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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Note: The claims are not directed towards patent ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101
Step 1: IS THE CLAIM DIRECTED TO A PROCESS, MACHINE, MANUFACTURE OR COMPOSITION OF MATTER?
Yes
Step 2A.1: IS THE CLAIM DIRECTED TO A LAW OF NATURE, A NATURAL PHENOMENON (PRODUCT OF NATURE) OR AN ABSTRACT IDEA?
No
Step 2A.2: DOES THE CLAIM RECITE ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS THAT INTEGRATE THE JUDICIAL EXCEPTION INTO A PRACTICAL APPLICATION?
Yes, if the claims are alternatively construed to be abstract in step 2A1. The claims seek to improve comment selection for a user supported by the specification, and reflected by the claims e.g. in spec: 0037, 0051, 0067 In other words, the claims enable the invention to save on resources and improve accuracy by have a comment ranking system.
Supported by the following:
In Finjan Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., 879 F.3d 1299, 125 USPQ2d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2018), the claimed invention was a method of virus scanning that scans an application program, generates a security profile identifying any potentially suspicious code in the program, and links the security profile to the application program. 879 F.3d at 1303-04, 125 USPQ2d at 1285-86. The Federal Circuit noted that the recited virus screening was an abstract idea, and that merely performing virus screening on a computer does not render the claim eligible. 879 F.3d at 1304, 125 USPQ2d at 1286. The court then continued with its analysis under part one of the Alice/Mayo test by reviewing the patent’s specification, which described the claimed security profile as identifying both hostile and potentially hostile operations. The court noted that the security profile thus enables the invention to protect the user against both previously unknown viruses and “obfuscated code,” as compared to traditional virus scanning, which only recognized the presence of previously-identified viruses. The security profile also enables more flexible virus filtering and greater user customization. 879 F.3d at 1304, 125 USPQ2d at 1286. The court identified these benefits as improving computer functionality, and verified that the claims recite additional elements (e.g., specific steps of using the security profile in a particular way) that reflect this improvement. Accordingly, the court held the claims eligible as not being directed to the recited abstract idea. 879 F.3d at 1304-05, 125 USPQ2d at 1286-87. This analysis is equivalent to the Office’s analysis of determining that the additional elements integrate the judicial exception into a practical application at Step 2A Prong Two, and thus that the claims were not directed to the judicial exception (Step 2A: NO).
Examples of claims that improve technology and are not directed to a judicial exception include: Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327, 1339, 118 USPQ2d 1684, 1691-92 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (claims to a self-referential table for a computer database were directed to an improvement in computer capabilities and not directed to an abstract idea); McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games Am. Inc., 837 F.3d 1299, 1315, 120 USPQ2d 1091, 1102-03 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (claims to automatic lip synchronization and facial expression animation were directed to an improvement in computer-related technology and not directed to an abstract idea); Visual Memory LLC v. NVIDIA Corp., 867 F.3d 1253,1259-60, 123 USPQ2d 1712, 1717 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (claims to an enhanced computer memory system were directed to an improvement in computer capabilities and not an abstract idea); Finjan Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., 879 F.3d 1299, 125 USPQ2d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (claims to virus scanning were found to be an improvement in computer technology and not directed to an abstract idea); SRI Int’l, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 930 F.3d 1295, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (claims to detecting suspicious activity by using network monitors and analyzing network packets were found to be an improvement in computer network technology and not directed to an abstract idea). Additional examples are provided in MPEP § 2106.05(a).
Regarding the December 5th 2025 Memo in light of September 26, 2025 Appeals Review Panel Decision in Ex parte Desjardins, Appeal 2024-000567 for Application 16/319,040, in deciding if a recited abstract idea does or does not direct the entire claim to an abstract idea, when a claim is considered as a whole:
Paragraph 21 of the Specification, which the Appellant cites, identifies improvements in training the machine learning model itself. Of course, such an assertion in the Specification alone is insufficient to support a patent eligibility determination, absent a subsequent determination that the claim itself reflects the disclosed improvement. See MPEP § 2106.05(a) (citing Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2016)). Here, however, we are persuaded that the claims reflect such an improvement. For example, one improvement identified in the 8 Appeal2024-000567 Application 16/319,040 Specification is to "effectively learn new tasks in succession whilst protecting knowledge about previous tasks." Spec. ,r 21. The Specification also recites that the claimed improvement allows artificial intelligence (AI) systems to "us[e] less of their storage capacity" and enables "reduced system complexity." Id. When evaluating the claim as a whole, we discern at least the following limitation of independent claim 1 that reflects the improvement: "adjust the first values of the plurality of parameters to optimize performance of the machine learning model on the second machine learning task while protecting performance of the machine learning model on the first machine learning task." We are persuaded that constitutes an improvement to how the machine learning model itself operates, and not, for example, the identified mathematical calculation. Under a charitable view, the overbroad reasoning of the original panel below is perhaps understandable given the confusing nature of existing § 101 jurisprudence, but troubling, because this case highlights what is at stake. Categorically excluding AI innovations from patent protection in the United States jeopardizes America's leadership in this critical emerging technology. Yet, under the panel's reasoning, many AI innovations are potentially unpatentable-even if they are adequately described and nonobvious-because the panel essentially equated any machine learning with an unpatentable "algorithm" and the remaining additional elements as "generic computer components," without adequate explanation. Dec. 24. Examiners and panels should not evaluate claims at such a high level of generality.
Specifically, Ex Parte Desjardins explained the following:
Enfish ranks among the Federal Circuit's leading cases on the eligibility of technological improvements. In particular, Enfish recognized that “[m]uch of the advancement made in computer technology consists of improvements to software that, by their very nature, may not be defined by particular physical features but rather by logical structures and processes.” 822 F.3d at 1339. Moreover, because “[s]oftware can make non-abstract improvements to computer technology, just as hardware improvements can,” the Federal Circuit held that the eligibility determinations should turn on whether “the claims are directed to an improvement to computer functionality versus being directed to an abstract idea.” Id. at 1336. (Desjardins, page 8).
Further in Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential), the claimed invention was a method of training a machine learning model on a series of tasks. The Appeals Review Panel (ARP) overall credited benefits including reduced storage, reduced system complexity and streamlining, and preservation of performance attributes associated with earlier tasks during subsequent computational tasks as technological improvements that were disclosed in the patent application specification. Specifically, the ARP upheld the Step 2A Prong One finding that the claims recited an abstract idea (i.e., mathematical concept). In Step 2A Prong Two, the ARP then determined that the specification identified improvements as to how the machine learning model itself operates, including training a machine learning model to learn new tasks while protecting knowledge about previous tasks to overcome the problem of “catastrophic forgetting” encountered in continual learning systems. Importantly, the ARP evaluated the claims as a whole in discerning at least the limitation “adjust the first values of the plurality of parameters to optimize performance of the machine learning model on the second machine learning task while protecting performance of the machine learning model on the first machine learning task” reflected the improvement disclosed in the specification. Accordingly, the claims as a whole integrated what would otherwise be a judicial exception instead into a practical application at Step 2A Prong Two, and therefore the claims were
The claim itself does not need to explicitly recite the improvement described in the specification (e.g., “thereby increasing the bandwidth of the channel”). See, e.g., Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential), in which the specification identified the improvement to machine learning technology by explaining how the machine learning model is trained to learn new tasks while protecting knowledge about previous tasks to overcome the problem of “catastrophic forgetting,” and that the claims reflected the improvement identified in the specification. Indeed, enumerated improvements identified in the Desjardins specification included disclosures of the effective learning of new tasks in succession in connection with specifically protecting knowledge concerning previously accomplished tasks; allowing the system to reduce use of storage capacity; and the enablement of reduced complexity in the system. Such improvements were tantamount to how the machine learning model itself would function in operation and therefore not subsumed in the identified mathematical calculation.
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 –
(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.
Claims 1, 2, 8-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 11887359 B2 Zhou; Zheng et al. (hereinafter Zhou).
Re claim 1, Zhou teaches
1. A computer-implemented method for information processing, comprising: (fig. 6c system)
obtaining text information, wherein the text information comprises first text information of a resource to be commented on and second text information of a candidate prompt; (comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
selecting a target prompt from the candidate prompts based on the text information; and (in context of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
generating comment information of the resource to be commented on, based on the resource to be commented on and the target prompt. (in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 14, this claim has been rejected for teaching a broader, or narrower claim based on general inclusion of hardware alone (e.g. processor, memory, instructions), representation of claim 1 mitting/including hardware for instance, otherwise amounting to a virtually identical scope
For instance, see fig. 6c-d which contains the hardware.
Re claim 20, this claim has been rejected for teaching a broader, or narrower claim based on general inclusion of hardware alone (e.g. processor, memory, instructions), representation of claim 1 mitting/including hardware for instance, otherwise amounting to a virtually identical scope
For instance, see fig. 6c-d which contains the hardware.
Re claims 2 and 15, Zhou teaches
2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the target prompt from the candidate prompts based on the text information comprises: predicting a quality parameter of the candidate prompt based on the text information; and (ranking in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
selecting the target prompt from the candidate prompts based on the quality parameters of the candidate prompts. (in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 8, Zhou teaches
8. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the first text information comprises: obtaining at least one piece of key information of the resource to be commented on, and generating the first text information based on the at least one piece of the key information, wherein the key information comprises at least one of a title, a topic or summary information. (key information such as in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 9, Zhou teaches
9. The method of claim 8, wherein obtaining the first text information comprises: in response to determining that the resource to be commented on does not carry the at least one piece of the key information, obtaining understanding information by performing semantic analysis and content understanding of the resource to be commented on, and generating the first text information based on the understanding information. (key information such as in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 10, Zhou teaches
10. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the second text information comprises: obtaining original content of the candidate prompt and extracting the second text information from the original content of the candidate prompt. (in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claims 11 and 19, Zhou teaches
11. The method of claim 10, wherein extracting the second text information from the original content of the candidate prompt comprises: determining a number of words to be extracted, and obtaining the second text information by extracting from front to back based on the number of the words to be extracted from the original content of the candidate prompt. (word col 17 line 29 to col 18 line 12 and vectorized with encoded representation e.g. SVM col 15 lines 42-67… in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 12, Zhou teaches
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining the text information by combining the first text information and the second text information based on a preset template. (fig. 5 shows a template concept for vectorized inputs… in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 13, Zhou teaches
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the comment information of the resource to be commented on comprises at least one of: a comment text of the resource to be commented on, a comment picture of the resource to be commented on, a comment audio of the resource to be commented on, or a comment video of the resource to be commented on. (in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Re claim 18, Zhou teaches
18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain at least one piece of key information of the resource to be commented on, and generate the first text information based on the at least one piece of the key information, wherein the key information comprises at least one of a title, a topic or summary information; (key information as in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
obtain original content of the candidate prompt and extract the second text information from the original content of the candidate prompt; (in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
obtain the text information by combining the first text information and the second text information based on a preset template; and (fig. 5 shows a template concept for vectorized inputs… in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
in response to determining that the resource to be commented on does not carry the at least one piece of the key information, obtain understanding information by performing semantic analysis and content understanding of the resource to be commented on, and generate the first text information based on the understanding information. (key information as in context e.g. family, food, etc. of multiple topics and text, comment candidates shown based on highest rank as a prompt to produce the comment fig. 6c and 6d col 24 lines 35-60 and col 27 line 63 to col 29 line 24)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3
Claims 4-7
Claims 16-17
Are 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 any intervening claims. After searching through patent and non-patent literature, there was no evidence that there exists a limitation in direct relation or an obvious variant to such limitations as a whole as precisely limited. When searching for a secondary prior art for the limitation as recited in the above claims, the most relevant topics pertained to material from the same Inventor and Assignee but did not teach or suggest the aforementioned complex limitations as a whole as precisely limited.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20230283855 A1 CHEN; Lizhuo
Removing the longest comment to fit a screen e.g. video
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C COLUCCI whose telephone number is (571)270-1847. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 AM - 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Flanders can be reached at (571)272-7516. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL COLUCCI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2655 (571)-270-1847
Examiner FAX: (571)-270-2847
Michael.Colucci@uspto.gov
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