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 .
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-12 and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 a1/a2 as being anticipated by NPL titled EEG classification with broad learning system and composite features by Xu et al.
Regarding Claim 1, 4, 16, and 18, Xu teaches a computer implemented method of classifying brain activity signals, the method comprising: receiving, as input to a neural network, input data comprising a plurality of brain activity signals (abstract and page 403); applying a first block to the input data to generate a plurality of first order wavelet scalograms, wherein the first convolutional block is configured to apply a plurality of Gabor filters to each of the plurality of brain activity signals, wherein each Gabor filter is associated with a learned bandwidth and learned frequency; applying one or more further blocks to the plurality of first order wavelet scalograms to generate a plurality of feature maps, wherein each further block comprises one or more convolutional layers (page 403); and applying a classification block to the plurality of feature maps, wherein the classification block is configured to generate one or more classifications of the plurality of brain activity signals from the plurality of feature maps (page 403-406).
Regarding Claim 2, Xu teaches comprising controlling an apparatus based on the classification of the plurality of brain activity signals (page 405 teaches brain activity signals).
Regarding Claim 3, Xu teaches that the apparatus comprises an artificial limb (page 405).
Regarding Claim 5, Xu teaches initializing the frequency parameters of the plurality of Gabor filters at different values in a range encompassing an alpha band, a beta band and/or a lower gamma band (page 403-406).
Regarding Claim 6, Xu teaches that the frequency parameters of the plurality of Gabor filters are initialized at evenly spaced values in the range (page 403 and 404).
Regarding Claim 7, Xu teaches the first block and/or one or more of the further blocks is further configured to apply a non-linear function (page 403 and 404).
Regarding Claim 8, Xu teaches the one or more further blocks comprises a time-frequency convolution block configured to apply a set of temporal convolutional filters in a temporal dimension and a set of frequency convolutional filters in a frequency dimension to each of the first order scalograms to generate a plurality of features for each brain activity signal (page 403 and 404).
Regarding Claim 9, Xu teaches a temporal filtering block configured to apply one or more temporal filters in the temporal dimension to the plurality of feature maps for each brain activity signal (page 403).
Regarding Claim 10, Xu teaches a spatial filtering block configured to apply one or more spatial convolutions across brain activity signal channels (page 404).
Regarding Claim 11, Xu teaches that the spatial filtering block is configured to output the plurality of feature maps (page 403 teaches feature maps).
Regarding Claim 12, Xu teaches one or more of the further convolutional blocks comprises a pooling layer (page 405 teaches a pooling layer).
Regarding Claim 14, Xu teaches one or more classifications of the plurality of brain activity signals comprises: a classification of a resting or active state; a classification of a dynamic state triggered by/underlying the physical or imaginary movement of extremities; a classification of a dynamic state triggered by/underlying a conscious or non-conscious cognitive process related to attention tasks, perception tasks, planning tasks, memory tasks, language tasks, arithmetic tasks, reading tasks, control interface tasks, and specialized tasks like flight or driving, either in a simulator or in a real vehicle action; a classification of an affective state; a classification of an anomaly; a classification of a control intention for an external device; and/or a classification of clinical states (page 405 teaches classification of brain signals).
Regarding Claim 15, Xu teaches that the brain activity signals are EEG and/or MEG signals (abstract and fig. 4).
Regarding Claim 17, Xu teaches further comprising an artificial limb, wherein the system is configured to control the artificial limb in dependence on the classification of the plurality of brain activity signals (figs. 6-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANJAY CATTUNGAL whose telephone number is (571)272-1306. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 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, Keith Raymond can be reached at 571-270-1790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SANJAY CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798
Prosecution Insights