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 .
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 non-statutory subject matter.
The claims are directed to organizing, processing and generating content (audio) based on rules and a user input. The claims fall under the mental processing (particularly evaluation, judgments and comparisons) along with methods for organizing information and content generation workflows. The claims recite receiving a voice command, determining characteristics such as efficiency and naturalness, identifying the user’s preferred efficiency/naturalness, comparing speech characteristics with user preferences, determining if they align, retrieving alternative commands, comparing characteristics of candidate command with preferences, selecting the candidate that best aligns with preferences and generating a response indication the selected command. The claims are merely data gathering, evaluating the data, doing a mental comparison retrieving data and outputting the results. The present claim language under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of mental processing and recites generic computer components, which all 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 additional elements which are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function) 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 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 elements 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 claims are not patent eligible.
According to Step 1, it includes determining whether the claims fall within a statutory category. The claims include a method, therefore the claims fall within a statutory category. Step 2A Prong one, includes evaluating whether the claims recite a judicial exception. The claims recite a judicial exception, therefore an evaluation is done to determine if the claims fit into one of the categories. As explained, the claims fit into the mental processing concept. Prong 2A, Prong two is used to evaluate whether the claims recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application. As explained the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites additional elements which are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function) 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. Nothing in the claims appears to require a particular improvement to speech recognition, voice processing, language-model architecture, computer operation or any other technical field. Regarding Step 2B Inventive Concept/Significantly More, as explained above the claims are directed to an abstract idea and the additional elements must supply an inventive concept that transforms the abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter. Therefore, the claims are non-statutory.
It is noted that the claims mention language model, however, the claim doesn’t appear to recite how the language model technically computer the speech characteristics. It merely states using one or more language model with is using the language model as a tool for performing evaluation, rather than claiming a particular technological operation of the model.
The dependent claims recite similar language, such as identifying data, computing data, generating a transcript, accessing data, making determinations and retrieving data which is all part of the mental processing/organizing human activity category and is non-statutory.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This information has been detailed in the PTO 892 attached (Notice of References Cited).
Aher et al. teaches increasing user engagement through query suggestion.
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/JAKIEDA R JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2657
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