Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/941,587

DETERMINING CONCEPT RELATIONSHIPS IN DOCUMENT COLLECTIONS UTILIZING A SPARSE GRAPH RECOVERY MACHINE-LEARNING MODEL

Non-Final OA §DP
Filed
Nov 08, 2024
Priority
Jun 06, 2022 — continuation of 12/159,110
Examiner
GAUTHIER, GERALD
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
1661 granted / 1823 resolved
+31.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
1843
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
§103
31.2%
-8.8% vs TC avg
§102
27.5%
-12.5% vs TC avg
§112
7.1%
-32.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1823 resolved cases

Office Action

§DP
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 . 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. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,159,110. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because at least one claim of the instant application is being taught by the claims of the U.S. Patent. Patented claim 1 recites a computer-implemented method which perform the feature of the concepts are represented as nodes and the visual connections between connected nodes are represented as edges that indicate connection strengths between connected concept nodes and providing the visual concept graph in response to receiving the concept set. The pending claim 1 recites a computer-implemented method which perform the similar feature of the visual concept graph includes concept nodes for each of the multiple concept terms and providing the visual concept graph in response to receiving the concept set. Therefore, the patented claim 1 anticipates the pending 1. Pending claims Patented claims 1. A computer-implemented method for generating concept-to-concept visual graphs, comprising: identifying a concept set including multiple concept terms from a set of digital documents; generating a precision matrix from the concept set and the set of digital documents utilizing a sparse graph recovery machine-learning model that determines correlation strengths between pairs of concepts within sets of digital documents; generating a visual concept graph that includes visual connections between the pairs of concepts included in the precision matrix having at least a threshold connection strength, wherein the visual concept graph includes concept nodes for each of the multiple concept terms; and providing the visual concept graph in response to receiving the concept set. 1. A computer-implemented method for generating concept-to-concept visual graphs, comprising: identifying a concept set comprising one or more concept terms from a set of digital documents; generating a precision matrix from the concept set and the set of digital documents utilizing a sparse graph recovery machine-learning model that determines correlation strengths between pairs of concepts within sets of digital documents; generating a visual concept graph that comprises visual connections between the pairs of concepts included in the precision matrix having at least a threshold connection strength, wherein concepts are represented as nodes and the visual connections between connected nodes are represented as edges that indicate connection strengths between connected concept nodes; and providing the visual concept graph in response to receiving the concept set. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. Zhang et al. (US 2020/0311202 A1) discloses a computer-implemented techniques for accurate and interpretable toxic content detection are disclosed. The techniques encompass using a probabilistic toxic keyword identifier to probabilistically determine keywords that are indicative of toxic content. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERALD GAUTHIER whose telephone number is (571)272-7539. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. 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, CAROLYN R EDWARDS can be reached at (571) 270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /GERALD GAUTHIER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692 July 24, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 08, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §DP (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
91%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+6.5%)
2y 7m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1823 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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