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 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.
Claims 1-20 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.
Claim 1 recites the acronym “AI” in line 23 without defining it in the claim, claim 1 is therefore indefinite. Claims 2-18 fail to resolve the deficiencies of claim 1 and are therefore also rejected.
Claim 8 recites the acronym “PDFs” in line 3 without defining it in the claim, claim 8 is therefore indefinite.
Regarding claim 8, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 9 recites the acronym “PDFs” in line 5 without defining it in the claim, claim 9 is therefore indefinite.
Claim 10 recites the acronym “APIs” in line 5 without defining it in the claim, claim 10 is therefore indefinite.
Claim 10 contains the trademark/trade name “Google” in line 5. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe APIs from a company and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claim 11 recites the acronym “CRM” and “API” in line 4 without defining them in the claim, claim 11 is therefore indefinite.
Regarding claim 11, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 18 recites the acronym “AI” in line 3 and 4 without defining it in the claim, claim 18 is therefore indefinite.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the user interaction and document submission module" in line 4-5 of claim 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the acronym “AI” in line 22 without defining it in the claim, claim 1 is therefore indefinite.
Claim 20 recites the acronym “AI” in line 23 without defining it in the claim, claim 1 is therefore indefinite.
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 –
(a)(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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 20200074515 by Ghatage et. al. (Ghatage).
Claim 1:
Ghatage discloses:
“a computing device comprising a processor and memory, the processor configured to execute instructions from a user interaction and document submission module located within the computing device, wherein the user interaction and document submission module configured to enable the user to upload documents along with a message, monitor processing progress, and manually review flagged errors;”[ a computing device (fig. 1a-n electronic document platform) comprising a processor and memory (fig. 3), the processor configured to execute instructions (fig. 1a, instructions) from a user interaction (fig. 1a, user) and document submission module (fig. 1b, ingestion service) located within the computing device (fig. 1a-n electronic document platform), wherein the user interaction (fig. 1a, user) and document submission module (fig. 1b, ingestion) configured to enable the user to upload documents (fig. 1b, documents) along with a message (fig. 1a, instructions), monitor processing progress (fig. 4; fig. 1a-1L), and manually review flagged errors (0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records)]
“a cloud server communicatively coupled to the computing device over a network, wherein the cloud server comprises a document processing and integration module configured to continuously check for incoming messages from the user interaction and document submission module, apply filtering techniques to identify relevant documents based on predefined rules including subject line and sender, and process the identified documents using optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence to extract data from the documents;”[ a cloud server (fig. 2 222)communicatively coupled to the computing device (fig. 2 220) over a network (fig. 2 230), wherein the cloud server (fig. 2 222) comprises a document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module (fig. 4) configured to continuously check for incoming messages (fig. 1a, instructions)from the user interaction (fig. 1a, user) and document submission module (fig. 1b, ingestion service ), apply filtering techniques (fig. 1f, classification service) to identify relevant documents (fig. 1f, classified documents)based on predefined rules (0034-0034, business rule) including subject line (0034, business rules may assert business structure/control/influence of a business; wherein the subject is business structure/control/influence)and sender (0034, provided by user), and process the identified documents using optical character recognition (OCR) (fig. 1C, OCR engine to generate digitized documents)and artificial intelligence (0021, artificial intelligence) to extract data from the documents (fig. 4 460, extracted information from classified documents)]
“the document processing and integration module configured to trigger error flagging for invalid and incomplete data fields, sending flagged data to the computing device, wherein the computing device comprises the user interaction and document submission module configured to enable the user to manually review and correct errors, further transmitting the corrected data to the document processing and integration module, wherein the document processing and integration module applies AI techniques to the corrected data to validate and enrich extracted data against predefined business rules and external databases, thereby ensuring data accuracy and completeness;”[ the document processing (fig. 1a-n)and integration module (fig. 4) configured to trigger error flagging for invalid and incomplete data fields (0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from documents), sending flagged data (0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from documents)to the computing device (fig. 1c, electronic document platform), wherein the computing device(fig. 1c, electronic document platform) comprises the user interaction (fig. 1a, user)and document submission module (fig. 1b, ingestion) configured to enable the user to manually (fig. 1a, receive instructions for configuring..process) review and correct errors (0023, pre-processed documents such as data cleansing; 0023, data cleansing techniques may include techniques that detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from the documents), further transmitting the corrected data (fig. 1c; 0021-0025, process the documents; in other words corrected documents are processed in fig. 1c ) to the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4), wherein the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4) applies AI techniques (0021, employ…artificial intelligence )to the corrected data (fig. 1c; 0021-0025, process the documents; in other words corrected documents are processed in fig. 1c ) to validate and enrich extracted data against predefined business rules (fig. 1H, validate the extracted data based on business rules) and external databases (fig. 1b, various sources), thereby ensuring data accuracy and completeness (0023, correct corrupt or inaccurate records from the documents)]
“the document processing and integration module configured to convert the extracted data into structured formats for integration with external systems and securely store processed data in a cloud database; and” [the document processing(fig. 1a-N) and integration module (fig. 4) configured to convert the extracted data into structured formats (fig. 1I, generate a smart contract based on the validated extracted information) for integration with external systems (0045, secure communication of the smart contract between the client device of the buyer/vendor/financial institution) and securely store processed data in a cloud database (0045, secure communication of the smart contract between the electronic document platform; fig. 2 222); and]
“the document processing and integration module configured to send real-time alerts and generate reports for document processing status and system performance metrics to the user interaction and document submission module, thereby enabling the user to track workflow efficiency and make data-driven decisions.” [the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module (fig. 4) configured to (0052, the electronic document platform)send real-time alerts (0052 the electronic document platform may create the purchase order for a buyer based on the extracted information)and generate reports for document processing status (fig. 1N, purchase order approval / rejection) and system performance metrics (0053, reconcile the invoice with the purchase order by comparing the information contained in the purchase order and the invoice to ensure a match) to the user interaction (0014, receive, from the client device, the instructions for configuring the electronic document platform; client devices from buyer/supplier receive the request for approvals/rejection) and document submission module (0018, electronic document platform may receive documents from various sources; the documents in 1N are received at the electronic document platform), thereby enabling the user to track (fig. 1N) workflow efficiency (0052, in some implementations, the electronic document platform may request approval of purchase order from buyer; 0055, may remove human subjectivity and waste from the process and which may improve speed and efficiency ) and make data-driven decisions (fig. 1N, approve / reject)]
Claim 2:
Ghatage discloses: The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes instructions from the user interaction and document submission module, the user interaction and document submission module configured to enable the user to upload document including loan request applications, insurance claim forms, health records, invoice files, legal documents, business operation documents. [the user interaction (fig. 1a) and document submission module (fig. 1b) configured to enable (fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) the user to upload document (fig. 1b, receive documents) including loan request applications (0016, document type), insurance claim forms(0016, document type), health records(0016, document type), invoice files(0016, document type), legal documents(0016, document type), business operation documents(0016, document type)]
Claim 3:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes instructions from the user interaction and document submission module, the user interaction and document submission module configured to enable the user to send the upload document along with the message, the message including email message.”[ the user interaction and document submission module configured to enable(fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) the user to send the upload document (fig. 1b, receive documents) along with the message (fig. 1a, instructions; 0014 from client), the message (fig. 1a, instructions; 0014 from client)including email message (fig. 1n, email)]
Claim 4:
Ghatage discloses: “The method of claim 1, wherein the message is an email message, and the document is an attachment included in the email message.” [wherein the message is an email message(fig. 1n, email), and the document is an attachment (0053, notification indicating work requested by the supplier in the purchase order) included in the email message(fig. 1n, email)]
Claim 5:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the user comprising a customer, a healthcare provider,banking admin, insurance staff.”[ wherein the user (fig. 2 210) comprising a customer (0014, different users or peer types), a healthcare provider (0014, different users or peer types) ,banking admin (0014, different users or peer types), insurance staff (0014, different users or peer types)]
Claim 6:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a document receiving and processing module is configured to perform pre-processing tasks including file type recognition and duplication checks before initiating document processing.”[ the document processing (fig. 1a-n)and integration module (fig. 4)comprising a document receiving (fig. 1b) and processing module (fig. 1a-n)is configured to perform pre-processing tasks including file type recognition (0022, pre-processing techniques…whether the documents are provided in a format)and duplication checks (0025, pre-process… duplicate records)before initiating document processing (fig. 1a-n)]
Claim 7:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a workflow orchestration module is configured to automatically manage task sequencing and monitor the progress of document processing tasks.”[ the document processing (fig. 1a-n)and integration module (fig. 4)comprising a workflow orchestration module is configured to automatically manage task sequencing (fig. 1n) and monitor the progress of document processing tasks (fig. 1n, approve/rejection)]
Claim 8:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module is configured to support multiple document formats such as PDFs, images, and handwritten documents.”[ the document processing and integration module is configured to support multiple document formats (0024, documents from one format or structure into another format or structure) such as PDFs, images, and handwritten documents (0021, images of typed, hand written or printed text into machine-encoded text).]
Claim 9:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a data extraction engine is configured to utilize optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence techniques for data extraction from handwritten, typed documents, PDF documents, and images. “ [document processing and integration module comprising a data extraction engine (0021, digitization service) is configured to utilize optical character recognition (OCR) (0021, optical character recognition engine) and artificial intelligence techniques (0021, may employ …artificial intelligence) for data extraction from handwritten, typed documents, PDF documents, and images(0021, images of typed, hand written or printed text into machine-encoded text)]
Claim 10:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a data validation and enrichment module is configured to verify the extracted data against predefined business rules and external data sources integration with third part APIs includes Google APIs for real-time verification. “[the document processing and integration module comprising a data validation and enrichment module is configured to verify the extracted data against predefined business rules (fig. 1H, validate the extracted data based on business rules) and external data sources(fig. 1b, various sources) integration (fig. 1H extracted information; i.e. information from various sources) with third part APIs includes Google APIs for real-time verification (fig. 1H, validation service)]
Claim 11:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a data mapping and integration module is configured to map validated data to external systems such as CRM platforms via API integrations.” [the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module (fig. 4) comprising (0052-0055, electronic document platform) a data mapping (fig. 1M) and integration module (fig. 1N) is configured to map validated data (fig. 1N, approved) to external systems (0052-0055, buyer/supplier) such as CRM platforms (0052-0055, buyer) via API integrations (fig. 1N, web-based portal)]
Claim 12:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising an error flagging and correction module is configured to identify and flag discrepancies in the extracted data and route them to the user computing device for manual correction.”[ the document processing and integration module comprising (fig. 1a-n electronic document platform) an error flagging and correction module (0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from documents)is configured to identify and flag discrepancies in the extracted data (0023, detect…corrupt or inaccurate records from documents) and route them (0022, select the one or more pre-processing techniques) to the user computing device for manual correction(0014, instructions may include how to manage..processes)]
Claim 13:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes instructions from the user interaction and document submission module, the user interaction and document submission module comprising user interface module is configured to display flagged fields in an intuitive interface for user review and manual correction.” [the user interaction and document submission module comprising user interface module (fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) is configured to display flagged fields in an intuitive interface for user review (fig. 1N, purchase order approval/rejection) and manual correction (0053, approved by the buyer; determination of purchase order is in error or not)]
Claim 14:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes instructions from the user interaction and document submission module, the user interaction and document submission module comprising an error review and correction module is configured to enable the user to perform manual review and rectification of flagged errors in the extracted data.” [the user interaction and document submission module comprising an error review and correction module(fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) is configured to enable the user to perform manual review (fig. 1n, purchase order approval/ rejection) and rectification of flagged errors in the extracted data(0053, approved by the buyer; determination of purchase order is in error or not)]
Claim 15:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a structured data conversion module is configured to convert the extracted data into structured formats.” [e document processing and integration module comprising a structured data conversion module is configured to(fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) convert the extracted data into structured format (0024, convert the documents from one format or structure into another format or structure)]
Claim 16:
Ghatage discloses: “ The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a data storage module is configured to securely store processed data in the cloud database.”[ the document processing and integration module comprising a data storage module configured to (fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) securely store processed data in the cloud database (0045, secure communication of the smart contract between the electronic document platform)]
Claim 17:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a reporting and analytics generation module is configured to generate real-time performance reports on document processing efficiency and error rates.”[ wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising a reporting and analytics generation module is configured to (fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform) generate real-time performance reports (fig. 1N reporting) on document processing (fig. 1N) efficiency (0055, efficiency) and error rates (0055, speed; 0055, may remove human subjectivity and waste from the process and which may improve speed)]
Claim 18:
Ghatage discloses: “The system of claim 1, wherein the cloud server executes instructions from the document processing and integration module, the document processing and integration module comprising an AI-enabled retraining module is configured to enhance the accuracy of AI models by retraining them with feedback data from user corrections and flagged errors.”[ the document processing and integration module comprising an AI-enabled retraining module is configured to(0030, electronic document platform) enhance the accuracy of AI models by retraining them (0030, supervised training procedure) with feedback data from user corrections and flagged errors (0030, input to the machine learning model from a subject matter expert)]
Claim 19:
Ghatage discloses:
“enabling a user upload documents with along with a message, monitor processing progress, and manually review flagged errors by the user interaction and document submission module on a computing device;” [enabling a user upload documents (fig. 1b, documents ) with along with a message(fig. 1a, instructions), monitor processing progress(fig. 4; fig. 1a-1L), and manually review flagged errors (0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records) by the user interaction (0014, receive, from the client device, the instructions for configuring the electronic document platform; client devices from buyer/supplier receive the request for approvals/rejection) and document submission module (0018, electronic document platform may receive documents from various sources; the documents in 1N are received at the electronic document platform) on a computing device (fig. 1a-n, electronic document platform)]
“continuously checking by a document processing and integration module executed on a cloud server communicatively coupled to the computing device over a network, for incoming messages from the user interaction and document submission module;” [ continuously checking by a document processing(fig. 1a-n) and integration module (fig. 4) executed on a cloud server (fig. 2 222) communicatively coupled to the computing device (fig. 2 220) over a network(fig. 2 230), for incoming messages(fig. 1a, instructions) from the user interaction (fig. 1a, user) and document submission module(fig. 1b, ingestion service )]
“applying filtering techniques to identify relevant documents based on predefined rules including subject line and sender by the document processing and integration module;”[ apply filtering techniques (fig. 1f, classification service) to identify relevant documents (fig. 1f, classified documents)based on predefined rules (0034-0034, business rule) including subject line (0034, business rules may assert business structure/control/influence of a business; wherein the subject is business structure/control/influence)and sender (0034, provided by user) by the document processing(fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4)]
“processing the identified documents using optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence to extract data from the documents by the document processing and integration module;”[ processing the identified documents using optical character recognition (OCR) (fig. 1C, OCR engine to generate digitized documents) and artificial intelligence (0021, artificial intelligence) to extract data from the documents(fig. 4 460, extracted information from classified documents) by the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4)]
“triggering error flagging for invalid and incomplete data fields, sending flagged data to the computing device by the document processing and integration module;” [ triggering error flagging for invalid and incomplete data fields(0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from documents), sending flagged data(0023, detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from documents) to the computing device(fig. 1c, electronic document platform) by the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4)]
“enabling the user to manually review and correct errors, further transmitting the corrected data to the document processing and integration module;”[ enabling the user to manually (fig. 1a, receive instructions for configuring..process) review and correct errors(0023, pre-processed documents such as data cleansing; 0023, data cleansing techniques may include techniques that detect and correct corrupt or inaccurate records from the documents), further transmitting the corrected data(fig. 1c; 0021-0025, process the documents; in other words corrected documents are processed in fig. 1c ) to the document processing (fig. 1a-n) and integration module(fig. 4)]
“validating and enriching extracted data against predefined business and external databases by applying the AI techniques to the corrected data to enhance data accuracy and completeness;”[
validating and enriching extracted data against predefined business rules (fig. 1H, validate the extracted data based on business rules) and external databases (fig. 1b, various sources) by applying the AI techniques (0021, employ…artificial intelligence )to the corrected data (fig. 1c; 0021-0025, process the documents; in other words corrected documents are processed in fig. 1c )to enhance data accuracy and completeness(0023, correct corrupt or inaccurate records from the documents)]
“converting the extracted data into structured formats for integration with external systems by the document processing and integration module and securely storing the processed data in a cloud database; and” [
converting the extracted data into structured formats(fig. 1I, generate a smart contract based on the validated extracted information) for integration with external systems(0045, secure communication of the smart contract between the client device of the buyer/vendor/financial institution) by the document processing(fig. 1a-N) and integration module(fig. 4) and securely storing the processed data in a cloud database(0045, secure communication of the smart contract between the electronic document platform; fig. 2 222)]
“sending real-time alerts and generate reports for document processing status and system performance metrics to the user interaction and document submission module from the document processing and integration module, thereby enabling the user to track workflow efficiency and make data-driven decisions.” [sending real-time alerts(0052 the electronic document platform may create the purchase order for a buyer based on the extracted information) and generate reports for document processing status (fig. 1N, purchase order approval / rejection) and system performance metrics (0053, reconcile the invoice with the purchase order by comparing the information contained in the purchase order and the invoice to ensure a match) to the user interaction (0014, receive, from the client device, the instructions for configuring the electronic document platform; client devices from buyer/supplier receive the request for approvals/rejection) and document submission module (0018, electronic document platform may receive documents from various sources; the documents in 1N are received at the electronic document platform)from the document processing(fig. 1a-n) and integration module (fig. 4) , thereby enabling the user to track (fig. 1N) workflow efficiency (0052, in some implementations, the electronic document platform may request approval of purchase order from buyer; 0055, may remove human subjectivity and waste from the process and which may improve speed and efficiency )and make data-driven decisions(fig. 1N, approve / reject)]
Claim 20:
Claim 20 recites similar limitations as that of claim 19 except that it is directed too a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable code embodied therein to be executed by one or more processors instead of a method. Claim 20 is rejected under similar rationale as that of claim 19. Ghatage further discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium and processors in at least figure 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-3924. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11-730pm Eastern.
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/MICHAEL PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2153 /KRIS E MACKES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2153