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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
Claims 1-20 are pending as the applicant filed on 06/14/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
2. 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 1-20 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.
Regarding claims 1-20, the terms “reference” “correction” “corrected” “final” are vague and a relative term that renders the claim indefinite. The terms “reference” “correction” “corrected” “final” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably appraised of the scope of the invention. An artisan doing measuring and testing would not know at what point “reference” “correction” “corrected” “final” within the scope of the claim had been accomplished because nothing within the disclosure establishes when a sufficient “reference” “correction” “corrected” “final” occurs.
Note: In view of the PTO compact prosecution, the Examiner notes that due to the indefiniteness issues described above all consideration of the merits of the claims in view of prior art is as best understood.
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 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 comprising: receiving seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment; performing reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events; for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, passing a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result 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 after the limited number of time-steps, passing the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result;
generating a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result 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 outputting a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield, wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment 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 19, 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 comprising: a processor; memory operatively coupled to the processor; and processor-executable instructions stored in the memory to instruct the system to: receive seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment; perform reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events; for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, pass a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result 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 after the limited number of time-steps, pass the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result;
generate a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result 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 output a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield, wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment 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 19 not eligible.
Claim 20, 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 one or more computer-readable storage media comprising computer-executable instructions executable to instruct a computing system to:
receive seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment;
perform reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events; for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, pass a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result 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 after the limited number of time-steps, pass the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result;
generate a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result 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 output a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield, wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment 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 20 not eligible.
Claim 2 related to the limited number of time-steps depends on a characteristic of a wave in the subsurface geologic environment, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 2 not eligible.
Claim 3 related to the characteristic is a quarter of a wavelength of the wave, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 3 not eligible.
Claim 4 related to the limited number of time-steps is greater than two and less than 40, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 4 not eligible.
Claim 5 related to limited number of time-steps is greater than 4 and less than 20, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 5 not eligible.
Claim 6 related to the performing reference wavefield simulations includes performing reference wavefield simulations for more than 100 time-steps, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 6 not eligible.
Claim 7 related to performing a number of the correction term simulations in parallel, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 7 not eligible.
Claim 8 related to each of the number of the correction term simulations performed in parallel are offset from one another by a single time-step, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 8 not eligible.
Claim 9 related to each of the number of the correction term simulations performed in parallel are offset from one another by more than a single time-step, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 9 not eligible.
Claim 10 related to the summed-correction wavefield simulation commences after a first one of the reference wavefield simulations, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 10 not eligible.
Claim 11 related to for two successive time-steps of the reference wavefield simulations, passing a first reference wavefield simulation result to a first correction term simulation and passing a second reference wavefield simulation result to a second, different correction term simulation, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 11 not eligible.
Claim 12 related to for a number of successive time-steps of the reference wavefield simulations, passing each reference wavefield simulation result to a different correction term simulation, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 12 not eligible.
Claim 13 related to for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, performing an instance of the correction term simulation, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 13 not eligible.
Claim 14 related to the performing an instance of the correction term simulation includes performing a number of instances in parallel, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 14 not eligible.
Claim 15 related to the number of instances in parallel is greater than the limited number of time-steps, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 15 not eligible.
Claim 16 related to the number of instances in parallel is equal to the limited number of time-steps, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 16 not eligible.
Claim 17 related to for a number of the limited number of time-steps greater than one of the reference wavefield simulations, performing an instance of the correction term simulation, wherein the performing an instance of the correction term simulation includes performing a number of instances in parallel, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 17 not eligible.
Claim 18 related to the number of instances in parallel is less than the limited number of time-steps, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 18 not eligible.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by . Nurre ( US Patent Application Publication 2014/0226438 A1, Date Published: 2014-08-14)
Regarding claim 1:
Nurre described a method comprising:
receiving seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment (0008, allowing for operation in more diverse environment);
performing reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events (0009, source event scheduled time as determined with reference to the reference clock at the seismic source);
for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, passing a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result (0057, FIG. 6A, the acquisition module 312 recording the seismic data may serially collect a first portion of seismic data 612a);
after the limited number of time-steps, passing the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result (0058, summed seismic data from one or more different source events that may occur in non-overlapping time periods.);
generating a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result; and
outputting a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield (0058, summing the seismic data 612c and 612d), wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment (0058, random noise may be cancelled such that a signal to noise ratio is improved in the stacked data set 670).
Regarding claim 19:
Nurre described a system comprising:
a processor;
memory operatively coupled to the processor; and processor-executable instructions stored in the memory to instruct the system (0003, computer) to:
receive seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment (0008, allowing for operation in more diverse environment);
perform reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events (0009, source event scheduled time as determined with reference to the reference clock at the seismic source);
for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, pass a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result (0057, FIG. 6A, the acquisition module 312 recording the seismic data may serially collect a first portion of seismic data 612a);
after the limited number of time-steps, pass the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result (0058, summed seismic data from one or more different source events that may occur in non-overlapping time periods.);
generate a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result (0058, summing the seismic data 612c and 612d); and
output a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield, wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment (0058, random noise may be cancelled such that a signal to noise ratio is improved in the stacked data set 670).
Regarding claim 20:
Nurre described one or more computer-readable storage media comprising computer-executable instructions executable to instruct a computing system to (0003, computer):receive seismic data from a seismic survey of a subsurface geologic environment, wherein, in the seismic data, seismic energy reflections represent events associated with structures in the subsurface geologic environment 0008, allowing for operation in more diverse environment);
perform reference wavefield simulations of a reference wavefield, based on a reference model of the subsurface geologic environment for traveltimes of the events 0008, allowing for operation in more diverse environment);
for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, pass a reference wavefield simulation result to a correction term simulation that utilizes a limited number of time-steps to generate a correction term simulation result (0057, FIG. 6A, the acquisition module 312 recording the seismic data may serially collect a first portion of seismic data 612a);
after the limited number of time-steps, pass the correction term simulation result to a summed-correction wavefield simulation to generate a summed-correction wavefield result (0058, summed seismic data from one or more different source events that may occur in non-overlapping time periods.);
generate a corrected wavefield as a sum of a final reference wavefield simulation result and a final summed-correction wavefield simulation result (0058, summing the seismic data 612c and 612d); and
output a seismic image based on the corrected seismic wavefield, wherein the corrected seismic wavefield improves accuracy of the structures in the subsurface geologic environment (0058, random noise may be cancelled such that a signal to noise ratio is improved in the stacked data set 670).
Regarding claim 2, Nurre further described the limited number of time-steps depends on a characteristic of a wave in the subsurface geologic environment (0032, environments (e.g., separation by long distances, dense vegetation, radio frequency interference, etc.)).
Regarding claim 3, Nurre further described the characteristic is a quarter of a wavelength of the wave (0042, any sine waves).
Regarding claim 4, Nurre further described the limited number of time-steps is greater than two and less than 40 (fig. 5, 9 steps).
Regarding claim 5, Nurre further described the limited number of time-steps is greater than 4 and less than 20 (fig. 5, 9 steps).
Regarding claim 6, Nurre further described performing reference wavefield simulations includes performing reference wavefield simulations for more than 100 time-steps (0057, any respective period of time).
Regarding claim 7, Nurre further described performing a number of the correction term simulations in parallel (0032, as real-time manner as occur).
Regarding claim 8, Nurre further described wherein each of the number of the correction term simulations performed in parallel are offset from one another by a single time-step (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 9, Nurre further described each of the number of the correction term simulations performed in parallel are offset from one another by more than a single time-step (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 10, Nurre further described the summed-correction wavefield simulation commences after a first one of the reference wavefield simulations (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 11, Nurre further described two successive time-steps of the reference wavefield simulations, passing a first reference wavefield simulation result to a first correction term simulation and passing a second reference wavefield simulation result to a second, different correction term simulation (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 12, Nurre further described for a number of successive time-steps of the reference wavefield simulations, passing each reference wavefield simulation result to a different correction term simulation (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 13, Nurre further described for each time-step of the reference wavefield simulations, performing an instance of the correction term simulation (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 14, Nurre further described the performing an instance of the correction term simulation includes performing a number of instances in parallel (0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 15, Nurre further described the number of instances in parallel is greater than the limited number of time-steps (0057, any respective period of time).
Regarding claim 16, Nurre further described the number of instances in parallel is equal to the limited number of time-steps steps (0057, any respective period of time).
Regarding claim 17, Nurre further described for a number of the limited number of time-steps greater than one of the reference wavefield simulations, performing an instance of the correction term simulation, wherein the performing an instance of the correction term simulation includes performing a number of instances in parallel (0057, any respective period of time, 0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Regarding claim 18, Nurre further described the number of instances in parallel is less than the limited number of time-steps (0057, any respective period of time, 0032, as real-time manner as occur, fig. 6A, 6B).
Contact information
5. 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.
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/TUNG S LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Technology Center 2800
August 26, 2026
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