DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the amendments filed on 12/04/2025
Claims 1-20 are cancelled.
Claims 21, 25, and 29 are amended.
Claims 21-32 are presented for examination.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/13/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 35 USC 103 rejections filed on 12/04/2025 in Remarks pg 7-8 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues in essence:
[a] “In this amendment claims 21, 25 and 29 are amended….Unless otherwise specified or addressed in the remarks section, amendments to the claims are made for purposes of clarity, and are not intended to alter the scope of the claims or limit any equivalents thereof….In view of the foregoing, Applicant believes all claims now pending in this Application are in condition for allowance. The issuance of a formal Notice of Allowance at an early date is respectfully requested.”
In response to [a], Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims have significant changes, such as both the first and second user communicating via text rather than voice to text and text to voice conversion in the previous version of the claims.
Next, the claims remain rejected under Typrin reference. Typrin teaches in Col. 3 line 65-col. 4 line 5 “Similarly, in some embodiments, users A through N may participate in a conference call (e.g., teleconference call, a video conference call, or a web conference call) or a group text messaging, in which each user device presents a user interface allowing the respective user to communicate via voice or text, irrespective of the modality used by other users.” Therefore the first user who initiates the call can initiate a voice call, (i.e. a web conference or video conference call) which allows for the voice call user to communicate via text, video and voice, and the recipient may respond via text.
Additionally, Typrin discloses in col. 4 lines 55-64 “When user device 202 sends the next voice communication of user A to user device 206, user device 206 requests service provider 208 to convert that voice communication to text data, and invokes the text messaging application to present the text data to user B. User B may then respond by providing additional input, which will be converted and dispatched to user device 202, as discussed above. Alternatively, user B may choose not to respond by text but rather select an option to respond by Voice, Switching to the use of the same modality as that of user A.” Users may switch between voice and text and text to voice interchangeably throughout the call. Therefore, at some point after session initiation, the voice call user may switch from voice to text, thereby also showing this process as described in the claim, wherein the users may both communicate via text, while the call initiated as a voice call.
Therefore, because of at least the reasons above, examiner maintains rejection in view of Typrin.
Claim Objections
Claims, 21, 25, and 29 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 21, 25, and 29 recite “the first user client device to select or input the text by using an interface” and “enabling the second user from the second user client device to respond by select or input the text by using the interface”, however the first instance of “the text” does not refer back to an original recitation of “text”, and this second instance is able to refer back to the first, however as this is text that is newly entered by the recipient, it should not be written as “the text” as it technically refers back to the text that is entered by the sender.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21-23, 25-27, and 29-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Typrin (US 8,861,689 B1) in view of Abbott (US 2010/0262927 A1).
Regarding Claim 21, Typrin discloses A method comprising: receiving, by a server system, from a first user, a request for initiating a voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 7-21 “ Telephony server 320 obtains a bank of phone numbers (e.g., from a telecommunications provider) and assigns each user one of these phone numbers. When user A places a voice call via a user device 302 to a phone number assigned to user B, the voice call is handled by carrier network 304, and is terminated by telephony server 320. Telephony server 320 determines that the voice call is intended for user B and bridges the voice call to user device 306, waking up a client application on user device 306.” Telephone server receives notification from user a initiating a voice call to user b.);
enabling the second user from the second user client device to accept the received call from the first user by switching to a text call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “When telephony server wakes up the client application on user device 306, the client application presents a user interface identifying the voice call to user B and providing an option to respond to the voice call by voice and an option to respond to the voice call by text. If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” user b may accept the call in text call format seen in Fig. 4A);
start communication session (Typrin: col. 5 lines 52-61 “ FIG. 4A includes an image 402 of a first user (Jill) calling a second user (Austin). Austin's phone 404 identifies Jill's voice call 406 on the screen and provides response options in the form of buttons—decline button 408, answer button 410 and text reply button 412. Austin may then activate button 412 to respond to the voice call via text messaging g (e.g., if Austin is in a meeting or a noisy place).” Fig. 4A shows the user may accept the call via button 412 for a text reply button, starting the communication session.) and
enabling the first user from the first user client device to select or input the text by using an interface (Typrin: Col. 3 line 65-col. 4 line 5 “Similarly, in some embodiments, users A through N may participate in a conference call (e.g., teleconference call, a video conference call, or a web conference call) or a group text messaging, in which each user device presents a user interface allowing the respective user to communicate via voice or text, irrespective of the modality used by other users.” The call may be performed via any modality based on the type of call initiated by the user. For example, it may be a video conference or a web conference call wherein both voice and text communication is viable. Therefore after initiating the voice call, i.e. a web conference call, the first user may send text via their call interface. Col. 5 lines 35-51 “ Alternatively, user B may choose not to respond by text but rather select an option to respond by voice, switching to the use of the same modality as that of user A. As will be discussed in more detail below, a similar mechanism may be used to allow user B to respond to text messages of user A by voice (e.g., when user A of user device 302 sends a text message and user B of user device 306 wishes to respond by voice).” Typrin shows that users may switch modalities as they wish during the calls);
sending, by the server system, text to the second user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text message from the first user is sent to the second user.);
enabling the second user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Without conversion in this case, the text message from the first user is displayed to the second user.);
enabling the second user from the second user client device to respond by select or input the text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1310, the telephony server provides the audio to user device B, and receives the user's voice response to the audio conversion of the text message. At block 1312, the telephony server causes the user's voice response to be converted into text data. At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Instead of a voice input in this case, the second user inputs a response text message rather than voice, and the user submits a text response instead);
sending, by the server system, text to the first user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The telephony server sends the recipients users text response back to the first user client device.); and
enabling the first user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text data is provided to the first user, and is able to see the response similar to that of Fig. 4C, whereas in this case both users have a text interface available.)
However Typrin does not explicitly disclose receiving, by a server system, from a first user, a selection of a second user from a contact list, a request for initiating a voice call
Abott discloses a selection of a second user from a contact list (Fig. 6, para.0128 “In the example, the contact list interface screen 310 includes display areas for some contact information as well as a key pad for the user to input a letter to locate a specific contact. When the contact is found in a stored list, the user may press the phone icon 311 adjacent to the contact name to place a call to the specified contact.” The user uses a contact list to initiate the call).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Typrin with Abbott in order to incorporate a selection of a second user from a contact list.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of initiating a call based on stored contact information (Abbott: para.0128).
Regarding Claim 22, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 21 as set forth above.
Typrin further discloses enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to switch from the voice call to the text call or from the text call to the voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “When telephony server wakes up the client application on user device 306, the client application presents a user interface identifying the voice call to user B and providing an option to respond to the voice call by voice and an option to respond to the voice call by text. If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” the second user may switch the voice call to a text call when accepting the call.).
Regarding Claim 23, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 21 as set forth above.
However Typrin does not explicitly disclose enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to select an end control to end the call.
Abbott discloses enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to select an end control to end the call (Abbott: Fig. 6 para.0130 “The user may terminate the call by pressing an "End" button 303.” The user may use the phone interface to end the call).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Typrin with Abbott in order to incorporate enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to select an end control to end the call.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of easily ending the call (Abbott: para.0130).
Regarding Claim 25, Typrin discloses An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (Typrin: Fig. 15, col. 11 line 58 – col. 12 line 65 server 1500 memory/data storage device and processor), cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
receive, by a server system, from a first user of the first client device, a request for initiating a voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 7-21 “ Telephony server 320 obtains a bank of phone numbers (e.g., from a telecommunications provider) and assigns each user one of these phone numbers. When user A places a voice call via a user device 302 to a phone number assigned to user B, the voice call is handled by carrier network 304, and is terminated by telephony server 320. Telephony server 320 determines that the voice call is intended for user B and bridges the voice call to user device 306, waking up a client application on user device 306.” Telephone server receives notification from user a initiating a voice call to user b.);
enable the second user from the second user client device to accept the received call from the first user by switching to a text call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “When telephony server wakes up the client application on user device 306, the client application presents a user interface identifying the voice call to user B and providing an option to respond to the voice call by voice and an option to respond to the voice call by text. If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” user b may accept the call in text call format seen in Fig. 4A);
start communication session (Typrin: col. 5 lines 52-61 “ FIG. 4A includes an image 402 of a first user (Jill) calling a second user (Austin). Austin's phone 404 identifies Jill's voice call 406 on the screen and provides response options in the form of buttons—decline button 408, answer button 410 and text reply button 412. Austin may then activate button 412 to respond to the voice call via text messaging g (e.g., if Austin is in a meeting or a noisy place).” Fig. 4A shows the user may accept the call via button 412 for a text reply button, starting the communication session.) and
enable the first user from the first user client device to select or input the text by using an interface (Typrin: Col. 3 line 65-col. 4 line 5 “Similarly, in some embodiments, users A through N may participate in a conference call (e.g., teleconference call, a video conference call, or a web conference call) or a group text messaging, in which each user device presents a user interface allowing the respective user to communicate via voice or text, irrespective of the modality used by other users.” The call may be performed via any modality based on the type of call initiated by the user. For example, it may be a video conference or a web conference call wherein both voice and text communication is viable. Therefore after initiating the voice call, i.e. a web conference call, the first user may send text via their call interface. Col. 5 lines 35-51 “ Alternatively, user B may choose not to respond by text but rather select an option to respond by voice, switching to the use of the same modality as that of user A. As will be discussed in more detail below, a similar mechanism may be used to allow user B to respond to text messages of user A by voice (e.g., when user A of user device 302 sends a text message and user B of user device 306 wishes to respond by voice).” Typrin shows that users may switch modalities as they wish during the calls);
send, by the server system, text to the second user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text message from the first user is sent to the second user.);
enable the second user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Without conversion in this case, the text message from the first user is displayed to the second user.);
enable the second user from the second user client device to respond by select or input the text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1310, the telephony server provides the audio to user device B, and receives the user's voice response to the audio conversion of the text message. At block 1312, the telephony server causes the user's voice response to be converted into text data. At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Instead of a voice input in this case, the second user inputs a response text message rather than voice, and the user submits a text response instead); and
send, by the server system, text to the first user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The telephony server sends the recipients users text response back to the first user client device.); and
enable the first user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text data is provided to the first user, and is able to see the response similar to that of Fig. 4C, whereas in this case both users have a text interface available.).
However Typrin does not explicitly disclose receive, by a server system, from a first user of the first client device, a selection of a second user from a contact list, a request for initiating a voice call
Abott discloses a selection of a second user from a contact list (Fig. 6, para.0128 “In the example, the contact list interface screen 310 includes display areas for some contact information as well as a key pad for the user to input a letter to locate a specific contact. When the contact is found in a stored list, the user may press the phone icon 311 adjacent to the contact name to place a call to the specified contact.” The user uses a contact list to initiate the call).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Typrin with Abbott in order to incorporate a selection of a second user from a contact list.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of initiating a call based on stored contact information (Abbott: para.0128).
Regarding Claim 26, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 25 as set forth above.
Typrin further discloses wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to switch from the voice call to the text call or from the text call to the voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” the user may select the text option); and
in response to receiving the instruction, switching from the voice call to the text call or from the text call to the voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “When telephony server wakes up the client application on user device 306, the client application presents a user interface identifying the voice call to user B and providing an option to respond to the voice call by voice and an option to respond to the voice call by text. If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” the second user may switch the voice call to a text call when accepting the call.).
Regarding Claim 27, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 25 as set forth above.
However Typrin does not explicitly disclose wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to end call; and in response to receiving the instruction to end call, ending the call.
Abbott discloses wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to end call (Abbott: Fig. 6 para.0130 “The user may terminate the call by pressing an "End" button 303.” The apparatus may receive a request to terminate the call from the user); and
in response to receiving the instruction to end call, ending the call (Abbott: Fig. 6 para.0130 “The user may terminate the call by pressing an "End" button 303.” The user may use the phone interface to end the call).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Typrin with Abbott in order to incorporate wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to end call; and in response to receiving the instruction to end call, ending the call.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of easily ending the call (Abbott: para.0130).
Regarding Claim 29, Typrin discloses A server for providing communication between a first electronic device of a first user and a second electronic device of a second user (Typrin: Fig. 3 telephone server, and/or service provider 308), the server comprising:
one or more memories storing instructions, and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions (Typrin: Fig. 15, col. 11 line 58 – col. 12 line 65 server 1500 memory/data storage device and processor) to,
during the communication between the first electronic device of the first user and the second electronic device of the second user (Typrin: col. 4 lines 6-27 server converting text to speech and speech to text, or facilitating voice to voice call. i.e. col. 5 line 52-61 regular answer button 410 for voice to voice.), at least:
receiving by the server system from a first user of a first client device, a request for initiating a voice call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 7-21 “ Telephony server 320 obtains a bank of phone numbers (e.g., from a telecommunications provider) and assigns each user one of these phone numbers. When user A places a voice call via a user device 302 to a phone number assigned to user B, the voice call is handled by carrier network 304, and is terminated by telephony server 320. Telephony server 320 determines that the voice call is intended for user B and bridges the voice call to user device 306, waking up a client application on user device 306.” Telephone server receives notification from user a initiating a voice call to user b.);
enabling the second user from the second user client device to accept the received call from the first user by switching to a text call (Typrin: col. 5 lines 22-35 “When telephony server wakes up the client application on user device 306, the client application presents a user interface identifying the voice call to user B and providing an option to respond to the voice call by voice and an option to respond to the voice call by text. If user B selects the response by text option, the client application provides a user interface facilitating user input in text form” user b may accept the call in text call format seen in Fig. 4A);
start communication session (Typrin: col. 5 lines 52-61 “ FIG. 4A includes an image 402 of a first user (Jill) calling a second user (Austin). Austin's phone 404 identifies Jill's voice call 406 on the screen and provides response options in the form of buttons—decline button 408, answer button 410 and text reply button 412. Austin may then activate button 412 to respond to the voice call via text messaging g (e.g., if Austin is in a meeting or a noisy place).” Fig. 4A shows the user may accept the call via button 412 for a text reply button, starting the communication session.) and
enabling the first user from the first user client device select or input the text by using an interface (Typrin: Col. 3 line 65-col. 4 line 5 “Similarly, in some embodiments, users A through N may participate in a conference call (e.g., teleconference call, a video conference call, or a web conference call) or a group text messaging, in which each user device presents a user interface allowing the respective user to communicate via voice or text, irrespective of the modality used by other users.” The call may be performed via any modality based on the type of call initiated by the user. For example, it may be a video conference or a web conference call wherein both voice and text communication is viable. Therefore after initiating the voice call, i.e. a web conference call, the first user may send text via their call interface. Col. 5 lines 35-51 “ Alternatively, user B may choose not to respond by text but rather select an option to respond by voice, switching to the use of the same modality as that of user A. As will be discussed in more detail below, a similar mechanism may be used to allow user B to respond to text messages of user A by voice (e.g., when user A of user device 302 sends a text message and user B of user device 306 wishes to respond by voice).” Typrin shows that users may switch modalities as they wish during the calls);
send. by the server system, text to the second user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text message from the first user is sent to the second user.);
enabling the second user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1302, the telephony server receives a text message from user device A. At block 1304, the telephony server determines that the text message is intended for user device B based on the phone number used for the text message. At block 1306, the telephony server notifies user device B about the text message….Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Without conversion in this case, the text message from the first user is displayed to the second user.);
enabling the second user from the second user client device to respond by select or input the text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1310, the telephony server provides the audio to user device B, and receives the user's voice response to the audio conversion of the text message. At block 1312, the telephony server causes the user's voice response to be converted into text data. At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. Alternatively, if the user does not select the option to respond to the text message by voice (i.e., the user prefers to use the same modality as the other user), the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” Instead of a voice input in this case, the second user inputs a response text message rather than voice, and the user submits a text response instead);
send, by the server system, text to the first user client device (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The telephony server sends the recipients users text response back to the first user client device.); and
enable the first user client device to view received text by using the interface (Typrin: col. 10 lines 42-65 “At block 1314, the telephony server causes the text data to be provided to user device A. …the telephony server provides the text message to user device B and causes the user's text response to be provided to user device A, without performing a conversion.” The text data is provided to the first user, and is able to see the response similar to that of Fig. 4C, whereas in this case both users have a text interface available.).
However Typrin does not explicitly disclose receiving by the server system from a first user of a first client device, a selection of a second user from a contact list, a request for initiating a voice call.
Abott discloses a selection of a second user from a contact list (Fig. 6, para.0128 “In the example, the contact list interface screen 310 includes display areas for some contact information as well as a key pad for the user to input a letter to locate a specific contact. When the contact is found in a stored list, the user may press the phone icon 311 adjacent to the contact name to place a call to the specified contact.” The user uses a contact list to initiate the call).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Typrin with Abbott in order to incorporate a selection of a second user from a contact list.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of initiating a call based on stored contact information (Abbott: para.0128).
Regarding Claims 30-31, they do not teach nor further define over the limitations of claims 26-27, therefore the supporting rationale for the rejection to claims 26-27 apply equally as well to that of claims 30-31
Claim(s) 24, 28, 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Typrin (US 8,861,689 B1) in view of Abbott (US 2010/0262927 A1) further in view of Burckart et al. (hereinafter Burc, US 2009/0048845 A1).
Regarding Claim 24, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 21 as set forth above.
Typrin further discloses the conversation including text, voice, text-to-appropriate format, and voice-to-text (Typrin: Fig. 4B-C, col. 5 line 62 to col. 6 line 3 “Referring to FIG. 4B, phone 404 presents a user interface that provides an indication 422 that Austin has selected to interact with Jill via text messaging, and allows Austin to enter his text response 424 using keyboard 430. Austin then activates send button 428 to send his response to Jill, which results in displaying his response on the Austin's phone 404 as part of the conversation and in providing his response 432 in audio form to Jill. Jill then responds by voice (response 434) using her phone.” The communication has voice, text, and the converted text to voice and voice to text as seen in Fig. 4B-C).
However Typrin-Abbott does not explicitly disclose enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, text-to-appropriate format and voice-to-text.
Burc discloses enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text (Burc: para.0028 “In this way, a user may view the chat history log 132, including the text and voice transcription data, on the display device 124.” para.0029 “In some embodiments, the IM client 128 receives the text data and the voice transcription data from the chat server 112. The IM client 128 then chronologically aggregates the text data and the voice transcription data according to timestamps associated with the text data and the voice transcription data. Hence, the chat history log 132 provides an accurate representation of the conversation that occurs between the local IM client 128 and the remote IM client, regardless of the chat method (e.g., text or voice) that is used. Additionally, the IM client 128 may add a voice transcription indicator to the chat history log 132 to identify at least a portion of the voice transcription data in the chat history log 132. Similarly, the IM client 128 may add a text indicator to the chat history log 132 to identify at least a portion of the text data in the chat history log 132.” Chat logs are available to the user to view, the chat logs including voice and text portions, with voice to text portions added).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine Typrin-Abbott with Burc in order to incorporate enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text, such that the conversations comprising text, voice, text-to-appropriate format and voice-to-text in Typrin are recorded in the same manner as the conversation in Burc for user viewing.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of improved user experience by being able to view past conversations (Burc: para.0028).
Regarding Claim 28, Typrin-Abbott discloses claim 28 as set forth above.
Typrin further discloses the conversation including text, voice, text-to-appropriate format and voice-to-text (Typrin: Fig. 4B-C, col. 5 line 62 to col. 6 line 3 “Referring to FIG. 4B, phone 404 presents a user interface that provides an indication 422 that Austin has selected to interact with Jill via text messaging, and allows Austin to enter his text response 424 using keyboard 430. Austin then activates send button 428 to send his response to Jill, which results in displaying his response on the Austin's phone 404 as part of the conversation and in providing his response 432 in audio form to Jill. Jill then responds by voice (response 434) using her phone.” The communication has voice, text, and the converted text to voice and voice to text as seen in Fig. 4B-C).
However Typrin-Abbott does not explicitly disclose wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, text-to-appropriate format and voice-to-text; and in response to receiving the instruction, enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, text-to- appropriate format and voice-to-text.
Burc discloses wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text (Burc: Fig.2, para.0026 “In some embodiments, the display device 124 may display an IM user interface 126, similar to the IM user interfaces 108 and 110 described above.” Para.0028 “In some embodiments, the local IM client 128 is configured to aggregate both text data and voice transcription data from the chat server 112 into the chat history log 132. In this way, a user may view the chat history log 132, including the text and voice transcription data, on the display device 124.” Via interface 126 in Fig. 2, a user may access the chat history log, the chat logs including voice and text portions, with voice to text portions added in para.0029); and
in response to receiving the instruction, enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text (Burc: para.0028 “In this way, a user may view the chat history log 132, including the text and voice transcription data, on the display device 124.” para.0029 “In some embodiments, the IM client 128 receives the text data and the voice transcription data from the chat server 112. The IM client 128 then chronologically aggregates the text data and the voice transcription data according to timestamps associated with the text data and the voice transcription data. Hence, the chat history log 132 provides an accurate representation of the conversation that occurs between the local IM client 128 and the remote IM client, regardless of the chat method (e.g., text or voice) that is used. Additionally, the IM client 128 may add a voice transcription indicator to the chat history log 132 to identify at least a portion of the voice transcription data in the chat history log 132. Similarly, the IM client 128 may add a text indicator to the chat history log 132 to identify at least a portion of the text data in the chat history log 132.” Chat logs are available to the user to view, the chat logs including voice and text portions, with voice to text portions added).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine Typrin-Abbott with Burc in order to incorporate wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receiving the instruction from the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text; and in response to receiving the instruction, enabling the first user of the first client device or the second user of the second client device to view logs of conversation including text, voice, and voice-to-text, such that the conversations comprising text, voice, text-to-appropriate format and voice-to-text in Typrin are recorded in the same manner as the conversation in Burc for user viewing.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine because of the expected benefit of improved user experience by being able to view past conversations (Burc: para.0028).
Regarding Claim 32, it does not teach nor further define over the limitations of claims 28, therefore the supporting rationale for the rejection to claims 28 apply equally as well to that of claim 32
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Varghese et al. US 2014/0273974 A1, para.0045 and Fig. 3A, voice to text and text to voice communication between users.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUI H KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-8133. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-5 M-R, M-F alternating.
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/EUI H KIM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2453
/KAMAL B DIVECHA/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2453