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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/JP2023/007321, filed on 03/28/2022.
Drawings
The drawing submitted on 09/28/2024 is considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 12 recites the limitation "the output unit" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 20 is drawn to a "software" per se (A program for translating first language original text information shown on a game medium associated with a character, which is configured to causes a computer to perform functions as) and as such is non-statutory subject matter. See MPEP § 2106.1V.B.1 .a. Data structures not claimed as embodied in computer readable media are descriptive material per se and are not statutory because they are not capable of causing functional change in the computer. See, e.g., Warmerdam, 33 F.3d at 1361, 31 USPQ2d at 1760 (claim to a data structure per se held nonstatutory). Such claimed data structures do not define any structural and functional interrelationships between the data structure and other claimed aspects of the invention, which permit the data structure's functionality to be realized. In contrast, a claimed computer readable medium encoded with a data structure defines structural and functional interrelationships between the data structure and the computer software and hardware components which permit the data structure's functionality to be realized, and is thus statutory. Similarly, computer programs claimed as computer listings per se, i.e., the descriptions or expressions of the programs are not physical "things." They are neither computer components nor statutory processes, as they are not "acts" being performed. Such claimed computer programs do not define any structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and other claimed elements of a computer, which permit the computer program's functionality to be realized.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: a first unit, an input unit, a translation unit, an output control unit, in claims 1-3, 9-10, 12-13, 15, 19; a second unit, a clause unit, in claims 3-4; a third unit, in claims 5-6; an editing unit, in claims 11, and 18; an approval unit, in claim 14; a database update unit, in claim 16; a selection unit, in claim 17; a similarity text search unit, in claim 18; a learning unit, a first unit, an input unit, a translation unit, an output control unit, in claim 20.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shinozaki (JP 6432996 A).
Regarding Claims 1 and 19, Shinozaki teaches: A translation system, which translates first language original text information shown on a game medium (A translated text storage means ) associated with a character into a second language, comprising ([0009] According to the invention of claim 1, in a translation device for translating an input original sentence into a translated sentence, the original sentence and the translated sentence are translated. A translation device characterized by setting a format in each of the above and outputting the original sentence and the translated sentence in association with each other based on the set format information. According to the second aspect of the invention, input means for inputting an original sentence, original sentence storage means for storing the original sentence input by the input means, and translation means for translating the original sentence input by the input means. A translated text storage means for storing the translated text translated by the translation means, a format information input means for inputting the format information of the original text and the format information of the translated text, and the format information of the original text input by the format information input means, Format information storage means for storing format information of translated text, format information of original text and format information of translated text stored in the format information storage means are added to the original text and translated text, respectively, and the original text and translated text are stored in association with each other. A translation device comprising: synthesis storage means and output means for outputting the synthesis information stored in the synthesis storage means. ): a database (format storage unit) in which two or more(a format buffer for original text and a format buffer for translated text) first templates (format) are stored, the two or more templates including first language first decomposed text information, which is obtained by decomposing (morphological analysis) existing first language (English) original text information by a first unit (dictionary unit), and second language (Japanese) first decomposed text information corresponding to the existing first language first decomposed text information; an input unit (sentence input unit 1) configured to input the first language original text information to be translated; a translation unit (translation unit 3) configured to decompose the input first language original text information by the first unit to generate the first language first decomposed text information, to translate the first language first decomposed text information into the second language first decomposed text information using the first template, to combine (in association with each other) the second language first decomposed text information, and to generate second language translated text information corresponding to the first language original text information to be translated (Represents the conversion of a verb phrase in the order of verb and noun phrase in English into a verb phrase in the order of noun phrase and verb in Japanese) ( Detail Description: (4) Generation processing, The syntax analysis tree of the output language is converted into a Japanese character string, and appropriate particles and auxiliary verbs are added to generate a Japanese sentence. At that time, the production rule selected from the production rule group in the dictionary is applied, and the production information such as tense obtained by the morphological analysis is used…In the morphological analysis process, the dictionary stored in the dictionary unit of FIG. 1 is used to perform dictionary lookup in order from the word at the beginning of the sentence, and information such as a part of speech is added to each word… In the conversion process, the conversion rules stored in the dictionary section of FIG. 1 are used to convert a parse tree for an input language (for example, English) as shown in FIG. 2 (4) into an output language as shown in FIG. 2 (5). Convert to (for example, Japanese) parse tree…Represents the conversion of a verb phrase in the order of verb and noun phrase in English into a verb phrase in the order of noun phrase and verb in Japanese …The original sentence input unit 1 is for inputting an original sentence or instructions from a user, which is composed of a keyboard and the like… The translation unit 3 performs a translation process using the dictionary of the dictionary unit 4, and the translated sentence as the translation result is stored in the translated sentence storage unit (translated sentence buffer) 5.… On the other hand, the format input unit 6 inputs the formats of the original sentence and the translated sentence, and the formats of the original sentence and the translated sentence are stored in the format storage unit (format buffer) 7… Next, the synthesizing storage unit 8 adds respective formats to the original sentence and the translated sentence, and stores the original sentence and the translated sentence in association with each other in the output buffer in the synthesizing storage unit 8 (step S55).); and an output control unit (output section 9) configured to output the second language translated text information (Next, the output section 9 outputs the data in the synthesis storage section (output buffer) 8 to the display apparatus 1 and displays it on the display apparatus (step S58).).
Regarding Claim 2, Shinozaki teaches: The translation system according to claim 1, wherein the first unit is a skill unit (Dictionary unit) of character information of the character ( See rejection of claim 1, specifically, (4) Generation processing: The syntax analysis tree of the output language is converted into a Japanese character string, and appropriate particles and auxiliary verbs are added to generate a Japanese sentence. At that time, the production rule selected from the production rule group in the dictionary is applied, and the production information such as tense obtained by the morphological analysis is used.).
Regarding Claim 20, Shinozaki teaches: A program for translating first language original text information shown on a game medium associated with a character, which is configured to causes a computer to perform functions as: a learning unit (format storage unit) configured to lean two or more first templates, which include first language first decomposed text information, which is obtained by decomposing existing first language original text by a first unit, and second language first decomposed text information corresponding to the exiting first language first decomposed text information; an input unit configured to input the first language original text information to be translated; a translation unit configured to decompose the input first language original text information by the first unit to generate the first language first decomposed text information, to translate the first language first decomposed text information into the second language first decomposed text information using the first template, to combine the second language first decomposed text information, and to generate second language translated text information corresponding to the first language original text information to be translated; and an output control unit configured to output the second language translated text information (See rejection of claim 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-18 are 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 and as well overcoming other outstanding rejections associated with any pending claims, i.e. 112 and 101.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art of record Huang (US 11144732 B2, “Apparatus And Method For User-customized Interpretation And Translation”), teaches: The system personalizes interpretation/translation by using user settings to choose the translation mode and processing path before output. It can adapt to the user’s foreign-language level, subject area, and preferred output type. A preprocessing stage decides whether to segment, extract keywords, or simply preserve the original text. The automatic translator then produces output tailored to that selected mode [0013]-[0014], [0026]-[0032], [0106]-[0112].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD K ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)270-5878. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday, EST (IFP).
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, Paras Shah can be reached at 571-270-1650. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD K ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2653
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