Claim or disclosure

Path representation

Broad screening

Same-level alignment

Evidence table

§102 / §103 view

Did a claim operation become narrower, or did it become a sequence?

A restriction keeps the same input and output while narrowing the operation. A split replaces the operation with ordered steps and introduces an intermediate product.

Are the two disclosures being compared at the same abstraction level?

A broad description of image processing should not be compared directly with one narrow implementation and treated as equivalent. Broad aligns to broad, intermediate to intermediate, and narrow to narrow.

When should missing information remove a candidate?

During screening, unknown remains because an erroneous removal cannot be recovered. At final judgment, unknown is not affirmative disclosure. Contradiction and silence remain separate states.

Search objectRepresentationRecorded result

TransformationA named operation with input and output, kept in its technical contextCandidate relation at a stated abstraction level

RestrictionThe same path with a narrower condition on the operation, input, or outputWhether the candidate discloses the limiting condition

SplitOne operation replaced by ordered operations and named intermediate productsWhich sub-path is disclosed by which reference

AbstractionBroad, intermediate, and narrow paths compared at the same levelThe level at which correspondence continues or breaks

Screening statusSatisfied, contradicted, or unknownUnknown remains in the screening set; contradiction removes it

Core transformationThe transformation identified as the technical point under reviewA separate result for each core transformation

EvidenceClaim, paragraph, figure, date, and quoted technical passageA source-linked alignment record

SourceRelationTargetConsequence

Claim path at level naligned withReference path at level nSame-level comparison limits drift caused by mismatched detail.

Restricted operationretainsInput + output topologyA generic disclosure does not necessarily teach the added limiting condition.

Split operationintroducesIntermediate product + sub-pathsDifferent references may disclose different sub-paths, which is recorded for later combination analysis.

Technical passagesupports / contradicts / leaves unknownCore transformationThe result remains an evidence state, not an unexplained similarity score.

Candidate funnel

Broad evidence removes clear mismatches before more detailed semantic comparison.

Same-level alignment

Broad is compared with broad, intermediate with intermediate, and narrow with narrow.

Three-state result

Satisfied, contradicted, and unknown are kept distinct until the decision stage.

Reference map

Each core transformation receives its own source and passage record, including partial matches.