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 .
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 non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 1 is drawn to a method therefore falls under one of four categories of statutory subject matter (process/method, machines/products/apparatus, manufactures and compositions of matter)
Nonetheless, claim 1 is directed to a judicially recognized exception of an abstract idea without significantly more. Claim 1 recites “obtaining a plurality of metric data streams; identifying a first subset of the plurality of metric data streams based on determining that each of the first subset of the plurality of metric data streams satisfies a monitoring criticality criterion; analyzing the first subset of the plurality of metric data streams to identify a plurality of correlated groups; identifying a second subset of the plurality of metric data streams from the first subset of the plurality of metric data streams based on determining that each of the second subset of the plurality of metric data streams satisfies a metric independence criterion, wherein identifying the second subset of the plurality of metric data streams includes selecting one representative metric data stream for each correlated group; and performing anomaly detection with respect to the second subset of the plurality of metric data streams”, enumerates a mental concept. A human can perform identifying, analyzing and the performing. As such, the steps identifying, analyzing and the performing are essentially identifying and processing information that can be performed in the human mind and is nothing more than an abstract mental concept (MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)).
Claim 1 does not recite any additional elements and/or steps that would integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Claim 1 recites additional steps/elements of “a terminal device” and “a first network element”, however, those elements are a high level of generality (i.e. as generic computer components performing generic computer functions). These generic computer elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea (MPEP 2106.05(g and f)).
The claim contains only generic identifying and analyzing and responding steps and does not recite additional elements amounting to significantly more. The additional steps/elements are a form of collecting/receiving of data over a network and obtaining information are well-understood, routine and conventional functions when it is claimed in a merely generic manner (See MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)(IV)).
Therefore, claim 1 is not patent eligible.
The system of claims 13 and the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 similar limitations as claim 1, and therefore similar analysis applies to claims 13 and 20 for similar reason as above.
The dependent claims also do not add any elements/steps that are significantly more.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/9/2026 arguing that the amendment to the claims overcome the rejection under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The added step of initiating a response to the detected anomaly does not overcome collecting/receiving of data over a network and obtaining information being well-understood, routine and conventional as outlined above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
