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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 07/15/2025 and 09/29/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,367,203. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of US Pat. No. 12,367,203 anticipate claims 1-20 as demonstrated in the table below.
Instant Application
US Pat. No. 12,367,203
1. A method for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the method comprising:
providing a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receiving, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receiving, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
performing the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generating, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
displaying, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of:
a material and a part.
11. A system for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
perform the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
20. A product for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device that stores executable code that, when executed by a processor, causes the product to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
perform the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
1. A method for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the method comprising:
providing a digital standard system comprising a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receiving, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receiving a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generating, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing; and
displaying, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of:
a material and a part.
11. A system for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
compare, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
20. A product for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device that stores executable code that, when executed by a processor, causes the product to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
compare, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,072,897. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of US Pat. No. 12,072,897 anticipate claims 1-20 as demonstrated in the table below.
Instant Application
US Pat. No. 12,072,897
1. A method for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the method comprising:
providing a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receiving, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receiving, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
performing the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generating, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
displaying, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of:
a material and a part.
11. A system for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
perform the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
20. A product for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device that stores executable code that, when executed by a processor, causes the product to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards;
receive, within an input field of the user interface, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive, within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
perform the similarity comparison by comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard in a group of digital standards from the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes having different data types with a defined data type and performing a comparison based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the similarity comparison; and
display, within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards from the group of digital standards with an indication of a similarity, based upon the document similarity score, of the at least one of the digital standards from the group to the reference document.
1. A method for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the method comprising:
providing a digital standard system comprising a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards, wherein each of the plurality of digital standards comprises a digital format of an underlying standard formatted, by the digital standard system using the at least one machine-learning model to classify conceptual units extracted from the underlying standard format and store the classified conceptual units into the at least one data store, into a data structure and data model describing interactions and relationships of aspects within the underlying standard as identified from the classified conceptual units, wherein the digital standard system provides digital functionality allowing a user to interact with and view the plurality of digital standards, the digital functionality being facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard, wherein the data structure and the data model provide a consistent format for the plurality of digital standards and identifies a data type for attributes of objects represented by the plurality of digital standards, wherein the data type corresponds to a format of an attribute within a digital standard, wherein the plurality of digital standards have disparate data types across similar attributes;
displaying, on a display device, the user interface of the digital standard system and allowing user interaction with the digital standard system via the user interface;
receiving, from an input device and within an input field of the user interface of the digital standard system, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receiving, from a user providing input to at least one input area within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
comparing, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard of a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document and located within the at least one data store, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes received from the user with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute and is facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard;
generating, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison; and
displaying, to the user within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of:
a material and a part.
11. A system for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to:
provide a digital standard system comprising a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards, wherein each of the plurality of digital standards comprises a digital format of an underlying standard formatted, by the digital standard system using the at least one machine-learning model to classify conceptual units extracted from the underlying standard format and store the classified conceptual units into the at least one data store, into a data structure and data model describing interactions and relationships of aspects within the underlying standard as identified from the classified conceptual units, wherein the digital standard system provides digital functionality allowing a user to interact with and view the plurality of digital standards, the digital functionality being facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard, wherein the data structure and the data model provide a consistent format for the plurality of digital standards and identifies a data type for attributes of objects represented by the plurality of digital standards, wherein the data type corresponds to a format of an attribute within a digital standard, wherein the plurality of digital standards have disparate data types across similar attributes;
display, on a display device, the user interface of the digital standard system and allowing user interaction with the digital standard system via the user interface;
receive, from an input device and within an input field of the user interface of the digital standard system, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
receive, from a user providing input to at least one input area within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
compare, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard of a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document and located within the at least one data store, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes received from the user with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute and is facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard;
generate, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison; and
display, to the user within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein attributes being similar within a given document have a plurality of different data types.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a range substitute data type and wherein the range substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types including a range data type.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises determining a minimum value distance of a minimum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a minimum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, determining a maximum value distance of a maximum value of the similarity attribute within a given of the digital standards within the group with respect to a maximum value of the similarity attribute within the reference document, and normalizing a range of the similarity attribute within the reference document.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the substitute data type comprises a set substitute data type and wherein the set substitute data type is utilized for attributes having a plurality of different data types not including a range data type.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the comparing comprises comparing similarity attributes having different data types between the reference document and a document of the digital standards within the group being compared.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the similarity attributes comprises a nominal data type defining a value the user wants to achieve for the attribute and wherein the substitute data types comprises a range substitute data type derived from the nominal data type.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the generating comprises normalizing each of the similarity attribute scores assigned to each of the similarity attributes.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein both the reference document and each of the digital standards within the group comprise standards documents.
20. A product for identifying similar objects by performing document attribute comparisons, the product comprising:
a storage device that stores code, the code being executable by one or more processors and comprising:
code that provides a digital standard system a user interface, at least one machine-learning model, and at least one data store comprising a plurality of digital standards, wherein each of the plurality of digital standards comprises a digital format of an underlying standard formatted, by the digital standard system using the at least one machine-learning model to classify conceptual units extracted from the underlying standard format and store the classified conceptual units into the at least one data store, into a data structure and data model describing interactions and relationships of aspects within the underlying standard as identified from the classified conceptual units, wherein the digital standard system provides digital functionality allowing a user to interact with and view the plurality of digital standards, the digital functionality being facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard, wherein the data structure and the data model provide a consistent format for the plurality of digital standards and identifies a data type for attributes of objects represented by the plurality of digital standards, wherein the data type corresponds to a format of an attribute within a digital standard, wherein the plurality of digital standards have disparate data types across similar attributes;
code that displays, on a display device, the user interface of the digital standard system and allowing user interaction with the digital standard system via the user interface;
code that receives, from an input device and within an input field of the user interface of the digital standard system, a reference document, wherein the reference document corresponds to an object and comprises a plurality of attributes of the object, each of the attributes having a data type;
code that receives, from a user providing input to at least one input area within the user interface, a request for a similarity comparison based upon the reference document, wherein the request provides an indication of similarity attributes corresponding to attributes of the object to be compared with attributes of other objects during the similarity comparison;
code that compares, using the digital standard system, the reference document to each digital standard of a group of digital standards of the plurality of digital standards that correspond to other objects having a same type as the reference document and located within the at least one data store, wherein the comparing comprises making the data types for the similarity attributes the same across the reference document and the group of digital standards by substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes received from the user with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types, wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute and is facilitated via the digital format of the underlying standard;
code that generates, using the digital standard system, a document similarity score for each of the digital standards within the group based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison; and
code that displays, to the user within the user interface, at least one of the digital standards within the group with an indication of a similarity of the at least one of the digital standards within the group to the reference document, the indication of similarity being based upon a document similarity score corresponding to the at least one of the digital standards within the group, wherein the at least one of the digital standards displayed is different than the reference document and is a replacement for the object corresponding to the reference document.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the double patenting rejections set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art of record, Arnold et al. (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025)(US 2008/0189260 A1), discloses identifying interchangeable part in a part catalog, in addition to search for a first attribute for a set of parts. This distinguishes over the claimed invention because the claimed invention requires comparing the reference document to each of a plurality of documents corresponding to other objects, wherein the comparing comprises substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute; generating a document similarity score for each of the plurality of documents based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison.
Beattie et al. (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025)(US 5,659,742), discloses a retrieval system having a database for retrieving multimedia based on input information. This distinguishes over the claimed invention because the claimed invention requires comparing the reference document to each of a plurality of documents corresponding to other objects, wherein the comparing comprises substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute; generating a document similarity score for each of the plurality of documents based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison.
Adegan (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (US 2005/0125261 A1), discloses identifying a seed part and retrieving similar parts. This distinguishes over the claimed invention because the claimed invention requires comparing the reference document to each of a plurality of documents corresponding to other objects, wherein the comparing comprises substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute; generating a document similarity score for each of the plurality of documents based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison.
Procopio et al. (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (US 8,756,236 B1), discloses indexing documents may include receive a first set of topics relating to a text of a document and a weight for each topic in a first set. This distinguishes over the claimed invention because the claimed invention requires comparing the reference document to each of a plurality of documents corresponding to other objects, wherein the comparing comprises substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute; generating a document similarity score for each of the plurality of documents based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison.
Jiang et al. (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (US 2020/0125648 A1), discloses using a machine learning to determine electronic document similarity including extracting entities and corresponding relations from each of two electronic document. This distinguishes over the claimed invention because the claimed invention requires comparing the reference document to each of a plurality of documents corresponding to other objects, wherein the comparing comprises substituting a data type of each of the similarity attributes with a defined data type and performing a comparison of the similarity attributes having the substitute data types wherein the comparison performed is based upon the substitute data type of a given similarity attribute; generating a document similarity score for each of the plurality of documents based upon the comparing, wherein the document similarity score is generated based upon an aggregation of similarity attribute scores calculated for each of the similarity attributes and being determined from the comparison.
Rekapalli (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (EP 3273391 A1) discloses receiving a request for designation of a component as a standard component, the request comprising a component specification defining at least one attribute of the component; comparing at least one said attribute to a respective at least one attribute of at least one existing standard component defined by a respective standard specification stored in a database; determining whether at least one said existing standard component is a potential alternative to said component based on said comparison; simulating at least one impact relating to an implementation of said component and an implementation of at least one said existing standard component in response to said existing standard component being determined to be a potential alternative; and determining whether said component is suitable for designation as a standard component based on said comparison and/or at least one said impact (Fig. 2; Abstract).
Ishikawa (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (JP 2007334506 A) discloses a diversion database that stores standard parts that can be used in place of parts that are not standard parts. If the part type satisfying the customer's specification retrieved from the parts database is not a standard part, the system searches the diversion database to select and present a standard part that can be used as an alternative. The diversion database stores a correlation value between a non-standard part and a standard part that can be replaced by the non-standard part, and when displaying a substitute standard part, the correlation value is displayed.
Ziraknejad et al. (US 2018/0300296 A1) discloses determining similarities between documents based on metadata describing characteristics of the documents, determining similarity scores (i.e. attributes like as claimed in the independent claims), and returning selected matching documents based on the similarity scores.
Walsh (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (US 2021/0011935 A1) discloses comparing patent documents to standards documents.
Sundararaman et al. (cited in IDS filed 07/15/2025) (US 2020/0050949 A1) discloses using a machine-learning model to extract conceptual units from an underlying standards document ([0023], [0045], [0064]) and classifying at least a portion of the conceptual units into a plurality of classification groups identifying a function of the respective classification groups ([0037], [0065], [0068]).
Conclusion
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/James E Richardson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2169
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