DETAILED ACTION
Examiner Remarks
In light of Applicant’s Remarks and Amendments submitted on 04/21/2026, Examiner has withdrawn the rejections under section 112(b).
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/21/2026 has been entered.
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 17 and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The above claims do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because independent claim 17 recites the claim element of computer readable storage media which by its Specification definition includes transitory forms of signal transmission (i.e., signals per se). A transitory signal, while physical and real, does not possess concrete structure that would qualify as a device or part under the definition of a machine, is not a tangible article or commodity under the definition of a manufacture (even though it is man-made and physical in that it exists in the real world and has tangible causes and effects), and is not composed of matter such that it would qualify as a composition of matter. Nuijten, 500 F.3d at 1356-1357, 84 USPQ2d at 1501-03. As such, a transitory, propagating signal does not fall within any statutory category. Mentor Graphics Corp. v. EVE-USA, Inc., 851 F.3d 1275, 1294, 112 USPQ2d 1120, 1133 (Fed. Cir. 2017); Nuijten, 500 F.3d at 1356-1357, 84 USPQ2d at 1501-03
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 1, 5-16 and 23-24 indicate allowable subject matter since after further search and consideration none of the references of record either alone or in combination that Examiner was able to uncover fairly disclose or suggest the combination of limitations specified in the independent claims, including at least:
In claims 1, and 12
…
generating a scoring matrix by applying a sigmoid function to a model results matrix to generate a plurality of model scores for the training data;
generating a ground truth matrix including a ground truth score for the training data based on the plurality of model scores of the scoring matrix,
wherein the ground truth score, for the training data, is generated based on a statistical measure of the plurality of model scores, of the scoring matrix, generated for the training data
…
The closest prior art that Examiner was able to uncover after further search and examination was Zhao, Yue, and Maciej K. Hryniewicki. "DCSO: dynamic combination of detector scores for outlier ensembles." arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.10418 (Year: 2019)(“Zhao”) which teaches a method for generating a pool of base detectors i.e., an ensemble of machine learning models that are trained to produce a training outlier score matrix based on a given score prediction function. Zhao then teaches that to evaluate the different detectors pseudo ground truths are constructed by averaging the outlier score matrix. However, Zhao does not teach generating a scoring matrix by applying a sigmoid function to a model.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM C STANDKE whose telephone number is (571)270-1806. The examiner can normally be reached Gen. M-F 9-9PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael J Huntley can be reached at (303) 297-4307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Adam C Standke/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2129
Prosecution Insights