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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. These claims contain an instance of vague indefinite claim language, including the use of the phrase “can” and “cannot”. It is unclear whether the features following “can” and “cannot” in each claim is intended to be positively recited as part of the claimed invention.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Step 1: The claims are directed to a method and a system which falls within one of the statutory categories of invention. Step 2A, Prong One: Independent claim(s) 1 & 10, recite(s) acquiring, associating, selecting, creating and outputting. The claims and background of the application do not put any limits on the plain meanings of acquiring, associating, selecting, creating and outputting. Independent claim 10 recites an acquisition unit, processor and output unit and is recited at a high level of generality, i.e. as a generic processor and display performing generic functions. The broadest reasonable interpretation of the steps is that those steps fall with the mental process grouping of abstract ideas because they cover concepts performed in the human mind, selection by a human and/or can be presented using a piece of paper, including acquiring, associating, selecting, creating and outputting. Step 2A, Prong Two: The claims recite an acquisition unit, processor and output unit. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because these limitations do not impose any meaningful limits on the claims. Again, an acquisition unit, processor and output unit perform their generic functions and is recited at a high level of generality. With these limitations, an acquisition unit, processor and output unit are used as a tool to perform the generic function of processing and display data. Therefore, in these limitations an acquisition unit, processor and output unit are used to perform an abstract idea, as discussed above in Step, 2A, Prong One, such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic processor and memory. Even when viewed in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practice application, and the claim is directed to the judicial exception. Step 2B: As explained in the Step 2A, Prong Two, these additional elements. The additional elements of an acquisition unit, processor and output unit in the limitations are at best mere instructions to “apply” the abstract ideas, which cannot provide an inventive concept. See MPEP 2106.05(f). The additional elements were both found to be insignificant extra-solution activity in Step 2A, Prong Two, because they were determined to be insignificant limitations as necessary data processing or displaying data. As discussed in Step 2A, Prong Two above, the recitations of “an acquisition unit, processor and output unit are recited at a high level of generality. These elements amount to processing information and displaying information and are well-understood, routine and conventional activity. Therefore, even when considered in combination, these additional elements represent mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception with a processor and memory and insignificant extra-solution activity, which do not provide an inventive concept. Further, these claims do not make an improvement in the function of the structural elements. These elements are merely used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea. So, these claims are ineligible.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a module does not fall under one of the 4 statutory categories.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Toshiba Corp (JP 2009-129336).
Referring to claims 1, 10 & 11, Toshiba Corp discloses comprising acquiring a plurality of cooking steps (paragraphs 0016-0093); associating one or more blocks to each of the plurality
of cooking steps (Figs. 1-18); acquiring information on a situation of a user (paragraphs 0016-0093); selecting, in each of the plurality of cooking steps, a block suited to the situation of the user from the one or more blocks (Figs. 1-18); creating a cooking program suited to the situation of the user by combining the block selected in each of the plurality of cooking steps (paragraphs 0016-0093); and outputting the cooking program created (Figs. 1-18).
Referring to claim 2, Toshiba Corp discloses further comprising: extracting information on an operation related to cooking from each of the plurality of cooking steps, wherein the associating associates each of the plurality of cooking steps with the one or more blocks corresponding to the operation related to cooking (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 3, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein correspondence between the operation related to cooking and the one or more blocks is stored for each
operation related to cooking (Figs. 1-18), and wherein the associating acquires the one or more blocks corresponding to the operation related to cooking, based on
the correspondence (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 4, Toshiba Corp discloses further comprising: acquiring information on a utensil or an ingredient available to the user (paragraphs 0016-0093), wherein each block includes information on a utensil or an ingredient to be used to execute the block (paragraphs 0016-0093), wherein the selecting selects the block that uses the utensil or the ingredient available to the user, based on the information on the utensil or the ingredient available to the user and the information on the utensil or the ingredient to be used to execute the block (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 5, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein each block includes one of first information indicating a degree of involvement of the user in cooking corresponding to the block and second information indicating that involvement of the user required for cooking corresponding to the cooking block is less than the degree of involvement in the first information (paragraphs 0016-0093), wherein the information on the situation of the user includes at least one of a first flag indicating that the user can execute the block of the first information and the second information or a second flag indicating that the user can execute the block of the second information but cannot execute the block of the first information (paragraphs 0016-0093), and wherein the selecting selects the block including the first information when the information on the situation of the user indicates the first flag and selects the block including the second information when the information on the situation of the user indicates the second flag (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 6, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein the selecting counts the number of types including the utensil and the ingredient to be used, based on the information on the utensil or the ingredient to be used to execute the block, and selects the block, in the plurality of cooking steps, with a small total number of types (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 7, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein each block includes information on a cooking time corresponding to the block (Fig. 1-18), wherein the information on the situation of the user includes information on a time available to the user for cooking (paragraphs 0016-0093), and wherein the selecting calculates a difference between a cooking time resulting when the blocks for each of the plurality of cooking steps are combined and the time available to the user for cooking and selects the block that results in a small calculated difference (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 8, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein each block includes information on a cooking time corresponding to the block (Figs. 1-18), wherein the information on the situation of the user includes information on a time available to the user for cooking (paragraphs 0016-0093), and wherein the selecting selects the block so that a cooking time resulting when the blocks for each of the plurality of cooking steps are combined is close to the time available to the user for cooking (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Referring to claim 9, Toshiba Corp discloses wherein the selecting counts the number of types including the utensil and the ingredient to be used, based on the information on the utensil or the ingredient to be used to execute the block, and selects the block, in the plurality of cooking steps, with a small total number of types (paragraphs 0016-0093).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KESHA FRISBY whose telephone number is (571)272-8774. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 730AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xuan Thai can be reached at 571-272-7147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KESHA FRISBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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