DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final Office Action is in response to the originally filed specification and preliminary amendment [August 22, 2024].
Claims 1-20 and 41-60 have been cancelled.
Claims 21-40 are currently pending and have been considered below.
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 .
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 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed towards non-eligible subject matter.
In terms of Step 1, independent claims 21, 30, and 39 are directed towards (as represented by claim 21), “receive a plurality of values indicative of a marginal emission factor (MEF) of electricity provided by a provider of electricity coupled with a battery; identify, within a subset of the plurality of values, a highest value of the plurality of values of the subset; identify, within the subset, a lowest value of the plurality of values of the subset; and determine a carbon offset to achieve using the battery based on a difference between the highest value adjusted for a loss in energy corresponding at least to electricity transmission associated with the battery and the lowest value”. The claims are describing receiving information and determining an offset value based on the identified highest and lowest values of the received information. The claims are directed towards a mathematical calculation. The determination step is providing the calculation based on a difference between the highest and lowest identified values. As such, claim 21 is directed towards an abstract idea under the mathematical concept grouping.
Further, the claim is describing a collection of information and high level analysis that a person would be able to do with pen and paper. A person could receive information, identify highest and lowest values and provide an offset based on a difference between the highest and lowest value. As such, the claim is also directed towards an abstract idea under the mental process grouping.
Examiner notes that the eligibility of the similar application [18/166836] provides a specific application beyond the determination step utilizing the MEF values and other steps. There was a distinct and applicable step that provided a technical interaction (within the ‘836 was applying the determined value to the operation of the battery) that provided the claim as eligible with respect to 35 USC 101. The pending application claims are merely receiving information and determining with no technical interaction aspect that was provided in the similar ‘836 application which was considered transformative into a practical application.
Step 2(a)(II) considers the additional elements in terms of being transformative into a practical application. The additional elements of claim 21 is, “A system to determine a greenhouse gas mitigation potential of an asset, the system comprising: a data processing system comprising one or more processors to (claim 21); by a data processing system (claim 30); A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor readable instructions, such that, when executed, cause one or more processors to (claim 39)”. The system elements and computer aspects are described in the originally filed specification [43-51]. The computer elements are described as tools to implement the abstract idea. The system and processing elements are not directed towards a technical improvement. As such, the additional elements are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Step 2(b) considers the additional elements in terms of being significantly more than the identified abstract idea. The additional elements of claim 21 is, “A system to determine a greenhouse gas mitigation potential of an asset, the system comprising: a data processing system comprising one or more processors to (claim 21); by a data processing system (claim 30); A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor readable instructions, such that, when executed, cause one or more processors to (claim 39)”. The system elements and computer aspects are described in the originally filed specification [43-51 and 95-99]. The computer elements are described as tools to implement the abstract idea. The system and processing elements are not directed towards a technical improvement. As such, the additional elements are not directed towards additional elements that are significantly more than the identified abstract idea. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claims 22, 31, and 40 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claim is directed towards, “identify a time period corresponding to the subset of the plurality of values, the time period including a time duration in which the battery is charged by the provider and discharged to a load; and provide for display the carbon offset corresponding to the time period”. The claim is further describing the identification of information that is utilized to calculate (mathematical calculation) and high level analysis (mental process). The claim further provides a display that further describes the mental process (collect, analyze, and display). Further, in terms of the displaying step, the processor is providing the display that is considered above and based on the specification is merely a tool to implement the abstract idea. As such, the claim is not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 23 and 32 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “determine the loss in energy based at least on an amount of energy provided by the provider to the battery during the battery charge and an amount of energy provided by the battery to a load during the battery discharge”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the determination step based on amount of energy (mathematical calculation) and high level analysis (mental process). There are no further additional elements beyond those identified above. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 24 and 33 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “identify the highest value within a first time interval in which the battery is discharged; identify the lowest value within a second time interval in which the battery is charged; and determine the carbon offset according to a MEF offset determined corresponding to a time period in which the battery is charged and discharged”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the identification and determination steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of collecting and high level analyzing information (mental process). There are no further additional elements beyond those identified above. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 25 and 34 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “identify a first subset of the plurality of values within a first time interval, the first subset comprising the highest value, each value of the first subset exceeding a first threshold; identify a second subset of the plurality of values within a second time interval, the second subset comprising the lowest value, each value of the second subset exceeded by a second threshold lower than the first threshold; generate a first value corresponding to the first subset reduced by a value corresponding to the loss in energy; and determine the carbon offset according to a MEF offset based on a difference between the highest value and the lowest value”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the identification and determination steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of collecting and high level analyzing information (mental process). There are no further additional elements beyond those identified above. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claims 26 and 35 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “generate a value corresponding to the loss in energy, the value indicative of the percentage of electricity dissipated during the battery charge and the battery discharge; and determine the carbon offset based at least on the difference between the highest value reduced using the value corresponding to the loss in energy and the lowest value; and provide for display to a user device the carbon offset”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the determination steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of collecting, high level analyzing information, and displaying (mental process). Further, in terms of the displaying step, the processor is providing the display that is considered above and based on the specification is merely a tool to implement the abstract idea. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 27 and 36 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “receive a first subset of the plurality of values from a first source on an electrical grid coupled with the provider and a second subset of the plurality of values from a second source on the electrical grid; modify the first value to conform a format of the first value to a format of the second value; and generate the plurality of values including the modified first value and the second value”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the receiving and determination (generation) steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of collecting and high level analyzing information (mental process). While the claim describes modifying the format of the value, there is no additional element or technical aspect providing the modification. Further, a person would be able to modify values within a format with pen and paper. There are no further additional elements beyond those identified above. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 28 and 37 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “determine the carbon offset corresponding to a time period that includes a time duration in which the battery is charged by the provider and discharged to a load; and provide the carbon offset for display to a user device”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the determination steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of high level analyzing information and displaying (mental process). Further, in terms of the displaying step, the processor is providing the display that is considered above and based on the specification is merely a tool to implement the abstract idea. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Dependent claim 29 and 38 are further directed towards the identified abstract idea and not directed towards further additional elements identified above. The claims are directed towards, “determine the carbon offset corresponding to a time period of one of: a day, a week, a month or a year; and provide the carbon offset corresponding to the time period for display”. The claims are further describing the identified abstract ideas in terms of the determination steps that provide further aspects of the calculation (mathematical calculation) and another element of high level analyzing information and displaying (mental process). Further, in terms of the displaying step, the processor is providing the display that is considered above and based on the specification is merely a tool to implement the abstract idea. As such, the claims are not directed towards additional elements that are transformative into a practical application or significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
The claimed invention is describing an abstract idea without additional elements that are significantly more or transformative into a practical application. Therefore, claims 21-40 are rejected under 35 USC 101 for being directed towards non-eligible subject matter.
Examiner’s Note on Prior Art
With respect to prior art rejections, the independent claims, specifically towards the combination of elements in terms of the MEF values that are utilized in determining a carbon offset with respect to highest and lowest value, are not taught by the prior art. Examiner notes that the similar application [18/166836] was considered with respect to similar prior art. The previously cited combination of the ‘836 application cited Wenzel in view of Coates which provides operation and battery management based on electricity source including timestamp elements, but the specific combination for the combination in terms of the MEF value that are utilized to determine the carbon offset based on the difference of the highest and lowest value adjusted for a loss in energy are not taught by the combination. Further prior art consideration was given to Shi [2020/0372588] that provides grid monitoring and real time analysis, Elbsat et al [2023/0020417] that teaches carbon emission optimization based on time periods and energy resources, Cruickshank, III [2022/0385064] that provides energy consumption analysis based on load and other production factors, but not the specific combination of elements in terms of the MEF value determining and determination step that is considered with respect to the combination of elements.
The closest NPL “Carbon efficient Smart Charging using Forecasts of Marginal Emission Factors” by Hulber et al (2020) was considered. Hulber provides marginal emission factor analysis, but does not provide the specific combination of independent claim elements in terms of the MEF utilized for the specific combination with the determination step. Additional NPL consideration was provided with respect to Ryan et al “Comparative Assessment of Models and Methods To Calculate Grid Electricity Emissions” (2016) that provides elements of the calculation for MEF, but does not describe the specific combination with respect to the determination step. The closest FOR is Doi et al [WO/2010/098455]/[US2012/0053848] which provides battery charge/discharge based on emission, but does not provide the specific MEF determination based on the received and identified information. As such, the claimed invention is allowable over the prior art with respect to 35 USC 102 and 35 USC 103 consideration.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Cruickshank, III [2022/0385064];
Ryan et al “Comparative Assessment of Models and Methods To Calculate Grid Electricity Emissions” (2016);
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/ANDREW CHASE LAKHANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3629