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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status
This instant application No. 19/086313 has claims 10-19 pending.
Priority / Filing Date
Applicant claimed priority from U.S. provisional application No. 63/568,710. The priority filing date of this application is March 22, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
As required by M.P.E.P. 609(C), the Applicant’s submissions of the Information Disclosure Statements dated June 17, 2025 and August 1, 2025 are acknowledged by the Examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending. As required by M.P.E.P. 609 C(2), a copy of each of the PTOL-1449s initialed and dated by the Examiner is attached to the instant Office action.
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.
4. Claims 10-19 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
i) As per claim 13, the last limitation recites “returning information based on the matching”. It is uncertain what the term “information” stands for- what information is returned? Without any specific information mentioned, the overall meaning of the limitation is open-ended and ambiguous. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of examination, examiner will interpret the term “information” as “status”.
The depended claims are rejected for incorporating the above errors from their respective parent claim by dependency.
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.
5. Claims 10-18 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 2A Prong One:
Independent claim 13 recite
determining an item classification for each of the inbound items based on processing the respective item information;
determining storage conditions for each of the inbound items based on the item classification for the respective inbound item and the real-time ambient conditions information;
matching the inbound items to storage locations in the facility based on the determined storage conditions for each of the inbound items; and
returning information based on the matching- all of which are system steps that cover mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Said limitations in claim 13 is a process that under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. Other than reciting “processors” and “memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processors” in the claim, nothing in the claim elements precludes the steps from practically being performed in the mind. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “mental processes” grouping of abstract ideas. As such claim 13 recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong Two:
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim recites the additional element of “processors” and “memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processors” to perform the claimed steps at a high level of generality such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. This additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The additional element of receiving item information for inbound items to a facility; and
receiving real-time ambient conditions information for the facility; is data gathering step and is considered an insignificant pre-solution activity. As such this additional element also does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Step 2B:
Finally, the pre-processing step of receiving measured values is categorized as insignificant extra solution activity under 2106.05(g). Claim 13 only recite “processors” and “memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processors” to perform the claimed steps and therefore only recite general purpose computer rather than a specific machine under MPEP 2106.05(b), and are directed to mere instructions to apply the exception under MPEP 2106.05(f), and do not result in anything significantly more than the judicial exception. The additional elements have been considered both individually and as an ordered combination in the significantly more consideration. The inclusion of the computer or memory and controller to perform the receiving, determining, matching and returning steps amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Claim 13 is not patent eligible.
The dependent claims include the same abstract ideas and mathematical techniques recited as recited in the independent claims, and merely incorporate additional details that narrow the abstract ideas and fail to add significantly more to the claims.
Dependent claim 10 disclose identifying, based on the item classification, a type of commodity of each of the inbound items; and determining, based on the type of commodity of each of the inbound items, a range of acceptable storage conditions for the inbound item- using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claim 11 disclose wherein the type of commodity comprises meat proteins and the range of acceptable storage conditions for the meat proteins has an upper control limit of 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which is an additional step of a post processing step which is categorized as insignificant extra solution activity under 2106.05(g).
Dependent claim 12 disclose wherein determining the storage conditions is further based on applying a model that was trained to determine the storage conditions based on a packaging used for each of the inbound items using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claim 14 disclose wherein determining the storage conditions for each of the inbound items comprise applying a model to the item classification and the real-time ambient conditions information, wherein the model was trained to determine the storage conditions for each item classification type that satisfy one or more threshold safety criteria corresponding to the item classification type using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claim 15 disclose grouping one or more of the inbound items having respective storage location matches that satisfy one or more grouping criteria;
generating instructions for routing the grouped inbound items to a storage location
amongst the respective storage location matches; and
returning the instructions for automated execution by moving machines in the facility using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claim 16 disclose wherein returning information based on the matching comprises generating instructions for routing each of the inbound items to the respective matched storage location using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claim 17 disclose wherein determining temperature information for one or more locations in the facility based on processing the sensor data, wherein the one or more locations comprise the storage locations; and interpolating the determined temperature information to generate the real-time ambient conditions information using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. The claim further receits receiving sensor data from sensor devices positioned throughout the facility- which is a data gathering step and is considered an insignificant extra-solution activity.
Dependent claim 18 disclose retrieving a model that was trained using historic facility data to interpolate ambient conditions across a 3D space of the facility based on the temperature information; and applying the model to the real-time temperature information to generate the real-time ambient conditions information using the one or more analysis techniques. This is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is a process step that covers mental processes including an observation, evaluation, judgment or opinion that could be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pencil and paper. Thus, the claim is directed to the abstract idea of a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
The dependent claims 6, 13, and 19 recite the step of output the source of the difference, which is an additional step of a post processing step which is categorized as insignificant extra solution activity under 2106.05(g). Said dependent claims also recite the steps of select a process for reducing the difference and implement the process. Selecting a process is a mental step and implementing a process in the situation of a model error is to adjust the model which is either a mental step or a mathematical calculation. As claim 6 recite additional steps which are all directed to judicial exceptions or insignificant extra solution activity, claims 6, 13, and 19 are also not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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.
6. Claims 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Otten et al. hereafter Otten (Patent No.: US 12,145,422 B1), in view of Voegele et al. hereafter Voegele (Pub. No.: US 2022/0332504 A1).
Regarding Claim 13, Otten discloses a system for determining storage information for items in a facility (Otten: abstract), the system comprising:
processors (Otten: Figure 8, column 20 lines 52-64: a multiprocessor system including several processors 810A- 810N); and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processors, causes the processors
to perform a process comprising (Otten: Figure 8, column 20 line 65- column 21 line 27: non-transitory computer-readable storage medium):
receiving item information for inbound items to a facility (Otten: column 15 line 55- column 16 line 3: controller may receive information related to a container with one or more items to be stowed);
receiving real-time ambient conditions information for the facility (Otten: column 3 lines 34-42: operate at substantially ambient temperatures, and/or without traversing between cold and ambient temperatures during various operation; column 15 lines 64-66: Other items may not require any particular environment attributes, and may simply be stored at ambient 65
temperatures);
determining storage conditions for each of the inbound items based on the item classification for the respective inbound item and the real-time ambient conditions information (Otten: Figure 5, column 14 line 23- 38: The process 500 may begin by determining desired environment attributes at a storage position of a storage array, as at 502. For example, desired environment attributes may comprise temperature, humidity, pressure, air flow rate, or other attributes associated with the storage position);
matching the inbound items to storage locations in the facility based on the determined storage conditions for each of the inbound items (Otten: Figure 5, column 15 lines 15-47: The process 500 may proceed to determine whether the actual environment attributes match desired environment attributes, as at 510; Figure 6, column 17 line 42- 62: The process 600 may then proceed with instructing storage of the container at the determined storage position, as at
614. For example, one or more agents, such as shuttles, robotic drive units, robotic arms, other robotic or automated equipment or machines, and/or human agents or associates, may position or place the container at the determined storage position in the storage system or array); and
returning information based on the matching (Otten: Figure 5, column 15 lines 15-47: If it is determined that the actual environment attributes match the desired environment attributes, the process may end as at 512).
Otten do not explicitly disclose:
determining an item classification for each of the inbound items based on processing the respective item information.
Voegele disclose:
determining an item classification for each of the inbound items based on processing the respective item information (Voegele: associate the pallet with a pallet profile that is stored and used for identifying and moving the pallet in the warehouse);
Otten and Voegele are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor. They both relate to storage environment and systems.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above system of environment control to individual containers of a storage, as taught by Otten, and incorporating the use of profiling or classifying the containers, as taught by Voegele.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to have unique information that can impact where the items are stored, for how long the items are stored, etc., as suggested by Voegele (Voegele: [0002]).
Regarding Claim 10, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, wherein determining the storage conditions comprises:
identifying, based on the item classification, a type of commodity of each of the inbound items (Otten: column 7 lines 1-14: insulated containers may receive various types of items, including grocery items, such proteins, frozen foods, or other grocery items, other types of items that may spoil or expire under certain environment attributes, and/or other items for which a cold chain may need to be maintained);
determining, based on the type of commodity of each of the inbound items, a range of acceptable storage conditions for the inbound item (Otten: column 4 lines 48-63: temperature ranges).
Regarding Claim 11, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the type of commodity comprises meat proteins and the range of acceptable storage conditions for the meat proteins has an upper control limit of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (Otten: column 4 lines 48-63: temperature ranges; column 7 lines 1-14: insulated containers may receive various types of items, including grocery items, such proteins, frozen foods, or other grocery items, other types of items that may spoil or expire under certain environment attributes, and/or other items for which a cold chain may need to be maintained).
Regarding Claim 12, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, wherein determining the storage conditions is further based on applying a model that was trained to determine the storage conditions based on a packaging used for each of the inbound items (Voegele: [0008]: machine learning models, identify information about the pallet; [0009]: threshold confidence level; [0020]: determine a match between the identified information and the pre-identified information about the pallet, and update a pallet profile associated with the pallet with the identified information based on determining a match between the identified and the pre-identified information).
Regarding Claim 14, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, wherein determining the storage conditions for each of the inbound items comprises applying a model to the item classification and the real-time ambient conditions information, wherein the model was trained to determine the storage conditions for each item classification type that satisfy one or more threshold safety criteria corresponding to the item classification type (Voegele: [0008]: machine learning models, identify information about the pallet; [0009]: threshold confidence level; [0020]: determine a match between the identified information and the pre-identified information about the pallet, and update a pallet profile associated with the pallet with the identified information based on determining
a match between the identified and the pre-identified information).
Regarding Claim 15, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, the process further comprising:
grouping one or more of the inbound items having respective storage location matches that satisfy one or more grouping criteria (Otten: column 15 lines 15-27: determine whether the actual environment attributes match desired environment attributes, as at 510. For example, the determined or measured environment attributes at or proximate the storage position, and/or within the container at the storage position, may be compared with the desired environment attributes for the storage position of the storage array);
generating instructions for routing the grouped inbound items to a storage location amongst the respective storage location matches (Otten: column 15 lines 48-55: as described herein may generate and maintain desired environment attributes at respective storage positions of a storage system or array); and
returning the instructions for automated execution by moving machines in the facility (Otten: column 3 lines 30-42: the container-based environment control systems and methods described herein may enable automated machinery, robots, and equipment, e.g., shuttles
associated with automated storage and retrieval systems, robotic drive units or robotic arms that move or transfer containers, and/or other machinery or equipment, to operate at substantially ambient temperatures, and/or without traversing between cold and ambient temperatures during various operation).
Regarding Claim 16, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, wherein returning information based on the matching comprises generating instructions for routing each of the inbound items to the respective matched storage location (Voegele: [0054], [0057]: The off conveyor belt 106 can include one or more branches for routing the pallet 120 to organized storage locations 132 and/or temporary storage locations 130 in the warehouse 128).
Regarding Claim 17, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, wherein the real-time ambient conditions information is determined by the computer system in a process that comprises:
receiving sensor data from sensor devices positioned throughout the facility (Otten: column 7 line 64 - column 8 lines 4: the sensor 224 may detect data associated with various environment attributes of air flow within the supplementary distribution line 214-1, including temperature, humidity, pressure, air flow rate, and/or other attributes);
determining temperature information for one or more locations in the facility based on processing the sensor data, wherein the one or more locations comprise the storage locations (Otten: column 14 lines 23-38: the process 500 may begin by determining desired environment attributes at a storage position of a storage array, as at 502. For example, desired environment attributes may comprise temperature, humidity, pressure, air flow rate, or other attributes associated with the storage position); and
interpolating the determined temperature information to generate the real-time ambient conditions information (Otten: column 14 lines 52-67: in order to allow air from other sources, e.g., ambient air or outside air, into the air flow from one or more sources to the storage position, in order to modify the air flow to have the desired environment attributes at the storage position).
Regarding Claim 18, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 17, wherein interpolating the determined temperature information comprises:
retrieving a model that was trained using historic facility data to interpolate ambient conditions across a 3D space of the facility based on the temperature information (Voegele: [0145], [0146]: The models can be trained to identify different characteristics of the pallet from the image data); and
applying the model to the real-time temperature information to generate the real-time ambient conditions information (Otten: column 14 lines 52-67: in order to allow air from other sources, e.g., ambient air or outside air, into the air flow from one or more sources to the storage position, in order to modify the air flow to have the desired environment attributes at the storage position).
Regarding Claim 19, the combinations of Otten and Voegele disclose the system of claim 13, the process further comprising:
based on matching the inbound items to the storage locations in the facility, generating instructions to cause automated machines in the facility to route the inbound items from respective current locations to the matched storage locations in the facility (Otten: Figure 5, column 15 lines 15-47: The process 500 may proceed to determine whether the actual environment attributes match desired environment attributes, as at 510; Figure 6, column 17 line 42- 62: The process 600 may then proceed with instructing storage of the container at the determined storage position, as at 614. For example, one or more agents, such as shuttles,
robotic drive units, robotic arms, other robotic or automated equipment or machines, and/or human agents or associates, may position or place the container at the determined storage position in the storage system or array); and
returning the instructions to the automated machines, wherein the automated machines are configured to execute the instructions automatically (Otten: Figure 5, column 15 lines 15-47: If it is determined that the actual environment attributes match the desired environment attributes, the process may end as at 512).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wodrich et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0364381 A1) relates to methods and systems for monitoring temperature and other environmental conditions in a cold storage facility and tracking the locations and environmental conditions of a product throughout its cold storage life cycle using the environmental control system and smart devices in logical communication therewith.
Jack J. Kennamer (Pub. No.: US 2005/0261991 A1) relates to a distribution technology for materials which requires to be stored at low temperatures, and more particularly, to a material tracking and management system using electronic tags.
Ho et al. (Pub. No.: US 2023/0012851 A1) conceptually presents a general electro-thermal network π-model and an equivalent electro-thermal circuit model (ETCM) and the associated thermal behavior analysis are also demonstrated for the SiOB with VCSELs in terms of characteristics of device materials and geometries.
Carter Alonzo Sanders (Patent No.: US 11,884,471 B1) pertains to a container Gar, for instance) with a lid device that applies selected levels of compression (including vacuum sealing) to allow for different shelf-storage results on demand.
8. Examiner’s Remarks: Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Correspondence Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IFTEKHAR A KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9:00AM-6:00PM (CST). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Emerson Puente can be reached on (571)272-3652. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/IFTEKHAR A KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2187