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 § 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 1-8, 13-19, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 13, “the at least one target neuron” lacks antecedent basis in the claims.
Regarding claims 1 and 13, “a group of client devices” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if “client devices” indicates a group of client devices as describe in the claim or if the client device is in a group of client devices where the other client devices in the group are not necessarily the same as the previously defined client devices.
Regarding claims 2, 4, 6, 8, and 21, “the at least one target neuron” lacks antecedent basis in the claims.
Claims 2-8, 14-19, and 21-22 are indefinite by virtue of dependency on claims 1 or 13, accordingly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2, 4, 6, 8, and 21 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Notwithstanding the above in ¶9, claims 2-8, 14-19, and 21-22 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Independent claims 1 and 13 each recite locally training a model based on an active flag bit associated with at least one target neuron. The parameter data for the at least one target neuron, after local training, is then transferred to the global model to train a global model to convergence, where each of a plurality of client devices send their parameters.
The above scheme is a specific form of federated learning. Federated learning is well known in the prior art. Furthermore, as noted in the previous rejection, it is known to utilize active-flag bits in neural networks to indicate where training should occur.
The prior art does not anticipate or render obvious the claimed combination of the federated learning and active-flag bit training as claimed in claims 1 and 13. While each methodology is known in its own right, there is insufficient nexus between them in the prior art to lead one of ordinary skill in the art to arrive at the claimed invention without impermissible hindsight.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 12/26/2025 have been fully considered. Applicant’s arguments are generally persuasive but specific reasons for indicating allowable subject matter are given above.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHYLER S SANKS whose telephone number is (571)272-6125. The examiner can normally be reached 06:30 - 15:30 Central Time, M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Huntley can be reached at (303) 297-4307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCHYLER S SANKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2129
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