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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1 and 13 have been amended. Claims 1-13 are pending and rejected in the application. This action is Final.
Applicant Argues
Claims 1-13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. This rejection is respectfully traversed.
Without conceding that the claims are directed to an abstract idea, applicant contends that the claim as whole is integrated into a practical application. One way to demonstrate such integration is when the claimed invention improves another technology. See, MPEP 2106.04(d)(1).
Examiner Responds:
Applicant's 35 USC § 101 arguments with respect to claims 1-13 have been considered and are persuasive. Thus, the 35 U.S.C. §101 rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant Argues
Li doesn't disclose "given query and the results associated with the given node" as cited. Li's own tree data structure (FIG. 4; NODE objects pointing to either a QUERY object or a GRAPH/result object, col. 5-7) keeps a query and its results as separate, sequential sibling/child nodes - a query node, then a child result node, then a child modified-query node, and so on. No single node in Li's structure is ever associated with both a query and its results together, which is what claim 1 requires. For at least this reason, it is respectfully submitted that Claim 1, along with claims depending therefrom, defines patentable subject matter over this combination of references.
Examiner Responds:
Applicant's 35 USC § 103 argument with respect to claims 1-13 has been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 of this title, 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, 2, 6-9, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simitsis et al. U.S. Patent (2017/0004173; hereinafter: Simitsis) in view of Kaltegaertner et al. U.S. Patent (2026/0016946; hereinafter: Kaltegaertner) and further in view of Li et al. U.S. Patent (5,911,138; hereinafter: Li)
Claims 1 and 13
As to claims 21, 28, and 35, Simitsis discloses a computer-implemented method for querying a database system, comprising:
presenting, by a computer processor, a tree graph on a display of a computer system, where the tree graph represents related queries on the database system (Figure 6A, paragraph[0036], the reference describe displaying a query tree on an interface.);
receiving, by the computer processor, a selection of a given node in the tree graph displayed on the display from a user of the database system (paragraph[0036], the reference describes a user selecting a node on the graph.);
Simitsis does not appear to explicitly disclose
in response to receiving the selection of the given node, retrieve a given query and results for the given query from an auxiliary database without re-executing the given query in the database system, where the given query and the results for the given query are associated with the given node;
presenting, by the computer processor, the given query, along with results for the given query, on the display, where the given query is associated with the given node;
receiving, by the computer processor, a modification to the given query from the user of the database system, thereby forming a new query, wherein receiving the modification includes a command to execute the new query in the database system;
executing, by the computer processor, the new query in accordance with the command to generate new results for the new query; and
updating, by the computer processor, the tree graph with the new query, including storing the new query and the new results for the new query in the auxiliary database.
However, Kaltegaertner discloses in response to receiving the selection of the given node, retrieve a given query and results for the given query from an auxiliary database without re-executing the given query in the database system, where the given query and the results for the given query are associated with the given node (paragraph[0034]-paragraph[0037], there reference describes display and selecting nodes that represent trees. The reference describes not selecting and viewing the query nodes without executing the query (e.g., paragraph[0037]).);
presenting, by the computer processor, the given query, along with results for the given query, on the display, where the given query is associated with the given node (paragraph[0034], the reference displaying the query and the related results.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner to modify query trees on an interface with re-executing the query which would result in the claim invention. The skilled artisan would have been motivated to improve the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner to efficiently identify discrete pieces of information from data sources which can include or primarily consist of innocuous or noisy data which provides little probative value (Kaltegaertner: paragraph[0004]).
The combination of Simitsis and Kaltegaertner do not appear to explicitly disclose
receiving, by the computer processor, a modification to the given query from the user of the database system, thereby forming a new query, wherein receiving the modification includes a command to execute the new query in the database system;
executing, by the computer processor, the new query in accordance with the command to generate new results for the new query; and
updating, by the computer processor, the tree graph with the new query, including storing the new query and the new results for the new query in the auxiliary database.
However, Li discloses receiving, by the computer processor, a modification to the given query from the user of the database system, thereby forming a new query, wherein receiving the modification includes a command to execute the new query in the database system (Figure 5A, column 7, lines 24-38, the reference describes the user editing an element on the query tree.);
executing, by the computer processor, the new query in accordance with the command to generate new results for the new query(Figure 5A, column 7, lines 39-65, the refer reference describes editing and running the new query.); and
updating, by the computer processor, the tree graph with the new query, including storing the new query and the new results for the new query in the auxiliary database (Figure 5B, element 328, column 7, lines 39-65, the reference describes the user editing an element on the query tree. The tree is changed (i.e., updated, as claimed) and displayed on the interface.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner and Li to modify query trees on an interface which would result in the claim invention. The skilled artisan would have been motivated to improve the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner and Li to efficiently determine the identification of the sources that cause a particular problem (Li: column 1, lines 21-25]).
Claim 2
As to claim 2, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 1, as noted above, and Li further disclose wherein each node in the tree graph represents a different query of the database system and edges in the tree graph present relationships between queries (column 5, lines 8-24, the reference describes the child nodes (i.e., each node in the graph tree, as claimed) represent different query statements.).
Claim 6
As to claim 6, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 1, as noted above, and Li further disclose presenting the tree graph, the given query and the results for the given query concurrently on the display, such that the tree graph is displayed in a navigation pane, the given query is displayed in a query pane and the result for the given query are displayed in a results pane (Figure 3D, column 6, lines 10-24, the reference discloses displaying query and query results in different panes.).
Claim 7
As to claim 7, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 6, as noted above, and Li further disclose wherein receiving a modification to the given query includes a command to execute the new query in the database system, and further comprises executing the new query in accordance with the command and presenting results for the new query in the results pane of the display pane (Figure 3D, column 6, lines 10-24, the reference discloses displaying query and query results in different panes. The reference also shows different results (e.g., Figure 3D, elements results1 and results 2.1.1.) as the user make query modifications.).
Claim 8
As to claim 8, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 7, as noted above, and Li further disclose wherein receiving a modification to the given query includes appending a search criterion to the given query, executing the new query in relation to the results for the given query, and adding a child node to the tree graph, where the child node representing the new query has a child relationship with a node in the tree graph representing the given query (Figure 3D, column 6, lines 1-9, the reference describes changing the query which adds more child nodes to the tree.).
Claim 9
As to claim 9, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 7, as noted above, and Li further disclose wherein receiving a modification to the given query includes removing or amending a search criterion from the given query, executing the new query, and adding a child node to the tree graph, where the child node representing the new query has a child relationship with a node in the tree graph representing the given query (Figure 3D, column 6, lines 1-24, the reference describes modifying (i.e., amending, as claimed) the query which adds more child nodes to the tree.).
Claim 11
As to claim 11, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 1, as noted above, and Li further disclose wherein updating the tree graph includes adding a child node to the tree graph, where the child node has a child relationship with a node in the tree graph representing the given query (Figure 3D, column 6, lines 10-24, the reference describes adding more nodes to the tree based on query modifications.)
Claim 12
As to claim 12, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 1, as noted above, and Li further disclose further comprises adding at least one of a label, a tag, a color, and a comment to one or multiple nodes in the tree graph(Figure 3D, column 6, lines 10-24, the reference shows the tree has labels in figure 3D.).
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simitsis et al. U.S. Patent (2017/0004173; hereinafter: Simitsis) in view of Kaltegaertner et al. U.S. Patent (2026/0016946; hereinafter: Kaltegaertner) and further in view of Li et al. U.S. Patent (5,911,138; hereinafter: Li) and further Joffe et al. U.S. Patent Publication (2022/0207042; hereinafter: Joffe)
Claim 3
As to claim 3, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 1, as noted above, but do not appear to explicitly disclose further disclose for each node in the tree graph, storing an identifier for the query, the query, and results for the query in an auxiliary database.
However, Joffe discloses for each node in the tree graph, storing an identifier for the query, the query, and results for the query in an auxiliary database (paragraph[0038], the reference describes generating and storing identifiers for each query and result.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner, Li, and Joffe to identify queries and results which would result in the claim invention. The skilled artisan would have been motivated to improve the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner, Li, and Joffe to efficiently use query tree label nodes of a query tree and process the query tree and returns (Joffe: paragraph[0027]).
Claim 4
As to claim 4, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, Li, and Joffe discloses all the elements in claim 3, as noted above, and Joffe further discloses further comprises assigning a hash value as the identifier for a particular query, where the hash value is generated by a hash function applied to the particular query (paragraph[0028], the reference describes creating an hash identifier.).
Claim 5
As to claim 5, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, Li, and Joffe discloses all the elements in claim 3, as noted above, and Joffe further discloses wherein selecting a particular node in the tree graph displayed on the display includes retrieving a particular query and results for the particular query from the auxiliary database in response to the selection of the particular node, where the particular node represents the particular query (Figure 3, paragraph[0071], the reference describes the query tree graph and results being displayed for the user to select.); and displaying the particular query and results for the particular query on the display in response to the selection of the particular node(Figure 3, paragraph[0071], the reference describes the query tree graph and results being displayed for the user to select.).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simitsis et al. U.S. Patent (2017/0004173; hereinafter: Simitsis) in view of Kaltegaertner et al. U.S. Patent (2026/0016946; hereinafter: Kaltegaertner) and further in view of Li et al. U.S. Patent (5,911,138; hereinafter: Li) and further Stein et al. U.S. Patent Publication (2022/0300527; hereinafter: Stein)
Claim 10
As to claim 10, the combination of Simitsis, Kaltegaertner, and Li discloses all the elements in claim 7, as noted above, but do not appear to explicitly disclose wherein receiving a modification to the given query comprises amending an investigation timeframe for the given query, executing the new query, and updating the node representing the given query in the tree graph.
However, Stein discloses wherein receiving a modification to the given query comprises amending an investigation timeframe for the given query, executing the new query, and updating the node representing the given query in the tree graph (paragraph[0065], the reference describes a timeline (i.e., timeframe, as claimed) for a query.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner, Li, and Stein to store timelines of executed queries which would result in the claim invention. The skilled artisan would have been motivated to improve the teachings of Simitsis with the teachings of Kaltegaertner, Li and Stein to efficiently build a network topology having dynamic data visualizations for a data point timeline during investigation of an entity (Stein: paragraph[0002]).
Final Action
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.
Conclusion
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/DAWAUNE A CONYERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2152
/DAWAUNE A CONYERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2152 February 24, 2024
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