DETAILED ACTION
The following is a first office action upon examination of application number 18/949196. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application and have been examined on the merits discussed below.
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 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 1-20 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.
(Step 1) Claims 1-11 are directed to a method; thus these claims are directed to a process, which is one of the statutory categories of invention. Claims 12-19 are directed to a system comprising a processor; thus the system comprises a device or set of devices, and therefore, is directed to a machine which is a statutory category of invention. Claim 20 is directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium, which is a manufacture, and this a statutory category of invention.
(Step 2A) The claims recite an abstract idea instructing how to keep a passport for items going through a manufacturing process, which is described by claim limitations reciting:
… supply manufacturing data for a particular physical part instance being manufactured by the manufacturing machine;
tracking, … a progress of the manufactured part instance and collecting and store manufacturing data supplied … in a data store as the part instance progresses during individual phases of a manufacturing process;
generating, …one or more … passports for each completed phase of manufacturing for the particular part instance, wherein the … passport contains data associated with the physical part instance and one or more links to data objects that are directly involved in the manufacturing process at the completed phase, wherein the data objects are stored locally by the computing device; and
recording, … individual … passports on a … passport-linked ledger … during the manufacturing process of the part instance.
The identified limitations in the claims describing keeping a passport for items going through a manufacturing process (i.e., the abstract idea) fall within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas, which covers fundamental economic practice and commercial interactions. Dependent claims 4, 6, 7, 15, and 17, recite limitations that further narrow the abstract idea; therefore, these claims are also found to recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because additional elements such as the computing device in claim 1, the processor of a computing device; and memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing program instructions, the processor operative with the program instructions to perform the operations in claim 12; and the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device in claim 20, do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea since these elements are only broadly applied to the abstract ideas at a high level of generality; thus, none of recited hardware offers a meaningful limitation beyond generally linking the abstract idea to a particular technological environment, in this case, implementation via a computer/processor.
Additional elements such as configuring, by a computing device, one or more monitoring devices or a manufacturing machine to supply manufacturing data…; store manufacturing data supplied by the one or more monitoring devices and/or the manufacturing machine; … one or more digital cyber-physical passports …; and recording, by the computing device, individual cyber-physical passports on a cyber-physical passport-linked ledger on a distributed ledger technology platform do not yield an improvement in the functioning of the computer itself, nor do they yield improvements to a technical field or technology; these limitations are recited at a high level of generality and only generally link the abstract idea. Similarly, additional elements in claims 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, and 19, do not yield an improvement and only generally link the abstract idea to a technological environment. Accordingly, these additional element do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
(Step 2B) The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because as discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the hardware additional elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Additional elements such as configuring, by a computing device, one or more monitoring devices or a manufacturing machine to supply manufacturing data…; store manufacturing data supplied by the one or more monitoring devices and/or the manufacturing machine; … one or more digital cyber-physical passports …; and recording, by the computing device, individual cyber-physical passports on a cyber-physical passport-linked ledger on a distributed ledger technology platform do not yield an improvement in the functioning of the computer itself, nor do they yield improvements to a technical field or technology; these limitations are recited at a high level of generality and only generally link the abstract idea. Additional elements in claims 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, and 19, do not yield an improvement and only generally link the abstract idea to a technological environment. In addition, when taken as an ordered combination, the ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present as when the elements are taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8, 12-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2024/0106667 (Batcher).
As per claim 1, Batcher teaches: configuring, by a computing device, one or more monitoring devices or a manufacturing machine to supply manufacturing data for a particular physical part instance being manufactured by the manufacturing machine; ([0042] … programs to facilitate monitoring and control of industrial devices 120 [0043] … industrial devices 120 can comprise input devices that provide data relating to the controlled industrial systems to the industrial controllers 118, … Exemplary input devices can comprise telemetry devices (e.g., temperature sensors, flow meters, level sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), manual operator control devices (e.g., push buttons, selector switches, etc.), safety monitoring devices (e.g., safety mats, safety pull cords, light curtains, etc.), and/or other suitable telemetry devices. [0092] … each assembled product can be represented by a unique NFT 234 minted for that respective product, with each NFTs transaction data comprising production statistics for the product 242. Example statistics that can be archived in the NFT can include, but are not limited to, a birth certificate (e.g., a serial number associated with the product 242), a bill of materials 238 for the product 242 (e.g., a list of components or raw materials in the product 242), a part identifier)
tracking, by the computing device, a progress of the manufactured part instance and collecting and store manufacturing data supplied by the one or more monitoring devices and/or the manufacturing machine in a data store as the part instance progresses during individual phases of a manufacturing process; ([0044] … data values that are used for control and/or to visualize states of operation. Such devices can additionally or alternatively capture time-series data or events on a log for later retrieval and viewing. [0046] … one or more data historians 110 can aggregate and/or store production information collected from the industrial controllers 118 and other industrial devices. [0067] … track manufactured products through a manufacturing facility or across multiple facilities of an industrial enterprise. [0092] … each operation performed on the unit of product during its progress through the production process can be represented in the unique NFT 234 associated with the respective instance of the product 242. [0093] … a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed. When the product leaves the manufacturing facility and arrives at the next entity in the supply chain (e.g., another manufacturing entity, a warehouse entity, a shipping entity, a retailer, etc.), any new transactions performed on the product at the next entity can be captured in an NFT and added to an existing blockchain associated with the product (including synchronized blockchain data associated with any of the product's sub-assemblies or component parts). In addition to manufacturing transactions, the industrial blockchain associated with the unit or instance of the product can also record product handling and location tracking information (e.g., warehouse shipping information) (e.g., captured via an NFT) as well as business-related information (e.g., order information, purchase information, authorized geolocation information, etc.))
generating, by the computing device, one or more digital cyber-physical passports for each completed phase of manufacturing for the particular part instance, wherein the cyber-physical passport contains data associated with the physical part instance and one or more links to data objects that are directly involved in the manufacturing process at the completed phase, wherein the data objects are stored locally by the computing device; and ([0092] … each assembled product can be represented by a unique NFT 234 minted for that respective product, with each NFTs transaction data comprising production statistics for the product 242 … the NFT can include, but are not limited to, a birth certificate (e.g., a serial number associated with the product 242), a bill of materials 238 for the product 242 (e.g., a list of components or raw materials in the product 242), a part identifier (e.g., a VIN number of an assembled vehicle, a serial number of a capped and labeled bottle, etc.), a timestamp indicating a time of assembly or manufacture, measured quality metrics (e.g., leak test results, cap or bolt torque data, etc.), machine states or telemetric data at the time the product was assembled (e.g., oven temperatures, moisture levels, water or air pressures, etc.), or other such information that can be married to a unit or batch of product… each operation performed on the unit of product during its progress through the production process can be represented in the unique NFT 234 associated with the respective instance of the product 242. [0093] … blockchains that record transactions associated with production of the components at the supplier sites and/or mint NFTs that capture events associated with a unique instance of a product 242. One or more blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein at the manufacturing facility can link these NFTs via an industrial blockchain herein, thus yielding a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed. When the product leaves the manufacturing facility and arrives at the next entity in the supply chain (e.g., another manufacturing entity, a warehouse entity, a shipping entity, a retailer, etc.), any new transactions performed on the product at the next entity can be captured in an NFT and added to an existing blockchain associated with the product [0046] … one or more data historians 110 can aggregate and/or store production information collected from the industrial controllers 118 and other industrial devices. [0054] … data is typically collected and stored locally)
recording, by the computing device, individual cyber-physical passports on a cyber-physical passport-linked ledger on a distributed ledger technology platform during the manufacturing process of the part instance ([0090] … track manufactured products through a manufacturing facility or across multiple facilities of an industrial enterprise. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating generation of blockchain data within a plant intranet. The manufacturing facility depicted in FIG. 8 may correspond, for example, to manufacturing facility 406.sub.A, 406.sub.B, a combination of 406.sub.A and 406.sub.B, or one of the supplier entities 702 depicted in the supply chain ecosystem of FIG. 7. In FIG. 8, a number of production areas 804 within a manufacturing facility—including Production Area 1 and Production Area 2— produce component parts or materials that are provided to Production Area 3, which assembles the parts or materials received from those upstream production areas. During runtime, blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein (e.g., controller 202, system 402, system 502, industrial automation equipment, etc.) that operate within Production Areas 1 and 2 (the supplier production areas) bundle transactions generated within their respective production areas in connection with production of the component parts or materials, generate and validate NFTs representative of these transactions. [0093] The technique for linking NFTs via industrial blockchains associated with component parts of a final assembled product can be extended to include parts, sub-assemblies, or materials received from outside supplier entities, and more generally to traversal of products across the entire supply chain (e.g., the supply chain depicted in FIG. 7). In such scenarios, supplier-provided components (e.g., batches of material, sub-assemblies, component parts, etc.) can be received at the manufacturing facility together with blockchains that record transactions associated with production of the components at the supplier sites and/or mint NFTs that capture events associated with a unique instance of a product 242. One or more blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein at the manufacturing facility can link these NFTs via an industrial blockchain herein, thus yielding a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed. When the product leaves the manufacturing facility and arrives at the next entity in the supply chain (e.g., another manufacturing entity, a warehouse entity, a shipping entity, a retailer, etc.), any new transactions performed on the product at the next entity can be captured in an NFT and added to an existing blockchain associated with the product (including synchronized blockchain data associated with any of the product's sub-assemblies or component parts)).
As per claim 2, Batcher teaches: causing, by the computing device, the cyber-physical passport-linked ledger to be searched for an input product item passport unique identifier contained within the cyber-physical passports maintained on the cyber-physical passport-lined ledger; and ([0049] … The NFT 234 (e.g., an instance of the NFT 234) can comprise a unique identifier, uniquely associated with the product 242 (e.g., a unique instance of the product 242). In one or more embodiments, the NFT 234 can comprise authenticity data representative of a birth certificate 236 for the product 242. Such a birth certificate 236 can comprise a serial number [0051] … the query component 216 can, based on the request, retrieve the authenticity data from the blockchain 230. In various embodiments, such authenticity data can be represented and/or proven using the NFT 234. In this regard, the unique nature of an instance of the NFT 234, uniquely associated with an instance of the product 242, can be utilized to validate authenticity of that instance of the product 242, for instance, by matching the instance of the product 242 with details proven by the NFT 234 (e.g., creator, the exact day and time minted, quantity, birth certificate, serial number. [0052] … compare recall data (e.g., a list of serial numbers or other identifying information) against a plurality of NFTs [0121] … access requests, queries, or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the information stored)
causing a visual representation of a provenance lifecycle of a particular part instance associated with the input product item passport unique identifier to be generated and shown across an entire manufacturing process of the particular part instance ([0051] … The U.I. component 218 can then render the authenticity data via a client device (not depicted) or another suitable output medium. In some embodiments, the above request can comprise an inventory of materials 240 of a product purported to comprise an authentic instance of the product 242. In this regard, the query component 216 can compare the bill of materials 238 to the inventory of materials 240 in order to validate authenticity of the product or item in question. In some embodiments, the U.I. component 218 can render a result of the comparison (by the query component 216 of the bill of materials 238 to the inventory of materials 240) via a client device or another suitable output medium and/or generate an alert in response to the bill of materials 238 not matching the inventory of materials 240. It is noted that the U.I. component 218 can render an output visually (e.g., on screen/display) or audibly and/or communicated to one or more external devices via the communication component 214. According to an embodiment, the U.I. component 218 can perform visualization functions… The U.I. component 218 can then receive user input data and render output data via the development application. In other embodiments, U.I. component 218 can be configured to generate and serve suitable graphical interface screens to a client device, and exchange data via these graphical interface screens. [0057] … the public blockchain can reflect the authorized production cycle count, which can be viewable by both the OEM and the end user. [0075] … assembly information identifying the various component parts that were used in the assembled product. This assembly information can include some or all of the provenance and/or part characteristic data [0092] … each operation performed on the unit of product during its progress through the production process can be represented in the unique NFT 234 associated with the respective instance of the product 242. [0093] … One or more blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein at the manufacturing facility can link these NFTs via an industrial blockchain herein, thus yielding a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed).
As per claim 3, Batcher teaches: wherein the one or more monitoring devices and/or the manufacturing machine are located remotely from the computing device and the manufacturing data comprises environmental sensor data, manufacturing sensor data, manufacturing status data, manufacturing metrics, manufacturing design files, digital outputs from one or more manufacturing phases of operation, or associated manufacturing identifiers ([0043] … industrial devices 120 can comprise input devices that provide data relating to the controlled industrial systems to the industrial controllers 118 …Exemplary input devices can comprise telemetry devices (e.g., temperature sensors, flow meters, level sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), manual operator control devices (e.g., push buttons, selector switches, etc.), safety monitoring devices (e.g., safety mats, safety pull cords, light curtains, etc.), and/or other suitable telemetry devices. [0044] … industrial controllers 118 can communicatively interface with industrial devices 120 over hardwired connections or over wired or wireless networks…The industrial controllers 118 can additionally or alternatively store persisted data values that can be referenced by the control program and used for control decisions, including but not limited to measured or calculated values representing operational states of a controlled machine or process (e.g., tank levels, positions, alarms, etc.) or captured time series data that is collected during operation of the automation system (e.g., status information for multiple points in time, diagnostic occurrences, etc.) [0092] … in the NFT can include, but are not limited to, a birth certificate (e.g., a serial number associated with the product 242), …a part identifier (e.g., a VIN number of an assembled vehicle, a serial number of a capped and labeled bottle, etc.)).
As per claim 4, Batcher teaches: wherein the manufacturing data comprises temperature sensor data ([0043] …Exemplary input devices can comprise telemetry devices (e.g., temperature sensors, flow meters, level sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), [0092] …telemetric data at the time the product was assembled (e.g., oven temperatures, moisture levels, water or air pressures, etc.), or other such information that can be married to a unit or batch of product) and energy consumption data ([0049] … energy usage or efficiency data associated with the manufacturing of the product 242 [0053] …energy, water, materials, and waste associated with a product).
As per claim 5, Batcher teaches: supplying, by the computing device, the manufacturing data collected by the computing device to a central server ([0046] …one or more data historians 110 can aggregate and/or store production information collected from the industrial controllers 118 and other industrial devices. [0047] …systems can operate at the higher enterprise level of the industrial environment in the information technology (IT) domain (e.g., on an office network 108 or on a cloud platform 122) [0137] …computing environment 2800 also includes one or more server(s)).
As per claim 6, Batcher teaches: storing the manufacturing data as data objects ([0046] …one or more data historians 110 can aggregate and/or store production information collected from the industrial controllers 118 and other industrial devices. [0044] …The industrial controllers 118 can additionally or alternatively store persisted data values …, including but not limited to measured or calculated values representing operational states of a controlled machine or process (e.g., tank levels, positions, alarms, etc.) or captured time series data that is collected during operation of the automation system (e.g., status information for multiple points in time, diagnostic occurrences, etc.)).
As per claim 7, Batcher teaches: wherein the data associated with the physical part instance include one or more identifiers associated with the manufacturing machine, a supplier within the manufacturing process, an edge server, a central server, or an operator ([0049] …. The NFT 234 (e.g., an instance of the NFT 234) can comprise a unique identifier, uniquely associated with the product 242 (e.g., a unique instance of the product 242). In one or more embodiments, the NFT 234 can comprise authenticity data representative of a birth certificate 236 for the product 242. Such a birth certificate 236 can comprise a serial number associated with the product 242, a bill of materials 238 for the product 242 (e.g., a list of components or raw materials in the product 242), country of origin of the product 242, energy usage or efficiency data associated with the manufacturing of the product 242, manufacturing information associated with the product 242, or other suitable information regarding the product 242. [0075] …This assembly information can include some or all of the provenance and/or part characteristic data [0083] …Devices across all layers of a plant (control, middleware, enterprise, etc.) can share their identities, born-on certificates, firmware versions, and other such information with other peer devices on the blockchain system 604 [0085] …Supplier entities 702 may be manufacturing entities that provide parts or materials to manufacturing entity 704 that manufactures a product using the provided parts or materials).
As per claim 8, Batcher teaches: causing, by the computing device, the cyber-physical passport-linked ledger to be searched for an input product item passport unique identifier contained within the cyber-physical passports maintained on the cyber-physical passport-linked ledger; and ([0051] … the communication component 214 can receive a request potentially applicable to the product 242 (e.g., from an external device or entity). … the query component 216 can, based on the request, retrieve the authenticity data from the blockchain 230 [0052] … compare recall data (e.g., a list of serial numbers or other identifying information) against a plurality of NFTs [0121] … access requests, queries, or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the information stored)
cause a visual representation of data objects associated with one or more cyber-physical passports linked to the product item passport unique identifier to be presented in a graphical user interface display ([0045] … facilitate visualization of information relating to the controlled industrial processes [0051] … The U.I. component 218 can then render the authenticity data via a client device (not depicted) or another suitable output medium. In some embodiments, the above request can comprise an inventory of materials 240 of a product purported to comprise an authentic instance of the product 242. In this regard, the query component 216 can compare the bill of materials 238 to the inventory of materials 240 in order to validate authenticity of the product or item in question. In some embodiments, the U.I. component 218 can render a result of the comparison (by the query component 216 of the bill of materials 238 to the inventory of materials 240) via a client device or another suitable output medium and/or generate an alert in response to the bill of materials 238 not matching the inventory of materials 240. It is noted that the U.I. component 218 can render an output visually (e.g., on screen/display) or audibly and/or communicated to one or more external devices via the communication component 214. According to an embodiment, the U.I. component 218 can perform visualization functions… The U.I. component 218 can then receive user input data and render output data via the development application. In other embodiments, U.I. component 218 can be configured to generate and serve suitable graphical interface screens to a client device, and exchange data via these graphical interface screens. [0075] … assembly information identifying the various component parts that were used in the assembled product. This assembly information can include some or all of the provenance and/or part characteristic data [0092] … each operation performed on the unit of product during its progress through the production process can be represented in the unique NFT 234 associated with the respective instance of the product 242. [0093] … One or more blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein at the manufacturing facility can link these NFTs via an industrial blockchain herein, thus yielding a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed).
As per claims 12-18, these claims recite limitations substantially similar to those addressed by the rejection of claims 1-6 and 8, respectively; therefore, the same rejection applies.
As per claim 20, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those addressed by the rejection of claim 1, above; therefore, the same rejection applies.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0106667 (Batcher); in view of US 2021/0350314 (Andersen).
As per claim 9, Batcher teaches: … data objects associated with the one or more cyber-physical passports ([0092] … each assembled product can be represented by a unique NFT 234 minted for that respective product, with each NFTs transaction data comprising production statistics for the product 242 … the NFT can include, but are not limited to, a birth certificate (e.g., a serial number associated with the product 242), a bill of materials 238 for the product 242 (e.g., a list of components or raw materials in the product 242), a part identifier (e.g., a VIN number of an assembled vehicle, a serial number of a capped and labeled bottle, etc.), a timestamp indicating a time of assembly or manufacture, measured quality metrics (e.g., leak test results, cap or bolt torque data, etc.), machine states or telemetric data at the time the product was assembled (e.g., oven temperatures, moisture levels, water or air pressures, etc.), or other such information that can be married to a unit or batch of product… each operation performed on the unit of product during its progress through the production process can be represented in the unique NFT 234 associated with the respective instance of the product 242. [0093] … blockchains that record transactions associated with production of the components at the supplier sites and/or mint NFTs that capture events associated with a unique instance of a product 242. One or more blockchain-enabled industrial devices herein at the manufacturing facility can link these NFTs via an industrial blockchain herein, thus yielding a plurality of related NFTs generated during the production cycle of a unique product as the components of the product are assembled and/or processed. When the product leaves the manufacturing facility and arrives at the next entity in the supply chain (e.g., another manufacturing entity, a warehouse entity, a shipping entity, a retailer, etc.), any new transactions performed on the product at the next entity can be captured in an NFT and added to an existing blockchain associated with the product [0046] … one or more data historians 110 can aggregate and/or store production information collected from the industrial controllers 118 and other industrial devices. [0054] … data is typically collected and stored locally).
Although not explicitly taught by Batcher, Andersen teaches: wherein the visual representation comprises a time-series chart of the data objects associated with the one or more cyber-physical passports ([0056] … generate, as an output 500, a time series display that includes data associated with electronic ledger entries and corresponding time. Output transform module 350 may also generate a user interface for display including the data structure, time series display, [0057] …The output 500 in FIG. 5, which may be displayed via a user interface at a device 225 in a structure representing elements of the production process … [Claim 4] …generating for display the first electronic ledger entry and the second electronic ledger entry comprises generating a time series display comprising data associated with the plurality of electronic ledger entries and corresponding time, wherein the time series display comprises the data associated with the first electronic ledger entry).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Batcher with the aforementioned teachings of Andersen with the motivation of facilitating visualization and analysis of manufacturing data. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the teachings of Andersen to the system of Batcher would have yielded predictable results and doing so would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow for the generation of a time series representation of manufacturing data.
Claim(s) 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0106667 (Batcher); in view of US 2021/0350314 (Andersen); in view of US 2021/0343401 (Joseph).
As per claim 10, although not explicitly taught by Batcher, Andersen teaches: … the time-series chart include data objects of a plurality of product item instances… ([0056] … generate, as an output 500, a time series display that includes data associated with electronic ledger entries and corresponding time. Output transform module 350 may also generate a user interface for display including the data structure, time series display, [0057] …The output 500 in FIG. 5, which may be displayed via a user interface at a device 225 in a structure representing elements of the production process … [Claim 4] …generating for display the first electronic ledger entry and the second electronic ledger entry comprises generating a time series display comprising data associated with the plurality of electronic ledger entries and corresponding time, wherein the time series display comprises the data associated with the first electronic ledger entry).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Batcher with the aforementioned teachings of Andersen with the motivation of facilitating visualization and analysis of manufacturing data. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the teachings of Andersen to the system of Batcher would have yielded predictable results and doing so would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow for the generation of a time series representation of manufacturing data.
Although not explicitly taught by Batcher, Joseph teaches: data objects of a plurality of product item instances that are linked to a common product passport referencing a machine code design file that was used to manufacture the plurality of product item instances ([0029] …The distributed ledger transparently and securely tracks each “event” in the product's lifecycle (e.g., a design change, a manufacturing deviation, an inventory move transfer, a sale, post-sale event, etc.), by generating blocks in the blockchain to capture these events, [0038] The design history manager 218 is configured to report a design history file regarding the individual product as a function of the unique product identifier … capturing the conception of the design and all associated documentation from the design history file (DHF) tied to an individual product in the blockchain [0010] … Within the design controls system sits the Design History File (DHF) containing the references and records necessary to demonstrate the device design was developed in accordance with the approved design plan and requirements of 21 CFR part 820. Each medical device manufacturer is required to establish and maintain a DHF for every device).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Batcher with the aforementioned teachings of Joseph with the motivation of tracking design history of a product. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the teachings of Joseph to the system of Batcher would have yielded predictable results and doing so would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved system that would allow for association of products and design files.
As per claim 19, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those addressed by the rejection of claim 10, above; therefore, the same rejection applies.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2022/0121172 (Rao) – discloses the use of a blockchain to keep records regarding a manufacturing process.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN TORRICO-LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-3247. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-5PM.
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, Beth Boswell can be reached at (571)272-6737. 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.
/ALAN TORRICO-LOPEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625
Prosecution Insights