DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the communications and remarks filed on 6/24/2026. Claims 1-7 are presently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 5-9, filed 6/24/2026, regarding the U.S.C. 103 rejections of Claims 1-5 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, the claims are now rejected under a 101 rejection.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) “in response to a result of the determination process satisfying a specific condition, provide, to a user terminal, the subject image and a determination request for requesting a determination of who the subject is and in response to receiving a determination response from the user terminal, wherein the determination response is responsive to the determination request and indicates that the subject and a specific target of the one or more targets are identical.” These limitations recite and abstract idea because they fall within the enumerated grouping of Mental Processes. Specifically, these limitations consist of steps that can be performed in the human mind or require human mental/physical activity that amounts to a mental process. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because generically recited computer elements do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they amount to simply implementing the abstract idea on a computer. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements of “acquire a subject image that is an image of a subject captured by a camera; execute a determination process to determine whether the subject is identical to any of the one or more targets based on the registered image and the subject image; strengthen association between the subject and the specific target in the determination process” are well-understood, routine, and conventional activities in the relevant art. Therefore, the claim fails to recite an inventive concept required to transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are not rejected with prior art rejections because if the 101 rejection was obviated, they may be in condition for allowance depending on how the claims are amended or argued. The reasons for allowance will be given if and when the amendment is received and if the claims are in condition for allowance.
Conclusion
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 ANDREW J STEINLE whose telephone number is (571)272-9923. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eleni Shiferaw can be reached at (571) 272-3867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW J STEINLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2497
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