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 .
This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/129,256, filed December 21, 2020, which application claims benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/706,545, filed on August 24, 2020.
This communication is responsive to the amendment filed on 11/20/2025.
Status of claims
Claims 2, 9 and 16 are canceled.
Claims 1, 8 and 15 are presented for examination.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15 and 17-20 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 12/11/2024 and 12/11/2025 comply with the provisions of M.P.E.P 609. The information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Remarks
Applicant's arguments filed on 11/20/2025 with respect to the last rejections have been considered in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by amendment.
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, 3-8, 10-15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 1, 8 and 15:Step 1: Statutory Category
The claims are directed to one of the four statutory categories of invention, i.e., process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.
Step 2A, Prong One:
The claims recite the limitations
“determining …” 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 “a client device”, nothing in the claim element precludes the steps from practically being performed in a human mind. For example, but for the “a client device” language, “determining”, in the context of these claims encompasses the user manually with the aid of pen and paper would determine classification of object based on certain criteria.
“generating…accessing …” 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. The context of these claims encompasses the user manually with the aid of pen and paper.
If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers mental processes but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the "Mental Processes" grouping of abstract ideas (concepts performed in the human mind including an observation, evaluation, judgement, and opinion).
Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong Two: Integrated into a Practical Application
the claims recite the additional elements “receiving …; receiving …; cropping…”, amount to data-gathering steps which is considered to be insignificant extra-solution activity, (See MPEP 2106.05(g)).
“causing display …; causing display…”, represents an extra-solution activity because it is a mere nominal or tangential addition to the claim, a mere generic transmission and presentation of collected and analyzed data. (See MPEP 2106.05 (g)).
“client device”, “hardware processor”, “memory”, and “non-transitory machine-readable storage medium” are recited at a high level of generality such that they amount to on more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic component. (see MPEP 2106.05(f)). These limitations can also be viewed as nothing more than an attempt to generally link the use of the judicial exception to the technological environment of a computer (see MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Step 2B: Claim provides an Inventive Concept
“receiving …; receiving …; cropping…”. These are identified as insignificant extra-solution activity above when re-evaluated this element is well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by the court cases in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), "i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); … OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network);" and thus remains insignificant extra-solution activity that does not provide significantly more.
“causing display …; causing display…”. This is identified as insignificant extra-solution activity above when re-evaluated this element is well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by the court cases in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), "iv. Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334; i. … transmitting data over a network, …Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); … OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350,
1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network)”.
“client device”, “hardware processor”, “memory”, and “non-transitory machine-readable storage medium”, amount to elements that have been recognized as well-understood, routine, and conventional activity in particular fields, as demonstrate by: relevant court decision: the followings are example of the court decisions demonstrating well-understood, routine and conventional activities, See e.g., MPEP 2106.05(d)(II) and MPEP 2106.05(f)(2): computer readable storage media comprising instructions to implement a method, e.g., see versata Dev. Group, Inc. v SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
“learning machine model” The conclusions for the mere implementation using a computer, mere field of use, and using generic computer components (i.e. ML) as a tool are carried over and do not provide significantly more.
The claims as a whole, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract
idea itself. This is because the claims do not affect an improvement to the functioning
of a computer itself; and the claims do not move beyond a general link of the use of an
abstract idea to a particular technological environment.
Accordingly, claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Claim 3 recites the additional element, which is recited at a high level of generality and would function in its ordinary capacity for accessing addresses of resources, navigating browser to the resource and display of the content , this additional element does not integrate the integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more. The same rationale applies claims 10 and 17
Claim 4 recites the additional element, which is recited at a high level of generality and would function in its ordinary capacity for presenting notifications, this additional element does not integrate the integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more. The same rationale applies claims 11 and 18
Claim 5 recites the additional element, which is recited at a high level of generality and would function in its ordinary capacity for display of a feature carousel, this additional element does not integrate the integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more. The same rationale applies claims 12 and 19
Claim 6 recites “wherein the determining the classification of the object includes: determining a match score of the classification, the match score comprising a percentage value; and determining the match score transgresses a threshold value” 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.
“selecting …” is recited at a high level of generality and would function in its ordinary capacity for selecting the classification to match classification score, this additional element does not integrate the integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more. The same rationale applies claims 13 and 20
Claim 7 recites “wherein the accessing the content related …”. There is no additional elements recited so the claim does not provide a practical application and is not considered to be significantly. The same rationale applies claim 14.
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, 8, 10-12, 15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cha et al. (US 11/210,533 B1), herein after “Cha”, in view of Riya, Inc (WO 2008/060919), herein after “Riya”, further in view of Zadeh (US 2020/0184278),
As per claim 1, Cha discloses a method (abstract, a method of predicting a trajectory of a target vehicle) comprising:
- generating a bounding box that encompasses the object in the image based on a location of the object within the image (abstract, generating a bounding box associated with the target vehicle, the bounding box surrounding a contour of the target object, and col. 1 lines 48-55, detecting the plurality of target objects from the first image using a first convolutional neural network, generating a plurality of preliminary bounding boxes associated with the plurality of target objects,
- cropping the image based on the bounding box to generate a cropped image that comprises a portion of the image data that depicts the object (col. 1 lines 55-67, cropping the plurality of preliminary bounding boxes to generate a plurality of input images, resizing each of the plurality of input images to a predefined size, detecting a plurality of contours of the plurality of target objects from the plurality of resized input images; and col. 7 lines 10-52, a plurality of region of interests (ROIs), and crop the plurality of initial bounding boxes 210-IB to 230-IB to generate a plurality of cropped images 210-CI, 220-CI and 230-CI. Each of the plurality of cropped images 210-CI, 220-CI and 230-CI may have the coordinates of a corresponding initial bounding box, which is generated from the R-CNN, on the input image IMG01.);
- determining, based on a machine learned (ML) model, a classification of the object based on the set of image features from within the cropped image (col. 6 lines 55-62 and col. 7 lines 10-38, the R-CNN may include an object proposal algorithm using anchor boxes, for example, that are fed to a classifier for detecting various vehicle objects; col. 7 lines 60- col. 8 line 3, Each of the plurality of cropped images 210-CI, 220-CI and 230-CI may have the coordinates of a corresponding initial bounding box, which is generated from the R-CNN …using a training-based object contour detection algorithm such as a convolutional neural network, wherein the training-based object contour detection algorithm, the processor 122 operates to generate a plurality of refined bounding boxes 210-RB, 220-RB and 230-RB surrounding the plurality of contours).
However, Cha does not disclose receiving a scan request from a client device, the scan request including an image that comprises a set of image features that depict an object
Riya discloses receiving a scan request from a client device, the scan request including an image that comprises a set of image features that depict an object (abstract, pars. [0076], [0190], [0192], and claim 188, received a search input or extract associated metadata from a source of the content item, wherein the content items containing images);
- accessing content related to the classification from a database (par. [0044], the information about the object contained in the image may correspond to one or more classifications, determination of type, attribute information, and par. [0266], remote web pages are accessed to retrieve content on display. Information is determined about an object shown in a am image of the content on display); and
Riya also discloses determining a classification of the object based on the set of image features (par. [0044], determine information that identifiable to objects shown in the images of the content items, wherein the information about the object contained in the image may correspond to one or more classifications, determination of type, attribute information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of cited references to include the feature as disclosed by Riya by using an autonomous driving technology/a driving assistance technology in order to provide a safe driving of an ego vehicle.
However, Chan and Riya do not disclose “causing display of the content at the client device…; causing display of a presentation of a notification at the client device, the notification including the classification”
On the other hand, Zadeh discloses causing display of the content at the client device (pars. [2085] &[2651], the reader/renderer process receives data related to a resource referenced or provided by the delivered content, based on query from the reader/renderer process related to the resource (e.g., by its URL, identification or location within content or document)… whether in web page or a document link to other knowledgebase entities by fetching the content in an automatic search, analyzing the content within a context and/or by using feature detectors/classifiers, … associate such annotation with the content, e.g., via indexing);
- receiving a selection of the notification from the client device (par. [2714] and pars. [2085], the user e.g., clicks on a button…to specify where to annotate or insert the annotations or plug-in or attach a file or link to a site or link to a hyperlink (notification));
- causing display of a presentation of a notification at the client device, the notification including the classification (pars. [2085] &[2651], the reader/renderer process receives data related to a resource referenced or provided by the delivered content, based on query from the reader/renderer process related to the resource (e.g., by its URL, identification or location within content or document)… whether in web page or a document link to other knowledgebase entities by fetching the content in an automatic search, analyzing the content within a context and/or by using feature detectors/classifiers, … associate such annotation with the content, e.g., via indexing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of cited references to include the feature as disclosed by Zadeh to provide very efficient and fast algorithms for image and pattern recognition processing, classification, deep/detailed analysis/discovery, for all the applications and usages.
As per claim 3, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. Zadeh further discloses accessing an address of a resources associated with the content within the database (par. [1419], the information is scanned or parsed. Then, it is tagged, indexed and stored in proper repositories. There are multiple classes of repositories, e.g., in terms of short-term and long-term, e.g., for frequency of access or access speed for retrieval; and par. [2651], the information is obtained by the first application using the authorization of the user from the online application …the user ID and references (e.g., URL, or ID) associated with the movie or image are sent to a search/indexing engine/application/process, to find features/annotations previously analyzed or obtained from such movie or image. If such information found, they are extracted from a database or Z-web, e.g., including features, temporal/spatial locations);
- navigating a browser to the resource based on the address, the resource comprising the content (pars. [2085] &[2651], the reader/renderer process receives data related to a resource referenced or provided by the delivered content, based on query from the reader/renderer process related to the resource (e.g., by its URL, identification or location within content or document)… whether in web page or a document link to other knowledgebase entities by fetching the content in an automatic search, analyzing the content within a context and/or by using feature detectors/classifiers, … associate such annotation with the content, e.g., via indexing).
- causing display of the content at the client device (pars. [2085] &[2651], the reader/renderer process receives data related to a resource referenced or provided by the delivered content, based on query from the reader/renderer process related to the resource (e.g., by its URL, identification or location within content or document)… whether in web page or a document link to other knowledgebase entities by fetching the content in an automatic search, analyzing the content within a context and/or by using feature detectors/classifiers, … associate such annotation with the content, e.g., via indexing).
As per claim 4, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. In addition, Zadeh discloses the navigating the browser to the resource includes: presenting a notification that includes a hyperlink to the resource at the client device, the hyperlink comprising the address of the resource (pars. [2085], providing by the delivered content based on query from the reader/renderer process related to the resource (e.g., by its URL, identification or location within content or document) … whether in web page or a document link; and par. [2714], the user e.g., clicks on a button…to specify where to annotate or insert the annotations or plug-in or attach a file or link to a site or link to a hyperlink); receiving an input that selects the notification (par. [2714] and pars. [2085], the user e.g., clicks on a button…to specify where to annotate or insert the annotations or plug-in or attach a file or link to a site or link to a hyperlink (notification)); and navigating the browser to the resource in response to the selection (pars. [2085] & [2714]).
As per claim 5, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. In addition, Zadeh discloses the receiving the scan request from the client device further comprises: causing display of a feature carousel at the client device, the feature carousel comprising a plurality of icons that include an icon associated with the scan request (par. [2943], determine whether the request is from a user's browser/application; par. [2638], the UI input such as mouse or touch input changes to a tool .. icons … a touch/click by the user provides a UI such as the popup menu for user to quickly select the action/emotion to use with respect the object selected; par. [1859], a quick scan recognition approach is used, based on resolution level of the focus widow… a portion of image is picked based on (e.g., predefined) windows associated with the resolution level…A feature recognition/classifier is used to locate/recognize objects within the window);
- receiving an input that selects the icon associated with the scan request (par. [2943], determine whether the request is from a user's browser/application; par. [2638], the UI input such as mouse or touch input changes to a tool .. icons … a touch/click by the user provides a UI such as the popup menu for user to quickly select the action/emotion to use with respect the object selected; par. [1859], a quick scan recognition approach is used, based on resolution level of the focus widow… a portion of image is picked based on (e.g., predefined) windows associated with the resolution level…A feature recognition/classifier is used to locate/recognize objects within the window); 26
- presenting a scan interface at the client device in response to the input that selects the icon associated with the scan request (par. [2943], determine whether the request is from a user's browser/application; par. [2638], the UI input such as mouse or touch input changes to a tool .. icons … a touch/click by the user provides a UI such as the popup menu for user to quickly select the action/emotion to use with respect the object selecte a scan interface at the client device in responsed; par. [1859], a quick scan recognition approach is used, based on resolution level of the focus widow… a portion of image is picked based on (e.g., predefined) windows associated with the resolution level…A feature recognition/classifier is used to locate/recognize objects within the window);
-
- 4218.C25US1presenting a scan interface at the client device in response to the input that selects the icon associated with the scan request;
capturing the image data via the scan interface (par. [1859], a quick scan recognition approach is used, based on resolution level of the focus widow… a portion of image is picked based on (e.g., predefined) windows associated with the resolution level…A feature recognition/classifier is used to locate/recognize objects within the window); and
- generating the scan request based on the image data (par. [1966] one models the objects using a real face and computer-generated glasses types…one models the objects using a computer-generated face types and real glasses).
As per claims 8 and 10-12, are system claims, which are corresponding with the method claims 1 and 3-5. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rational as claims 1 and 3-5 above.
As per claims 15 and 17-19, are non-transitory machine-readable storage medium claims, which are corresponding with the method claims 1 and 3-5. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rational as claims 1 and 3-5 above.
Claims 2, 6-7, 9, 13-14, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cha, Riya and Zadeh, in further view of Park (US 11/462018)
As per claim 2, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. However, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh fail to explicitly disclose “generating a bounding box based on the dimensions of the object; and determining the classification of the object based on a portion of the set of image features within the bounding box”.
On the other hand, Park discloses generating a bounding box based on the dimensions of the object (col. 10 lines 58-65, generating a representative image using an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects; and col. 7 line 32-63,The object recognition process is performed with respect to each of the target images input, wherein an image size selection process may be an example of a process of determining a size, for example, 120x120 pixels or 96x96 pixels, of a representative image to be extracted in the recognition result image. A size-by-size object position guide selection process may be an example of a process of determining a position of an object in a representative image. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates an example 341 for aligning and then cropping a position of an object in a representative image to one of the left, right, and center of the representative image);
- determining the classification of the object based on a portion of the set of image features within the bounding box (col. 6 line 38-52 and col. 7 line 32-63, a process of receiving one or more target images included in a webtoon, wherein a single episode may be configured as a single target image and may be configured as a plurality of target images classified for each cut, wherein an image size selection process may be an example of a process of determining a size, for example, 120x120 pixels or 96x96 pixels, of a representative image to be extracted in the recognition result image. A size-by-size object position guide selection process may be an example of a process of determining a position of an object in a representative image).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of the cited references to include the features as disclosed by Park in order to generate and use various types of representative images based on various ratios and sizes by considering features of each list of each user interface.
As per claim 6, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. However, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh fail to explicitly disclose “wherein the determining the classification of the object includes: determining a match score of the classification, the match score comprising a percentage value; determining the match score transgresses a threshold value; and selecting the classification in response to the match score of the classification transgressing the threshold value”.
Meanwhile, Park discloses the determining the classification of the object includes: determining a match score of the classification, the match score comprising a percentage value (col. 12 lines 25-37, using reference data to recognize an object. For example, receive reference data for each preset pattern and may recognize an object in at least one target image based on a degree of matching with the reference data, and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data);
- determining that the match score transgresses a threshold value (col. 12 lines 25-37, using reference data to recognize an object. For example, receive reference data for each preset pattern and may recognize an object in at least one target image based on a degree of matching with the reference data, and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data); and
- selecting the classification in response to the match score of the classification transgressing the threshold value (col. 6 lines 1-5, displaying a service screen configured using data provided from the server/electronic device; and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of the cited references to include the features as disclosed by Park in order to generate and use various types of representative images based on various ratios and sizes by considering features of each list of each user interface.
As per claim 7, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh disclose the invention as claimed. However, the combination of Cha, Riya and Zadeh fail to explicitly disclose “wherein the accessing the content related to the classification from the database includes: determining a match score of the classification, the match score comprising a percentage value; determining that the match score transgresses a threshold value; and accessing the content in response to the match score of the classification transgressing the threshold value”.
On the other hand, Park discloses determining a match score of the classification, the match score comprising a percentage value (col. 12 lines 25-37, using reference data to recognize an object. For example, receive reference data for each preset pattern and may recognize an object in at least one target image based on a degree of matching with the reference data, and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data);
- determining that the match score transgresses a threshold value (col. 12 lines 25-37, using reference data to recognize an object. For example, receive reference data for each preset pattern and may recognize an object in at least one target image based on a degree of matching with the reference data, and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data); and
- accessing the content in response to the match score of the classification transgressing the threshold value (col. 6 lines 1-5, displaying a service screen configured using data provided from the server/electronic device; and col. 10 lines 58-65, an image of an object that is selected from among images of the recognized objects based on a degree of matching with reference data).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of the cited references to include the features as disclosed by Park in order to generate and use various types of representative images based on various ratios and sizes by considering features of each list of each user interface.
As per claims 13-14, are system claims, which are corresponding with the method claims 2 and 6-7. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rational as claims 6-7 above.
As per claim 20, is non-transitory machine-readable storage medium claims, which is corresponding with the method claim 7. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rational as claim 7 above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Loan T. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 270-3103. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Thursday-Friday from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aleksandr Kerzhner can be reached on (571) 270-1760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4103. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
5/10/2026
/LOAN T NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2165
/ALEKSANDR KERZHNER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2165
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