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 .
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 26 May 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
This Action is Non-Final.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 26 May 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7, 8, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 7, 8, 15, are 16, are directed towards the receiving and providing of the “new differentially private query result”. Claims 1 and 9, from which these claims depend, recites limitations for providing and receiving this query result. It is unclear whether the providing and receiving steps of claims 7, 8, 15, and 16 correspond to those claimed in claims 1 and 9 or are additional steps performed. Furthermore, it is not explicitly recited whether the providing and receiving steps of claims 1 or 9 are part of the first or second stored procedure and therefore causes ambiguity as to whether the result is output directly from the second stored procedure, or output to the first stored procedure which subsequently outputs the result, or if the result is directed output from the differential privacy engine or another component. As an example, if the independent claims require the receiving and providing steps are performed by the first stored procedure, lacking additional steps, it is unclear how the second stored procedure can output the result. Similarly, if the independent claims require the receiving and providing steps are performed by the second stored procedure, lacking additional steps, it is unclear how the first stored procedure can output the result. It is recommended to more clearly define which procedures are performing each step to overcome this rejection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 9-14, and 17-20 are allowed.
Claims 7, 8, 15, are16 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Reasons for indicating allowable subject matter were put forth in the Action mailed 11 March 2026.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J PYZOCHA whose telephone number is (571)272-3875. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hadi Armouche can be reached at (571) 270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael Pyzocha/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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