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 .
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.
Claims 1-20 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) mental processes – concepts performed in the human mind and mathematical concepts – mathematical calculations.
Regarding claim 1, with the exception of the limitations ‘by an analysis system; by the analysis system’, the claim is directed to mental processes and mathematical concepts.
The limitations ‘determining a system aspect of a system that includes one or more computing entities for a business environment evaluation, wherein the business environment evaluation is in regard to the one or more computing entities proficiency in executing operational tasks that support the system; determining a business environment evaluation category of a plurality of categories for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect; determining at least one evaluation perspective for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect; determining at least one evaluation viewpoint for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect’ are mental processes – concepts performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion.
The limitation ‘calculating a business environment rating as a measure of system business environment maturity for the system aspect based on the business environment data, the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and at least one evaluation rating metric’ is a mathematical concept – mathematical calculation.
Step 2A: Prong two
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements ‘by an analysis system that includes one or more computing entities; by the analysis system’ are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Step 2B
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements ‘obtaining business environment data regarding the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective and the at least one evaluation viewpoint, wherein the business environment data regarding the system aspect is further in accordance with the business environment evaluation category; rendering the business environment rating on a display device of a user interface’ are directed to adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception (MPEP 2106.05(g)). The ‘obtaining’ limitation is mere data gathering. The ‘rendering’ and ‘adjusting’ limitation are merely post-solution activity.
Regarding claim 2, the limitation ‘wherein the determining the system aspect comprises: determining at least one system element of the system; determining at least one system criteria of the system; determining at least one system mode of the system; and determining the system aspect based on the at least one system element, the at least one system criteria, and the at least one system mode’ are mental processes – concepts performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion.
Regarding claim 3, the limitation ‘further comprises: a system element of the at least one system element includes an enterprise identifier, an organization identifier, a division identifier, a department identifier, a group identifier, a sub-group identifier, a device identifier, a software identifier, or an internet protocol address identifier; a system criteria of the at least one system criteria being system guidelines, system requirements, system design, system build, or resulting system; and a system mode of the at least one system mode being assets, system functions, or system security’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining a ‘system element’, ‘system criteria’, and ‘system mode’.
Regarding claim 4, the limitation ‘wherein the at least one system element includes at least one system asset, and wherein the system mode is an asset mode’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining a ‘system element’ and a ‘system mode’
Regarding claim 5, the limitation ‘wherein the at least one system asset includes at least one of: at least one physical asset of the system, or at least one conceptual asset of the system’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining a ‘system asset’.
Regarding claim 6, the limitation ‘wherein the at least one system asset includes at least one of: a computing entity, a computing device, a user software application, a system software application, an operating system, a software tool, a network software application, a security software application, a system monitoring software application, a hardware architectural layout, a portion of a hardware architectural layout, a software architectural layout, or a portion of a software architectural layout’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining a ‘system asset’..
Regarding claim 7, the limitation ‘further comprises: determining at least one business environment sub-category of a business environment evaluation category for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect, wherein the business environment data regarding the system aspect is further in accordance with the at least one business environment sub-category of the business environment evaluation category’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion. The limitation ‘by the analysis system’ is are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Regarding claim 8, the limitation ‘wherein the at least one business environment sub-category includes at least one of: a hardware inventory sub-category, software inventory sub-category, a data flow maps sub-category, an external system cataloged sub-category, a resource prioritization sub-category, or a security roles sub-category’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining a ‘business environment sub-category’.
Regarding claim 9, the limitation ‘further comprises: an evaluation perspective of the at least one evaluation perspective being an understanding perspective, an implementation perspective, an operation perspective, or a self-analysis perspective; and an evaluation viewpoint of the at least one evaluation viewpoint being a disclosed viewpoint, a discovered viewpoint, or a desired viewpoint’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of defining an ‘evaluation perspective’..
Regarding claim 10, the limitation ‘further comprises: an evaluation rating metric of the at least one evaluation rating metric being a process rating metric, a policy rating metric, a procedure rating metric, a certification rating, a documentation rating metric, or an automation rating metric’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion.
Regarding claim 11, the limitation ‘wherein the business environment data is based on asset information that indicates at least one of: hardware inventoried, software inventoried, data flow implementation, external systems cataloged, resource prioritization implementation, or implemented security roles’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of indicating the type of data to gather.
Regarding claim 12, the limitation ‘wherein the asset information includes at least one of: a list of networking devices, a list of security devices, a list of storage devices, a list of user applications, a list of design tools, a list of networking tools, a list of security tools, a list of servers, a list of user devices, a list of system applications, or a list of verification tools’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather.
Regarding claim 13, the limitation ‘wherein the asset information includes at least one of: vendor information, a serial number, a device description, a model number, a version, a generation, a purchase date, an installation date, or a service date for at least one of: the list of networking devices, the list of security devices, the list of storage devices, the list of user applications, the list of design tools, the list of networking tools, the list of security tools, the list of servers, the list of user devices, the list of system applications, or the list of verification tools’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather.
Regarding claim 14, the limitation ‘wherein the asset information includes the list of user devices, and wherein the list of user devices indicates, for each user device in the list of user devices, at least one of: a user ID, a user level, a user role, hardware information, an IP address, software user application information, software device application information, device use data, or maintenance data’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather.
Regarding claim 15, the limitation ‘wherein the obtaining the business environment data comprises: determining data gathering parameters regarding the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and the at least one evaluation rating metric; identifying system elements of the system aspect based on the data gathering parameters’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather; ‘obtaining business environment information from the system elements in accordance with the data gathering parameters’ is directed to adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception (MPEP 2106.05(g)), in this case data gathering; and ‘recording the business environment information from the system elements to produce the business environment data’ is simply appending well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(d) iv. Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015); OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1363, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93.
Regarding claim 16, the limitation ‘wherein the calculating the business environment rating comprises: selecting and performing at least two of: based on the business environment data and process analysis parameters, generating a process rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and process as the evaluation rating metric; based on the business environment data and policy analysis parameters, generating a policy rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and policy as the evaluation rating metric; based on the business environment data and documentation analysis parameters, generating a documentation rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and documentation as the evaluation rating metric; based on the business environment data and automation analysis parameters, generating an automation rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and automation as the evaluation rating metric; based on the business environment data and procedure analysis parameters, generating a procedure rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and procedure as the evaluation rating metric; and based on the business environment data and certification analysis parameters, generating a certification rating for the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and certification as the evaluation rating metric; and generating the business environment rating based on the selected and performed at least two of the process rating, the policy rating, the documentation rating, the automation rating, the procedure rating, and the certification rating’ is a mathematical concept – mathematical calculation.
Regarding claim 17, the limitation ‘further comprises at least one of: determining a system criteria deficiency of the system aspect based on the business environment rating and the business environment data; determining a system mode deficiency of the system aspect based on the business environment rating and the business environment data; determining an evaluation perspective deficiency of the system aspect based on the business environment rating and the business environment data; and determining an evaluation viewpoint deficiency of the system aspect based on the business environment rating and the business environment data’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather. The limitation ‘by the analysis system’ is are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Regarding claim 18, the limitation ‘further comprises: determining a deficiency of the system aspect based on the business environment rating and the business environment data; and determining whether the deficiency is auto-correctable’ is a mental process – concept performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion of the type of data to gather. The limitation ‘by the analysis system’ is are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Regarding claim 19, the limitation ‘further comprises: when the deficiency is auto-correctable, auto-correcting, by the analysis system, the deficiency’ are directed to adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception (MPEP 2106.05(g)). The limitation ‘by the analysis system’ is are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Regarding claim 20, with the exception of the limitations ‘A non-transitory computer readable memory comprises: a memory section of an analysis system for storing operational instructions that, when executed by at least one computing entity of the analysis system’, the claim is directed to mental processes and mathematical concepts.
The limitations ‘determining a system aspect of a system that includes one or more computing entities for a business environment evaluation, wherein the business environment evaluation is in regard to the one or more computing entities proficiency in executing operational tasks that support the system; determine a business environment evaluation category of a plurality of categories for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect; determine at least one evaluation perspective for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect; determine at least one evaluation viewpoint for use in performing the business environment evaluation on the system aspect’ are mental processes – concepts performed in the human mind by observation, evaluation, judgment, and/or opinion.
The limitation ‘calculate a business environment rating as a measure of system business environment maturity for the system aspect based on the business environment data, the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and at least one evaluation rating metric’ is a mathematical concept – mathematical calculation.
Step 2A: Prong two
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements ‘A non-transitory computer readable memory comprises: a memory section of an analysis system for storing operational instructions that, when executed by at least one computing entity of the analysis system’ are directed to generic computer components recited at a high-level of generality such that they amount to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Step 2B
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements ‘obtain business environment data regarding the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective and the at least one evaluation viewpoint, wherein the business environment data regarding the system aspect is further in accordance with the business environment evaluation category’ are directed to adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception (MPEP 2106.05(g)). The ‘obtain’ limitation is mere data gathering. The ‘render’ and ‘adjust’ limitation are merely post-solution activity.
There is no prior art rejection for claims 1-20 because of the following limitations ‘obtaining, by the analysis system, business environment data regarding the system aspect in accordance with the at least one evaluation perspective and the at least one evaluation viewpoint, wherein the business environment data regarding the system aspect is further in accordance with the business environment evaluation category; calculating, by the analysis system, a business environment rating as a measure of system business environment maturity for the system aspect based on the business environment data, the at least one evaluation perspective, the at least one evaluation viewpoint, and at least one evaluation rating metric; rendering the business environment rating on a display device of a user interface; evaluating, via an analysis modeling model that operates via artificial intelligence, stored data and stored analytics associated with the system for business environment evaluation; and adjusting, via the analysis modeling model that operates via artificial intelligence, parameters of the system for business environment evaluation’.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Concerning Applicant’s arguments of the 101 rejection, the claimed limitations recite mathematical concepts and mental processes. The limitations involve certain steps being mathematical concepts, certain steps being mental processes, certain steps being generic computer components, and certain steps being insignificant extra-solution activity. The limitations are only tied to generic computer components and there are no limitations that are viewed to be significantly more. The reasoning laid out in the Ex parte Desjardins does not apply to this application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The closest prior art:
WO2019120543 – abstract - A method for recommending configuration changes in a communications network. The method comprises maintaining (102) a plurality of machine-learning processes, wherein an individual machine-learning process operates based on a data model and decision- making rules, and the plurality of machine-learning processes operate based on a plurality of different data models and a plurality of different decision-making rules. The method also comprises obtaining (104) values of Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, from network elements of the communications network and obtaining a goal (106) defining at least one KPI value characterising wanted operation of the communications network. The method also comprises producing (108) by the plurality of machine-learning processes, based on the received values of KPIs and using the data models and decision-making rules, a plurality of individual recommendations; and producing an output recommendation (110) based on the produced individual recommendations. An apparatus realising the above method is also disclosed.;
USPN 11036520B1 – abstract - In one embodiment, a method includes using a procurement control system computer to determine a peer group of a first entity having attribute values in common with the first entity and obtaining, from the entities, configurations associated with performing procurement tasks for these entities. Configurations of the first entity associated with performing procurement tasks for the first entity are also obtained. The method then determines Key Performance Indicators (KPI values) of the peer group entities and of the first entity and detects KPI values of the first entity that are relatively lower than KPI values of the peer group entities. The method determines particular configurations that affect these KPI values of the first entity and further determines configuration values of the configurations that are associated with a threshold number of the peer group entities. Finally, the method provides a description of these configuration values to the first entity.; column 2, lines 47-59 - The procurement control system may provide recommendations to an administrator for setting the configuration settings. Particular configuration settings may be recommended based on factors such as revenue, number of employees, and industry. The configuration settings may be recommended based on a relative performance of other entities that have the same procurement control system in operation, and have set its configuration settings in a particular way. In other embodiments, the procurement control system allows an administrator to predict the effect of changes in configurations settings in terms of business outcomes, such as an amount of money that is saved or time that is saved and attributable to the proposed change..
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Yolanda L Wilson whose telephone number is (571)272-3653. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (7:30 am - 4 pm).
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/Yolanda L Wilson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2113