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(s) Status
Claims 1-17 have been canceled. Claims 18-34 have been added. Claims 18-34 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 18-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In particular, claim 18 recites “(ii) a first set of comparators CAi,j for determining corresponding comparison signals CA[i,j], i=1, N, j=1, N, wherein each comparison signal CA[i,j] is representative of whether or not the data value A[i] equals the data value A[j]. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the underlined limitation. Claims 19-31 have the same issue due to dependency.Furthermore, claim 33 has similar issues as claim 18 and therefore is indefinite. Consequently claim 34 is indefinite due to dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20170270333 A1, system using comparator in combination with counters to determine a first most frequent value and second most frequent value.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHICO A FOXX whose telephone number is (571)272-5530. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 - 6:00 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at 571-272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CHICO A. FOXX
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2685
/CHICO A FOXX/Examiner, Art Unit 2685