BOVEDETAILED 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 .
The amendment filed on November 23, 2025 has been considered.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 November 23, 2025 has been entered.
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 (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 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, 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Martin et al. (US 2014/0160144) in view of Marttiny et al. (BE 1021546).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Martin et al. discloses a test and measurement instrument (Figs. 1, 2), comprising:
an input channel (including 105, 205, Fig. 2) configured to receive an input signal (105, 205, receiving an input signal, Fig. 2) from a device under test (acquiring plural waveforms via plural channels, paragraph 0008, lines 1-4) and acquire a plurality of different waveforms from the input signal (215 acquiring waveforms, i.e., waveform that has peaks via 230, waveform that has low frequency via 225), each of the plurality of different waveforms acquired from the input signal at different times (the different waveforms are from the input signal from ADC 205, Fig. 2; ADC’s 205 receive electrical signals from probes 105, 107, paragraph 0028, lines 8-11, one would know that the acquisitions of electrical signals can occur multiple times, thus, the electrical signal are received at different times);
a memory configured to store the plurality of acquired waveforms (Abstract, lines 1-4);
a display configured to display a graphical user interface (GUI) and a selected set of the plurality of acquired waveforms in the GUI (display waveform styles, Abstract, lines 1-2),
a user input configured to receive a selection from a user (user selection,
Abstract, lines 5-11), the selection further comprising a type of the region of interest (waveforms of unfiltered data, Fig. 3, or filtered data, Fig. 4),
one or more processors (122/130) configured to:
render the plurality of acquired waveforms overlaid in the GUI (paragraph
0005, lines 10-13),
after the plurality of acquired waveforms are rendered in the GUI,
receive the selection from the user input (user selection to switch to unfiltered waveforms (Fig. 3) after filtered waveforms (Fig. 4) are displayed, Abstract, lines 5-11).
However, Martin et al. does not disclose
the selection comprising the user using a cursor in the GUI to draw a shape, the shape defining a region of interest in the GUI, the selection defining a subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display,
determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with the region of interest according to the type of the region of interest, and
render only the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms in the GUI.
Martiny et al. discloses
the selection comprising the user using a cursor in the GUI to draw a shape (using a mouse to draw a region of interest, page 9, paragraph 5, line 6), the shape defining a region of interest in the GUI (page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7), the selection defining a subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display (display window of waveform, page 9, paragraph 5, line 7),
determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with the region of interest according to the type of the region of interest (page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7), and
render only the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms in the GUI (selected region of interest to display, page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Martin et al. with a selected region of interest as disclosed by Martiny et al. for the purpose of displaying the waveform portion of interest.
Regarding claim 2, Martin et al. does not disclose the selection comprises the user drawing multiple shapes, each shape defining one of multiple regions of interest, each region of interest having a type, and the one or more processors are further configured to determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with at least one of the regions of interest according to the types of the regions of interest.
Marttiny et al. discloses the selection comprises the user drawing multiple shapes (user can draw a display window using a mouse by providing a display window width, page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7), each shape defining one of multiple regions of interest (the display window selects a region of interest, page 9, paragraph 5, line 6), each region of interest having a type (a selected region of interest, page 9, paragraph 5, line 6), and the one or more processors are further configured to determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms (regions of interest of waveform signals) of the plurality of acquired waveforms (waveform signals) that are associated with at least one of the regions of interest according to the types of the regions of interest (computerized method provides a display window and display window width to select a region of interest of waveform signals, page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Martin et al. with drawing a display window as disclosed by Martiny et al. for the purpose of displaying a region of interest of the waveform.
Regarding claim 3, Martin et al. does not disclose the one or more processors are further configured to determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with each of the regions of interest according to the types of the regions of interest.
Marttiny et al. discloses the one or more processors are further configured to determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms (regions of interest of waveform signals) of the plurality of acquired waveforms (waveform signals) that are associated with each of the regions of interest according to the types of the regions of interest (computerized method provides a display window and display window width to select a region of interest of a waveform, page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Martin et al. with a display window as disclosed by Martiny et al. for the purpose of displaying regions of interest of the waveform.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Martin et al. does not disclose the selection is a first selection and the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a second selection from the user input, the second selection comprising the user using a cursor in the GUI to draw a shape, the shape defining a second region of interest in the GUI, the second selection further comprising a type of the second region of interest,
determine a second subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with the second region of interest according to the type of the second region of interest, and
render only the second subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms in the GUI.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Martin et al. as modified by Marttiny et al. discloses
the claimed limitations, except the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a second selection from the user input, the second selection comprising the user using a cursor in the GUI to draw a shape, the shape defining a second region of interest in the GUI, the second selection further comprising a type of the second region of interest,
determine a second subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with the second region of interest according to the type of the second region of interest, and
render only the second subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms in the GUI.
As discussed above with regard to claim 1, Martin et al. as modified by Marttiny et al. discloses receiving a selection from the user input the selection comprising the user using a cursor in the GUI to draw a shape (using a mouse to draw a region of interest, page 9, paragraph 5, line 6), the shape defining a region of interest in the GUI (page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7), the selection defining a subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display (display window of waveform, page 9, paragraph 5, line 7), determine the subset of the plurality of acquired waveforms to display by selecting only the particular waveforms of the plurality of acquired waveforms that are associated with the region of interest according to the type of the region of interest (page 9, paragraph 5, lines 6-7).
It would been obvious to receive a second selection from the user input since Marttiny et al. discloses that the selection (user selection of a region of interest using a cursor, via a mouse, page 9, paragraph 5, line 6) can be modified by providing another display window width (page 9, paragraph 5, line 7) to select another region of interest of the waveform.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Martin et al. with a second selection from a user as disclosed by Martiny et al. for the purpose of selecting another region of interest of the waveform.
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Martin et al. discloses the modification is adding a second region of interest (user selected waveforms of filtered data, displayed in Fig. 4), deleting the region of interest, or changing a characteristic of the region of interest (user selected waveforms of filtered data, displayed in Fig. 4).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Martin et al. discloses the selection is a waveform characteristic (waveforms with unfiltered or filtered data), and the one or more processors determine the region of interest based on the waveform characteristic (whether waveforms with unfiltered or filtered data are user selected).
Regarding claim 9, Martin et al. discloses the filter criteria is based on multiple regions of interest (portions 340, 440, Figs. 3, 4; paragraph 0041, lines 1-3), and the filtered waveforms (340, Fig. 4) include waveforms from the plurality of acquired waveforms that are within at least one of the regions of interest (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 10, Martin et al. discloses filtered waveforms (Fig. 4) include waveforms from the plurality of acquired waveforms are within each of the regions of interest (waveforms of unfiltered/filtered data are user selected, Figs. 3, 4).
Regarding claim 11, Martin et al. discloses the filter criteria is a first filter criteria (selection of unfiltered data, Abstract, lines 7-8) further includes:
receiving a second filter criteria from the user input (user selection of filtered data, Abstract, lines 10-11),
filtering the plurality of acquired waveforms from the memory based on the second filter criteria to determine filtered waveforms (user selected waveforms of filtered data, Abstract, lines 10-11).
Regarding claim 12, Martin et al. discloses
receiving a modification of the filter criteria from the user input (receive a user selection to display filtered/unfiltered waveform, Abstract, lines 5-11); and
filtering the plurality of acquired waveforms from the memory based on the modified filter criteria to determine filtered waveforms (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 15, Martin in view of Marttiny et al. discloses the claim limitations as discussed above with regard to claims 1 and 8.
Martin et al. further discloses
display a plurality of acquired waveforms from a memory on a display (Abstract, lines 1-4) on a display (145) (Abstract; Figs. 3, 4; paragraph 0008, lines 1-6), wherein each of the acquired waveforms is acquired from a different portion of a same input signal from a device under test (215 acquiring waveforms, i.e., waveform that has peaks via 230, waveform that has low frequency via 225, where the different waveforms are from the input signal from ADC 205, Fig. 2)
update the display to display only the filtered waveforms from the plurality of acquired waveforms (filtered data are displayed, Fig 4, based on user selection, Abstract, lines 5-11).
Regarding claim 16, Martin et al. discloses the claim limitation as discussed above with respect to claim 9.
Regarding claim 17, Martin et al. discloses the claim limitation as discussed above with respect to claim 10.
Regarding claim 18, Martin et al. discloses the claim limitation as discussed above with respect to claim 12.
Regarding claim 19, Martin et al. discloses the claim limitation as discussed above with respect to claims 6 and 13.
Regarding claim 20, Martin et al. discloses the claim limitation as discussed above with respect to claims 7 and 14.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on November 23, 2025 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 112(a) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections under 35 USC 112(a) have been withdrawn.
With regard to the rejections under 35 USC 103, Applicants argue “[i]n fundamental contrast to claim 1 (and similarly to claims 8 and 15), in Martin, each of the multiple different types of waveforms that are produced are all acquired from the input signal at the same time. Martin calls these different types of waveforms “data streams” or “data samples.” See, e.g. Martin [0029] and Fig. 2, where data samples from ADC 205 are fed in parallel through decimator circuit 220 to produce “compressed data” i.e. a “compressed waveform,” low pass filter circuit 225 to produce “lowpass filtered data samples” 1.e. a “lowpass filtered waveform,” and peak detector circuit 230 to produce “peak detect data samples” 1.e. a “peak detect waveform.” In other words, Martin makes a single acquisition of data samples from the input signal at one time, and then processes those acquired data samples in different ways to produce different types of “waveforms.” Therefore, Martin fails to teach “an input channel configured to receive an input signal from a device under test and acquire a plurality of different waveforms from the input signal, each of the plurality of different waveforms acquired from the input signal at different times,” as recited in amended claim 1 (emphasis added).”
Examiner’s position is that Martin discloses a test and measurement instrument, e.g., an oscilloscope for acquiring and sampling electrical signals (paragraph 0003). One of ordinary skill in the art would know that the test and measurement instrument (oscilloscope) would not just make a single acquisition of electrical signals but rather would acquire the electrical signals at multiple times. Accordingly, the electrical signals or waveforms are acquired at different times.
Martin further discloses “[t]he acquisition circuits include analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) (e.g., 205 and 245), which collectively sample the electrical signals received through the respective probes (e.g., 105 and 107)” (paragraph 0028). One of ordinary skill in the art would know that the ADCs would collectively sample the electrical signals received through the respective probes (e.g., 105 and 107) at multiple times (not just one time). Accordingly, the electrical signals or waveforms are acquired at different times.
Applicants further argue “Martiny fails to remedy these deficiencies of Martin. …Thus, the combination of Martin and Martiny still fail to teach “an input channel configured to receive an input signal from a device under test and acquire a plurality of different waveforms from the input signal, each of the plurality of different waveforms acquired from the input signal at different times,” as recited in amended claim 1 (emphasis added).”
Examiner’s position, as discussed above, is that Martin discloses “an input channel (including 105, 205, Fig. 2) configured to receive an input signal (105, 205, receiving an input signal, Fig. 2) from a device under test (acquiring plural waveforms via plural channels, paragraph 0008, lines 1-4) and acquire a plurality of different waveforms from the input signal (215 acquiring waveforms, i.e., waveform that has peaks via 230, waveform that has low frequency via 225), each of the plurality of different waveforms acquired from the input signal at different times (the different waveforms are from the input signal from ADC 205, Fig. 2; ADC’s 205 receive electrical signals from probes 105, 107, paragraph 0028, lines 8-11, one would know that the acquisitions of electrical signals can occur multiple times, thus, the electrical signal are received at different times)”.
Applicant’s remaining arguments have been considered but are traversed in view of the grounds of rejection and discussion above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Miller (US 9,496,993) discloses a method of acquiring an input waveform (Abstract) comprising sampling, by the electronic measurement instrument, the input waveform to identify values for the input waveform at different times (claim 1, lines 5-7).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Nghiem whose telephone number is (571) 272-2277. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/MICHAEL P NGHIEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857 December 12, 2025