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 .
Response to Preliminary Amendment
The Preliminary Amendment filed on 01/14/2025 has been entered, however, it has unclear instructions since the Specification did not previously have a section titled: CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION.
Response to Preliminary Remarks
Applicant's Preliminary Remarks filed 01/14/2025 concerning the Preliminary Amendment have been considered and those amendments have been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
FIG. 4 has image generator 309 while the specification on page 15 line 7 refers to image generator 109, however, the figures have no reference numeral 109, a possible solution is to change in the specification reference numeral 109 to 309;
the specification on page 15 lines 8 and 9 references a stylization module 471,
however, FIG. 4 uses 430 to reference the stylization module, a possible solution is to change in the specification stylization module 471 to stylization module 430; and
FIG. 4 has reference numeral 472 which reference numeral 472 is not in the specification, a possible solution is to add reference numeral 472 at an appropriate location on page 15 line 10.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
CLAIM INTERPRETATION
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Claims 1-15 have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) to not invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) claim interpretation.
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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 15 covers signals.
Claim 15 claims “A computer-readable storage medium including machine-executable instructions, the machine-executable instructions, when executed by a device, causing the device to: … .”. Applicant’s specification at page 5 lines 8-17 defines storage media as any media. Page 5 lines 8-17 describes:
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The claimed computer-readable storage medium corresponds to the described computer storage media which is described as “Such media can be any media accessible by computing device 100, including but not limited to …”. Therefore, the claimed computer-readable storage medium covers any media such as signals which are accessible by computer device 100. Thus, the claimed computer-readable storage medium is directed to patent ineligible subject matter. Accordingly, claim 15 is directed to patent ineligible subject matter. A possible solution is to amend claim 15 to claim non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Smith et al, US Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0316475, describes text to image utilizing semantics and an input image latent code, however, is silent as to utilizing latent embedding.
Zhang et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0232765, describes text to image utilizing semantics, however, is silent as to utilizing latent embedding.
Liu et al., CN 113361250 A, describes text to image utilizing semantics, however, is silent as to utilizing latent embedding.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
Claim 15 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-13:
The prior art of record fails to teach or suggest in the context of independent claim 1 “converting the image embedding into a latent embedding for generating an image; and generating, based on the latent embedding, an image semantically correlated with the input text.” (emphasis added) which solves the problem discussed in Applicant’s specification in the BACKGROUND on page 1 lines 4-15 providing the benefits discussed in the SUMMARY on page 1 lines 16-27
Claims 14 and 15:
The prior art of record fails to teach or suggest in the context of each of independent claims 14 and 15 “convert the image embedding into a latent embedding for generating an image; and generate, based on the latent embedding, an image semantically correlated with the input text.” (emphasis added) which solves the problem discussed in Applicant’s specification in the BACKGROUND on page 1 lines 4-15 providing the benefits discussed in the SUMMARY on page 1 lines 16-27
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFERY A BRIER whose telephone number is (571)272-7656. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 8:30am-3:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao M Wu, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7761. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JEFFERY A. BRIER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2613
/JEFFERY A BRIER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2613
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