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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in EP on 12/6/2023. It is noted, however, that the Applicant has not filed a certified copy of the EP23214619.1 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Receipt is acknowledged that application claims priority to foreign application with application number EP24181125.6 dated 6/10/2024. Copies of certified papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 have been received. Priority is acknowledged under 35 USC 119(e) and 37 CFR 1.78.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS dated 4/11/2025 and 6/6/2025 have been considered and placed in the application file.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 recites “wherein the generative machine learning model (MLM) is or comprises one or more of the following: artificial neural network, convolutional neural network, variational autoencoder, generative adversarial network, transformer, diffusion network”. “wherein the generative machine learning model (MLM) is or comprises the generative machine learning model (MLM) is or comprises…” should read as “wherein the generative learning model (MLM) comprises…”.
Claim 12 recites “a processing unit or; and” and “a memory storing a computer program (60) configured to perform, when executed by the processing unit or, an operation, the operation comprising.” The “or” should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim(s) 1-13, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 (and correspondingly claims 2, 12-13) recites “c.2) generating a second synthetic representation (SR2) of the examination area of the reference object, wherein generating the second synthetic representation (SR2) comprises: subtracting the first reference representation (RR1) from the first synthetic representation (SR1)…
c.4) generating a fourth synthetic representation (SR4) of the examination area of the reference object, wherein generating the fourth synthetic representation (SR4) comprises: subtracting the third synthetic representation (SR3) from the first synthetic representation (SR1) or adding the third synthetic representation (SR3) to the first reference representation (RR1),”. It is unclear what the Applicant is claiming when stating “subtracting”, as subtraction can comprise of multiple definitions, such as finding a difference between the two representations or subtracting the pixels from one image to another. For examination purposes, the examiner will interpret this limitation as the latter.
Claim 1 also recites “c.3) generating a third synthetic representation (SR3) of the examination area of the reference object, wherein generating the third synthetic representation (SR3) comprises: reducing the contrast of the second synthetic representation (SR2).” There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the contrast”. For examination purposes, the examiner will interpret this as “a contrast”.
Claim 2 (and correspondingly claims 12 and 13) recites “b) providing a first representation (R1) and/or a second representation (R2) of the examination area of an examination object…”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for “a first representation” and “a second representation”. For examination purposes, the examiner will interpret both respectively as “the first representation” and “the second representation”.
Claim 9 recites “wherein the generative machine learning model (MLM) is or comprises one or more of the following: artificial neural network, convolutional neural network, variational autoencoder, generative adversarial network, transformer, diffusion network.”. It is unclear if the Applicant is claiming a disjunctive or conjunctive form of the machine learning model, as the Applicant has not included an “and” or “or” in the claim. For examination purposes, the examiner will interpret this limitation as the former.
Claim 12 recites “a processing unit or; and” and “a memory storing a computer program (60) configured to perform, when executed by the processing unit or, an operation, the operation comprising.” The “or” raises some ambiguity as to whether the
Claims 3-11, 15 are rejected for their dependencies on claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13, 15 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
References Cited
US 20250371681 A1 to Radbruch et al. describes obtaining MRI images based on images without contrast agent and with contrast agents.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE ZHANG whose telephone number is (571) 272-0245. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:00-6:00 EST.
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, Ms. Sumati Lefkowitz can be reached on (571) 272-3638. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE ZHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2672
/SUMATI LEFKOWITZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2672
