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 .
Drawings
The drawings filed on 04/24/2024 are accepted 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 1-6 are rejected under 35 USC 101. The claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Claims 2-5 fail to remedy these deficiencies.
The claims 1-6 recite receiving a producer name and a producer source address, transmitting the producer source address, retrieving address variants associated with the producer source address, transmitting the producer source address and the address variants, normalizing the producer source address and the address variants to obtain a normalized source address and normalized address variants, transmitting the normalized source address and normalized address variants, retrieving geospatial data for the normalized source address and the normalized address variants, transmitting the retrieved geospatial data, scoring the geospatial data for the normalized producer source address and the normalized address variants, assigning a unique location ID to the producer source location, storing the geospatial data for the normalized source address and the normalized address variants with the unique location ID, displaying to a user one or more parcels of land associated with the unique location ID on a map, retrieving the address variants from a geocode service, retrieving the geospatial data for the producer source address and address variants from a plurality of geocoding services, retrieving UCC filing data and displaying the UCC filing data to the user, retrieving tax parcel data and displaying the tax parcel data to the user, and retrieving operator data and displaying the operator data to the user.
The Claims 1-6 recite transmitting, normalizing, scoring, assigning, storing, and displaying steps as drafted, are processes that under broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of managing personal behavior, but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting “a geocoded warehouse component, a geocoding component, and a normalizing component”, nothing in the claim element precludes the steps from practically being performed by organizing human activity. For example, but for the “the geocoded warehouse component, the geocoding component, and the normalizing component” in the context of these claims encompasses a person manually transmits the producer source address and the address variants, normalizes the producer source address and the address variants to obtain a normalized source address and normalized address variants, transmits the normalized source address and normalized address variants, transmits the retrieved geospatial data, scoring/calculating a confidence level for the geospatial data for the normalized producer source address and the normalized address variants, assigns a unique location ID to the producer source location, stores the geospatial data for the normalized source address and the normalized address variants with the unique location ID, displays/presents one or more parcels of land associated with the unique location ID on a map, displays/presents the UCC filing data to the user, displays/presents the tax parcel data to the user, and displays/presents the operator data to the user. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation by managing personal behavior 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 claims recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because receiving and retrieving steps are recited at a high level of generality (i.e., as a general means of receiving a producer name and source address and retrieving address variants, geospatial data, UCC filing data, tax parcel data, and operator data step) and amounts to mere data gathering, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the concept of receiving, retrieving, transmitting, normalizing, scoring, assigning, storing, and displaying in a computer environment. The claimed computer components such as the geocoded warehouse component, the geocoding component, and the normalizing component are recited at a high level of generality and are merely invoked as tools to perform receiving, retrieving, transmitting, normalizing, scoring, assigning, storing, and displaying steps. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea. 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 claims 1-6 are directed to an abstract idea.
The claims 1-6 do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of using the geocoded warehouse component, the geocoding component, and the normalizing component to perform receiving, retrieving, transmitting, normalizing, scoring, assigning, storing, and displaying steps amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Therefore, the claim does not amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea (Step 2B: NO). The claims 1-6 are not patent eligible.
Conclusion
Please refer to form 892 for cited references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARIEL J YU whose telephone number is (571)270-3312. The examiner can normally be reached 11AM - 7PM (M-F).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Obeid Fahd A can be reached on 571-270-3324. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ARIEL J YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
Prosecution Insights