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 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of US Patent No. 11,554,292, claims 1-20 of US Patent No. 12,175,754, and claims 1-20 of Provisional Application No. 19/007,900. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the pending application are encompassed by the claims of the patents and provisional application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Claim 1 recites computer-implemented method of generating a play prediction for a team. The limitation of receiving, by one or more processors, match data from a data store, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting “by one or more processors,” nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind. For example, but for the “by one or more processors” language, “receiving” in the context of this claim encompasses the user mentally remembering data regarding a match. Similarly, the limitations of: processing, generating, identifying and outputting are processes that, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind. The same interpretation is applied to the remaining steps in claim 1. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites one additional element – by one or more processors. The computing system is recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor implementing a step) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using by one or more processors amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible. Similar reasoning is applied to claims 2-20.
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.
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-10, 12-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Publication No. 2018/0032858 A1 to Lucey et al. (hereinafter “Lucey”).
Concerning claim 1, Lucey discloses a method of generating a play prediction for a team (paragraphs, [0003], [0007] – tree-based representation to align the plays efficiently and group them into appropriate clusters. This allows the system to more accurately predict outcomes for a given play. For example, given data regarding player positioning on a basketball court over a 4-second interval, the system makes use of the improved alignment and clustering to predict the trajectory of the ball with greater accuracy than has been previously available), comprising:
identifying, by a computing system, trajectory data for a target play in a target match, wherein the trajectory data corresponds to a first team (Fig. 1 - Play Database; paragraphs [0003], [0006], [0044], [0052], [0053], [0081] - the present system utilize information regarding the trajectories of the ball and the players, as well as game events and contexts, to create a hash-table, effectively learning a playbook of representative plays for a team or player's behavior);
predicting, by the computing system, a likelihood of a second team executing the target play by analyzing the plurality of variants with a neural network to determine a number of target variants that exhibit a playing style similar to the second team (Figs. 7, 9b-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] - embodiments of the system find examples which are similar to the situation of interest whether that be finding players who have similar characteristics or teams who play in a similar manner);
generating, by the computing system, a graphical representation of a subset of target variants corresponding to the number of target variants that exhibit the playing style similar to the second team (Figs. 7-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056]); and
causing output, by the computing system, of the graphical representation via a display (Figs. 7-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056]).
Lucey discloses generating, by the computing system, a predictive model using a neural network, (paragraphs [0052], [0081] - instead, embodiments use a standard- feed forward neural network, since the predominant noise problem (permutation) has been normalized a model for the database can then be trained by crafting features which encode game specific information based on the positional and game data (e.g.,
distance from basket/goal, distance from defenders, particular events, etc.), and then calculating a prediction value (between 0 and 1) with respect to a classification metric (e.g., expected point value)), however, lacks specifically disclosing, and Liang discloses generating, by the computing system via a variational autoencoder, a plurality of variants of the target play based on the trajectory data (pg. 2, column 2 – pg. 3, column 3 – 3.1 Adversarial Dual Objective; pg. 4 column 1 and 2, Learning; pg. 5, column 2, 4.1 Comparisons on Video Prediction). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method, as disclosed by Lucey, to include the use of a variational autoencoder, as disclosed by Liang, because doing so would have allowed for personalized behavior models in team sports and generation of new examples in a variety of contexts and fine-grained prediction in which history and context determine the future motions.
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.
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-10, 12-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Publication No. 2018/0032858 A1 to Lucey et al. (hereinafter “Lucey”).
Concerning claim 1, Lucey discloses a computer-implemented method of generating a play prediction for a team, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, match data from a data store (Fig. 1 - Play Database; paragraphs [0003], [0006], [0044], [0052], [0053], [0081] - the present system utilize information regarding the trajectories of the ball and the players, as well as game events and contexts);
processing, by the one or more processors, the match data to identify one or more plays and corresponding event data and tracking data associated with each of the one or more plays (Fig. 1 - Play Database; paragraphs [0003], [0006], [0044], [0052], [0053], [0081] – match data is processed to identify plays);
generating, by the one or more processors, one or more variants for each of the one or more plays based on the corresponding tracking data and the event data (Figs. 7, 9b-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] – variants of plays are identified);
identifying, by the one or more processors, a likelihood prediction of a team executing each of the one or more variants (paragraphs [0052], [0081] – predictions of variants are determined);
generating, by the one or more processors, a graphical representation of the likelihood prediction for each of the one or more variants (Figs. 7-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] – graphical representation is provided and displayed); and
outputting, by the one or more processors, the graphical representation to a device (Figs. 7-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] – graphical representation is provided and displayed).
Concerning claims 2, 9, and 16, Lucey discloses wherein the likelihood prediction includes a team identity for each team executing the one or more variants (Figs. 7, 9b-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] – team identity is determined for variants).
Concerning claims 3, 10, and 17, Lucey discloses wherein identifying, by the one or more processors, the likelihood prediction of the team executing each of the one or more variants includes: inputting, by the one or more processors, the tracking data and the one or more variants into a neural network; and receiving, by the one or more processors, the team identity for each of the one or more variants from the neural network (Fig. 1 - Play Database; paragraphs [0003], [0007], [0044], [0052], [0053], [0081] – tracking data is input into neural network).
Concerning claims 5, 12, and 19, Lucey discloses wherein the generating, by the one or more processors, the graphical representation of the likelihood prediction for each of the one or more variants includes: generating, by the one or more processors, one or more graphical representation trajectories of a play for each of the one or more variants (Fig. 1 - Play Database; paragraphs [0003], [0007], [0044], [0052], [0053], [0081] – play trajectories are generated and displayed).
Concerning claims 6, 13, and 20, Lucey discloses wherein the graphical representation includes a play graphical element corresponding to at least one of the one or more plays and a variant graphical element corresponding to at least one of the one or more variants (Figs. 7-9d, paragraphs [0053], [0054], [0056] - graphical representation displays variants).
Concerning claims 7, and 14, Lucey discloses wherein the event data includes at least one of: possession data, play style data, or a team identity (paragraphs [0053], [0056] – event data includes play style).
Concerning claims 8 and 15, see the rejection of claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lucey in view of NPL “Dual Motion GAN for Future-Flow Embedded Video Prediction” to Liang et al. (hereinafter “Liang”).
Concerning claims 4, 11, and 18, Lucey discloses generating, by the computing system, a predictive model using a neural network, (paragraphs [0052], [0081]), however lacks specifically disclosing, and Liang discloses wherein generating, by the one or more processors, the one or more variants for each of the one or more plays based on the corresponding tracking data and the event data includes: inputting, by the one or more processors, the tracking data into a variational autoencoder, wherein the variational autoencoder is configured to generate the one or more variants based on the tracking data and the event data; and in response to the inputting, receiving, by the one or more processors, the one or more variants from the variational autoencoder (pg. 2, column 2 – pg. 3, column 3 – 3.1 Adversarial Dual Objective; pg. 4 column 1 and 2, Learning; pg. 5, column 2, 4.1 Comparisons on Video Prediction). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method, as disclosed by Lucey, to include the use of a variational autoencoder, as disclosed by Liang, because doing so would have allowed for personalized behavior models in team sports and generation of new examples in a variety of contexts and fine-grained prediction in which history and context determine the future motions.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed in the PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MALINA D BLAISE whose telephone number is (571)270-3398. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Thurs. 7:00 am - 5:00 pm (PT).
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MALINA D. BLAISE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3715
/MALINA D. BLAISE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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