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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 16-29 and 59-66 have been examined and claims 1-15,30-58,67-84 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species II (claims 16-29 and 59-66) in the reply filed on January 14, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the Examiner has failed to establish that a search of the complete application would be an undue burden as required by MPEP 803. This is not found persuasive because the specie II is patentably distinct due to differences from Species I and III as stated in the previous office action:
Species II corresponds to "obtaining a predicted measurement for the first impulse line at a first time, wherein the predicted measurement is based on a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement having been performed on contents of the first impulse line at a second time before the first time, the second measurement having been performed on contents of a second impulse line, the second impulse line being operatively connected to the system; comparing the predicted measurement to a third measurement performed using the first impulse line at the first time to detect whether a malfunction associated with the first impulse line has occurred" that is not disclosed in Species I and III.
Functional claim elements, including “obtaining a predicted measurement”, “comparing the predicted measurement to a third measurement”, and “causing an alert”, are supported in the specification by a generic machine-learning model, processors, and measurement apparatus. No further structural specificity is disclosed beyond these elements.
Based on the evident of record, the office maintains the election/restriction requirement. Examination of Species II will continue as elected.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 16-29 and 59-66 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
The claim(s) recite(s) methods and apparatuses for detecting a malfunction in a first impulse line based on predicting measurement using prior measurements from the first and second impulse lines, comparing the predicted measurements to actual measurements, and generating an alert when a deviation is detected. These limitations correspond to mental processes, i.e., the series of steps for obtaining data, predicting an outcome, performing a comparison, and determining a deviation, which can be performed by human using pen and paper or simple observation. Therefore, the claims fall within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims only recite generic computer components, including a processor, memory, and machine-learning model, performing the above-described mental processes. Nothing in the claims improves the functioning of the computer or imposes a meaningful limitation on how the abstract idea is performed. The recitation of these generic computing components merely implements the abstract idea on conventional hardware and does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Specifically, the recited additional element such as:
The generic processor (claims 59-66)
Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions (claims 59-66), and
Machine-learning model developed using prior measurements (claims 16-29, 59-66)
are well-understood, routine, and conventional components performing their ordinary functions. When considered alone or in combination, these elements merely provide generic instructions to apply the abstract idea using conventional computer components, and do not add an inventive concept. Therefore, the additional elements do not render the claims patent eligible.
According, claims 16-29 and 59-66 are directed to an abstract idea and are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 17-29 and 60-66 recite further limitations that relate to the abstract idea, including additional data inputs, sliding time windows, thresholds, labels for machine learning, an specific properties of the first and second impulse lines (e.g. pressure, flow, level). These additional limitations do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application and do not provide significantly more. Therefore, dependent claims 17-29 and 60-66 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-29 and 59-66 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
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/HOI C LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689