DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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 the Application
2. This application, filed June 9, 2025, is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. US 18/075,287, filed December 5, 2022, which issued as U.S. Patent No. US 12,346,761 B2 on July 1, 2025. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
3. 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.
4. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 15, recites, in relevant part, “one or more computer storage media storing computer-usable instructions that, when used by the at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor to perform operations ….” Regarding computer storage media, the applicant’s specification discloses that “[a]n apparatus or system may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium …. Such non-transitory computer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media (including volatile and non-volatile media).” ([0054]) The specification further discloses that “where embodiments are described to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types of computer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer-readable storage media described above.” ([0056])
The above-quoted passages from the applicant’s specification show that although the applicant’s system “may” include non-transitory computer-readable storage media, the computer readable storage media is not limited to non-transitory computer-readable storage media. On the contrary, the specification places no limit on what type of storage media may be used in the system: “[s]uch non-transitory computer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media (including volatile and non-volatile media)” … “other types of computer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer-readable storage media described above.” For these reasons, the claim limitation, “one or more computer storage media storing computer-usable instructions” comprises “all computer-readable media.” The category of all computer-readable media comprises electromagnetic radiation modulated with computer-readable digital code, which constitutes a signal, but signals are per se non-statutory subject matter.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claim 15 is objected to as being rejected under Section 101 but would be allowable if amended to avoid the Section 101 rejection without materially changing the scope of the claim.
Claims 16-20 are objected to for the same reasons as claim 15 because claims 16-20 depend from claim 15.
6. Claims 1 and 8 and claims 2-7 and 9-14, which depend from claims 1 and 8, respectively, allowed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN F MORTELL whose telephone number is (571)270-1873. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10-7 ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins can be reached at 571-272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN F MORTELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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