DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the response to the amendment filed on 05/01/2026. Claims 1-3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18, and 20 have been amended, claims 10, 11, 13, and 19 have been canceled, and claims 21-24 have been newly added. Claims 1-9, 12, 14-18, and 20-24 are pending and currently under consideration for patentability.
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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 05/01/2026 has/have been 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 1-9, 12, 14-18, and 20-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims are directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: In a test for patent subject matter eligibility, claims 1-9, 12, 14-18, and 20-24 are found to be in accordance with Step 1 (see 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility), as they are related to a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Claims 1-9, 12, 14, 22 recite a system, claims 15-18 recite a method, and claims 20, 21, 23, 24 recites a computer-readable medium. When assessed under Step 2A, Prong I, they are found to be directed towards an abstract idea. The rationale for this finding is explained below:
Step 2A, Prong I: Under Step 2A, Prong I, independent claims 1, 15, and 20 are directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, as they all recite a judicial exception. Claims 1, 15, and 20 recite limitations directed to the abstract idea including “receiving first data indicating an amount of energy provided to a load, wherein the first data includes (iii) a duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load; determining the amount of the energy as a first product of (i) the voltage provided to the load, (ii) the current provided to the load, and (iii) the duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load; determining a carbon footprint based on the amount of the energy and an emission factor, wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint as a second product of the amount of the energy multiplied by the emission factor; and sending second data representing the carbon footprint; and storing the second data.” These further limitations are not seen as any more than the judicial exception. Claims 1, 15, and 20 recite additional limitations including “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module; and (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load.” The claims are considered to be an abstract idea under certain methods of organizing human activity because the claims are directed to commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations) and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) such as sending data representing carbon footprint to a power supply or computing device. The claims are also considered to be an abstract idea under mental processes because the claims are directed to concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion) such as receiving data (i.e. data indicating an amount of energy provided to a load by a power supply); determining data (i.e. amount of energy based on voltage, current, and duration); determining data (i.e. carbon footprint based on the amount of energy and an emission factor); sending data (i.e. data representing carbon footprint); and storing data (i.e. data representing carbon footprint). Therefore, under Step 2A, Prong I, claims 1, 15, and 20 are directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong II: Step 2A, Prong II is to determine whether any claim recites any additional element that integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application. Claims 1, 15, and 20 recite additional limitations including “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module; and (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load.” The additional limitations reciting – “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; and on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module” are seen as adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f). Accordingly, alone, and in combination, these additional elements are seen as using a computer or tool to perform an abstract idea, adding insignificant-extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. They do no more than link the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, i.e. communication module/power supply/computing device, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The courts decided that although the additional elements did limit the use of the abstract idea, the court explained that this type of limitation merely confines the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment and this fails to add an inventive concept to the claims (See Affinity Labs of Texas v. DirecTV, LLC,). Under Step 2A, Prong II, these claims remain directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2B: Claims 1, 15, and 20 recite additional limitations including “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module; and (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load.” The additional limitations reciting – “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; and on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module” do not integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application because of the analysis provided in Step 2A, Prong II. Claims 1, 15, and 20 also recite additional limitations including “(i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load”, however, these additional limitations do note integrate the claims into a practical application because they are seen as merely adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g). For example, merely obtaining voltage data from a voltage sensor and current data from a current sensor is a well-understood, routine, and conventional computer function (See ¶¶ [0041] [0042] of U.S. Publication 2024/0291377 to Pacini; “The measured input voltages Va′, Vb′, Vc′ may be generated based on the input voltages Va, Vb, Vc using conventional voltage sensors (not illustrated). Such voltage sensors are commonly known, so that no further explanation is required in this regard…The measured input currents Ia′, Ib′, Ic′ may be generated based on the input currents Ia, Ib, Ic using conventional current sensors (not illustrated). Such current sensors are commonly known, so that no further explanation is required in this regard.”). Claims 1, 15, and 20 do not include additional elements or a combination of elements that result in the claims 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 listed amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. In addition, the applicant’s specifications describe a “general purpose processor”, ¶ [0018], for implementing the computing device, which do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea of itself, which is not enough to transform an abstract idea into eligible subject matter. Furthermore, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. Under Step 2B in a test for patent subject matter eligibility, these claims are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-9, 12, 14, 16-18, and 21-24 further recite the system, method, and computer-readable medium of claims 1, 15, and 20, respectively. Dependent claims 2-9, 12, 14, 16-18, and 21-24 when analyzed as a whole are held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the additional recited limitation fail to establish that the claims are not directed to an abstract idea:
Under Step 2A, Prong I, these additional claims only further narrow the abstract idea set forth in claims 1, 15, and 20. For example, claims 2-9, 12, 14, 16-18, and 21-24 describe the limitations for receiving first data indicating an amount of energy provided to a load by the power supply; determining the amount of energy based on voltage, current, and duration; determining a carbon footprint based on the amount of the energy and an emission factor; and sending second data representing the carbon footprint – which is only further narrowing the scope of the abstract idea recited in the independent claims.
Under Step 2A, Prong II, for dependent claims 2-9, 12, 14, 16-18, and 21-24, there are no additional elements introduced. Thus, they do not present integration into a practical application, or amount to significantly more.
Under Step 2B, the dependent claims do not include any additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Additionally, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional claims do not provide any additional elements that would amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Under Step 2B, these claims are not patent eligible.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 12, 14-17, and 20-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 2019/0087757 to Tyagi in view of U.S. Publication 2025/0363571 to Sisodia and in further view of U.S. Publication 2019/0011283 to Soutar.
Claims 1, 15, and 20 are system, method, and computer-readable medium claims, respectively, with substantially indistinguishable features between each group. For purposes of compact prosecution, the Office has grouped the common method, system and non-transitory computer readable storage medium claims in applying applicable prior art.
With respect to Claim 1:
Tyagi teaches:
A communication module comprising: one or more processors; and a computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the communication module to perform functions comprising (Tyagi: ¶ [0043]):
receiving, from a power supply, first data indicating an amount of energy provided to a load by the power supply (i.e. receive power status of device indicating the amount of power/energy provided by the power supply) (Tyagi: ¶¶ [0062] [0063] “The power monitoring information receiving engine 220 can be configured to receive the power status monitoring data communicated by various field units 110 over a GSM/GPRS based secure communication network 112 (refer FIG. 1) and store the same in the power information database 222 for retrieval by the carbon emission calculation engine 224… The web based application can access power status data and provide live power status, daily power status summary, and daily power outage and emitted carbon of a particular power consuming site or a combination of these sites in a tabulated manner.”);
determining a carbon footprint based on the amount of the energy and an emission factor (i.e. determining carbon emissions based on the total power/electricity consumption and emissions factor) (Tyagi: ¶¶ [0064]-[0068] “In an embodiment, the carbon emission calculation engine 224 can calculate carbon footprint pertaining to operation of a power consuming site using following formula: CE=P*CFg*Tg+DG Capacity*CFd*Td…Where,…CE: Calculated Carbon footprint (in kg)…P: The grid power consumed. For the exemplary power consuming site BTS tower it can be3 KW…CFg: The grid carbon emission factor i.e. amount of CO2 emitted for each unit of grid power used. Its value can be taken as 0.84 Kg/unit.”);
wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint as a second product of the amount of the energy multiplied by the emission factor (i.e. carbon footprint is determined by multiplying grid power consumed or amount of energy by the emission factor) (Tyagi: ¶¶ [0064]-[0068] “In an embodiment, the carbon emission calculation engine 224 can calculate carbon footprint pertaining to operation of a power consuming site using following formula: CE=P*CFg*Tg+DG Capacity*CFd*Td…Where,…CE: Calculated Carbon footprint (in kg)…P: The grid power consumed. For the exemplary power consuming site BTS tower it can be3 KW…CFg: The grid carbon emission factor i.e. amount of CO2 emitted for each unit of grid power used. Its value can be taken as 0.84 Kg/unit.”);
sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device (i.e. reporting carbon emissions to device) (Tyagi: ¶ [0078] “The carbon footprint calculation and statistical report generation module 306 can be configured to prepare statistical reports pertaining to the geographically distributed power consuming sites in respect of power status, power outage, and carbon footprint of the power consuming site amongst others. The carbon footprint calculation and statistical report generation module can be located at the server and consist of a Centralized Processing System and a web application built on top of the Centralized Processing System. The reports can pertain to power status, power outage, and carbon footprint of the power consuming site amongst others.”); and
storing the second data on a [[non-volatile]] component of the computer readable medium (i.e. storing carbon footprint data in memory) (Tyagi: ¶ [0077] “The data storage module 308 can be configured to store power source status data received from various geographically distributed power consuming sites and make it available to other modules of the system for further processing. The data storage module can also be housed in the server. It can additionally store administrative boundaries data base of Survey of India which can be used for preparing thematic maps to present carbon footprint of the power consuming sites located in different geographical resigns as defined by administrative boundaries.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0043] “Embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives, magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, PROMs, random access memories (RAMs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions ( e.g., computer programming code, such as software or firmware).”).
Tyagi does not explicitly disclose determining the amount of the energy as a first product of (i) the voltage provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) the current provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) the duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load.
However, Sisodia further discloses determining the amount of the energy as a first product of (i) the voltage provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) the current provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) the duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load (i.e. determining energy as a product of voltage, current, and time) (Sisodia: ¶¶ [0108]-[0110] “The energy consumed/discharged by the battery may be another of the created second one or more second features and it may be calculated as follows:…1. Energy consumed or discharge may be calculated by power * timestamp…2. Power may be understood as the multiplication of average voltage and average current.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0120] “Energy consumed by battery channel= Voltage* Current*time (hrs)/1000”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Sisodia’s determining the amount of the energy as a first product of (i) the voltage provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) the current provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) the duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order “to bring value to service providers of equipment manufacturers, but also to the managed services companies, which may create a win-win ecosystem for all the stakeholders.” (Sisodia: ¶ [0009]).
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose wherein the first data includes (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) a duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load; and storing the second data on a non-volatile component of the computer readable medium.
However, Soutar further discloses:
wherein the first data includes (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) a duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load (i.e. data includes voltage sensor or smart appliance to detect voltage of the power supply/battery, current sensor to detect current of the power supply/battery, and duration or time period of when power supply/battery received energy or was in active state) (Soutar: ¶ [0455] “If a single voltage measurement can be made by an appliance or smart appliance or locally on a grid from a neighbour's house on the same local grid then the voltage for the user's house is known and can be used in part to calculate power.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0213] [0214] “A sensor configured to monitor a contact switch type meter component…A current meter (in some embodiments a current meter is attached to mains power, such as mains power for a house, thereby to obtain more detailed information regarding power consumption, thereby to increase accuracy and/or effectiveness in appliance identification/detection).” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0143] “In a similar respect, in some embodiments the activation cycle defines a time period for which the sensor is in an active state (for example the active state is one of high power consumption such as communicating values) and a time period for which the sensor is in an inactive state (i.e. lower power for example where the sensor is simply reading values and comparing to threshold(s) setting an interrupt if a threshold is crossed).”);
storing the second data on a non-volatile component of the computer readable medium (i.e. carbon footprint associated data is stored in non-volatile memory) (Soutar: ¶ [0387] “Some embodiments provide functionality whereby resource consumption data is displayed in the context of a competitive arrangement. That is, the server maintains access to utility consumption usage for a plurality of utility meters, wherein each utility meter is associated with a user account, and provides data to a client device associated with a given one of the user accounts, wherein the data configures a software application executing at that client device to display, via a graphical interface, data representing a defined aspect ( or aspects) of resource consumption associated with the user account relative to the same defined aspect of resource consumption associated with one or more further user accounts. For example, the aspect ( or aspect) may relate to actual consumption, change in consumption, carbon footprint, change in carbon footprint, and so on.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0483] “A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic disks, and magnetooptical disks.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s first data includes (i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load by the power supply, and (iii) a duration during which the power supply provided the voltage and the current to the load; and storing the second data on a non-volatile component of the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s storing the second data on a component of the computer readable medium. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
With respect to Claims 15 and 20:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 1. Claim 15 recites “A method performed by a communication module, the method comprising:” the steps performed by system claim 1. Claim 20 recites “A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a communication module, cause the communication module to perform functions comprising:” (Tyagi: ¶ [0043]) the steps performed by system claim 1. Claims 15 and 20 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 1. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 2:
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured to serve as an ethernet adapter that provides network connectivity for the power supply via a serial connection between the communication module and the power supply.
However, Soutar further discloses wherein the communication module is configured to serve as an ethernet adapter that provides network connectivity for the power supply via a serial connection between the communication module and the power supply (i.e. communication interface is configured to serve as an ethernet port to provide network connectivity via serial connection) (Soutar: ¶ [0471] “Server 303 includes a processor 305 coupled to a memory module 306 and a communications interface 307, such as an Internet connection, modem, Ethernet port, wireless network card, serial port, or the like. In other embodiments distributed resources are used. For example, in one embodiment server 302 includes a plurality of distributed servers having respective storage, processing and communications resources. Memory module 306 includes software instructions 308, which are executable on processor 305.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0475] “In general terms, each terminal 304 includes a processor 311 coupled to a memory module 313 and a communications interface 312, such as an internet connection, modem, Ethernet port, serial port, or the like. Memory module 313 includes software instructions 314, which are executable on processor 311. These software instructions allow terminal 304 to execute a software application, such as a proprietary application or web browser application and thereby render on-screen a user interface and allow communication with server 302. This user interface allows for the creation, viewing and administration of profiles, access to the internal communications interface, and various other functionalities.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s communication module is configured to serve as an ethernet adapter that provides network connectivity for the power supply via a serial connection between the communication module and the power supply to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
With respect to Claims 22 and 24:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 2. Claims 22 and 24 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 2. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 3:
Tyagi teaches:
The communication module of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, [[a human machine interface]] or a programmable logic controller (i.e. computing device comprises desktop, tablet, smartphone, computer or controller) (Tyagi: ¶ [0089] “The graphical user interface module 310 can be configured to provide various statistical reports and geographical region wise display of the carbon footprint of the geographically distributed power consuming sites to a user. The GUI module 310 can be housed in a computing device such as a desk top, lap top, tablet, smart phone and other such devices that can be connected to the server using any of the GPRS/GSM base communication network.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0023] “In an embodiment, device/apparatus for monitoring Carbon Footprint of a set of geographically distributed power consuming sites that meet their power requirement in an uninterrupted manner from multiplicity of power sources can comprise of two functional segments: CFMS Field Device and Centralized Processing Device (CPD). The CFMS Field Devices can be located at each of the geographically distributed power consuming sites and can consist of a microcontroller configured to sense status of power sources such as Grid, DG and Battery.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0048] “The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing associated software. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the entity implementing this disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art further understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating systems described herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to any particular named.”).
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose wherein the computing device comprises [[a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone,]] a human machine interface [[or a programmable logic controller]].
However, Soutar further discloses wherein the computing device comprises [[a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone,]] a human machine interface [[or a programmable logic controller]] (i.e. computing device comprises human interface or human machine interface) (Soutar: ¶ [0290] “In a further example, a message is sent to the monitoring device, thereby to cause the device to provide stimuli for guiding the user (for example a flashing light adjacent a port into which the user is instructed to connect a sensor). The smartphone application may furthermore provide direct access to interactive chat, voice sessions, and the like. Preferably, images captured by the user through the application are made available to human support representatives.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0318] “As noted, during installation, a human can recognize if a black mark has just passed. This can be fed back to the system via a smartphone (for example a touch screen tap each time the mark passes) thereby to let an algorithm know the approximate rate the mark is travelling, allowing for a wait time to detect multiple rotations be determined, or to examine an area for a black mark or to ignore and area to set up for a light mark.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s computing device comprises a human machine interface to Tyagi’s computing device comprises a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a programmable logic controller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
With respect to Claim 21:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 3. Claim 21 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 3. Therefore it is rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 4:
Tyagi teaches:
The communication module of claim 1, the functions further comprising: receiving a selection of a geographic region via a webserver interface provided by the communication module (i.e. user selects geographic region via user interface) (Tyagi: ¶ [0093] “FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary screenshot 440 of thematic map indicating carbon footprint of geographically distributed power consuming sites in different regions. As shown in screenshot 440, process of visualizing thematic map can be a three step process and the screenshot provides three tabs corresponding to the three steps, wherein at step 1 clicking tab "Step I-Visualize Mobile Towers" can result in display of all the power consuming sites working in a particular area as defined by the user. User can define the geographical region by selecting State and district from the menu on left side of the screen. The screen can thereafter display all the towers of different mobile operators working in the desired area. The display can also incorporate details pertaining to each of these towers such as name of the operator and details of the selected region such as population, average power outage etc.”),
wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint based on the emission factor that corresponds to the geographic region (i.e. carbon footprint is determined based on emission factor and corresponding geographic region) (Tyagi: ¶¶ [0093] [0094] “FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary screenshot 440 of thematic map indicating carbon footprint of geographically distributed power consuming sites in different regions. As shown in screenshot 440, process of visualizing thematic map can be a three step process and the screenshot provides three tabs corresponding to the three steps, wherein at step 1 clicking tab "Step I-Visualize Mobile Towers" can result in display of all the power consuming sites working in a particular area as defined by the user. User can define the geographical region by selecting State and district from the menu on left side of the screen. The screen can thereafter display all the towers of different mobile operators working in the desired area. The display can also incorporate details pertaining to each of these towers such as name of the operator and details of the selected region such as population, average power outage etc…FIG. 4D illustrates an exemplary screenshot as seen on clicking on next tab "Step 2-Estimate Carbon Emission" can result in display of the region wise carbon footprint in addition to location of towers. The map can indicate the level of carbon footprint in different regions by different colours. On the right side of pane two tables can appear wherein the first Table can tabulate names of the operators of different towers located in the selected region along with value of carbon footprint of the tower, and the second table can tabulate region wise details of the power and their total carbon footprint.”).
With respect to Claims 16 and 23:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 4. Claims 16 and 23 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 4. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 5:
Tyagi teaches:
The communication module of claim 4, wherein the emission factor is a first emission factor and the geographic region is a first geographic region, wherein the computer readable medium stores third data that associates (i) the first emission factor with the first geographic region and (ii) second emission factors with second geographic regions, respectively (i.e. storing a plurality of carbon emissions corresponding to a plurality of geographic locations) (Tyagi: ¶ [0093] “FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary screenshot 440 of thematic map indicating carbon footprint of geographically distributed power consuming sites in different regions. As shown in screenshot 440, process of visualizing thematic map can be a three step process and the screenshot provides three tabs corresponding to the three steps, wherein at step 1 clicking tab "Step I-Visualize Mobile Towers" can result in display of all the power consuming sites working in a particular area as defined by the user. User can define the geographical region by selecting State and district from the menu on left side of the screen. The screen can thereafter display all the towers of different mobile operators working in the desired area. The display can also incorporate details pertaining to each of these towers such as name of the operator and details of the selected region such as population, average power outage etc.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0077] “The data storage module 308 can be configured to store power source status data received from various geographically distributed power consuming sites and make it available to other modules of the system for further processing. The data storage module can also be housed in the server. It can additionally store administrative boundaries data base of Survey of India which can be used for preparing thematic maps to present carbon footprint of the power consuming sites located in different geographical resigns as defined by administrative boundaries.”).
With respect to Claim 17:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 5. Claim 17 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 5. Therefore it is rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 6:
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 5, wherein the third data is stored on the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium.
However, Soutar further discloses wherein the third data is stored on the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium (i.e. carbon footprint associated data is stored in non-volatile memory) (Soutar: ¶ [0387] “Some embodiments provide functionality whereby resource consumption data is displayed in the context of a competitive arrangement. That is, the server maintains access to utility consumption usage for a plurality of utility meters, wherein each utility meter is associated with a user account, and provides data to a client device associated with a given one of the user accounts, wherein the data configures a software application executing at that client device to display, via a graphical interface, data representing a defined aspect ( or aspects) of resource consumption associated with the user account relative to the same defined aspect of resource consumption associated with one or more further user accounts. For example, the aspect ( or aspect) may relate to actual consumption, change in consumption, carbon footprint, change in carbon footprint, and so on.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0483] “A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic disks, and magnetooptical disks.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s third data is stored on the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
With respect to Claim 14:
Tyagi teaches:
The communication module of claim 1, wherein sending the second data to the computing device comprises providing the second data for display via a webserver interface provided by the communication module (i.e. sending carbon emissions data for display via interface) (Tyagi: ¶ [0090] “FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate some exemplary screenshots of the graphical interface through web based application and displaying statistical data and carbon footprint pertaining to distributed power consuming sites wherein FIG. 1 illustrates starting screenshot 400 pertaining to a power consuming site. When a user clicks on the "Power Monitoring Dashboard" tab of the screen, the window can show last update information that the web based application has taken from the server to calculate and represent the data. The time of the last updated information can be displayed for example as Mon Jan. 18 2016 12:46:25 GMT+0530 (Indian Standard Time) as shown in the screen shot 400, and it can be refreshed using the refresh icon provided on the screen. Further the sub tabs are provided to select options of Today's Statistics, Today's detailed Logs, Previous Day's Detailed Log. On clicking on the sub tab "Today's Statistics", a 24 hour Linear Gauge Showing Power Statistics can appear which can show status of power sources such as grid or DG or battery bank in different colours along with duration such as 12.04 and 0.8 Hrs indicated against Grid supply and Battery bank respectively in the exemplary screenshot 400.”).
With respect to Claim 12:
Tyagi does not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 1, wherein the voltage is an average voltage and the current is an average current, the functions further comprising: determining the average voltage by averaging instantaneous voltage values received from the power supply during the duration; and determining the average current by averaging instantaneous current values received from the power supply during the duration.
However, Sisodia further discloses:
determining the average voltage by averaging instantaneous voltage values received from the power supply during the duration (i.e. determining an average voltage, wherein the average is determined by available data points during the duration) (Sisodia: ¶¶ [0108]-[0110] “The energy consumed/discharged by the battery may be another of the created second one or more second features and it may be calculated as follows:…1. Energy consumed or discharge may be calculated by power * timestamp…2. Power may be understood as the multiplication of average voltage and average current.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0076] “For example, if data corresponding to the site 120 with time stamp "l st July, Monday, 10: 15 am" is missing, the first node 101 may replace it, for each column of the data that the first node 101 may get from the site 120, e.g., corresponding to a basic feature, by the average of all the available data points of the same column corresponding to same month of the year, day of the week, hour of the day and minute of the hour for the site 120, that is, all available data points corresponding to Monday, 10.15 am from the month of July.”); and
determining the average current by averaging instantaneous current values received from the power supply during the duration(i.e. determining an average current, wherein the average is determined by available data points during the duration) (Sisodia: ¶¶ [0108]-[0110] “The energy consumed/discharged by the battery may be another of the created second one or more second features and it may be calculated as follows:…1. Energy consumed or discharge may be calculated by power * timestamp…2. Power may be understood as the multiplication of average voltage and average current.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0076] “For example, if data corresponding to the site 120 with time stamp "l st July, Monday, 10: 15 am" is missing, the first node 101 may replace it, for each column of the data that the first node 101 may get from the site 120, e.g., corresponding to a basic feature, by the average of all the available data points of the same column corresponding to same month of the year, day of the week, hour of the day and minute of the hour for the site 120, that is, all available data points corresponding to Monday, 10.15 am from the month of July.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Sisodia’s determining the average voltage by averaging instantaneous voltage values received from the power supply during the duration; and determining the average current by averaging instantaneous current values received from the power supply during the duration to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order “to bring value to service providers of equipment manufacturers, but also to the managed services companies, which may create a win-win ecosystem for all the stakeholders.” (Sisodia: ¶ [0009]).
Claims 7-9, and 18 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Tyagi, Sisodia, and Soutar in view of U.S. Publication 2024/0370787 to Liu.
With respect to Claim 7:
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 5, the functions further comprising: receiving, via the webserver interface, a command to change the first emission factor associated with the first geographic region to a new value; and writing the new value of the first emission factor to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium.
However, Soutar discloses writing the new value […] to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium (i.e. user input corresponding to carbon footprint associated data is stored in non-volatile memory) (Soutar: ¶ [0171] “In some embodiments the remote server is configured to selectively modify the transmission rules. That is, a set of rules are stored in memory at the monitoring device, and executed by the device. The remote server executes a process that, based on monitoring of meter activity derived data, selectively defines modified rules, and transmits data indicative of those to the monitoring device thereby to update the rules stored in local memory.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0178] “In some embodiments, one or more rules are applied in response to user input. For example, a user selects desired operational parameters, which in some cases balance detail in reporting and battery conservation.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0483] “A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic disks, and magnetooptical disks.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s writing the new value […] to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
Tyagi, Sisodia, and Soutar do not explicitly disclose receiving, via the webserver interface, a command to change the first emission factor associated with the first geographic region to a new value; and writing the new value of the first emission factor to the [[non-volatile component of the]] computer readable medium.
However, Liu further discloses:
receiving, via the webserver interface, a command to change the first emission factor associated with the first geographic region to a new value (i.e. receiving a command or change in adjustment frame to change the emission factor via display) (Liu: ¶ [0134] “Now referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a carbon intensity monitoring according to the present disclosure based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, a user may select either a statistical region or statistical time. Subsequently, a system may automatically display the carbon intensity in a specified time and region. In FIG. 6, the time is time 1 to time 2, and the region is sub-region A3. The carbon intensity of the region is 47.54, wherein each type of power generation may also be displayed in real time. In addition, an adjustment frame of the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel is provided in FIG. 6, and the user may change the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel according to the needs and then perform statistical collection again.”); and
writing the new value of the first emission factor to the [[non-volatile component of the]] computer readable medium (i.e. writing the new value to the emission factor, wherein the data is stored in the memory of the management device) (Liu: ¶ [0150] “It should be noted that the present disclosure may also adjust the carbon intensity of a measured object by steps (a) and (b). The measured object may be a body such as a power generator set, a power plant, a regional power grid, a company or the like, which is not defined in the present disclosure. In the present disclosure, the carbon intensity of a power generator set may be acquired, and therefore the carbon intensity of a power plant, a regional power grid or a company may also be acquired by statistical collection.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶¶ [0153] [0154] “In step (b ), the carbon intensity factor of the measured object is adjusted according to a preset factor adjustment rule…In this example, in the case that the carbon intensity factor of the measured object is A, and the measured object purchases the green certificate elsewhere, the carbon intensity factor of the measured object changes to B, which is less than A.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0045] “Now referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system for calculating carbon intensity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The system 200 includes a terminal 100, a power generator set 211, and a management device 220. The power generator set 211 is connected to the management device 220. The management device 220 stores an active power generation amount of devices including the power generator set 211. It should be noted that data stored in the management device 220 may not be the active power generation amount, but a set of other intermediate data, and the intermediate data is calculated to acquire the active power generation amount of the power generator set 211.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Liu’s receiving, via the webserver interface, a command to change the first emission factor associated with the first geographic region to a new value; and writing the new value of the first emission factor to the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “the statistical data is real-time data of the power grid where the power generator set is located. As such, the data is objective and timely, and thus data convenience may be provided for further carbon emission trading and carbon emission labeling required for product manufacturing.” (Liu: ¶ [0204]).
With respect to Claim 18:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 7. Claim 18 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 7. Therefore it is rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 8:
Tyagi, Sisodia, and Soutar do not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 1, wherein the emission factor is a custom emission factor associated with how energy is generated for use by the power supply, the functions further comprising: receiving, via a webserver interface provided by the communication module, a selection of the custom emission factor, wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint using the amount of energy and the custom emission factor.
However, Liu further discloses:
wherein the emission factor is a custom emission factor associated with how energy is generated for use by the power supply, the functions further comprising: receiving, via a webserver interface provided by the communication module, a selection of the custom emission factor (i.e. user may adjust emission factor via display) (Liu: ¶ [0134] “Now referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a carbon intensity monitoring according to the present disclosure based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, a user may select either a statistical region or statistical time. Subsequently, a system may automatically display the carbon intensity in a specified time and region. In FIG. 6, the time is time 1 to time 2, and the region is sub-region A3. The carbon intensity of the region is 47.54, wherein each type of power generation may also be displayed in real time. In addition, an adjustment frame of the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel is provided in FIG. 6, and the user may change the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel according to the needs and then perform statistical collection again.”),
wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint using the amount of energy and the custom emission factor (i.e. carbon intensity or footprint is determined based on power and adjusted emission factor) (Liu: ¶ [0134] “Now referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a carbon intensity monitoring according to the present disclosure based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, a user may select either a statistical region or statistical time. Subsequently, a system may automatically display the carbon intensity in a specified time and region. In FIG. 6, the time is time 1 to time 2, and the region is sub-region A3. The carbon intensity of the region is 47.54, wherein each type of power generation may also be displayed in real time. In addition, an adjustment frame of the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel is provided in FIG. 6, and the user may change the carbon emission factor of power generation fuel according to the needs and then perform statistical collection again.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Liu’s emission factor is a custom emission factor associated with how energy is generated for use by the power supply, the functions further comprising: receiving, via a webserver interface provided by the communication module, a selection of the custom emission factor, wherein determining the carbon footprint comprises determining the carbon footprint using the amount of energy and the custom emission factor to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “the statistical data is real-time data of the power grid where the power generator set is located. As such, the data is objective and timely, and thus data convenience may be provided for further carbon emission trading and carbon emission labeling required for product manufacturing.” (Liu: ¶ [0204]).
With respect to Claim 9:
Tyagi and Sisodia do not explicitly disclose the communication module of claim 8, the functions further comprising writing the custom [[emission factor]] to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium.
However, Soutar further discloses writing the custom [[emission factor]] to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium (i.e. user input corresponding to carbon footprint associated data is stored in non-volatile memory) (Soutar: ¶ [0171] “In some embodiments the remote server is configured to selectively modify the transmission rules. That is, a set of rules are stored in memory at the monitoring device, and executed by the device. The remote server executes a process that, based on monitoring of meter activity derived data, selectively defines modified rules, and transmits data indicative of those to the monitoring device thereby to update the rules stored in local memory.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0178] “In some embodiments, one or more rules are applied in response to user input. For example, a user selects desired operational parameters, which in some cases balance detail in reporting and battery conservation.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0483] “A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic disks, and magnetooptical disks.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Soutar’s writing the custom data to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “autonomously communicate meter data to a central hub” and overcome “limited forms of processing (for example due to low resolution monitoring) (Soutar: ¶ [0003]).
Tyagi, Sisodia, and Soutar do not explicitly disclose writing the custom emission factor to the non-volatile component of the computer readable medium.
However, Liu further discloses writing the custom emission factor to the [[non-volatile]] component of the computer readable medium (i.e. writing the new value to the emission factor, wherein the data is stored in the memory of the management device) (Liu: ¶ [0150] “It should be noted that the present disclosure may also adjust the carbon intensity of a measured object by steps (a) and (b). The measured object may be a body such as a power generator set, a power plant, a regional power grid, a company or the like, which is not defined in the present disclosure. In the present disclosure, the carbon intensity of a power generator set may be acquired, and therefore the carbon intensity of a power plant, a regional power grid or a company may also be acquired by statistical collection.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶¶ [0153] [0154] “In step (b ), the carbon intensity factor of the measured object is adjusted according to a preset factor adjustment rule…In this example, in the case that the carbon intensity factor of the measured object is A, and the measured object purchases the green certificate elsewhere, the carbon intensity factor of the measured object changes to B, which is less than A.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0045] “).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Liu’s writing the custom emission factor to the computer readable medium to Tyagi’s sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “the statistical data is real-time data of the power grid where the power generator set is located. As such, the data is objective and timely, and thus data convenience may be provided for further carbon emission trading and carbon emission labeling required for product manufacturing.” (Liu: ¶ [0204]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments see pages 11-14 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 05/01/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-9, 12, 14-18, and 20-24 have been considered but are not persuasive:
The Applicant asserts “Claim 1 specifies that a communication module sends data representing the carbon footprint of a power supply to the power supply and/or to a computing device, for example, for display, storage, or analysis: "The second data can be stored at the power supply and/or the computing device can display the data so that a carbon footprint can be displayed graphically with respect to time to identify trends." Specification at [0014]. Thus, claim 1 addresses the need for "methods and systems that generate and display information related to a carbon footprint of a power supply or a collection of power supplies." Claim 1 also recites storing the carbon footprint data on "a non-volatile component of the computer readable medium." Non- volatile (e.g., long term) storage of this information can facilitate proof of compliance with emission standards via a verifiable historical record and/or facilitate display of historical trends. Thus, the recited features of claims 1, 15, and 20 reflect the aforementioned technical improvements.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Merely sending data (i.e. data representing carbon footprint) to a device for display, storage, and/or analysis further recites the abstract idea and the “non-volatile component of the computer readable medium” is seen as an additional limitation that does not integrate the claims into a practical application. Furthermore, the additional limitations reciting – “from/by/to a power supply; computing device; and on a non-volatile component of a computer readable medium of the communication module” are seen as adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f). Accordingly, alone, and in combination, these additional elements are seen as using a computer or tool to perform an abstract idea, adding insignificant-extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. They do no more than link the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, i.e. communication module/power supply/computing device, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The courts decided that although the additional elements did limit the use of the abstract idea, the court explained that this type of limitation merely confines the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment and this fails to add an inventive concept to the claims (See Affinity Labs of Texas v. DirecTV, LLC,).
The Applicant also asserts “Claim 1 also specifies that a communication module receives data in the form of "a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply" and "a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply." This is similar to claim 2 of USPTO Example 45 which is patent eligible by satisfying Step 2A prong two. Claim 2 of Example 45 recites "repeatedly obtain measurements of the temperature of a mold" and "send control signals to the injection molding apparatus once the polyurethane has reached a target percentage."¹ In addition to receiving and performing calculations with data received from sensors, present claim 1 also recites "sending second data representing the carbon footprint to the power supply or a computing device." These similarities between claims 1, 15, and 20 and claim 2 of Example 45 indicate that the present claims represent a practical application of any alleged abstract idea.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Claims 1, 15, and 20 also recite additional limitations including “(i) a voltage detected by a voltage sensor of the power supply and provided to the load, (ii) a current detected by a current sensor of the power supply and provided to the load”, however, these additional limitations do note integrate the claims into a practical application because they are seen as merely adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g). For example, merely obtaining voltage data from a voltage sensor and current data from a current sensor is a well-understood, routine, and conventional computer function (See ¶¶ [0041] [0042] of U.S. Publication 2024/0291377 to Pacini; “The measured input voltages Va′, Vb′, Vc′ may be generated based on the input voltages Va, Vb, Vc using conventional voltage sensors (not illustrated). Such voltage sensors are commonly known, so that no further explanation is required in this regard…The measured input currents Ia′, Ib′, Ic′ may be generated based on the input currents Ia, Ib, Ic using conventional current sensors (not illustrated). Such current sensors are commonly known, so that no further explanation is required in this regard.”). Claims 1, 15, and 20 do not include additional elements or a combination of elements that result in the claims 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 listed amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. In addition, the applicant’s specifications describe a “general purpose processor”, ¶ [0018], for implementing the computing device, which do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea of itself, which is not enough to transform an abstract idea into eligible subject matter. Furthermore, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-9, 12, 14-18, and 20-24 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is maintained above with an updated analysis.
Applicant’s arguments see page 14 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 05/01/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-5, 10, 13-17, and 20 over Tyagi have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of U.S. Publication 2025/0363571 to Sisodia and in further view of U.S. Publication 2019/0011283 to Soutar.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are cited to further show the state of the art:
U.S. Publication 2025/0126552 to Amador for disclosing feature level power calibration are described herein. Network devices include sensors that generate sensor readings indicative of various device parameters. A calibration logic utilizes the sensor readings and feature permutations associated with the sensor readings to predict a feature level power consumption for all features of the network device. The calibration logic then applies a calibration factor to the predicted feature level power consumption and obtains an actual feature level power consumption. Using the actual feature level power consumption, the calibration logic determines an actual power consumption for feature licenses of the network device. The feature and feature license level power consumption is utilized for determining which features or feature licenses can be deactivated when the device power consumption is outside a threshold limit. Such dynamic deactivation ensures that the network device accurately meets the sustainability goals.
U.S. Publication 2020/0006982 to Eckhardt for disclosing An electrical distribution grid energy management and router device, or GER device, may be installed in a distribution grid, and route power from power supply to one or more power consumers. The GER devices described herein may provide platforms to add one or more features to a distribution transformer, provide additional features and benefits to both the utility company and end consumer, and may serve as a platform for providing other features, such as communications services, local and remote management, and intelligence to components of the distribution grid. A GER device may include sensors to measure electrical properties of incoming and outgoing power, and may include an electrical circuit layer having a central DC power stage. A GER device may include a physical layer providing a communications platform for one or more communication devices that may communicate with other GER devices to form a micro-grid, a utility, power consumers, third parties, and other electrical devices.
U.S. Publication 2025/0307841 to Lenk for disclosing searching a plurality of word embeddings representative of a plurality of materials each mapped to a corresponding emission factor by comparing the at least one word embedding representative of the at least one material to at least a portion of the plurality of word embeddings. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also disclosed.
U.S. Patent 10,444,210 to Rawat for disclosing calculating real-time carbon emissions at a distribution substation level and at an individual device level is disclosed. A substation controller is provided at the utility substation that is in operable communication with one or more devices via a demand response protocol, the demand response protocol including demand response signals transferrable from the substation controller to the one or more devices and demand response signals transferrable from the one or more devices to the substation controller. A carbon emissions calculator module is embedded in the substation controller and/or the devices that is programmed to identify or receive power consumption data from respective devices and calculate carbon emissions for the respective devices based on the power consumption data. Carbon emissions data may be provided to the substation controller to provide for a determination and output of the calculated carbon emissions for each of the one more devices.
U.S. Patent 12,086,650 to Ekins for disclosing Workload placement based on carbon emissions, including: calculating, for each execution environment of a plurality of execution environments, a carbon emission cost associated with a workload; selecting, based on each carbon emission cost for the plurality of execution environments, a target execution environment; and executing the workload on the target execution environment.
U.S. Patent 9,614,743 to Htay for disclosing A method, through a server, to determine carbon footprint of a network service, in a network, includes determining power consumption and cooling requirements of network devices associated with the network service; determining associated carbon footprint coefficients for power sources associated with each of the network devices; and determining carbon footprint of the network service based on the power consumption, the cooling requirements, and the associated carbon footprint coefficients.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 Azam Ansari, whose telephone number is (571) 272-7047. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 8 AM and 4:30 PM.
If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Waseem Ashraf, can be reached at (571) 270-3948.
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Applicants are invited to contact the Office to schedule either an in-person or a telephonic interview to discuss and resolve the issues set forth in this Office Action. Although an interview is not required, the Office believes that an interview can be of use to resolve any issues related to a patent application in an efficient and prompt manner.
/AZAM A ANSARI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621
June 17, 2026
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