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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 7 fails to include all the limitations of claim 1, since the functionalized metal tip apex is configured to carry out only step (a) and the data processing device is configured to carry out only steps (b) to (e) from claim 1. It is unclear whether or not the preamble of claim 1 is performed by the frequency modulation atomic force microscopy microscope of claim 7, and it is unclear whether or not the frequency modulation atomic force microscopy microscope of claim 7 includes all of the limitations of claim 1.
Claims 8-12 depend on claim 7 and inherit the limitations of claim 7.
Claim 13 fails to include all the limitations of claim 1 since the program of claim 13 causes a data processing device to carry out only steps (b) to (e) of claim 1.
Claim 14 depends on claim 13 and inherits the limitations of claim 13.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding independent claim 1; Stange et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2010/0120762 discloses a computer implemented method for identifying an organic molecule and for generating the name of the organic molecule according to the IUPAC nomenclature (“The chemical compounds described in this specification have been determined using either the ACDLABS 11.0 Name Pro Software (IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry Rules” [0345]). However, Stange does not disclose the steps (a) through (e). Stange does not disclose that the organic molecule name is identified from atomic force microscopy images.
Nakamura et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2018/0277603 discloses “The molecular structure of the organic molecules 50 can be identified by using an atomic force microscope (AFM) or a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), for example” [0060]. However, Nakamura does not disclose the steps (a) through (e).
Berlin et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2006/0100787 discloses a computer implemented method for identifying an organic molecule from Atomic Force Microscopy images and for generating the name of the organic molecule according to the IUPAC nomenclature, said method characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a) acquiring a plurality of constant-height Atomic Force Microscopy images (“AFM images were obtained of nanocode PB2 intercalated with ethidium bromide, and sub-features were detected” [0124]) of an organic molecule (“As such, the target molecule can be… any organic… molecule for which a molecular probe (i.e., specific binding partner) is available” [0063]) at different tip height distances (“In contact mode, the atomic force between probe tip and sample surface is measured by keeping the tip-to-sample distance constant and measuring the deflection of the cantilever, typically by reflecting a laser off the cantilever onto a position sensitive detector” [0071]). However, Berlin does not disclose steps (b) to (e). Additionally, Berlin does not teach identifying an organic molecule from Atomic Force Microscopy images and for generating the name of the organic molecule according to the IUPAC nomenclature, and Berlin does not teach using a functionalized metal tip apex using a Frequency Mode Atomic Force microscope, wherein said different tip height distances range between 280 pm and 370 pm and wherein the shape and the contrast of said image and their variation with the tip height show the 3D position of the atoms, the size of the atoms and the distance between said atoms in the organic molecule.
Li et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2013/0276174 discloses acquiring a plurality of constant-height (“used to keep the distance between the probe and the sample surface constant” [0072]) Atomic Force Microscopy (“an AFM control block 102 configured to operate the AFM in either intermittent contact mode (AM-AFM) or non-contact mode (FM-AFM)” [0022]) images of a sample at different tip height distances (“a simple lift at a user-selected distance may be employed in the second pass of the scan” [0085]) above said organic molecule using a functionalized metal tip apex (“a silicon tip with a metal coating to make the tip conductive” [0078]) using a Frequency Mode Atomic Force microscope (“an AFM control block 102 configured to operate the AFM in either intermittent contact mode (AM-AFM) or non-contact mode (FM-AFM)” [0022]), wherein said different tip height distances range between 280 pm and 370 pm (“a fixed distance "z" (usually a few nanometers, up to a few hundred nanometers) from the surface” [0088]). However, Li does not disclose the steps (b) through (e).
The prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest, in combination with the other claim limitations, a computer implemented method for identifying an organic molecule from Atomic Force Microscopy images and for generating the name of the organic molecule according to the IUPAC nomenclature, said method characterized in that it comprises the following steps: feeding, to a data processing device, a trained Multimodal Recurrent Neural Network and Atomic Force Microscopy images, said trained Multimodal Recurrent Neural Network generating the name of the IUPAC of the organic molecule.
Regarding dependent claims 2-6; these claims are allowable at least for their dependence, either directly or indirectly, upon independent claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)270-1489. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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/JASON L MCCORMACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
