Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/743,623

PRESENTING CONTENT HISTORY TO A USER ADDED TO A GROUP CHAT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 13, 2022
Examiner
NAOREEN, NAZIA
Art Unit
2458
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
7 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
7-8
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
245 granted / 351 resolved
+11.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
373
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
§103
47.2%
+7.2% vs TC avg
§102
31.1%
-8.9% vs TC avg
§112
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 351 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Status of Claims: Claims 1 – 20 are pending. Claim 1, 5 – 8, and 15 are amended. 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 . Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments in the amendments, filed 01/26/2026, have been fully considered and are persuasive. A new ground(s) of rejection has been made based on the amendments. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1 – 4, 6 – 11, and 13 – 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madaan (US 11641362), in view of Jerrard-Dunne (US 8626832), and further in view of Panikkar (US 11960559). As per claim 1, Madaan discloses a method for presenting content history to a user added to a group chat, the method comprising: receiving a request from a requesting user to join an existing group chat session that includes a plurality of messages, wherein the requesting user is associated with user data describing the requesting user's persona, wherein the user data comprises a role of the requesting user (The computing device 106A may receive moderator inputs for adding participants and send the settings to the messaging service 120. In response to a request to add a user to a messaging session, the collaboration service 170 may apply the security settings in configuring and rendering content to the computing device 106, See Col. 6, Lines 36 – 54 … Participant profiles (user’s persona) may be utilized to register participants for communication sessions, See Col. 16, Lines 22 – 34 … one or more roles may be defined that can be automatically assigned to a user based on one or more characteristics, See Col. 5, Line 60 – Col. 6, Line 4); performing an analysis of content of the group chat session prior to the requesting user joining the group chat session (A computerized agent to collect participant data in the communication session 604 may be able to link to such external communication sessions. Therefore, the computerized agent may receive information, such as date, time, session particulars, and the like, that enables connectivity to such external communication sessions, See Col. 13, Lines 3 – 17); and adding the requesting user to the group chat session (FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for enabling the participation of an external user outside a secure messaging group in an ongoing meeting's chat on a per-message basis, See Col. 6, Lines 19 - 35), including: generating a modified version of the content of the group chat session based on the content analysis and the user data, including modifying content history of the group chat session to be presented to the requesting user based on the role of the requesting user (At operation 506, in response to receiving the selection the system updates the first data object to include the selected message set (modified version of content history from group chat) and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, and permissions defined for the additional participant to limit full access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set. For example, the subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and the subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set is illustrated in FIG. 2F, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35 … In some embodiments, the permission settings may be determined based on roles of the users associated with the message, See Col. 9, Line 18 - 46) and … presenting to the requesting user: the modified version of the content of the group chat session that includes … one or more other unmodified messages of the plurality of messages (At operation 508, the system can send, to a display device of the non-member user, the selected message set and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, wherein access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set is controlled by the permissions for the non-member user, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35), and Madaan however does not expressly disclose: modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history and information identifying users already part of the group chat session. Jerrard-Dunne discloses: (modifying based on) … natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history (Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55) … … information identifying users already part of the group chat session (FIG. 3 shows an example of a graphical user interface in the form of an instant messaging display window 150 configured for use with conversation display process 10. In this particular example, a conversation 152 may be occurring between two users over network 24, for example, user 46 (Stan) and user 48 (Mike) as shown in FIG. 1, See Col. 5, Lines 50 – 59 … The sender of invitation 253, here user 46 (i.e., Stan), may decide to allow the entire conversation between he and user 48 (i.e. Mike) to be forwarded to user 52 (i.e., Dave), or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Lines 53 - 62); It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Both Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Jerrard-Dunne’s system includes a conversation summary that can be generated by incorporating NLP. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. The combination of Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne however does not expressly disclose: wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes sensitive information, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises replacing the sensitive information of the at least one of the plurality of messages with different content to prevent providing the sensitive information to the requesting user. Panikkar discloses: …. wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes sensitive information, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises replacing the sensitive information of the at least one of the plurality of messages with different content to prevent providing the sensitive information to the requesting user (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information causing the sensitive information contained in the chat message to be displayed in obfuscated form. For example, sensitive information may be obfuscated by applying an overlay with sufficient distortion effects (e.g., a black-out box), applying a transformation (e.g., replacing some or all of the text with one or more asterisks (“*”)), adding artifacts, and/or redaction, to prevent viewing of the sensitive information, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39); and (modified version that includes) the different content (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39) and … It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Panikkar’s teaching of replacing sensitive information with different content and Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, and Panikkar all disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Panikkar’s system a sub-module that obfuscate sensitive information by applying various methods. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, and the content can be further modified by replacing sensitive information with different content, as taught by Panikkar, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. As per claim 2, the method of claim 1, wherein the user data further comprises an identity of the requesting user (Madaan, A participant profile may include one or more of an identity of a user or a group of users (e.g., a name, a unique identifier (“ID”), etc.), See Col. 16, Lines 22 - 34). As per claim 3, the method of claim 1, wherein performing the analysis of the content of the group chat session includes performing natural language processing (NLP) on the content (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55). As per claim 4, the method of claim 3, wherein performing NLP on the content includes generating content tags associated with the content (Jerrard-Dunne, The present disclosure may provide a mechanism to give a potential conversation participant a quick summary of the ongoing and/or prior conversation via a summarization displayed as a "tag cloud." The summary may be provided with the invitation before the person decides to join the chat and may also dynamically update as the chat proceeds. The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49). As per claim 6, the method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the users already part of the group chat session are configured to override the modified version being presented to the requesting user (Madaan, In some embodiments, the meeting moderator or other participant from the main meeting may be provided an option to add permissions to the external participant, such as accessing the meeting recording, or seeing the meeting title, See Col. 4, Lines 51 - 67). As per claim 7, the method of claim 1, wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes selecting a portion of the content to be replaced (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be a live dynamically updating summary of the ongoing conversation. The sender … may decide to allow the entire conversation … or alternatively, only selected portions. In this way, conversation summary 260 may include the complete previous conversation or may pick-up from where one of the users joined. For example, in some situations a user may be invited without revealing portions of the previous conversation via the invite, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62) and replacing the selected portion of the content with a summary of the selected portion of the content for presentation based on the user data (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55), and wherein presenting the modified version of the content includes presenting another portion of the content that is not modified (The sender of invitation 253, here user 46 (i.e., Stan), may decide to allow the entire conversation between he and user 48 (i.e. Mike) to be forwarded to user 52 (i.e., Dave), or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Lines 53 - 62). As per claim 8, Madaan discloses an apparatus for presenting content history to a user added to a group chat, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of: receiving a request from a requesting user to join a group chat session that includes a plurality of messages, wherein the requesting user is associated with user data describing the requesting user's persona, wherein the user data comprises a role of the requesting user (The computing device 106A may receive moderator inputs for adding participants and send the settings to the messaging service 120. In response to a request to add a user to a messaging session, the collaboration service 170 may apply the security settings in configuring and rendering content to the computing device 106, See Col. 6, Lines 36 – 54 … Participant profiles (user’s persona) may be utilized to register participants for communication sessions, See Col. 16, Lines 22 – 34 … one or more roles may be defined that can be automatically assigned to a user based on one or more characteristics, See Col. 5, Line 60 – Col. 6, Line 4); performing an analysis of content of the group chat session prior to the requesting user joining the group chat session (A computerized agent to collect participant data in the communication session 604 may be able to link to such external communication sessions. Therefore, the computerized agent may receive information, such as date, time, session particulars, and the like, that enables connectivity to such external communication sessions, See Col. 13, Lines 3 – 17); and adding the requesting user to the group chat session (FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for enabling the participation of an external user outside a secure messaging group in an ongoing meeting's chat on a per-message basis, See Col. 6, Lines 19 - 35), including: generating a modified version of the content of the group chat session based on the content analysis and the user data, including modifying content history of the group chat session to be presented to the requesting user based on the role of the requesting user (At operation 506, in response to receiving the selection the system updates the first data object to include the selected message set (modified version of content history from group chat) and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, and permissions defined for the additional participant to limit full access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set. For example, the subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and the subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set is illustrated in FIG. 2F, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35 … In some embodiments, the permission settings may be determined based on roles of the users associated with the message, See Col. 9, Line 18 - 46) and … presenting to the requesting user: the modified version of the content of the group chat session that includes … one or more other messages of the plurality of messages (At operation 508, the system can send, to a display device of the non-member user, the selected message set and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, wherein access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set is controlled by the permissions for the non-member user, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35), and Madaan however does not expressly disclose: modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history and information identifying users already part of the group chat session. Jerrard-Dunne discloses: (modifying based on) … natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history (Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55); and … information identifying users already part of the group chat session (FIG. 3 shows an example of a graphical user interface in the form of an instant messaging display window 150 configured for use with conversation display process 10. In this particular example, a conversation 152 may be occurring between two users over network 24, for example, user 46 (Stan) and user 48 (Mike) as shown in FIG. 1, See Col. 5, Lines 50 – 59 … The sender of invitation 253, here user 46 (i.e., Stan), may decide to allow the entire conversation between he and user 48 (i.e. Mike) to be forwarded to user 52 (i.e., Dave), or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Lines 53 - 62); It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Both Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Jerrard-Dunne’s system includes a conversation summary that can be generated by incorporating NLP. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. The combination of Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne however does not expressly disclose: wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes sensitive information, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises masking the sensitive information of the at least one of the plurality of messages. Panikkar discloses: …. wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes sensitive information, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises masking the sensitive information of the at least one of the plurality of messages (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information causing the sensitive information contained in the chat message to be displayed in obfuscated form. For example, sensitive information may be obfuscated by applying an overlay with sufficient distortion effects (e.g., a black-out box), applying a transformation (e.g., replacing some or all of the text with one or more asterisks (“*”)), adding artifacts, and/or redaction, to prevent viewing of the sensitive information, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39); and (modified version that includes) the sensitive information (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39) and … It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Panikkar’s teaching of replacing sensitive information with different content and Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, and Panikkar all disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Panikkar’s system a sub-module that obfuscate sensitive information by applying various methods. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, and the content can be further modified by replacing sensitive information with different content, as taught by Panikkar, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. As per claim 9, the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user data further comprises an identity of the requesting user (Madaan, A participant profile may include one or more of an identity of a user or a group of users (e.g., a name, a unique identifier (“ID”), etc.), See Col. 16, Lines 22 - 34). As per claim 10, the apparatus of claim 8, wherein performing the analysis of the content of the group chat session includes performing natural language processing (NLP) on the content (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55). As per claim 11, the apparatus of claim 10, wherein performing NLP on the content includes generating content tags associated with the content (Jerrard-Dunne, The present disclosure may provide a mechanism to give a potential conversation participant a quick summary of the ongoing and/or prior conversation via a summarization displayed as a "tag cloud." The summary may be provided with the invitation before the person decides to join the chat and may also dynamically update as the chat proceeds. The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49). As per claim 13, the apparatus of claim 8, wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes selecting a portion of the content to be limited for presentation to the requesting user (Jerrard-Dunne, The sender … may decide to allow the entire conversation … or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62); and masking the selected portion of the content based on the user data (Jerrard-Dunne, For example, in some situations a user may be invited without revealing portions (masking) of the previous conversation via the invite, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62). As per claim 14, the apparatus of claim 8, wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes selecting a portion of the content to be replaced (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be a live dynamically updating summary of the ongoing conversation. The sender … may decide to allow the entire conversation … or alternatively, only selected portions. In this way, conversation summary 260 may include the complete previous conversation or may pick-up from where one of the users joined, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62) and replacing the selected portion of the content with alternative content for presentation based on the user data (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 (alternative content) may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55). As per claim 15, Madaan discloses a computer program product for presenting content history to a user added to a group chat, the computer program product disposed upon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of: receiving a request from a requesting user to join a group chat session that includes a plurality of messages, wherein the requesting user is associated with user data describing the requesting user's persona, wherein the user data comprises a role of the requesting user (The computing device 106A may receive moderator inputs for adding participants and send the settings to the messaging service 120. In response to a request to add a user to a messaging session, the collaboration service 170 may apply the security settings in configuring and rendering content to the computing device 106, See Col. 6, Lines 36 – 54 … Participant profiles (user’s persona) may be utilized to register participants for communication sessions, See Col. 16, Lines 22 – 34 … one or more roles may be defined that can be automatically assigned to a user based on one or more characteristics, See Col. 5, Line 60 – Col. 6, Line 4); performing an analysis of content of the group chat session prior to the requesting user joining the group chat session (A computerized agent to collect participant data in the communication session 604 may be able to link to such external communication sessions. Therefore, the computerized agent may receive information, such as date, time, session particulars, and the like, that enables connectivity to such external communication sessions, See Col. 13, Lines 3 – 17); and adding the requesting user to the group chat session (FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for enabling the participation of an external user outside a secure messaging group in an ongoing meeting's chat on a per-message basis, See Col. 6, Lines 19 - 35), including: generating a modified version of the content of the group chat session based on the content analysis and the user data, including modifying content history of the group chat session to be presented to the requesting user based on the role of the requesting user (At operation 506, in response to receiving the selection the system updates the first data object to include the selected message set (modified version of content history from group chat) and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, and permissions defined for the additional participant to limit full access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set. For example, the subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and the subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set is illustrated in FIG. 2F, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35 … In some embodiments, the permission settings may be determined based on roles of the users associated with the message, See Col. 9, Line 18 - 46) and … presenting the modified version of the content of the group chat session to the requesting user that includes …. one or more other messages of the plurality of messages (At operation 508, the system can send, to a display device of the non-member user, the selected message set and subsequent messages exchanged between the non-member user and a subset of the users in the defined group directed to the selected message set, wherein access to other subsequent messages in the defined group not directed to the selected message set is controlled by the permissions for the non-member user, See Col. 11, Lines 19 - 35). Madaan however does not expressly disclose: modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history and information identifying users already part of the group chat session. Jerrard-Dunne discloses: (modifying based on) … natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the content history (Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55); and … information identifying users already part of the group chat session (FIG. 3 shows an example of a graphical user interface in the form of an instant messaging display window 150 configured for use with conversation display process 10. In this particular example, a conversation 152 may be occurring between two users over network 24, for example, user 46 (Stan) and user 48 (Mike) as shown in FIG. 1, See Col. 5, Lines 50 – 59 … The sender of invitation 253, here user 46 (i.e., Stan), may decide to allow the entire conversation between he and user 48 (i.e. Mike) to be forwarded to user 52 (i.e., Dave), or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Lines 53 - 62); It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Both Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Jerrard-Dunne’s system includes a conversation summary that can be generated by incorporating NLP. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. The combination of Madaan and Jerrard-Dunne however does not expressly disclose: wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes information that is not to be provided to the requesting user, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises replacing at least one of the plurality of messages with a notification indicating the information has been removed to prevent providing the information to the requesting user. Panikkar discloses: …. wherein at least one of the plurality of messages includes information that is not to be provided to the requesting user, and wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session comprises replacing at least one of the plurality of messages with a notification indicating the information has been removed to prevent providing the information to the requesting user (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information causing the sensitive information contained in the chat message to be displayed in obfuscated form. For example, sensitive information may be obfuscated by applying an overlay with sufficient distortion effects (e.g., a black-out box), applying a transformation (e.g., replacing some or all of the text with one or more asterisks (“*”)), adding artifacts, and/or redaction, to prevent viewing of the sensitive information, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39); and (modified version that includes) the notification (Upon identifying sensitive information in a chat message, the sub-module can obfuscate the identified sensitive information … by applying an overlay with sufficient distortion effects … redaction …, See Col. 17, Lines 9 - 39) and … It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Panikkar’s teaching of replacing sensitive information with different content and Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, and Panikkar all disclose systems for modifying chat content history. Panikkar’s system a sub-module that obfuscate sensitive information by applying various methods. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, and the content can be further modified by replacing sensitive information with different content, as taught by Panikkar, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. As per claim 16, the computer program product of claim 15, wherein the user data further comprises an identity of the requesting user (Madaan, A participant profile may include one or more of an identity of a user or a group of users (e.g., a name, a unique identifier (“ID”), etc.), See Col. 16, Lines 22 - 34). As per claim 17, the computer program product of claim 15, wherein performing the analysis of the content of the group chat session includes performing natural language processing (NLP) on the content (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology … The text analysis engine may be used to provide a summarization of the text of the conversation. This summarization may be used as the basis to produce the record of the words as well as conversation summary 260, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55). As per claim 18, the computer program product of claim 17, wherein performing NLP on the content includes generating content tags associated with the content (Jerrard-Dunne, The present disclosure may provide a mechanism to give a potential conversation participant a quick summary of the ongoing and/or prior conversation via a summarization displayed as a "tag cloud." The summary may be provided with the invitation before the person decides to join the chat and may also dynamically update as the chat proceeds. The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49). As per claim 20, the computer program product of claim 15, wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes selecting a portion of the content to be limited for presentation to the requesting user (Jerrard-Dunne, The sender … may decide to allow the entire conversation … or alternatively, only selected portions, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62); and masking the selected portion of the content based on the user data (Jerrard-Dunne, For example, in some situations a user may be invited without revealing portions (masking) of the previous conversation via the invite, See Col. 6, Line 53 - 62). Claim(s) 5, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madaan (US 11641362), in view of Jerrard-Dunne (US 8626832), and in view of Panikkar (US 11960559) and further in view of John (US 9705926). As per claim 5, the combination of Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, and Panikkar discloses all limitations of claim of 3. Jerrard-Dunne discloses: the method of claim 3, wherein performing NLP on the content includes generating … tags associated with the content (Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55 … The present disclosure may provide a mechanism to give a potential conversation participant a quick summary of the ongoing and/or prior conversation via a summarization displayed as a "tag cloud." The summary may be provided with the invitation before the person decides to join the chat and may also dynamically update as the chat proceeds. The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49), and … The combination of Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, and Panikkar however does not expressly disclose: generating security tags associated with the content wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes: comparing a security clearance level included in the user data and a security clearance level identified by a security tag associated with a portion of the content, and determining that the portion of the content is to be modified based on the security clearance level included in the user data not meeting the security clearance level identified by the security tag. John discloses: … (generating) security (tags associated with the content) (Security tags may be applied during the course of the audio/video conference to the conference as a whole, to specific content, and/or to points/spans of time within the audio/video conference … Tagging may be applied to the media stream, or a portion thereof, before and/or during the conference and/or to a media file comprising at least one portion of the recorded conference or a portion thereof. A portion of a … particular media channel (e.g. … instant message/chat, … etc.), See Col. 2, Lines 3 - 19), wherein generating the modified version of the content of the group chat session includes: comparing a security clearance level included in the user data and a security clearance level identified by a security tag associated with a portion of the content (Tags 412 and 414, associated with security rules 422, 424, respectively, indicate a security level requirement to receive any content being tagged with tags 412 or 414. For example, user 404, having a security “level 3,” may be denied access to any content tagged with tags 412 or 414 as such tags have an associated security policy defined by security rules 422 and 424 indicating a requirement for “level 4” or “level 5,” assuming a greater number indicates a more restrictive security policy. A security policy may determine if the tag itself is to be restricted to authorized users, See Col. 9, Lines 40 - 50), and determining that the portion of the content is to be modified based on the security clearance level included in the user data not meeting the security clearance level identified by the security tag (User 624, having authenticated themselves with the appropriate application or server, possesses certain security attributes that, when matched against first portion 604 and second portion 606, selectively allow or deny access to conference content 602 or portions thereof. For example, user 624 is denied access to first restricted content 610 associated with first conference portion 604 between tag 614 and 620 as well as second restricted content 612, associated with second conference portion 606 between tags 616 and 618, See Col. 10, Lines 46 – 55 …*portion can include an instant message or chat session, See Col. 2, Lines 3 - 19). It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine John’s teaching of generating security tags associated with content, Panikkar’s teaching of replacing sensitive information with different content, and Jerrard-Dunne’s teaching of modifying based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, along with modifying content history of a group chat session based on the role of requesting user to improve Madaan’s system. Madaan, Jerrard-Dunne, Panikkar, and John all disclose systems for analyzing chat content history. John’s system includes generating security tags based on contents associated with a conference such as a chat session. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because content history of a group chat session can be modified based on the role of a requesting user, as taught by Madaan, where the modification can be based on natural language processing (NLP) analysis of content history, as taught by Jerrard-Dunne, and the content can be further modified by replacing sensitive information with different content, as taught by Panikkar, where security tags can be further generated for the analyzed content, as taught by John, to allow external users to join an ongoing chat session without disclosing sensitive data associated with the meeting. As per claim 12, the apparatus of claim 10, wherein performing NLP on the content (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55 … The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49) includes generating security tags associated with the content (John, Security tags may be applied during the course of the audio/video conference to the conference as a whole, to specific content, and/or to points/spans of time within the audio/video conference … Tagging may be applied to the media stream, or a portion thereof, before and/or during the conference and/or to a media file comprising at least one portion of the recorded conference or a portion thereof. A portion of a … particular media channel (e.g. … instant message/chat, … etc.), See Col. 2, Lines 3 - 19). As per claim 19, the computer program product of claim 17, wherein performing NLP on the content (Jerrard-Dunne, Conversation summary 260 may be generated using a text analysis engine that may incorporate natural language processing (NLP) technology, See Col. 7, Line 41 – 55 … The term "tag cloud" as used herein may refer to a display of text, See Col. 5, Lines 41 - 49) includes generating security tags associated with the content (John, Security tags may be applied during the course of the audio/video conference to the conference as a whole, to specific content, and/or to points/spans of time within the audio/video conference … Tagging may be applied to the media stream, or a portion thereof, before and/or during the conference and/or to a media file comprising at least one portion of the recorded conference or a portion thereof. A portion of a … particular media channel (e.g. … instant message/chat, … etc.), See Col. 2, Lines 3 - 19). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAZIA NAOREEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7282. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 - 6:00. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Umar Cheema can be reached on 571-270-3037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NAZIA NAOREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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Prosecution Timeline

May 13, 2022
Application Filed
Mar 08, 2023
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jun 22, 2023
Response Filed
Sep 15, 2023
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 12, 2023
Examiner Interview Summary
Dec 12, 2023
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Dec 21, 2023
Request for Continued Examination
Dec 29, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 08, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 27, 2024
Response Filed
Sep 07, 2024
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 10, 2024
Notice of Allowance
Jan 10, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 23, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 05, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jul 09, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Jul 09, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Jul 10, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 19, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 31, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 26, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 04, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

7-8
Expected OA Rounds
70%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+11.0%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
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