Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 was filed in this application after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but before the filing of a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or the commencement of a civil action. 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examination under 37 CFR 1.114 and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the appeal has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114 and prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant’s submission filed on 3/18/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 3/18/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 2, 15 and 20 are amended, claims 1 and 3 are canceled, and claims 2 and 4-21 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 2 and 4-21 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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
Claims 2, 4-11 and 14-21 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Westerinen et al. (US 20100317371 A1 and Westerinen hereinafter), in view of Ray (US 20080036591 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Westerinen teaches a method, comprising:
determining, using a processor (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0059; control circuitry include one or more processors), one or more patterns associated with a mobile device (Paragraph 0003; a pattern may be detected in which the mobile device visit a certain coffee shop five days a week at 8:30am), wherein the one or more patterns are determined at least in part by:
identifying within a set of time information and location information associated with the mobile device a subset comprising successive locations and times (Figure 15 and Paragraph 0003; a pattern may be detected in which the mobile device visit a certain coffee shop five days a week at 8:30am) associated with a temporary pattern (Figure 15a and Paragraph 0111; FIG. 15a depicts an example sequence of events of a user in a day, with corresponding location data and manually-configured UI settings. Labels each of an event as it progresses through time. Hence each of the events represents a temporary pattern as the mobile device progresses through time and location and in different places. That is, locations and places are data constantly and dynamically changing with time throughout the day, hence temporary patterns);
converting the temporary pattern to be a pattern of the one or more patterns (Paragraph 0078; data which is obtained by a mobile device from sensing EM signals at different locations can be stored either at the mobile device); and
adding the pattern to a list of detected patterns (Figure 6 and Paragraph 0080; tracking movement of a mobile device as it visits different locations. For instance, this can include obtaining location-identifying information from EM signals at different locations. The location-identifying information can include information for ascertaining an absolute geographical position of the mobile device. Paragraph 0084; identifying patterns in the tracked movement of the mobile device. That is, as the mobile device progresses through time it identifies each location and place, converts it to one or more patterns whether it is a place of coffee shop, a work place and/or home patterns and add it to the list of patterns as exhibited in Figure 15a); and
configuring a plurality of user specified devices associated with a user (Paragraph 0068; particular user may enable different group of users to access his or her location depending on whether the particular user is at work, school or home. The enabling and disabling of such privacy features can be location- and time-based) to exhibit a mobile device behavior (Paragraph 0101; the user may place the mobile device on a table so that it is stationary for the threshold period, e.g., several minutes or hours, such as when the user is sleeping), wherein the mobile device behavior is based in part on the determined one or more patterns of the mobile device (Paragraph 0101; the user may place the mobile device on a table so that it is stationary for a threshold period, e.g., several minutes or hours, such as when the user is sleeping), wherein the plurality of user specified devices associated with the user includes the mobile device (Paragraph 0068; particular user may enable different groups of users to access his or her location depending on whether the particular user is at work, school or home. The enabling and disabling of such privacy features can be location- and time-based), wherein other devices of the plurality of user specified devices associated with the user are configured to exhibit the mobile device behavior of the mobile device in response to experiencing the determined one or more patterns of the mobile device (Paragraph 0068; a location-based application in a mobile device can reveal a particular user’s location to other users. The other users may be known to the particular user and previously given permission to access the location. Such an application allows a user to determine if any friends are nearby, and to arrange a meeting if desired).
Westerinen does not explicitly teach wherein the mobile device behavior is determined at least in part by performing heuristic pattern matching to match each of the one or more patterns of the mobile device to a corresponding predefined pattern and selecting the mobile device behavior based on an association with the corresponding predefined pattern. In an analogous art, Ray teaches wherein the mobile device behavior is determined at least in part by performing heuristic pattern matching to match each of the one or more patterns of the mobile device to a corresponding predefined pattern (Paragraphs 0017 and 0020; the determination of a usage pattern is based on the logged user actions, the temporal information and the geographic location information. The determination of a usage pattern may be based on comparison of the logged usage actions and temporal information to predetermined usage pattern thresholds, implementing a heuristic simulation model and/or implementing a predetermined algorithm. Function adjustment may include, but is not limited to, function/application parameter alteration, function/application activation and function/application deactivation. Paragraph 0043; determining adjustment action may be accomplished by implementation of one or more look-up tables, one or more predetermined algorithms and/or one or more heuristic simulation models) and selecting the mobile device behavior based on an association with the corresponding predefined pattern (Paragraphs 0017, 0043 and 0046; determining adjustment action may be accomplished by implementation of one or more look-up tables, one or more predetermined algorithms and/or one or more heuristic simulation models). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to combine the teachings of Westerinen and Ray because a need exists to sense and automatically, or with user acquiescence, adapt to user usage patterns. Such a device will improve the user experience by eliminating the need to manually change device features based on redundantly perform functions, applications and the like that are undertaken by the user on a regular, daily, or weekly basis (Ray, Paragraph 0009).
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 recites similar features as claim 2, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 2. Further, Westerinen teaches a system, comprising:
a memory configured to store a set of time information and location information associated with a mobile device (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0124; memory for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data); and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform functions (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0059; circuitry includes control circuitry 412 that can include one or more microprocessors, and storage or memory 410 (e.g., non-volatile memory such as ROM and volatile memory such as RAM) which stores processor-readable code which is executed by one or more processors of the control circuitry 412 to implement the functionality described herein).
Regarding claim 20, claim 20 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 2. Further, Westerinen teaches a computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0059; circuitry includes control circuitry 412 that can include one or more microprocessors, and storage or memory 410 (e.g., non-volatile memory such as ROM and volatile memory such as RAM) which stores processor-readable code which is executed by one or more processors of the control circuitry 412 to implement the functionality described herein).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein the processor is located on the mobile device (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0059; control circuitry include one or more processors. Paragraph 0037; wireless communication device can also be called a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, mobile station, mobile, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, a user device, or user equipment. A subscriber station may be a cellular telephone).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claims 2 and 15, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein: the processor is located on a device other than the mobile device (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0078; the mobile device may communicate via a mobile server 504 and a backend database server 502); and the method further includes receiving, at the processor, the set of time information and location information from the mobile device (Paragraph 0068; particular user may enable different groups of users to access his or her location depending on whether the particular user is at work, school or home. The enabling and disabling of such privacy features can be location- and time-based).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches further comprising presenting information associated with the mobile device behavior via a device other than the mobile device (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0078; the mobile device may communicate via a mobile server 504 and a backend database server 502. Paragraph 0068; particular user may enable different groups of users to access his or her location depending on whether the particular user is at work, school or home).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claims 2 and 15, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches further comprising presenting information associated with the mobile device behavior via one or more of the following: the mobile device and an Internet browser application (Figure 13 and Paragraph 0104; the mobile device automatically prompts the user to provide a label for a particular location when the location is visited frequently, a threshold number of time and/or for a threshold period of time, including a minimum cumulative time over multiple visits to the location, and a minimum time per visit).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein at least one of the one or more patterns includes a first end, a second end, and a path between the first end and the second end (Figure 15A and Paragraphs 0112-0115; at 07:31 mobile device sense home network and at 8:00 the user leaves for work and no longer senses home network; at 8:30 the user arrives at coffee shop near work and senses coffee shop wi-fi network; at 8:31 the user sets ringer off vibrate on).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein the mobile device behavior is associated with configuring one or more of the following: Wi-Fi (or other wireless local area network (LAN) communication protocol), Bluetooth (or other near-field communication protocol), global positioning system (GPS), a data network associated with mobile telephony, a tone, a sound effect, a screen lock, a keypad lock, a background, a wallpaper, separate program execution, separate program termination, call handling, notifications, reminders, or deleting memory (Figure 15A and Paragraphs 0112-0115; manual UI settings 1506 that user sets different settings for the phone based on time and location. The user may connect to home network, coffee shop Wi-Fi, and may adjust ringer, vibration and forwarding calls).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein the mobile device behavior is associated with one or more of the following: a safe driving profile, a homework profile, a bedtime profile, or a quiet zone profile (Figure 15A and Paragraphs 0112-0115; at 09:55 user prepares for meetings, sets ringer off, vibrate off and forwarding on).
Regarding claims 11 and 19, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claims 2 and 15, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches further comprising receiving via a user interface a modification to the mobile device behavior, wherein the mobile device is configured to exhibit the modification to the mobile device behavior (Figure 15A and Paragraphs 0112-0115; manual UI settings where user may adjust ringer, vibration, call forwarding settings).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein the pattern is a round-trip pattern. In an analogous art, Eger teaches wherein the pattern is a round-trip pattern (Figure 15A and Paragraph 0112-0115; at 08:00 the user leaves for work and no longer senses home network, at 08:30 user arrives at coffee shop near work, at 09:00 the user arrives at work desk and senses wireless keyboard. At 17:00 the user leaves work, mobile device no longer senses wireless keyboard at work, and at 18:00 user arrives at home)
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 15, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches wherein the memory is located on the mobile device (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0059; control circuitry include storage or memory 410. Paragraph 0037; wireless communication device can also be called a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, mobile station, mobile, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, a user device, or user equipment. A subscriber station may be a cellular telephone).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 20, as described above. Further, Westerinen teaches further comprising instructions for determining, using the processor, the mobile device behavior that is based in part on the determined one or more patterns of the mobile device (Figure 15A and Paragraphs 0112-0115; at 07:00 when user turns mobile device on at location 1 (ID1), the manual UI setting is ringer on, vibrate off, personal ring tone, and forwarding off).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Westerinen in view of Ray, as applied in claim 2 above, further in view of Salmimaa et al. (US 20020160817 and Salmimaa hereinafter).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Westerinen and Ray teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, as described above.
The combination of Westerinen and Ray does not explicitly teach wherein there are a plurality of mobile device behaviors and the method further includes prioritizing the plurality of mobile device behaviors. In an analogous art, Salmimaa teaches wherein there are a plurality of mobile device behaviors and the method further includes prioritizing the plurality of mobile device behaviors (Figure 6C and Paragraph 0048; FIG. 6C shows a priority-ordered list of context values contained in a third user's profile. As can be seen in FIG. 6C, User C has specified a top priority for food establishments during a specified time period (e.g., 11 am to 1 pm). Consequently, during that time period, icons corresponding to food establishments will be displayed in the largest format. User C has specified the next priority level for proximity, and thus establishments having a specified or relative proximity to User C's mobile terminal will be represented in a next largest display format). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to combine the teachings of Westerinen, Ray and Salmimaa because user behavioral data and usage data can be prioritized as user’s choice in order to provide user services of interest in accordance with the individual’s priority, thereby enhancing user experience.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Westerinen/Ray/Salmimaa teaches all of the limitations of claim 12, as described above. Further, Salmimaa teaches wherein prioritizing is based at least in part on one or more of the following: time spent at a pattern, a time of day, a day of a week, an acceptance rate, expert opinion, or power savings (Figure 6C and Paragraph 0048; FIG. 6C shows a priority-ordered list of context values contained in a third user's profile. As can be seen in FIG. 6C, User C has specified a top priority for food establishments during a specified time period (e.g., 11 am to 1 pm)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to combine the teachings of Westerinen, Ray and Salmimaa because user behavioral data and usage data can be prioritized as user’s choice in order to provide user services of interest in accordance with the individual’s priority, thereby enhancing user experience.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zargahi et al. (US 20120143694 A1) discloses receive usage data relating to an application executed on a client device. One or more behavioral algorithms may be implemented to perform behavioral analysis on the received usage data to identify at least one behavioral trend associated with the application. At least one feature of the computer service may be modified based on at least some of the behavioral analysis performed on the usage data.
Kwon et al. (US 20120109862 A1) discloses recognizing at least one behavior generated from an object by analyzing a signal obtained by at least one sensor from among a plurality of sensors included in a user device; and recognizing a current context of the user by analyzing a pattern of the at least one behavior. According to the method, a behavior of a user of a user device such a smart phone may be analyzed in real time and an appropriate service for the behavior may be provided according to the result of the analysis.
Mei et al. (US 20120295640 A1) discloses user behavior model provides personalized recommendations based in part on time and location, and entity types are ranked according to relevance to the user.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JING GAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647