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 .
Detailed Action
The following action is in response to the communication(s) received on 03/26/2026.
As of the claims filed 03/26/2026:
Claims 1, 5-7, 11, 13-16, and 18 have been amended.
Claim 17 has been canceled.
Claims 19-21 have been added
Claims 1-16 and 18-21 are now pending.
Claims 1, 6, and 7 are independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 02/07/2023 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 03/26/2026 have been fully considered. Examiner’s responses to the arguments are presented below.
With respect to the indefiniteness rejection under 35 USC § 112:
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the initial rejection but have raised a new rejection for claims 19-21.
With respect to the patent eligibility rejection under 35 USC § 101:
The amendment has overcome the eligibility rejection regarding the non-statutory subject matter. Thus, the 101 rejection has been withdrawn.
With respect to the art rejection under 35 USC § 103:
The amendment has overcome the art rejection. Thus, the 103 rejection has been withdrawn.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 19-21 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.
Claims 19-21 recite undefined variables BN…; RM1, RV1, RW1, RB2…; Wi, Bi…; RM2, RV2, RW2, RB2…; W1; B1; W2; B2. It is unclear regarding the scope of the variables.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16 and 18 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Jang et al., “Learning What and Where to Transfer”;
Guo et al., “AdaFilter: Adaptive Filter Fine-Tuning for Deep Transfer Learning”
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 JOSEP HAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1346. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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, Kakali Chaki can be reached on (571) 272-3719. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/J.H./Examiner, Art Unit 2122
/MICHAEL H HOANG/PRIMARY EXAMINER, Art Unit 2122
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