DETAILED ACTION
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“Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with the undersigned and practitioners in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 and 37 CFR 1.34 concerning any subject matter of this application by video conferencing, instant messaging, or electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file.”
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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 .
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 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.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
¶ [0113] of specification, excludes signals from computer readable storage media, therefore, no 101 rejection was given for computer readable storage media.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1: Regarding claim 1, this part of the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim falls within any statutory category. MPEP §2106.03. The claim recites method steps; thus, the claim is directed to a process which is one of the statutory categories of invention.
Step 2A Prong 1: This part of the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim recites a judicial exception. As explained in MPEP 2106.04(II) and the October 2019 Update, a claim “recites” a judicial exception when the judicial exception is “set forth” or “described” in the claim.
The limitations “providing a set of buffer states representing different contents of the buffer respectively, the set of buffer states comprising an initial state representing a content of the unused buffer and subsequent states representing the outputs of the sequence of components respectively, wherein the application component is configured to use the buffer in case the buffer is in the state representing the output required by the application component; sorting the buffer states in order of the sequence of components, wherein the sorting is circular so that a final state is followed by the initial state; assigning to the buffers the initial state before execution of the application” as drafted, recite functions that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers functions that could reasonably be performed in the mind, including with the aid of pen and paper, but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, the limitations as drafted, are functions that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, recite the abstract idea of a mental process. The limitations encompass a human mind carrying out the functions through observation, evaluation, judgment and/or opinion, or even with the aid of pen and paper. Thus, these limitations recite and fall within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. See MPEP §2106.04(a)(2). Accordingly, claim 1 recites a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea).
Step 2A, Prong 2, This part of the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim as a whole integrates the recited judicial exception into a practical application of the exception. This evaluation is performed by (a) identifying whether there are any additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception, and (b) evaluating those additional elements individually and in combination to determine whether the claim as a whole integrates the exception into a practical application. 2019 PEG Section III(A)(2), 84 Fed. Reg. at 54-55.
In this case, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim recites the following additional elements “the application comprising a sequence of components, the first component of the sequence being configured to store output data in an unused buffer, each subsequent component of the sequence being configured to use a buffer comprising an output provided by the component preceding said subsequent component” are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component, or merely a generic computer or generic computer components to perform the judicial exception. Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application, and the claim is therefore directed to the judicial exception. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
The additional element “A method for execution of an application using buffers, repeatedly executing the application; and changing during execution of the application a current state of a buffer of the buffers to a subsequent state in case a transition condition is fulfilled, wherein the transition condition requires that a current application component using the buffer finishes.” fails to meaningfully limit the claim because the element is regarding data gathering and applying the method for execution, thus is categorized as insignificant extra solution activity, thus not practical application under prong 2. Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application, and the claim is therefore directed to the judicial exception. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Step 2B, This part of the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim as a whole amounts to significantly more than the recited exception, i.e., whether any additional element, or combination of additional elements, adds an inventive concept to the claim. MPEP 2106.05.
As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of the “the application comprising a sequence of components, the first component of the sequence being configured to store output data in an unused buffer, each subsequent component of the sequence being configured to use a buffer comprising an output provided by the component preceding said subsequent component” are merely a generic computer or generic computer components to apply the judicial exception which cannot provide an inventive concept.
The claims include additional elements “A method for execution of an application using buffers, repeatedly executing the application; and changing during execution of the application a current state of a buffer of the buffers to a subsequent state in case a transition condition is fulfilled, wherein the transition condition requires that a current application component using the buffer finishes.” that are not sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they are essentially regarding data gathering and applying method for execution. Under step 2B, the courts have identified data gathering as well understood routine and conventional. See MEPE 2106.05d.
Accordingly, the claim does not appear to be patent eligible under 35 USC 101.
Claims 2, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, the claims include additional elements “wherein the final state represents the output of the second last component of the sequence” This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 3, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, claims include additional elements “wherein the final state represents the output of the second last component of the sequence after the last component of the sequence finishes” This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 4, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, claims include additional elements “wherein the transition condition further requires that the buffer having the current state is the first buffer of a minimum number of buffers having the final state.” This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 5, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, claims include additional elements “wherein the transition condition further requires that the buffer having the current state remains in that final state for a minimum period of time or until it reaches a maximum size.”
This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 6, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, claims include additional elements “ wherein the transition condition further requires that the buffer having the current state remains in that final state for a minimum period of time or until it reaches a maximum size”.
This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 7, is a dependent claim rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Furthermore, claims include additional elements ” wherein the changing of the current state is performed by the current application component.” This additional element does not amount to a practical application, nor recite significantly more than a judicial exception, is merely data gathering which the court have identified as well understood, routine, and conventual activity. See MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim 8, is an independent product claim and is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. In particular, the claim recites additional elements – A computer program product for execution of an application using buffers, one or more computer-readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media--. The computer program product, media-- is recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic product, media) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, the additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Claim 9 -14, are dependent product claims corresponding to 2-7, respectively and are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 15, is an independent system claim and is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. In particular, the claim recites additional elements – A computer system for execution of an application using buffers, one or more computer processors; one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors--. The system ais recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic system, processor, media) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, the additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Claims 16-20 are dependent system claims corresponding to claim 2-6, respectively and are rejected for the same reasons.
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, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carraway et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2021/037-180) in view of McMillen et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2005/0273450).
Regarding claim 1, Carraway teaches a method for execution of an application using buffers (see ¶[0013] dynamic circular buffer), the application comprising a sequence of components, the first component of the sequence being configured to store output data in an unused buffer (note: unused buffer according to applicants specification is an available buffer, see ¶ [0018] of applicant’s specification, therefore ¶ [0088] describes circular buffer capturing states of player data, etc, since it is available), each subsequent component of the sequence being configured to use a buffer comprising an output provided by the component preceding said subsequent component (see ¶[0088] “In one or more implementations, maintaining the circular buffer includes capturing a plurality of states of player data for the player at corresponding points in time over the predetermined period of time. In one or more implementations, obtaining the current circular buffer includes capturing a current state of player data for the player including physics data and metadata for the player at a timestamp associated with a determined conclusion of the incident. Obtaining the current circular buffer may further include updating the circular buffer by including the current state of player data and discarding a least recent state of player data from the circular buffe” since the data is collected over a period of time, then each subsequent component is also being captured), the method comprising:
providing a set of buffer states representing different contents of the buffer respectively, the set of buffer states comprising an initial state representing a content of the unused buffer and subsequent states representing the outputs of the sequence of components respectively, wherein the application component is configured to use the buffer in case the buffer is in the state representing the output required by the application component (see ¶[0024] “As used herein, a “captured state” or “player state” may refer to a snapshot or state of a player within the simulation environment at a given point in time. In particular, a captured state may refer to a captured state of a player at a corresponding point in time indicating physics data and metadata for the player at the corresponding point in time. For instance, in the context of a racing simulation application, a state of a player may include any number of signals descriptive of movement, user inputs, position, user metadata, or any data relevant to the player (or other player involved in an incident) at the given point in time. As used herein, a “current state” or “current snapshot” may refer to a most recent captured state for a player within the simulation environment.”);
sorting the buffer states in order of the sequence of components, wherein the sorting is circular so that a final state is followed by the initial state (see ¶[0087] “circular buffer”); assigning to the buffers the initial state before execution of the application (see ¶[0026] “In one or more embodiments, the adjudication system generates a circular buffer including player data over a period of time. As used herein, a “circular buffer” refers to a series of captured states for a player over a predetermined period of time (e.g., 10, 15 seconds). For instance, a circular buffer may refer to a running buffer including snapshots taken over a predetermined period. As will be discussed in further detail herein, a “current circular buffer” or “current version of a circular buffer” may refer interchangeably to a circular buffer including a current captured state (e.g., a most recently captured state) for a player and a plurality of captured states for the player dating back the predetermined duration of time or a predetermined number of captured states. (e.g., 15 seconds and/or 180 captured states). In one or more embodiments described herein, a current circular buffer refers to a circular buffer as it exists as an identified conclusion of an incident. Further detail in connection with obtaining a current version of a circular buffer is discussed below.”).
Carraway does not expressly disclose, however, McMillen teaches repeatedly executing the application (see ¶ [0258] “Accordingly, repeated execution of the state machine 1400 becomes faster and more efficient when compared to the same state machine in which stall conditions may occur at each of states 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11.”);
and changing during execution of the application a current state of a buffer of the buffers to a subsequent state in case a transition condition is fulfilled (see ¶ [0143] “In FIG. 6c, the curved arcs indicate the presence of a base address field in the non-terminal instructions that points to the memory location of the first instruction in a next-state block of the state to which the transition is being made. Each terminal instruction has a solid straight line segment arrow that indicates a transition 695 back to the initial state. Because these instructions contain information unique to the terminal states to which they're associated, they are not all identical. Only those terminal format instructions associated with transitions to the same terminal state are identical, such as Terminal #3 and Terminal #4 in FIG. 6b which both cause transition to (virtual) terminal state 11. Each failure transition, all of which are identical, has a dashed straight line segment arrow that indicates a transition 695 back to the initial state.”),
wherein the transition condition requires that a current application component using the buffer finishes (see ¶ [0292] “Once the algorithm completes, states 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11, will have been updated with the output information corresponding to the regular expression numbers shown in dotted line triangles in FIG. 14a. Because of the tree structure of state machine 1400, there are no updating conflicts, so none of the portions of RemoveStall algorithm 1500 that detect conflict and handle restoration are used (e.g., FIGS. 15c and 15e).”).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Carraway by adapting McMillen for processing data applications using buffers and state machines (see ¶[0081] of McMillen).
Regarding claim 2, Carraway teaches wherein the final state represents the output of the second last component of the sequence (see ¶[0078] “In one or more embodiments, the adjudication model outputs a simple determination of fault or not at fault. However, the adjudication model may be trained to output other metrics.”).
Regarding claim 3, Carraway teaches wherein the final state represents the output of the second last component of the sequence after the last component of the sequence finishes (see ¶ [0090] “In one or more embodiments, the series of acts 500 further include applying the adjudication model to the current version of the circular buffer to determine a metric of fault for the player in relation to the incident between the player and the one or more additional players within the simulation environment. In one or more implementations, the adjudication model includes a machine learning model trained to receive an input including a plurality of states of player data for the given player over a duration of time and generate an output including the fault determination for the given player based on the player data from the plurality of states.”).
Regarding claim 7, Carraway teaches wherein the changing of the current state is performed by the current application component (see ¶[0013] “As an illustrative example, an adjudication system may generate a dynamic circular buffer (or simply “circular buffer”) that includes captured states of player data over a predetermined period of time within a virtual simulation environment. The adjudication system may detect or otherwise identify an incident between a player (e.g., a vehicle) and one or more additional players (e.g., additional vehicle(s)). In response to the incident, the adjudication system can generate an updated circular buffer including captured states of player data over the predetermined period of time dating back from a conclusion of the incident. The adjudication system can further provide the updated circular buffer to an adjudication model trained to output a fault determination for a given player based on a sequence of recently captured states of player data for the given player.”).
Regarding claim 8, is an independent product claim corresponding to method claim 1, and is rejected for the same reasons. In addition, Carraway teaches a computer program product for execution of an application using buffers, one or more computer-readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media (see ¶[0047]).
Regarding 9, 10, 14, correspond with claims 2, 3, and 7, respectively. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 15, is an independent system claim corresponding to method claim 1, and is rejected for the same reasons. In addition, Carraway teaches a computer system for execution of an application using buffers, one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors (see ¶ [0047]).
Regarding 16, and 17, correspond with claims 2, and 3, respectively. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carraway et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2021/037-180) in view of McMillen et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2005/0273450), as applied to claim 1, further in view of Brewerton et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2013/0198571).
Regarding claim 4, Carraway and McMillen do not expressly disclose, however, Brewerton teaches wherein the transition condition further requires that the buffer having the current state is the first buffer of a minimum number of buffers having the final state (see ¶[0042] “As illustrated, the first FIFO buffer 310a includes a first input data signature buffer 330a configured to store first input data signatures received from the signature generation unit 305, a first input address signature buffer 330b configured to store first input address signatures received from the signature generation unit 305, a first CPU state signature buffer 330c configured to store first CPU state signatures received from the signature generation unit 305, a first output data signature buffer 330d configured to store first output data signatures received from the signature generation unit 305, and a first output address signature buffer 330e configured to store first output address signatures received from the signature generation unit 305.”).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Carraway and McMillen by adapting Brewerton for managing state of buffers (see ¶[0042] and [0043] of Brewerton).
Regarding claims 11 and 18, correspond with claim 4 above. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carraway et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2021/037-180) in view of McMillen et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2005/0273450), as applied to claim 1, 8, and 15 above, further in view of Cheng et al. (U.S. PG PUB 2022/0350386).
Regarding claim 5, Carraway and McMillen do not expressly disclose, however, Cheng teaches wherein the transition condition further requires that the buffer having the current state remains in that final state for a minimum period of time or until it reaches a maximum size (see ¶ [0041] “The remaining registers 0x45 to 0x47 show the FSM 220 remained in state 0 for the remaining time.”).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Carraway and McMillen by adapting Cheng to ease the effort of debugging, the historical transferred state data recorded in the storage buffer of the CPLD may be read when the system is powered on or powered off, and when an abnormality occurs (see ¶[0026] of Cheng).
Regarding claim 6, Carraway and McMillen do not expressly disclose, however, Cheng teaches the method further comprising: using data stored in the buffer in the final state to perform debugging of the application (see ¶[0027] “FIG. 1 shows a computer system 100 that executes an FSM-based routine that stores the FSM state data to facilitate debugging of the computer system 100”).
Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Carraway and McMillen by adapting Cheng to ease the effort of debugging, the historical transferred state data recorded in the storage buffer of the CPLD may be read when the system is powered on or powered off, and when an abnormality occurs (see ¶[0026] of Cheng).
Regarding claims 12 and 13, correspond with claims 5 and 6 above, respectively. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claims 19 and 20, correspond with claims 5 and 6 above, respectively. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Interview Requests
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.133(a)(3), requests for interview must be made in advance. Interview requests are to be made by telephone (571-270-7848) call or FAX (571-270-8848). Applicants must provide a detailed agenda as to what will be discussed (generic statement such as “discuss §102 rejection” or “discuss rejections of claims 1-3” may be denied interview). The detail agenda along with any proposed amendments is to be written on a PTOL-413A or a custom form and should be faxed (or emailed, subject to MPEP 713.01.I / MPEP 502.03) to the Examiner at least 5 business days prior to the scheduled interview. Interview requests submitted within amendments may be denied because the Examiner was not notified, in advance, of the Applicant Initiated Interview Request and due to time constraints may not be able to review the interview request to prior to the mailing of the next Office Action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cella et al. (US PG PUB 2019/0041835) teaches network-sensitive data collection related to a process in an industrial environment are disclosed. The system can include a data collector communicatively coupled to a plurality of input channels and to a network infrastructure, each of the plurality of input channels communicatively coupled to at least one sensor of the industrial environment, a data storage circuit structured to store a plurality of collector routes and wherein the data collector receives collected data from the plurality of input channels utilizing a collector route, a data analysis circuit structured to determine a data collection quality parameter and interpret the collected data to determine a state value of the industrial environment and an analysis response circuit structured to adjust the selected one of the plurality of collector routes in response to one of the data collection quality parameter or the state value of the industrial environment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARINA YUN whose telephone number is (571)270-7848. The examiner can normally be reached Mon, Tues, Thurs, 9-4 (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 call.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Young can be reached on (571) 270-3180. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Carina Yun
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2194
/CARINA YUN/Examiner, Art Unit 2194