Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/420,412

GENERATING AND EDITING DIGITAL REPORTS VIA INTEGRATION OF SEPARATE SOFTWARE COMPUTING APPLICATIONS AND DATA EXTRACTION

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jan 23, 2024
Examiner
ULRICH, NICHOLAS S
Art Unit
2179
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Onetrust LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 4m
To Grant
77%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allow Rate
425 granted / 614 resolved
+14.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
645
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
§103
48.1%
+8.1% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
19.3%
-20.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 614 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION 1. Claims 1-20 are pending. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 3. Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 10-12, 16, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Machalek (US 2011/0276867 A1). In regard to claim 1, Machalek discloses a computer-implemented method comprising: in response to a selection of an option via a data management software application to generate a digital report for a dataset associated with an entity, retrieving, by a hardware processor, data objects comprising data extracted from one or more digital data repositories via a data extraction software application (Paragraph 0022, Paragraph 0037 lines 8-13, and Paragraph 0039 lines 1-4: in CRM application, user requests generation of a report, which causes data from CRM database to be extracted for the report); generating, by the hardware processor utilizing the data objects, a digital report template comprising the data extracted from the one or more digital data repositories (Paragraph 0023, Paragraph 0037, Paragraph 0039, and Paragraph 0042: a worksheet template corresponding to a predefined support is generated with the data from the CRM database); launching, by the hardware processor in response to the selection of the option, a digital content editing application displaying the digital report template (Paragraph 0023 lines 8-13 and Paragraph 0041: the report template is displayed in spreadsheet application); and in response to launching the digital content editing application, causing, by the hardware processor, the digital content editing application to open a panel comprising a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template (Paragraph 0052 and Paragraph 0053: the spreadsheet application is provided with CRM toolbar and dialogue box that provides functions associated with CRM application). In regard to claim 3, Machalek discloses wherein generating the digital report template comprises: in response to the selection of the option, determining a report category associated with the digital report; selecting the data objects and attribute values of the data objects based on the report category; and generating the digital report template by inserting the attribute values of the data objects into a digital document (Paragraph 0037, Paragraph 0039, and Paragraph 0042: predefined report is selected and appropriate CRM data from database for the selected report is identified, retrieved from the CRM database, and used to generate the template corresponding to the report). In regard to claim 4, Machalek discloses wherein launching the digital content editing application comprises: executing code to cause a computing device to launch the digital content editing application in response to the selection of the option; and presenting the digital report template within the digital content editing application in response to launching the digital content editing application (Paragraph 0015, Paragraph 0017 lines 1-5, and Paragraph 0023 lines 8-13: spreadsheet application is invoked by a plug-in module and the spreadsheet application displays the template). In regard to claim 5, Machalek discloses wherein causing the digital content editing application to open the panel comprises: executing code from a software add-in installed with the digital content editing application to cause a computing device to select the set of tools corresponding to the data management software application; and causing, via the software add-in, the digital content editing application to display the set of tools corresponding to the data management software application within the panel (Paragraph 0015, Paragraph 0052, and Paragraphs 0053: reporting module 8B is a plug-in that causes the spreadsheet application to provide the display box and toolbar corresponding to the CRM application). In regard to claim 10, Machalek discloses a system comprising: one or more digital data repositories comprising data corresponding to one or more data assets or one or more data processing operations of an entity (Paragraph 0011: CRM database); and a hardware computing system configured to (Paragraph 0010): provide, for display within a graphical user interface of a data management software application, an option to generate a digital report for the data of the one or more digital data repositories (Fig. 5 and Paragraph 0048: option provided in CRM application to create Report); and in response to a selection of the option to generate a digital report for a dataset comprising the data of the one or more digital data repositories via the graphical user interface of the data management software application (Paragraph 0022 requests generation of report): generate a digital report template by accessing data objects generated for the data via a data extraction software application (Paragraph 0023, Paragraph 0037, Paragraph 0039, and Paragraph 0042: a worksheet template corresponding to a predefined support is generated with the data from the CRM database); provide the digital report template for display within a digital content editing application (Paragraph 0023 lines 8-13 and Paragraph 0041: the report template is displayed in spreadsheet application); and in connection with providing the digital report template for display within the digital content editing application, cause the digital content editing application to open a panel comprising a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template (Paragraph 0052 and Paragraph 0053: the spreadsheet application is provided with CRM toolbar and dialogue box that provides functions associated with CRM application). In regard to claim 11, Machalek discloses wherein the hardware computing system is configured to generate the digital report template by: determining the data objects corresponding to the digital report based on one or more inputs indicating a report category for the digital report and a dataset associated with the one or more data assets or the one or more data processing operations; and accessing the data objects to determine attribute values corresponding to the report category and the dataset (Paragraph 0037, Paragraph 0039, and Paragraph 0042: predefined report is selected and appropriate CRM data from database for the selected report is identified, retrieved from the CRM database, and used to generate the template corresponding to the report). In regard to claim 12, Machalek discloses wherein the hardware computing system is configured to provide the digital report template for display within the digital content editing application by: executing code to launch the digital content editing application from within the data management software application; and causing the digital content editing application to display the digital report template (Paragraph 0015, Paragraph 0017 lines 1-5, Paragraph 0022, and Paragraph 0023 lines 8-13: spreadsheet application is invoked by a plug-in module and the spreadsheet application displays the template). In regard to claim 16, Machalak discloses wherein the hardware computing system is configured to: retrieve, in response to a request to insert additional data into a chart in the digital report template via the set of tools in the panel of the digital content editing application, an additional data object comprising the additional data; generate the chart comprising the additional data from the additional data object; and cause the digital content editing application to insert the chart into the digital report template (Paragraph 0053 lines 15-20: third icon of toolbar invokes charting function of spreadsheet application for creating a chart with data from the CRM database). In regard to claim 17, medium claim 17 corresponds generally to method claim 1 and recites similar features in medium form and therefore is rejected under the same rationale. 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. 4. Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Machalek (US 2011/0276867 A1) and further in view of Azgad-Tromer et al. (US 2024/0104521 A1). In regard to claim 2, Machalek discloses wherein retrieving the data objects comprises: detecting the selection of the option to generate the digital report within the data management software application; and determining the data objects representing one or more data objects or one or more data processing operations associated based on the data extracted from the one or more digital data repositories via the data extraction software application (Paragraph 0022, Paragraph 0037, Paragraph 0039, and Paragraph 0042: user selection option in CRM application and data is identified and extracted from CRM database based on a predefined report). While Machalek teaches the above and further teaches predefined reports, they fail to show the in connection with a regulatory framework, as recited in the claims. Azgad-Tromer teaches reports similar to that of Machalek. In addition, Azgad-Tromer further teaches reports in connection with a regulatory framework (Paragraph 0205: SARS report for a regulatory framework). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Machaeak and Azgad-Tromer before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify above taught by Machalek to include the reports in connection with a regulatory framework of Azgad-Tromer, in order to obtain detecting the selection of the option to generate the digital report within the data management software application in connection with a regulatory framework; and determining the data objects representing one or more data objects or one or more data processing operations associated with the regulatory framework based on the data extracted from the one or more digital data repositories via the data extraction software application. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as generating reports required by specific entities, as suggested by Azgad-Tromer (Paragraph 0205). 5. Claim(s) 6-9, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Machalek (US 2011/0276867 A1) and further in view of Rattan et al. (US 2024/0249070 A1). In regard to claim 6, while Machalek teaches causing, by the hardware processor, the digital content editing application to open a panel comprising a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template, they fail to show the providing an insertion tool within the panel to insert additional data into the digital report template; and in response to a selection of the insertion tool within the panel, causing the digital content editing application to: extract the additional data from one or more additional data objects associated with the entity; and insert the additional data into the digital report template at a selected location, as recited in the claims. Rattan teaches a data management software application and digital content editing application similar to that of Machalek. In addition, Rattan further teaches a digital content editing application with a panel comprising a tool corresponding to a data management software application, where selection of the tool includes inserting additional data into a digital report by extracting the additional data from one or more additional data objects of a database of the data management software application and inserting the additional data into the digital report at a selected location (Paragraph 0035, Paragraph 0038, Paragraph 0044, Paragraph 0045, and Paragraph 0048 lines 8-16: user selects a transaction from a panel in a digital content editing application that corresponds to data management software application, and incorporates additional data from data fields of the data management software application that corresponds to the selected transaction into designated cells of a workbook of the digital content editing application). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Machalek and Rattan before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the causing, by the hardware processor, the digital content editing application to open a panel comprising a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template taught by Machalek to include a digital content editing application with a panel comprising a tool corresponding to a data management software application, where selection of the tool includes inserting additional data into a digital report by extracting the additional data from one or more additional data objects of a database of the data management software application and inserting the additional data into the digital report at a selected location of Rattan, in order to obtain providing an insertion tool within the panel to insert additional data into the digital report template; and in response to a selection of the insertion tool within the panel, causing the digital content editing application to: extract the additional data from one or more additional data objects associated with the entity; and insert the additional data into the digital report template at a selected location. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as overcoming conventional approaches to interfacing data management applications with spreadsheets, as suggested by Rattan (Paragraph 006 lines 1-2). In regard to claim 7, Rattan further discloses wherein causing the digital content editing application to extract the additional data from the one or more additional data objects comprises causing the digital content editing application to communicate with the data management software application or a database associated with the data management software application to retrieve the one or more additional data objects (Paragraph 0035 and Paragraph 0044 lines 4-7: mapping data fields of the data management software with the cells of the workbook where data is synchronized between the programs). Accordingly, the combination further teaches the above. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as overcoming conventional approaches to interfacing data management applications with spreadsheets, as suggested by Rattan (Paragraph 006 lines 1-2). In regard to claim 8, Machalek further teaches wherein causing the digital content editing application to insert data into the digital report template comprises causing the digital content editing application to: determine a selected format for inserting the data into the digital report template; and insert the data into the digital report template in the selected format (Paragraph 0023, Paragraph 0024, Paragraph 0037, and Paragraph 0044: data is input in a selected format such as pivot table format). As, the combination with Rattan teaches inserting additional data in connection with the selection of the insertion tool (see rejection of claim 6 which is incorporated herein in its entirety), the combination further teaches wherein causing the digital content editing application to insert the additional data into the digital report template comprises causing the digital content editing application to: determine a selected format for inserting the additional data into the digital report template in connection with the selection of the insertion tool; and insert the additional data into the digital report template in the selected format. This would ensure the additional data is provided in a format that can be directly manipulated and viewed by the spreadsheet application, as indicated by Machalek (Paragraph 0010). In regard to claim 9, Rattan further discloses wherein causing the digital content editing application to extract the additional data from the one or more additional data objects comprises: determining an object identifier corresponding to a selected data element in the panel; and extracting the additional data from the one or more additional data objects by determining the one or more additional data objects and an attribute value corresponding to the additional data utilizing the object identifier (Paragraph 0038, Paragraph 0045, and Paragraph 0053: various fields, such as name status, etc.) corresponding to the selected transaction, are mapped to the cells). Accordingly, the combination further teaches the above. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as overcoming conventional approaches to interfacing data management applications with spreadsheets, as suggested by Rattan (Paragraph 006 lines 1-2). In regard to claim 18, Machalek discloses further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computing hardware, cause the computing hardware to: provide, for display at a client device, the data management software application including the option to generate the digital report; and in response to the selection of the option, execute code to cause the client device to navigate from the data management software application to the digital content editing application presenting the digital report template with a panel comprising the set of tools corresponding to the data management software application (Paragraph 0015, Paragraph 0017 lines 1-5, Paragraph 0022, and Paragraph 0023 lines 8-13: spreadsheet application is invoked by a plug-in module in response to selecting an option in the CRM application which causes the spreadsheet application to be invoked to display the template with data). While Machalek teaches provide, for display at a client device, the data management software application, they fail to show the within a web browser, as recited in the claims. Rattan teaches a data management software application similar to that of Machalek. In addition, Rattan further teaches accessing a data management application via a web browser (Paragraph 0029 and Paragraph 0035 lines 5-7: accessed via Web browser). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Machalek and Rattan before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the data management application taught by Machalek to include the accessing a data management application via a web browser of Rattan, in order to obtain provide, for display within a web browser at a client device, the data management software application including the option to generate the digital report; and in response to the selection of the option, execute code to cause the client device to navigate from the data management software application in the web browser to the digital content editing application presenting the digital report template with a panel comprising the set of tools corresponding to the data management software application. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as operating the application in the cloud as a remote application would have been obtained, as suggested by Rattan (Paragraph 0035 lines 5-10). In regard to claim 19, while Machalek teaches cause the digital content editing application to present a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template, they fail to show the determine, in response to a request to insert additional data into the digital report template via the set of tools, one or more additional data objects representing additional data extracted from the one or more digital data repositories; and cause the digital content editing application to insert the additional data into the digital report template, as recited in the claims. Rattan teaches a data management software application and digital content editing application similar to that of Machalek. In addition, Rattan further teaches a digital content editing application with a panel comprising a tool corresponding to a data management software application, where selection of the tool includes inserting additional data into a digital report by extracting the additional data from one or more additional data objects of a database of the data management software application and inserting the additional data into the digital report (Paragraph 0035, Paragraph 0038, Paragraph 0044, Paragraph 0045, and Paragraph 0048 lines 8-16: user selects a transaction from a panel in a digital content editing application that corresponds to data management software application, and incorporates additional data from data fields of the data management software application that corresponds to the selected transaction into designated cells of a workbook of the digital content editing application). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Machalek and Rattan before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the cause the digital content editing application to present a set of tools corresponding to the data management software application with data related to the digital report template taught by Machalek to include a digital content editing application with a panel comprising a tool corresponding to a data management software application, where selection of the tool includes inserting additional data into a digital report by extracting the additional data from one or more additional data objects of a database of the data management software application and inserting the additional data into the digital report of Rattan, in order to obtain determine, in response to a request to insert additional data into the digital report template via the set of tools, one or more additional data objects representing additional data extracted from the one or more digital data repositories; and cause the digital content editing application to insert the additional data into the digital report template. It would have been advantageous for one to utilize such a combination as overcoming conventional approaches to interfacing data management applications with spreadsheets, as suggested by Rattan (Paragraph 006 lines 1-2). Allowable Subject Matter 6. Claims 13-15 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In regard to claims 13-15, the prior art of record, alone or in combination, fails to disclose the recited “wherein the hardware computing system is configured to generate the digital report template by: determining that a portion of the digital report template corresponds to a particular data type; and inserting placeholder content into the digital report template at a location of the portion of the digital report template” in combination with the other elements recited. In regard to claim 20, the prior art of record, alone or in combination fails to disclose the recited “determine, in response to the request comprising a search query including one or more terms, the one or more additional data objects by matching the one or more terms of the search query to one or more object identifiers corresponding to the one or more additional data objects; and in response to the search query, cause the digital content editing application to display an indicator representing the additional data corresponding to the one or more additional data objects”. Conclusion 7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Werr et al. (US 12135934 B2), see at least the abstract. Tang (US 2020/0364757 A1), see at least the abstract and Fig. 2B. Hansbrough et al. (US 2018/0348979 A1), see at least the abstract. Crucs (US 2009/0025016 A1), see at least the abstract and Fig. 1. 8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS S ULRICH whose telephone number is (571)270-1397. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4. 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, Fred Ehichioya can be reached at (571)272-4034. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 9. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Nicholas Ulrich/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2179
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 23, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
69%
Grant Probability
77%
With Interview (+7.6%)
3y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 614 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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