DETAILED ACTION
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 . The objection and rejections from the Office Action of 8/20/2025 are hereby withdrawn. New grounds for rejection are presented below.
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, 3-8, 10-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to and abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) the abstract idea of a mathematical algorithm for evaluating whether a signal experiences a sudden change and/or the signal reliability.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because there is no underlying application as the signal can be any signal from any technological context.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the recited computer elements amount to the recitation of a general-purpose computer for performing the algorithm (see Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. 208 (2014)). Mapping the local scores and calculating the score by integrating values amounts to further steps in the mathematical algorithm (i.e., creating a graph and then integrating values from it).
Allowable Subject Matter
The instant Claims are rejected under 35 USC 101. However, were those rejections to be overcome, the following would be an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 is allowed because the closest prior art, Sugiyama et al. (US 20160217803 A1) and Hadaschik et al. (US 20210266747 A1), either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious a signal processing device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor performing operations to: for each of the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, calculate a local score indicative of an appearance frequency of the phase gradient at each time within the frame; map the local scores to an absolute time axis and calculate a score by integrating values at identical absolute times across the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, in combination with all other limitations in the claim as claimed and defined by the Applicant.
Claim 8 is allowed because the closest prior art, Sugiyama et al. (US 20160217803 A1) and Hadaschik et al. (US 20210266747 A1), either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious a signal processing method comprising: for each of the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, calculating a local score indicative of an appearance frequency of the phase gradient at each time within the frame; mapping the local scores to an absolute time axis and calculate a score by integrating values at identical absolute times across the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, in combination with all other limitations in the claim as claimed and defined by the Applicant.
Claim 15 is allowed because the closest prior art, Sugiyama et al. (US 20160217803 A1) and Hadaschik et al. (US 20210266747 A1), either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program causing a computer to execute operations comprising: for each of the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, calculating a local score indicative of an appearance frequency of the phase gradient at each time within the frame; mapping the local scores to an absolute time axis and calculate a score by integrating values at identical absolute times across the determination target signal and the one or more overlap signals, in combination with all other limitations in the claim as claimed and defined by the Applicant.
The dependent claims are allowed based on their dependence from the independent claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The corresponding objection is hereby withdrawn.
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The instant Claims are not rejected for being directed to a “mathematical idea.” The claim(s) recite(s) the abstract idea of a mathematical algorithm for evaluating whether a signal experiences a sudden change and/or the signal reliability, as applied to any signal from any technological context. The referred-to steps are steps of the mathematical algorithm.
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner agrees. The corresponding rejections are hereby withdrawn.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20160210987 A1 – SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING PROGRAM
US 20160019913 A1 – SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING PROGRAM
US 20160019914 A1 – SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING PROGRAM
US 20160019914 A1 – SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING PROGRAM
US 20110123046 A1 – SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM THEREFOR
US 5774089 A – Method To Resolve Ambiguities In A Phase Measurement
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 KYLE ROBERT QUIGLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4879. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen Vazquez can be reached at (571) 272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KYLE R QUIGLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857