DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-15 are currently presented for examination.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/6/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Following Applicants amendments, the objections of the Claims are Withdrawn.
Following Applicants arguments and amendments, and in light of the 2019 Patent Eligibility guidance, the 101 rejection of the Claims is Maintained.
Applicant’s Argument: The claims operate on real-world geophysical parameters, not abstract data.
Examiner’s Response: The Examiner disagrees as these parameters are used in the equations shown in Specification [0034]-[0039]. The use of real world parameters does not remove the claim limitation from a Mathematical concept.
Applicant’s Argument: The claimed steps cannot be performed mentally.
Examiner’s Response: The Examiner partially agrees and the office action has been updated based on Applicant’s Amendment.
Applicant’s Argument: The Claims Apply the Recited Concepts to a Practical Technical Application.
Examiner’s Response: The Examiner disagrees as the improvement is not expressed through the addition elements. MPEP 2106.05(a): “It is important to note, the judicial exception alone cannot provide the improvement. The improvement can be provided by one or more additional elements...” Additionally, as discussed in 2106.05(a)(II) improvements to technology or technical fields, “an improvement in the abstract idea itself … is not an improvement in technology”. The present claims do not reflect the purported improvements cited by the Applicant, with reference to the sections of the specification cited in the arguments. The present claims do not improve the functioning of the computer as well as any other technology or technical field.
Applicant’s Argument: The Claims Recite a Technological Improvement Over the Prior Art.
Examiner’s Response: The Examiner disagrees the present claims do not provide an analogous improvement to the computer to that of Enfish, specifically because the present claims do not improve the computer itself. The improvements of a self-referential table provide a specific benefit to the functioning of the computer, which is not the case in the claims of the instant application. The present claims are directed to detecting 3D model realizations of parameters using calculations, which is not an improvement to the computer itself. Rather, this is an improvement to the abstract idea associated with “Mental Processes.” With respect to McRO, the present claims do not provide a clear improvement to technology or computer functionality. The claims of McRo recite automatic lip synchronization and facial expression animation, which provided a clear improvement to a computer functionality (i.e. computer animation). In contrast, the instant claims do not recite an analogous improvement to a computer functionality. The claims recite a detection of 3D model realizations of parameters using calculations. The claims employ generic computer functions to execute the abstract idea that, even while limiting the use of the idea to a particular technical environment, do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. See MPEP 2106.05(h). With respect to Thales, there is no particular configuration of sensors in the claims. Thales Visionix was found to be an improvement to technology because of the particular configuration of inertial sensors and a particular method of using the raw data from the sensors (MPEP 2106.05(a)(II)). Here, the claims at issue do not have a particular arrangement of sensors and do not use a particular method with raw sensor data. The claims require detection of 3D model realizations of parameters using calculations. This makes the current claims distinguishable from Thales Visionix. Thus, it is the Examiner’s position that the claims do recite an abstract idea that do not recite a technological improvement over the prior art.
Applicant’s Argument: Even If Viewed as Reciting an Abstract Idea, the Claims Recite "Significantly More"
Examiner’s Response: The Examiner disagrees for the reasons presented above as the improvement is not expressed through the additional elements.
Therefore, the 101 rejection of the claims is Maintained.
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.
Regarding claims 1-15, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e. abstract idea) without anything significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 1-5 are directed to a method, which is a process, which is a statutory category of invention. Claims 6-10 are directed to a system, which is a machine, which is a statutory category of invention. Claims 11-15 are directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium, which is a manufacture, which is a statutory category of invention. Therefore, claims 1-15 are directed to patent eligible categories of invention.
Step 2A, Prong 1: Claims 1, 6 and 11 recite the abstract idea of modeling parameters in a 3D space, constituting an abstract idea based on Mathematical Concepts including mathematical formulas or equations as well as calculations or alternatively Mental Processes based on concepts performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper. The limitation of "
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” covers mathematical concepts in the form of performing calculations for a set of variables based on other variables, or alternatively mental processes including evaluating a set of variables based on other variables (Spec [0034]-[0039]). Additionally, the limitation of “
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” covers mathematical concepts in the form of performing calculations for a set of variables within a boundary (Spec [0034]-[0039]). Additionally, the limitation of “
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” covers mathematical concepts in the form of performing calculations to test variables to create a subset (Spec [0031], [0040]). Thus, the claims recite the abstract idea of mathematical concepts or alternatively a mental process performed in the human mind, or with the aid of pencil and paper.
Dependent claims 2-5, 7-10 and 12-15 further narrow the abstract ideas, identified in the independent claims.
Step 2A, Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In Claim 4, 9 and 14 the additional element of “a random number generator”, as well as “one or more processors”, “memory”, in claims 6 and 11, as well as “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” in claim 11, merely uses a computer device as a tool to perform the abstract idea. (MPEP 2106.05(f)) The limitations of “
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”, in claims 1, 6 and 11, are mere instructions to implement an abstract idea using a computer in its ordinary capacity, or merely uses the computer as a tool to perform the identified abstract idea. See MPEP (2106.05(f)) Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a mental process) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. (MPEP 2106.05(f)(2)). In Claims 4, 9 and 14, the limitation of “a random number generator” does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because it is nothing more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment. See MPEP 2106.05(h). Therefore, the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
Dependent claims 2-5, 7-10 and 12-15 further narrow the abstract ideas, identified in the independent claims, and do not introduce further additional elements for consideration beyond those addressed above.
Step 2B: Claims 1, 6 and 11 do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. In Claim 4, 9 and 14 the additional element of “a random number generator”, as well as “one or more processors”, “memory”, in claims 6 and 11, as well as “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” in claim 11, merely uses a computer device as a tool to perform the abstract idea. (MPEP 2106.05(f)) The limitations of “
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”, in claims 1, 6 and 11, are mere instructions to implement an abstract idea using a computer in its ordinary capacity, or merely uses the computer as a tool to perform the identified abstract idea. See MPEP (2106.05(f)) Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a mental process) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. (MPEP 2106.05(f)(2)). In Claims 4, 9 and 14, the limitation of “a random number generator” does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because it is nothing more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment. See MPEP 2106.05(h). Therefore, the claim as a whole does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements, when considered alone or in combination, do not amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As stated in Section I.B. of the December 16, 2014 101 Examination Guidelines, “[t]o be patent-eligible, a claim that is directed to a judicial exception must include additional features to ensure that the claim describes a process or product that applies the exception in a meaningful way, such that it is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception.”
The dependent claims include the same abstract ideas recited as recited in the independent claims, and merely incorporate additional details that narrow the abstract ideas and fail to add significantly more to the claims.
Dependent claims 2, 7 and 12 are directed to further converting the subset, which further narrows the abstract idea identified in the independent claim, which is directed to “Mathematical Concepts”, or alternatively “Mental Processes.”
Dependent claims 3, 8 and 13 are directed to further defining the bounds, which further narrows the abstract idea identified in the independent claim, which is directed to “Mathematical Concepts”, or alternatively “Mental Processes.”
Dependent claims 4, 9 and 14 are directed to further defining the bounds and generating fluctuations, which further narrows the abstract idea identified in the independent claim, which is directed to “Mathematical Concepts”, or alternatively “Mental Processes.”
Dependent claims 5, 10 and 15 are directed to further defining the detectability, which further narrows the abstract idea identified in the independent claim, which is directed to “Mathematical Concepts”, or alternatively “Mental Processes.”
Accordingly, claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea) without anything significantly more.
Examiner’s Note: The Examiner notes that no prior art has been applied to the claims. See allowability section of Non-Final Rejection dated 5/29/2025.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Grechka et al. “3-D description of normal moveout in anisotropic inhomogeneous media”: Also teaches calculating seismic velocity using anisotropic parameters.
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/MICHAEL EDWARD COCCHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2188