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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because:
At step 1:
Claims 1-7 are directed to a “automated transformation of information from images to textual representations, and application” and thus directed to a statutory category.
At step 2A, Prong One:
The claim 1 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas:
“identifying a plurality of text elements within the one or more document images” recites a mental process as identifying or listing a plurality of text elements within the one or more document images.
“building a plurality of text segments based at least in part on the plurality of text elements” recites a mental process as building or writing a plurality of text segments based at least in part on the plurality of text elements.
“building a plurality of text blocks based at least in part on the plurality of text segments” recites the mental process building or writing a plurality of text blocks based at least in part on the plurality of text segments.
The claim 2 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as listing each of the plurality of text elements independently connected components represented in the one or more document images; and linking each of the plurality of text elements independently correspond to one or more physical marking on a physical document depicted in the one or more document images
The claim 3 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as listing the plurality of text segments each independently and listing an ordered plurality of some or all of the text elements; and wherein each ordered plurality of the some or all of the text elements are independently associated with one another in the one or more document images.
The claim 4 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as combination of two or more of the plurality of text segments that meet a predetermined set of geometric criteria and/or a predetermined set of visual criteria.
The claim 5 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as building or writing one or more text columns based at least in part on the plurality of text blocks.
The claim 6 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as predetermined set of text blocks that meet: a predetermined set of geometric criteria (look same shape, etc.,); a predetermined set of visual criteria (look the set visual criteria); a predetermined set of semantic criteria; or any combination of the predetermined set of geometric criteria, the predetermined set of visual criteria, and the predetermined set of semantic criteria.
The claim 7 recites the following limitation directed to an abstract ideas. It is mental process such as wherein listing the plurality of text elements within the one or more document images, creating the plurality of text segments based at least in part on the plurality of text elements, building the plurality of text blocks based at least in part on the plurality of text segments, and building the one or more text columns based at least in part on the plurality of text blocks each independently utilize one or more predefined parameters selected from the group consisting of: a "Containing Percentage" parameter, a "Vertical Element Threshold" parameter, a "Vertical Distance Threshold" parameter, a "Horizontal Intersection Threshold" parameter, a "Vertical Distance Threshold for Columns" parameter, a "Horizontal Intersection Threshold for Columns" parameter, a "Horizontal Distance Threshold" parameter, a "Join Overlapping Text Blocks" parameter, a "Join Nested and/or Overlapping Columns" parameter, and combinations thereof.
At step 2A, Prong Two:
The claims recite the following additional elements:
That the content management system includes “computer” which are high level recitation of generic computer component s and functions and represent mere instruction to apply to a computer as in MPEP 2106.05 (f) which does not provide integration into a practical application.
At step 2B
The conclusions for the mere implementation using a generic computer and mere field of use are carried over and to not provide significantly more. A computer-implemented method for segmenting text depicted within one or more document images, the method comprising:;;.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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, 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)as being anticipated Burdick et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,867,171)
With respect to claim 1, Burdick et al. discloses a computer-implemented method for segmenting text depicted within one or more document images, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of text elements within the one or more document images (i.e., “ an exemplary computer-implemented method can include steps of discretizing one or more contiguous areas of a PDF document by identifying, within the PDF document, (i) one or more text objects and (ii) one or more ruling lines; and creating one or more white-space separator lines within the one or more discretized contiguous areas of the PDF document based on the proximity of each of multiple candidate white-space separator lines to one or more of the identified text objects. ”(col. 1, lines 50--60) and “ A content object can include, for example, a text object such as a word or a number, an image object such as a logo, or a derived type of content such as a chart”(col. 4, lines 41-50));
building a plurality of text segments based at least in part on the plurality of text elements (i.e., As noted above, Step 4 includes identifying and filtering whitespace lines. In connection with Step 4.1, generating virtual (whitespace) lines, given the discretization grid and a type (a hierarchy level) of text objects, at least one embodiment of the invention includes generating maximum-length line segments that overlap up to a given number of these text objects..”(col. 8, lines 50-57)); and
building a plurality of text blocks based at least in part on the plurality of text segments (i.e., As noted above, Step 4 includes identifying and filtering whitespace lines. In connection with Step 4.1, generating virtual (whitespace) lines, given the discretization grid and a type (a hierarchy level) of text objects, at least one embodiment of the invention includes generating maximum-length line segments that overlap up to a given number of these text objects..”(col. 8, lines 50-57) and Examiner asserts that hierarchy level is text block as claimed invention because there are plurality of segments and “) includes identifying composite text objects in a PDF document. Composite text objects can be organized into a hierarchy, in which upper-level text objects are composed of one or more lower-level text objects. Such a hierarchy can include tokens, phrase-units, and paragraphs. Tokens (such as words and numbers) are composed of characters, phrase-units are composed of tokens, and paragraphs are composed of phrase-units. Identifying composite text objects can proceed in a bottom-up fashion, wherein all characters in the PDF document are grouped into disjoint tokens, then tokens are grouped horizontally into disjoint phrase-units, and then phrase-units are grouped vertically and horizontally into disjoint paragraphs”(col. 16, lines 42-54));.
With respect to claim 5, Burdick et al. discloses further comprising building one or more text columns based at least in part on the plurality of text blocks (i.e., “ outputs of one or more embodiments of the invention (such as the algorithm depicted in FIG. 1) can also include, for each identified/selected table in the PDF page/document, a table bounding box, separator lines that define rows and columns, and cell structure information.”(col. 3, lines 27-33) and “step 112 (scoring tables) can include assigning a fitness score to each candidate table based on its size, borders, separators, row/column and cell structure, text blocks, adjustment options, and/or other features”(col. 4, lines 4-7)).
With respect to claim 6, Burdick et al. discloses the computer-implemented method as recited in claim 5, wherein the one or more text columns each independently ((i.e., “the input data describe a collection of axis-parallel bounding rectangles containing objects on a canvas (that is, a contiguous area of the PDF document)”(col. 4, lines 30-34) comprise a predetermined set of text blocks that meet: a predetermined set of geometric criteria; a predetermined set of visual criteria; a predetermined set of semantic criteria (i.e., “identifying composite text objects, a composite text object refers to a grouping of spatially adjacent and semantically linked input text objects.”(col. 5, lines 15-18) or “identifying one or more composite text objects within a portable document format document, wherein each of said one or more composite text objects comprises a grouping of spatially adjacent and semantically linked text objects of the portable document format document, ”(claim 1)); or any combination of the predetermined set of geometric criteria, the predetermined set of visual criteria, and the predetermined set of semantic criteria (i.e., “identifying one or more composite text objects within a portable document format document, wherein each of said one or more composite text objects comprises a grouping of spatially adjacent and semantically linked text objects of the portable document format document, ”(claim 1));.
With respect to claim 7, Burdick et al. discloses wherein identifying the plurality of text elements within the one or more document images (i.e., “ an exemplary computer-implemented method can include steps of discretizing one or more contiguous areas of a PDF document by identifying, within the PDF document, (i) one or more text objects and (ii) one or more ruling lines; and creating one or more white-space separator lines within the one or more discretized contiguous areas of the PDF document based on the proximity of each of multiple candidate white-space separator lines to one or more of the identified text objects. ”(col. 1, lines 50--60) and “ A content object can include, for example, a text object such as a word or a number, an image object such as a logo, or a derived type of content such as a chart”(col. 4, lines 41-50));, building the plurality of text segments based at least in part on the plurality of text elements (i.e., As noted above, Step 4 includes identifying and filtering whitespace lines. In connection with Step 4.1, generating virtual (whitespace) lines, given the discretization grid and a type (a hierarchy level) of text objects, at least one embodiment of the invention includes generating maximum-length line segments that overlap up to a given number of these text objects..”(col. 8, lines 50-57)), building the plurality of text blocks based at least in part on the plurality of text segments (i.e., As noted above, Step 4 includes identifying and filtering whitespace lines. In connection with Step 4.1, generating virtual (whitespace) lines, given the discretization grid and a type (a hierarchy level) of text objects, at least one embodiment of the invention includes generating maximum-length line segments that overlap up to a given number of these text objects..”(col. 8, lines 50-57)), and building the one or more text columns based at least in part on the plurality of text blocks each independently ((i.e., “the input data describe a collection of axis-parallel bounding rectangles containing objects on a canvas (that is, a contiguous area of the PDF document)”(col. 4, lines 30-34) utilize one or more predefined parameters selected from the group consisting of : a "Containing Percentage" parameter, a "Vertical Element Threshold" parameter, a "Vertical Distance Threshold" parameter (i.e., “ wherein each rectangle represents a table boundary, in addition to vertical and horizontal separator lines and/or a set of rectangular cells inside each rectangle”(col. 2, lines 67-68 and col.. 3. Lines 1-5)), a "Horizontal Intersection Threshold" parameter, a "Vertical Distance Threshold for Columns" parameter, a "Horizontal Intersection Threshold for Columns" parameter, a "Horizontal Distance Threshold" parameter, a "Join Overlapping Text Blocks" parameter (i.e., “which can include sub-steps of merging touching or overlapping same-color rectangles,”(col. 6, lines 67 and col. 7. Lines 1) or “generating virtual (whitespace) lines, given the discretization grid and a type (a hierarchy level) of text objects, at least one embodiment of the invention includes generating maximum-length line segments that overlap up to a given number of these text objects. ”(col. 8, lines 51-57)), a "Join Nested and/or Overlapping Columns" parameter, and combinations thereof.
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103) as being unpatentable over Burdick et al. (U..S. Pat. 11,200,413 B2) in view of Dozier, III et al.. (U.S. Pub. 2021/0097143 A1)
With respect to claim 4, Burdick et al. discloses wherein the plurality of text blocks each independently ((i.e., “the input data describe a collection of axis-parallel bounding rectangles containing objects on a canvas (that is, a contiguous area of the PDF document)”(col. 4, lines 30-34)) but Burdick et al. does not discloses a combination of two or more of the plurality of text segments that meet a predetermined set of geometric criteria and/or a predetermined set of visual criteria, However Dozier et al. discloses a combination of two or more of the plurality of text segments that meet a predetermined set of geometric criteria and/or a predetermined set of visual criteria.(i.e., “ one or more processes applying a combination of visual and semantic analyses are executed to segment the image of the original document and obtain one or more regions of the original document. ”(0018) and “Each region may include a text object, a non-text object, or any combination thereof. A region may be further segmented into additional regions based on the objects within the region (e.g., cells of a table).”(0025)). It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include Dozier , III et al. in order to have translating of the original document that would be easier for a user to understand for the stated purpose has been well known in the art as evidenced by teaching of Odzier, III et al (0018).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and would be contingent on overcoming the rejections under 35 U.S. C 101, since the prior art of record and considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure does not teach or suggest the claimed wherein each of the plurality of text elements independently comprises one or more connected components represented in the one or more document images; and wherein each of the plurality of text elements independently correspond to one or more physical marking on a physical document depicted in the one or more document images.
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and would be contingent on overcoming the rejections under 35 U.S. C 101, since the prior art of record and considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure does not teach or suggest the claimed wherein the plurality of text segments each independently comprise an ordered plurality of some or all of the text elements; and wherein each ordered plurality of the some or all of the text elements are independently associated with one another in the one or more document images.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG T VY whose telephone number is (571)272-1954. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/HUNG T VY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2163 February 12, 2026