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 .
1. This action is in response to the communication filed on June 12, 2023. Claims 1-20 were originally received for consideration. No preliminary amendments for the claims have been received.
2. Claims 1-20 are currently pending consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. Initialed and dated copies of Applicant’s IDS (form 1449), received on 9/11/2024, 9/27/2024, 10/21/2024, 04/04/2025, 4/29/2025, and 5/15/2025, are attached to this Office Action.
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.
4. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) a method for accessing a graph, receiving a data prompt, segmenting the data prompt into segments, pruning the model graph to include the subset of nodes, generating an intermediary output comprising label values, and generating a final output. These can be performed by head and hand (see Synopsys, Inc. v. Mentor Graphics Corp., 839 F. 3d 1138, 1139). Therefore, the claims are directed towards a mental process which is an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because there is nothing beyond the abstract idea (mental process) which integrates the abstract idea into a mental process. The claim does not mention any sort of improvement to the functioning of a computer, network performance, or disclose any technological advancements. The claim merely implementing the abstract idea on a computer as a tool which is not enough to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application (see Alice, 573 U.S. at 222-26, and Benson, 409 U.S. 63).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because there is nothing more than towards accessing a model graph, receiving a prompt, segmenting the prompt into a plurality of segments, pruning the graph and forming a final output. All of these steps can be performed by the human mind and are therefore steps in a mental process and provide nothing significantly more than the abstract idea.
Therefore, the claims are determined to be directed to an abstract idea (mathematical concept and mental process) without being integrated into a practical application and without any elements which amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH ABRISHAMKAR whose telephone number is (571)272-3786. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5:30.
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/KAVEH ABRISHAMKAR/
01/20/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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