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 .
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more as addressed below.
The new 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance published in the Federal Register (Vol. 84 No. 4, Jan 7, 2019 pp 50-57) has been applied and the claims are deemed as being patent ineligible.
The current 35 USC 101 analysis is based on the current guidance (Federal Register vol. 79, No. 241. pp. 74618-74633). The analysis follows several steps. Step 1 determines whether the claim belongs to a valid statutory class. Step 2A prong 1 identifies whether an abstract idea is claimed. Step 2A prong 2 determines whether an abstract idea is integrated into a practical application. If the abstract idea is integrated into a practical application the claim is patent eligible under 35 USC 101. Last, step 2B determines whether the claims contain something significantly more than the abstract idea. In most cases the existence of a practical application predicates the existence of an additional element that is significantly more.
Under the Step 1 of the eligibility analysis, we determine whether the claims are to a
statutory category by considering whether the claimed subject matter falls within the four statutory categories of patentable subject matter identified by 35 U.S.C.
101: Process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. The below claim is considered to be in a statutory category (process).
Under Step 2A Prong 1, the independent claim 1 includes abstract ideas as highlighted (using a bold font) below.
“Claim 1, a characteristic element combination anomaly derivative method of determining occurrence of a deep concealed plate-shaped ore body of a hydrothermal deposit, comprising:
(1) fine measurement of a metallogenic structure and systematic collection of samples wherein, based on an ore field geomechanics theory and a method thereof, the metallogenic structures in different levels and different veins or cross-sections in a deep tunnel of the hydrothermal deposit are finely measured and analyzed, types of the metallogenic structures in a mine area are recognized, mineralized altered rocks distributed along the metallogenic structures are identified, and structural cross- section diagrams are drawn;
the samples of metallogenic faulted rocks or the mineralized altered rocks are collected at a point distance of 5-20m, and the collected samples on a geological map are labeled;
(2) sample processing and multi-element quantitative analysis wherein, the collected samples are processed and the samples are classified into final samples and accessory samples, contents of main metallogenic elements and trace elements related to mineralization of the final samples are analyzed, it is checked whether a distribution of each element content conforms to a normal or lognormal distribution, and then elements satisfying the normal or lognormal distribution are selected;
(3) mathematical model construction of characteristic element combination anomaly
A: based on the element content that conforms to the normal or lognormal distribution in a measured cross-section, factor analysis and cluster analysis methods are used to obtain characteristic element combination indicating deep mineralization information and its anomaly, a variation law of the characteristic element combination anomaly is analyzed, and a mathematical model based on a sampling geological point position x of different cross-sections as an independent variable and a characteristic element content ci as a function is constructed;
ci=f(x)=a1 x exp(-((x-bix)/d1)2) wherein f(x) is the element content in unit of 10-6;
x is a distance in unit of m;
a1,b1 and d1 are constants; and i is an element; and
the model reflects the lognormal distribution of the content of the element i in a cross-section;
B: a mathematical model based on a sampling geological point position x of different cross-sections as an independent variable and a characteristic element combination anomaly C; as a function is constructed;
Cj=F(x)=Ai x exp(-((x-Bix)/D1)2)
the modelain a cross-section;
a first-order derivative function reflecting a dip direction of the deep concealed plate-shaped ore body is obtained by a first-order derivative of the above model:
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(4) determination of the occurrence of the deep concealed ore body
A: determination of the dip direction and the dip angle of the concealed plate-shaped blind ore body wherein, if F'(x)<0, it indicates that the dip direction of the
if F'(x)>0, it indicates that the dip direction of the
B: determination of the strike of the deep concealed ore body if F'(x)=0 and is distributed linearly, the strike of the deep concealed plate- shaped ore body is consistent with a linear direction;
C: determination of the pitch direction of the concealed plate-shaped ore body
wherein an abnormal drift direction of different elevation planes indicates the pitch direction of the concealed plate-shaped ore body;
if the characteristic element combination anomaly in a deep plane is located to a left of the characteristic element combination anomaly in a shallow plane, it indicates that the concealed plate-shaped ore body is in the pitch direction to a left;
if the characteristic element combination anomaly in the deep plane is located to a right of the characteristic element combination anomaly in the shallow plane, it indicates that the concealed plate-shaped ore body is in the pitch direction to a right;
if the characteristic element combination anomaly in the deep plane and the characteristic element combination anomaly in the shallow plane are in a same position on planes, it indicates that the concealed plate-shaped ore body is not in the pitch direction.”
The highlighted steps indicated as Abstract idea are considered to be equivalent to mathematical steps and fundamental aspect of mathematics or directed to mental processes performed in the human mind (including observation, evaluation and opinion).
Under step 2A prong 2,
The claims do not comprises any particular field of use and claims do not direct to any practical application.
The Claim 1 does not comprise any additional elements or any physical hardware for measuring data.
The steps of “(1) fine measurement of a metallogenic structure and systematic collection of samples wherein, based on an ore field geomechanics theory and a method thereof, the metallogenic structures in different levels and different veins or cross-sections in a deep tunnel of the hydrothermal deposit are finely measured and analyzed, types of the metallogenic structures in a mine area are recognized, mineralized altered rocks distributed along the metallogenic structures are identified, and structural cross-section diagrams are drawn; the samples of metallogenic faulted rocks or the mineralized altered rocks are collected at a point distance of 5-20m, and the collected samples on a geological map are labeled;
(2) sample processing and multi-element quantitative analysis wherein, the collected samples are processed and the samples are classified into final samples and accessory samples, contents of main metallogenic elements and trace elements related to mineralization of the final samples” just describes the samples data, which obtained through the measurements and systematic collection of samples which is merely insignificant extra solution activity to obtain data.
Under step 2B
The steps of “(1) fine measurement of a metallogenic structure and systematic collection of samples wherein, based on an ore field geomechanics theory and a method thereof, the metallogenic structures in different levels and different veins or cross-sections in a deep tunnel of the hydrothermal deposit are finely measured and analyzed, types of the metallogenic structures in a mine area are recognized, mineralized altered rocks distributed along the metallogenic structures are identified, and structural cross- section diagrams are drawn; the samples of metallogenic faulted rocks or the mineralized altered rocks are collected at a point distance of 5-20m, and the collected samples on a geological map are labeled;
(2) sample processing and multi-element quantitative analysis wherein, the collected samples are processed and the samples are classified into final samples and accessory samples, contents of main metallogenic elements and trace elements related to mineralization of the final samples” just describes the samples data, which obtained through the measurements and systematic collection of samples which is merely insignificant extra solution activity to obtain data.
The depended claim 2 is merely extend the details of the abstract idea
of mathematical concepts, more particularly mathematical calculations or mental steps as accrued.
Therefore, claim 2 is similarly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
1) Examiner note regarding the prior art of the record:
Liu (CN117289357A), hereinafter Liu disclose method for locating hidden formation rock mass and rock mass by using pre-stored structure in rock formation system, the method comprises the following steps:
carrying out fine analysis and construction of mine control structure in the mine area, analyzing the ore-forming rock body and the ore-forming sequence, and identifying the pre-stored structure; analyzing the time and space distribution characteristics of the mine rock body and the mine body in the mine area, checking the time and space distribution rule of the mine rock body and the mine body; analyzing the space distribution relation of the pre-stored structure-ore forming rock body-ore body, extracting the qualitative index of the pre-stored structure indicating the space location of the ore forming rock body and the ore body; constructing a first-stored structure rock control and ore control model, determining the spatial location of the hidden rock body and the ore body (see Abstract);
S1: In the mine area of the rock formation system, a number of large scale (1: 100-1: 1000) of parallel and/or vertical exploration lines are carried out for fine measurement, analysis, description and determination of the structure type of development in the mine area (wrinkle, fracture, node, push-over structure, invasion contact structure and so on), the structure scale (length, width and so on) and the structure space spreading relation (inserting, limiting, cutting, merging and so on), dividing the mine control structure level (mine field structure, mine bed structure, mine body structure and so on); performing mining area structure analysis, researching and summarizing the shape characteristics (trend, tendency and inclination angle) of different types of structures, geometrical shape characteristics (width, extension, depth and structure surface shape-straight, saw-tooth shape, wave shape, slow wave shape, slow width and steep narrow and so on), motion mode characteristics (left row and right row on the plane; ascending and descending on the section) and mechanical property and conversion process thereof (compressibility, tensional property, torsion property, compression torsion property, tension torsion property and so on and compressibility-tensional property, compression property-torsion property, tensional property-torsion property and so on), so as to compile the mine area structure outline; combining the structure space spreading relation and the structure mechanical property conversion process, determining the structure activity period and the structure stress field conversion process, so as to construct the mine area structure evolution sequence;
S2: analyzing and determining the ore-forming rock body and the ore-forming rock-forming age of the ore-forming rock body, determining the sequence of the structure and the ore-forming rock body and the ore-forming sequence of the ore-forming rock body and the ore-forming rock body, primarily screening the pre-stored structure;
sorting the isotope age data of different types of rock mass and mine mass in the mine area (U-Pb isotope age, K-Ar isotope age, Ar-Ar isotope age, (Re-Os isotope age and so on), analyzing the evolution sequence of different types of rock bodies and the formation time of the mineral body, according to the consistency of the rock formation time and the mineral formation time to determine the mineral formation rock body; based on the mining area structure evolution sequence determined in the step S1, analyzing the relationship between the structure and the ore-forming rock body, the formation and distribution of the ore body in time and space, determining the sequence of the structure and the ore-forming rock body and the ore body, so as to primarily screen the pre-existing structure;
S3: for the pre-stored structure initially determined in step S2, performing fine analysis of the pre-stored structure features, analyzing the features of the pre-stored structure including geometry, kinematics, mechanics, materiology, chronology, extracting the identification feature mark of the pre-stored structure, the specific mark and method are as follows…(see Page 3, lines 2-35);
Zhong (US2023204810A1), hereinafter Zhong disclose obtaining borehole information, sampled sample information, and geological information corresponding to a borehole of a to-be-analyzed ore deposit, wherein the sampled sample information comprises position information and chemical analysis information of samples sampled through the borehole; based on three standard values of an associated grade, a cut-off grade, and an industrial grade specified in an industrial standard of mineral geological exploration specifications, performing grade classification of ore deposits corresponding to the samples at different positions according to the sampled sample information; according to the borehole information, the sampled sample information, and the geological information corresponding to the borehole, performing vertical section analysis of the to-be-analyzed ore deposit, wherein the analysis comprises:
determining a spacing and number of vertical sections, calculating mineralization, hidden explosion, and alteration parameters of each of the sections, and classifying the calculated parameters;
obtaining a plane projection map of exploration borehole control points in different vertical sections, and performing map zoning according to a control range of each exploration point to form a sectional finite element zoning map; according to results of the vertical section analysis, assigning different parameters to each finite element in the sectional finite element zoning map of different vertical sections to form a sectional finite element plan of each parameter; performing three-dimensional (3D) superposition on the sectional finite element plan of each parameter according to spatial positions, and during the superposition, combining parameters at a same position to obtain a 3D composite data graph; and scanning and analyzing the 3D composite data graph on a vertical profile to obtain a corresponding finite element profile containing composite data(Claim 1).
Li(CN102478674A), hereinafter Li disclose soil sample collecting and processing checking field in a certain sampling density is survey selecting sampling point, collecting a mass of each sampling point of the B layer; (2) correction to the uranium component in soil (2.1) of extracting uranium component in said step (1) taking a certain amount of soil layer in the container, and adding citric acid and ammonium carbonate mixed solution into the container, stirring, then filtering, and the filtrate is for bearing the first colorimetric tube, colorimetric tube in the first filtrate with de-ionized water washing shaking, extracting a volume of de-ionized water after the filtrate is put in the second colour comparison tube, and then adding nitric acid solution to the second colour comparison tube, use de-ionized water after shaking up, (2.2) measuring uranium component of the step (2.1) of colorimetric tube, with uranium component is the de-ionized water to obtain the uranium component of the sampling point, (3) 210Po (3). Extracting for D210Po in said step (1) taking a certain amount of soil is placed on top of the insulating layer in the container, and adding hydrochloric acid into the container, then putting the processed red copper with nitric acid, the hydrochloric acid solution containing copper at a certain temperature, at this time 210Po enriched in red copper, taking circular copper, (alpha ray intensity measurement is red copper is 3.2) 21qPo to obtain the 21 degrees Ρο in the soil, (4) making uranium component, 21 degrees Ρο element plane equal to the step (2) and (3) the measured result, component uranium and 21 degrees equal Ρο element plane equal, primary ring to ore prospective area, (5) the mine anomaly identifying, judging correction checking area whether there is liquid type uranium mine (5.1) judging whether to uranium is uranium according to component/uranium total value abnormal if uranium component/platinum amount ratio is more than or equal to 0.1 is mineral to uranium component; if uranium component/platinum amount is less than 0.1 to uranium component is non-ore.
(5.2) if it is the ore to uranium component, or further combined with following condition estimation correction checking area whether there is liquid type uranium mine: equal by uranium component, is sleeved and gradual concentration of uranium component abnormal distribution mode and strong uranium component abnormal concentrating centre, belt-to-belt from outside to inside with uranium component is gradually increased, equal 21 degrees to judge whether there uranium component, 21 degrees anomaly combination is corresponding to an area substantially in line. The uranium component abnormal area corresponding to the composite section and beneficial to ore breaking structure corrosion, abnormal area is overlapped on the field geological map, as mine breaking structure etching change belt by abnormal area. If said step (5.2), the step (A) of conclusion at least is 2 is positive, it can judge the survey region to heat liquid type uranium mine, or else, the survey area is not in thermal liquid type uranium mine(Claim 1).
Han(CN117784281A), hereinafter Han disclose (1) constructing grading ore control law research and ore control structure combined type determining and using mineral field geomechanics theory and method, analyzing geometry, kinematics, mechanics of different scale structure in a certain mineral bed, the physical characteristic, combined with the space spreading characteristic of the known ore body or mineralization body, sieving the ore forming structure, revealing the ore bed structure grading control rule, determining the combined type of the ore control structure, wherein the space spreading characteristic comprises ore layer position, space location, production characteristic;
(2) controlling the ore formation structure mechanical mechanism analysis of the known ore body space inclined column distribution based on the structure grading ore control rule and the ore control structure combined type, analyzing the kinematics and mechanical characteristic of the different scale ore formation structure, combining the space spreading characteristic of the known ore body or mineralization body, analyzing and controlling the single ore body, local stress field characteristics of ore body group, ore section and ore bed; analyzing and summarizing the inclined rule of the long shaft of the ore body, the ore body group, the ore section and the ore bed on the plane and the mechanical mechanism of the ore control structure on the plane;
on the section, based on the analysis of the ore formation structure with different inclinations, the invention reveals the oblique rule of the long shaft of the ore body, the ore body group, the ore section and the ore bed on the section and the mechanical mechanism of the ore control structure;
(3) extending and deducing the deep part of the ore bed based on the space spreading characteristic of the known ore body or mineralization body, further determining the space spreading characteristic of the ore body group and the ore section, so as to deduce the erosion depth of the ore body group and the ore section;
according to the inclined line rule and the stripping depth of the ore body group and the ore section, determining the sharp extinguishing height of the maximum deep part extension of the ore body group and the ore section of the ore bed;
(4) ore bed hidden ore body part judging and deep part ore finding fixed target based on step (2) known ore body, ore body group, ore section, the inclined line rule of the mineral bed on the plane and the section, deducing the plane storage part and the vertical storage part of the deep part of the hidden mineral body on the periphery of the mineral bed, combining the mineral body group obtained in the step (3) and the sharp extinguishing height extended by the maximum deep part of the mineral section, realizing the deep part of the hidden mineral body to accurately determine the target, deducing the deep part resource potential(Claim 1).
The prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest a method of testing having the steps of “(3) mathematical model construction of characteristic element combination anomaly: steps A and B” and “(4) determination of the occurrence of the deep concealed ore body steps A, B, and C.”
Claim 2 is not rejected under 102/103 Rejection, as being dependent from an base claim 1.
Conclusion
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/KALERIA KNOX/
Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/MICHAEL J DALBO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857