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
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 20, 31, and 32 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.
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) 20-23, 25, 26, 28-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20140188990 A1 to Fulks; Mark in view of US 20130303118 A1 to Asandului; Cristian et al.
Re: Claim(s) 20
Fulks discloses method of accessing exclusive content (Fig. 12E),
the method comprising: activating or tapping an NFC medallion against a first mobile electronic device (Fig. 12E – 1235),
wherein the NFC tag is attached to a non-electronic product or is configured to be attached to a second mobile electronic device (Fig. 2 and 0047 - an NFC module (i.e. tag) may be included as a component within a UE (i.e. an electronic device);
and displaying, on a display of the first mobile electronic device, at least one of exclusive content or a digital community in response to the activating or tapping (Fig. 12E – 1241)
wherein the at least one of the exclusive content or the digital community is associated with the NFC tag and a third-party creator (See Id. - the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) family members can join the “Banks Family” community. Further, only members of the “Banks Family” community have access to content shared within the “Banks Family” community. In other words, said content is exclusive to members of the “Banks Family” community and the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) a creator allows others to join and access a digital community with exclusive content).
Fulks does/do not appear to explicitly disclose that said NFC tag is removably attached to an outer surface of an electronic device.
However, further attention is directed to Asandului which discloses said limitation (0010 - Systems, methods and procedures are described for thwarting undesirable applications from affecting mobile communication devices . Fig. 1 and 0014-0015 - FIG. 1 illustrates components of a mobile communication device 100 … The transceiver 112 may provide NFC functionality. NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that may provide digital communication between devices by touching them together or placing them within a close proximity to each other (e.g., approximately two inches). NFC technology may be incorporated into stand-alone, discrete devices, or on the other hand may be incorporated into existing devices, which may be referred to as NFC communications enabled devices. For example, devices that do not have built-in NFC technology may be outfitted with an NFC sleeve, which provides NFC functionality. The Examiner notes that an NFC sleeve would be removably attached to an outer surface of the device).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Fulks invention by employing the teaching as taught by Asandului to provide the ability to provide NFC functionality to non-NFC enabled devices via an external NFC sleeve (i.e. NFC tag) in order to permit such devices to gain NFC functionality. Fulks discloses the use of collaborative applications (0038) and thus would readily benefit from a means of ensuring mobile security (Asandului – Abstract and 0004).
Re: Claim(s) 21
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the exclusive content comprises media (Fig. 12E – “Mom added a photo”).
Re: Claim(s) 22
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the media is non-public audio media or non-public video media (0038).
Re: Claim(s) 23
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the displaying, on the display of the mobile electronic device, further comprises displaying a plurality of members of the digital community (Fig. 12F – 1249).
Re: Claim(s) 25
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the displaying, on the display of the mobile electronic device, further comprises displaying a chat (Figs. 12I and 12J).
Re: Claim(s) 26
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the displaying, on the display of the mobile electronic device, further comprises displaying a plurality of experiences (Fig. 12G – Messages, People, Places, Photos are displayed).
Re: Claim(s) 28
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the digital community is configured to be joined or subscribed to (Figs. 12C and 12E – 1217, 1219, 1223, 1233, 1235, 1239).
Re: Claim(s) 29
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the displaying comprises displaying the exclusive content associated with the NFC tag (Fig. 12E - the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) family members can join the “Banks Family” community. Further, only members of the “Banks Family” community have access to content shared within the “Banks Family” community. In other words, said content is exclusive to members of the “Banks Family” community).
Re: Claim(s) 30
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks discloses wherein the displaying comprises displaying the digital community associated with the NFC tag (Fig. 12E - the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) family members can join the “Banks Family” community. Further, only members of the “Banks Family” community have access to content shared within the “Banks Family” community. In other words, said content is exclusive to members of the “Banks Family” community).
Re: Claim(s) 31
Fulks discloses a method comprising: activating or tapping an NFC medallion against a first mobile electronic device (Fig. 12E – 1235),
wherein the NFC tag is attached to a non-electronic product or is configured to be attached to a second mobile electronic device (Fig. 2 and 0047 - an NFC module (i.e. tag) may be included as a component within a UE (i.e. an electronic device);
and displaying, on a display of the mobile electronic device, at least one of exclusive content or a digital community in response to the activating or tapping (Fig. 12E – 1241)
wherein the NFC tag is associated with a third-party creator, and wherein the at least one of the exclusive content or the digital community is associated with the third-party creator (see at least Fig. 12C - a user creates the “Banks Family” community and that (see at least Fig. 12E) an NFC tapping action is used to allow other users to join said community. In other words, the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) a creator allows others to join and access a digital community with exclusive content).
Fulks does/do not appear to explicitly disclose that said NFC tag is removably attached to a surface of an electronic device.
However, further attention is directed to Asandului which discloses said limitation (0010 - Systems, methods and procedures are described for thwarting undesirable applications from affecting mobile communication devices . Fig. 1 and 0014-0015 - FIG. 1 illustrates components of a mobile communication device 100 … The transceiver 112 may provide NFC functionality. NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that may provide digital communication between devices by touching them together or placing them within a close proximity to each other (e.g., approximately two inches). NFC technology may be incorporated into stand-alone, discrete devices, or on the other hand may be incorporated into existing devices, which may be referred to as NFC communications enabled devices. For example, devices that do not have built-in NFC technology may be outfitted with an NFC sleeve, which provides NFC functionality. The Examiner notes that an NFC sleeve would be removably attached to an outer surface of the device).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Fulks invention by employing the teaching as taught by Asandului to provide the ability to provide NFC functionality to non-NFC enabled devices via an external NFC sleeve (i.e. NFC tag) in order to permit such devices to gain NFC functionality. Fulks discloses the use of collaborative applications (0038) and thus would readily benefit from a means of ensuring mobile security (Asandului – Abstract and 0004).
Re: Claim(s) 32
Fulks discloses a system (Fig. 1)
comprising: a plurality of first mobile electronic devices (Fig. 1 – 101a-n);
an an NFC tag attached to a non-electronic product or configured to be attached to a second mobile electronic device (Fig. 2 – 203);
wherein each first mobile electronic device of the plurality of first mobile electronic devices is configured to display, on a display of the each first mobile electronic device, at least one of exclusive content or a digital community (Fig. 12E – 1241, Figs. 12F-H)
in response to activating or tapping the NFC tag against the each first mobile electronic device (Fig. 12E – 1235),
and wherein the at least one of the exclusive content or the digital community is associated with the NFC tag and a third-party creator (see at least Fig. 12C - a user creates the “Banks Family” community and that (see at least Fig. 12E) an NFC tapping action is used to allow other users to join said community. In other words, the NFC tag is the means through which (i.e. associated) a creator allows others to join and access a digital community with exclusive content).
Fulks does/do not appear to explicitly disclose that said NFC tag is removably attached to an outer surface of an electronic device.
However, further attention is directed to Asandului which discloses said limitation (0010 - Systems, methods and procedures are described for thwarting undesirable applications from affecting mobile communication devices . Fig. 1 and 0014-0015 - FIG. 1 illustrates components of a mobile communication device 100 … The transceiver 112 may provide NFC functionality. NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that may provide digital communication between devices by touching them together or placing them within a close proximity to each other (e.g., approximately two inches). NFC technology may be incorporated into stand-alone, discrete devices, or on the other hand may be incorporated into existing devices, which may be referred to as NFC communications enabled devices. For example, devices that do not have built-in NFC technology may be outfitted with an NFC sleeve, which provides NFC functionality. The Examiner notes that an NFC sleeve would be removably attached to an outer surface of the device).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Fulks invention by employing the teaching as taught by Asandului to provide the ability to provide NFC functionality to non-NFC enabled devices via an external NFC sleeve (i.e. NFC tag) in order to permit such devices to gain NFC functionality. Fulks discloses the use of collaborative applications (0038) and thus would readily benefit from a means of ensuring mobile security (Asandului – Abstract and 0004).
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fulks in view of Asandului as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of US 20150095905 A1 to Chakrabarti; Amrita et al.
Re: Claim(s) 24
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks further discloses sharing information of interest with other members (0094).
Fulks in view of Asandului does/do not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the displaying, on the display of the mobile electronic device, further comprises displaying a digital storefront.
However, further attention is directed to Chakrabarti which discloses said limitation (0029 - When a user sees an advertisement for a software product that the user wishes to purchase, the user may either scan a Quick Response code (QR code) in a print ad using the scanner 118, click a download link in a digital ad via the browser 120, access ad information embedded in a near field communication (NFC) tag using a NFC feature of the mobile device, or use any method for accessing the advertisement known in the art that can provide a Universal Resource Locator (URL). The user is redirected to an application store 105 based on the operating system 116 of the delivery control device 102).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Fulks in view of Asandului invention by employing the teaching as taught by Chakrabarti to provide the ability to share relevant information between users in a group by including software products that may be useful to other users of said group. Fulks discloses the use of collaborative applications (0038) and thus would readily benefit from a means of remotely delivering software (0005).
Claim(s) 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fulks in view of Asandului as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of US 20070263560 A1 to Saarisalo; Mikko et al.
Re: Claim(s) 27
Fulks in view of Asandului discloses those limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim(s) 20 above.
Fulks further discloses wherein the NFC tag is embedded in a product (Fig. 2 – NFC Module 203 is embedded in UE 101).
Fulks in view of Asandului does/do not appear to explicitly disclose that the product is a non-electronic product.
However, further attention is directed to Saarisalo which discloses said limitation (Abstract - A system, apparatus and method for creating and managing group services in a cellular network for easy, fast and reliable connection of a subscriber(s) to one or more group services. Figs. 5 and 0052 - FIG. 5 shows a mobile terminal 500 transferring PoC setup and configuration information 400 (FIG. 4) for a group, or several groups to a RF-ID or NFC tag 502 for distribution to other mobile terminals desirous of participating in a PoC group(s) according to one embodiment of the present invention. Multiple PoC set up and configuration information may be transferred by the tag 502 to serve many different interests of a user related to work, play, social, etc. Fig. 6 and 0053 - FIG. 6 discloses a physical transfer 510 of the tag 502 by the user to another user for installation of the PoC set up and configuration contained in the tag to a mobile terminal 600. The information transfer occurs by simply bringing a mobile terminal 600 within close proximity to/touching 602 the tag 502 with the mobile terminal 600. A RF-ID reader 606 while "touching" the tag transmits an interrogation signal which is recognized by the tag 502. A response signal is sent to the reader 604 by the tag 502. The tag 502 proceeds to access the PoC set up and configuration information in the memory 308 (FIG. 3) for processing by the digital and RF circuits for transmission to the mobile terminal 600. 0039 – tag may be a passive tag. 0044 – data stored in tag can be used to join a service such as family; friends; chat group, etc.).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Fulks in view of Asandului invention by employing the teaching as taught by Saarisalo to provide a non-electronic product (i.e. passive tag) for storing NFC tag information to be used by mobile terminals to join a group. The motivation for the combination is given by Saarisalo (0003 and 0012).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 KASHIF SIDDIQUI whose telephone number is (571)270-3188. The examiner can normally be reached on M-R 6:00 EST to 16:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on 571-270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KASHIF SIDDIQUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415