DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action in response to claims on 07/22/2025. Claims 28-43 are pending. The effective filing date is 04/24/2020.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/16/2025, 05/26/2026, and 07/16/2026 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being 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 28-43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1- Claims 28-35 are directed to an apparatus, which is a statutory category and passes step 1. Claims 36-43 are directed to a non-transitory machine readable medium, which is an article of manufacture, a statutory category, and passes step 1.
Step 2A, Prong 1-The independent claims 28, and similarly claim 36, recite:
cause transmission of signals to drones to move to respective physical locations and to collect visual data respectively corresponding to the physical objects (transmitting information is a method of collecting information, and is grouped as a mental process under MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(A) a claim to "collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis," where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
obtain the visual data via at least one network communication (obtaining information is a method of collecting information, and is grouped as a mental process under MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(A) a claim to "collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis," where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
for respective ones of the physical locations, compare differences between (a) the collected visual data and (b) a capacity associated with the respective physical location to a corresponding historical metric associated with the respective physical location (comparing information is a method of analyzing information, and is grouped as a mental process under MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(A) a claim to "collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis," where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016)); and
trigger at least one of the drones to collect additional visual data based on the comparison (collecting information is grouped as a mental process under MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(A) a claim to "collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis," where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).
Step 2A, Prong 2-The additional elements of independent claim 28, and similarly claim 36 include an interface circuitry, machine readable instructions, processor and drone. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because they are being used as a tool to perform an existing process. Under MPEP 2106.05(f)(2) when the machinery is used in its ordinary capacity, it does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. The interface circuitry is used to transmit the data, the machine readable instruction are the data being sent and received, the processor is a general purpose computer to perform the abstract idea. The drone is he tool to collect the visual data, and therefore performs its ordinary function of moving to obtain visual images.
Step 2B-The independent claim 28, and similarly claim 36, do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the elements described in generality, since the word processor circuitry, drone are all not describing elements with any particularity under MPEP 2106.05(f)(3).
Dependent Claims
Claims 29-35 and 37-43, add additional steps of obtaining more information using either a camera or scanner, and this obtaining of information is a method of receiving information, under MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) mental process. The additional elements of a camera and barcode scanner are being used to perform its normal function, of obtaining the images of the items to be analyzed, and therefore, are using the tools to perform the abstract idea under MPEP 2106.05(f), and describe the additional elements in general terms to not indicate that there are not significantly more than the abstract idea.
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.
Claims 28-43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2019/0087772 A1 Medina et al. (hereinafter Medina).
Regarding claim 28 and 36, Medina teaches an apparatus comprising:
interface circuitry (Medina [0104] accessing information using a graphical interface);
machine-readable instructions (Medina [0039] computer executable instructions); and
at least one processor circuit to be programmed by the machine-readable instructions (Medina [0039] using a processor to perform instructions) to:
cause transmission of signals to drones to move to respective physical locations and to collect visual data respectively corresponding to the physical objects (Medina [0060] robot with an imaging sensor (camera) to detect objects in store; [0106] robot may be drone);
obtain the visual data via at least one network communication (Medina [0111] determining the location of inventory items; [0131] using visual cameras to identify items);
for respective ones of the physical locations, compare differences between (a) the collected visual data and (b) a capacity associated with the respective physical location to a corresponding historical metric associated with the respective physical location (Medina [0104] using historical inventory information to create a model of how the inventory is normally stocked, i.e. creating a capacity of the location; [0133] obtaining inventory levels and comparing to historical data to determine a similarity); and
trigger at least one of the drones to collect additional visual data based on the comparison (Medina [0106] moving the drone around the facility to obtain information about the entire facility).
Regarding claim 29 and 37, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to activate at least one of a camera or a barcode scanner corresponding to ones of the drones to collect the visual data (Medina [0131] the apparatus can include a camera to obtain stock quantity data by visual representation).
Regarding claim 30 and 38, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to transform the visual data corresponding to the physical objects to item count values (Medina [0135] the user can use signals from the visual to make determination of inventory counts).
Regarding claim 31 and 39, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 30, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to transform the item count values to capacity percentage values based on the capacity associated with ones of the physical locations (Medina [0157] the information obtained may be used to determine the percentage of inventory in the store, but not on shelf, ie, the total amount available, versus the capacity of the shelf; [0159] the information may also be used to determine the percentage of the empty shelves, which is the amount missing from total capacity of the shelf).
Regarding claim 32 and 40, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein the capacity is based on a shelf size associated with ones of the physical locations (Medina [0104-0105] the database includes a system with the shelf model, to determine the available space for items at a specific location).
Regarding claim 33 and 41, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 32, wherein the capacity is indicative of a quantity of the physical objects that fit within the shelf size (Medina [0104] model to determine the inventory capability of a shelf; [0125] the specific location of the shelf may determine the specific arrangement based on size of items and size of shelf).
Regarding claim 34 and 42, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to determine a deviation trend associated with the comparison (Medina [0097] deviation from historical inventory; [0161] the information may be used to show trends in inventory).
Regarding claim 35 and 43, Medina teaches the apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to: collect the visual data from a first portion of the physical locations at a first time; and collect the additional visual data from a second portion of the physical locations at a second time, the first portion different than the second portion (Medina [0069] the robot can move throughout the store to obtain visual inventory images of different shelfs at different times; Fig. 2).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2018/0327091 A1 Burks et al. teaches visual drone imaging (Abstract).
US 2020/0184278 A1 Zadeh et al. teaches image recognition (Claim 1).
Conclusion
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/JESSICA E SULLIVAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/FAHD A OBEID/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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