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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. (PBA)
DETAILED ACTION
Preliminary Amendment
Preliminary Amendment filed on 08/22/2024 noted by the examiner, claims 1-5, 8, 10-13, 16-18, 20-23, 26-27 and 31 are pending.
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 1-5, 8, 10-13, 16-18, 20-23, 26-27 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to a method for monitoring and identifying electrical discharge generated by electrical devices comprising: generating a unified model representative of behavior of said plurality of electrical devices based at least on said output indications of said at least one physical parameter sensed from said plurality of electrical devices;
applying said model to output indications of said at least one physical parameter sensed from at least one given electrical device operating at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur; identifying, at least by said applying of said model, at least one electrical-discharge related condition of said given electrical device, said identified condition comprising identification of at least one of the presence or absence of electrical discharge, a severity of said electrical discharge if present and a location of said electrical discharge if present appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of collecting output indications of at least one physical parameter related to electrical discharge and sensed from a plurality of electrical devices operating at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? the additional elements of automatically providing a human sensible output notification including an indication of said at least one identified condition appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 1 not eligible.
Claim 21, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to a method for monitoring and identifying electrical discharge of electrical devices, comprising: transforming at least one of said at least first and second signals to generate at least one transformed signal having at least one characteristic in common with said other one of said at least first and second signals; fusing said first and second signals, wherein at least one of said first and second signals comprises said transformed signal appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of receiving at least first and second signals respectively representing at least first and second physical parameters related to electrical discharge and sensed from at least one electrical device operating at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? the additional elements of providing a human sensible output indicative of an electrical-discharge related condition of said at least one electrical device, based on said fusing appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 21 not eligible.
Claim 31, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to a system for monitoring and identifying electrical discharge generated by electrical devices comprising: a signal analyzer operative to receive said output indications of said at least one physical parameter and to generate, at least based thereon, a unified model representative of behavior of said plurality of electrical devices;
at least one sensor providing at least one output indication of said at least one
physical parameter sensed from at least one given electrical device operating at at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur; said signal analyzer being operative to receive said at least one output indication of said at least one physical parameter sensed from said at least one given electrical device and to apply said model thereto; said signal analyzer being further operative to identify, by the application of said
model, at least one electrical-discharge related condition of said given electrical device,
said identified condition comprising identification of at least one of the presence or absence of electrical discharge, a severity of said electrical discharge if present and a location of said electrical discharge if present appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of a plurality of sensors providing output indications of at least one physical parameter related to electrical discharge and sensed from a plurality of electrical devices operating at at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? the additional elements of a human-sensible notification module operative to automatically provide a human sensible output notification including an indication of said at least one identified condition appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 31 not eligible.
Similar claims analysis for claim 2-5, 8, 10-13, 16-18, 20, 22--23, 26-27 as the dependent claims merely recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claims 2-5, 8, 10-13, 16-18, 20, 22--23, 26-27 not eligible as well.
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(s) 21, 22 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by ZHOU, CN 111650451 A, DATE PUBLISHED: 2020-09-11, CPC G06N 7/01.
Regarding claim 21:
Zhou described a method for monitoring and identifying electrical discharge of electrical devices, comprising (page 2, electrical discharge):
receiving at least first and second signals respectively representing at least first and second physical parameters related to electrical discharge and sensed from at least one electrical device operating at at least one voltage at which electrical discharge may occur (page 2, multi-source information to develop the evaluation of the change current state. applied to high voltage, ultra-high voltage direct current transmission system.);
transforming at least one of said at least first and second signals to generate at least one transformed signal having at least one characteristic in common with said other one of said at least first and second signals (page 2, , transformer, defect information and comprehensive operation condition state information);
fusing said first and second signals, wherein at least one of said first and second signals comprises said transformed signal page 2, , transformer, defect information and comprehensive operation condition state information); and
providing a human sensible output indicative of an electrical-discharge related condition of said at least one electrical device, based on said fusing (page 3, to roundly analyze and deduce the change defect type and defect reason, early warning device is abnormal, improving the maintenance efficiency and reducing the change operation risk, output the warning device abnormal information.).
Regarding claim 22, Zhou further described at least one of backpropagating and forward propagating (page 8, forwarding device and sensor).
Regarding claim 23, Zhou further described backpropagating said at least one of said at least first and second signals until said at least one of said at least first and second signals becomes transform limited (page 2, sleeve medium loss), and said at least one characteristic corresponds to a characteristic of said at least one transformed signal as originally generated at a source thereof (page 2, the electric equipment of the converter station).
Contact information
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tung Lau whose telephone number is (571)272-2274, email is Tungs.lau@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday-Friday 7:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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, TURNER SHELBY, can be reached on 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll- free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272- 1000.
/TUNG S LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Technology Center 2800
July 13, 2026
Prosecution Insights