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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in REPUBLIC OF INDIA on 07/08/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IN202241039424 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/13/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to for failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(q). Lead lines are required for each reference character except for those which indicate the surface or cross section on which they are placed. Such a reference character must be underlined to make it clear that a lead line has not been left out by mistake. So numbers like 1011, 1012 in Fig. 1 and number 500 in Fig. 5 need to be underlined.
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.
Claim1-19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a method. The claim(s) recite(s) determining a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters, using a machine learning model; identifying one or more first visual contents from a plurality of visual contents associated with the plurality of variables by associating the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents, upon determination, wherein each of the plurality of visual contents represents one or more processes from the plurality of processes and corresponding variables; identifying one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user, using the machine learning model; These limitations, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. For example claim recites, determining a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters. Without any specific limitation narrowing the determination process, human mind is capable of determining presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables. Using a generate computer learning model as a tool to perform the step does not take the claim limitation out of the mental processes grouping. (see MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(C)). Similarly, without any specific limitations narrowing the process, human mind is capable of identifying one or more first visual contents from a plurality of visual contents associated with the plurality of variables by associating the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents and identifying one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user. Using a generate computer learning model as a tool to perform the step does not take the claim limitation out of the mental processes grouping. Thus, the claim recites a mental process.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. Claim recites additional elements directed to, A method of providing visual contents to a user for monitoring processes in an industrial system, receiving a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes in an industrial system, from one or more sources; using a machine learning model; providing the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system. Limitations directed to “an industrial system”, amount to generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use because it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fail to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)). Limitation directed to receiving a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes, is directed to mere data gathering and insignificant extra solution activity for the purpose of executing the abstract idea. Therefore, these limitations do not integrate a judicial exception. (see MPEP 2106.05(g)). With regards to limitation, providing the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system, this limitation is directed to displaying the result of the mental process. This amounts to using a computer or computer component in its ordinary capacity (i.e. display data). Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Claim recites additional elements directed to, A method of providing visual contents to a user for monitoring processes in an industrial system, receiving a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes in an industrial system, from one or more sources; using a machine learning model; providing the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system. Limitations directed to “an industrial system”, amount to generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use because it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fails to provide significantly more. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)). Limitation directed to receiving a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes, is directed to mere data gathering and insignificant extra solution activity for the purpose of executing the abstract idea. These elements are recited in a generic manner and are directed to activity that are well-understood, routine and conventional in the field of computer implemented processes. Courts have found gathering data (Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 and buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014)) to be well‐understood, routine, and conventional when recited as insignificant extra-solution activity (see MPEP 2106.05(d). Therefore, these limitations do not provide significantly more than the judicial exception. Limitation, providing the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system amounts to displaying the result of the mental process. This amounts to using a computer or computer component in its ordinary capacity (i.e. display data). Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Claim 2 depends on claim 1 and therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 2 further recites, wherein upon determining an absence of the one or more critical variables, comprising providing the one or more second visual contents to the user, based on the behavior data. With regards to determining an absence of the one or more critical variables, without any specific limitation narrowing the determination process, human mind is capable of determining absence of one or more critical variables. Therefore this limitation is directed to a mental process. With regards to comprising providing the one or more second visual contents to the user, based on the behavior data, this limitation is directed to displaying the result of the mental process. This amounts to using a computer or computer component in its ordinary capacity (i.e. display data). Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Claim 3 depends on claim 1 and therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 3 further recites, wherein upon determining unavailability of the behavior data, comprising providing the one or more first visual contents to the user, based on the association of the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents. With regards to determining unavailability of the behavior data, without any specific limitation narrowing the determination process, human mind is capable of determining unavailability of the behavior data. Therefore this limitation is directed to a mental process. With regards to providing the one or more first visual contents to the user, based on the association of the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents, this limitation is directed to displaying the result of the mental process. This amounts to using a computer or computer component in its ordinary capacity (i.e. display data). Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Claim 4 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 4 further recites, wherein the plurality of variables comprises at least one of, electrical variables, mechanical variables, and thermal variables. This limitation merely attempts to limit the variables to specific types of variable and it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fails to provide significantly more. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Claim 5 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 5 further recites, wherein the one or more sources comprises one or more sensors in the industrial system. This limitation merely attempts to limit the data sources to specific type of data source (i.e. sensors in in the industrial system) and it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fails to provide significantly more. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Claim 6 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 6 further recites, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of, alarm severity level associated with the plurality of variables and threshold values associated with a rate of change of the plurality of variables. This limitation merely attempts to limit the parameters to specific type of data (i.e. alarm data associated with variables or threshold data associated with variables) and it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fails to provide significantly more. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Claim 7 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 7 further recites, wherein the behavior data comprises at least one of, historic visual content selected by the user, a selection pattern associated with the historic visual content, identification details of the user and a role of the user in the industrial system. This limitation merely attempts to limit the behavior data to specific type of data and it does not alter or affect how the process steps identified as judicial exception above is performed. As explained by the Supreme Court, a claim directed to a judicial exception cannot be made eligible "simply by having the applicant acquiesce to limiting the reach of the patent for the formula to a particular technological use.". Therefore, these limitations fails to provide significantly more. (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Claim 8 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 8 further recites, further comprising storing the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents in a cache, wherein the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents are retrieved from the cache upon receiving a request from the user. This limitation is directed to merely storing and retrieving data from a computer storage. This amounts to using a computer or computer component in its ordinary capacity (i.e. store and retrieve data). Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Claim 9 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 9 further recites, wherein the number of the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents provided to the user is less than a pre-defined threshold value. This limitation is directed to reciting an outcome with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result. This limitation amounts to a mere instruction to apply an exception and therefore and does not provide significantly more than the judicial exception (See MPEP 2106.05(f))
Claim 10 depends on claim 1, therefore it recites the judicial exception of claim 1. Claim 10 further recites, wherein identifying the one or more second visual contents further comprises updating the behavior data based on a learning by the machine learning model when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. This limitation is directed to reciting an outcome with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result. This limitation amounts to a mere instruction to apply an exception and therefore and does not provide significantly more than the judicial exception (See MPEP 2106.05(f))
Claim 11 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 11 recites similar limitation as claim 1 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 1. Claim 11 recites, additional limitation directed to “a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory stores processor executable instructions,”. These elements are general purpose computer or computer components that are simply added after the fact to an abstract idea and does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more (see MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Claim 12 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 12 recites similar limitation as claim 2 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 2.
Claim 13 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 13 recites similar limitation as claim 3 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 3.
Claim 14 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 14 recites similar limitation as claim 4 and 5 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 4 and 5.
Claim 15 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 15 recites similar limitation as claim 6 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 6.
Claim 16 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 16 recites similar limitation as claim 7 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 7.
Claim 17 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 17 recites similar limitation as claim 8 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 8.
Claim 18 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 18 recites similar limitation as claim 9 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 9.
Claim 19 is directed towards the four statutory categories in that it recites a system/machine. Claim 19 recites similar limitation as claim 10 and is therefore is also directed to an abstract idea for the same reason as claim 10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-7, 9, 11-16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nixon (US20140282195A1) in view of Chai (US20240045399A1) and further in view of Schmidt (US20230237284A1)
Regarding claim 1,
Nixon teaches, A method of providing visual contents to a user for monitoring processes in an industrial system, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes in an industrial system, from one or more sources; (¶0110 teaches, graphic display application 30 monitoring process variables associated with a process control system. ¶0043 teaches, The graphic display application 30 may retrieve or receive process variable information from the database 12 for a particular process variable)
determining a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters, ….; (¶0110 teaches, graphic display application 30 determines and/or stores condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. The condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information may include any of a current state of a process variable, a projected state of the process variable, a corresponding trend of the process variable, a direction of change of the process variable, a rate of change of the process variable, a relative position of the process variable with respect to a set point (e.g., above, below, or approximately at the set point), a relative deviation of the process variable from the set point with respect to an operational range of values for the process variable, a relative distance of the process variable with respect to an alarm limit, an actual value of the process variable, and/or the historical or archived values of the process variable tagged over time.)
identifying one or more first visual contents from a plurality of visual contents associated with the plurality of variables by associating the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents, upon determination, wherein each of the plurality of visual contents represents one or more processes from the plurality of processes and corresponding variables; (¶0111 teaches, at block 3404, the graphic display application 30 generates icons representative of the condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. For example, the generated icons may correspond to any of the icons described above in connection with FIGS. 6-17. ¶0083 and Fig. 8 teaches, icons that depicts the variable value above or below a setpoint)
identifying one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user, ….; and (¶0116-¶0118 teaches receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane and also teaches the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on the request. ¶0101-¶0105 and Fig. 18A-18D teaches visual contents with different levels of details provided in the summary pane)
providing the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system. (¶0112 teaches, In the example method of FIGS. 20A-20B, when the operator interface renders the diagram, the operator interface includes the generated icons (block 3404) adjacent to, or in place of, the key indicators and/or other relevant information. For example, the icons may be displayed next to elements in the P&ID corresponding to the source of the corresponding process variables. Additionally, the icons associated with process variables in an alarm state may also be rendered within an alarm banner. ¶0118 teaches, the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane.)
Nixon doesn’t explicitly teach, determining a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters, using a machine learning model (Nixon doesn’t teach using a machine learning model to determine condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. Chai in ¶0049 teaches, Analysis system 110 may utilize machine learning models (e.g., model 190) to determine whether differences exist between a transient portion of data and historical transient data. Analysis system 110 may utilize features of transient data, e.g., shapes in transient data such as spikes, ramps, slopes, etc.; measures such as slope, concavity, etc., of transient data, or the like, to determine summary data 162.)
Chai is an art in the area of interest as it teaches relates to diagnostic methods for analyzing sensor data. A combination of Chai with Nixon would allow determining critical variables using a machine learning model. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Chai with Nixon. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so would allow determining differences exist between a transient portion of data and historical transient data which can be used for summary data generation, as taught by Chai in ¶0049 and ¶0070.
Nixon and Chai doesn’t teach, identifying one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user, using the machine learning model; (Nixon in ¶0116-¶0118 teaches, identifying second visual content based on operator input. However it doesn’t teach using a machine learning model. Schmidt in ¶0021-¶0025 teaches determining the response R to the information request Ir from a user using a machine learning model.)
Schmidt is an art in the area of interest as it relates to an industrial plant. A combination of Schmidt with Nixon and Chai would allow using a machine learning model in identifying one or more second visual contents. Nixon already teaches, identifying second visual content based on operator input. One of ordinary skill in the art could combine the teachings of Schmidt with Nixon and Chai to identify second visual content using a machine learning model. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so allows for enabling automation of interactions which require less time consuming manual interaction, as taught by Schmidt in ¶0063.
Regarding claim 2,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein upon determining an absence of the one or more critical variables, comprising providing the one or more second visual contents to the user, based on the behavior data. (Nixon in ¶0111 teaches, at block 3404, the graphic display application 30 generates icons representative of the condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. For example, the generated icons may correspond to any of the icons described above in connection with FIGS. 6-17. ¶0083 and Fig. 8 teaches, icons that depicts the variable value at setpoint, therefore it can determine an absence of critical variable. ¶0118 and Fig. 20B step 3428 teaches, the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane
Regarding claim 3,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein upon determining unavailability of the behavior data, comprising providing the one or more first visual contents to the user, based on the association of the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents. (Nixon in ¶0118 and Fig. 20A-20B teaches, determining that a request to display information in a process variable summary pane has not been received and skipping the steps of rendering the process variable summary pane and return back to step 3408. ¶0112 teaches, in step 3408 the operator interface renders the diagram including the generated icons (block 3404) adjacent to, or in place of, the key indicators and/or other relevant information.)
Regarding claim 4,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of variables comprises at least one of, electrical variables, mechanical variables, and thermal variables. (Nixon in ¶0044 teaches, the graphic display application 30 displays process variable data for several process variables associated with the heater 56, such as inlet pressure, outlet pressure, and crude temperature)
Regarding claim 5,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sources comprises one or more sensors in the industrial system. (Nixon in ¶0042 teaches, process variable are received from the field devices 15-22. ¶0039 teaches, the field devices 15-22 may be any types of devices, such as sensors)
Regarding claim 6
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of, alarm severity level associated with the plurality of variables and threshold values associated with a rate of change of the plurality of variables. (Nixon in ¶0083 teaches icons related to process value above or below a threshold)
Regarding claim 7,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the behavior data comprises at least one of, historic visual content selected by the user, a selection pattern associated with the historic visual content, identification details of the user and a role of the user in the industrial system. (Schmidt in ¶0080 teaches, collecting user actions over a period of time, analyzing the user actions, thereby recognizing patters of user actions, determining a predicted information intent using the recognized patterns
Regarding claim 9,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents provided to the user is less than a pre-defined threshold value. (Nixon in ¶0116-¶0118 teaches, determining whether there is enough space within a designated display area to display the requested information. “Whether there is enough space depends on size of the designated display area, the amount of information that is requested to be displayed, and what information is already displayed.”. ¶0118 teaches, if the graphic display application 30 determines there is not enough space within the designated display area, the graphic display application 30 may collapse the summary pane to only display the top banner. Therefore the number of first and second visual contents are constrained by the designated display area (threshold value))
Regarding claim 11,
Nixon teaches, A control system for providing visual content to a user for monitoring processes in an industrial system, the control system comprising:
a memory; and (¶0109 teaches a memory)
one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the one or more processors to: (¶0109 teaches, the method may be implemented using machine readable instructions that comprise a program for execution by a processor. The program may be embodied in software stored on a tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor)
receive a plurality of variables associated with a plurality of processes in an industrial system, from one or more sources; (¶0110 teaches, graphic display application 30 monitoring process variables associated with a process control system. ¶0043 teaches, The graphic display application 30 may retrieve or receive process variable information from the database 12 for a particular process variable)
determine a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters, ….; (¶0110 teaches, graphic display application 30 determines and/or stores condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. The condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information may include any of a current state of a process variable, a projected state of the process variable, a corresponding trend of the process variable, a direction of change of the process variable, a rate of change of the process variable, a relative position of the process variable with respect to a set point (e.g., above, below, or approximately at the set point), a relative deviation of the process variable from the set point with respect to an operational range of values for the process variable, a relative distance of the process variable with respect to an alarm limit, an actual value of the process variable, and/or the historical or archived values of the process variable tagged over time.)
identify one or more first visual contents from a plurality of visual contents associated with the plurality of variables by associating the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents, upon determination, wherein each of the plurality of visual contents represents one or more processes from the plurality of processes and corresponding variables; (¶0111 teaches, at block 3404, the graphic display application 30 generates icons representative of the condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. For example, the generated icons may correspond to any of the icons described above in connection with FIGS. 6-17. ¶0083 and Fig. 8 teaches, icons that depicts the variable value above or below a setpoint)
identify one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user, …; and(¶0116-¶0118 teaches receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane and also teaches the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on the request. ¶0101-¶0105 and Fig. 18A-18D teaches visual contents with different levels of details provided in the summary pane)
provide the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents to the user, for monitoring at least one process of the plurality of processes in the industrial system. (¶0112 teaches, In the example method of FIGS. 20A-20B, when the operator interface renders the diagram, the operator interface includes the generated icons (block 3404) adjacent to, or in place of, the key indicators and/or other relevant information. For example, the icons may be displayed next to elements in the P&ID corresponding to the source of the corresponding process variables. Additionally, the icons associated with process variables in an alarm state may also be rendered within an alarm banner. ¶0118 teaches, the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane.)
Nixon doesn’t explicitly teach, determine a presence of one or more critical variables from the plurality of variables based on one or more parameters, using a machine learning model (Nixon doesn’t teach using a machine learning model to determine condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. Chai in ¶0049 teaches, Analysis system 110 may utilize machine learning models (e.g., model 190) to determine whether differences exist between a transient portion of data and historical transient data. Analysis system 110 may utilize features of transient data, e.g., shapes in transient data such as spikes, ramps, slopes, etc.; measures such as slope, concavity, etc., of transient data, or the like, to determine summary data 162.)
Chai is an art in the area of interest as it teaches relates to diagnostic methods for analyzing sensor data. A combination of Chai with Nixon would allow determining critical variables using a machine learning model. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Chai with Nixon. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so would allow determining differences exist between a transient portion of data and historical transient data which can be used for summary data generation, as taught by Chai in ¶0049 and ¶0070.
Nixon and Chai doesn’t teach, identify one or more second visual contents based on availability of behavior data of a user, using the machine learning model; (Nixon in ¶0116-¶0118 teaches, identifying second visual content based on operator input. However it doesn’t teach using a machine learning model. Schmidt in ¶0021-¶0025 teaches determining the response R to the information request Ir from a user using a machine learning model.)
Schmidt is an art in the area of interest as it relates to an industrial plant. A combination of Schmidt with Nixon and Chai would allow using a machine learning model in identifying one or more second visual contents. Nixon already teaches, identifying second visual content based on operator input. One of ordinary skill in the art could combine the teachings of Schmidt with Nixon and Chai to identify second visual content using a machine learning model. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so allows for enabling automation of interactions which require less time consuming manual interaction, as taught by Schmidt in ¶0063.
Regarding claim 12,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein upon determining an absence of the one or more critical variables, the one or more processors are configured to provide the one or more second visual contents to the user, based on the behavior data. (Nixon in ¶0111 teaches, at block 3404, the graphic display application 30 generates icons representative of the condition(s), characteristic(s), and/or other information associated with the process variables. For example, the generated icons may correspond to any of the icons described above in connection with FIGS. 6-17. ¶0083 and Fig. 8 teaches, icons that depicts the variable value at setpoint, therefore it can determine an absence of critical variable. ¶0118 and Fig. 20B step 3428 teaches, the operator interface directly renders the corresponding process variable summary pane based on receiving request to display information in a process variable summary pane)
Regarding claim 13,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein upon determining unavailability of the behavior data, the one or more processors are configured to provide the one or more first visual contents to the user, based on the association of the one or more critical variables with the plurality of visual contents. (Nixon in ¶0118 and Fig. 20A-20B teaches, determining that a request to display information in a process variable summary pane has not been received and skipping the steps of rendering the process variable summary pane and return back to step 3408. ¶0112 teaches, in step 3408 the operator interface renders the diagram including the generated icons (block 3404) adjacent to, or in place of, the key indicators and/or other relevant information.)
Regarding claim 14,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the plurality of variables comprises at least one of, electrical variables, mechanical variables, and thermal variables and wherein the one or more sources comprise one or more sensors in the industrial system. (Nixon in ¶0044 teaches, the graphic display application 30 displays process variable data for several process variables associated with the heater 56, such as inlet pressure, outlet pressure, and crude temperature. Nixon in ¶0042 teaches, process variable are received from the field devices 15-22. ¶0039 teaches, the field devices 15-22 may be any types of devices, such as sensors)
Regarding claim 15,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of, alarm severity level associated with the plurality of variables and threshold values associated with a rate of change of the plurality of variables. (Nixon in ¶0083 teaches icons related to process value above or below a threshold)
Regarding claim 16,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the behavior data comprises at least one of, historic visual content selected by the user, a selection pattern associated with the historic visual content, identification details of the user and a role of the user in the industrial system. (Schmidt in ¶0080 teaches, collecting user actions over a period of time, analyzing the user actions, thereby recognizing patters of user actions, determining a predicted information intent using the recognized patterns
Regarding claim 18,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt teaches, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein a number of the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents provided to the user is less than a pre-defined threshold value. (Nixon in ¶0116-¶0118 teaches, determining whether there is enough space within a designated display area to display the requested information. “Whether there is enough space depends on size of the designated display area, the amount of information that is requested to be displayed, and what information is already displayed.”. ¶0118 teaches, if the graphic display application 30 determines there is not enough space within the designated display area, the graphic display application 30 may collapse the summary pane to only display the top banner. Therefore the number of first and second visual contents are constrained by the designated display area (threshold value))
Claim(s) 8 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nixon (US20140282195A1) in view of Chai (US20240045399A1) and further in view of Schmidt (US20230237284A1) and further in view of Jundt (US20090249237A1)
Regarding claim 8,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt doesn’t teach, The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising storing the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents in a cache, wherein the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents are retrieved from the cache upon receiving a request from the user. (Jundt in ¶0073 teaches, The process graphic editor 504 is communicatively coupled to the graphics list filter 510, the auto path generator 514, the process graphics cache 516, and the process control algorithm complier 502. In the example implementation, the display interface 507 displays the image of a process graphic editor 504 using graphics. The process control image may include an application window, graphical interface window, etc. A graphic may be selected from the graphics cache 512. The graphics cache 512 contains saved generic graphics such as a bar graph, pump parameters, a pie chart, etc. The generic graphics may be created by a system designer and/or predefined and packaged with process control software.)
Jundt is an art in the area of interest as it teaches, displaying process control graphics. A combination of Jundt with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt would allow storing and retrieving visual contents from a cache. Storing and retrieving process control visual graphics is known in the art as evident by Jundt in ¶0073. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary still in the art to include in the process control monitoring system as taught by Nixon, Chai and Schmidt the ability to store and retrieve visual contents from a cache as taught by Jundt since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 17,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt doesn’t teach, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to store the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents in a cache, wherein the one or more first visual contents and the second visual contents are retrieved from the cache upon receiving a request from the user. (Jundt in ¶0073 teaches, The process graphic editor 504 is communicatively coupled to the graphics list filter 510, the auto path generator 514, the process graphics cache 516, and the process control algorithm complier 502. In the example implementation, the display interface 507 displays the image of a process graphic editor 504 using graphics. The process control image may include an application window, graphical interface window, etc. A graphic may be selected from the graphics cache 512. The graphics cache 512 contains saved generic graphics such as a bar graph, pump parameters, a pie chart, etc. The generic graphics may be created by a system designer and/or predefined and packaged with process control software.)
Jundt is an art in the area of interest as it teaches, displaying process control graphics. A combination of Jundt with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt would allow storing and retrieving visual contents from a cache. Storing and retrieving process control visual graphics is known in the art as evident by Jundt in ¶0073. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary still in the art to include in the process control monitoring system as taught by Nixon, Chai and Schmidt the ability to store and retrieve visual contents from a cache as taught by Jundt since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim(s) 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nixon (US20140282195A1) in view of Chai (US20240045399A1) and further in view of Schmidt (US20230237284A1) and further in view of Drees (US20180046164A1)
Regarding claim 10,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt doesn’t teach, The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more second visual contents further comprises updating the behavior data based on a learning by the machine learning model when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. (Although Schmidt in ¶0041 teaches recognizing and learning patterns of user actions, it doesn’t explicitly teach, learning when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. Drees in ¶0146 -¶0147 teaches, learning user user's behavior and preferences and learn that the user should be provided with information tailored to less experienced users or information tailored to more experienced users based on user requests. Also teaches, “if the user repeatedly requests more details or more complex information when presented with a set of information tailored to novice users, user identifier 1122 can determine that the user should be presented with a set information tailored to more experienced users”. ¶0149 teaches, description tailored to communicate effectively with a different type of user or user class (e.g., building owners, novice users, operations staff, service technicians, expert users, etc.) based on the attributes and abilities of the user or user class. adaptive state information generator 1124 can customize the state information and the transition information presented in the adaptive user interface to the particular user or user class to which the information will be presented)
Drees is an art in the area of interest as it relates to an user interface generator (see Abstract). A combination of Drees with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt would allow the system to learn when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Drees with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so would allow the system to present information with an appropriate level of detail for the user and in a format that is most understandable by the user (as taught by Drees in ¶0037). Doing so would make the system more user friendly.
Regarding claim 19,
Nixon, Chai and Schmidt doesn’t teach, The control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein identifying the one or more second visual contents further comprises updating the behavior data based on a learning by the machine learning model when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. (Although Schmidt in ¶0041 teaches recognizing and learning patterns of user actions, it doesn’t explicitly teach, learning when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. Drees in ¶0146 -¶0147 teaches, learning user user's behavior and preferences and learn that the user should be provided with information tailored to less experienced users or information tailored to more experienced users based on user requests. Also teaches, “if the user repeatedly requests more details or more complex information when presented with a set of information tailored to novice users, user identifier 1122 can determine that the user should be presented with a set information tailored to more experienced users”. ¶0149 teaches, description tailored to communicate effectively with a different type of user or user class (e.g., building owners, novice users, operations staff, service technicians, expert users, etc.) based on the attributes and abilities of the user or user class. adaptive state information generator 1124 can customize the state information and the transition information presented in the adaptive user interface to the particular user or user class to which the information will be presented)
Drees is an art in the area of interest as it relates to an user interface generator (see Abstract). A combination of Drees with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt would allow the system to learn when the user selects one or more visual contents other than the one or more first visual contents and the one or more second visual contents. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the teaching of Drees with Nixon, Chai and Schmidt. One would have been motivated to do so because doing so would allow the system to present information with an appropriate level of detail for the user and in a format that is most understandable by the user (as taught by Drees in ¶0037). Doing so would make the system more user friendly.
Conclusion
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/ISTIAQUE AHMED/ Examiner, Art Unit 2116
/KENNETH M LO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2116