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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The examiner suggests changing “assigning” to “assign”.
Appropriate correction is recommended.
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 16-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
As per claims 16-25, specifically with respect to independent claim 16, the claims do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the computer readable medium is not limited to being a “non-transitory computer readable storage medium”, and therefore, as currently written, the claims can cover signals, per se.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 8-17, 19-20 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Connor, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0238806 A1 (‘806), in view of CHAMBERLIN, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0251701 A1 (‘701).
As per claim 1, ‘806 in view of ‘701 discloses a system, comprising a controller configured to (e.g., See ‘806; [0045], which discloses system 100 comprising a balancing engine 102 in communication with processor 104, where the system 100 receives input 110 and generates output 112):
receive and use power-source data associated with a plurality of power sources powering a device (e.g., See ‘806; [0015] and [0049], which disclose a balancing engine using electricity grid data for individual information technology devices and receiving energy fuel mix data identifying the sources used to generate supplied electric power);
assign sustainability factors associated with the power-source data (e.g., See ‘806; [0050], which discloses assigning each fuel source, including renewables, gas, coal, and imported fuel sources, a value between negative one and positive one);
determine a sustainability indicator based on the plurality of sustainability factors (e.g., See ‘806; [0049]- [0050], which disclose assigned fuel mix values that favor renewable electricity and discourage coal generated electricity, and recommendation data including a regional grid optimization score indicating the sustainability of the electric power grid in real time. It is noted that although ‘806 does not expressly disclose that the regional power grid optimization score is determined from the assigned fuel mix values, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have used the assigned fuel mix values in determining the score because those values favor renewable electricity and discourage coal generated electricity, thereby providing a numerical measure of source sustainability);
output the sustainability indicator (e.g., See ‘806; [0025] – [0026], which disclose supplying the recommendation data comprising the regional grid optimization score which indicates the sustainability of the grid in real time).
Although ‘806 discloses receiving and using energy fuel mix data identifying the sources used to generate supplied electric power, ‘806 does not specifically disclose the controller being configured to request the power source data.
‘701 discloses this missing feature by disclosing a computing device having a sustainability manager that requests an updated sustainability forecast from a sustainability platform, where the forecast may be based on a mix of available energy sources (e.g., See ‘701; [0024] and [0051] – [0052]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘701 into ‘806 for the purpose of obtaining an updated sustainability forecast when needed, thereby improving the timeliness and reliability or the sustainability information.
As per claim 11, this claim recites method limitations that correspond to the controller operations of claim 1. Therefore, the analysis and rejection rationale as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein.
As per claim 16, this claim recites a computer-readable medium configured to cause a controller to perform steps corresponding to the controller operations of claim 1. Therefore, the analysis and rejection rationale as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein.
As per claim 2, ‘806’s combined system (‘806 in view of ‘701) further discloses a display configured to display the sustainability indicator (e.g., See ‘806; [0018] and [0026], which disclose displayable customer dashboards and recommendation data comprising a regional grid optimization score indicating grid sustainability in real time. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to display the regional grid optimization score in the dashboard to provide users with a current view of grid sustainability).
As per claim 4, ‘806’s combined system further discloses that the display includes a user interface of a remote device (e.g., See ‘701; [0041] and [0083] – [0084], which disclose computing device 104 communicating with sustainability platform 102 over network 108 and presenting user interface 600).
As per claim 5, ‘806’s combined system further discloses that the remote device includes one of a smartphone, tablet, laptop, notebook or personal computer having a monitor (e.g., See ‘701; [0094], which discloses a mobile computing device comprising a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer having a display).
As per claim 8, ‘806’s combined system further discloses that the controller further is configured to store the power-source data and generate periodic reports (e.g., See ‘806; [0018] and [0080], which disclose persisting energy source data representing the energy mix used to generate supplied electric power and presenting energy statistics and energy mixes for defined periods of time).
As per claim 9, ‘806’s combined system further discloses that the controller further is configured to generate a signal based on a change in the plurality of sustainability factors (e.g., See ‘701; [0073], which discloses providing a notification in response to identifying a change in one or more energy characteristics of the sustainability forecast).
As per claim 10, ‘806’s combined system further discloses that the controller further is configured to control the operation of the device based on the sustainability indicator (e.g., See ‘701; [0028] – [0029], which disclose using a sustainability forecast to control when device tasks, including software updates, backups, and battery charging, are performed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have used ‘806’s regional grid optimization score as the scheduling signal to perform device tasks when grid sustainability is improved).
As per claims 12 and 17, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 2, from above, is incorporated herein.
As per claims 13 and 23, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 8, from above, is incorporated herein.
As per claims 14 and 24, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 9, from above, is incorporated herein.
As per claims 15 and 25, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 10, from above, is incorporated herein.
As per claim 19, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 4, from above, is incorporated herein.
As per claim 20, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 5, from above, is incorporated herein.
Claims 3 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘806 in view of ‘701, as applied to claims 2 and 17, respectively, from above, and further in view of VERGES, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0062780 A1 (‘780).
As per claim 3, ‘806’s combined system does not expressly disclose that the display includes a user interface of a power device.
‘780 discloses this missing feature by disclosing a human interface display embedded within a power distribution unit and a touch screen positioned in front of display 104 to form a single display and unput unit 108 (e.g., See ‘780; [0037] – [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘780 into ‘806’s combined system for the purpose of allowing users to view information and enter commands directly at the power device, thereby improving local monitoring and control.
As per claim 18, the rejection rationale as applied to claim 3, from above, is incorporated herein.
Claims 6-7 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘806 in view of ‘701, as applied to claims 1 and 16, respectively, from above, and further in view of Meier, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0077701 A1 (‘7701).
As per claim 6, ‘806’s combined system does not expressly disclose that the sustainability indicator includes one or more icons representing a source of electricity based on the plurality of sustainability factors.
‘7701 discloses this missing feature by disclosing one or more power plant icons whose colors correspond to the type of fuel used, including renewable energy, coal, and natural gas (e.g., See ‘7701; [0136]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘7701 into ‘806’s combined system for the purpose of visually distinguishing fuel types associated with the assigned fuel mix values, thereby making grid sustainability easier to understand.
As per claim 7, ‘806’s combined system (‘806 in view of ‘701, in further view of ‘7701) further discloses that the source of electricity includes coal, natural gas, a hybrid source, and a clean source (e.g., See ‘7701; [0136], which discloses power plant icons corresponding to coal, natural gas, and renewable energy sources; also See ‘806; [0018], which discloses energy mixes comprising fossil fuel based, nuclear, and environmentally sustainable power sources. It is noted that under BRI, the disclosed energy mix comprising fossil fuel based, nuclear, and environmentally sustainable power sources is interpreted to correspond to the claimed hybrid source because the specification describes combined clean, fossil based, and nuclear sources as hybrid; See [0041]).
As per claims 21 and 22, the rejection rationale as applied to claims 6 and 7, respectively, from above, is incorporated herein.
References Considered but Not Relied Upon
The following references were considered but were not relied upon with respect to any prior art rejections:
(1) US 2005/0209905 A2, which discloses calculating sustainability indicators by weighting energy amounts from different sources and reporting the results as environmental performance data;
(2) US 2015/0032661 A1, which discloses identifying the energy source used for vehicle charging, assigning a green score, displaying it, and then triggering an action in response;
(3) US 2023/0394496 A1, which discloses using device energy use and grid carbon intensity data to estimate, communicate, and display an electronic devices’ carbon footprint;
(4) US 2023/0196234 A1, which discloses showing carbon intensity from changing electricity source mixes and using the information to plan electric vehicle charging;
(5) US 11,715,950 B2, which discloses tracking which energy sources serve a facility’s load and display source profiles, fuel types, and carbon impact; and
(6) US 8,892,540 B2, which discloses weighting sustainability factors, calculating sustainability scores, ranking the results, and presenting the scores through an industrial automation interface.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RONALD D HARTMAN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-3684. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 4:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached at (571) 272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RONALD D HARTMAN JR/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119 August 4, 2026
/RDH/
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