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 .
In response to the restriction requirement, Applicant elected claims 1-2, 9-14 for further examination. As a result, claims 3-8 are withdrawn from further prosecution.
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 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because:
Eligibility Step 1 (MPEP 2106. 3, subsection II): The claims, after reviewing the entire application disclosure, considered as a whole, are determined to be directed to one of the statutory category (processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter): A method/apparatus/system.
Eligibility Step 2A (MPEP 2106. 4, subsection II):
Prong One: The claims recite the limitation of correcting the recovery model of multi-attribute absent feature of drugs by a cosine similarity regularization term and Lagrange function, and alternating direction method of multipliers and nonnegative matrix factorization to obtain the common features and unique features of multi-attribute information of drugs. This limitation is analyzed including concepts directed to “mathematical concepts” that falls within at least one of the groupings of abstract idea (MPEP 2106.04(a) Abstract Ideas: The enumerated groupings of abstract ideas: Mathematical concepts, Certain methods of organizing human activity, Mental processes). As a result, the claims recite a judicial exception.
Prong Two: The additional steps/actions/elements recited in the claims:
- collecting adverse drug-drug interactions data and multi-attribute data of drugs to construct a recovery model (Mere data gathering – obtaining information (MPEP 2106.05(g));
- constructing a prediction model to predict the adverse drug-drug interactions of two drugs (Insignificant post solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g))
When viewed in combination of as a whole, the recited additional steps/actions/elements do no more than add insignificant extra-solution to the judicial exception. As a result, these additional steps/actions/elements do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. These claims are therefore directed to an abstract idea.
Eligibility Step 2B (MPEP 2106. 5: Whether a claim amounts to significantly more):
The additional steps/actions/elements recited in the claims, collecting drug data and adverse interaction data to construct the model for predicting the adverse interaction, are well known in the field such as knowledge-based method and similarity-based method, do not add an inventive concept to the claim because they do is no more than adding insignificant pre-solution and post-solution activities to the judicial exception.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-2, 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Regarding to claims 1, 13: Regarding to the limitations “a cosine similarity regularization term”, “solving the corrected recovery model by Lagrange function”, and “alternating direction method of multipliers and nonnegative matrix factorization”, the Specification as filed describes these limitations in term of mathematical expression without a clear explanation on how to transform such mathematical expression to physical actions or elements so that one of ordinary skill in the art would make/use the claimed method/system.
In addition, in claim 1, it is unclear whether “the common features and unique features” on line 11 is ones of the multi-attribute information of drugs (line 5) or ones obtained from the alternating direction method (lines 8-9). Claim 13 has the similar issue as claim 1 regarding to “the common features and unique features”.
Claims 2, 9-12, 14 are rejected because they depend on claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTO-892 form.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAM S NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2151.
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, DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ, can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAM S NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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