DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Responsive to the communication dated 06/12/2023.
Claims 1 – 8 are presented for examination.
Priority
The ADS dated 06/12/2023 claims the benefit of foreign application CN202211112136.2 dated 09/13/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
No IDS provided.
Drawings
The drawings dated 06/12/2023 have been reviewed. They are accepted.
Specification
The abstract dated 06/12/2023 has 75 words, 8 lines, and no legal phraseology. The abstract is accepted.
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 - 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception without significantly more.
Claim 1.
STEP 1. Yes. The claim recites: “An adaptive grid generating method”.
STEP 2A, PRONG ONE: Yes.
The claim recites: “… comprising:
obtaining a first three-dimensional grid of a target structure;
importing the first three-dimensional grid into a computer-aided engineering software to obtain a first two-dimensional planar grid;
importing the first two-dimensional planar grid into a grid cleaning software to obtain a second two-dimensional planar grid; and
importing the second two-dimensional planar grid into the computer-aided engineering software to obtain a second three-dimensional grid.”
The limitations describe a mental process involving observations, evaluations, and judgements concerning geometric representations of a target structure. In limitation (a), obtaining the first three-dimensional grid involves observing geometric information associated with the target structure and representing that information 3D grid. In limitation (b), evaluating the 3D geometric representation and determining its 2D planar representation. In limitation (c), evaluating the first 2D planar grid, identifying the portions to be modified, cleaning the selected portion, and creating a second 2D planar grid. In limitation (d), evaluating the second planar grid to obtain a corresponding second 3D grid representation. These operations concern the observation, evaluation, and judgement of geometric information and can be conceptually performed by a person using mental analysis, with the aid of pen and paper.
The recitation of computer-aided engineering software and grid cleaning software merely identifies the applications used as tools to perform the recited grid-processing operations and amounts to implementing the judicial exception using computer technology. The claim recites that the grid represents a target structure, but it does not require the generated grid be used to manufacture, modify, or otherwise physically affect the target structure. Rather, the target structure merely provides the geometric information being processed. Therefore, the recitations of computer-aided engineering software, grid cleaning software, and a grid representing a target structure do not remove the underlying evaluations and judgements from the mental-process group.
STEP 2A, PRONG TWO: No. The claim does not recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application because the claim does not have additional elements or a combination of additional elements that apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception.
STEP 2B: No. The claim does not recite additional elements which are significantly more than the abstract idea. The additional elements, including computer-aided engineering software and a grid cleaning software, merely provide the computer environment in which the abstract ideas are performed.
MPEP 2106.05(f) explains that “The recitation of claim limitations that attempt to cover any solution to an identified problem with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result, does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more because this type of recitation is equivalent to the words ‘apply it’. Intellectual Ventures I v. Symantec, 838 F.3d 1307, 1327, 120 USPQ2d 1353, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2016) “.
Here, the claim recites importing grids into computer-aided engineering software and grid cleaning software to obtain different grid representations, but does not recite a particular machine configuration, software architecture, algorithm, or other technological mechanism by which the software performs the recited conversion or grid-cleaning operations. Thus, the software is invoked merely as a tool for carrying out the recited processing of geometric information.
Considered individually and as an ordered combination, the additional elements merely instruct that the recited grid-processing operations be performed using computer software and do not add an inventive concept sufficient to transform the judicial exception into patent-eligible subject matter.
Therefore, it is concluded that the claim is not found eligible under 35 USC 101.
Claim 2. The claim does not recite additional elements which are significantly more than the abstract idea. The claim recites: The adaptive grid generating method of claim 1, wherein the computer-aided engineering software is ABAQUS, which merely specifies ABAQUS as the computer-aided engineering software used to perform the recited grid-processing operations. The limitation merely identifies the software tool used to carry out the manipulation, conversion, and processing of data representing the geometric grid, without reciting any improvement to ABAQUS or any technological implementation that meaningfully limits the abstract idea. Accordingly, the additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Considered individually and in combination with the limitations of claim 1, the recitation of ABAQUS does not add an inventive concept sufficient to transform the abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter.
Claim 3. The claim does not recite additional elements which are significantly more than the abstract idea. The claim recites: The adaptive grid generating method of claim 1, wherein the step (c) comprises:
performing a grid cleaning method to obtain an approximate two-dimensional planar grid according to the first two-dimensional planar grid;
when the first two-dimensional planar grid and the approximate two-dimensional planar grid have an area change rate greater than a predetermined change rate, adjusting a grid cleaning coefficient of the grid cleaning method, and performing the step (c) again; and
when the first two-dimensional planar grid and the approximate two-dimensional planar grid have the area change rate smaller than or equal to the predetermined change rate, inputting the approximate two-dimensional planar grid as the second two-dimensional planar grid.
These limitations recite both mathematical concepts and mental processes. The limitation of determining whether the first 2D planar grid and the approximate 2D planar grid have an area change rate greater than, or smaller than or equal to, a predetermined change rate, which recites a mathematical relationship and comparison of numerical values. Accordingly, these limitations recite a mathematical concept.
The limitations also recite mental processes involving evaluations and judgements. Performing the grid cleaning method involves evaluating the first two-dimensional planar grid and determining an approximate 2D planar grid. Comparing the area change rate with the predetermined change rate involves evaluating whether the calculated value satisfies the predetermined threshold. When the area change rate exceeds the predetermined change rate, adjusting the grid cleaning coefficient and repeating the grid-cleaning operation involves determining an appropriate adjustment based on the result of the comparison. When the area change rate is smaller than or equal to the predetermined change rate, selecting the approximate 2D planar grid as the second 2D planar grid involves an evaluation based on the comparison result.
These evaluations, comparisons, and judgements are recited at a level of generality that can be practically performed in the human mind or with the aid of pen and paper. Accordingly, claim 3 recites both a mathematical concept and a mental process, which both constitute abstract ideas.
Claim 4. The claim does not recite additional elements which are significantly more than the abstract idea. The claim recites: The adaptive grid generating method of claim 3, wherein the grid cleaning software is PyMesh, merely specifies PyMesh as the software used to perform the grid-cleaning operations recited in claim 3. The recitation of a particular software application does not improve the functioning of a computer, the grid-cleaning software, or another technology. Rather, PyMesh merely provides the computer implementation for performing the recited grid evaluation, comparison, adjustment, and processing operations. Thus, the recitation of PyMesh amounts to no more than an instruction to implement the judicial exception using a particular software tool and does not impose a meaningful limitation on the judicial exception. Considered individually and in combination with the limitations of claims 1 and 3, the recitation of PyMesh does not add an inventive concept sufficient to transform the abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter.
Claim 5 recites substantially the same grid-generation process as claim 1 in system form, using a processor and memory storing program code for instructing the processor to execute the adaptive grid generating method. The processor, memory, and program code do not add any additional element or combination of elements that provide an inventive concept beyond the judicial exception. Considered individually and as an ordered combination with the remaining claim limitations, these elements merely implement the same grid-processing operations cited in claim 1, expressed in system form. Accordingly, the claim does not recite additional limitations that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Claim 6 – 8 correspond generally to claims 2 – 4 by respectively reciting ABAQUS, the interactive grid-cleaning procedure based on the area change rate and adjustment of the grid cleaning coefficient, and PyMesh in system form. The additional system limitations do not materially alter the eligibility analysis. Accordingly, the claims 6 – 8 are rejected for substantially the same rationale as claims 2 – 4, respectively, and the recitation of the processor, memory, and program code in underlying claim 5 does not add significantly more than the judicial exception.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu_2022 (CN 114491824 A) in view of Zhou_2018 (PyMesh Documentation Release 0.2.1, Qingnan Zhou, 2018).
Claim 1. Wu_2022 teaches An adaptive grid generating method, comprising: (a) obtaining a first three-dimensional grid of a target structure (page 5, par 9: “S130, using CAE software to perform grid generation to the cleaned three-dimensional geometric features, obtaining three-dimensional grid features. through the program of secondary development, using CAE software to perform grid generation to the cleaned three-dimensional geometric feature, obtaining the initialized three-dimensional grid characteristic. subsequently, based on the initial grid, performing local grid adjustment and correction.”); (b) importing the first three-dimensional grid into a computer-aided engineering software to obtain a first two-dimensional planar grid (page 11, par 6: “after obtaining the three-dimensional grid characteristic to be adjusted, the embodiment mapping the three-dimensional grid characteristic to be adjusted to the two-dimensional plane, obtaining the corresponding two-dimensional grid characteristic and adjusting; then mapping the adjusted two-dimensional grid characteristic to the three-dimensional space, so as to realize the adjustment of the
three-dimensional grid characteristic.”; par 8: “The embodiment maps the grid feature from the three-dimensional space to the two-dimensional plane, obtaining the plane geometric coordinate point set and line segment set, reflecting the two-dimensional geometrical characteristic of the target component. The two-dimensional geometrical characteristic is used for determining the grid adjusting range in the two-dimensional plane.”; par 9: “after obtaining the outer contour triangle plane, projecting the three-dimensional grid feature to be adjusted to the outer contour triangle plane to
obtain the corresponding two-dimensional geometric feature.”; Note: Unlike the earlier geometric cleaning embodiment of Wu_2022, which projects a 3D geometric feature into 2D for purposes of determining features to be cleaned, the above cited paragraphs expressly begin with a 3D grid characteristic and map that grid characteristic to a 2D plane to obtain a corresponding 2D grid characteristic.); (page 12, par 3: “step three, re-generating grid in the range surrounded by the second outer contour, and mapping the newly generated grid feature to the three-dimensional space.”; par 4: “the dividing result is transmitted to the CAE software, re-dividing the grid by CAE software, so as to realize the target parts automated the grid adjusting function adjusting the two dimensional grid line by line, and then reflecting the two-dimensional coordinate of the regenerated grid node back to the three-dimensional space, so as to form new three-dimensional grid characteristic.”; par 5: “The embodiment of the three-dimensional grid characteristic projection is two-dimensional geometric characteristic, then in the two-dimensional plane in the range of the outer contour surrounded by row-by-line regenerated grid, reducing the spatial dimension of the grid adjustment, simplifying the calculation while ensuring the automatic order of grid adjustment; finally mapping the adjusted two-dimensional grid characteristic back to the three-dimensional space, realizing the automatic adjustment of the three-dimensional grid.”)
Wu_2022 does not explicitly teach (c) importing the first two-dimensional planar grid into a grid cleaning software to obtain a second two-dimensional planar grid.
Zhou_2018; however, teaches (c) importing the first two-dimensional planar grid into a grid cleaning software to obtain a second two-dimensional planar grid (page 3, par 1: “Features: … Read/write 2D … mesh …”; page 32, par 1: “Meshes coming from the real world are rarely clean. Artifacts such as degeneracies, duplicate vertex/triangles and self intersections are rampant. Unfortunately, many geometry processing about operations have strict and often unspecified requirements on the cleanness of the input geometry. Here, we provide a number of handy routines to facilitate the task of cleaning up a mesh. we provide a number of handy routines to facilitate the task of cleaning up a mesh … Remove isolated vertices … Remove duplicate vertices … Collapse short edges … Split long edges … Remove duplicate faces … Remove obtuse triangles … Remove degenerate triangles … Self-intersections … Self-intersections … Merge multiple meshes … Merge multiple meshes …”; page 32, par 2: “pymesh.remove_isolated_vertices(mesh) … mesh (Mesh) – Input mesh … output_mesh (Mesh): Output mesh.”; Note: This quotation shows a sample cleaning function that the input and output meshes can both be 2D. Thus, Zhou_2018 teaches receiving a 2D mesh as input, cleaning the mesh, and producing a cleaned 2D mesh as an output.);
Wu_2022 and Zhou_2018 are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor called Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine Wu_2022 and Zhou_2018. The rationale for doing so would have been Wu_2022 teaches obtaining a 3D grid of a target structure and converting the 3D grid into a 2D planar grid to be cleaned and converting a cleaned 2D planar grid back to a 3D grid. Zhou_2018 teaches cleaning up an imported 2D grid. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the obtaining of the 3D grid of a target structure, converting the 3D to a 2D planar grid to be cleaned, and converting back the cleaned 2D planar grid to a 3D grid taught by Wu_2022 and the 2D grid cleaning taught by Zhou_2018 for the benefit of reducing mesh artifacts and improving the cleanness of the input mesh for subsequent geometry-processing operations. (page 36, par 1: “Meshes coming from the real world are rarely clean. Artifacts such as degeneracies, duplicate vertex/triangles and self intersections are rampant ... Unfortunately, many geometry processing operations have strict and often unspecified requirements on the cleanness of the input geometry.”)
Claims 2, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu_2022 in view of Zhou_2018 in view of ABAQUS_2016 (ABAQUS/CAE User's Guide, Dassault Systèmes, Waltham, Massachusetts, 2016).
Claim 2. Wu_2022 in view of Zhou_2018 teaches all the limitations in claim 1. ABAQUS_2016 further teaches wherein the computer-aided engineering software is ABAQUS (page 427, par 2: “The Mesh module allows you to generate meshes on parts and assemblies created within Abaqus/CAE.”; page 428, par 1: “The Mesh module provides the following features: … Tools for refining the mesh and for improving the mesh quality.”; page 517, par 5: “The sweep method creates a three-dimensional mesh by moving a two-dimensional mesh along a sweep path.”).
Claims 5 and 6. The limitations of claims 5 and 6 are substantially the same as those of claims 1 and 2 and are rejected for substantially the same reasons set forth above with respect to claims 1 and 2, with recited method steps expressed as corresponding system components.
Claims 3, 4, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu_2022 in view of Zhou_2018 in view of ABAQUS_2016 in view of Mukherjee_2022 (US 2022/0067242 Al).
Claim 3. Wu_2022 in view of Zhou_2018 in view of ABAQUS_2016 teaches all the limitations in claim 1. Zhou_2018 further teaches wherein the step (c) comprises: performing a grid cleaning method to obtain an approximate two-dimensional planar grid according to the first two-dimensional planar grid (page 12, par 2: “It is often necessary to change the mesh. PyMesh has built-in capabilities of commonly used operations.”; …”; page 32, par 1: “… we provide a number of handy routines to facilitate the task of cleaning up a mesh … Remove isolated vertices … Remove duplicate vertices … Collapse short edges … Split long edges … Remove duplicate faces … Remove obtuse triangles … Remove degenerate triangles … Self-intersections … Self-intersections … Merge multiple meshes … Merge multiple meshes …”; page 13, par 4: “With, pymesh.collapse_short_edges we can create a coarse mesh (bottom) to approximate the input shape. The quality of the approximation depends heavily on the value of tol.”; Note: Zhou_18 teaches applying a mesh-cleaning operation to an input mesh to generate a coarse mesh that approximates the input shape, corresponding respectively to the claimed first and approximate 2D planar grid.); when the first two-dimensional planar grid and the approximate two-dimensional planar grid have an area change rate greater than a predetermined change rate (page 10, par 4: “vertex_area: A scalar field representing the lumped surface area of each vertex (e.g. 1/3 of the total face area of its 1-ring neighborhood).”; page 11, par 2: “face_area: A scalar field representing face areas.”; Note: The area information taught by Zhou_2018 provides the respective area values from which an area change rate between the first 2D planar grid and the approximate 2D planar grid can be determined.), adjusting a grid cleaning coefficient of the grid cleaning method (page 12, par 3: “It is often necessary to change the mesh. PyMesh has built-in capabilities of commonly used operations … Collapse Short Edges … To collapse all edges shorter than or equal to tol: mesh, info = pymesh.collapse_short_edges(mesh, tol) … The function returns two things: a new mesh with all short edges removed, and some extra information …”; page 13, par 2: “In addition to setting an absolute threshold, one can use a relative threshold based on the average edge length: mesh, __ = pymesh.collapse_short_edges(mesh, rel_threshold=0.1) … In the above example, all edges shorter than or equal to 10% of the average edge length are collapsed.”; Note: The disclosed tol or rel_threshold provides a numerical coefficient controlling the extent of the simplification and cleaning operation. page 13, par 3: “With pymesh.collapse_short_edges, we can create a coarse mesh (bottom) to approximate the input shape. The quality of the approximation depends heavily on the value of tol.”; Note: The tol or re_threshold corresponds to the claimed grid cleaning coefficient because it controls the extent of the mesh-cleaning operation and the resulting approximation.),
Zhou_2018 does not explicitly teach performing the step (c) again; and when the first two-dimensional planar grid and the approximate two-dimensional planar grid have the area change rate smaller than or equal to the predetermined change rate, inputting the approximate two-dimensional planar grid as the second two-dimensional planar grid.
Mukherjee_2022; however, teaches performing the step (c) again; and when the first two-dimensional planar grid and the approximate two-dimensional planar grid have the area change rate smaller than or equal to the predetermined change rate, inputting the approximate two-dimensional planar grid as the second two-dimensional planar grid (par 28: “The method further includes generating a new mesh patch element based on the faces-on-mesh-object geometry and at least one changed meshing-parameter. The changed meshing-parameter is assigned to generate a new mesh patch element that is different to the corresponding original-input-orphan-mesh.”; Note: The original-input-orphan-mesh corresponds to the first 2D planar grid, and the new mesh patch element corresponds to the approximate 2D planar grid. The par 35: “evaluating if a repetition of: a) generating a new mesh patch element based on the faces-on-mesh-object-geometry and at least one changed meshing-parameter and/or b) generating an amended orphan mesh ... is required to obtain a better approximation to the design specification, ...”; par 36: “a criterion of meeting the design specification ... may be evaluated by e.g., comparing the criterion with a threshold and in case of not meeting the design specification the repetition may be carried out----otherwise not.”; par 74: “It may be evaluated if a repetition of the steps: S4) Generating a new mesh patch element NMPE based on the faces-on-mesh-object-geometry FOMF and at least one changed meshing-parameter CMPR, S5) Generating an amended orphan mesh AOM by replacing the orphan element-patch-object OEPO of the original-input-orphan mesh IEPO by the new mesh patch element NMPE, is required to obtain a better approximation to the design specification DSPC or to amend the calculation process or to obtain a more reliable calculation result that may be closer to some reference data meaning that the calculation results a more accurate. The steps may be repeated if a comparison of a criterion CRTR with a threshold THRS indicates that amendments may be necessary to reach an objective that may be calculation speed, calculation result accuracy, convergence characteristic, or other objectives.”).
Accordingly, in the proposed combination, the area change rate is the change between the area of Zhou_2018’s input mesh and area of its cleaned approximate mesh. The predetermined change rate is the threshold applied to that area change rate in accordance with Mukherjee_2022’s threshold-based evaluation. Thus, when the area change rate is greater than the predetermined change rate, Zhou_2018’s grid cleaning coefficient would be adjusted and the cleaning operation repeated; when the area change rate is smaller than or equal to the predetermined change rate, the resulting approximate mesh would be used as the second 2D planar grid.
Zhou_2018 and Mukherjee_2022 are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor called Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine Zhou_2018 and Mukherjee_2022. The rationale for doing so would have been Zhou_2018 expressly teaches that the cleaning coefficient affects approximation quality and provides area information for evaluating the resulting mesh. Mukherjee_2022 teaches an interactive, threshold-based mesh adjustment process. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the grid cleaning process adjustable by changing the cleaning coefficient taught by Zhou_2018 with the interactive, threshold-based mesh quality improvement process taught by Mukherjee_2022 for the benefit of reducing mesh artifacts and improving the cleanness of the input mesh for subsequent geometry-processing operations (page 36, par 1: “Meshes coming from the real world are rarely clean. Artifacts such as degeneracies, duplicate vertex/triangles and self intersections are rampant ... Unfortunately, many geometry processing operations have strict and often unspecified requirements on the cleanness of the input geometry.”)
.
Claim 4. Wu_2022 in view of Zhou_2018 in view of ABAQUS_2016 in view of Mukherjee_2022 teaches all the limitations in claim 3. Zhou_2018 further teaches wherein the grid cleaning software is PyMesh (page 3, par 1: “Features: … Read/write 2D and 3D mesh …”; page 32, par 1: “… we provide a number of handy routines to facilitate the task of cleaning up a mesh … Remove isolated vertices … Remove duplicate vertices … Collapse short edges … Split long edges … Remove duplicate faces … Remove obtuse triangles … Remove degenerate triangles … Self-intersections … Self-intersections … Merge multiple meshes … Merge multiple meshes …”).
Claims 7 and 8. The limitations of claims 7 and 8 are substantially the same as those of claims 3 and 4, respectively, and are rejected for substantially the same reasons set forth with respect to claims 3 and 4, with recited method steps expressed as corresponding system components.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QIANG LU whose telephone number is (571)270-1484. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9am to 5pm ET.
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/Q.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2187
/EMERSON C PUENTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2187
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