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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1 and 11-13 have been amended.
Claim 4 has been cancelled.
Claims 14-17 have been added.
Claims 1-3 and 5-17 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Applicant's Remarks
35 U.S.C. § 101
Applicant’s remarks, see Page(s) 8-10, filed 21 August 2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejections, have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant submits that the alleged judicial exception is integrated into a practical application of an emissions reduction system offering increased flexibility by accurately identifying vehicle emissions without need for a present identification system, thus allowing the system to encourage all vehicles to use lower emission routes without need for prior registration.
Examiner respectfully disagrees, as the claim limitations are not indicative of integration into a practical application, such as an improvement to the functioning of a computer or other technical field, as considered below in view of MPEP 2106. In particular, an improvement in the judicial exception itself is not an improvement in technology. Applicant’s improvement in this case is not an improvement to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technological field.
The following are examples of eligible subject matter based on technological improvements: see, e.g., McRO, 837 F.3d at 1315 ("The claimed process uses a combined order of specific rules that renders information into a specific format that is then used and applied to create desired results: a sequence of synchronized, animated characters."); Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Sys., Inc., 879 F.3d 1299, 1304 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (finding patent eligible a claim drawn to a behavior-based virus scan that protects against viruses that have been "cosmetically modified to avoid detection by code-matching virus scans"); Enfish, 822 F.3d at 1330, 1333 (discussing patent eligible claims directed to "an innovative logical model for a computer database" that included a self-referential table allowing for greater flexibility in configuring databases, faster searching, and more effective storage); CardioNet, LLC v. InfoBionic, Inc., 955 F.3d 1358, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (explaining that the claims at issue focus on a specific means for improving cardiac monitoring technology; they are not "directed to a result or effect that itself is the abstract idea and merely invoke generic processes and machinery" (quoting McRO, 837 F.3d at 1314)).
To show that the involvement of a computer assists in improving the technology, the claims must recite the details regarding how a computer aids the method, the extent to which the computer aids the method, or the significance of a computer to the performance of the method. Merely adding generic computer components to perform the method is not sufficient. Thus, the claim must include more than mere instructions to perform the method on a generic component or machinery to qualify as an improvement to an existing technology (see MPEP 2106.05(a)).
Instead, the claims recite the following additional elements: ‘at least one memory’, ‘at least one processor’, ‘a computer’, ‘a non-transitory computer readable medium’. The additional element(s) is/are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. In their broadest reasonable interpretation, the additional element(s) comprise(s) only a processor, instructions in memory, a receiver, and a transmitter, being used to implement the functions of the abstract idea.
Accordingly, the claims do not amount to more than a recitation of the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) or more than mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception in a generic computing environment (see MPEP 2106.05(f) Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception). Thus, even when viewed in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application and the claim(s) is/are directed to the judicial exception.
35 U.S.C. § 102
Applicant’s remarks, see Page(s) 10-11, filed 21 August 2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 102 rejections, have been fully considered, and are persuasive, in view of the claim amendments. Therefore, the 35 U.S.C. § 102 rejections have been withdrawn.
35 U.S.C. § 103
Applicant’s remarks, see Page(s) 10-11, filed 21 August 2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections, have been fully considered, and are persuasive, in view of the claim amendments. Therefore, the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections have been withdrawn.
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(s) 1-3 and 5-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim(s) 1 and 11-13 recite(s) a system and series of steps for determining a toll charge based on exhaust gas information and absorber information, which under broadest reasonable interpretation, is analogous to commercial or legal interactions, such as advertising, marketing, or sales activities. These concepts are grouped as certain methods of organizing human activity.
The limitation(s) of, ‘acquire two or more images of a vehicle’, ‘determine… vehicle information based on the images of the vehicle’, ‘estimate an exhaust gas amount of a vehicle…’, ‘acquire absorber information…’ and ‘decide a toll fee…’, as drafted, recite a process that, under broadest reasonable interpretation, is/are certain methods of organizing human activity. Accordingly, the claim(s) recite(s) an abstract idea.
The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim(s) recite(s) the additional element(s) of ‘at least one memory’, ‘at least one processor’, ‘a computer’, ‘a non-transitory computer readable medium’. The additional element(s) is/are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. In their broadest reasonable interpretation, the additional element(s) comprise(s) only a processor, instructions in memory, a receiver, and a transmitter, being used to implement the functions of the abstract idea. Accordingly, the claims do not amount to more than a recitation of the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) or more than mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception in a generic computing environment (see MPEP 2106.05(f) Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception). Thus, even when viewed in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application and the claim(s) is/are directed to the judicial exception.
Claim(s) 2, 3, 5-10, and 14-17 further recite(s) the system and series of steps for determining a toll charge based on exhaust gas information and absorber information, which under broadest reasonable interpretation, is analogous to commercial or legal interactions, such as advertising, marketing, or sales activities. These concepts are grouped as certain methods of organizing human activity. Accordingly, the claim(s) recite(s) an abstract idea.
The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The additional element(s) is/are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. In their broadest reasonable interpretation, the additional element(s) comprise(s) only a processor, instructions in memory, a receiver, and a transmitter, being used to implement the functions of the abstract idea. Accordingly, the claims do not amount to more than a recitation of the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) or more than mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception in a generic computing environment (see MPEP 2106.05(f) Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception). Thus, even when viewed in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application and the claim(s) is/are directed to the judicial exception.
As analyzed above, the limitations as an ordered combination, are merely applying the abstract idea in a generic computing environment. In addition, the claims do not improve functionality of a computer or improve any other technology. Thus, claims 1-3 and 5-17 are ineligible as the claims do not recite additional elements which result in significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
Novelty/Non-Obviousness
The subject matter of claims 1-3 and 5-17 is not taught by the cited prior art and is considered novel. However, claims 1-3 and 5-17 remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as described above.
The closest prior art of record are Cardoso (U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20130185001), Scofield (U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20140278840), Shioda (U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20030110075), Ashby (U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20100161391), Cardoso (U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20130171836) and Sampaio (“Emissions based tolls – Impacts on the total emissions of an intercity corridor”, 2021).
The cited prior art, taken either individually or in combination with other prior art of record, fails to teach or suggest estimating an exhaust gas amount of a vehicle, acquiring absorber information indicating a position of one or more carbon dioxide absorbers, and deciding a toll fee using the exhaust gas amount being estimated and the absorber information.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE S MURRAY whose telephone number is (571)272-4306. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/Wayne S. Murray/Examiner, Art Unit 3628
/JEFF ZIMMERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3628