Jonathan HaswellDownload PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardApr 14, 20212019006190 (P.T.A.B. Apr. 14, 2021) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 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 APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 13/485,810 05/31/2012 Jonathan M. Haswell CA2373 1096 124328 7590 04/14/2021 Sughrue Mion/SSI 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20006 EXAMINER AHMED, ENAM ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2112 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 04/14/2021 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): PPROCESSING@SUGHRUE.COM sughrue@sughrue.com uspto@sughrue.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte JONATHAN M. HASWELL ____________ Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 Technology Center 2100 ____________ Before JOHN A. EVANS, JUSTIN BUSCH, and JOHN P. PINKERTON, Administrative Patent Judges. EVANS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Jurisdiction Appellant1 seeks our review under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) of the Examiner’s final rejection of Claims 1–21, which are all of the pending claims. Appeal Br. 2. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). 1 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42 (2017). Appellant states the real party in interest is SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 2 We REVERSE.2 Summary of the Invention The claims relate to an enhanced, computer-implemented checksum system that detects several types of data corruption including bit or byte flipping or reordering. See, e.g., Spec., Title, ¶¶ 1, 12–14, 28, 31. Invention Claims 1, 8, and 15 are independent. Appeal Br. 5–6. An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of Claim 1, which is reproduced below. 1. A method of generating a checksum for a data object including multiple data units, comprising: for each of the data units: obtaining a corresponding address of the data unit; and rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit by bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit; and generating the checksum for the data object based on said rotated data units. Appeal Br. 17, Claims App. 2 Rather than reiterate the arguments of Appellant and the Examiner, we refer to the Appeal Brief (filed November 5, 2018, “Appeal Br.”), the Reply Brief (filed August 16, 2019, “Reply Brief”), the Examiner’s Answer (mailed July 11, 2019, “Ans.”), the Final Action (mailed June 14, 2018, “Final Act.”), and the Specification (filed May 31, 2012, “Spec.”) for their respective details. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 3 References Name Publication Number Date Narad US 2004/0143655 A1 July 22, 2004 Levy US 9,372,870 B1 June 21, 2016 Ioffe US 8,290,918 B1 Oct. 16, 2012 Rejections3 Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § References/Basis 1–21 101 Ineligible Subject Matter. Final Act. 4–7. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 194 103(a) Narad, Levy. Id. at 7–11. 3, 10, 17 103(a) Narad, Levy, Ioffe. Id. at 11. ANALYSIS We have reviewed the rejections of Claims 1–21 in light of Appellant’s arguments that the Examiner erred. We consider Appellant’s arguments as they are presented in the Appeal Brief and the Reply Brief. 3 The Application was examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions. See, e.g., Final Act. 7. 4 The Final Office Action states that “Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Narad . . . in view of Levy.” Final Act. 7. The body of this rejection, however, includes findings only for claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19. See id. Accordingly, we consider only claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19 to stand rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over the combination of Narad and Levy. We treat this irregularity in the record to be a clerical or typographical error. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 4 CLAIMS 1–21: INELIGIBLE SUBJECT MATTER Appellant argues the merits of the claims as a group with reference to the limitations of independent Claim 1. See Appeal Br. 7–11. Independent Claim 8 (system) and independent Claim 15 (computer program product) recite substantially similar limitations. See Appeal Br. 19, 21–22, Claims App. Therefore, we decide the appeal of the § 101 rejection on the basis of illustrative Claim 1 and refer to the rejected claims collectively herein as “the claims.” See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(iv); In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 1325 (Fed. Cir. 1986). We reviewed the record de novo,5 in light of legal precedent and recent policy guidance on patent subject matter eligibility.6 Based upon our review of the record, we determine that Claim 1 is not “directed to” an abstract idea because it recites additional elements that integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application. Accordingly, for the specific reasons discussed below, we reverse the Examiner’s § 101 rejection of Claims 1–21. 35 U.S.C. § 101 Section 101 provides that a patent may be obtained for “any new and 5 See SiRF Tech., Inc. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 601 F.3d 1319, 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (“Whether a claim is drawn to patent-eligible subject matter is an issue of law that we review de novo.”). 6 See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50 (Jan. 7, 2019) (“Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg.”). “All USPTO personnel are, as a matter of internal agency management, expected to follow the guidance.” Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 51; see also USPTO, October 2019 Patent Eligibility Guidance Update 1 (Oct. 17, 2019) (“Oct. 2019 Update”), https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/ documents/peg_oct_2019_update.pdf. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 5 useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Supreme Court has long recognized, however, that § 101 implicitly excludes “[l]aws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas” from the realm of patent-eligible subject matter, as monopolization of these “‘basic tools of scientific and technological work’” would stifle the very innovation that the patent system aims to promote. Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014) (quoting Ass’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. 576, 589 (2013)); see also Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 72–78 (2012); Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 185 (1981). Under the mandatory Revised Guidance, we reconsider whether Appellant’s claims recite: 1. any judicial exceptions, including certain groupings of abstract ideas (i.e., mathematical concepts, certain methods of organizing human activity such as a fundamental economic practice, or mental processes),7 and 2. additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application (see MPEP § 2106.05(a)–(c), (e)–(h)). Only if a claim (1) recites a judicial exception and (2) does not integrate that exception into a practical application, do we then determine the claim is “directed to” an abstract idea and reach the issue of whether the 7 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 52. For an extensive listing of “mathematical concepts,” “certain methods of organizing human activity,” and “mental processes” that have been identified as abstract ideas, see Revised Guidance at page 52, notes 12–15. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 6 claim: 3. adds a specific limitation beyond the judicial exception that is not “well-understood, routine, conventional” in the field (see MPEP § 2106.05(d)); or 4. simply appends well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception. § 101 Analysis Claim 1 recites: 1. A method of generating a checksum for a data object including multiple data units, comprising: for each of the data units: obtaining a corresponding address of the data unit; and rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit by bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit; and generating the checksum for the data object based on said rotated data units. Appeal Br. 17, Claims App. The Examiner finds Claim 1 is “directed to the abstract idea of an algorithm for calculating parameters indicating an abnormal condition and manipulating information through mathematical correlations.” Final Act. 5. According to the Examiner “[t]he claim . . . recites the steps of obtaining a corresponding address of a data unit and rotating the data unit based on said correlating or corresponding address of the data unit, by for example, bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit,” which is similar to the Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 7 court-identified abstract ideas in Digitech8 and In re Grams.9 Id. We agree with the Examiner’s findings to the extent that Claim 1 recites an abstract idea. Claim 1 can be described as reciting the underlying concepts of obtaining data, organizing and manipulating the data, and performing evaluation or mathematical calculations based on the organized and manipulated data. Accordingly, Claim 1 recites an abstract idea in either the mathematical concepts or mental processes grouping. See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 52. Consistent with the Examiner’s findings, the claim recites an underlying concept similar to court-identified abstract ideas, such as Digitech’s “process of organizing information through mathematical correlations” and Grams’s process of “perform[ing] . . . tests . . . to obtain data for . . . parameters . . . .” and “analyz[ing] that data to ascertain the existence and identity of an abnormality, and possible causes thereof.” Digitech, 758 F.3d at 1350; Grams, 888 F.2d at 837, 840–41. Other similar court-identified abstract ideas include an algorithm for converting binary coded decimal to pure binary (Benson10) and a method of calculating the difference between local and average data values (Abele11). Nevertheless, we determine that Claim 1 is not “directed to” an abstract idea because the claim recites additional elements that integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application. According to the Revised Guidance, certain considerations may indicate that an additional element (or 8 Digitech Image Techs., LLC v. Elecs. for Imaging, Inc., 758 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2014). 9 In re Grams, 888 F.2d 835 (Fed. Cir. 1989). 10 Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 67–68 (1972). 11 In re Abele, 684 F.2d 902, 908–910 (CCPA 1982), abrogated by In re Bilski, 545 F.3d 943 (Fed. Cir. 2008). Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 8 combination of elements) has integrated the exception into a practical application. These include: An additional element [that] reflects an improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field; . . . an additional element [that] implements a judicial exception with, or uses a judicial exception in conjunction with, a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim; . . . [and] an additional element [that] applies or uses the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 55; see also id. at 55 nn.25, 27, 29. For the reasons discussed below, we determine Claim 1 recites additional elements that meet one or more of the above considerations and, thus, integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application. As an initial matter, the Examiner’s findings for this part of the § 101 analysis are not persuasive because they lack adequate supporting evidence. In particular, the Examiner finds the additional elements of the claims “amount[] to no more than: (i) mere instructions to implement the idea on a computer, and/or (ii) recitation of generic computer structure that serves to perform generic computer functions that are known,” and when “[v]iewed as a whole . . . do not provide meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.” Final Act. 5–6. In support of this position, the Examiner asserts that various claim features—such as obtaining an address of the data unit, rotating the data unit Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 9 based on the address, bit shifting, using a hash function, and generating a checksum—do not amount to “significantly more” than an abstract idea because each is either “known,” a “common practice,” “widely used,” “basic,” or “an obvious modification, which can easily be implemented or configured.” Id. In addition, the Examiner states that “even if . . . the checksum may be used for detecting re-ordering of bytes, this does not amount to significantly more, in the sense that it must be shown that there is a clear improvement in the technology, or a need in the art which provides improvements over existing applications that use checksums.” Id. at 6. The Examiner further states that “using checksums to detect re-ordering of bits or errors does not necessarily amount to significantly more, as there are many applications which use many different kind of checksums, which can be standard or enhanced checksums,” and, “[t]hus, the additional step of generating the checksum for the data object based on said rotated data units, does not improve the functionality of a computer, nor does it improve a technology.” Id. The Examiner, however, presents no persuasive evidence to support any of the above findings. Therefore, the Examiner’s findings do not demonstrate that the additional elements of Claim 1 fail to integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application. In contrast, Appellant argues the claims are not “directed to” an abstract idea, but instead “are focused on generating a checksum for data units that have been rotated by bit shifting based on the data unit addresses” and, thus, “are directed to a solution to a problem specifically arising in the context of computer technology, namely, that of checksum generation.” Appeal Br. 9. In support of its position, Appellant cites the Specification’s description of “an enhanced checksum system . . . capable of detecting Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 10 reordering of bytes of data which does not require a large number of processor cycles.” Id. (citing Spec. ¶¶ 13–14). Appellant asserts “the claims cannot reasonably be interpreted as being directed to any alleged abstract idea” because “bit shifting a data unit according to the address of that data unit can be performed in no other context, and would serve no purpose in any other context.” Id. at 9–10 (emphasis omitted). Appellant therefore argues that “[t]he focus of the claims is clearly on the improvement of the computer itself.” Id. at 10. We agree with Appellant that Claim 1’s checksum process requires the use of a computer and, moreover, is necessarily rooted in computer technology in order to overcome a problem specifically arising in the realm of computer systems. As described in the Specification, conventional computing systems regularly use checksum algorithms for detecting data that has been modified or corrupted during storage or transmission. Spec. ¶ 2. Appellant’s invention builds upon such conventional computing systems by providing an “enhanced” checksum system that “protect[s] against cases where blocks of data are reordered,” such that the “re-ordering of bytes of data can be detected, not just modifications to the bytes.” Spec. ¶¶ 12 (“[T]he present invention provides an enhanced checksum system wherein the data is not directly exclusively ORed, rather the address of the byte, from the start of the data, is fed into a simple hash function . . . . to provide protection against cases where blocks of data are reordered.”), 13. The Specification further describes that “an information processing system comprising a computer system [is] useful for implementing . . . the present invention,” and that Appellant’s “checksum process is useful with a file system or a storage system which maintains a checksum of the entire Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 11 contents of a file” because it “provides protection from” “the most common error in a file system”—“returning the wrong blocks or blocks out of order”—“whereas a simple XOR checksum does not.” Id. ¶¶ 29–31. These descriptions show that the focus of Appellant’s disclosed invention is an algorithm whose functionality is intended to be applied in a computer system in order to improve the computer’s functionality with enhanced data security or integrity. This is consistent with the language of Claim 1, which recites, “for each data unit,” “obtaining a corresponding address of the data unit,” “rotating the data unit” based on the address, and “generating the checksum” based on the rotated data unit. In other words, the recited process depends on the “address of the data unit.” And given a plain reading of the claim in view of the Specification, this “address” refers to a physical address in computer memory that Appellant’s checksum system uses to find each respective data unit and apply thereto the “enhanced” checksum method as recited and described. See, e.g., Spec. ¶ 18 (“[T]he address comprises the data unit offset from the start of the data block in a file, memory or storage in an information technology system.”). Claim 1 also recites a specific technique—“rotating the data unit . . . by bit shifting the data unit” before being fed into an XOR operation for generating the checksum—to solve a technological problem arising in computing technology: detecting reordering types of data corruption in addition to simple bit or byte errors. Put another way, the claims are directed to a non-abstract improvement in an existing technological process (detecting data modification or corruption using a checksum algorithm). The claim therefore recites a specific implementation of varying the way Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 12 checksums are generated that improves the ability of existing checksum systems to detect unauthorized or undesirable changes in data. Similarly, in Koninklijke,12 the Federal Circuit found eligible a device for providing a variable error checking function because the claims were “directed to a non-abstract improvement in an existing technological process (i.e., error checking in data transmissions)” and “recite[d] a specific implementation of varying the way check data is generated that improves the ability of prior art error detection systems to detect systematic errors.” Koninklijke, 942 F.3d at 1350–51. Likewise, in SRI,13 the Federal Circuit found eligible claims directed to “a specific technique—using a plurality of network monitors that each analyze specific types of data on the network and integrating reports from the monitors—to solve a technological problem arising in computer networks: identifying hackers or potential intruders into the network.” SRI, 930 F.3d at 1303. And, in Ancora,14 the Federal Circuit upheld claims that used a modifiable portion of a computer’s BIOS memory to prevent running software on an unauthorized computer. Ancora, 908 F.3d at 1345. The Court noted that “[i]mproving security . . . can be a non-abstract computer-functionality improvement if done by a specific technique that departs from earlier approaches to solve a specific computer problem”—that is, controlling the unauthorized use of software. Id. at 1348. 12 Koninklijke KPN N.V. v. Gemalto M2M GmbH, 942 F.3d 1143 (Fed. Cir. 2019). 13 SRI Int’l, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc., 930 F.3d 1295 (Fed. Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 1108 (2020). 14 Ancora Techs., Inc. v. HTC Am., Inc., 908 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2018), as amended (Nov. 20, 2018). Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 13 We therefore conclude that Appellant’s claims are not “directed to” an abstract idea because the claims recite additional limitations that integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application. Because we conclude the claims are “not directed to” an abstract idea, we need not reach the remaining steps of the Revised Guidance § 101 analysis. We also note that the Examiner’s Answer does not respond to Appellant’s § 101 arguments, nor does it expressly withdraw the § 101 rejection or otherwise discuss the rejection beyond making a blanket statement that “[e]very ground of rejection set forth in the Office action dated 3/12/18 from which the appeal is taken is being maintained.” Ans. 3. Accordingly, the Examiner’s Answer has not followed the MPEP, by failing to either expressly withdraw the rejection or provide the mandatory statement of reasons why the examiner disagrees with Appellant’s Appeal Brief arguments. See MPEP 1207.02(A)(2) (“The examiner’s answer should include . . . [a] statement of whether the examiner disagrees with each of the arguments of appellant in the brief with respect to the issues presented and an explanation of the reasons for disagreement with any such argument.”). For the foregoing reasons, we decline to sustain the Examiner’s rejection of Claims 1–21 under 35 U.S.C. § 101. CLAIMS 1–5, 8–12, and 15–19: OBVIOUSNESS BASED AT LEAST ON NARAD AND LEVY Independent Claim 1 recites, in relevant part, “rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit by bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit.” Independent Claims 8 and 15 recite a commensurate limitation. In rejecting Claims 1, 8, and 15, the Examiner finds various disclosures of Levy teach or suggest this limitation. Final Act. Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 14 8–9 (citing Levy, Fig. 7A (item 703), 6:59–63, 10:14–37, 11:35–37, 22:16– 25, 22:33–39); Ans. 3–5; see also Final Act. 2–4 (additionally citing Levy 6:64–7:5, 42:36–53). In particular, the Examiner finds that, based on (figure 7A) [of Levy], the Storage System 702[] stores the input symbols, and each Storage System uses its own assigned unique sequence number y and the Input Block number 703 . . . is input to the Rotational Algorithm which can perform bit scrambling or shifting or some form of symbol manipulation, to compute checksum on a symbol segment based on the selected input symbol segment, and finally store the data to a storage medium 112. Ans. 4 (citing Levy, Fig. 7A, 22:16–25, 22:33–35). The Examiner further finds that: “it is clear that the data [in Levy] is Reed-Solomon encoded, and then scrambled which entails rotation of the symbols, such as the input and the checksum symbol segments, thus, to one of ordinary skill in the art, rotating of symbols such as input and checksum symbol segments, can also include or consist of bit shifting.” Id. (citing Levy 6:59–63). The Examiner next finds that Levy’s computation of a decoder matrix for producing a codeword that can correct data transmission errors may include bit manipulation, which shows that “bit shifting or bit manipulation within a matrix is general or common practice, and . . . that bit manipulation of the symbols within the matrix can be done.” Id. at 4–5 (citing Levy 10:14–37). The Examiner lastly points to Levy’s disclosure of how its system handles a failure of a Multicast Burst Protocol (MBP) exchange of data packets among peers, and in particular, that Codec dispersal matrices and the Rotation are recomputed and the Burst is reinitiated. Id. at 5 (citing Levy 42:36–53). The Examiner then concludes that “it is obvious that recomputing the Codec dispersal matrices, the Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 15 Rotation and peer sequence would entail some form of scrambling or shifting of bits, as matrices are involved, and it is very well known that matrices within a matrix are shifted.” Id. Appellant disputes the Examiner’s findings and argues that neither Levy nor Narad, alone or in combination, teaches or suggests “rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit by bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit.” Appeal Br. 12–15; Reply Br. 4–10. Importantly, Appellant makes the following arguments. First, the Rotational Algorithm disclosed by Levy, including the disclosed scrambling or “rotation of the input and checksum symbol segments” does not correspond to “bit shifting the data unit,” but rather “refers to the distributed storage of individual segments of a block across Storage Systems, along with that block’s checksum.” Reply Br. 6. Second, Levy’s “Input Block number Bx is not an address[:] [i]nstead, [it] is merely a value used by the Storage System to determine whether to perform a checksum on a segment within the block.” Appeal Br. 13. Third, “the process of Levy cannot reasonably be interpreted as ‘generating the checksum for the data object based on said rotated data units’” because “the Reed-Solomon encoding disclosed by Levy is performed upon the entire block before any alleged rotation has occurred.” Id. at 7. Fourth, “[t]he described Reed-Solomon encoder does not perform bit shifting,” but “[i]nstead, it merely computes a checksum of an input symbol according to a known process and outputs a codeword which is defined as the input symbol concatenated with the checksum.” Id. at 8. Fifth, Levy’s “‘bit manipulation’ cannot reasonably be interpreted as corresponding to the claimed ‘bit shifting’” because “[b]its may be manipulated in any number of ways, and Levy does not disclose or Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 16 suggest the use of any particular method of bit manipulation, let alone bit shifting.” Id. at 9. Sixth, “[t]he mere fact that ‘matrices are involved’ in [Levy’s] computation, or the alleged fact that ‘it is very well known that matrices within a matrix are shifted’ as asserted by the Examiner, certainly does not require any form of bit shifting, let alone the claimed ‘rotating’” limitation. Id. at 10. And seventh, “none of the Examiner’s assertions made in the Examiner’s Answer address the claim feature ‘rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit.’” Id. We are persuaded of Examiner error. Levy’s rotational algorithm involves storing block segments of checksum symbols and input symbol segments in a particular rotational sequence. See, e.g., Levy at 22:16–25, 22:33–39, Fig. 7A. Contrary to the Examiner’s findings, Levy is silent as to whether any “bit shifting” occurs within those block segments. And the Examiner does not present any persuasive evidence that Levy’s rotational sequencing of block segments suggests moving or shifting a bit from one location to another. Levy’s disclosure of “bit manipulation” as part of computing a matrix within a Reed-Solomon encoder implementation also falls short. See Levy 10:14–37. Although “bit shifting” may be a type of “bit manipulation,” as Appellant argues, there are many different ways to manipulate bits. Moreover, the cited portion of Levy does little more than state the phrase “bit manipulation.” Id. at 10:34–37. This alone is not enough to show “bit shifting” as claimed. Levy’s description of “[c]ontent that has been . . . scrambled” also fails to teach “bit shifting” because Levy refers to this feature as the “rotation of the input and checksum symbol segments”—that is, Levy’s rotational algorithm—which we have already determined to be deficient. Id. at 6:59–61. Nor does the Examiner present Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 17 any persuasive evidence that the mere mention of the word “scrambled” in Levy discloses or suggests shifting an existing sequence of bits. In addition, as Appellant argues, even if the Examiner were correct that “matrices within a matrix are shifted” when recomputed as part of Levy’s Burst operation, it is unclear how this corresponds to “bit shifting,” let alone the “rotating” limitation in full. We also agree with Appellant that none of the cited disclosures of Levy disclose or even suggest rotating a data unit “based on said corresponding address of the data unit.” For the foregoing reasons, we are persuaded that the Examiner erred in finding Levy teaches or suggests “rotating the data unit based on said corresponding address of the data unit by bit shifting the data unit to generate a rotated data unit,” as recited. Nor does the Examiner cite Narad as teaching or suggesting the argued limitation, or provide an obviousness rationale that cures the rejection’s deficiencies. We decline to resort to speculation to fill the gaps in the Examiner’s rejection. See Ex parte Braeken, 54 USPQ2d 1110, 1112 (BPAI 1999). Therefore, we decline to sustain the Examiner’s § 103(a) rejection of Claims 1, 8, and 15 over Narad and Levy. Dependent Claims 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19 include a commensurate limitation via their ultimate dependency from Claim 1, 8, or 15, and the Examiner does not make another finding or reasoning that cures the above deficiencies. See Final Act. 9–11; Ans. 3–5. Accordingly, we decline to sustain the Examiner’s § 103(a) rejections of dependent Claims 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19 over Narad and Levy. We also decline to sustain the Examiner’s § 103(a) rejection of Claims 3, 10, and 17 over Narad, Levy, and Ioffe. These claims include a Appeal 2019-006190 Application 13/485,810 18 commensurate limitation via their ultimate dependency from Claim 1, 8, or 15, and the Examiner does not make another finding (for example, in Ioffe) or reasoning that cures the above deficiencies. Final Act. 9, 11. DECISION SUMMARY Claim(s) Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–21 101 Eligibility 1–21 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19 103(a) Narad, Levy 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19 3, 10, 17 103(a) Narad, Levy, Ioffe 3, 10, 17 Overall 1–21 REVERSED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation