DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the above identified application filed on August 06, 2026. The application contains claims 1-20.
Claims 1 and 11 are amended
Claims 1-20 are pending
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments and amendments filed on August 06, 2026 have been fully considered and the objections and rejections are updated accordingly.
Claim Objections
In view of the amendments to the claims, the claim objections are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The amendments raise new issues. The 35 USC § 112 claim rejections have been updated to reflect the issues that remain. Please see below for details.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections as set forth in the Non-Final Rejection dated June 16, 2025 are maintained until the claim language has been clarified to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which Applicant regards as the invention.
Examiner’s Note
The claims should be amended to conform to the specification as originally filed and tie all loose ends to recite a coherent invention to advance prosecution.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 11 each recite the limitation “wherein the instrument configuration comprises: … at least one inverse dependency based at least in part on at least one object configuration” in lines 9-17 and 12-20, respectively. This limitation has no support in the specification as filed. The specification only discusses generating/creating an inverse dependency graph in the Abstract and paragraphs [0004], [0005], and [0007] but never discloses the instrument configuration comprises an inverse dependency. Therefore, claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Dependent claims 2-10 and 12-20 are also rejected for inheriting the deficiency from their corresponding independent claims 1 and 11, respectively.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “wherein the instrument configuration comprises: … at least one inverse dependency based at least in part on at least one object configuration” in lines 9-17. This limitation cannot be understood because it has no support in the specification as discussed above. In addition, it is unclear whether this “at least one object configuration” refers to the “at least one object configuration” recited in line 10. Therefore, claim 1 is indefinite and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the plurality of key-value pairs" in line 23. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Therefore, claim 1 is indefinite and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claim 11 recites the limitation “wherein the instrument configuration comprises: … at least one inverse dependency based at least in part on at least one object configuration” in lines 12-20. This limitation cannot be understood because it has no support in the specification as discussed above. In addition, it is unclear whether this “at least one object configuration” refers to the “at least one object configuration” recited in line 13. Therefore, claim 11 is indefinite and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the plurality of key-value pairs" in line 26. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Therefore, claim 11 is indefinite and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Dependent claims 2-10 and 12-20 are also rejected for inheriting the deficiency from their corresponding independent claims 1 and 11, respectively.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAOQIN HU whose telephone number is (571)272-1792. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm.
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/XIAOQIN HU/Examiner, Art Unit 2168
/CHARLES RONES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2168
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