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 .
Claims 1-3 are presented for examination.
This action is responsive to the Amendment filed on 6/9/2026
Claims 1-31 are pending in the case. Claim(s) 31 is/are new.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with regards to the 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection of claim(s) 1-31 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection of claim(s) 1-31 is respectfully withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made as disclosed below.
Applicant's arguments and amendments with regards to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of claim(s) 1-31 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of claim(s) 1-31 is respectfully withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments and amendments with regards to the 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 103 rejection of claim(s) 1-31 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 103 rejection of claim(s) 1-31is respectfully withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 18 and 24, each recite “generating, by the local client device, a secure center for the client device different from the local center and based, at least in part, on information about secure centers shared by a plurality of other devices participating in a federated learning scheme, wherein the secure center corresponds to a center point of an embedding space encompassing the embeddings generated from the local data”.
It is unclear how the secure centers of the plurality of other devices is determined, as the claim recites using secure centers to generate each secure center, leading to a circular causality, since it is unclear how a first secure center would be generated in the absence of other secure centers,
rendering the claims indefinite.
Applicant’s disclosure recites generating a first secure center by randomizing the local center, but does not link this secure center to the generation of other secure centers.
Claim(s) 2-17, 19-23 and 25-31 do not contain claim limitations that cure the indefiniteness of claim(s) 1, 18 and 24 respectively, and therefore are also indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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SANCHITA ROY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2146
/SANCHITA ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2146
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