Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/708,661

QUANTUM CONTROLLED OPERATIONS IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM COMPUTING SYSTEMS

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
May 09, 2024
Priority
Nov 12, 2021 — EU 21208080.8 +1 more
Examiner
MAC, GARY
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
BASF SE
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
41%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 11m
Est. Remaining
79%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 41% of resolved cases
41%
Career Allowance Rate
9 granted / 22 resolved
-19.1% vs TC avg
Strong +38% interview lift
Without
With
+38.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 4m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
53
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
36.9%
-3.1% vs TC avg
§103
43.3%
+3.3% vs TC avg
§102
7.1%
-32.9% vs TC avg
§112
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 22 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
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 . Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP21208080.8, filed on 11/12/2021. 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. Claim 4 is 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. Claim 4 recites “wherein the quantum state is one of:”, which indicates that the quantum state can be one of the two listed options in the claim. In claim 4, between the first and second claim element, the term “and” is used to connect the two claim elements. The term “and” indicates that both the first and second elements needs to be satisfied. It is unclear whether the qubit is required to process both claimed quantum states or only one of the claimed quantum states. The examiner interprets that the quantum state is one of the two options. Therefore, the examiner suggest to amend claim 4 to replace the term “and” with the term “or”. 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-6, 8, 10, and 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kliuchnikov (US20190378032A1). Kliuchnikov reference is cited in IDS dated 05/09/2024. Regarding claim 1, Kliuchnikov teaches: “A method for configuring a quantum computing system, wherein the quantum computing system comprises a plurality of qubits arranged on a two-dimensional (2D) lattice, the method comprising” (abstract, A method for performing a layout reduction technique for fault-tolerant quantum computing is disclosed. Qubits are arranged in a 2D grid and qubits may consist of a data, interface, or ancilla qubit.) “receiving a selection (100) of first one or more qubits (15; la-1c) of the plurality of qubits, wherein the first one or more qubits are configured to be initialized to a predetermined information content” ([0008, 0102-0103, 0108-0110], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits. The control qubit (first one or more qubits) is connected to target qubits through ancilla paths. The control qubit has a state in the beginning of the computation.) “receiving a selection (200) of a second plurality of qubits (16; 2a-2c) of the plurality of qubits, wherein one or more qubits (2a; 2c) of the second plurality of qubits are adjacent to respective at least one qubit (la; 1c) of the first one or more qubits and are configured to receive the predetermined information content from the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits” ([0108-0110, 0136-0138, Figure 4], A fraction of all qubits can be data qubits, with the rest being used as ancillas for connectivity. As shown in Figure 4, ancilla qubits are placed adjacent to the control qubits. The ancilla qubits are entangled with the control qubit.) “receiving a selection (300) of a third plurality of qubits (17; 3a-3c) of the plurality of qubits configured to perform a plurality of quantum computational operations, wherein a quantum computational operation of the plurality of quantum computational operations on each qubit of the third plurality of qubits is controlled using the predetermined information content from the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits, wherein each qubit (2a) from a number of qubits of the second plurality of qubits is adjacent to at least one qubit (3a) of the third plurality of qubits, and wherein each qubit (3a) of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to a respective qubit (2a) from the number of qubits of the second plurality of qubits is configured to receive the predetermined information content from said respective qubit” ([0008, 0144. Figure 4], An ancilla qubit connects a control qubit with the target qubit. Each ancilla can reach a target qubit placed directly below it. The target qubit changes its state based on the condition of a control qubit.) Regarding claim 2, Kliuchnikov teaches: “initializing (400) the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits to the predetermined information content” ([0008, 0102-0103], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits. The control qubit has a state in the beginning of the computation.) “transmitting (500) the predetermined information content of the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits to the one or more qubits of the second plurality of qubits adjacent to the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits” ([0008, 0102-0103, 0108-0110, Figure 1], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits. The control qubit is connected to target qubits through ancilla paths. The ancilla qubit processes the data from the control qubit and is adjacent to both the control and target qubit.) “transmitting (600) the predetermined information content of the one or more qubits (2a; 2c) of the second plurality of qubits to respective other qubits (2b) of the second plurality of qubits, wherein the respective other qubits of the second plurality of qubits are configured to receive the predetermined information content from said one or more qubits (2a; 2c) of the second plurality of qubits” ([0108-0109, 0141-0144, Figure 6 & 7], An ancilla qubit can have at most 2 data qubits attached to it with the other two connections being used up to attach to two other ancillas in a gird of qubits. In Figure 7, ancilla qubits are connected to each other and receive information from one another.) “transmitting (700) the predetermined information content of one or more qubits (2a) of the number of qubits of the second plurality of qubits to respective adjacent one or more qubits (3a) of the third plurality of qubits” ([0108-0109, 0141-0144, Figure 6 & 7], An ancilla qubit connects a control qubit with the target qubit. Each ancilla can reach a target qubit placed directly below it.) “performing (800) a plurality of quantum computational operations on the one or more qubits (3a-3c) of the third plurality of qubits, wherein the plurality of quantum computational operations on said one or more qubits are controlled using the predetermined information content transmitted to the one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits” ([0136-0140, 0144, Figure 4], Each ancilla can reach a target qubit placed directly below it. The target qubit changes its state based on the condition of a control qubit.) Regarding claim 3, Kliuchnikov teaches: “wherein the first, second and third plurality of qubits form a corresponding number of chains on the 2D lattice, wherein the first one or more qubits extends in a first direction comprising one or more chains of qubits, wherein the second plurality of qubits extends in a second direction different from the first direction, wherein the second plurality of qubits comprises two or more disconnected chains of qubits, wherein the third plurality of qubits comprises multiple connected chains of qubits, and wherein each chain of the multiple connected chains of the third plurality of qubits extends in one of the first and second directions” ([0108-0114], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits in a grid layout. All data qubits should be connected to an interface qubit with a path of ancillas. The first row is reserved for interface qubits. Thus, the interface qubits are along a horizontal direction. An algorithm is proposed to determine the optimal layout of qubits, and it is based on the layout of a comb. The algorithm finds additional ancilla qubits along a vertical direction from the determined horizontal ancilla line segments and enables the route by converting data qubits into ancillas. The vertical routes extend from each powered segment and thus, the vertical routes are disconnected from each other. The rest of them are data qubits in the comb layout and the data qubits can be connected either in the first of second direction.) Regarding claim 4, Kliuchnikov teaches: “wherein the predetermined information content of the first one or more qubits comprises information regarding a quantum state (|ψ}) of said one or more qubits, wherein the quantum state is one of: a single-qubit quantum state, when the predetermined information content relates to a single qubit of the first one or more qubits, wherein the quantum state of the single qubit of the first one or more qubits can be a zeroth quantum state (|0}), a first quantum state (|1}), or a linear superposition of the zeroth and first quantum states (α|0} + β|1}); and a multi-qubit quantum state, when the predetermined information content relates to at least two qubits of the first one or more qubits, wherein the multi-qubit quantum state is a tensor product state (|φ)1 X |φ)2----X |φ)N) involving the tensor product of each single-qubit quantum state of the at least two qubits of the first one or more qubits or an entangled state (|ψ))” ([0025, 0038-0042], All single qubit Pauli matrices are Hermitian matrices and a multiple qubit Pauli matrix is a tensor product. The quantum computation relates to both a single qubit quantum state and a multi-qubit quantum state.) Regarding claim 5, Kliuchnikov teaches: “initializing (410) the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits to the quantum state” ([0135-0139], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits. The control qubit has a state in the beginning of the computation.) “transmitting (510) the information regarding the quantum state of one qubit of the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits from said one qubit to a single qubit of a corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits, wherein said single qubit is adjacent to the one qubit of the respective at least one qubit of the first one or more qubits” ([0108-0114, 0119, 0136-0139, Figure 5], In Figure 5, the purple gates entangle the control qubit with the ancilla qubit. The ancilla qubit interacts with other ancilla qubit through gates. In some embodiment, the layout of the qubits can be arranged in a comb architecture with the qubits along the teeth of the comb are disconnected.) “transmitting (610) the information regarding the quantum state from the single qubit of the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits to a respective adjacent qubit of said chain” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 5], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another.) “iterative transmitting (620) the information from the respective adjacent qubit of said chain to a next qubit of the chain being adjacent with respect to the respective adjacent qubit, wherein the next qubit of the chain is considered to be the respective adjacent qubit for a next iteration” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 7], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another. In Figure 7, the information is passed from one ancilla to another ancilla that is shown to be adjacent.) Regarding claim 6, Kliuchnikov teaches: “initializing one or more qubits within the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits to the zeroth quantum state (|0))” ([0137], The ancilla qubits are prepared as cat state. In the cat state preparation, one control qubit is in a plus state and the ancilla qubits are in the zero state.) “using a number of successive controlled NOT (CNOT) operations (10) between respective adjacent qubits of the two or more disconnected chains to carry out the transmitting steps (510, 610, 620) of claim 5” ([0116-0120, Figure 1], The quantum circuit consists of a plurality of CNOT gates between the plurality of qubits.) Regarding claim 8, Kliuchnikov teaches: “initializing (415) respective at least two qubits of the first one or more qubits to the quantum state” ([0008, 0135-0139, Figure 3], A quantum circuit is configured with a plurality of qubits. The control qubit has a state at the beginning of the computation. In some embodiment, two-qubit Pauli measurement is provided to a multi-target CNOT gate.) “transmitting (515) the information regarding a quantum state of the respective at least two qubits of the first one or more qubits from said qubits to a single qubit of a corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits, wherein said single qubit is adjacent to one or more qubits of the respective at least two qubits of the first one or more qubits” ([0108-0114, 0119, 0136-0139, Figure 7], The purple gates entangle the control qubit with the ancilla qubit. The ancilla qubit interacts with other ancilla qubit through gates. In some embodiment, the layout of the qubits can be arranged in a comb architecture with the qubits along the teeth of the comb are disconnected.) “transmitting (615) the information regarding the quantum state from the single qubit of the corresponding chain to a respective adjacent qubit of said chain of the second plurality of qubits” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 7], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another.) “iterative transmitting (625) the information from the respective adjacent qubit of said chain to a next qubit of the chain being adjacent with respect to the respective adjacent qubit, wherein the next qubit of the chain is considered to be the respective adjacent qubit for a next iteration” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 7], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another. In Figure 7, the information is passed from one ancilla to another ancilla that is shown to be adjacent.) Regarding claim 10, Kliuchnikov teaches: “wherein performing (800) the plurality of quantum computational operations includes performing one or more controlled unitary transformations (810) applied to a respective qubit of the third plurality of qubits, thereby modifying a quantum state of said respective qubit, wherein the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit are controlled using the predetermined information content transmitted to the respective qubit” ([0031, 0098-0101, Figure 3], The quantum circuit consists of Hadamard gates. In Figure 3, Hadamard gates are applied to the target qubits and performs an operation on the target qubit.) Regarding claim 12, Kliuchnikov teaches: “performing a quantum computational task, wherein the quantum computational task comprises the plurality of quantum computational operations performed on the one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits” ([0008, 0173], The quantum circuit consists of a plurality of qubits that can be implemented to perform a particular task.) Regarding claim 13, Kliuchnikov teaches: “A quantum computing system (1000) configured in accordance with the method steps of claim 1” ([0176-0177, Figure 13], Figure 13 discloses the quantum system to perform the methods of generating the optimal layout of a quantum circuit.) Regarding claim 14, Kliuchnikov teaches: “A quantum computing system (1000) configured to perform controlled quantum computational operations and adapted to perform the method steps of claim 2” ([0176-0177, Figure 13], Figure 13 discloses the quantum system to perform the methods of transmitting information from control, ancilla, and target qubits in a quantum circuit.) Regarding claim 15, Kliuchnikov teaches: “A remote computing system comprising a quantum computing system (1000), the remote computing system adapted to” ([0175-0177, 0179], The proposed process can be performed by remote servers.) “perform a quantum computational task, wherein the quantum computational task comprises a plurality of quantum computational operations in accordance with the method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of quantum computational operations are controlled in accordance with the method steps of claim 12” ([0175-0177], The tasks can be performed by remote servers and the results can be provides to the computing device.) “transmit results of the computational task to a computer-implemented system” ([0175-0177], The tasks can be performed by remote servers and the results can be provides to the computing device.) Regarding claim 16, the claim elements are similar to claim 5. Therefore, the claim elements of claim 16 are rejected on the same basis of claim 5. The limitations for additional elements of claim 16 are analyzed below using Kliuchnikov: “iterative transmitting (620) the information from the respective adjacent qubit of said chain to a next qubit of the chain being adjacent with respect to the respective adjacent qubit, wherein the next qubit of the chain is considered to be the respective adjacent qubit for a next iteration, wherein the iterative transmitting the information within the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits is carried out until the information is transmitted to a number of qubits within the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 7], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another. In Figure 7, the information is passed from one ancilla to another ancilla that is shown to be adjacent. The quantum circuit has a layout of a comb and the information will be passed through the number of qubits unit it reaches the end of the route.) Regarding claim 17, the claim elements are similar to claim 6. Therefore, the claim elements of claim 17 are rejected on the same basis of claim 6. The limitations for additional elements of claim 17 are analyzed below using Kliuchnikov: “using a number of successive controlled NOT (CNOT) operations (10) between respective adjacent qubits of the two or more disconnected chains to carry out the transmitting steps (510, 610, 620) of claim 5, wherein one or more CNOT operations from the number of successive CNOT operations are carried out by respective quantum CNOT gates” ([0116-0120, Figure 1], The quantum circuit consists of a plurality of CNOT gates between the plurality of qubits. The CNOT gates carry out the CNOT operations.) Regarding claim 18, the claim elements are similar to claim 8. Therefore, the claim elements of claim 18 are rejected on the same basis of claim 8. The limitations for additional elements of claim 18 are analyzed below using Kliuchnikov: “wherein the iterative transmitting the information within the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains of the second plurality of qubits is carried out until the information is transmitted to a number of qubits within the corresponding chain of the two or more disconnected chains” ([0108-0114, 0119, Figure 7], The blue gates allow ancilla qubits to interact with one another. In Figure 7, the information is passed from one ancilla to another ancilla that is shown to be adjacent. The quantum circuit has a layout of a comb and the information will be passed through the number of qubits unit it reaches the end of the route.) Regarding claim 19, Kliuchnikov teaches: “wherein performing (800) the plurality of quantum computational operations includes performing one or more controlled unitary transformations (810) applied to a respective qubit of the third plurality of qubits, thereby modifying a quantum state of said respective qubit, wherein the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit are controlled using the predetermined information content transmitted to the respective qubit, wherein performing the one or more controlled unitary transformations on a respective qubit of the third plurality of qubits comprises performing (820) a controlled rotation transformation (Ra(θ)” ([0031, 0067, 0098-0101, Figure 3], The quantum circuit consists of Hadamard gates. In Figure 3, Hadamard gates are applied to the target qubits and performs an operation on the target qubit. The Hadamard gate applies a rotation to the qubit state.) Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kliuchnikov (US20190378032A1) in view of Ghosh “A Novel Quantum Algorithm for Ant Colony Optimization”. Regarding claim 7, Kliuchnikov teaches: “” ([0136-0140, 0144, Figure 4], Each ancilla can reach a target qubit placed directly below it. The ancilla qubit passes information to the target qubit and the target qubit changes its state based on the condition of a control qubit.) Kliuchnikov does not explicitly disclose an implementation of “resetting (630) the respective one or more qubits of the second plurality of qubits to the zeroth quantum state (|0)) after performing one or more quantum computational operations …, optionally wherein the resetting (630) includes applying a number of successive CNOT operations (10) between respective adjacent qubits of the two or more disconnected chains”. However, Ghosh discloses in the same field of endeavor: “resetting (630) the respective one or more qubits of the second plurality of qubits to the zeroth quantum state (|0)) after performing one or more quantum computational operations of the plurality of quantum computational operations on the one or more qubits (3a-3c) of the third plurality of qubits to which the respective one or more qubits of the second plurality of qubits transmitted the predetermined information content, optionally wherein the resetting (630) includes applying a number of successive CNOT operations (10) between respective adjacent qubits of the two or more disconnected chains” ([pg. 8, col. 1, par. 1, pg. 6, Figure 2], An uncomputation task is performed on path-encoding qubits to get back their initial setting and the ancilla qubits are reset at the end of each iteration. In Figure 2, CNOT gates are placed between the control and ancilla qubits.) It would be obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of “resetting (630) the respective one or more qubits of the second plurality of qubits to the zeroth quantum state (|0)) after performing one or more quantum computational operations …, optionally wherein the resetting (630) includes applying a number of successive CNOT operations (10) between respective adjacent qubits of the two or more disconnected chains” from Ghosh into the teaching of Kliuchnikov. Doing so can enhance the quantum information processing toolbox in fault tolerant quantum computing by implementing a fully quantum algorithm to solve ant colony optimization (Ghosh, abstract). Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kliuchnikov (US20190378032A1) in view of Cowtan “On the Qubit Routing Problem”. Regarding claim 9, Kliuchnikov teaches: “transmitting the predetermined information content from a qubit of the one or more qubits of the number of qubits of the second plurality of qubits to a qubit of the respective adjacent one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits by applying a SWAP operation to said qubits” ([0008, 0044-0045, 0119], The red gates act on the ancilla and target qubits. In some embodiment, Clifford gates are used in the quantum circuit and the Clifford gates perform a swap operation on qubits.) “performing a plurality of quantum computational operations on the qubit of the third plurality of qubits ” ([0136-0140, Figure 4], The target qubit executes the operation upon receiving the information from other qubits.) Kliuchnikov does not explicitly disclose an implementation of “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the respective adjacent one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available by iterative applying a number of subsequent SWAP operations between adjacent qubits of the third plurality of qubits that are arranged between said qubits, wherein iterative applying the number of subsequent SWAP operations is carried out until the predetermined information is swapped to a qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available”, “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available to said qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available, wherein the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available is configured to receive the predetermined information content from said adjacent qubit of the third plurality of qubits”, and “performing a plurality of quantum computational operations on the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available under control of the transmitted predetermined information”. However, Cowtan discloses in the same field of endeavor: “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the respective adjacent one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available by iterative applying a number of subsequent SWAP operations between adjacent qubits of the third plurality of qubits that are arranged between said qubits, wherein iterative applying the number of subsequent SWAP operations is carried out until the predetermined information is swapped to a qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available” ([pg. 6, Section B, par. 1-3; pg. 7, Section C, par. 1-6; pg. 9, Figure 10(c)], If a gate in the current timestep requires a qubit which has not yet been mapped, it is allocated to the nearest available node to its partner. In the routing algorithm, the number of SWAPs is determined to make the current mapping of qubits executable. SWAPs may be added to map disconnected qubits in the circuit. In Figure 10(c), qubits may directly interact with one another without passing through its adjacent qubit as shown in the edge between qubit 1 and qubit 7.) “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available to said qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available, wherein the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available is configured to receive the predetermined information content from said adjacent qubit of the third plurality of qubits” ([pg. 6, Section B, par. 1-3; pg. 7, Section C, par. 1-6; pg. 9, Figure 10(c)], If a gate in the current timestep requires a qubit which has not yet been mapped, it is allocated to the nearest available node to its partner. In the routing algorithm, the number of SWAPs is determined to make the current mapping of qubits executable. SWAPs may be added to map disconnected qubits in the circuit. In Figure 10(c), qubits may directly interact with one another without passing through its adjacent qubit as shown in the edge between qubit 1 and qubit 7.) “performing a plurality of quantum computational operations on the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available under control of the transmitted predetermined information” ([pg. 7, Section C, par. 1-6; pg. 8, Section 5, par. 1], The quantum circuits are evaluated based on the routing of the target hardware.) It would be obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the respective adjacent one or more qubits of the third plurality of qubits to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available by iterative applying a number of subsequent SWAP operations between adjacent qubits of the third plurality of qubits that are arranged between said qubits, wherein iterative applying the number of subsequent SWAP operations is carried out until the predetermined information is swapped to a qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available”, “transmitting the predetermined information content from the qubit of the third plurality of qubits that is adjacent to the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available to said qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available, wherein the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available is configured to receive the predetermined information content from said adjacent qubit of the third plurality of qubits”, and “performing a plurality of quantum computational operations on the qubit of the third plurality of qubits for which no adjacent qubit from the second plurality of qubits is available under control of the transmitted predetermined information” from Cowtan into the teaching of Kliuchnikov. Doing so can improve the implementation of quantum computers by addressing the issue of restricted qubit connectivity by providing a routing algorithm to allow operations to be performed across qubits at distant location (Cowtan, abstract; pg. 1, Section 1, par. 1). Claims 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kliuchnikov (US20190378032A1) in view of Mohammadbagherpoor “An Improved Implementation Approach for Quantum Phase Estimation on Quantum Computers”. Regarding claim 11, Kliuchnikov teaches: “applying (830) a basis rotation transformation (Va,z) to the respective qubit, wherein the basis rotation transformation corresponds to rotating the predetermined axis (a) on a rotation axis (z) of the respective qubit” ([0038-0042, 0067, 0119-0132, Figure 6], A Hadamard gate applies a 180 degree rotation of a qubit’s state vector around a specific diagonal axis on the Bloch sphere. The quantum circuit also consists of Pauli operations that applies a fixed rotation of 180 degrees around a specific axis.) “applying (850) a CNOT operation (10) to the respective qubit and to a qubit from the one or more qubits adjacent to said respective qubit used for controlling the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit” ([0067, 0119-0132, Figure 6], A multi-target CNOT gate applies a X gate to a set of m qubits that are controlled on the state of a unique control qubit. The unitary operation performed includes Pauli.) “applying (870) a CNOT operation 10 to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits adjacent to said respective qubit used for controlling the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit” ([0067, 0119-0132, Figure 6], A multi-target CNOT gate applies a X gate to a set of m qubits that are controlled on the state of a unique control qubit. The unitary operation performed includes Pauli.) Kliuchnikov does not explicitly disclose an implementation of “applying (840) the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the rotation transformation is defined as a fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)”, “applying (860) an inverse rotation transformation ((Rz(-θ /n); 95) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the inverse rotation transformation is defined as the fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)”, “iteratively applying (880) a combination of the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, the inverse rotation transformation (Rz(-θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), and the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, until resulting rotation obtained after using said combination of rotations and CNOT operations will correspond to applying the rotation transformation (Rz(0)) around the rotation axis (z) by the predetermined rotation angle (0), if the qubit from the one or more qubits used for controlling the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit is in a corresponding quantum state”, and “applying (890) an inverse basis rotation transformation (V+a,z) to the respective qubit, wherein the inverse basis rotation transformation corresponds to rotating the rotation axis (z) of the respective qubit back to the predetermined axis (a)”. However, Mohammadbagherpoor discloses in the same field of endeavor: “applying (840) the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the rotation transformation is defined as a fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)” ([pg. 5, Section D, par. 1-3, pg. 6, Figure 9], From Figure 9, the rotation applied to the qubits is based on a fraction of the rotation angle.) “applying (860) an inverse rotation transformation ((Rz(-θ /n); 95) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the inverse rotation transformation is defined as the fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)” ([pg. 5, Section D, par. 1-3, pg. 6, Figure 9], In Figure 9, a negative of the angle is applied to the qubits and indicates an inverse rotation transformation. The angle is also represented as a fraction of the angle ϖ.) “iteratively applying (880) a combination of the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, the inverse rotation transformation (Rz(-θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), and the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, until resulting rotation obtained after using said combination of rotations and CNOT operations will correspond to applying the rotation transformation (Rz(0)) around the rotation axis (z) by the predetermined rotation angle (0), if the qubit from the one or more qubits used for controlling the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit is in a corresponding quantum state” ([pg. 3, Section B, par. 1; pg. 5, Section D, par. 1-3, pg. 6, Figure 9], An iterative quantum phase estimation is applied to the quantum circuit. From Figure 9, the transformation and gates are applied to the qubits of the quantum circuit in an iterative manner.) “applying (890) an inverse basis rotation transformation (V+a,z) to the respective qubit, wherein the inverse basis rotation transformation corresponds to rotating the rotation axis (z) of the respective qubit back to the predetermined axis (a)” ([pg. 4, Section C, par. 1-4; pg. 4, Figure 3], An inverse quantum Fourier transform operation is applied to revert the phrase rotation applied.) It would be obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of “applying (840) the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the rotation transformation is defined as a fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)”, “applying (860) an inverse rotation transformation ((Rz(-θ /n); 95) around the rotation axis (z) to said respective qubit, wherein the inverse rotation transformation is defined as the fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z)”, “iteratively applying (880) a combination of the rotation transformation (Rz(θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, the inverse rotation transformation (Rz(-θ/n)) around the rotation axis (z), and the CNOT operation to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits, until resulting rotation obtained after using said combination of rotations and CNOT operations will correspond to applying the rotation transformation (Rz(0)) around the rotation axis (z) by the predetermined rotation angle (0), if the qubit from the one or more qubits used for controlling the one or more unitary transformations on the respective qubit is in a corresponding quantum state”, and “applying (890) an inverse basis rotation transformation (V+a,z) to the respective qubit, wherein the inverse basis rotation transformation corresponds to rotating the rotation axis (z) of the respective qubit back to the predetermined axis (a)” from Mohammadbagherpoor into the teaching of Kliuchnikov. Doing so can enhance the quantum computing capabilities in a variety of quantum applications by implementing a quantum phase estimation (Mohammadbagherpoor, abstract). Regarding claim 20, Kliuchnikov in view of Mohammadbagherpoor teaches: “wherein the fraction of the predetermined rotation angle (θ/n) around the rotation axis (z) is defined as the predetermined rotation angle divided by 2m, where m is any integer number, wherein said combination of rotations and CNOT operations is applied iteratively to the respective qubit and to the qubit from the one or more qubits 2m times” ([pg. 5, Section D, par. 1-3, pg. 6, Figure 9], In Figure 9, rotation and CNOT operation is applied to the qubits iteratively. The denominator of the angle for the rotation transformation are shown to be 2, 4, and 8, which are multiples of 2m, where m is any integer number.) Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY MAC whose telephone number is (703)756-1517. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. 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, Abdullah Kawsar can be reached at (571) 270-3169. 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. /GARY MAC/Examiner, Art Unit 2127 /ABDULLAH AL KAWSAR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2127
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Prosecution Timeline

May 09, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103, §112 (current)

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