DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,14 and 10,15,16 and 13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim(s) 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1):
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Samuelsson et al. (US 2015/0139338 A1):
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Tippin et al. (US 2010/0146145 A1):
Claim(s) 10,15,16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Hoang (US 2015/0146794 A1):
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Response to Amendment
The preliminary amendment was received 1/22/2024. Claims 11,12 canceled. Claims pending:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,14;
10,15,16;
13
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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 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,14 and 10,15,16 and 13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 0: establish broadest reasonable interpretation shown throughout this Office action in the footnotes;
Step 1: Claim 1 a process; claim 10 a process; claim 13 a machine:
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Step 2, prong 1: The claim(s) recite(s) an abstract idea: mental process and math: Claim 1 (representative of claims 10,13):
--determining an image quality assessment region;
determining quality assessment data …determining image quality information…
adding the image quality information to a bitstream--:
1. (Original) A bitstream processing method, comprising:
determining an image quality assessment region;
determining quality assessment data of the image quality assessment region; determining image quality information, wherein the image quality information comprises the quality assessment data; and
adding the image quality information to a bitstream to obtain a processed bitstream.
Step 2A, prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements:
--of the image quality assessment region;…
wherein the image quality information comprises the quality assessment data; and…
to obtain a processed bitstream.-- :
1. (Original) A bitstream processing method, comprising:
determining an image quality assessment region;
determining quality assessment data of the image quality assessment region; determining image quality information, wherein the image quality information comprises the quality assessment data; and
adding the image quality information to1 a bitstream to2 obtain a processed bitstream3.
is not improving the communications technical field in view of applicant’s disclosure:
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Step 2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements:
--of the image quality assessment region;…
wherein the image quality information comprises the quality assessment data; and…
to obtain a processed bitstream.-- :
considered individually and with the abstract idea:
--determining an image quality assessment region;
determining quality assessment data …determining image quality information…
adding the image quality information to a bitstream--:
adheres to conventional practices as indicated in applicant’s specification’s background4:
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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(s) 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1):
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Re 1. (Original), McCarthy teaches A bitstream processing method, comprising:
determining an image quality assessment region (“as determined5 by the maps” [0023] 5th S: fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”);
determining quality assessment data (“sent to the receiver buffer 350 to minimize overflow of the receiver buffer 350” [0027] last S: fig. 3A) of the image quality assessment region (“as determined by the maps” [0023] 4th S, fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”);
determining (via (1) fig. 3A:312 “Counter” and (2) said 350 “counts the amount of received data”, [0031] 5th S) image quality information (counted), wherein the image quality information (counted) comprises6 the quality assessment data (“sent to the receiver buffer 350 to minimize overflow of the receiver buffer 350” [0027] last S: fig. 3A); and
adding (via three forms of adding:
(1) “counter” “amount” [0027] 4th S: fig. 1:312: “Counter”;
(2) “included in the summations” [0050]: figs. 1,2: 120: “Perceptual Engine”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”; and
(3) said 350 “counts the amount of received data”, [0031] 5th S)
the image quality information (resulting in counted) to a bitstream (fig. 3:3A: “Compressed Video Bitstream” as counted bits) to obtain a processed7 (“pictures” [0028] 2nd S) bitstream (fig. 3:3A: “Compressed8 Video Bitstream” as counted bits/having-completed-a-process Video Bitstream as counted bits).
McCarthy does not teach the difference of claim 1 of “processed”9 (bitstream)10.
Saunders teaches the difference of claim 1:
“processed” (“bitstream to produce a second compressed bitstream having a target bit rate” [0015]) (bitstream)11.
Since McCarthy teaches bitstream, one of skill in the art of bitstreams can make McCarthy’s be as Saunders’ predictably recognizing the change being “desired to decode and reencode a compressed video bitstream whilst maintaining image quality and avoiding buffer underflow and overflow”, Saunders, [0011]:
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Re 2. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1,
wherein a number of image quality assessment regions is at least12 one13;
(A) the image quality assessment region14 comprises
(B) an entire to-be-assessed (i.e., determined) image region (“picture” “regions” [0018]) or
(C) a plurality of to-be-assessed (i.e., determined) image regions15 (“picture” “regions” [0018]), or
(D) the image quality assessment region comprises partial regions16 formed after region partitioning is performed on a to-be-assessed image; and
a partitioning strategy is determined for the to-be-assessed image according to an image feature17.
Re 3. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein the image quality information further comprises18 one or more of:
A) an image quality assessment method (or “determining video quality” “method” [0014]) used for determining the quality assessment data (“sent to the receiver buffer 350 to minimize overflow of the receiver buffer 350” [0027] last S);
B) a (“program”) timestamp (“PTS” [0030] 2nd S) for generating (resulting in “decoded” “encoded frames” [0032] last S) the quality assessment data;
C) a device identifier for generating the quality assessment data;
D) an identifier (“perceptual engine 120 identifies” [0061] 2nd S) of the quality assessment data;
E) a number (as taught via the rejection of claim 2) of image quality assessment regions;
F) information of an original image, wherein the information of the original image comprises a link to the original image or partial statistical information of the original image, and a to-be-assessed image is a reconstructed image generated after the original image is processed;
G) a mathematical model used for no-reference image quality assessment;
H) indication19 information (via “area switching control signal 323 may indicate” [0028] last S) of partitioning (via “block-based analysis” [0022] 5th S) of the image quality assessment region;
I) indication information (via “area switching control signal 323 may indicate” [0028] last S) about whether quality assessment methods used for different image quality assessment regions (“of the pictures” [0018] last S are same;
J) indication information (via “area switching control signal 323 may indicate” [0028] last S) of an assessed component (i.e., a determined region) of the image quality assessment region;
K) information of a scalable coding layer, wherein the information of the scalable coding layer comprises
a number of scalable coding layers,
a scalable coding layer to which the image quality assessment region belongs,
a quality assessment method used for an i-th layer of image in a to-be-assessed image and
a quality assessment method used for an n-th image quality assessment region of a k-th layer of image in the to-be-assessed image,wherein i, k, and n are positive integers;
L) information (“packets” [0030]) of an image sequence corresponding to image quality assessment regions, wherein an image sequence comprises a plurality of to-be-assessed (i.e., determined) images;
M) a number (as taught via the rejection of claim 2) of images comprised in an image sequence;
N) a number (as taught via the rejection of claim 2) of quality assessment regions in each image in an image sequence;
O) a quality assessment method (or “determining video quality” “method” [0014]) used for determining a j-th image quality assessment region in an image sequence, wherein j is a positive integer;
P) information (“packets” [0030]) of an m-th quality assessment region, wherein m is a positive integer;
Q) a quality assessment method (or “determining video quality” “method” [0014]) used for determining quality assessment data (“sent to the receiver buffer 350 to minimize overflow of the receiver buffer 350” [0027] last S) of an h-th quality assessment region, wherein h is a positive integer; and
R) a number (as taught via the rejection of claim 2) of quality assessment regions in a g-th to-be-assessed image in an image sequence, wherein g is a positive integer20.
Re 4. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein the image quality information (counted) further comprises:
partitioning information (or “region”21 “bits”2223 [0023] 4th S) of the image quality assessment region and indication information (via “area switching control signal 323 may indicate” [0028] last S) of whether the partitioning information exists (indicating the presence), wherein the partitioning information of the image quality assessment region comprises one or more of:
an identifier (or fig. 2:120: “perceptual engine 120 identifies” [0061] 2nd S) of the image quality assessment region,
a position (“at coordinates” [0038]) of the image quality assessment region or
a size (“M by N” [0038]) of the image quality assessment region.
Re 5. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the image quality assessment region comprises:
determining an image quality assessment region of a to-be-assessed image according to an image feature (comprised by “eye tracking maps” [0020])) of the to-be-assessed image.
Re 8. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein one image quality assessment region corresponds to24 A) one or B) a plurality pieces (“comprised of one or more pixels, in a picture” [0018] 2nd S) of quality assessment data, and
C) the plurality pieces (“comprised of one or more pixels, in a picture” [0018] 2nd S) of quality assessment data are determined (“as determined25 by the maps” [0023] 5th S: fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”) through quality assessment on different components (“of the pictures” [0018] last S) of different coding layers of a to-be-assessed image; or
D) the plurality pieces (“comprised of one or more pixels, in a picture” [0018] 2nd S) of quality assessment data (or “determined” “video quality” “bits” [0023] 5th S) are determined (“as determined26 by the maps” [0023] 5th S: fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”) through quality assessment (or “determined” “video quality” [0023] 5th S) on different components (“of the pictures” [0018] last S) of an (“video” [0018] 2nd S) image sequence; or
E) the plurality pieces (“comprised of one or more pixels, in a picture” [0018] 2nd S) of quality assessment data are determined (“as determined27 by the maps” [0023] 5th S: fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”) by using different quality assessment methods on the one image quality assessment region28.
Re 9. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein
A) a same (“700” in multiple figures 1,2,3A,3B) or
B) different
quality assessment methods (“700” [0054] in figs.1,2:100: “Video Encoding System” and figs. 3A,3B:301: “Video Encoding System”) are used for different image quality assessment regions (“of the pictures” [0018] last S).
Claim 14 is rejected like claim 13, below:
14. (Currently amended) A non-transitory storage medium29 storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the method according to claim 1.
Claim 13 is rejected like claim 1:
13. (Currently amended) A terminal device, comprising:
one or more processors (McCarthy: fig. 8:801: “Processor(s)”); and
a storage apparatus (McCarthy: fig. 8:804 “Computer Readable Medium”) configured to store one or more programs;
wherein when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs cause the one or more processors to implement the following steps:
determining an image quality assessment region;
determining quality assessment data of the image quality assessment region;
determining image quality information, wherein the image quality information comprises the quality assessment data; and
adding the image quality information to a bitstream to obtain a processed bitstream.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Samuelsson et al. (US 2015/0139338 A1):
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Re 6. (Original), McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein adding the image quality information to the bitstream to obtain the processed bitstream comprises:
generating supplemental enhancement information according to the image quality information; and
adding the supplemental enhancement information to the bitstream to obtain the processed bitstream.
McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders does not teach the difference of claim 6: SEI.
Samuelsson teaches the difference of claim 6: SEI [0150].
Since McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders teaches a processed bitstream, one of skill in the art of processed bitstreams can make McCarthy’s of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders be as Sam’s (“processed bitstream” [0074]) predictably recognizing the change “is a conforming30 bitstream”, Sam [0150], and thus “more efficient than prior art video coding standards, in particular H.264/AVC.”, Sam [0002] last S.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Tippin et al. (US 2010/0146145 A1):
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Re 7. (Original), McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein adding the image quality information to the bitstream to obtain the processed bitstream comprises31:
A) writing the image quality (“decoded video signal” [0033] 2nd S) information into a media file, or
B) writing the image quality (“decoded video signal” [0033] 2nd S) information as level information (or (“difficulty level” [0041] 2nd S) “sign information” [0042] 2nd S) of the corresponding image quality assessment region into a media file; and
adding the media file to the bitstream to obtain the processed bitstream.
McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders does not teach the difference of claim 7 of:
A) a media file…32
B) a media file…
adding the media file (to the bitstream)33…
Tippin teaches the difference of claim 7:
A) a media file (fig. 3: MEDIA FILE 40A,40B,40N)…34
B) a media file (fig. 4: “DOWNLOAD A MEDIA FILE”)…
(via fig. 3:30 and 21) adding (or adding on data via “splicing35 data from” [0009] last S) the media file (“to form the bit stream” [0009] last SL fig. 3:35) (to the bitstream)36…
Since McCarthy of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders teaches a bitstream, one of skill in the art of bitstreams can make McCarthy’s of the combination of McCarthy,Saunders be as Tippin’s predictably recognizing the change “blends data from the disparate streams of media files 40 into a valid37 output stream 35”, Tippin [0075] 1st S, via “ a particular desired playback rate”, reliably producing the desired playback rate “ which enhances the viewing experience for user 18 because the rebuffering delays are reduced or eliminated”, Tippin [0068] last S.
Claim(s) 10,15,16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarthy (US 2013/0195206 A1) in view of Saunders et al. (US 2002/0136310 A1) as applied in claims 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,14 and 13 above further in view of Hoang (US 2015/0146794 A1):
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Claim 10 is rejected like claim 1:
Re 10. (Original), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches A bitstream processing method, comprising:
acquiring (as “desired to decode and reencode a compressed video bitstream whilst maintaining image quality and avoiding buffer underflow and overflow”, Saunders, [0011]) a processed (“pictures”, McCarthy: [0028] 2nd S) bitstream (McCarthy: fig. 3:3A: “Compressed38 Video Bitstream” as counted bits/having-completed-a-process Video Bitstream as counted bits);
parsing39 the processed bitstream (McCarthy: fig. 3:3A: “Compressed40 Video Bitstream” as counted bits/having-completed-a-process Video Bitstream as counted bits) to41 acquire image quality information (as counted bits/acquired); and
determining an image quality assessment region (“as determined by the maps”, McCarthy: [0023] 4th S, fig. 4: “Spatial Detail Map”: fig. 3A:314: “Encoding Unit”) and corresponding quality assessment data (“sent to the receiver buffer 350 to minimize overflow of the receiver buffer 350”, McCarthy: [0027] last S: fig. 3A) according to the image quality information (as counted bits).
McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders does not teach the difference of claim 10 of:
--parsing42 (the processed bitstream)--.
Hoang teaches the difference of claim 10:
--(Fig. 5:520: CABAC Parser-2: “second stage”) parsing43 (“the same HEVC video bitstream processed by the firs stage parser” [0024] 1st S: fig. 5: below) (the processed bitstream)--:
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Since McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders teaches transcoding and a bitstream, one of skill in the art of transcoding and bitstreams can make McCarthy’s of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders be as Hoang’s predictably recognizing the change “To improve video coding efficiency”, Hoang [0030] 1st S:
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Re 15. (New), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders,Hoang teaches A terminal device (i.e., a “client44 computer45”: Hoang: [0026] 1st S: represented Hoang’s fig. 4:402: “Tile Processing Module”, illustrated above), comprising:
one or more processors (McCarthy: fig. 8:801: “Processor(s)”); and
a storage apparatus (McCarthy: fig. 8:804: “Computer Readable Medium”) configured to store one or more programs;
wherein when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs cause the one or more processors to implement the method according to claim 10 (illustrated above).
Re 16. (New), McCarthy of the combination (illustrated above) of McCarthy,Saunders,Hoang teaches A non-transitory storage medium46 (McCarthy: fig. 8:804: “Computer Readable Medium”) storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor (McCarthy: fig. 8:801: “Processor(s)”), causes the processor to implement the method according to claim 10 (illustrated above).
Conclusion
The prior art “nearest to the subject matter defined in the claims” (MPEP 707.05) made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The following table lists several references that are relevant to the subject matter claimed and disclosed in this Application. The references are not relied on by the Examiner, but are provided to assist the Applicant in responding to this Office action.
Citation
Relevance
Bortman et al. (US 2019/0373293 A1)
Bortman teaches “image quality”-“assessment”-“regions” via [0045] 3rd S: “Notably, the same regions of output video sequence 114 with respect to decoded video 113 may have increased resolution (e.g., pixel count for the same object being imaged) and both improved perceptual based on assessment of a human or objective methods (e.g., computational methods predictive of image quality).” as the closest to the claimed “image quality assessment region” of claim 1.
IDS cited HE (WO 2022/213006 A1)
HE implies "processed” “bitstream” by teaching an “encoded” “bitstream”: via [0044] 2nd S: “The term “block” generally refers to a structure including data to be processed (e.g., encoded, decoded, or otherwise used in the encoding and/or decoding process).” & [0045] 3rd S: “An encoded video bitstream generally includes a series of values for syntax elements representative of coding decisions (e.g., coding modes) and partitioning of pictures into blocks.” as the closest to the claimed “processed bitstream” of claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DENNIS ROSARIO whose telephone number is (571)272-7397. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 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, Henok Shiferaw can be reached at 571-272-4637. 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.
/DENNIS ROSARIO/
Examiner, Art Unit 2676
/Henok Shiferaw/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2676
1 to: (used for expressing addition or accompaniment) with.
He added insult to injury.
They danced to the music.
Where is the top to this box?
(Dictionary.com)
2 (used as the ordinary sign or accompaniment of the infinitive, as in expressing motion, direction, or purpose, in ordinary uses with a substantive object.), wherein purpose is defined: an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal., wherein intended is defined: prospective, wherein prospective is defined: of or in the future (Dictionary.com)
3 “of or in the future” (Dictionary.com)
4 background: one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc., wherein experience is defined: knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone, wherein practical is defined: of or relating to practice or action, wherein practice is defined: custom, wherein custom is defined: convention, wherein convention is defined: conventionalism, wherein conventionalism is defined: adherence to or advocacy of conventional attitudes or practices (Dictionary.com)
5 determine: to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc., where reasoning is defined: the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises, wherein judgement is defined: an act or instance of judging., wherein judging is defined: to form an opinion or estimate, wherein opinion is defined: a personal view, attitude, or appraisal, wherein appraisal is defined: an estimate of value, as for sale, assessment, or taxation; valuation. (Dictionary.com)
6 comprises: to include or contain, wherein contain is defined: to be equal to, wherein equal is defined: as great as; the same as (often followed by to or with ). (Dictionary.com)
7 “processed” is a modifier of “bitstream”: so the modifier “processed” of “bitstream” is not taught
8 -ed: a suffix forming the past participle of weak verbs (he had crossed the river ), and of participial adjectives indicating a condition or quality resulting from the action of the verb (inflated balloons ), wherein action is defined: something done or performed; act; deed, wherein done is defined: completed; finished; through, wherein through is defined: having completed an action, process, etc.; finished. (Dictionation.com)
9 “processed” is a modifier of “bitstream”: so the modifier “processed” of “bitstream” is not taught (by McCarthy)
10 (italics) represent limitations already taught in the prior art above
11 (italics) represent limitations already taught in the prior art above
12 At least: Also, at the least . According to the lowest possible assessment, no less than. For example, At least a dozen more chairs are needed , or The job will take four hours at the least . [c. 1050] (Dictionary.com)
13 Markush element of alternatives follows: [(A){(B) or (C)} or (D)]
14 his limitation is at the lowest possible assessment of no less than one (region) via the claimed “at least one” under the broadest reasonable interpretation
15 This limitation is at the lowest possible assessment of no less than one (region) via the claimed “at least one” under the broadest reasonable interpretation
16 This limitation is at the lowest possible assessment of no less than one (region) via the claimed “at least one” under the broadest reasonable interpretation
17 Given that Markush alternative (C) is taught, the Markush element [(A){(B) or (C)} or (D)]
is taught under the broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 2.
18 Markush element of alternatives follows: [A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q and R]
19 indication: anything serving to indicate or point out, as a sign or token (Dictionary.com)
20 Given that Markush alternatives A,B,C,D,E,H,J,L,M,N are taught the Markush element [A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q and R] is taught under the broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 3.
21 region: an extensive, continuous part of a surface, space, or body. (Dictionary.com)
22 bit: Also called binary digit. a single, basic unit of digital information that is represented by one of two values, such as 1 or 0, True or False, or Yes or No. (Dictionary.com)
23bit: the smallest unit of information, indicating the presence or absence of a single feature (Dictionary.com)
24 Markush element follows: {{A or B} and {C or D or E}]
25 determine: to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc., where reasoning is defined: the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises, wherein judgement is defined: an act or instance of judging., wherein judging is defined: to form an opinion or estimate, wherein opinion is defined: a personal view, attitude, or appraisal, wherein appraisal is defined: an estimate of value, as for sale, assessment, or taxation; valuation. (Dictionary.com)
26 determine: to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc., where reasoning is defined: the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises, wherein judgement is defined: an act or instance of judging., wherein judging is defined: to form an opinion or estimate, wherein opinion is defined: a personal view, attitude, or appraisal, wherein appraisal is defined: an estimate of value, as for sale, assessment, or taxation; valuation. (Dictionary.com)
27 determine: to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc., where reasoning is defined: the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises, wherein judgement is defined: an act or instance of judging., wherein judging is defined: to form an opinion or estimate, wherein opinion is defined: a personal view, attitude, or appraisal, wherein appraisal is defined: an estimate of value, as for sale, assessment, or taxation; valuation. (Dictionary.com)
28 Given that Markush elements A,B,D are taught, the Markush element {{A or B} and {C or D or E}]
Is taught under the broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 8.
29 “A non-transitory storage medium” is interpreted as plain meaning in view of applicant’s disclosure:
[0237]A block diagram of any logic flow among the drawings of the present application may represent program steps, may represent interconnected logic circuits, modules and functions, or may represent a combination of program steps and logic circuits, modules and functions. Computer programs may be stored on a memory. The memory may be of any type suitable for a local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, but not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), and an optical memory apparatus and system (a digital video disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD)). Computer-readable media may include non-transitory storage media. The data processor may be of any type suitable for a local technical environment, for example, but not limited to, a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FGPA) and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.
30 Conform: to act according to or be obedient to a rule or norm (usually followed byto ). (Dictionary.com)
31 Markush element follows: A or B
32 ellipses (…) represent claim limitations already taught above
33 (Italics) represent claim limitations already taught above
34 ellipses (…) represent claim limitations already taught above
35 splice: to join or unite, wherein unite is defined: to join, combine, or incorporate so as to form a single whole or unit, wherein join is defined: to adjoin; meet, wherein adjoin is defined: to attach or append; affix, wherein affix is defined: to put or add on; append. (Dictionary.com)
36 (Italics) represent claim limitations already taught above
37 valid:1) sound; just; well-founded 2) producing the desired result; effective, wherein sound is defined: financially strong, secure, or reliable, or: (used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives). . (Dictionary.com)
38 -ed: a suffix forming the past participle of weak verbs (he had crossed the river ), and of participial adjectives indicating a condition or quality resulting from the action of the verb (inflated balloons ), wherein action is defined: something done or performed; act; deed, wherein done is defined: completed; finished; through, wherein through is defined: having completed an action, process, etc.; finished. (Dictionation.com)
39 -ing of (parsing): a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing the action of the verb or its result, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding ). (Dictionary.com)
40 -ed: a suffix forming the past participle of weak verbs (he had crossed the river ), and of participial adjectives indicating a condition or quality resulting from the action of the verb (inflated balloons ), wherein action is defined: something done or performed; act; deed, wherein done is defined: completed; finished; through, wherein through is defined: having completed an action, process, etc.; finished. (Dictionation.com)
41 Re “to”: Claim scope (in the future or in the past (done) or the present (exists)): to: (used as the ordinary sign or accompaniment of the infinitive, as in expressing motion, direction, or purpose, in ordinary uses with a substantive object.), wherein purpose is defined via two senses1) & 2):1) the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc. & 2) an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal, wherein intended is defined via two senses 1) & 2): 1) purposed; designed; intentional, wherein intentional is defined: done with intention or on purpose; intended & 2) prospective, wherein prospective is defined: of or in the future, wherein infinitive is defined: in English, the simple or basic form of a verb, with no endings to indicate the verb’s subject or tense, such as come, take, eat, be: used after auxiliary verbs or preceded by the word to, and sometimes functioning as a noun, such as He must be, I want to eat, To love is to understand.(Dictionary.com)
42 -ing of (parsing): a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing the action of the verb or its result, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding ). (Dictionary.com)
43 -ing of (parsing): a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing the action of the verb or its result, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding ). (Dictionary.com)
44 client: A program that runs on a personal computer or workstation connected to a computer network and requests information from a file server, wherein workstation is defined: 1) a work or office area assigned to one person, often one accommodating a computer terminal or other electronic equipment.
2) a computer terminal or personal computer connected to a mainframe or network.
45 computer: a programmable electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Mainframes, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones are some of the different types of computers. (Dictionary.com)
46 “A non-transitory storage medium” is interpreted as plain meaning in view of applicant’s disclosure:
[0237]A block diagram of any logic flow among the drawings of the present application may represent program steps, may represent interconnected logic circuits, modules and functions, or may represent a combination of program steps and logic circuits, modules and functions. Computer programs may be stored on a memory. The memory may be of any type suitable for a local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, but not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), and an optical memory apparatus and system (a digital video disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD)). Computer-readable media may include non-transitory storage media. The data processor may be of any type suitable for a local technical environment, for example, but not limited to, a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FGPA) and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.