses:
wherein to obtain the at least one of the driver data or the vehicle data, the executable code to
automatically load a profile of a driver of a vehicle, ([0117] Furthermore, in some embodiments, a
delivery driver profile may be provided).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to
include the above limitations as taught by GARCIA-BROSA in the systems of LIM, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim(s) 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIM (KR 20230150043 A), and further in view of Sipher et al (US 9445230 B1), and further in view of Kellogg (US 11188867 B2), and further in view of BALVA (WO 2019203788 A1).
As per claim 8, LIM does not disclose the following, however BALVA discloses:
wherein to determine the second pickup location comprises utilizing an artificial intelligence
application, (BALVA (WO 2019203788 A1): [0020] Approaches described and suggested herein relate to
the evaluating of potential routing solutions requests based on environmental metric of the potential
routing solutions. The potential routing solution can be in a response to a trip request. The trip request
can relate to the transportation of people, animals; [0028] In some embodiments an artificial
intelligence-based approach, as may include machine learning or a trained neural network, for example,
can be used to further optimize the function based upon various trends and relationships determined
from the data as discussed elsewhere herein).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to
include the above limitations as taught by BALVA in the systems of LIM, since the claimed invention is
merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have
performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 10, LIM does not disclose the following, however BALVA discloses: further
comprising executable code to determine no animals remain in the vehicle after determining the vehicle
is at the first pickup location; and obtain cleaning data related to the vehicle in response to determining
that no animals remain in the vehicle, ([0037] Similarly, the metric can take into account the time
needed to finish the ride, such as to drive to a parking location and park the vehicle, clean and check the
vehicle, etc. The efficiency can also potentially take into account other maintenance related factors for
the vehicle, such as a daily or weekly washing, interior cleaning, maintenance checks, and the like).
As per claim 11, LIM does not disclose the following, however BALVA discloses: wherein to
obtain the cleaning data the executable code to prompt a driver to enter wash data related to the
vehicle, ([0037] Similarly, the metric can take into account the time needed to finish the ride, such as to
drive to a parking location and park the vehicle, clean and check the vehicle, etc. The efficiency can also
potentially take into account other maintenance related factors for the vehicle, such as a daily or weekly
washing, interior cleaning, maintenance checks, and the like).
As per claim 12, LIM discloses:
further comprising executable code to record the wash data in the memory, (In some
embodiments, the electronic device or external device may be a home appliance. Home appliances
include, for example, televisions, DVD players (Digital Video Disk players), stereos, refrigerators, air
conditioners, vacuum cleaners, ovens, microwave ovens, washing machines, air purifiers).
As per claim 15, please see the rejection of claim 11.
As per claim 17, LIM does not disclose: wherein to determine the second pickup location
comprises utilizing an artificial intelligence application, (BALVA (WO 2019203788 A1): [0020]
Approaches described and suggested herein relate to the evaluating of potential routing solutions
requests based on environmental metric of the potential routing solutions. The potential routing
solution can be in a response to a trip request. The trip request can relate to the transportation of
people, animals; [0028] In some embodiments an artificial intelligence-based approach, as may include
machine learning or a trained neural network, for example, can be used to further optimize the function
based upon various trends and relationships determined from the data as discussed elsewhere herein).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to
include the above limitations as taught by BALVA in the systems of LIM, since the claimed invention is
merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have
performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/9/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the 35 USC 101 rejection, Applicant disagrees with Examiner’s rejection that the claims are rejected under 35 USC 101, and that in sum, Applicant provides a computer program product, system, and method that utilizes location data obtained from a sensor and then ultimately, after and inventive process, dynamically adjusts animal data in real time and records the adjusted data in a memory. Applicant argues that a human is incapable of recording adjusted data within a memory in real time as discussed in the Original Specification. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claimed judicial exception is not the act of storing data in memory, but rather the collection, analysis updating and management of animal transportation information. The memory of the claim limitations merely performs its conventional function of storing information and therefore does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more that the judicial exception itself.
Applicant further argues that the claims include additional elements of a sensor, a vehicle, a memory and a prompt at a display. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. However, these elements merely performs their ordinary, conventional functions of collecting location data, providing a platform for transportation, storing information, and displaying information to a user. These elements do not recite any improvement to the operation of the sensor, vehicle, memory, or display, but rather are used as tools to implement the abstract idea. The claims are not similar to any of the Examples that Applicant has brought forward, the claim elements do not change how the sensor detects location, how the vehicle operates, how the display functions or how the memory stores data. Therefore the elements do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more that the judicial exception itself.
Applicant urges the Examiner to not oversimplify Applicant's claims and encourages the Examiner to
instead follow the recently issued Deputy Commissioner for Patents Kim's Memorandum of Aug. 4, 2025
entitled "Reminders on evaluating subject matter eligibility of claims under 35 U.S.C. 101" (herein after
"the Kim Memo"). However, Examiner respectfully disagrees that she over generalizes the claimed
invention by not providing evidentiary support because she properly identifies the subject matter found in the claims. For example, in the rejection, Examiner lists each limitation of the claim, and has identified all the limitations directed to the abstract idea of both a method of organizing human activities and mental processes. Examiner therefore concludes that she has not made an overgeneralization.
Applicant's arguments, see arguments/remarks, filed 4/15/26, with respect to the rejection(s)
of the claim(s) under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made further in view of both Sipher et al (US 9445230 B1), and Kellogg (US 11188867 B2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Akiba Robinson whose telephone number is 571-272-6734 and email is Akiba.Robinsonboyce@USPTO.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6:30am-4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's supervisor, Nathan Uber can be reached on 571-270-3923. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (703) 305-3900.
June 18, 2026
/AKIBA K ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3626
Prosecution Insights