Ex Parte Hunt et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 18, 2016

12023283 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 18, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
12/023,283 0113112008 Herbert Dennis Hunt
43520 7590 03/22/2016
STRATEGIC PATENTS P,C
P.O. BOX 920629
NEEDHAM, MA 02492
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
IRIC-0053-POl 7159
EXAMINER
AL HASHEM!, SANA A
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2156
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
03/22/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
patents@stratpat.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte HERBERT DENNIS HUNT,
JOHN RANDALL WEST, MARSHALL ASHBY GIBBS JR.,
BRADLEY MICHAEL GRIGLIONE,
GREGORY DAVID NEIL HUDSON, ANDREA BASILICO,
ARVID C. JOHNSON, CHERYL G. BERGEON,
CRAIG JOSEPH CHAPA, ALBERTO AGOSTINELLI,
JAY ALAN YUSKO, and TREVOR MASON
Appeal2014-005783
Application 12/023,283
Technology Center 2100
Before JOSEPH L. DIXON, JEFFREY A. STEPHENS, and
NATHAN A. ENGELS, Administrative Patent Judges.
ENGELS, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a rejection of claims
1-7, 13-15, 19-24, 34--36, 39, and 41. No other claims are pending. We
have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ).
We reverse.
Appeal2014-005783
Application 12/023,283
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants contend the claimed invention is directed to improving
database performance. App. Br. 5. In particular, Appellants contend the
claimed invention relates to aggregation of data for anticipated analytic
purposes prior to receiving a query requesting the aggregated data. Br. 11.
Appellants state that a causal bitmap is a data structure reflecting possible
permutations and combinations of aggregated attributes, but it is natural to
expect some aggregations to be more useful than others. Br. 7 (citing Spec.
i-f 42). Appellants contend the claimed invention relates to pre-aggregation
storage of certain subsets of data based on their suitability for an analytic
purpose. Br. 7. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed
subject matter:
1. A method comprising:
receiving a causal fact dataset including facts relating to
items perceived to cause actions, wherein the causal fact dataset
includes a data attribute that is associated with a causal fact
datum;
prior to receiving a query, pre-aggregating a plurality of
combinations of a plurality of causal fact data and associated
data attributes in a causal bitmap;
selecting a subset of the pre-aggregated combinations
based on suitability of a combination for an analytic purpose;
and
storing the subset of pre-aggregated combinations to
facilitate querying of the subset.
THE EXAMINER'S REJECTIONS
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Von Kaenel et al. (US 2007/0050340 Al, published
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Application 12/023,283
March 1, 2007 in view of Depledge et al. (US 5,899,988 issued May 4,
1999).
Claims 3-7, 13-15, 19-24, 34--36, and 39, rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Von Kaenel, Depledge, and Peyrelevade
(US 7,437,344, issued Oct. 14, 2008).
ANALYSIS
The Examiner finds Depledge discloses aggregation of data into
bitmap index tables prior to receiving a query as claimed, citing Figures 1,
2A, 2B, and 3 and the related disclosures in Depledge. Final Act. 3 (citing
Depledge Fig. 2A, col. 2, 11. 37--49, col. 3, 11. 4--14); Ans. 2 (citing Depledge
col. 2, 11. 37--49, col. 3, 11. 9-14). Appellants argue Depledge does not teach
aggregating data prior to receiving a query and instead teaches creating
indexes that can subsequently be used to aggregate data. Br. 8-11.
We find Appellants' arguments persuasive. Figure 1 of Depledge
depicts a data table, and Figures 2A and 2B depict bitmapped indexes of that
data. The bitmapped indexes include all of the data in the data table, and
Depledge's Figure 3 depicts a "query table" showing how the bitmapped
indexes can be used to aggregate data based on two attributes from the data
table. See Depledge col. 2, 1. 24--col. 3, 1. 21, col. 4, 11. 28-3 5.
Although Depledge teaches data aggregation, we agree with the
Appellants that the Examiner has not shown how Depledge teaches or
suggests data aggregations created based on suitability for an analytic
purpose prior to receiving a query requesting the aggregations. See Br. 10-
11. To the contrary, Depledge suggests that data tables are created upon
receipt of a query by stating that the result of a query can be "easily and
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Appeal2014-005783
Application 12/023,283
quickly determined" using the bitmapped indexes and that "[ o ]ther queries
may be similarly processed so long as a complete bitmapped index is
available for ... each data type in the underlying data table." Depledge col.
3, 11. 10-14; cf Depledge col. 2, 11. 64---67 (explaining that a bitmapped index
for the CUSTOMER# data type in Figure 1 "would require six index entries
... and consequently would not be very efficient"). Similarly, Depledge
teaches that "whenever a data table is changed, all bitmapped indexes based
upon that data table must be updated to reflect the change to the data table"
(Depledge col. 3, 11. 19-25), but Depledge does not describe updating query
tables when a data table is changed, further suggesting that query tables are
created after receipt of a query.
Accordingly, we are persuaded that the Examiner erred in rejecting
claim 1, as well as claims 2-7, 13-15, 19-24, 34--36, 39, and 41, each of
which depends from claim 1.
DECISION
For the above reasons, the Examiner's rejections of claims 1-7, 13-
15, 19-24, 34--36, 39, and 41 are reversed.
REVERSED
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