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
This action is in reply to the communications filed on 9/26/2024.
Claims 1-5 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/26/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Under Step 1 of the Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes, the claims must be directed to one of the four statutory categories. All the claims are directed to one of the four statutory categories (YES).
Under Step 2A of the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (2019 PEG), it is determined whether the claims are directed to a judicially recognized exception. Step 2A is a two-prong inquiry.
Under Prong 1, it is determined whether the claim recites a judicial exception (YES). Taking Claim 1 as representative, the claim recites limitations that fall within the certain methods of organizing human activity groupings of abstract ideas, including:
A system comprising:
an information processing device that provides a website presenting information related to a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery;
a related product of the vehicle; and
a terminal device, wherein
the information processing device transmits product information indicating the related product to the terminal device, and
the terminal device displays the product information and transmits order information indicating an order of the related product from the user to the information processing device.
Certain methods of organizing human activity include:
fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, and mitigating risk)
commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; and business relations)
managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions)
The limitations as emphasized, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers a commercial interaction. That is, other than reciting that a user interface is generated from the list and products are displayed on the user interface, nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed by people. For example, “provides, presenting, transmits, displays” in the context of this claim encompasses advertising, and marketing or sales activities.
If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers a commercial interaction but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “certain methods of organizing human activity” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Under Prong 2, it is determined whether the claim recites additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application of the exception. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application (NO).
The claim recites additional elements beyond the judicial exception(s), including:
A system comprising:
an information processing device that provides a website presenting information related to a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery;
a related product of the vehicle; and
a terminal device, wherein
the information processing device transmits product information indicating the related product to the terminal device, and
the terminal device displays the product information and transmits order information indicating an order of the related product from the user to the information processing device.
These limitations are not indicative of integration into a practical application because:
The additional elements of claim 1 are recited at a high level of generality (i.e. as generic computing hardware) such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to implement or apply the abstract idea on a generic computing hardware (or, merely use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea.) Specifically, the additional element of an information processing device, a website, a terminal device, is recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function of connecting to a platform on a network) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea. Further, the additional elements to no more than generally link the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (such as computers or computing networks). For example, stating that the information processing device provides a website, only generally links the commercial interactions and management of relationships or interactions between people to a computer environment. Employing well-known computer functions to execute an abstract idea, even when limiting the use of the idea to one particular environment, does not integrate the exception into a practical application.
Additionally, the additional elements are insufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because the claim fails to i) reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology or technical field, ii) apply the judicial exception with, or use the judicial exception in conjunction with, a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim, iii) effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, or iv) apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment.
Accordingly, the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
Under Step 2B, it is determined whether the claims recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The claims of the present application do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception (NO).
In the case of system claim 1, taken individually or as a whole, the additional elements of claim 9 do not provide an inventive concept. As discussed above under step 2A (prong 2) with respect to the integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements used to perform the claimed functions amount to no more than a general link to a technological environment.
Even considered as an ordered combination (as a whole), the additional elements do not add anything significantly more than when considered individually.
Therefore, claim 1 does not provide an inventive concept and does not qualify as eligible subject matter.
Claim 5 is an information processing device reciting similar functions as claim 1, and does not qualify as eligible subject matter for similar reasons. Examiner notes that Claim 1 additionally recites a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device; and a control unit that transmits to the terminal device via the communication unit. The recited additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and only generally link the abstract idea to a technological environment (computer networks).
Claims 2-4 are dependencies of claim 1. The dependent claims do not add “significantly more” to the abstract idea. They recite additional functions that describe the abstract idea and only generally link the abstract idea to a particular technological environment, including:
wherein the related product includes a related product communication unit capable of transmitting information indicating video data imaged during production of the vehicle to the terminal device. (further limiting the related product does not make the abstract idea less abstract. Video data transmission is generic transmission of information that only generally links the abstract idea to a technological environment.)
Accordingly, the Examiner concludes that there are no meaningful limitations in the claim that transform the judicial exception into a patent eligible application such that the claim amounts to significantly more than the judicial exception itself. The analysis above applies to all statutory categories of invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0222733 A1 to MORI in view of U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0120369 A1 to TAKAOKA.
Regarding Claim 1, MORI discloses a system comprising:
an information processing device that provides a website presenting information related to a vehicle purchased by a user; ([0107] a frequency at which a product (for example, a vehicle) capable of being purchased at a sales shop, [0043] web servers 500 may include an official site that is managed and operated by a prescribed seller. [0156] newly purchased vehicle )
a related product of the vehicle; and ([0107] an item related to the product (for example, a toy, a model, a radio-controlled model, or a plastic model), and/or the like)
a terminal device, wherein the information processing device transmits product information indicating the related product to the terminal device, and ([0145] the information provider 430 of the agent server 400 refers to profile information of the user U1 and makes a recommendation based on the referenced profile information.)
the terminal device displays the product information and transmits order information indicating an order of the related product from the user to the information processing device.. ([0146] the user U1 can receive the provision of more detailed information and receive the provision of the recommendation information. Also, by growing the agent when the product or the service is purchased from the prescribed seller, it is possible to motivate the user U1 to make a purchase from the prescribed seller. [0165] the purchase data 372 of the customer server 300 is updated and the agent A can be continuously trained by repeating the purchase. [0085] purchase data 372 )
But does not explicitly disclose a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery.
TAKAOKA, on the other hand, teaches a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery. ([0011] With the above apparatus arrangement, a vehicle information providing apparatus with entertainability, which provides the progress status of a specific vehicle until shipping can be realized. That is, the user can recognize respective stages until shipping of the ordered specific vehicle on his or her information terminal such as a computer or the like, and expectation of the user who is looking forward to delivery can be satisfied. [0014] a photographed image (e.g., a still or video image: FIG. 39) of the specific vehicle under assembly in an assembly line of a vehicle manufacturer)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the method, as taught by MORI, the features, as taught by TAKAOKA, 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. It further would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MORI, to include the teachings of TAKAOKA, in order to improve entertainment until shipping (TAKAOKA, [0015]).
Regarding Claim 2, MORI in view of TAKAOKA teaches the method of claim 1.
MORI discloses wherein the information processing device permits the user to purchase the related product based on a login history of the user to the website.. ([0046] Personal information or a shop visit history of a visitor (a user), a history of a product or a service purchased by the user, and other user-related information may be managed in each of the sales shop terminals DT1 and DT2. The sales shop terminals DT1 and DT2 transmit sales content for the user and the user-related information to the customer server 300 at a prescribed interval or a prescribed timing. The prescribed interval is, for example, an interval such as daily or weekly. Also, the prescribed timing is, for example, a timing when the user has visited the shop, a timing when the user has purchased a product or a service, a timing when the user-related information has been updated, or the like.)
Regarding Claim 3, MORI in view of TAKAOKA teaches the method of claim 1.
However MORI does not explicitly disclose wherein the related product includes a related product communication unit capable of transmitting information indicating video data imaged during production of the vehicle to the terminal device.
TAKAOKA, on the other hand, teaches wherein the related product includes a related product communication unit capable of transmitting information indicating video data imaged during production of the vehicle to the terminal device. ([0011] With the above apparatus arrangement, a vehicle information providing apparatus with entertainability, which provides the progress status of a specific vehicle until shipping can be realized. That is, the user can recognize respective stages until shipping of the ordered specific vehicle on his or her information terminal such as a computer or the like, and expectation of the user who is looking forward to delivery can be satisfied. [0014] a photographed image (e.g., a still or video image: FIG. 39) of the specific vehicle under assembly in an assembly line of a vehicle manufacturer)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the method, as taught by MORI, the features, as taught by TAKAOKA, 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. It further would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MORI, to include the teachings of TAKAOKA, in order to improve entertainment until shipping (TAKAOKA, [0015]).
Regarding Claim 4, MORI in view of TAKAOKA teaches the method of claim 1.
MORI discloses wherein the related product is a model of the vehicle. ([0107] an item related to the product (for example, a toy, a model, a radio-controlled model, or a plastic model))
Regarding Claim 5, MORI discloses an information processing device that provides a website presenting information related to a vehicle purchased by a user, the information processing device comprising: ([0107] a frequency at which a product (for example, a vehicle) capable of being purchased at a sales shop, [0043] web servers 500 may include an official site that is managed and operated by a prescribed seller. [0156] newly purchased vehicle )
a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device; and ([0085] the sales shop terminals DT1 and DT2. [0107] The agent manager 434 acquires the purchase data 372 from the customer server 300 and changes a function capable of being executed by the agent on the basis of acquired purchase information.)
a control unit that transmits product information indicating a related product of the vehicle to the terminal device via the communication unit and receives order information indicating an order of the related product by the user from the terminal device via the communication unit. ([0107] an item related to the product (for example, a toy, a model, a radio-controlled model, or a plastic model), and/or the like; [0145] the information provider 430 of the agent server 400 refers to profile information of the user U1 and makes a recommendation based on the referenced profile information. [0146] the user U1 can receive the provision of more detailed information and receive the provision of the recommendation information. Also, by growing the agent when the product or the service is purchased from the prescribed seller, it is possible to motivate the user U1 to make a purchase from the prescribed seller. [0165] the purchase data 372 of the customer server 300 is updated and the agent A can be continuously trained by repeating the purchase. [0085] purchase data 372 )
But does not explicitly disclose a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery.
TAKAOKA, on the other hand, teaches a vehicle purchased by a user and waiting for delivery. ([0011] With the above apparatus arrangement, a vehicle information providing apparatus with entertainability, which provides the progress status of a specific vehicle until shipping can be realized. That is, the user can recognize respective stages until shipping of the ordered specific vehicle on his or her information terminal such as a computer or the like, and expectation of the user who is looking forward to delivery can be satisfied. [0014] a photographed image (e.g., a still or video image: FIG. 39) of the specific vehicle under assembly in an assembly line of a vehicle manufacturer)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in the method, as taught by MORI, the features, as taught by TAKAOKA, 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. It further would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MORI, to include the teachings of TAKAOKA, in order to improve entertainment until shipping (TAKAOKA, [0015]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michelle T. Kringen whose telephone number is (571)270-0159. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kelly Campen can be reached on (571)272-6740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE T KRINGEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3688