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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Examiner notes that while the priority documents were stated as retrieved on 05/07/2025, a more recent notice was issued on 06/24/2025 stating failure to retrieve the same documents. A response to this failure to retrieve the documents is requested.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: Fig. 3 element 316. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) 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. 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 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 17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The instant claims are directed to a program for a computer. Computer programs do not fall into any statutory category of process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter (In Re Nuijten, Fed. Cir. 2007). Rather, a program is a collection of executable instructions, in the absence of any physical structure or tangible material. Since the full scope of the claimed medium in light of the disclosure encompasses non-statutory subject matter, the claims as a whole would be non-statutory.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16 allowed.
Claim 17 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: the closest prior art of Wojcicki et al. (US 12,670,921 B1) does not teach the limitations of the claims. While Wojcicki teaches the use of AI models in bandwidth extension, the specific details of the claims are not taught. Specifically, the use of one AI model for restoring a narrowband signal and training itself and determining a parameter, the use of another AI model for restoring a wideband signal using a narrowband signal, and determining losses and training based on the losses, as well as pre-training before being pre-trained are not taught by the cited prior art, in combination with the other limitations of the claims. Hence, none of the cited prior art, either alone or in combination thereof, teaches the combination of limitations found in the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 12,670,921 B1 Abstract teaches performing bandwidth extension by integrating AI models.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN S BLANKENAGEL whose telephone number is (571)270-0685. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am-5:30pm.
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/BRYAN S BLANKENAGEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2658
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