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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is currently subject to non-statutory double patent rejections, but is otherwise not subject to any prior art rejections under either 35 U.S.C. § 102 or 35 U.S.C. § 103. Assuming that the foregoing shortcoming of this claim was rectified by the timely filing of a terminal disclaimer, this claim would be allowable.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1 recites the same patentable features as were found allowable in parent application no. 18/178237, which issued as United States Patent No. 12,126,367 on 22 October 2024.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,126,367. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other as shown in the following table:
Present Application
Claim 1
U.S. Patent No. 12,126,367
Claim 1
A multi-core system for executing at least one layer of a convolutional neural network, the system comprising:
A multi-core system for executing a layer of a convolutional neural network, the system comprising:
a storage device storing a compressed weight matrix of a set of weights of the at least one layer of the convolutional network and a decompression matrix, wherein the compressed weight matrix is formed by matrix factorization and quantization of a floating point format of each weight to a floating point composite;
a storage device storing a compressed weight matrix of a set of weights of the at least one layer of the convolutional network and a decompression matrix, wherein the compressed weight matrix is formed by matrix factorization and quantization of a floating point format of each weight to a floating point composite;
a decompression module operable to obtain an approximation of the weight values by decompressing the compressed weight matrix by expanding the floating point composite of each weight to the floating point format; and
… a decompression module operable to obtain an approximation of the weight values by decompressing the compressed weight matrix by expanding the floating point composite of each weight to the floating point format; and
a plurality of cores executing the at least one layer of the convolutional neural network with the approximation of weight values to produce an inference output.
a plurality of cores, …; and wherein some of the plurality of cores are configured to execute the at least one layer of the convolutional neural network with the approximation of weight values to produce an inference output.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID F DUNPHY whose telephone number is (571)270-1230. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vu Le can be reached on 5712727332. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID F DUNPHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2673
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