DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the initial filing dated December 12, 2024.
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 Status
Claims 1-9 are currently pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3-5, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2002-245209 (Casio; Translation provided) in view of Kirian et al. (Kirian; US PG Pub #2011/0153459).
As to claim 1, Casio teaches an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a network and comprising a controller, the controller being configured to execute operations (Paragraph [0019] teaches an information processing device as a server realized by a personal computer; Paragraph [0023] teaches the server communicating via a network) comprising:
receiving first information from a first communication terminal associated with a first stage in recycling (Paragraph [0045] teaches a retail store reading information from a tag and registering the data in the server via an information processing device and the Internet);
receiving second information from a second communication terminal associated with a second stage in the recycling (Paragraph [0022] teaches transferring history data to the server using an information processing device at a processing company via a network such as the Internet);
storing the first information and the second information in association with identification information (Paragraphs [0038] and [0040]-[0041] teach a processing history database storage area of the server including the tag number storage area, product information storage area, parts information storage area, and processing history information storage area); and
transmitting, upon receiving the identification information from a user terminal, the first information and the second information to the user terminal (Paragraph [0012] teaches an individual obtaining various aggregated data by requesting the information processing device executes processing; Paragraph [0023] teaches the user using an information processing device to access the server via a network to retrieve data; Paragraph [0044] teaches a user using the server to track the progress status of recycling; Paragraph [0062] teaches entering a tag number as search input to obtain processing history information).
Casio does not explicitly teach tire-related information about a tire, recycling of tires, and identification information for the tire.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches tire-related information about a tire and identification information for the tire (Paragraphs [0152] and [0154]-[0155] teach a tire record generate for each tire including an identifier and tire description record). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the teaching of Kirian such that the tires of Kirian are tracked through the recycling process of Casio because Kirian teaches tracking the tire from manufacturing through disposal (Paragraph [0005] teaches the need to improve the management of tires in the industry from procurement to disposal; Paragraph [0021] teach managing a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal; Paragraph [0043] teaches molding an identifier to the tire during manufacturing).
As to claim 3, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio teaches a QR code® including the identification information, a bar code including the identification information, or an RFID chip storing the identification information (Paragraphs [0024]-[0025] teach an RF-ID tag capable of reading and writing data; Paragraphs [0032]-[0033] teach an electronic tag number storage area storing a tag number and product information storage area storing a model name and serial number), but does not explicitly teach the QR code, bar code, or RFID chip is attached to or embedded in the tire, or a chemical marker associated with the identification information is compounded with or applied to rubber used in the tire.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches the QR code, bar code, or RFID chip is attached to or embedded in the tire, or a chemical marker associated with the identification information is compounded with or applied to rubber used in the tire (Paragraph [0043] teaches molding an identifier into the tire during manufacturing, embedding an RFID device in the tire, or bonding a patch having an RFID device or bar code to a tire surface). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the teaching of Kirian because Kirian teaches recognizes various means of providing an identifier (Paragraph [0043]) and tracking the tire through disposal (Paragraph [0005] teaches the need to improve the management of tires in the industry from procurement to disposal; Paragraph [0021] teach managing a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal).
As to claim 4, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio teaches wherein the first tire-related information includes information on a percentage of material used (Paragraph [0030] teaches a parts information storage area storing component information including a composition or mixing ratio), but does not explicitly teach the percentage of recycled material in the tire.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches tire data (Paragraphs [0152] and [0154]-[0155] teach a tire record generate for each tire including an identifier and tire description record). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the composition or mixing ratio of Casio with the tire information of Kirian such that tire information includes the percentage of recycled material in the tire because tracking the composition or mixing ratio of a tire yields the predictable result of providing information regarding the environmental impact of the tire and the life expectancy of the tire.
As to claim 5, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio does not explicitly teach wherein
the first stage is a stage of selling the tire, and
the operations include identifying a customer who purchased the tire from the first tire-related information and transmitting service information to a user terminal operated by the customer.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches the first stage is a stage of selling the tire (Paragraphs [0015] and [0169] teach the system authorizing purchase and generating an invoice for a customer for a tire purchase based on customer identification), and
the operations include identifying a customer who purchased the tire from the first tire-related information and transmitting service information to a user terminal operated by the customer (Paragraph [0082] teaches inventory management including the customer name; Paragraph [0169] teaches generating the invoice and sending it to the client over the Internet). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the purchase stage of Kirian because Kirian teaches tracking the tire from manufacturing through disposal (Paragraph [0005] teaches the need to improve the management of tires in the industry from procurement to disposal; Paragraph [0021] teach managing a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal; Paragraph [0043] teaches molding an identifier to the tire during manufacturing).
As to claim 8, Casio teaches an information processing method for an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a network, the information processing method (Paragraph [0001] teaches a method for tracking recycling; Paragraph [0019] teaches an information processing device as a server realized by a personal computer; Paragraph [0023] teaches the server communicating via a network) comprising:
receiving first information from a first communication terminal associated with a first stage in recycling (Paragraph [0045] teaches a retail store reading information from a tag and registering the data in the server via an information processing device and the Internet);
receiving second information from a second communication terminal associated with a second stage in the recycling (Paragraph [0022] teaches transferring history data to the server using an information processing device at a processing company via a network such as the Internet);
storing the first information and the second information in association with identification information (Paragraphs [0038] and [0040]-[0041] teach a processing history database storage area of the server including the tag number storage area, product information storage area, parts information storage area, and processing history information storage area); and
transmitting, upon receiving the identification information from a user terminal, the first information and the second information to the user terminal (Paragraph [0012] teaches an individual obtaining various aggregated data by requesting the information processing device executes processing; Paragraph [0023] teaches the user using an information processing device to access the server via a network to retrieve data; Paragraph [0044] teaches a user using the server to track the progress status of recycling; Paragraph [0062] teaches entering a tag number as search input to obtain processing history information).
Casio does not explicitly teach tire-related information about a tire, recycling of tires, and identification information for the tire.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches tire-related information about a tire and identification information for the tire (Paragraphs [0152] and [0154]-[0155] teach a tire record generate for each tire including an identifier and tire description record). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the teaching of Kirian such that the tires of Kirian are tracked through the recycling process of Casio because Kirian teaches tracking the tire from manufacturing through disposal (Paragraph [0005] teaches the need to improve the management of tires in the industry from procurement to disposal; Paragraph [0021] teach managing a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal; Paragraph [0043] teaches molding an identifier to the tire during manufacturing).
As to claim 9, Casio teaches a program configured to cause a computer to function as the information processing apparatus (Paragraphs [0038]-[0039] teach a server storing a program executed by the server) according to claim 1 (as rendered obvious as seen with respect to claim 1 above).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2002-245209 (Casio; Translation provided) in view of Kirian et al. (Kirian; US PG Pub #2011/0153459) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Klinkhamer (US PG Pub #2020/0143336).
As to claim 2, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio does not explicitly teach wherein
the information processing apparatus is one node of a blockchain network, and
the operations include storing the first tire-related information and the second tire-related information in association with the identification information in a blockchain.
In the field of reuse of waste materials, Klinkhamer teaches wherein
the information processing apparatus is one node of a blockchain network, and
the operations include storing the first tire-related information and the second tire-related information in association with the identification information in a blockchain (Paragraph [0027] teaches a distributed ledger referring to a blockchain consisting of digital data; Paragraph [0040] teaches a server including the distributed ledger). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the blockchain of Klinkhamer such that first and second tire-related information are stored in the blockchain because this meets the increasing demand for more efficient and responsible waste management by adopting sustainable, transparent, accountable, and verifiable waste management practices (Paragraph [0004]) incorporating real-time communication (Paragraph [0007]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2002-245209 (Casio; Translation provided) in view of Kirian et al. (Kirian; US PG Pub #2011/0153459) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ono et al. (Ono; US PG Pub #2003/0097310).
As to claim 6, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio does not explicitly teach wherein
the first stage is a stage of selling the tire,
the second stage is a stage of collecting a used tire, and
the operations include calculating, from the first tire-related information and the second tire-related information, a percentage of one or more tires collected among one or more tires sold.
In the field of managing or tracking objects, Kirian teaches the first stage is a stage of selling the tire (Paragraphs [0015] and [0169] teach the system authorizing purchase and generating an invoice for a customer for a tire purchase based on customer identification) and
the second stage is a stage of collecting a used tire (Paragraph [0065] teaches procuring tires that are used tires, retreaded tires, repaired tires, and tires removed from vehicles). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the purchase stage of Kirian because Kirian teaches tracking the tire from manufacturing through disposal (Paragraph [0005] teaches the need to improve the management of tires in the industry from procurement to disposal; Paragraph [0021] teach managing a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal; Paragraph [0043] teaches molding an identifier to the tire during manufacturing). However, Casio in view of Kirian do not yet render obvious the operations include calculating, from the first tire-related information and the second tire-related information, a percentage of one or more tires collected among one or more tires sold.
In the field of recycling (Paragraphs [0002]-[0003]), Ono teaches calculating, from the first tire-related information and the second tire-related information, a percentage of one or more tires collected among one or more tires sold (Paragraph [0006] teaches collecting tires at a recycling plant; Paragraph [0218] teaches calculating the quantity of collected articles divided by the number of sold articles to determine a collection ratio). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the calculation of Ono because this allows for providing incentives (Paragraphs [0004] and [0108]) which encourages recycling.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2002-245209 (Casio; Translation provided) in view of Kirian et al. (Kirian; US PG Pub #2011/0153459) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Abdallah, Jr. et al. (Abdallah; US PG Pub #2016/0307169).
As to claim 7, depending from the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, Casio teaches storing decomposition condition information corresponding to compounding information included in the first tire-related information (Paragraph [0034] teaches storing material characteristics such as a composition or mixing ratio; Paragraph [0035] teaches storing recommended disposal information including whether or not to incinerate, incineration temperatures, and a decomposition method), but does not explicitly teach wherein
the second stage is a stage of pyrolysis of the tire, and
the operations include transmitting decomposition condition information corresponding to compounding information included in the first tire-related information to the second communication terminal associated with the second stage.
Abdallah teaches a stage of pyrolysis of the tire (Paragraphs [0002]-[0003] teach the pyrolysis method for recycling scrap tires when the tire reaches the end of its useful life), and
controlling the temperature inside the pyrolysis reactor (Paragraph [0040]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Casio with the pyrolysis stage of Abdallah such that the second stage is a pyrolysis stage and decomposition condition information corresponding to compounding information included in the first tire-related information is transmitted to the second communication terminal associated with the second stage because controlling the pyrolysis temperature based on received information such as the desired incineration temperature as in Casio yields the predictable result of increasing the reliability of the pyrolysis stage to appropriately process the tire for increased environmental friendliness.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Casella et al. (US PG Pub #2007/0260466) teach a recycling program using RFID tags (Paragraph [0010]).
Boss et al. (US PG Pub #2010/0087983) teach using RFID to track tire rotation as object reuse and relocation (Paragraph [0064]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN W SHERWIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7269. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7:00-8:00, 9:00-3:00 and 4:00-5:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached at 571.270.1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN W SHERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688