DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 5, 8, 9, 13, and 17 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are rejected.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/11/2025 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
An information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 10/23/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
An information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 11/11/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 (All Claims)
According to the first part of the analysis, in the instant case, claims 1-8 are directed to a method, claims 9-16 are directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium, and claims 17-20 are directed to a system comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. Thus, each of the claims falls within one of the four statutory categories (i.e. process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter).
Step 2A, Prong 1 (Claims 1, 9, and 17)
Regarding claim 1, the following limitations are abstract ideas:
A computer-implemented method for persistent manual reordering of rows, the computer-implemented method comprising: is a step that can be performed as a mental process, with the aid of pen and paper.
calculating an order metric for the first row based on order metrics of rows either side of the second position in the row order of the plurality of rows, wherein the order metric for the first row has a value between values of the order metrics of the rows either side of the second position; is a step that can be performed as a mental process, with the aid of pen and paper.
The above analysis applies to each independent claim as they contain similar limitations.
Step 2A, Prong 2 (Claims 1, 9, and 17)
Regarding claim 1, the following limitations are additional elements:
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is insignificant extra-solution activity a receiving of data or a request (i.e. mere data gathering) such as 'obtaining information' as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application. This is nothing more than a request to perform the above identified mental process.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of mere data gathering as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g).
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is identified as the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application.
Regarding claim 9, the following limitations are additional elements:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions for persistent manual reordering of rows, the instructions, when executed by a computing system, causing the computing system to perform operations including: is a high-level recitation of a generic computer component and represents mere instructions to apply on a computer as in MPEP 2106.05(f), which does not provide integration into a practical application;
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is insignificant extra-solution activity a receiving of data or a request (i.e. mere data gathering) such as 'obtaining information' as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application. This is nothing more than a request to perform the above identified mental process.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of mere data gathering as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g).
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is identified as the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application.
Regarding claim 17, the following limitations are additional elements:
one or more processors; is a high-level recitation of a generic computer component and represents mere instructions to apply on a computer as in MPEP 2106.05(f), which does not provide integration into a practical application;
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising stored instructions for persistent manual reordering of rows, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, causing the computing system to perform operations including: is a high-level recitation of a generic computer component and represents mere instructions to apply on a computer as in MPEP 2106.05(f), which does not provide integration into a practical application;
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is insignificant extra-solution activity a receiving of data or a request (i.e. mere data gathering) such as 'obtaining information' as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application. This is nothing more than a request to perform the above identified mental process.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of mere data gathering as identified in MPEP 2106.05(g).
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is identified as the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) and does not provide integration into a practical application.
Step 2B (Claims 1, 9, and 17)
Regarding claim 1, the following limitations are additional elements:
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is identified as insignificant extra-solution activity above when re-evaluated this element is well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by the court cases in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), "i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); … OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network);" and thus remains insignificant extra-solution activity that does not provide significantly more.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the well-understood, routine, and conventional activity of storing information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(d)II “iv. Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015); OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1363, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93;”
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) “iii. Selecting information, based on types of information and availability of information in a power-grid environment, for collection, analysis and display, Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1354-55, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1742 (Fed. Cir. 2016);”
Regarding claim 9, the following limitations are additional elements:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions for persistent manual reordering of rows, the instructions, when executed by a computing system, causing the computing system to perform operations including: ((i.e., generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than components comprising mere instructions to apply the exception. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea(s) into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea(s))
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is identified as insignificant extra-solution activity above when re-evaluated this element is well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by the court cases in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), "i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); … OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network);" and thus remains insignificant extra-solution activity that does not provide significantly more.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the well-understood, routine, and conventional activity of storing information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(d)II “iv. Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015); OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1363, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93;”
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) “iii. Selecting information, based on types of information and availability of information in a power-grid environment, for collection, analysis and display, Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1354-55, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1742 (Fed. Cir. 2016);”
Regarding claim 17, the following limitations are additional elements:
one or more processors; ((i.e., generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than components comprising mere instructions to apply the exception. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea(s) into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea(s))
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising stored instructions for persistent manual reordering of rows, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, causing the computing system to perform operations including: ((i.e., generic computer components performing generic computer functions) such that they amount to no more than components comprising mere instructions to apply the exception. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea(s) into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea(s))
receiving, from a first client device, data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows; is identified as insignificant extra-solution activity above when re-evaluated this element is well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by the court cases in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), "i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); … OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network);" and thus remains insignificant extra-solution activity that does not provide significantly more.
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; is directed to the well-understood, routine, and conventional activity of storing information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(d)II “iv. Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015); OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1363, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93;”
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric. is directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity of displaying information as noted in MPEP 2106.05(g) “iii. Selecting information, based on types of information and availability of information in a power-grid environment, for collection, analysis and display, Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1354-55, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1742 (Fed. Cir. 2016);”
The dependent claims 2-8, 10-16, and 18-20 recite mental steps and are thus not eligible under 101. The dependent claims are further directed to the order metric, the displaying of information, and the ordering of data. These elements are similar to the above identified abstract ideas and additional elements. Therefore, the claims are still directed to the same abstract idea as their parent claims and are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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(s) 1, 2, 4-10, 12-15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu et al., Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0192559 (hereinafter Ryu) in view of Stitt et al., Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0026111 (hereinafter Stitt) and Wang et al., Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0374403 (hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Ryu teaches:
A computer-implemented method for persistent manual reordering of rows (Ryu Paragraph [0057], displayed in a limited row or column, the user should input an input for moving the column or row of the matrix in order to select the emotional contents displayed in another column or another row. For example, when pieces of emotion content in the first row are displayed, in order to select pieces of emotion content in a fifth row, an input changing a displayed row from the first row to the fifth row is received from the user), the computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, from a first client device (Ryu Paragraph [0005], which is determined through one more user inputs in an application and one more behaviors of the user in an application), data indicative of user input moving, within a first interface, a first row of a plurality of rows from a first position in a row order of the plurality of rows to a second position in the row order of the plurality of rows (Ryu Paragraph [0057], displayed in a limited row or column, the user should input an input for moving the column or row of the matrix in order to select the emotional contents displayed in another column or another row. For example, when pieces of emotion content in the first row are displayed, in order to select pieces of emotion content in a fifth row, an input changing a displayed row from the first row to the fifth row is received from the user);
causing a second client device to display the first row in the second position using the order metric (Ryu Paragraph [0057], The pieces of emotion content is provided in the form of a matrix, but as in FIG. 5, the number of rows or columns displayed at a time may be limited, Paragraph [0056], the pieces of emotion content may be provided in the form of a matrix. In a matrix of a plurality of columns and rows, each emotion content may be displayed at a designated position (Ryu teaches the displaying of rows while Stitt teaches the metric)).
Ryu does not expressly disclose:
calculating an order metric for the first row based on order metrics of rows either side of the second position in the row order of the plurality of rows, wherein the order metric for the first row has a value between values of the order metrics of the rows either side of the second position;
However, Stitt teaches:
calculating an order metric for the first row based on order metrics of rows either side of the second position in the row order of the plurality of rows (Stitt Paragraph [0094], the sample matrix 180 is an upper-right triangular matrix with the number of rows and columns equal to the number of collected samples that have unique work metrics), wherein the order metric for the first row has a value between values of the order metrics of the rows either side of the second position (Stitt Paragraph [0227], the exponential fallback technique sets the new work metric value equal to the value halfway between the work metric value sampled during the previous iteration and the minimum sampling work metric (MSWM) value, which is the smallest valid work metric value greater than the work metric value of the frontier point as calculated by the adapter's NextMetric function);
The claimed invention and Stitt are from the analogous art of systems using metrics. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having the teachings of Ryu in view of Stitt to have combined Ryu in view of Stitt. Stitt teaches an approach that improves the accuracy of the work metric mapping by using multiple adapters to separate cases that exhibit different execution characteristics (Paragraph 212).
Ryu in view of Stitt does not expressly disclose:
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row, wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse; and
However, Wang teaches:
storing the order metric for the first row in a manual ordering field of the first row (Wang Paragraph [0004], Within the CSR format, a first array stores the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix (in the order of a row-by-row traversal of the sparse matrix), a second array stores the column indexes of the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix, and a third array stores, for each row in the sparse matrix, the cumulative number of nonzero matrix element values up to (but not including) that row), wherein the manual ordering field is part of a manual ordering column that is sparse (Wang Paragraph [0004], Within the CSR format, a first array stores the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix (in the order of a row-by-row traversal of the sparse matrix), a second array stores the column indexes of the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix, and a third array stores, for each row in the sparse matrix, the cumulative number of nonzero matrix element values up to (but not including) that row (Ryu teaches the manual ordering)); and
The claimed invention and Wang are from the analogous art of data organization. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having the teachings of Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang to have combined Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang. Wang teaches improving the processing of matrix processing workloads on GPUs or other highly parallel accelerators, a sparse matrix can be recursively divided (Paragraph 29).
Regarding claim 2, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising causing display of the first row in a second interface at a third position, the third position determined using the order metric (Ryu Figure 7, shows multiple rows in a different interface with at least three positions (Stitt teaches the metric)).
Regarding claim 4, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the order metric is calculated such that a third row that has not been manually reordered, and has no corresponding order metric stored in the manual ordering column, appears after the first and second rows (Ryu Paragraph [0057], displayed in a limited row or column, the user should input an input for moving the column or row of the matrix in order to select the emotional contents displayed in another column or another row. For example, when pieces of emotion content in the first row are displayed, in order to select pieces of emotion content in a fifth row, an input changing a displayed row from the first row to the fifth row is received from the user (Ryu teaches the reordering of rows while Stitt teaches the metric)).
Regarding claim 5, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the manual ordering field uses a custom data type (Stitt Paragraph [0083], adapter for a sorting elastic function that maps the input size (e.g., number of elements to sort) to the work metric. In this example, sorting 10 elements would have a work metric of 10, while sorting 100 elements would have a work metric of 100), the computer-implemented method further comprising rebalancing the order metric responsive to the order metric being larger than a threshold length (Stitt Paragraph [0168], A prediction parameter, referred to as the segment error threshold, specifies the maximum percent width (e.g., the width of the confidence interval relative to its execution time) allowed by a segment's confidence interval).
Regarding claim 6, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the manual ordering field is not displayed in conjunction with the first and second rows (Ryu Paragraph [0056], In a matrix of a plurality of columns and rows, each emotion content may be displayed at a designated position).
Regarding claim 7, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first row comprises an additional field, the value of which is set by an equation that uses the ordering metric in the manual ordering field (Stitt Paragraph [0231], the result of the linear regression analysis on the subset of sequential samples indexed two through four (in increasing work metric order) would be located at the cell in row two, column four).
Regarding claim 8, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang further teaches:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the manual ordering column being sparse means that the manual ordering column includes manual ordering metrics for only rows that have been manually reordered (Wang Paragraph [0004], Within the CSR format, a first array stores the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix (in the order of a row-by-row traversal of the sparse matrix), a second array stores the column indexes of the nonzero matrix element values in the sparse matrix, and a third array stores, for each row in the sparse matrix, the cumulative number of nonzero matrix element values up to (but not including) that row (Ryu teaches the manual ordering)), and wherein rows that have not been manually reordered are ordered according to a default sort order (Wang Paragraph [0078], nonzero elements in the payload regions could be stored using a default compressed sparse matrix format such as CSR).
Claims 9, 10, 12-15, and 17-20 are rejected in the same manner as claims 1, 2, and 4-7 but are merely directed to a different embodiment of the same invention (method, computer-readable medium, and system). Ryu further teaches the processor 140 may be configured to execute a received instruction according to a program code stored in the mentality determiner 110 or the recording device such as a storage medium (Paragraph 79).
Claim(s) 3, 11, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu in view of Stitt, Wang, and Burli, Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0073328 (hereinafter Burli).
Regarding claim 3, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang teaches parent claim 1.
Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang does not expressly disclose:
wherein the order metric is a fractional index value.
However, Burli teaches:
wherein the order metric is a fractional index value (Burli Paragraph [0137], such a usefulness index could be determined based on a fraction of the textual comment that is tokenized content relative to the total content of the textual comment).
The claimed invention and Burli are from the analogous art of systems using CRUD capabilities. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having the teachings of Ryu in view of Stitt, Wang, and Burli to have combined Ryu in view of Stitt, Wang, and Burli. Burli teaches that it could be beneficial to provide a search and retrieval system to find such useful information within the records (Paragraph 2).
Claim 11 is rejected in the same manner as claim 3 but is merely directed to a different embodiment of the same invention (method and computer-readable medium).
Regarding claim 16, Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang teaches parent claim 9.
Ryu in view of Stitt and Wang does not expressly disclose:
wherein a dedicated CRUD action is used to store the order metric in the manual ordering field.
However, Burli teaches:
wherein a dedicated CRUD action is used to store the order metric in the manual ordering field (Burli Paragraph [0030], These applications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete (CRUD) capabilities (Burli teaches CRUD capabilities while Stitt teaches the metric)).
The claimed invention and Burli are from the analogous art of systems using CRUD capabilities. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having the teachings of Ryu in view of Stitt, Wang, and Burli to have combined Ryu in view of Stitt, Wang, and Burli. Burli teaches that it could be beneficial to provide a search and retrieval system to find such useful information within the records (Paragraph 2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/11/2025 have been fully considered and they are either persuasive or they are not persuasive. A detailed explanation is provided below.
On pages 7-10, Applicant argues against the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Applicant cites specification paragraph 42 as leading to reduced latency and improved processing times when rendering views of data. Specification paragraph 42 does not appear to mention improved processing times or reduced latency. The only mentions of reduced latency appear to be from specification paragraph 48 which mention that latency can be reduced but not that it is reduced from the processes mentioned.
Applicant argues that the office action essentially ignores the storing and causing to display steps as insignificant extra solution activity, the Examiner disagrees. These steps are evaluated twice when determining if they are additional elements and have been found to be insignificant extra-solution activities and well-understood, routine, and conventional activities. The displaying step is merely displaying data that has been stored in a particular order. The storing step is storing based on a set of rules. It is not clear how these steps lie at the heart of the claimed inventive concept. Therefore, the limitations are still rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being additional elements.
Applicant argues that the claims provide and improvement in computing systems, the Examiner disagrees. The argued claimed improvement in computer system interfaces in which changes in the order in which rows are displayed can be persisted between devices using an order metric appears to be an improvement over the prior art of record rather than an improvement to the functioning of a computer. Therefore, the claims are still rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Applicant argues that the claim does not recite only the idea of a solution, the Examiner disagrees. As shown in the above arguments and rejection, the claims may calculate and use an order metric but the calculation of the order metric is an abstract idea as a human mind can perform calculations based off of rows and columns. It is not clear how claim 1 demonstrates an inventive concept rather than mere instructions to apply a computer to an abstract idea.
Applicant argues that because the column is sparse and thus includes less data, less processing power is used to order columns, and, all other things being equal a lesser requirement for processing power results in reduced latency because calculations can be completed more quickly. These appear to be improvements directed to the use of a sparse column rather than improvements from the claimed invention. Merely using a sparse column to arrive at the benefits of a sparse column does not show that the invention is directed to any of these improvements or directed to the improvements in the functioning of a computer. Therefore, the claims are still rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Regarding the use of the Ryu reference, the receiving limitation has been updated to now state “receiving, from a first client device” which Ryu does disclose. The Ryu reference has been maintained for this limitation and updated to show how it teaches this new amendment. Ryu teaches determining through one more user inputs in an application and more behaviors of the user in an application (Paragraph 5). This shows that there is a client device as the user is providing input into an application. Therefore, Ryu does disclose this new amendment.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-12, filed 11/11/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 in view of the amendment and the newly cited Stitt reference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li et al., Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0010348 (hereinafter Li). Li teaches a vector index of the metric being an order of a row in each tile (Paragraph 82). Li further teaches column orders of the respective nit values in correlation metrics (Paragraph 87). This shows that both Li and the claimed invention are related to order metrics.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUSTIN D EYERS whose telephone number is (408)918-7562. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00am-7:00pm ET.
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/DUSTIN D EYERS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2164
/AMY NG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2164