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 .
Status of Claims
This communication is a first office action non-final rejection on the merits. Claim(s) 1-20, as filed on 07/16/2025, are currently pending and have been fully considered below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/17/2025 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 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 and thus do not satisfy the criteria for subject matter eligibility.
Step 1
Claim(s) 1, 8, 15 fall(s) in one of the four statutory categories of invention.
Step 2A Prong One: Yes
The limitations of claims 1, 8, 15:
Claim 1: “”; Claims 8“
receive an initial warehouse plan for a warehouse of a supply chain network;
receive a changed warehouse plan describing a changed warehouse plan for the warehouse receive user input defining a scope for a warehouse analysis;
capture
identify warehouse execution changes based on the captured real-time data;
output an execution changes report for the identified warehouse execution changes;
use the received initial warehouse plan, the received changed warehouse plan, the identified warehouse execution changes and the defined scope of warehouse analysis to identify one or more changes in the initial warehouse plan and generate tasks required to implement the identified one or more changes;
generate a task and changes report for one or more tasks based on the identified one or more changes in the initial warehouse plan;
receive warehouse information for the warehouse determine a task priority and task schedule for the one or more tasks;
output a dynamic task sequence and task schedule;
begin monitoring of user performance of the dynamic task sequence and task schedule based on real-time electronic monitoring; and
in response to the monitoring of user performance and determining that the dynamic task sequence and task schedule should be changed, change the dynamic task sequence and task schedule.
The limitations of claims 1, 8, 15 recite concepts of warehouse planning management, which falls into the grouping of Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity. More specifically, the claim language recites concepts that receive data (A, B, C, H, J), identifying data (D, F), output data (E, I), generate data (G), and change data (K), thus are considered Fundamental Economic Practice and Commercial Practice known in supply chain industry.
Thus, claims 1-20 recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong Two: No
Besides the abstract idea, claims 1, 8, 15 recite the additional elements:
Claim 1: “A system for executing and monitoring changes in a warehouse plan, comprising: a computer, comprising a processor and memory, and configured to”;
Claims 8“A computer-implemented method for executing and monitoring changes in a warehouse plan, comprising:”
Claim 15: “A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodied with software for executing and monitoring changes in a warehouse plan, the software when executed by a computer is configured to:”
Claims 1, 8, 15: “via one or more sensors of the warehouse”;
The claimed additional elements that perform limitations A, B, C, H, J are claims at a high level of generality and are considered nothing more than data being received, and thus are considered insignificant extra-solution; the additional elements that perform limitations D, F are claimed at a high level of generality and are considered nothing more than data being identify, and thus are mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer; the additional elements that perform limitations E, I are claimed at a high level of generality and are considered nothing more than data being output, and thus are mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer; the additional elements that perform limitation G also is claimed at a high level of generality and is considered nothing more than data being generate, and thus is considered mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer; the additional elements that perform limitation K also is claimed at a high level of generality and is considered nothing more than data being change, and thus is considered mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer. When view in combination, the additional elements merely describe how to generally “apply” the abstract idea in a generic or general-purpose computer, and generality links the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, and thus do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, and claim(s) 1, 8, 15 are directed to the judicial exception.
Claims 1-20 are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B: No
As discussed with respect to Step 2A Prong Two, the additional elements in the claims generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (i.e., computer technology) such that they amount to no more than mere instructions
to apply the judicial exception using generic computer components. Thus, do not amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Further, considered as an ordered combination, the additional elements of Applicants' claims add nothing that is not already present when the steps are considered separately. The claimed invention does not focus on an improvement in computers as tools, but rather certain independently abstract ideas that use computers as tools. {Elec. Power, 830 F.3d at 1354). (Step 2B: NO).
Further, the Office have found that receiving and transmitting data over the network is not enough to be patent-eligible, see MPEP 2106.05(d), that gathering data is not enough is not enough to be patent-eligible, see MPEP2106.05(g). The processing data is not enough is not enough to be patent-eligible, 2106.05(f), 2106.05(g).
Even when the steps are considered in combination, did not amount to an inventive concept.
As for dependent claims 2-7, 9-14, 16-20 the claims merely recite limitations that further narrow the abstract idea recited on claim 1, and thus fail to amount significantly more.
Claims 1-20 are ineligible.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 are allowed over the prior art.
Goetzke et al. (US 20220284380 A1, hereinafter Goetzke) and Griffin et al. (US 20170178061 A1, hereinafter Griffin).
Goetzke discloses a system 200 for generating warehouse process plans and coordinating warehouse operations, see para. 36. The warehouse coordination system 210 that receives data (e.g., using a data collection component) from one or more warehouse management systems 220, performance tracking systems 230, and configuration systems 240. The warehouse management system(s) 220 can provide information related to containers of goods that have been received and are waiting to be placed in the storage area 110, and information related to requests for goods that are to be picked from the storage area 110 and that are to be loaded into containers 106 and sent to a retail store, and real-time operation data (e.g., including an operation timestamp and various identifiers related to the operation, such as location, worker, team, equipment, container, and/or goods identifiers), can be collected and stored by the warehouse management system(s) 220. The performance tracking system(s) 230 maintain and provide data related to historical performance of various warehouse equipment, workers, and/or teams, provide data that indicates productivity rates of warehouse equipment, workers, and/or teams, such that productivity of current combinations of equipment, workers, and/or teams can be projected over a current shift. The configuration system(s) 240, for example, can maintain and provide data related to a configuration (e.g., physical layout, processing capabilities, available equipment, etc.) of the warehouse environment 100, see para. 36 and Figure 2. Data received from the warehouse management system(s) 220, the performance tracking system(s) 230, and/or the configuration system(s) 240, for example, can be combined and stored in an enhanced warehouse data source 250 for use by the warehouse coordination system 210, see para. 36 and Figure 2. At 350, the warehouse management system 220 transmits warehouse data, and at 352, the warehouse coordination system 210 receives the warehouse data, as stated on para. 36. The steps for generating warehouse process plans and coordinating warehouse operations are: At 358, the warehouse coordination system 210 generates enhanced warehouse data, based on the received warehouse data, performance data, and configuration data, see para. 39-40. At 360, the warehouse coordination system 210 can use the plan creation interface generator 260 (shown in FIG. 2) to generate and provide data for a plan creation user interface and At 364, user input provided using the plan creation user interface is transmitted by the client device 302 for receipt by the warehouse coordination system 210, and at least a portion of the enhanced warehouse data can be presented on a plan creation user interface for a warehouse process, see para. 41-43. At 374, the warehouse coordination system 210 receives and stores the simulated warehouse process plan that specifies the tasks to be performed over the shift, see para. 38. The warehouse management system 220 transmits real-time warehouse data, and at 378, the warehouse coordination system 210 receives the real-time warehouse data. At 504, simulation output data can be generated, based on the simulation of tasks to be performed. For example, the warehouse coordination system implemented by the computing server(s) 160 can generate simulation output data resulting from the simulation of the tasks to be performed, see para. 60. The simulation output data can indicate that a particular transportable container, a particular type of transportable container, and/or a transportable container from a particular vehicle or area of the warehouse environment 100 is estimated to be processed at a particular time (or during a particular time range), according to a warehouse plan represented by the output data, see para. 60. The technique 500 for providing a performance monitoring interface for a warehouse process are: at 508, real-time warehouse data that indicates tasks being performed over the shift for the warehouse process can be received…receive real-time data 174 that pertains to work tasks being performed in the warehouse environment 100 by any of the teams 120a-d for a respective warehouse process, see para. 62. At 512, input that relates to the performance of tasks over a shift can optionally be received, see para.71. A determination of whether a work plan is to be modified is performed, based on received input related to a performance of tasks during a shift. In the present example, user input received through a performance monitoring interface (e.g., input received through the user input control 640 of the performance monitoring interface 600a, shown in FIG. 6B) can be analyzed by the computing server(s) 160 to determine whether the received input indicates that a work plan is to be modified. In some implementations, determining whether the work plan is to be modified may include determining whether the received input indicates a change to any of the defined resources that have been applied to the work tasks for which a simulation of tasks has been performed, see para. 74, see figures 1-6.
Although Goetzke discloses warehouse plan being generated from enhanced warehouse data collected in real-time, and the modification of the work plan from data of being monitor while the warehouse plan simulation is being executed, it does not disclose “receive a changed warehouse plan describing a changed warehouse plan for the warehouse” and also uses to the received changed warehouse plan to identify one or more changes in the initial warehouse plan, and “determine a task priority and task schedule for the one or more tasks; output a dynamic task sequence and task schedule; begin monitoring of user performance of the dynamic task sequence and task schedule based on real-time electronic monitoring; and in response to the monitoring of user performance and determining that the dynamic task sequence and task schedule should be changed, change the dynamic task sequence and task schedule”. Therefore, the italic limitations in combination with other limitations clearly claimed in the independent claim(s) 1, 8, 15, are novel and unobvious.
Therefore, claim(s) 1-20 are allowable over the prior art, however, the rejection under 35 USC 101 should be overcome in order to have the current application allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VANESSA DELIGI whose telephone number is (571)272-0503. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 07:30AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Florian (Ryan) Zeender can be reached on (571) 272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VANESSA DELIGI/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/FLORIAN M ZEENDER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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