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
1. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/15/2026 has been entered.
2. The amendment filed on 12/23/2025 has been received and considered. Claims 1-6, 8, 12-17, 19-20, and 23-27 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
3. Claims 1-3, 6, 12-14, 17, 19, 23-24, and 27 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vicat-Blanc (US 20190356556 A1), in view of Schmid et al. (US 20230082099 A1), and further in view Eckhart et al. (“Towards Security-Aware Virtual Environments for Digital Twins”).
As per Claim 1, 12, and 19, Vicat-Blanc discloses a method/ apparatus/computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig. 1, [0009]-[00011]), comprising:
(Claim 12) at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program instructions wherein, when the at least one processor executes the computer program instructions (Fig. 12), the apparatus is configured to:
(Claim 19) machine executable instructions, the machine executable instructions, when executed, causing a processing device to perform (Fig. 12) steps of:
generating a virtual representation of physical components of a computing environment (Fig. 1 element 122 “Visualize Model”; [0041]-[0043] “ IoT modeling”, “a node may be a combination of hardware components or modules and software that is part of and contributes to the relevant IoT system.”; [0101] “creation of the digital “twin” of a physical system: a structure (model)”), wherein the virtual representation is generated by enabling selection of templates from a pre-stored template database wherein the templates respectively represent the physical components … , and by integrating the selected templates with one another to collectively represent the physical components (Fig. 1 element 110 “Copy template to IoT project model”; [0042] “selects, among other things, pre-defined zones, also referred to as silos, templates, and structures. Examples of zones are provided below, such as “thing” zone, “edge” zone, “application” zone, and so on. The user may then define nodes in each zone. For example, a node may be a combination of hardware components or modules and software that is part of and contributes to the relevant IoT system.”, “pre-defined templates are selected”; Fig. 7, [0110]-[0117] “five main zones in an IoT System”, “IoT entities”); and
managing the physical components via the virtual representation (Fig. 1 element 126 and 130, “Simulate Model” “Deploy model”; [0041] “modeling and simulation of an IoT system…The simulation enables controlling the evolution of the IoT system”);
evaluating the virtual representation to determine whether or not the virtual representation is functioning as intended ([0093] “Simulate and validate the detailed behavior of a specific component under different constraints.”);
modifying the virtual representation based on a result of the evaluation ([0264], [0266] “extracting the value of components and parameters to change the situation, based on previous simulations”; [0308]-[0313]: optimize an IoT system or component after comparison of KPIs obtained from measured data and simulated data);
…
(Claim 1) wherein the generating, managing, evaluating, modifying and … steps are performed by at least one processor and at least one memory storing executable computer program instructions (Fig. 12).
Vicat-Blanc fails to teach explicitly wherein each template comprises a fidelity level selectable from a plurality of different fidelity levels based on a use case within which the corresponding physical component is intended to operate.
Schmid et al. teaches wherein each template comprises a fidelity level selectable from a plurality of different fidelity levels based on a use case within which the corresponding physical component is intended to operate ([0043]-[0047], Fig. 7 & 8A, [0061], [0063]-[0064], [0068], [0070]-[0072]).
Vicat-Blanc and Schmid et al. are analogous art because they are both related to a method for generating a digital twin of a physical system.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of cited references. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate the teaching of Schmid et al. into Vicat-Blanc’s invention for purpose of modeling and simulating an IOT system to model a performance aspect of the one or more real entities or systems using digital twins which provides at least one or more benefits such as simulating or representing entity predictive outcomes in real-time, enhancing system efficiency and performance, reducing system maintenance costs and downtime, monitoring for errors, and training (Schmid et al.: [0006]).
Vicat-Blanc and Schmid et al. fails to teach rebuilding the virtual representation based on a result of the evaluation and wherein … rebuilding steps are performed by at least one processor and at least one memory storing executable computer program instructions. However, Vicat-Blanc teaches generating configuration files to change IoT system or component based on a result of the evaluation ([0313]-[0314] “Module to generate associated code and configuration files to remediate, change or optimize an IoT system or component.” “Per zone, regions, layers and node organized in tree”). And furthermore Eckhart et al. teaches rebuilding the virtual representation (Left column on Pg 63 “the virtual environment can be rebuilt identically at any time, as long as the specification exists.”), wherein … rebuilding steps are performed by at least one processor and at least one memory storing executable computer program instructions (Abstract, Figure 1-2).
Vicat-Blanc and Schmid et al. are analogous art because they are all related to a method for generating a digital twin of a physical system.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Eckhart et al. into Vicat-Blanc and Schmid et al.’s invention to rebuild the virtual representation with the generated associated code and configuration files. The motivated to incorporate the teaching of Eckhart et al. into Vicat-Blanc and Schmid et al.’s invention is to yield reproducible results that enables the generation of a complete virtual replica (section 3.1).
As per Claim 2, 13 and 23, Vicat-Blanc discloses wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a model component which is configured to represent one or more parameters of the corresponding physical component, and which comprises one or more interfaces to enable communication between templates integrated within the virtual representation ([0042]-[0044] “an indicator being a value that characterizes a property of a node”; [0292]-[0295] “IoT system entities models in layers and zones and the automated generation of the an IoT infrastructure model with attributes initial value settings”, “Formulas can be attached to entities to compute automatically the evolving value of parameters/attributes during the simulation of the system”).
As per Claim 3, 14 and 24, Vicat-Blanc discloses wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a simulation component which is configured to provide evaluation of the virtual representation prior to the virtual representation being used to manage the physical components (Fig. 1 element 126, “Simulate Model”; [0042]-[0043] “These indicators have values which the customer identifies as important with regard to business, technological, and architectural properties of the simulated IoT system.”).
As per Claim 6, 17 and 27, Vicat-Blanc discloses wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a data analytics component which is configured to analyze data associated with the corresponding physical component ([0042]-[0043], [0045] “ tracking the evolution of indicators and KPIs enable analysis of properties”, [0258] “The association of indicators reflecting the non-functional properties of the components”).
4. Claim 4-5, 15-16, 20, and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vicat-Blanc (US 20190356556 A1), in view of Schmid et al. (US 20230082099 A1) and Eckhart et al. (“Towards Security-Aware Virtual Environments for Digital Twins”), and further in view of Moyal et al. (US 11216261 B1).
Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. teaches most all the instant invention as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 12-14, 17, 19, 23-24, and 27 above.
As per Claim 4 and 15, Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. fails to teach explicitly wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a real time data component which is data associated with one or more real time operations of the corresponding physical component.
Moyal et al. teaches wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a real time data component which is data associated with one or more real time operations of the corresponding physical component (Col. 4 lines 55-67, Col. 5 lines 1-10, Col. 7 lines 30-48, Col. 10 lines 28-49 “the digital replica (e.g., digital twin) system 402 may also automatically identify additional deployment requirements, user preferences, user context and/or the like. The digital replica system 402 can obtain data feeds 406. The data feeds 406 can include real-time data feeds that are associated with one or more resources (e.g., cloud resources, network resources, etc.), endpoints,”).
Vicat-Blanc, Schmid et al., Eckhart et al., and Moyal et al. are analogous art because they are all related to a method for generating a digital twin of a physical system.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of cited references. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate the teaching of Moyal et al. into Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al.’s invention for purpose of modeling and simulating an IOT system to model a performance aspect of the one or more real entities or systems using digital twins which provides at least one or more benefits such as simulating or representing entity predictive outcomes in real-time, enhancing system efficiency and performance, reducing system maintenance costs and downtime, monitoring for errors, and training (Schmid et al.: [0006]), to yield reproducible results that enables the generation of a complete virtual replica (Eckhart et al.: section 3.1) and to provide an exact virtual/digital replica of a physical entity which enables simulation, testing, modeling, analysis, and/or monitoring based on data generated by and/or collected from the digital twin including determining an optimal deployment plan (Moyal et al.: col. 1 lines 12-17, Col. 1 lines 30-34).
As per Claim 5 and 16, Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. fails to teach explicitly wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a historical data component which is data associated with one or more previous operations of the corresponding physical component.
Moyal et al. teaches wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises a historical data component which is data associated with one or more previous operations of the corresponding physical component (Col. 4 lines 55-67, Col. 5 lines 1-10, Col. 9 lines 60-67, Col. 10 lines 19 “a library 310 may include substantive data associated with cloud/network resources, cloud services, infrastructure, deployment resources, deployment tasks, deployment components, deployment requirements, historical deployments/patterns data, historical deployment success/failure data,”).
As per Claim 20, Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. teaches wherein each template of at least a subset of the templates comprises one or more of:
a model component which is configured to represent one or more parameters of the corresponding physical component, and which comprises one or more interfaces to enable communication between templates integrated within the virtual representation (Vicat-Blanc: [0042]-[0044] “an indicator being a value that characterizes a property of a node”; [0292]-[0295] “IoT system entities models in layers and zones and the automated generation of the an IoT infrastructure model with attributes initial value settings”, “Formulas can be attached to entities to compute automatically the evolving value of parameters/attributes during the simulation of the system ”);
a simulation component which is configured to provide evaluation of the virtual representation prior to the virtual representation being used to manage the physical components (Vicat-Blanc:Fig. 1 element 126, “Simulate Model”; [0042]-[0043] “These indicators have values which the customer identifies as important with regard to business, technological, and architectural properties of the simulated IoT system.”);
…
a data analytics component which is configured to analyze data associated with the corresponding physical component (Vicat-Blanc: [0042]-[0043], [0045] “ tracking the evolution of indicators and KPIs enable analysis of properties”, [0258] “The association of indicators reflecting the non-functional properties of the components”).
Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. fails to teach explicitly a real time data component which is data associated with one or more real time operations of the corresponding physical component; and
a historical data component which is data associated with one or more previous operations of the corresponding physical component.
Moyal et al. teaches a real time data component which is data associated with one or more real time operations of the corresponding physical component (Col. 4 lines 55-67, Col. 5 lines 1-10, Col. 7 lines 30-48, Col. 10 lines 28-49 “the digital replica (e.g., digital twin) system 402 may also automatically identify additional deployment requirements, user preferences, user context and/or the like. The digital replica system 402 can obtain data feeds 406. The data feeds 406 can include real-time data feeds that are associated with one or more resources (e.g., cloud resources, network resources, etc.), endpoints,”); and
a historical data component which is data associated with one or more previous operations of the corresponding physical component (Col. 4 lines 55-67, Col. 5 lines 1-10, Col. 9 lines 60-67, Col. 10 lines 19 “a library 310 may include substantive data associated with cloud/network resources, cloud services, infrastructure, deployment resources, deployment tasks, deployment components, deployment requirements, historical deployments/patterns data, historical deployment success/failure data,”).
5. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vicat-Blanc (US 20190356556 A1), in view of Schmid et al. (US 20230082099 A1) and Eckhart et al. (“Towards Security-Aware Virtual Environments for Digital Twins”), and further in view of Kanski et al. (US 20210383611 A1).
Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. teaches most all the instant invention as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 12-14, 17, 19, 23-24, and 27 above.
As per Claim 8, Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. teaches wherein the step of generating a virtual representation of physical components of a computing environment (Vicat-Blanc: Fig. 1 element 122 “Visualize Model”; [0041]-[0043] “ IoT modeling”, “a node may be a combination of hardware components or modules and software that is part of and contributes to the relevant IoT system.”; [0101] “creation of the digital “twin” of a physical system: a structure (model)”).
Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al. fails to teach explicitly integrating one or more three-dimensional models into the virtual representation with the selected templates.
Kanski et al. teaches integrating one or more three-dimensional models into the virtual representation with the selected templates (Fig. 2, [0090]-[0093]). In particular, Kanski et al. teaches a monitored item modeler that access 3D virtual models of monitored items such as physical devices including 3D visualization of multiple elements including a virtual representation of one or more monitored items ([0090]).
Vicat-Blanc, Schmid et al., Eckhart et al., and Kanski et al. are analogous art because they are all related to a method for generating a digital twin of a physical system.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of cited references. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate Kanski et al. into Vicat-Blanc as modified by Schmid et al. and Eckhart et al.’s invention for purpose of modeling and simulating an IOT system for reciprocal rendering of graphical manipulation between a 3D virtual model of monitored items and a digital twin model having an Extended Reality (XR) endpoint, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality and thus to physically and digitally control various aspects of the physical asset or monitored item (Kanski et al.: [0002]), to yield reproducible results that enables the generation of a complete virtual replica (Eckhart et al.: section 3.1) and to model a performance aspect of the one or more real entities or systems using digital twins which provides at least one or more benefits such as simulating or representing entity predictive outcomes in real-time, enhancing system efficiency and performance, reducing system maintenance costs and downtime, monitoring for errors, and training (Schmid et al.: [0006]).
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant's arguments filed 12/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Examiner respectfully withdraws Claim interpretation n view of the amendment and/or applicant’s arguments.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument – in view of Eckhart et al.
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNHEE KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-2164. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm ET.
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EUNHEE KIM
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2188
/EUNHEE KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2188