DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to 04/08/2026 Amendment.
Claims 2, 4-17 are pending and examined. Claim 3 has been cancelled. Claim 1 is withdrawn from consideration.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following reason. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings appear to be low resolution. The text and figures are too blurry to read out easily.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 4-17 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 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, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Examiner is unable to understand the claimed features due to blurry drawings. Claims 4-17 are temporary not considered.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 11,615,299 to Mochida et al. (hereafter Mochida) with support from US 12,211,582 to Pasotti et al. (hereafter Pasotti) .
Regarding independent claim 2, Mochida teaches a fully integrated RRAM-Based Al Chip comprising:
an array of multiple ratio-based crossbar micros (RCMs) (FIG. 1B: ReRAM array) that have two topologies, one topology for addition and a different topology for subtraction (see Abstract);
inherent global input and output buffers (FIGS. 2-3: in order to receiving input x to input layer, and sending output y from output layer); and
input/output interfaces (FIG. 6: comprising at least word line selection circuit 30, and determination circuit 50, not-shown ADC and DAC, see 2:65-3:15);
wherein the RRAM crossbar array, buffers and interfaces are connected in a way that allows two factors in different circuit-level dimensions to be operated in parallel in the same dimension in addition/subtraction operations (see FIGS. 8A-8B and 16:42-17:46); and
wherein each RCM comprises:
a plurality of process elements (PE) that provide basic weight storage and a computation unit (FIG. 8B: Wi and PUi), wherein the PEs are arranged in rows M and columns N (see FIG. 1B), and wherein inference is performed in a parallel mode by activating each row (FIG. 8B: activating WLi with input xi), wherein some of the PEs are for addition and different PEs are for subtraction (FIG. 8B: e.g. RP for addition and RN for subtraction);
multi-channel shared analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) wherein each ADC receives the output of a column of PEs and produces the output of the RCM (see 2:65-3:15. There requires an ADC for the output of each neuron 10 of FIG. 2. Pasotti is provided as support, and teaches multiple bit lines BL<1>P, BL<1>N … BL<m>P, BL<m> of a neuron share an ADC at the output in FIG. 5); and
multiple digital-to-analog converters (DAC) that apply input signals to rows of PEs as the input to the RCM (see 2:65-3:15. There requires a DAC for each input of the neurons 10 of FIG. 2. Pasotti is provided as support, and teaches each process element comprises a DAC at an input xm in FIG. 2A).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 2, 4-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VANTHU NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1881. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:00AM - 3:00PM.
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, Richard Elms can be reached at (571) 272-1869. 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.
June 23, 2026
/VANTHU T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
Prosecution Insights