DETAILED ACTION
This Final Office Action is in response to the arguments and amendments filed July 18, 2025.
Claims 1 and 11 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are currently pending and have been considered below.
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 .
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 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed towards an abstract idea without additional elements that are significantly more or transformative into a practical application.
Independent claims 1 and 11 are directed towards (as represented by claim 11), “An execution method of an online discussion board, comprising: obtaining a plurality of process problem messages for a semiconductor equipment problem, a semiconductor product problem, a semiconductor parameter design problem for new products or a semiconductor factory affairs problem; automatically obtaining a process analysis report including equipment information and parameter setting information according to the process problem messages, wherein the process analysis report is automatically obtained when number of same process problem messages reaches a predetermined number, a deviation value described in one of the process problem messages is higher than a predetermined level, or one of the process problem messages belongs to a specific matter, and when the process problem message indicates that a certain gas flow rate is insufficient, the a time sequence change diagram of the gas flow rate is drawn, and values of all detectors on a pipeline are integrated; creating the discussion board, wherein at least two users are invited to enter the online discussion board, and the process analysis report is shown in the online discussion board; and storing a discussion record on the discussion board, wherein the online discussion board is held for a period of time”. The claims are describing a mental process in terms of providing a discussion between two users based on a process problem and analysis report and storing the discussion record for a period of time. A person can mentally, with aid of pen and paper, receive analysis reports and problem messages and provide a discussion with other persons. Once the discussion is complete the notes of the discussion can be kept for record keeping. Further, the semiconductor elements of the process problems are just describing the descriptive area that the information is regarding, but there is no technical feature in terms of functional change beyond collecting information from semiconductor process problems. This is further included in the consideration of the gas glow rate and the time sequence change. That is merely providing As such, the claims are directed towards an abstract idea under the mental process grouping.
The claims further describe an additional abstract idea in terms of describing managing personal interactions based on analysis of process problems reaching a certain issue or threshold. The claims provide aspects of determining process problems and providing a discussion board between two users and storing the discussion board. Additionally, the claims provide elements of process reports that are merely displaying information based on the collection. This further includes gas flow rate and a time sequence change diagram integrating values of detectors on pipelines. These elements fall under the sub-grouping managing personal behavior or relations or interactions between people that is directed towards an abstract idea as certain method of organizing human activity.
Step 2(a)(II) considers the additional elements of the claim in terms of being transformative into a practical application. The additional elements are directed towards, “A server for executing an online discussion board {claim 1}, an information collection unit {claim 1}, an analyzing unit {claim 1}, a discussion board management unit, and recording unit {claim 1}, automatically obtaining a process analysis report including equipment information and parameter setting information according to the process problem messages, wherein the process analysis report is automatically obtained when number of same process problem messages reaches a predetermined number, a deviation value described in one of the process problem messages is higher than a predetermined level, or one of the process problem messages belongs to a specific matter; automatically creating the discussion board whose establishment is relied on sensors on a process storing a discussion record on the online discussion board; wherein the sensors are disposed on a process apparatus or a process supply system, the sensors are configured to detect the process problem messages which are predefined, and the online discussion board is established based on the process problem messages which are predefined and detected by the sensors”. The unit and server are discussed and described in the originally filed specification [16-17]. The units and server are described in terms of generic technology to implement the abstract idea. The server is merely a generic computer for the mental process to perform the discussion board. Further, the aspects of automatically are merely describing the speed in terms of receiving the information and creating the board. There is no specific technical improvement or structure in terms of performing the automatic collection of information or board creation beyond utilizing the generic computer aspects, described in the specification. In terms of the obtaining based on a predetermined numbers, a deviation value, or a message belongs to a specific matter, there is no specific algorithm or technical process beyond utilizing thresholds, values, and specific data to determine the obtaining step. The obtaining step is not a technical improvement but rather utilizing generic technology to implement. The additional element regarding the sensor is described in paragraph [18]. The aspect of the establishment is relied on sensors on a process are merely describing generic elements to create the discussion board. The technical aspect is that sensors and not a manual processes, but there is no specific technical aspect describing the interaction between the sensor and creation of the discussion board. While the claims provide elements in terms of sensors disposed to detect process problem messages, the sensors themselves are generic technology. Further the sensors collecting information to be utilized to establish the discussion board are mere data gathering steps under insignificant extra-solution activity. The rejection is that the sensor is generic technology to implement the abstract idea and the collection of process problem messages is mere data gathering. The additional elements of the independent claim are not directed towards aspects that are transformative into a practical application. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f) and 2106.05(g).
Step 2(b) considers the additional elements in terms of being significantly more than the identified abstract idea. The additional elements are directed towards, “A server for executing an online discussion board {claim 1}, an information collection unit {claim 1}, an analyzing unit {claim 1}, a discussion board management unit, and recording unit {claim 1}, automatically obtaining a process analysis report including equipment information and parameter setting information according to the process problem messages, wherein the process analysis report is automatically obtained when number of same process problem messages reaches a predetermined number, a deviation value described in one of the process problem messages is higher than a predetermined level, or one of the process problem messages belongs to a specific matter; automatically creating the discussion board whose establishment is relied on sensors on a process storing a discussion record on the online discussion board; wherein the sensors are disposed on a process apparatus or a process supply system, the sensors are configured to detect the process problem messages which are predefined, and the online discussion board is established based on the process problem messages which are predefined and detected by the sensors”. The unit and server are discussed and described in the originally filed specification [16-17]. The units and server are described in terms of generic technology to implement the abstract idea. The server is merely a generic computer for the mental process to perform the discussion board. Further, the aspects of automatically are merely describing the speed in terms of receiving the information and creating the board. There is no specific technical improvement or structure in terms of performing the automatic collection of information or board creation beyond utilizing the generic computer aspects, described in the specification. In terms of the obtaining based on a predetermined numbers, a deviation value, or a message belongs to a specific matter, there is no specific algorithm or technical process beyond utilizing thresholds, values, and specific data to determine the obtaining step. The obtaining step is not a technical improvement but rather utilizing generic technology to implement. The additional element regarding the sensor is described in paragraph [18]. The aspect of the establishment is relied on sensors on a process are merely describing generic elements to create the discussion board. The technical aspect is that sensors and not a manual processes, but there is no specific technical aspect describing the interaction between the sensor and creation of the discussion board. While the claims provide elements in terms of sensors disposed to detect process problem messages, the sensors themselves are generic technology. Further the sensors collecting information to be utilized to establish the discussion board are mere data gathering steps under insignificant extra-solution activity. The rejection is that the sensor is generic technology to implement the abstract idea and the collection of process problem messages is mere data gathering. The additional elements of the independent claim are not directed towards aspects that are not significantly more than the identified above. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
Claims 4-9 and 14-19 are further describing the identified abstract idea. The claims are directed towards, “further comprising: informing a user who has pre-subscribed to view the process analysis report”, “wherein the online discussion board is held for a plurality of days”, “wherein the users enter the online discussion board at different times”, “further comprising: closing the online discussion board, if an execution degree has reached 100%”, “wherein a plurality of text messages and at least one file transmitted from the users are displayed on the online discussion board”, and “wherein the at least one file is listed in a file information window of the online discussion board”. The claims are further describing the discussion elements including informing a user pre-subscribed to view the report, allowing users to enter at different times, closing the board when execution degree 100%, providing files and file information within the discussion. The aspects are further describing the meeting/discussion interaction that a person can mentally process with the aid of pen and paper. A person is able to conduct the discussion over a plurality of days, allow different people to enter at different times, inform users of reports, and provide files/content based on the discussion. Additionally, the claims are further describing the interaction elements of the discussion board, aspects of communication/interaction between the users, and who can view the discussion/report which further fall in the managing interactions and relations between people sub-grouping. The aspects are within the identified additional elements considered above. The claims are not directed towards further additional elements that are significantly more or transformative into a practical application.
Dependent claims 3, 10, 13, and 20 are further describing additional elements beyond those identified above. The claims are directed towards, “wherein the process analysis report includes a statistical data, at least one process abnormal procedure, at least one parameter setting data and at least one time data of the process problem messages”, and “further comprising: searching the online discussion board via a Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithm”. The predetermined condition is described in the originally filed specification [19-20]. The predetermined condition is merely describing a threshold level to provide the report based on problems being higher than a level or belonging to a specific problem. The analysis report describes the information within the report. The information includes statistical data, parameter setting, and other aspects that merely describe the title and information of the data. The data and report are not directed towards a technical improvement but rather gathering information to present to the user. The NLP algorithm is not described in the originally filed specification. The searching step is described in figure 5 and paragraphs [17-18 and 32-33]. The searching does not provide a specific algorithm or model and the claim is not specific in terms of describing a NLP model or algorithm to search the discussion boards. The claims are not directed towards additional elements that are significantly more or transformative into a practical application. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f).
The claimed invention is describing an abstract idea without additional elements that are significantly more or transformative into a practical application. Therefore, claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 USC 101 for being directed towards non-eligible subject matter.
Response to Arguments
In response to the arguments filed July 18, 2025 on pages 7-10 regarding the 35 USC 101 rejection, specifically that the amended claim limitations are directed towards eligible subject matter.
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The claim amendment is directed towards, “wherein the sensors are disposed on a process apparatus or a process supply system, the sensors are configured to detect the process problem messages which are predefined, and the online discussion board is established based on the process problem messages which are predefined and detected by the sensors”. The arguments allege that the amended claim limitations are directed towards additional elements that integrate into a practical application through claiming a particular solution. Examiner notes that the claims, as currently written, are describing a sensor (generic technology) used to collect information regarding the process problem messages (mere data gathering). The arguments allege that the sensor is collecting information without manual intervention. While the sensor is collecting the information, the process and claimed invention still falls within the mental process abstract idea (collect, analyze, and display), as well as under certain method of organizing human activity through the rules and interactions for a discussion board. Based on the claim amendment and consideration above, the sensors are merely generic technology and the collection of the problem messages from the sensors are mere data gathering. As such, the additional elements are not transformative in to a practical application or significantly more than the identified abstract idea. Refer to MPEP 2106.05(f) and 2106.05(g). Therefore, claims 1 and 11 are maintaining the 35 USC 101 rejection, as considered above in light of the amended claim limitations.
Lacking any further arguments, claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are maintaining the 35 USC 101 rejection, as considered above in light of the amended claim limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Quan et al [2010/0174560] (emergency call collaborative workflow system);
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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/ANDREW CHASE LAKHANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3629