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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/11/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
All rejections have been withdrawn in light of the Applicant’s amended claims. However, in light of the amendments, rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 112(b) have been introduced as explained below.
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.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites (and correspondingly claims 11, 21, and 30): “perform a deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data and the third extracted features, to generate a deformable convolution output”. Specification paragraph [0071] states “Processor(s) 110 may perform a deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data, to generate a deformable convolution output (502).”, but does not support performing a deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data and the third extracted features. If the applicant believes there is sufficient support as shown elsewhere in the spec, they are encouraged to do so.
Claim 4 recites (and correspondingly claims 14 and 24): “wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data, an output of the offset convolution operation, and an output of the modulation convolution operation”. Specification paragraph [0071] states “Processor(s) 110 may perform a deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data, to generate a deformable convolution output (502).” And paragraph [0064] states “The output of offset convolution unit 432, Δpk, and the output of modulation convolution unit 434, Δmk, may be input to deformable convolution unit 440 which may perform a deformable convolution operation on Δpk and Δmk”, but does not have support for both the segmentation data and the outputs off the offset and modulation convolution operation. If the applicant believes there is sufficient support as shown elsewhere in the spec, they are encouraged to do so.
Claims 2-10, 12-19, 22-29 are rejected for their dependencies on claims 1, 11, and 21 respectively.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim(s) 4, 14, 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim(s) 4 (and correspondingly claim 14 and 24) recites: “wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the deformable convolution operation based on the first segmentation data, an output of the offset convolution operation, and an output of the modulation convolution operation.” The Applicant stated in claim 1 the deformable convolution operation is based on the first segmentation data and the third extracted features. However, in claim 4, the Applicant is also claiming the deformable convolution operation is based on the first segmentation data, offset output, and the modulation output. Thus, it is unclear what the deformable convolution operation is based on, as both claim 1 and claim 4 contain conflicting operations.
Examiner Note
Examiner notes that no prior art was applied against the claims. As noted above, however, the claims stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Reference Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 20250029381 A1 to Huang et al. discloses identifying feature maps in an image.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE ZHANG whose telephone number is (571) 272-0245. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:00-6:00 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 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, Ms. Sumati Lefkowitz can be reached on (571) 272-3638. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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.
/WAYNE ZHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2672
/SUMATI LEFKOWITZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2672
Prosecution Insights