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 .
● This action is responsive to the following communication: US Patent Application filed on 9/26/2024.
● Claims 29-53 are currently pending; claims 1-28 have been canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
● The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/29/2024 and 1/12/2026 compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 (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 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)(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) 29-30, 32-34, 37-44, 46-51, 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Al-Kofahi et al (US 2014/0006424A1).
Regarding claim 29, Al-Kofahi further discloses a system (system as shown in fig. 1) comprising:
at least one processor configured to: present a graphical user interface (GUI, fig. 1) on a user device, the graphical user interface configured to upload a plurality of source documents (document upload, par. 104); store (server, fig. 1) the plurality of source documents in a document database; compare a portion (comparing, par. 63) of text from a textual document being viewed on the user device with each page of a plurality of pages of the plurality of source documents; generate a score (generating a score, pars. 9, 115) for each page of the plurality of pages based on the comparison; determine a citation (citations, pars. 115-120) for the portion of text based on the score for each page of the plurality of pages; and insert the citation (citations insertions, pars. 121-128) into the textual document.
Regarding claim 30, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: tokenize the textual document into a plurality of tokens corresponding to strings in the textual document; and process the plurality of tokens to identify a plurality of factual citations, wherein the portion (portion, par. 107) of text comprises a group of tokens associated with a factual citation of the plurality of factual citations.
Regarding claim 32, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein comparing (comparing, par. 63) the portion of text to each page of the plurality of pages is performed on a page-by-page basis.
Regarding claim 33, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein determining the citation comprises: determining a highest score (score of relevance, pars. 9, 115) of a plurality of scores including each score for each page of the plurality of pages; and determining a page citation based on a page number associated with the highest score.
Regarding claim 34, Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to link (linking, par. 50) a page citation to the citation inserted into the textual document.
Regarding claim 37, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein determining the citation for the portion of text comprises: determining a page citation to a source document (citations to a source document, pars. 014-16); determining a page offset value for the source document; and modifying the page citation based on the page offset value to produce a modified page citation (citations modifications, pars. 101-102), wherein the citation comprises the modified page citation.
Regarding claim 38, Al-Kofhi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: insert a hyperlinked (hyperlink, par. 74) citation into the textual document based on the citation, such that the hyperlinked citation, when selected by a user, displays at least one corresponding source document.
Regarding claim 39, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein the graphical user interface is a window (par. 75) within a word processing application (word processor application, par. 16) used to edit the textual document.
Regarding claim 40, Al-Kofahi further discloses the system of claim 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: identify a plurality of citations (plurality of citations, pars. 97-102) in the textual document based on a model (statistical model, par. 42), wherein the portion of text comprises an initial citation of the plurality of citations, and wherein inserting (citations insertions, pars. 16, 91, 97) the citation into the textual document comprises replacing (replacing, par. 0103) the initial citation with the citation; and normalize (modify the format of the citations contained therein to adhere to the new target publication's citation specifications, par. 97) each identified citation of the plurality of identified citations by using at least one indicator (identifier, pars. 14, 16) to represent one or more numbers.
Regarding claims 41-44, 46-051, 53 recite limitations that are similar and in the same scope of invention in those in claims 29-30, 32-34, 37-40 above; therefore, claims 41-44, 46-051, 53 are rejected for the same rejection rationale/basis as described in claims 29-30, 32-34, 37-40.
Allowable Subject Matter
● Claims 31, 35, 45, 52 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claims 29, 41, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
● The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(1) US 20060149720 to Dehlinger et al, discloses a system and method for use in accessing information derivable from a collection of citation-rich documents, such as scientific articles, works of scholarship, appellate cases, legal documents, and the like. The system includes a database containing phrases that represent summary holdings, statements, or conclusions contained in said documents, and for each such phrase, a tag representing the citation associated with that statement in a document. The method involves searching the database to identify one or more phrases that correspond to a user-input statement of interest, accessing the database to link each of the one or more phrases so identified to an associated citation tag in the database, and presenting to the user, information related to the linked citation tag(s).
---Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIERRY L PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-7439. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 11-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hai Phan can be reached at (571)272-6338. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THIERRY L PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2654
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