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 .
2. This communication is responsive to application no. 18/433,271 filed on 02/05/2024.
3. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. IDS filed on 08/21/2025 is considered.
5. The drawings filed on 02/05/2024 are noted.
Specification
6. Specification is objected to because of the following informality. Specification page 1 recites “cross-reference to related applications” which is incomplete.
Claim Objections
7. Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informality. Applicant is advised to define the acronyms “PCIe and APU” recite in the claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
8. 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.
9. Claims 1, 11, and all dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite the limitations of: “a server system for installation in a data center”.
The limitation of a server system for installation in a data center, as drafted, is a product that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind. That is, nothing in the claims preclude the step from practically being performed in the mind. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, claims 1-20 recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims only recite one additional element – using “a server system to compute resources of a game console; a plurality of console compute cards mated to the PCIe slots of the backplane”. The server system recites at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic computer processing a console compute card installed in a server system) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception. Accordingly, this 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 claims are directed to an abstract idea.
In the instant case, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using “wherein the backplane includes a PCIe switch to enable communication with the console compute cards over a PCIe fabric of a server rack in which the server sled is configured to be disposed”, and are determined to be well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field. Thus, the additional element fails to ensure the claim as a whole amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself. Accordingly, claims 1-20 are ineligible under 35 U.S.C 101.
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to PIERRE E ELISCA whose telephone number is (571) 272-6706. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday -Thursday; 6:30AM- 5:30PM. Hoteler.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Hu Kang can be reached on 571 270 1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PIERRE E ELISCA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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