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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/11/2026 has been entered.
Claims 14 and 20 are amended. Claims 1, 3-5, and 11-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s claim amendments and arguments, see Remarks, filed 03/11/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 14-19 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as detailed below.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 14 recites “generate one or more policy update recommendations based on the output” in line 20, which is redundant to the same limitation previously recited in line 12. Examiner suggests amending to remove the “generate” limitation in line 20, and move the “wherein” clause in line 21 directly after the “generate” limitation in line 12.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 14-19 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.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the generated policy update recommendation" in 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, as while the claim previously recites “one or more policy update recommendations” (i.e., plural, line 12) and “at least one of the generated policy update recommendations” (i.e., plural, line 13), the claim does not recite a particular one (i.e., singular) of the policy update recommendations, which would be required for the reference to “the generated policy update recommendation” as claimed. Claims 15-19 are rejected as depending from claim 14 and under the same rationale. Examiner suggest the amendment “the at least one of the generated policy update recommendations”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-5, 11-13, and 20 are allowed.
Examiner’s statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter is stated in the Final Rejection mailed 12/18/2025.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH R MANIWANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7257. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM - 4:30PM.
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/JOSEPH R MANIWANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2441