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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/04/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Stephen James Frederic Hankinson (Hankinson hereinafter) (US 2022/0019590).
Regarding Claims 15, 8, and 1, Hankinson discloses a device comprising:
a processor ([0004], Hankinson); and
a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising ([0263], Hankinson):
logic, executed by the processor, for loading bitmaps associated with segments of users ([0013], Hankinson);
logic, executed by the processor, for generating overlaps by comparing pairs of bitmaps selected from the bitmaps ([0013] and [0045]-[0049], Hankinson);
logic, executed by the processor, for determining a difference in cardinality between overlapping segment pairs ([0286], “Process 1920 inverts the array of object vectors to produce a number of key-specific sets of objects, which may be of significantly different cardinalities. The inversion maps an array of N object vectors onto Q key-specific arrays of objects,” Hankinson);
logic, executed by the processor, for generating anonymized segments that exclude at least one overlapping segment included in the overlaps ([0040], [0155], “1620: A first query-specific set based on a union of key-specific sets of two keys specified in a query,” [0156], “1630: A plurality of key-specific sets of objects excluding the key-specific sets specified in the query,” wherein excluding the key-specific sets specified in the query corresponds to the excluding overlapping segment as claimed, [0166], and [0355], Hankinson) when the difference in cardinality is below a specific threshold ([0357], “Where the first number, for the key-specific array, exceeds a specified intersection lower bound, counting intersection continues to determine an actual number of intersections (FIG. 7, FIG. 35). Otherwise, the key-specific array is considered irrelevant to the query and is discarded,” Hankinson); and
logic, executed by the processor, for returning aggregated data associated with the anonymized segments in response to a network request ([0040], [0166], [0155]-[0156], Fig. 1, 180: results to client; and [0355], Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 16, 9, and 2, Hankinson discloses a device, the program logic further comprising logic, executed by the processor, for:
receiving response data associated with a user ([0045]-[0049], Hankinson);
identifying a plurality of matching segments for the user ([0045]-[0049], Hankinson); and
updating a plurality of matching bitmaps corresponding to the plurality of matching segments using an identifier of the user ([0045]-[0049], Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 17, 10, and 3, Hankinson discloses a device, wherein generating the overlaps comprises:
computing an intersection or subtraction between sets represented by the pairs of bitmaps ([0045]-[0049], Hankinson); and
identifying pairs of bitmaps as overlapping based on the computed intersection or subtraction ([0045]-[0049], Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 18, 11, and 4, Hankinson discloses a device of claim 15, the program logic further comprising logic, executed by the processor, for:
maintaining a historical set of overlaps, the historical set of overlaps comprising a set of previously computed overlaps ([0371], Hankinson);
selecting an overlapping segment bitmap from the historical set of overlaps ([0371], Hankinson); and
re-computing the overlap for the selected overlapping segment bitmap using updated bitmaps ([0008], “… counting intersection continues to determine an actual number of intersections. Otherwise, the key-specific array is considered irrelevant to the query and is discarded,” [0357], “counting intersection continues to determine an actual number of intersections;” Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 19, 12, and 5, Hankinson discloses a device, wherein generating the anonymized segments comprises:
determining a difference in cardinality between overlapping segment pairs ([0151]-[0153], [0159], [0162], Hankinson); and
excluding segments from the anonymized segments when the difference in cardinality is below a specified threshold ([0151]-[0153], [0159], [0162], Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 20, 13, and 6, Hankinson discloses a device, the program logic further comprising logic, executed by the processor, for:
storing the generated overlaps in an overlap database ([0371], Hankinson); and
querying the overlap database to obtain a cached set of overlaps for use in generating the anonymized segments ([0371], Hankinson).
Regarding Claims 14 and 7, Hankinson discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein returning the aggregated data comprises:
removing aggregated data associated with excluded overlapping segments from the returned data ([0282], [0288], and [0355], Hankinson); and
providing an explanation for why certain segment data was removed ([0282], [0288], and [0355], Hankinson).
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues that “the cited art fails to teach or suggest each and every element of claim 1.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The applied art does disclose the amended limitations: logic, executed by the processor, for loading bitmaps associated with segments of users ([0013], Hankinson); logic, executed by the processor, for generating overlaps by comparing pairs of bitmaps selected from the bitmaps ([0013] and [0045]-[0049], Hankinson); logic, executed by the processor, for determining a difference in cardinality between overlapping segment pairs ([0286], “Process 1920 inverts the array of object vectors to produce a number of key-specific sets of objects, which may be of significantly different cardinalities. The inversion maps an array of N object vectors onto Q key-specific arrays of objects,” Hankinson); logic, executed by the processor, for generating anonymized segments that exclude at least one overlapping segment included in the overlaps ([0040], [0155], “1620: A first query-specific set based on a union of key-specific sets of two keys specified in a query,” [0156], “1630: A plurality of key-specific sets of objects excluding the key-specific sets specified in the query,” wherein excluding the key-specific sets specified in the query corresponds to the excluding overlapping segment as claimed, [0166], and [0355], Hankinson) when the difference in cardinality is below a specific threshold ([0357], “Where the first number, for the key-specific array, exceeds a specified intersection lower bound, counting intersection continues to determine an actual number of intersections (FIG. 7, FIG. 35). Otherwise, the key-specific array is considered irrelevant to the query and is discarded,” Hankinson); and logic, executed by the processor, for returning aggregated data associated with the anonymized segments in response to a network request ([0040], [0166], [0155]-[0156], Fig. 1, 180: results to client; and [0355], Hankinson).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIOVANNA B COLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2752. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aleksandr Kerzhner can be reached on (571) 270-1760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GIOVANNA B COLAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2165
January 15, 2026