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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This non-final action is in response to RCE filed on 07/30/2025. In this RCE, claims 1, 10 and 18 are amended. Claims 1-5, 8, 10-14, 18 and 21-27 are pending, with claims 1, 10 and 18 being independent.
For compact prosecution, an Examiner's Amendment is proposed to Applicant’s Representative John Damron (Reg. No. 74, 534) via emails for placing the application in condition for allowance, however the examiners proposed amendments were not accepted by the applicant representative.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 regarding limitation “identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic” in view of combination of Liu-Tschabitscher-Kim have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed on 07/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 11-12, Applicant argues that Regarding independent claim 1, no cited reference, whether considered alone or in combination with any other cited reference, discloses, teaches, or suggests, “identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic” as recited in the claim. Nor does any cited reference, disclose, teach, or suggest, "based on identifying data associated with the first topic and data associated with the second topic in the first message, appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Combination Liu and Bansal (one of references in record) teaches these limitations. For instance, Liu teaches parsing each of messages 152 (includes first message) to determine word meaning, keywords, etc., in order to identify one or more topics of each of messages 152 (Liu para. [29-30 and 46]). Moreover, based on identified topics related to the first message (e.g., Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]), the controller can annotate/append the first message with triangular and square identifying annotations (metadata) (Liu fig. 1C and para. [29, 34-35]). Therefore, Liu teaches identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages and based on identifying data associated with the first topic and data associated with the second topic in the first message, appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic.
However, Liu does not explicitly disclose identifying by comparing a text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases (i.e., by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, and by comparing a second text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases and by comparing a third text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases). Bansal (one of the references in the record) teaches this limitation. Bansal teaches using a database includes a table comprises a list of topics and list of keywords for each topic for detecting topics. For instance, when a message is received, matching keywords in the message against to list of keywords in the table are performed in order to determine one or more topics related to the keywords of the message (Bansal fig. 5& para. [45]). Therefore, It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Liu in view of Bansal for identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic. The combination offers the advantage of determining whether messages are associated with pre-defined topics (see Bansal Para. [0011]).
Thus, Liu-Bansal teaches identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic and based on identifying data associated with the first topic and data associated with the second topic in the first message, appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic.
Please see mapping below.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected because of the following:
The claim recites “the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic”; however according to other limitations reciting “appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic” and “appending the second message with metadata indicating the second topic”. It appears that the second message is appended with metadata indicating the second topic not appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic as presented in the limitation.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Tschabitscher (NPL: How to Find All Mail From A Sender Quickly in Outlook, Published Feb. 12, 2020), in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0293670, Pub. Date: Oct. 15, 2015).
As per claim 1, Liu discloses a method (Liu Para. [0002], Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method, system, and computer program product relating to organizing messages of one or more group threads) comprising:
receiving, in a text instant messaging application (Liu Para. [0019], Chatting applications 112 may include interfaces over which a plurality of users may communicate, such as via messages that include text), a plurality of electronic messages from one or more user devices participating in a group communication (Liu Fig.1B and Para. [0021], controller 110 may monitor conversation 150 of FIG. 1B. Conversation 150 as depicted in FIG. 1B includes a plurality of messages 152A-152K (collectively, "messages 152,” … All messages 152 within conversation 150 may be from a single chatting application 112. Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120), wherein a first message of the plurality of electronic messages is received before a second message of the plurality of electronic messages (see Liu Fig.1B, message 152J [first message] received before message 152K [second message]);
displaying the plurality of electronic messages in a user interface in a first order based on chronology (see Liu Fig. 1C, displaying conversation 150 in GUI 160 in chronological order), wherein in the first order the first message is displayed above the second message (see Liu Fig.1B, message 152J is displayed before message 152K);
identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message of the plurality of electronic messages (Liu para. [0046], processor 220 may be configured to parse messages 152 from conversations 150 to determine semantic features (e.g., word meanings, repeated words, keywords, etc.) and/or syntactic features (e.g., word structure, location of semantic features in headings, title, etc.) of these messages 152. Ontological matching could be used to map semantic and/or syntactic features to a particular concept. The concept can then be used to determine the topic of each of messages 152. In this way, using NLP techniques 242, controller 110 may, e.g., identify a context of a given message 152 to therein match this message 152 to a given topic; Liu Fig. 1B and Para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking topic);
identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message (Liu para. [0046], processor 220 may be configured to parse messages 152 from conversations 150 to determine semantic features (e.g., word meanings, repeated words, keywords, etc.) and/or syntactic features (e.g., word structure, location of semantic features in headings, title, etc.) of these messages 152. Ontological matching could be used to map semantic and/or syntactic features to a particular concept. The concept can then be used to determine the topic of each of messages 152. In this way, using NLP techniques 242, controller 110 may, e.g., identify a context of a given message 152 to therein match this message 152 to a given topic; Liu Fig. 1B and para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]) and in the second message of the plurality of electronic messages (Liu Para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]);
based on identifying data associated with the first topic and data associated with the second topic in the first message (Liu Fig. 1B and Para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]), appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic (see fig. 1C, message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]) and annotated/appended with triangular and square identifying annotations (metadata); Liu para. [0034-0035], controller 110 may itself provide (within window 160) some or all identifying annotations 164 (even if a user never self-selects) after identifying that respective messages 152 are related to respective topics … messages 152A, 152B, 152E, 152F, 152J that are related to the Eweek topic are associated with triangular identifying annotations 164A, 164B, while messages 152C, 152D, 152H, 152J that are related to the raking topic are associated with square identifying annotations);
based on identifying data associated with the second topic in the second message (Liu para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]), appending the second message with metadata indicating the second topic (Liu para. [0034-0035], controller 110 may itself provide (within window 160) some or all identifying annotations 164 (even if a user never self-selects) after identifying that respective messages 152 are related to respective topics … while messages 152C, 152D, 152H, 152J that are related to the raking topic are associated with square identifying annotations);
wherein the second message is displayed with an indication that the second message was posted by a particular user device (see Liu fig. 1B, message 152K was posted by user D) and is associated with the second topic (Liu fig. 1B and Para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K [second message] … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K [second message] also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]).
displaying messages from the group communication appended with metadata indicating the second topic (Liu fig. 1C, messages annotated/appended with square identifying annotations related to second topic [ranking topic]).
Liu does not explicitly disclose:
identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic;
identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a second text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases and by comparing a third text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases;
receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second message; and
in response to receiving the selection of the second message, displaying only messages indicating the second topic and posted by the particular user device.
Bansal teaches:
identifying data associated with a first topic in in the first message by comparing a text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases (Bansal Fig. 5 and Para. [0042], database 112 includes a table 500 that maps topics 502 to associated keywords 504. When an IM window receives a message to be forwarded to the recipient associated with the IM window, TRE 108 determines the topic by matching the keywords used in the message against the keywords in table 500), wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic (Bansal fig.5, database 112 includes a table 500 comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic);
identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases and by comparing a text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases (Bansal para. [0025], IM server process 111 is provided to facilitate the exchange of messages [comprising the first and second message] between and/or among primary client 102, client A 104, and client B 106; Bansal para. [0045], a first IM window receives a message (402). TRE 108 parses the message to identify keywords (404). TRE 108 checks the keywords against table 500, for example, and TRE 108 determines whether the keywords match one or more topics (406, 408) [corresponding to a first topic and second topic] … if TRE 108 finds that the keyword WIMBLEDON is a match, TRE 108 identifies the topic as TENNIS (see FIG. 5). TRE 108 can also be configured to determine if the topic is already in the context of the current session (410) [The citations mean that TRE can check a plurality of messages [comprising the first and second message] between clients to determine one or more topics [corresponding to a first topic and second topic] related to each message by checking the keywords used in each message against table 500. TRE also can determine if a topic of a message is already in the context of the current session [corresponding a plurality messages [comprising the first and second message] are related to the same topic [e.g., to second topic]]).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Liu in view of Bansal for identifying data associated with a first topic in the first message by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in one or more databases, wherein each database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic; and identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a second text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases and by comparing a third text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the one or more databases.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of determining whether messages are associated with pre-defined topics (see Bansal Para. [0011]).
Liu-Bansal does not explicitly disclose:
receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second message; and
in response to receiving the selection of the second message, displaying only messages indicating the second topic and posted by the particular user device.
Tschabitscher teaches:
receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a message (Tschabitscher pg. 2, Outlook makes it easy to find all mail from a certain sender quickly; Tschabitscher pg. 2, 1. In any Outlook folder or search result, right-click on a message from the sender; Tschabitscher pg. 3, 3. Choose either Messages in this Conversation or Messages from Sender); and
in response to receiving the selection of the message, displaying only messages from the group communication associated with the selection (Tschabitscher pg. 3, 4. Related messages appear in the Message List pane).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Tschabitscher for receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second message; and in response to receiving the selection of the message, displaying only messages from the group communication associated with the selection.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of providing user interface for requesting displaying certain messages.
Liu-Tschabitscher teaches right-clicking on the second message and selecting one of display options (e.g., displaying messages from particular user) and then messages are displayed based on the selection (e.g., displaying messages from particular user) (Liu fig. 1B and Tschabitscher pg. 2-3). However, Liu-Tschabitscher does not explicitly disclose that the selections associated with the second topic and posted by the particular user device.
Kim teaches:
the selections indicating the second topic and posted by the particular user device (see Kim fig. 3C, providing options user to: select participant 343, select range setting 345 and select topic 347 & fig. 3D, user selects options: Topic and Range; Kim para. [0076], the electronic device may select messages on the basis of at least one of a chat topic, a chat participant, a message transmission/ reception time, the number of messages, and user settings; Kim para. [0077], the electronic device may choose a function 341 for selecting the entire chat transcript, a function 343 for selecting the transcript of a chat with just a specific participant, a function 345 for setting the starting point or end point of a chat transcript, a function 347 for selecting the transcript of a chat including a specific topic or specific contents. [The citations indicate that topic and specific participant options are also available for user to select]).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Kim receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second message; and in response to receiving the selection of the second message, displaying only messages indicating the second topic and posted by the particular user device.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of obtaining messages based on user inputs (see 3C-D, 7B-C and para. [0078]).
Per claim 18, it does not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 1. As such, claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1.
Claims 2-3, 21 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Tschabitscher (NPL: How to Find All Mail From A Sender Quickly in Outlook, Published Feb. 12, 2020), in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0293670, Pub. Date: Oct. 15, 2015), in view of Sharifi et al. (US 2018/0239495, Pub. Date Aug. 23, 2018).
As per claim 2, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above, Bansal also discloses wherein identifying data associated with the first topic in the first message comprises comparing one or more text strings contained within the first message to text strings in a database comprising data (Bansal para. [0045], a first IM window receives a message (402). TRE 108 parses the message to identify keywords (404). TRE 108 checks the keywords against table 500, for example, and TRE 108 determines whether the keywords match one or more topics (406, 408); Bansal fig.5, database 112 includes a table 500 comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic; Bansal para. [0025], IM server process 111 is provided to facilitate the exchange of messages between and/or among primary client 102, client A 104, and client B 106).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied
Liu-Bansal does not explicitly disclose:
text strings in a learning database comprising training data, wherein the training data is used for machine learning.
Sharifi teaches:
text strings in a learning database comprising training data, wherein the training data is used for machine learning (Sharifi para. [0050], the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages [text strings] that are labeled with topics).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Sharifi for text strings in a learning database comprising training data and the training data is used for machine learning.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying topics from labeled training data (Sharifi para. [0050]).
As per claim 3, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim-Sharifi discloses the method according to claim 2 as set forth above, Sharifi also discloses wherein each text string in the training data is associated with a particular topic (Sharifi Para. [0050], the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages [text strings] that are labeled with topics).
Similar rationales in claim 2 is applied.
Per claims 21 and 23, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claims 2-3 respectively. As such, claims 21 and 23 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 2-3 respectively.
Claims 4, 8, 22 and 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Tschabitscher (NPL: How to Find All Mail From A Sender Quickly in Outlook, Published Feb. 12, 2020), in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0293670, Pub. Date: Oct. 15, 2015), in view of Hong (WO2019098423, Pub. Date May 23, 2019).
As per claim 4, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above, Liu also discloses further comprising:
receiving a third message from one of the user devices (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic);
identifying data associated with the first topic in the third message (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic; Liu Para. [0054], Controller 110 may detect another new message that relates to the first topic; Liu Para. [0045], The concept can then be used to determine the topic of each of messages 152. In this way, using NLP techniques 242, controller 110 may, e.g., identify a context of a given message 152 to therein match this message 152 to a given topic);
determining, based on the data associated with the first topic, the third message is associated with the first topic (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic); and
after determining the third message is associated with the first topic (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic), displaying the third message in the user interface within a first group associated with the first topic below the first message (Liu Para. [0002], The method may further include displaying the third message immediately adjacent the first message in response to detecting that the third message regards the first topic of the first message; Liu Para. [0054], In response to detecting that third message relates to a topic of the first message, controller displays third message adjacent first message; see Liu Fig. 2 and Liu Para. [0017], display messages of a single topic adjacent each other in response to a prompt from a user).
Liu does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first group is displayed in the user interface above a second group.
Hong teaches:
the first group is displayed in the user interface above a second group (see Hong Fig. 12, topic 1 is displayed above topic 2 and Para. [0070], The conversation topic list 1110 corresponds to a message group list in which messages are grouped by topic. For each message group, the topic keyword specified in the message group is displayed as a title 1101).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Hong for wherein the first group is displayed in the user interface above a second group.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of conveniently checking what topics conversation have been exchanged in the chat room (see Hong Para. [0053]).
As per claim 8, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose further comprising displaying a topic title and an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with the second topic.
Hong teaches:
displaying a topic title and an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with a topic (see Hong Fig. 12 and Para. [0071-0072], displaying topic 1 and messages arranged by a chronologically order and user A has sent an earliest message associated with a topic at 11:47).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Hong for further comprising displaying a topic title and an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with the second topic.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of conveniently checking what topics conversation have been exchanged in the chat room (see Hong Para. [0053]).
As per claim 22, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the system according to claim 18 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the instructions further cause the system to display an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with the second topic.
Hong teaches:
display an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with a topic (see Hong Fig. 12 and Para. [0071-0072], displaying topic 1 and messages arranged by a chronologically order and user A has sent an earliest message associated with a topic at 11:47).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Hong for wherein the instructions further cause the system to display an identification of a user participating in the group communication having sent an earliest message associated with the second topic.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of conveniently checking what topics conversation have been exchanged in the chat room (see Hong Para. [0053]).
Per claim 24, it does not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 4. As such, claim 24 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 4.
Claims 5 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Tschabitscher (NPL: How to Find All Mail From A Sender Quickly in Outlook, Published Feb. 12, 2020), in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0293670, Pub. Date: Oct. 15, 2015),, in view of Crowe et al. (US 2019/0245821, Pub. Date Aug. 8, 2019).
As per claim 5, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
receiving input associated with a third message of the plurality of electronic messages from a first user device;
in response to the input, displaying one or more topic labels comprising the first topic and the second topic;
receiving a selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic; and
in response to the selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic, displaying the third message in the user interface in one or both of a first group associated with the first topic and a second group associated with the second topic.
Crowe teaches:
receiving input associated with a message from a first user device (Crowe Para. [0084], user pressing and holding on a message that has already been transmitted; Crowe Para. [0045], any newly created thread labels or edits to previously created thread labels will be reflected on the device of each participant to the conversation);
in response to the input, displaying one or more topic labels comprising the first topic and the second topic (see Crowe Para. [0084], responsive to a user pressing and holding on a message that has already been transmitted, present the user primary messaging interface; see Crowe Fig. 2C, primary messaging interface 2100 displaying thread labels [topic labels] comprising topics (e.g., Kids, Clay) in thread selector bar 2123 and Para. [0065], it may be undesirable to display all of the previously created thread labels at once, and in such embodiments a user may optionally scroll through the previously created thread labels by swiping his or her finger (e.g., left or right, up or down, etc.) along the thread selector bar 2123);
receiving a selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic (Crowe Fig. 2C and Para. [0065], a thread selector bar 2123 may be provided in primary messaging interface 2100 such that a user (here, Trevor) may select one or more of the thread labels previously created to associate with messages (e.g., by tapping on the thread label the user wishes to associate with a designated message); and
in response to the selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic (Crowe Fig. 2C and Para. [0065], a thread selector bar 2123 may be provided in primary messaging interface 2100 such that a user (here, Trevor) may select one or more of the thread labels previously created to associate with messages (e.g., by tapping on the thread label the user wishes to associate with a designated message), displaying the message in the user interface in one or both of the first group associated with the first topic (see Crowe Fig. 2F, display message 2131 in Kids thread label 2135) and the second group associated with the second topic.
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Crowe for receiving input associated with a third message of the plurality of electronic messages from a first user device; in response to the input, displaying one or more topic labels comprising the first topic and the second topic; receiving a selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic; and in response to the selection of one or more of the first topic and the second topic, displaying the third message in the user interface in one or both of the first group associated with the first topic and the second group associated with the second topic
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of dynamically associating labels to messages (Crowe Para. [0002]).
Per claim 25, it does not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 5. As such, claim 25 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 5.
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Sharifi et al. (US 2018/0239495, Pub. Date Aug. 23, 2018), in view of Krishnasamy et al. (US 2008/0109406, Pub. Date May 8, 2008).
As per claim 10, Liu discloses a method (Liu Para. [0002], Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method, system, and computer program product relating to organizing messages of one or more group threads) comprising:
receiving, at a communication system and in a text instant messaging application (Liu Fig. 1A and Para. [0018], FIG. 1A depicts system 100 in which controller 110 manages communication between a plurality of users), a plurality of messages from a first user device (see Liu Fig. 1, receiving plurality of messages from a user) of a plurality of user devices participating in a group communication (Liu Fig.1B and Para. [0021], controller 110 may monitor conversation 150 of FIG. 1B. Conversation 150 as depicted in FIG. 1B includes a plurality of messages 152A-152K (collectively, "messages 152,” … All messages 152 within conversation 150 may be from a single chatting application 112. Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120), wherein a first message of the plurality of messages is received before a second message of the plurality of messages (see Liu Fig.1B, message 152J [first message] received before message 152K [second message]);
identifying, by the communication system, data associated with a first topic in the first message (Liu Fig. 1B and Para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking topic);
identifying, by the communication system, data associated with a second topic in the first message (Liu Fig. 1B and para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]) and in the second message (Liu Para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]);
based on identifying data associated with the first topic and data associated with the second topic in the first message (Liu Fig. 1B and Para. [0029], controller 110 may identify that the subject matter of message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking topic [second topic]), appending the first message with metadata indicating both the first topic and the second topic (see fig. 1C, message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic and the volunteer raking topic [second topic] and annotated/appended with triangular and square identifying annotations; Liu para. [0034-0035], controller 110 may itself provide (within window 160) some or all identifying annotations 164 (even if a user never self-selects) after identifying that respective messages 152 are related to respective topics … messages 152A, 152B, 152E, 152F, 152J that are related to the Eweek topic are associated with triangular identifying annotations 164A, 164B, while messages 152C, 152D, 152H, 152J that are related to the raking topic are associated with square identifying annotations);
based on identifying data associated with the second topic in the second message (Liu para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]), appending the second message with metadata indicating the second topic (Liu para. [0034-0035], controller 110 may itself provide (within window 160) some or all identifying annotations 164 (even if a user never self-selects) after identifying that respective messages 152 are related to respective topics … while messages 152C, 152D, 152H, 152J that are related to the raking topic are associated with square identifying annotations);
transmitting, by the communication system, the first message appended with the first metadata indicating the first topic to user device (see fig. 1C, message 152J relates to both the Eweek topic [first topic] and the volunteer raking and annotated/appended with triangular and square identifying annotations; Liu para. [0035], controller 110 may display identifying annotations 164 such that messages 152 that instantiate topics are associated with different identifying annotations 164 than messages 152 that respond to topics) participating in the group communication (Liu Fig.1B and Para. [0021], controller 110 may monitor conversation 150 of FIG. 1B. Conversation 150 as depicted in FIG. 1B includes a plurality of messages 152A-152K (collectively, "messages 152,” … All messages 152 within conversation 150 may be from a single chatting application 112. Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120);
transmitting, by the communication system, the second message appended with the metadata indicating the second topic to user device (; Liu para. [0035], controller 110 may display identifying annotations 164 such that messages 152 that instantiate topics are associated with different identifying annotations 164 than messages 152 that respond to topics; Liu para. [0030], controller 110 may identify that the content of the rest of message 152K … such that message 152K was user D responding to a previous portion of message 152J from user G that related to raking, such that message 152K also relates to topic "raking." [second topic]) participating in the group communication (Liu Fig.1B and Para. [0021], controller 110 may monitor conversation 150 of FIG. 1B. Conversation 150 as depicted in FIG. 1B includes a plurality of messages 152A-152K (collectively, "messages 152,” … All messages 152 within conversation 150 may be from a single chatting application 112. Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120).
Liu does not explicitly disclose:
comparing one or more text strings contained within the first message to text strings in a learning database containing training data by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in the learning database, wherein the learning database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic;
based on the comparing of the text strings contained within the first message to text strings in the learning database identifying data associated with a first topic;
identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a second text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the learning database and by comparing a third text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the learning database;
transmitting the first message appended with the first metadata to the plurality of user devices;
transmitting the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic to the plurality of user devices;
subsequent to transmitting the second message, receiving, by the communication system, an indication that a user of one of the plurality of user devices manually indicated the second message is associated with the first topic;
in response to the receiving the indication, updating the second metadata to yield updated metadata for the second message; and
transmitting, by the communication system, the updated metadata to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication.
Bansal teaches:
comparing one or more text strings contained within the first message to text strings in a database containing data by comparing a text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in the database (Bansal Fig. 5 and Para. [0042], database 112 includes a table 500 that maps topics 502 to associated keywords 504. When an IM window receives a message to be forwarded to the recipient associated with the IM window, TRE 108 determines the topic by matching the keywords used in the message against the keywords in table 500; Bansal fig.5, database 112 includes a table 500 comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic), wherein the database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic (Bansal fig.5, database 112 includes a table 500 comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic);
based on the comparing of the text strings contained within the first message to text strings in the database identifying data associated with a first topic (Bansal Fig. 5 and Para. [0042], database 112 includes a table 500 that maps topics 502 to associated keywords 504. When an IM window receives a message to be forwarded to the recipient associated with the IM window, TRE 108 determines the topic by matching the keywords used in the message against the keywords in table 500);
identifying data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the database and by comparing a text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the database (Bansal para. [0025], IM server process 111 is provided to facilitate the exchange of messages [comprising the first and second message] between and/or among primary client 102, client A 104, and client B 106; Bansal para. [0045], a first IM window receives a message (402). TRE 108 parses the message to identify keywords (404). TRE 108 checks the keywords against table 500, for example, and TRE 108 determines whether the keywords match one or more topics (406, 408) [corresponding to a first topic and second topic] … if TRE 108 finds that the keyword WIMBLEDON is a match, TRE 108 identifies the topic as TENNIS (see FIG. 5). TRE 108 can also be configured to determine if the topic is already in the context of the current session (410) [The citations mean that TRE can check a plurality of messages [comprising the first and second message] between clients to determine one or more topics [corresponding to a first topic and second topic] related to each message by checking the keywords used in each message against table 500. TRE also can determine if a topic of a message is already in the context of the current session [corresponding a plurality messages [comprising the first and second message] are related to the same topic [e.g., to second topic]]).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Liu in view of Bansal for comparing one or more text strings contained within the first message to text strings in a database containing data by comparing a first text string included in the first message to one or more lists of text strings in the database, wherein the database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic; based on the comparing of the text strings contained within the first message to text strings in the database identifying, by the communication system, data associated with a first topic; and identifying, by the communication system, data associated with a second topic in the first message and in the second message by comparing a second text string included in the first message to the one or more lists of text strings in the database and by comparing a third text string included in the second message to the one or more lists of text strings in the database.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of determining whether messages are associated with pre-defined topics (see Bansal Para. [0011]).
Liu-Bansal does not explicitly disclose:
text strings in a learning database containing training data;
one or more lists of text strings in the learning database, wherein the learning database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic;
transmitting the first message appended with the first metadata to the plurality of user devices;
transmitting the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication;
subsequent to transmitting the second message, receiving, by the communication system, an indication that a user of one of the plurality of user devices manually indicated the second message is associated with the first topic;
in response to the receiving the indication, updating the second metadata to yield updated metadata for the second message; and
transmitting, by the communication system, the updated metadata to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication.
Sharifi teaches:
text strings in a learning database containing training data (Sharifi Para. [0050], In some aspects, the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages [text strings] that are labeled with topics);
one or more lists of text strings in the learning database, wherein the learning database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic (Sharifi Para. [0050], In some aspects, the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages [text strings] that are labeled with topics).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Sharifi for text strings in a learning database containing training data; and one or more lists of text strings in the learning database, wherein the learning database comprises a list of topics and a list of text strings for each topic.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying topics from labeled training data (Sharifi Para. [0050]).
Liu-Bansal-Sharifi does not explicitly disclose:
transmitting the first message appended with the first metadata to the plurality of user devices;
transmitting the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication;
subsequent to transmitting the second message, receiving, by the communication system, an indication that a user of one of the plurality of user devices manually indicated the second message is associated with the first topic;
in response to the receiving the indication, updating the second metadata to yield updated metadata for the second message; and
transmitting, by the communication system, the updated metadata to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication.
Krishnasamy teaches:
transmitting the first message appended with the first metadata to the plurality of user devices (Krishnasamy Para. [0029], The message is forwarded to one or more intended recipients together with the associated context tag or tags; Krishnasamy Para. [0007], The context tag and/or the second context tag may be provided as a prefix of the associated message during the messaging exchange; Krishnasamy Para. [0029], the context tag may be "Movie" and/or "Friday")
transmitting the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication (Krishnasamy Para. [0029], User A may enter a message in a form of a question on a chat window such as "What movie do you want to see on Friday?" The system, through use of a context provider in accordance with the present system, may during runtime provide one or more context tags that are associated with the message. For example, in the provided example, the context tag may be "Movie" and/or "Friday"; Krishnasamy Para. [0007], The context tag and/or the second context tag may be provided as a prefix of the associated message during the messaging exchange);
subsequent to transmitting the second message (Krishnasamy Para. [0029], The message is forwarded to one or more intended recipients together with the associated context tag or tags; Krishnasamy Para. [0007], The context tag and/or the second context tag may be provided as a prefix of the associated message during the messaging exchange), receiving, by the communication system, an indication that a user of one of the plurality of user devices manually (Krishnasamy Para [0023], the user may interact with the message including creating, reviewing or editing the message and reviewing any context previously associated with the message after act 280. In accordance with an embodiment, should the user decide to subsequently add and/or edit previously provided context, the process may thereafter be reinitiated, for example, at either of acts 240, 250 as shown; Krishnasamy fig. 3, displaying messages with tags and Para. [0028], A user may have an opportunity to respond directly to a given message, such as by clicking on a selection item or menu item within a user interface … a click and/or double click on one or more items of a given context tag or message containing the context tag may cause entries in the display portion 320 to be provided associated with a given context tag) indicated the second message is associated with a topic (Krishnasamy Para, [0023], the user may interact with the message including creating, reviewing or editing the message and reviewing any context previously associated with the message after act 280. In accordance with an embodiment, should the user decide to subsequently add and/or edit previously provided context, the process may thereafter be reinitiated, for example, at either of acts 240, 250 as shown; Krishnasamy Para. [0024], the context may be provided to the user as a list of tags; Krishnasamy Para. [0029], the context tag may be "Movie" and/or "Friday");
in response to the receiving the indication, updating the second metadata to yield updated metadata for the second message (Krishnasamy Para, [0023], the user may interact with the message including creating, reviewing or editing the message and reviewing any context previously associated with the message after act 280. In accordance with an embodiment, should the user decide to subsequently add and/or edit previously provided context, the process may thereafter be reinitiated, for example, at either of acts 240, 250 as shown; Krishnasamy Para. [0024], the context may be provided to the user as a list of tags; Krishnasamy Para. [0029], the context tag may be "Movie" and/or "Friday"); and
transmitting, by the communication system, the updated metadata to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication (Krishnasamy Para, [0023], the user may interact with the message including creating, reviewing or editing the message and reviewing any context previously associated with the message after act 280. In accordance with an embodiment, should the user decide to subsequently add and/or edit previously provided context, the process may thereafter be reinitiated, for example, at either of acts 240, 250 as shown; Krishnasamy fig. 3 and Para. [0028], The message or response to a message may be transferred together with the context tag to a message recipient in response to a user selection, for example, of a send radio button 330).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Krishnasamy for transmitting the first message appended with the first metadata to the plurality of user devices; transmitting the second message appended with the metadata indicating the first topic and the metadata indicating the second topic to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication; subsequent to transmitting the second message, receiving, by the communication system, an indication that a user of one of the plurality of user devices manually indicated the second message is associated with the first topic; in response to the receiving the indication, updating the second metadata to yield updated metadata for the second message; and transmitting, by the communication system, the updated metadata to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of providing improved tagging system for messages (see Krishnasamy Para. [0004-0005]).
As per claim 11, Liu-Bansal-Sharifi-Krishnasamy discloses the method according to claim 10 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the training data and the updated metadata are used for machine learning.
Sharifi teaches:
the training data and metadata are used for machine learning (Sharifi Para. [0050], the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages that are labeled with topics [metadata]).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Sharifi for wherein the training data and the updated metadata are used for machine learning.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying topics from labeled training data (Sharifi Para. [0050]).
As per claim 12, Liu-Bansal-Sharifi-Krishnasamy discloses the method according to claim 10 as set forth above, Sharifi also discloses wherein each text string in the training data is associated with a particular topic (Sharifi Para. [0050], the Topic Determination Model 510 can comprise a machine learning classifier trained to identify topics from labeled training data. In various implementations, the machine learning model can be trained based on labeled training data comprising a plurality of messages that are labeled with topics).
Similar rationales in claim 10 is applied.
As per claim 13, Liu-Bansal-Sharifi-Krishnasamy discloses the method according to claim 10 as set forth above, Liu-Krishnasamy also discloses further comprising:
after transmitting the first message, receiving a third electronic message from one of the plurality of user devices (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic);
identifying data associated with the first topic in the third electronic message (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic; Liu Para. [0054], Controller 110 may detect another new message that relates to the first topic; Liu Para. [0045], The concept can then be used to determine the topic of each of messages 152. In this way, using NLP techniques 242, controller 110 may, e.g., identify a context of a given message 152 to therein match this message 152 to a given topic);
determining, based on the data associated with the first topic, the third electronic message is associated with the first topic (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic);
after determining the third electronic message is associated with the first topic (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic), appending the third electronic message with third metadata indicating the third electronic message is associated with the first topic (Krishnasamy Para. [0007], associate the second context tag with the identified message. The context tag and/or the second context tag may be provided as a prefix of the associated message during the messaging exchange; Krishnasamy Para. [0020], The context may be based on a subject of the message or group of messages and/or may even relate to an underlying topic that is not explicitly identified within the thread); and
transmitting the third electronic message appended with the third metadata (Krishnasamy Para. [0007], The context tag and/or the second context tag may be provided as a prefix of the associated message during the messaging exchange) indicating the third electronic message is associated with the first topic (Liu [0002], The method may further include displaying the third message immediately adjacent the first message in response to detecting that the third message regards the first topic of the first message) to the plurality of user devices participating in the group communication (Liu Fig. 1A, user devices 120 and Para. [0021], Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120).
Similar rationales in claim 10 is applied.
As per claim 14, Liu-Bansal-Sharifi-Krishnasamy discloses the method according to claim 10 as set forth above, Liu also discloses further comprising:
receiving a third electronic message from a second user device participating in the group communication (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic; Liu Fig.1B and Para. [0021], controller 110 may monitor conversation 150 of FIG. 1B. Conversation 150 as depicted in FIG. 1B includes a plurality of messages 152A-152K (collectively, "messages 152,” … All messages 152 within conversation 150 may be from a single chatting application 112. Messages 152 come from a plurality of users (these users being A, B, C, D, E, F, and G as indicated at the beginning of messages 152 within conversation 150) that are each communicating from respective user devices 120); and
the third electronic message is associated with one or both of the first topic (Liu Para. [0002], detecting a third message received subsequent to the second message regarding the first topic) and the second topic.
Liu does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
receiving an input associated with a third electronic message from a second user device participating in the group communication; and
in response to the input, appending the third electronic message with metadata indicating the third electronic message is associated with one or both of the first topic and the second topic.
Krishnasamy teaches:
receiving an input associated with an electronic message (Krishnasamy Para. [0023], The user may determine to create, review or edit a message during act 220. In accordance with an embodiment, the user may be provided with an option to add and/or edit context for the message during act 230); and
in response to the input (Krishnasamy Para. [0024], In a case wherein the user decides to provide and/or edit the context during act 230, the context identifier may analyze the message to provide suggestions of context for association with the message during act 240), appending the message with metadata indicating the message is associated with the topic (Krishnasamy Fig. 2 and Para. [0025], In any event regardless of how context is provided, the context is associated with the message and is provided together with the message during act 260 should the user choose to manipulate the message including review, reply to, and/or forward the message; Krishnasamy Para. [0020], The context may be based on a subject of the message or group of messages and/or may even relate to an underlying topic that is not explicitly identified within the thread).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Krishnasamy for receiving an input associated with a third electronic message from a second user device participating in the group communication; and in response to the input, appending the third electronic message with metadata indicating the third electronic message is associated with one or both of the first topic and the second topic.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of enabling receipt of a query of the messages and corresponding message tags (Krishnasamy Para. [0008]).
Claims 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2021/0152506, Filed Date Nov. 20, 2019), in view of Bansal et al. (US 2010/0318620, Pub. Date Dec. 16, 2010), in view of Tschabitscher (NPL: How to Find All Mail From A Sender Quickly in Outlook, Published Feb. 12, 2020), in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0293670, Pub. Date: Oct. 15, 2015), in view of in view of Microsoft (NPL: Find a message or item with Instant Search, Published on or before Aug. 13, 2020 established using Internet Archive WaybackMachine).
As per claim 26, Liu-Bansal-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 18 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the instructions further cause the system to display a graphical user interface button enabling a user to view all messages posted by a particular user of a plurality of users participating in the group communication associated with the second topic.
Microsoft teaches:
the instructions further cause the system to display a graphical user interface button enabling a user to view all messages posted by a particular user of a plurality of users participating in the group communication associated with a topic (Microsoft, Narrow your search results: Click From and type Sara to replace the highlighted text in the search box. Click Subject and type report to replace the highlighted text in the search box; Microsoft, Narrow your search results: You can search for all the messages from Sara that you received last month, with the keyword "report" in the subject line)
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Liu in view of Microsoft for wherein the instructions further cause the system to display a graphical user interface button enabling a user to view all messages posted by a particular user of a plurality of users participating in the group communication associated with the second topic.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of displaying particular messages based on user's request.
As per claim 27, Liu-Tschabitscher-Kim discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above, Liu does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
receive a time range from a user device; and
in response to receiving the time range, display messages received within the timeframe.
Microsoft teaches:
receive a time range from a user device (Microsoft, Narrow your search results: This Week: on the drop-down menu, choose a time frame to narrow your search results based on the time you received a message; Microsoft, Narrow your search results: You can search for all the messages from Sara that you received last month, with the keyword report in the subject line); and
in response to receiving the time range, display messages received within the timeframe (Microsoft, Narrow your search results: You can search for all the messages from Sara that you received last month, with the keyword report in the subject line).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Liu in view of Microsoft for receiving a time range from a user device; and in response to receiving the time range, display messages received within the timeframe.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of displaying particular messages based on user’s request.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jayaraman (US 20200349199) Determining Semantic Content Of Textual Clusters;
Ripolles Mateu et al. (US 20200110882) Bipartite Graph-Based Topic Categorization System;
Tian et al. (US 11962548) Message Display Method And Apparatus, Device, And Storage Medium.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4487. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KAMAL B DIVECHA can be reached at (571)272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VINH NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2453
/KAMAL B DIVECHA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2453